Cole wasn't expecting the sight that greeted him when he glanced to the left; just a few seconds after Janice tore after her n

Cole wasn't expecting the sight that greeted him when he glanced to the left; just a few seconds after Janice tore after her nemesis. Janice was hanging off of the skid with that woman holding onto her ankle. There was no way Janice was going to be able to climb up, and if he tried to hit Tundra against a tree, chances were the impact would jar Janice loose as well.

He was coming to a clearing large enough to land this thing, and headed for it. Tundra was good enough to deal with Janice, he was sure, but she was no match for him. The trick was going to be landing this thing without squashing Janice in the process. Luckily he'd kept up with flying different kinds of aircraft. Helicopters weren't what he'd used while just a pilot in the Air Force, but since being assigned to the Pentagon for "special assignments" he'd gotten back into practice with flying a lot of different things.

He didn't have time. Janice was strong, but she wasn't going to be able to hold both their weights forever. One chance at this. His enhanced vision scanned the clearing, looking for the best place. Ah, there! The snow was deep enough to provide some cushioning, and he couldn't see any large rocks that could hurt her in a fall. Now it was just a matter of getting close enough.

He dropped the helicopter down, trying to position it carefully over the right spot. Janice was probably going to kill him for this later, and all he could do was hope she'd get the chance. Tundra might have another weapon on her, and if he tried to lower them to the ground, she would be the first to touch and have the second needed to get it out. They were about ten feet off of the ground, and the snow being kicked up was blinding to norms. If Janice lost her hold, they both had better hit at the same time. He was in position. He jerked the helicopter to the left; dipping it hard and then jerking it back straight.

Janice knew she only had a few more seconds before she let go of the skid. Her arms were cramped; her entire body feeling like it was being torn in half. They were close enough to the ground to be kicking up snow, and it was making the skids wetter and harder to hold on to. Suddenly the helicopter dipped, and the weight clinging to her was gone. She had a fraction of a second to register it when the helicopter straightened. The second jerk was one to many. She lost contact with the skid, and it was too wet for her to regain her hold, the noise from the rotors masking the screamed curse as she headed for the ground.

She didn't fall too far, and the snow cushioned some of the impact. Still, it stunned her for a moment, and she couldn't see really. Hopefully Tundra couldn't either. The helicopter moved away, and Janice could see the figure lying still in the snow. Tundra. She could almost reach out and touch her. Another couple of feet over and she would have landed on her. Wouldn't have mattered really. Tundra was looking rather unconscious as it was.

Janice got to her feet, feeling a little shaky. Damn, Cole had been crazy to drop them here. It was flat right there, but too close was a slope they could have rolled right down. Ah hell, what did it matter now? It had been a tough day, even by her standards. Heather shouldn't be too hard to find now. They would be back at the lodge soon and a hot bath was sounding better and be…

Tundra sprang off of the ground, bright metal gleaming from her hand. She was aiming low for the femoral artery in the thigh. A hit there would be just as fatal as a throat wound. Janice had been trained to always keep an eye on the enemy, even if you think they're out and that training saved her life right then and there. She was able to jerk back an inch, feeling the blade rip through cloth and skate across her skin, but not biting deeply.

Janice lost her balance, falling backwards, and Tundra was on top of her in a heartbeat as they wrestled for control of the knife. Janice's abused arm muscles screamed in protest as she fought to wrest away control of the knife. Tundra was smaller, but she was strong. Neither was watching where they were going, and suddenly they were both rolling down the slope, still locked in mortal combat. When they reached the bottom, Tundra was back on top, but the knife to the side of Janice's face for just a second, and she head butted Tundra. She jerked back from the blow, and Janice flipped her off of her.

Both women were on their feet in a flash. Tundra knew she only had a few more seconds before he managed to land that helicopter. She wouldn't be able to deal with him in single combat. No human could. But Nightshade didn't know about the gun in her boot. If she bent over to get it out, Nightshade would be on her before she could draw. Quite all right. It would be easier to get her and him closer together and she would be able to take them both. True, she was going to have to sacrifice the adult merchandise, but sometimes, drastic measures were needed to salvage a job.

