Four weeks into the mission

Neither McG nor Elaina had picked up anything useful from either their fellow staff members or the children they were treating.

"Maybe we are looking at the wrong place." Elaina said as she and McG sat together at lunch. Over the past couple of days, they hadn't been able to talk to each other much other than the brief relay of information McG got via his sat-phone from Top. Which wasn't much if any. He knew that DC was working on their end as best as they could, but he too was growing a bit restless.

"What do you mean?" he asked, looking up from his coffee.

"We have seen the way this camp works for the past three weeks and there was nothing out of the ordinary. Always the same people coming and going, no deviation from the routine. If the attack was to happen soon, there would have been at least some clue about it. I think they are preparing whatever they are planning outside the camp. I think it's time for a trip to Maiduguri."

McG pondered her idea for a second. From their regular check-ins with Adam they knew that there was still chatter about an attack, but no specifics on the time or date. If they didn't want to spend the remainder of their deployment here, they needed to get proactive.

"OK, I'll notify Top. He'll have Preach recon what's going on in town."

"No, I meant we have to go to Maiduguri. As you and I." Elaina clarified.

McG looked at her.

"Think about it. Preach doesn't know the people coming and going from this camp. We will recognize them when we see them in town."

The medic let out a low breath. A trip into an African town for a blonde European looking woman wasn't exactly a good idea. It would draw too much attention. As if Elaina had read his thoughts, she said: "We can disguise it as a work outing, getting supplies for the camp, advertising our work, you name it."

"Fine, let's give it a try." he said eventually. He knew that his CO wouldn't like this idea, but they were running out of time.

xxx

Five days later, a small bus containing five doctors from the camp, including McG and Elaina, left the camp for Maiduguri. They had planned to visit the local market to get some supplies for the camp as well as connect with the local population. There were still many children that were in poor health condition and maybe they could do some good right in the middle of the city.

While the desert enfolded outside the car windows, Elaina dwelled on her thoughts. Over the past couple of weeks, she had grown to like working in the camp. Her fellow colleagues were nice and hearing about their motivation to come to this country and help the people living here, made her sometimes wish that her motivation to be here was as genuine as theirs. And while serving and treating injured soldiers was a rewarding experience, Elaina found herself thinking that if someday she would quit the service, this branch of work was something worth considering.

xxx

They reached the market and parked the car in the proximity of a hotel, walking the rest on foot. Elaina, like her fellow medic Janice, had wrapped scarves around their heads to loosely cover their hair. It was out of respect for the local culture, but it would also conceal the earwig Elaina was wearing again.

McG was 'naked' once again expect for the knife he wore in an ankle strap. The group was shadowed by Preach, Adam and Amir, all three posing as foreign business men, invisible for everybody expect Elaina and McG.

"Alright, you know the plan. Keep your stay brief, observe and let us know if you see anything suspicious." Adam reminded her.

Elaina inwardly rolled her eyes, but refrained from commenting. It would only draw attention to her if she would speak without being addressed. She looked to her side. McG was walking next to her, a grey baseball cap shielding his eyes from the sun. His stance was relaxed, but Elaina's trained eye saw that he was closely observing their environment.

The air was filled with a cascade of sounds: people advertising their goods, children playing between the stands, motorcycles riding by, chickens clucking in their cages. Elaina knew that to him as an operator, this was a tactical nightmare. Many variables; little to no control.

About half an hour into their little tour, McG finally spotted a familiar face. He stopped Elaina under the presence of showing her a colorful scarf like the one she had pinned up in her room.

"My eleven o'clock. Yellow shirt, green cap." he said quietly, while they were looking at the different fabrics.

"Affirmative." Adam's voice came over the earpiece. He had heard McG's description.

"He is one of the cooks." Elaina said quietly.

"Could be nothing." McG reasoned.

Elaina gave him a significant look. "So you vet him because he is the cook?" she asked.

McG shrugged.

"Adam, it's your call." Elaina spoke quietly.

There was a short pause.

"Alright, Preach, follow yellow-shirt. I'll stay with you. Amir, maintain parallel but keep out of sight."

"You got it." Elaina said quietly.

