The main lobby of the embassy was a large expanse. A second level surrounded the first, with grand staircase access from both sides of the room. The Lagoon Company walked through the lobby, once again garnering the attention of everyone around them. While the sight of military personnel wasn't entirely uncommon, the four would-be civilians, armed to the teeth were quite out of the ordinary. They approached a man wearing military garb, not entirely dissimilar from Lieutenant Baker. Quickly eyeing up the numerous medallions that adorned his coat, Dutch extended his hand and greeted him, "Good afternoon, Colonel."

Colonel Miller was an older man, his appearance carved by war. Bruised and scarred skin on his face, a healthy limp; this man had certainly seen his share of field time. He lacked a smile as he returned Dutch's kindness with a course tone, "You must be Dutch…" Dutch nodded as their hands fell to their sides, and the Colonel continued, "…and this must be your crew; The Lagoon Company, right?"

"That's right," Dutch replied. He raised his hand pointing towards Benny with his thumb, "This here's Benny…" he raised his hand behind him, again pointing with his thumb, "…and this is Rock and Revy."

"Well it's nice to meet all of you," Colonel Miller replied. "You've all been briefed of the situation so I'll get right to it. You're here because Lieutenant Baker believes you can diffuse this situation. He also tells me you work better on your own, so go ahead and make yourselves at home." Behind him, two men wearing black suits and earpieces approached the Colonel, "These are Agents Wilkinson, and Schaller. If you need anything, they'll be in the lobby at all times."

The Colonel offered Dutch a nod and headed off to do whatever it was he did. Dutch pointed at one of the Agents and asked, "Schaller, right?"

"Yes sir," Agent Schaller replied.

Dutch again pointed behind him at Rock and Revy, "These two are my guns. I want them to know every way in, and out of this room. Any way these assholes might get in, I need them to know about it. Anything they need, it's just a friendly suggestion, but I'd get it for them."

"Yes sir," Schaller replied, and escorted Rock and Revy around the room.

"Wilkinson?" Dutch asked.

"Sir," Agent Wilkinson replied.

Dutch placed a hand on Benny's shoulder and addressed the agent, "This here is Benny; my tech wizard. I'd like you to take the both of us to the security office. Show Benny around the surveillance equipment, and I'm gonna need to speak with the head of security."

"Yes sir," Wilkinson replied.

-

Agent Schaller led Rock and Revy around the back halls and service tunnels that surrounded the second floor of the lobby. Revy and Rock made mental notes of the locations and looked around for angles, occasionally engaging in discussion of what weapon could be used where.

As Rock peered through a ventilation duct, he called to Revy, "I've got a clear shot to the main entrance."

Revy walked over to him and checked his view. She smiled as she replied, "Fuckin' perfect."

"And do you see what I see?" Rock asked as his view shifted to the other end of the lobby.

Revy's eyes locked on another vent on the opposite end of the room. She smiled as she replied, "Good boy, Rocky baby. We're gonna need to be quick about this."

"Sniping still only works if they're not using dead-men's switches," Rock replied.

"That's on Dutch and Benny. We're just the shooters," Revy replied.

"Do you two do this often?" Agent Schaller asked.

Without turning away from their view of the lobby, Rock replied, "For about a year now."

"Any failures?"

They both turned to face the agent, and Revy asked, not entirely angry with his question, "Something on your mind?"

"I've got a wife and two kids back home," Schaller replied. "I'd like to see them tomorrow."

"You're staring at a husband and wife, dipshit," Revy sneered. "Neither of us are plannin' on fuckin' dying in here."

"Glad to hear it," Schaller replied.

-

Benny knelt next to a tower of computer equipment, a small laptop on his knees and a single cable running from the tower into the back of it. Just a few feet away, Dutch flipped through pages of technical drawings of the building.

"How's it going, Benny boy?"

"It's going," Benny replied. "This place is pretty well engineered in terms of security; still, they don't have much in the way of gear."

