Author's Notes: My sincerest apologies that this took so long to write. I only hope that it was worth the wait.
Chapter Twenty
Wincing as their eyes adjusted from the smoky, semi-lit temple to the bright and beautiful outside, the collective group of Jillian, Delinda, Mary, Sam and Nessa didn't even see the dark-haired man running up to them until they had reached the bottom of the stairs.
"You ladies okay?" a curious Jack Keller inquired as they descended the last of the stairs.
"You!" an angry Sam spat, getting into a fighting stance. "What in the hell do you want?"
"Don't think that we don't know about you misleading Ed." an equally firm Nessa said as she stepped in front of the injured Mary. "How much did the mastermind behind this whole thing promise you, Keller?"
"Look, Ed knows why I did that." Jack sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "And he's all but forgiven me for it." Suddenly, concern flashed in his blue eyes as he spotted Mary. "My God, what happened in there?"
"She got thrown into a pillar." Jillian explained, "We need to get her to a doctor right away."
"No." Mary shook her head slowly, "I'm not going anywhere until Danny comes back."
"Where is Ed and Beavis and Butthead anyway?" a curious Keller asked, looking at the group. Suddenly, a sudden movement nearby caught his attention and the former CIA operative turned his head. The battered, bloody Professor was escaping the temple through a hidden door! "What the…"
"He's still alive?" a surprised Sam remarked, glancing over at Nessa. "I guess Danny didn't do as good as job as we thought."
Without saying anything to the women around him, Keller suddenly ran over and grabbed the Professor, pinning his arms behind him. The injured, slightly older man emitted a shocked gasp.
"I don't know where the hell you thought that you were going." Keller grinned, tightening his grip as the Professor attempted to throw him off. "But you're not going anywhere, Teach."
"See, now you're just being delusional, Billy boy." Ed remarked as the showdown inside the temple continued. Danny still confidently held his gun on Senator Henderson and a battle-ready Leo. "How can it not be over for you right now?"
"Because of what you don't see." Henderson laughed, exchanging glances with Leo.
"What in the hell is that supposed to mean?" a puzzled Danny questioned, letting his aim drop slightly. Out of the corner of his eye, he could also see quizzical looks on the faces of Ed and Mike. However, this quick glance distracted him from seeing Leo, who suddenly lunged forward and tackled McCoy to the ground. As he felt the cold marble floor against his back, a steady stabbing feeling emanated from his ribs, causing him to groan in pain. His pistol fell out of reach.
"Still trying to prove to everyone that you can hack it, GI Joe?" Leo smirked before ramming his metal pipe into Danny's abdomen. Crying out in anguish, the brown-haired, ex-Marine rolled on his side facing away from Leo and coughed up blood. "You should really give up on that."
"Danny!" Mike shouted, rushing over as he noticed Leo raising the pipe again. The bald, African American man grabbed the metal object with both of his hands, preventing Broder from moving it anywhere. " I don't think so!"
"Don't interfere, Mike." an intense Leo requested, pulling the pipe away as he got back to his feet. He slowly shook his head at the other man. "I've got nothing against you."
"Well, that's a damn shame." Mike grinned as he got into a fighting stance. "Because I've got plenty against your two-timing ass!" His grin intensified upon seeing Danny slowly getting to his feet behind Leo, his casted right arm clamped tightly around his abdomen. "You ok, Danny Boy?"
"Been better." Danny admitted, wiping a remnant of blood from the corner of his mouth with his left hand. His brown eyes focused themselves on Leo. "Payback time, Broder."
"Well, looks like the boys are busy playing by themselves." Ed smiled, looking at a rather surprised Henderson. The gray-haired man shrugged his shoulders casually while the blonde-haired man seemed to step back in fear. "I guess that that just leaves you and me, old friend. You know if I had the misfortune of being you right now, I'd use whatever trump card you claim to have up your sleeve." Deline suddenly punched the man with the blonde mullet square in the jaw, sending him staggering back a few more steps. "Because I guarantee that you're going to need it."
"You're asking it for it, Ed!" Henderson smiled as he rubbed the sore spot where Ed had punched him with one hand. The other reached inside his pants pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a remote. Mystified, Ed simply lowered his guard and stared at the object. "All I have to do is press one little button and I'll bury us all alive."
"You rigged this place to implode?" a shocked Ed figured out, his blue eyes staring into those of the Senator. Mentally, he questioned whether or not the man in front of him was actually insane enough to pull off something like that, or if he was just bluffing.
"Indeed." Henderson nodded with a wicked smile. "You see, Ed, when I came up with the plan to lure you here, I never intended on you leaving." He looked over Ed's shoulder at Danny and Mike who were busy fighting with Leo. "However, I'm a bit sorry that it appears that I'm going to have to take your boys out as well."
"Danny!" Ed shouted over his shoulder, realizing that he needed to get the pair out of here if Henderson was telling the truth. "Mike! Get your asses out of here!"