Then she and McG continued their way through the narrow alleys of the market. They had almost caught up with their co-workers, when a sudden shout attracted Elaina's attention. She looked around to see where the sound was coming from. The air was filled with shouts and voices, but this was different.

"Ellie, what's going on?" McG asked, but Elaina didn't respond. It was almost noon and the place was crowded. Without waiting for McG, she slipped through the surge of people, putting a remarkable distance between her and the medic within seconds.

In front of a bedraggled shack, a man was beating a small girl of about five years old with a wooden stick. The child was crying and screaming for help, the man – probably her father – was shouting at her, but Elaina could not understand the foreign words.

"Don't do it! It's none of your business."

She heard sharp warning of her brother in her ear. He had obviously caught up with them and was seeing what had drawn her attention. She ignored him and stepped towards the man, wrenching the girl from his hand and shielding her with her body.

"Leave her alone!" she said angrily.

The man looked up dumfounded, before he raised his stick and attacked her. Evidently, he saw it as his legitimate right to discipline his daughter that way. Elaina raised her arm to block the strike, ready to wrestle the weapon from the man, when she was pushed aside. McG was shielding her from the man, his hands raised in a non-threatening gesture.

"I'm sorry." he said. "My friend, she doesn't know…" he smiled apologetically at the man. "We don't want any trouble. We'll just leave, alright."

His words had the desired effect, for the man did not attack either of them.

"Come on, let's go." McG muttered towards Elaina, without taking his eyes off the man.

But Elaina did not move.

"Ellie, get out of there." Adam hissed. "Do it now!"

Again, she did not move. Pictures were whizzing by her inner eye, fear paralyzing her. She just couldn't leave this girl to her fate. McG's voice brought her back to reality.

"Elaina, we should leave. Now." he said urgently and without waiting for her reply, he not so gently took her arm and dragged her off with him.

"Let me go!" she exclaimed, but he did not loosen his grip. Nobody was helping her. Evidently, it was common and accepted for a man to drag an insubordinate woman with him. McG seemed to know that and he used it to his advantage. Against all her ranting, he did not release Elaina until they were within safe distance to the scene.

"What the hell, Joe?!" she hissed as she rubbed her arm. He had not held back when dragging her with him. She would surely get a bruise.

She glared at him. The medic was reciprocating her look with a mixture of shock and confusion.

"You tell me." he shot back equally quiet. "What's gotten into you? Running off like that."

Elaina took in a deep breath, about to round on the medic, when a sharp voice made them both freeze.

"Enough, both of you!"

Adam was standing only a few away, his back turned towards them, holding a phone to his ear.

"Get back to your group and get back to camp. No detours, Ellie, or this mission is over for you. You hear me?"

Elaina remained silent.

"Copy that." she heard McG mutter. She could feel his lingering gaze on her and looked up.

"I'm sorry." he said quietly with a nod to her arm.

"I'll live." she said grudgingly. She knew that the medic had questions, but this was neither the time nor the place to explain. "Come on, let's go."

xxx

They found their group about ten minutes later. Not telling them about their encounter, they weaved a tail that they had been in a conversation with a local they knew from the camp. Nobody doubted their story.

During the ride back to the camp, Elaina was quiet. When one of her colleagues asked why she wasn't saying anything, she claimed to be tired and this answer was accepted as well. She could feel McG glancing over to her ever so often, but she didn't meet his eyes. She needed time and space to digest the events.

xxx

McG looked at the satellite phone in his hands. He was scheduled to check in with his team leader in a couple of minutes and he wasn't sure what to expect of the conversation. The rest of the day had passed in a blink of an eye with no time to process the events. What had happened to Elaina that had caused her to react so swiftly and with such force and determination? Of course he wanted to know the reason, but he dreaded asking either of the Dalton siblings because the answer was almost obvious.

As if his team leader was sensing his hesitation to initiate the call, the phone began to vibrate in his hands. McG sighed, mentally readying for what was to come and took the call.

"Yeah."

"Did you get back to the camp alright?"

"I guess you know already." McG replied somewhat tired.

The blonde man on the other end of the line gave a short ironic chuckle.

"I guess, we… I owe you an explanation."

McG remained silent.

"What you witnessed today, what Elaina reacted to… let's say it was rather the rule than the exception when we were kids."