"What's on your mind?"

"Well it looks like there's only two easy ways in."

"Basement and front door," Dutch replied as his finger tapped the locations on the schematics.

"The takedown hinges on their triggers. If we can get x-ray panels on both entrances, I should be able to get a look at the triggers in just a few seconds," Benny replied.

Dutch finally looked over to Benny, "Do we have shit like that?"

"SWAT teams, bomb squads, even DEA use portable x-ray technology," Benny replied as he typed. His ring finger struck the 'enter' key in finality and he finished his thought, "I put in a request to the lab. See what they can come up with."

Dutch smiled, "Nice work, Benny boy."

"So, what do we plan to do if they are using open-fire triggers?"

"I'm thinking," Dutch replied as he continued to examine the plans.

-

Several hours later, Dutch and Benny returned to the main lobby, to find Rock and Revy in a corner of the room smoking cigarettes. Revy again snuffed hers between her fingers while Rock put his out on his shoe.

"Well?" Revy asked.

"I've got a request in for some x-ray technology. See if we can get a look at those triggers before we make a move," Benny replied.

"And if we get a worst case scenario and they just walk in and detonate?" Rock asked.

Dutch lit himself a cigarette and took a drag before replying, "Well that would suck, but I doubt it. I think we're putting a little too much thought into this. Guys like this; they're already prepared to die. The only thing they're concerned with is scaring the shit out of a few people before they blow themselves to pieces," Dutch exhaled the smoke that filled his lungs. "All this talk of dead-men's switches, it's good we're taking precautions, but we're giving these motherfuckers too much credit."

"If that's case, I doubt they're going to wait very long before they set off those charges," Benny replied.

"Also true," Dutch replied. "You two find look out points?" Rock and Revy nodded in reply and Dutch continued, "My suggestion; we come back early tomorrow. You two get in position, we'll keep lookout around the building. When we see'em coming, we'll radio you with how many. Once they're all through the door; fire when ready. Once you take your first shot, I'm guessing you'll have about two seconds to put'em all down."

"Not a problem," Revy replied.

Colonel Miller hobbled his way over to the Lagoon Company and asked, "How're the four of you making out?"

They turned to face the Colonel and Dutch replied, "I think we're done here. We'll be back tomorrow, bright and early."

Miller checked his watch and replied, "26 hours left."

"Take it easy Colonel," Dutch reassured with a smile. "The weekend is supposed to be nice, and I'm plannin' on fishin'."

-

Later that night, Rock and Revy lay in the oversized bed of their hotel room. As per their usual, the Lagoon Company's resident rabbits were covered by a thin sheet of bedding, relishing in a post-coital smoke.

"Big day tomorrow," Rock stated breaking the silence.

"Won't be a problem," Revy replied. She took a drag and looked over to her husband. Taking notice of the mild distress on his face, she turned her gaze back to the ceiling and asked, "You alright?"

"Do you ever feel like this was a mistake, Revy?"

She exhaled a mouthful of smoke as she replied, "You remember the talk we had after I got shot? That if we chose a normal life, we'd both become slaves?"

"I remember," Rock replied.

"This is as close as we're ever going to get to that simple fuckin' life. We live like a King and Queen, Rock. We can do whatever the fuck we want, whenever we want--"

"But we're still slaves," Rock interrupted, finishing her sentence.

Revy turned to face him with a smile, "Bingo. For the next four years, we're Uncle Sam's whores. He says suck; we swallow."

Rock chuckled slightly at Revy's comment before replying, "I don't think it's that bad."

"Were you at the fuckin' beach this morning?" Revy asked. "Your phone rang and we were at the office a half-hour later."

"You didn't really seem to mind all that much."

