Chapter 26

The shadows inched their way closer to the factory as they got within sight of the doors. Sky signaled for them to go radio silent and to split up. Sasha had relayed to them a few minutes earlier that the hostiles were still in the same places as before. The night vision goggles were discarded for now and each made their way toward their targets crawling along on their stomachs. Once they were to the side of the building, they crouched there for a few seconds listening to be sure they had not been seen.

Brody and Trace worked their way down the wall to the back of the factory toward the rear door. Each had the hand gun with silencers out and ready to use. Brody squatted down and quickly glanced around the corner seeing two guards standing by the door. One was smoking and the other was leaning against the wall listening to an Ipod. Brody motioned to Trace to let him know about the two guards and where they were. Trace would take out one and Brody the other as they readied for the strike. In one fluid motion, both whipped around and fired two shots each at the men. One shot when through the heart and the other in the head dropping both guards without any alarm being sounded. Brody and Trace ran to the door and pulled the two bodies back out of sight.

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Dean, Sam and Sky made their way toward the front of the building and the front door. Sky motioned them back as she saw a guard making his way toward where they were hiding. All three glued themselves to the wall not moving a muscle. Sky slowly slid a wicked looking knife from her boot and waited for the guard to come around the corner. She drew in a deep breathe and tensed her body ready for the kill. Dean watched in shock as Sky launched herself clamping a hand over the guard's mouth as in one fluid motion slit the man's throat letting him bleed out, killing him in seconds. She kept her hand in place as his body bucked once and guided him to the ground with one constant move. Dean and Sam grabbed the body and pulled it over to the wall, hiding it in the shadows. Even with the man outweighing Sky by over sixty pounds, she easily took him down with the skill of a trained profession without a second thought.

Sky had already sheathed her knife and pulled her hand gun before sneaking around the corner. Dean hissed at her recklessness before peaking around to see her moving within striking distance of the other two guards. Two small spats were barely heard and the guards slid to the ground without making a sound. The brothers hurried around the corner and caught up with Sky at the front door. She was removing weapons from the dead guy's bodies and motioned for them to help her stand them back up and zip tied each to a post so it looked like they were still guarding.

Once that was done, they carefully opened the door and slunk inside. Sky signaled them to not move as she took a small pen light and checked the doors leading off the foyer. She found a trip wire at one entrance and followed it to a small charge that would take out anyone going through the door. She carefully pulled the blasting cap out disarming the explosives. After checking the other two doors she signaled that all was clear. She motioned for them to take the room with the sleeping hostiles while she continued deeper into the factory. Dean didn't like splitting up but knew they needed to take down the hostiles before anyone alerted the others of their presence.

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Trace and Brody stopped long enough for their eyes to adjust to the dim light before moving down the hall to the first door. Brody tried the knob and slowly allowed it to turn with a small click and looked inside to find an empty room. They moved down to the next one and found the door locked. Trace dropped down pulling out his lock pick and quickly unlocked the door. He let the door open slowly as a small squeak sounded from the hinges. Brody saw a body on a dirty mattress on the floor and recognized Alex's wild hair sticking out over the blanket. He moved to the mattress pressed his hand over her mouth to silence any scream as he woke her. Her eyes widened in surprise to see her boyfriend leaning over her. He cautioned her with a finger to his lips to be quiet and quickly cut the ties around her hands and feet. He helped her up, half carrying her and they retraced their steps to the back door. Trace clicked twice to let the others know they had their target and was retreating with her. They received one click back message to let them know they had received and understood. Trace and Brody guided Alex away from the factory and back the way they had come in. Brody lifted Alex into his arms when he saw how weak she was so they could pick up the pace.

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"I have three bodies moving away from the factory," Sasha told the girls. "They came from the rear entrance."

"That must be the guys getting Alex out," Krissy said glancing at the screen.

"Kris we've got company," Claire said quietly cocking her head slightly listening to something no one else could hear.

Krissy and Claire moved to the door and slipped out moving to the back of the van. They heard the car coming down the road and quickly hid before it came around the curve. The car slowed when it caught sight of the van pulled off the road. The girls heard the car stop and a door open. They waited for the person to come into view to be sure they were a danger before preparing to take them down. The man walked closer to the van with a gun drawn and ready to use. Both girls took careful aim and fired fast acting tranquilizer darts hitting him in the chest and neck. The man gasped in surprise reaching to swat away the darts as he fell to the ground unconscious.