Janice kept her eye on the knife. She was going to have to keep it from her for just a few more minutes. Cole was landing the helicopter on the level ground above. She was probably going to deck him for dropping her off of the skid, but first he was going to help her take down this psycho bitch. Janice dropped like she was going to do a leg sweep. Tundra swept down with the knife, jumping out of the way to the side. Janice timed the move right, and instead of going for the knees, had aimed short, and caught Tundra in the wrist instead. The knife flew from her hand, landing into a pile of snow. Now the playing field was a bit more fair.

Anger lent her speed. She ducked a kick, leaping up and fired off several punches, the last one getting through Tundra's rapid blocks. Tundra stumbled back, blood suddenly flowing from her nose. Janice was immediately on the attack again. They exchanged blows for a few more seconds. A figure appeared at the top of the slope, and desperation gave Tundra a slight burst of speed. If this didn't work she was going to die. She faked like a punch had made better contact than it did, falling back, and when Janice came in for the kill, she kicked hard, catching Janice full in the chest, throwing her backwards on her back.

Tundra had the second she needed. Her gun was out in a fraction of a second. She smiled at seeing Nightshade's expression as she jumped back to her feet. The gun was small, but still quite deadly. Tundra circled quickly, getting Janice between her and the Manticore that had come down the slope almost too quickly for the eye to follow. She jumped forward, catching Janice from behind and putting the gun to her head. Cole stopped immediately. Emotion was overshadowing the proper thing to do. How weak. How predictable. How wonderful…for her. They wouldn't be around long enough to regret his weakness.

"Hands up," Tundra hissed at Cole. He held them up, something resembling a cold smile touching the edges of his mouth. Tundra was a little angry for herself for being just a bit frightened of him even though she had the hostage. Forget even thinking that she could bring him in. All these non-humans needed to die. They were nothing more than humanoid pit bulls. Bred to be dangerous to real humans.

"You want me," he said calmly. "Let her go, and I'll go with you." He was coming closer to them. Damn it, she couldn't just kill Nightshade like this. She would lose her only leverage. An idea formed.

"I'm no fool," Tundra said. She didn't see Janice roll her eyes. That was debatable. Tundra smirked. He needed to be distracted for a moment. She let go of Janice and pushed her forward a little and then suddenly kicked her hard in the back, shoving her hard into Cole. Janice slammed into Cole's chest. He stumbled backwards, tripping over a rock and pulling her flat on the ground with him. Janice knew full well that was not something Cole would do. He'd caught her weight before with even more force behind it without so much as flinching. Her eyes caught his face and for a brief second she was stunned. He seemed to be looking peripherally, but his pupils had twisted, dilating to swallow the entire iris. Then they snapped back to normal. His arms were locked around her, not letting her jump up. He squeezed slightly, and in a flash Janice understood. He could see something she couldn't. There was a reason he wanted to be low to the ground, and she damn well better stay that way too.

"How adorable," Tundra mocked, seeing what looked like a hug. She was pleased to see Nightshade twist around. She wanted to see her face when she died. He was still holding her. Oh, how terribly sweet. "I would have thought that you were trained to not be weak," she said to Cole. "I myself have never let personal business interfere with my missions. Have you merely weakened over the years or do Americans even allow their science projects to get away with being overly emotional?"

She aimed carefully. "Not that it matters anyways. Goodbye." A single shot rang through the clearing. For a heartbeat in time Tundra looked shocked, seeing the arterial spray where her hand holding the gun had just been. The bullet had fragmented on impact, shredding through her hands. She only had a brief second to worry. Another crack of a rifle and she dropped to her knees, collapsing face first in the snow. The head wound made a much more gruesome mess than the other.

Cole got to his feet, helping Janice up. Two shadows in the trees became solid as they emerged, and Cole was grinning. A familiar-looking blonde man and woman walked to them, carrying rifles. Janice placed them suddenly. Heather's parents. She had met them in September at parent's night at school. Mrs. Raleigh was a volunteer at school. Ok. So a library volunteer could shoot better than she could. Too bad it wasn't out in school. That would keep the brats in line.

"Hey Leecee. Zack," Cole greeted. "About time you two showed up for the party."