Revy turned back to face the ceiling, "Don't miss the point, Rock. What we do now, what we did in Roanapur; it's the same fucking job. Laying on that dock, watching you struggle to bring me back…" Rock's face paled as she spoke. He had dreamt of that moment, but never put thought into what it was like for her, and Revy continued, "…I knew right then and there, that if I lived, I wanted out." Her head rolled to the side to face him, and again she smiled, "I fuckin' love your dumb ass, Rock. I owe you my life and I want to live long enough to give it to you."

Rock's eyes instantly welled up at her outpouring of emotion. Revy slipped her cigarette into her lips and rolled onto her side. She reached to Rock's face and gently wiped his tears from his cheeks, "Guess you finally fuckin' house-broke me, huh?"

Rock laughed slightly through his cheerful cry, "I won't tell anyone." Revy took her cigarette into her fingers and placed a kiss on her husband's lips. As she pulled away from him, again he spoke, "Love you, Revy."

-

24 hours later, Dutch and Benny watched on from their hotel room as a black, unmarked van pulled up in front of the US embassy. Dutch raised a pair of binoculars to his eyes and pressed a finger to his earpiece, "Head's up you two, I think our guests have arrived."

From his position in the service tunnel, Rock quietly asked, "How many?"

On her side, Revy listened in on Rock and Dutch's conversation, "Can't tell yet, Rock. You two setup?"

Rock adjusted his grip on his suppressed M110 and lined up his sights, "I'm good. Revy?"

Revy pulled the slide on the very same semi-automatic rifle Rock had chosen for this task, and replied, "Fuckin'-A."

Men stepped out of the van and Dutch counted them aloud, "1, 2, 3…Looks like it's gonna be 5 guys, just as Baker's boys planned."

"Is Miller setup to take the van?" Revy asked.

"Soon as you secure the hall," Dutch replied.

Rock adjusted his sighting as a man entered the lobby, "I've got the first one coming in. What do you see, Benny?"

Benny's fingers danced over his keyboard, an x-ray of the first man displayed on his screen, "Contestant number one is clean."

Revy adjusted her aim, taking the next man to enter into her sights, "And contestant number two?

Again Benny made several inputs on his keyboard. The group seemed to share a collective hiatus of breath as they awaited Benny's response. As the image came into focus, Benny smiled, "Got it. He's wired, but the trigger's push button."

A sigh of relief passed down through the group and Dutch pressed his finger to his ear, "You both owe me 20 bucks."

"Fucking hell," Revy and Rock replied in unison.

"Soon as we verify they're all in; take'em down," Dutch replied.

The rest of the men followed bringing Rock to comment, "And here they come."

"All clear out here," Dutch commented. "Miller and his boys are ready to take the van whenever you're ready."

"Alright, Rock," Revy said over Rock's earpiece. "I've got the three in the back, you take the two in front."

"Whenever you're ready," Rock replied.

Revy took a deep breath, and across the hall Rock did the same. "Hold it," Revy said, fully aware that Rock would have done the same as her. "Ready…"

One of the men held up his detonator and shouted, "Now! You will all--"

The numerous individuals that roamed the halls of the embassy in constant fear of moments like this immediately screamed in fear. Not a second later, Revy shouted, "…Now!"

In the blink of an eye, they each fired two shots. Rock took out his two targets, while Revy took out two of hers. In the time it took his heart to beat, Rock noticed Revy had saved their leader for last and decided to take one more shot. Their 7.62s pierced his skull simultaneously, dropping him to the ground, the detonator landing safely beside him.

Revy quickly pressed a finger to her ear, "Lobby's secure, Dutch. Tell Miller to take the van."

Dutch and Benny watched on as Colonel Miller and his men seized the van. They smiled and without looking at each other, bumped fists.

"You got a smoke, Benny boy?" Dutch asked.

In her tunnel, Revy smiled as she asked, "Didn't think I'd make the shot, Rock?"

Rock lit himself a cigarette as he replied, "I knew you'd make it, but why should you get to have all the fun?" Revy laughed in his ear and he began to dismantle his rifle, "See you down there, Revy."