"You zip him, I'll check the car," Krissy said easing by the man to go check the car for any other hostiles. She moved toward the idling car not seeing anyone else in it. She saw bags in the back seat that looked like they had food in them and a couple of six packs of water. Krissy hurried to the driver's side and slipped in moving the car closer to the downed body. She killed the engine and got out to help Claire load the unconscious man into the trunk of the car. "You good?"

"Yes, that should hold him for now," Claire told her giving her nod.

"I'll move the car back down the road out of sight. I'll be back in a few," she said getting back behind the wheel of the car.

"I'll wait here for you," Claire said patting the top of the car before Krissy pulled back out onto the road and drove out of sight.

"We should watch for the others, in case they need help," Krissy said walking back toward Claire.

"Let me tell Sasha," Claire said going to the van side door and leaning in to tell Sasha where they were.

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Dean and Sam crept toward the room, readying themselves to take out the two sleeping hostiles. Dean did a quick glance in seeing three cots in the room with two occupied. He motioned to Sam letting him know about the two and where they were. He signaled for him to take the one on the right and he'd deal with the one on the left. The brothers crept into the room and to the sleeping bodies. They used the butts of their guns and knocked them out so they could be tied and gagged. They checked them for weapons, removing any they found. The bindings were double checked before they went back out checking the other rooms and then following Sky on into the bowels of the factory.

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Sky moved like a ghost through the factory searching for her brother. She entered a large room with several windows that was allowing the first light of a new day to stream in. She saw Cole tied to a chair in the middle of the room and quickly looked around for any kidnappers before hurrying to his side.

"Cole," she whispered cupping his face with her hand to lift his head. "Cole can you hear me?"

"S'y?" he slurred trying to open his one good eye to look at her.

She took a small knife and cut the bindings holding his legs and was moving to do the same with his hands when the cocking of two guns made her freeze. She slowly raised up palming the knife to Cole and turned to face the kidnapper. She frowned when she saw a woman who looked a few years older than her, holding two guns, one pointed at her and the other aimed at Cole.

"Well if it isn't the big sister," the woman sneered at her in a heavy European accent. "Figured you would sneak in here and try to rescue darling little brother. Now drop your gun and kick it to me or he gets a bullet in the heart."

"Who are you?" Sky asked boldly trying to keep her attention on her as Cole tried to cut through the ropes binding him. She dropped her gun and kicked it toward the woman concentrating on her face so she could sense if she was going to shoot.

"I guess you wouldn't know me; I was away at boarding school when it happened, the assassination of my father," she spat at Sky as she stepped closer. "I loved my father dearly and you took him from me you bitch."

"Who was your father?" Sky asked still not able to place this woman.

"Victor Zaherheim, he was a great man and a wonderful father."

Sky thought for a moment going over her jobs in her head pulling up the information before continuing. That was one of her specialties; she knew the details of every case she ever worked, down to the minute items.

"Your father was the head of one of the largest mob syndicates in Europe. He was a ruthless, murderous, individual who had a hand in drugs, human trafficking, prostitution, bribery, among other things. He was not a nice person by any means. You're fooling yourself if you think he was, are you that delusional?"

"He was still my father and did you know that my mother killed herself because she couldn't bear to live without him? They were my only family," the woman stated. "Since you killed my family, I'm going to kill yours. First your brother so you can watch him die slowly and then I will kill you or maybe that handsome boyfriend of yours first. I know he must be around somewhere. You don't know how long I've waited for this. It took me years of bribing and paying off people to find who you were and where I could find you."

Two clicks on her earwig alerted her that help was there and she tried to signal to Cole to be ready when she made her move. He nodded slightly understanding and continued to cut the rope.

"I don't think that's gonna happen. Your henchmen have been taken down and unless you want to die too, I would suggest you drop your guns," Sky told her stepping away from Cole to draw more of the woman's attention on her.

"That doesn't matter as long as you die too," she said steadying both guns as she started tightening her finger on the trigger. Sky could see the wild, insane look in her eyes knowing there was no talking her down and when she heard another click, she made her move.

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Krissy and Claire went on full alert as they heard footsteps moving toward them. Both lowered their weapons as Brody carrying Alex and Trace came into sight out of the darkness.

"Al you okay?" Krissy asked as Brody set her on her feet.

"I will be," she tried to smile accepting the hug from her and Claire.

"Did they hurt you?"

"Few bruises and cuts, but nothing serious. Cole?" she asked looking around for him.

"The others are getting him out," Claire told her. "Drink something," she continued holding out a bottle of water for her.

"Guys, I think we're having a showdown in there," Sasha called to them from the van. They all gathered at the door and watched the screen noting where the warm spots and trying to decipher them. Three were grouped together and two were moving fast toward them.