The medic exhaled pointedly. So his suspicion had been right.

"I'm sorry." he said quietly, unsure how to discuss the subject with his team mate.

"Thanks, McG." Adam said and there was sincerity in his voice.

"What about Elaina? Did you talk to her already?" McG asked carefully. Vividly, he remembered the sharp tone in Adam's voice when he had scolded them back in the market. He had reacted instantly because of the different tone of his CO, the way he had spoken the order unlike anything he was used to. Now that he knew what had caused the incident, he knew that his changed tone was not because of him and Elaina fighting. He was stopping Elaina in an all too familiar situation. He was protecting her from getting harmed.

"I spoke to her just before I called you. We're good." There was a short pause before Adam spoke again. "Sometimes, our emotions take the better of us."

McG chuckled. He couldn't help but smile at the gentle note in his CO's voice. Even the toughest soldier had a soft spot when it came to his baby sister.

xxx

A soft knock roused Elaina from her thoughts. She glanced at her watch. It was almost 11 PM. Only one person would stop by her room that late.

"Come in." she called, not bothering to stand up from her bed where she had been sitting, reading some patient reports.

The door opened and McG entered the room, holding something in his hand. He walked over to her bed, handing her an icepack.

"For your arm." he said, sitting down on the chair, stretching out his legs, resting his feet on her bed.

Elaina smiled at the kind gesture, pressing the pack against her arm. So he was still sorry for having hurt her.

"Hey, shoes off." she scolded him playfully.

"You don't want that." McG deadpanned.

Elaina rolled her eyes at him but didn't pursue the subject.

"I guess, I owe you an apology." she said, finally looking him directly in the eyes. It was not the first time that she had noticed that they had a beautiful warm brown color.

The medic shook his head.

"No. If I had known what had caused you to stray off-mission…" he stopped, unsure how to continue.

"So Adam told you." she said without breaking eye-contact.

The medic nodded.

She looked at him intently, fully expecting to see the reaction that usually followed this confession, but it didn't come. No pity. No boxing her as the helpless girl. Only sincere compassion.

"You don't see me as victim." she said and she could hear how surprised she sounded.

"Just because I know that you are one doesn't mean that it has to be your defining trait." He gave her an obvious once-over, a look that took in so much more than her appearance. "Let's just say, you don't fit the usual description." he added with a casual wink.

Elaina stared at him for a solid second. Then she laughed, stroking back her hair in order to have an excuse to break eye contact. Oh, those brown eyes… It was an unusual yet special compliment the medic had paid her.

More to busy herself, she reached down and turned the icepack, pressing it to her arm. Seeing McG's gaze following her motion, she said: "Don't worry about me. You had to make it look convincing."

"Easy for you to say." McG muttered and Elaina could tell that he was still thinking about her past.

Keen to change the subject, she asked: "Any news on yellow-shirt?"

"Preach's still on his tail. I guess, we'll know by tomorrow."

"Good. It's about time this mission gets somewhere."

xxx

It was well past midnight, when McG finally switched off the lights and went to bed. But despite the long and exhausting day, sleep wouldn't come. His thoughts were still with the Dalton siblings' past.

He found it hard to wrap his head around the fact that both, his tough as nails CO and his sister, had been victims of domestic violence when they were young. To him, it was nothing short of a miracle that the two as well as their sister had escaped this environment and had become such stellar servicemen.

McG was an only child and had grown up without a father. His mother had done everything to allow him a happy and carefree childhood. He had spent his days outside with his cousins as his uncle's farm, riding horses, wandering through the dense Montana forests without a care in the world. His maternal grandfather had taught him how to hunt, but when he had killed his first deer, he had wished that he had made that experience with his father – like all his other friends.

He had seen a lot in his years in the service and he knew that there were families far less perfect than his, but seeing violence against children was something new and unexpected and even more so when a former victim was trying to prevent it.

And suddenly he felt bad for stopping Elaina in that market. For protecting the mission instead of the child. But then he remembered Adam's reaction and knew that it must have been even harder for him not to intervene. It was the ugly price they had to pay for getting the job done. And although she had not signed up for any of this, Elaina was now part of that godforsaken deal.