"Should we go back?" Trace asked watching closely.

"No, they can handle it," Sasha told them knowing Dean and Sam could handle themselves and was sure Sky could too.

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Dean ran into the room in time to hear two shots and see three people go down. It was like everything was moving in slow motion and he was swimming through an ocean of Jell-O trying to get to them. The gunshots echoed around the room, bouncing from wall to wall before a dead silence took its place.

An unknown woman crumpled to the floor the same time that Cole threw himself from the chair he was sitting in and Sky fell to the side beside her brother trying to cover his body. He faltered in his steps for a moment before yelling with rage as he ran toward the bodies.

"No! No! Sky!" he roared rushing to her side. Sam was close behind him and kicked the guns from the unknown woman's hands before going to Cole to see if he was okay. "Hey...Babe...You okay?" he asked Sky as she tried to roll to her side groaning in pain.

"Bullet grazed my arm but I'm okay." she winced trying to pull herself to Cole. "How is he?"

"Beat up, but not shot," Sam said giving him a quick once over. "Cole you with us bro?"

"Yeah," he groaned in pain holding his side. "May have a couple cracked ribs, a lot of pain everywhere."

"Who was she and who shot her?" Dean asked looking over at the dead woman.

"I don't know her name; one of my assignments was eliminating her father," Sky said sadly letting Dean help her up. "He was a very nasty person in the criminal world."

Dean quickly drew his weapon as a lone figure walked toward them. Sam followed suit when he saw the sniper rifle the man was carrying. Sky looked toward the figure and smiled.

"Stand down you two, that's our uncle," Sky told them before taking a couple of steps and hugging him.

"Glad you could join the party."

"Didn't think I would miss it did ya?" Jethro told her giving her a quick look over before looking to Cole. He eyed the two hunters as they slowly lowered their guns. "Cole how ya doin'?"

"I'll make it Uncle. Not as bad as it looks," he said looking at him with the one eye he could see out of. His face was streaked with blood and his lower lip was split and bruised. He favored his right side and held a hand over it protectively.

"Uncle Jethro this is Dean, my boyfriend and his brother Sam, guys our Uncle Jethro," she said making the introductions. Jethro eyed each brother, especially Dean, as they put away their guns and curiously stared at him.

"Nice to meet you sir," Sam greeted him holding out his hand to shake.

"Likewise," Jethro replied shaking his hand.

"Nice shooting," Dean told him sizing him up and the sniper rifle he was holding loosely in his arms feeling the power and authority wafting off him.

"Thanks. You guys better get out of here, the locals will be here soon, I'll take care of this."

"There's two tied up in another room back there," Dean noted with a nod of his head.

"Got it, seems a couple of girls took out another one on the road here."

"That would be our sisters; they can take care of themselves," Sam commented a hint of pride in his voice.

"So I noticed. Now get out of here."

"Thanks, we'll get Cole to a doctor and have him checked out. Will you be stopping by before you head back to DC?"

"I might."

"Please try, I'd like you to meet the rest of the family so please try," she begged sweetly.

"Alright if it means that much to you," he agreed. "And son," he said to Dean giving him a stern look. "Take care of her."

"I will sir," Dean responded putting an arm around Sky protectively. "Let's go."

Sam helped Cole to his feet and they followed Dean and Sky from the building. Cole did a double take at the two tied to post like they were guarding. He saw the single shot to the heads and knew that had to be his sister's work.

"Sasha wanna have Brody bring the van down here, I don't think Cole needs to be walking back to it," Dean spoke over the comm.

"You got it, is everyone okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine. We'll be waiting out front," he replied. "So that was your uncle?" Dean asked Sky as he took a bandana and wrapped it around her arm to stop the bleeding.

"Yes, the one and only. He's a little hard to take sometimes; he can be intense and intimidating."

"Didn't tell me he was a sniper, I'm assuming military."

"Didn't ever come up and yes Marines," she shrugged watching the road for the van. She wanted to get back to the motel and drop the van off and get Cole check over before they headed home. They didn't have long to wait as the van rounded the curve and came to a stop beside them. Krissy was out first running to Cole and hugging him tightly.

"Cole are you okay?" she asked taking in his bloody and beaten face. She ran a hand gently over his face as tears sprang to her eyes.

"Hey it's okay Babe, I'll survive," Cole told her trying to kiss her with his bruised lips.

"Come on let's get out of here." She helped him to the van while everyone else crowded in and Dean drove them back to the motel.