"Ed," Danny replied, looking up from Leo, who he had pinned on the ground. "No…"
"Shouldn't have done that!" Leo remarked right before Danny felt a surge of pain tear through his left thigh. Growling in pain, the former Marine could feel a warm liquid he recognized immediately as blood as he put a hand to the spot, and his suspicion was confirmed as he saw that his opponent now held a red-tipped knife in his hand.
"Danny!" a worried Mike exclaimed, simply staring at his best friend, who had fallen to the floor and was holding his thigh with his hands. His anger stirred, the bald, African-American man's eyes narrowed as Leo got back to his feet. "You son of a bitch!"
Although lunging at a knife-wielding man wasn't the smartest move someone could make, that rational thought didn't even enter Cannon's head as he charged forward. Pushing the knife-holding arm out of the way, Mike managed to land a blow directly to the middle of Leo's abdomen. The brown-haired man simply gasped for air and cradled his mid-section with one arm, allowing Mike to land a blow directly to the jaw. Leo staggered the side a few paces, allowing the former Montecito valet to be able to grab his arm and attempt to wrestle the knife away from him.
"Danny!" a concerned Ed exclaimed, momentarily tossing his confrontation with Henderson out the window and rushing over to the younger man's side. Although Danny was now sitting up, blood was still seeping out of the big gash in his thigh. The gray-haired, former CIA agent knelt down next to him, putting his hand on his shoulder. "You okay?"
"Of course." Danny reassured, wincing as he moved his leg slightly. A slight grin appeared on his face as he looked at his mentor. "It's just a scratch."
"It's a bit more serious than a paper cut, kid." Ed smiled back, having to chuckle inwardly at his protégé's macho attitude. Slowly removing his shirt, Ed tied the garment expertly around Danny's injured limb. "That oughta do it."
Just as he was about to thank Ed for the older man's rarely seen generosity, Danny's eyes suddenly caught sight of Senator Henderson's finger coming down on the button.
"No!" a horrified Danny shouted, causing every head in the room to turn and look at what had caused such a reaction. As the button went down, different thoughts suddenly flooded the heads of Danny, Mike, and Ed. Thinking about Mary and his father, guilt began to consume Danny about leaving both of them alone, especially his father. The younger McCoy knew firsthand that his mother's death had nearly killed the older man and he dreaded what his own death would do.
Ed too, of course, was full of sorrow that he would never see Jillian or Delinda again. Closing his eyes tightly, he wished that he could go back in time and change the last words he had said to the pair from a warning not too spend too much money to an I love you. When he opened his eyes, he looked at the blonde-haired man in front of him with pure hatred; hatred for taking him away from Jillian and Delinda, and hatred for the presumed soon-to-be murder of Danny and Mike. Deline also felt angry with himself for not doing more to prevent the two men from being in this situation in the first place.
Throwing Leo to the ground, Mike was also feeling angry with himself for things that he hadn't done. The bald, African American man hadn't protected Danny and Ed like he felt that he needed to. He hadn't been able to stop the bad guys from hurting people that he cared deeply about. Most of all, he hadn't told a certain black, British pit boss exactly how he felt about her. Closing his eyes, Cannon swore that if he lived through this, he would take better care of his friends, make the Senator and the others pay, and, first and foremost, he would tell Nessa that he loved her.
When the expected deafening bangs of an implosion didn't reach their ears, the Montecito men looked around quizzically at each other before all looking at a confident Henderson. Growling, Ed stepped forward.
"What in the hell are you playing at, Henderson?" he demanded, his blue eyes narrowing in fury. "You just trying to give us all heart attacks or something?"
"Poor stupid Ed." Henderson chuckled, pounding his fist against the wall behind him. To Deline's amazement, a door suddenly appeared in the rock where there hadn't been one previously. "Did you really think that I would kill myself and Leo along with you three idiots? No, I made sure that we would have enough time and a way to escape." Still smirking, he looked past Ed to where Danny was trying to unsuccessfully stand on his injured leg. "I'd say that you would also have enough time to escape, but I don't think that one of you will make it out of here in the five minutes before it implodes." He sighed. "Good thing that I've made sure that there's no way to connect me to this. I don't want the death of a Silver Star recipient to smear my re-election campaign."
"You sonofa…" a snarling Ed shook his head as he started stalking towards the senator. The gray-haired man was forced to stop, however, upon seeing that Leo had picked up Danny's discarded pistol and was now aiming it at the three Montecito men. Keeping his gun on them, Leo backed up into the same hidden passageway as the disgraced senator.
"Farewell, Ed." a taunting Henderson waved just before the door shut again, leaving Danny, Mike and Ed alone once more.
"Mike, Ed," Danny requested, bracing himself against a nearby pillar. Knowing that he could never make it out with his leg the way it was, the former Marine lieutenant had resigned himself to the fact that he was going to die. "What are you guys waiting for? Get out of here!"
"No!" a firm Ed shook his head before turning to Mike. "Mikey, I need you to get out of here and make sure that the girls are as far away from the building as possible!"
"All right, Mr. D." Mike reluctantly nodded before sprinting back out into the hallway. He didn't want to leave, but the "don't question me" look in Ed's eyes had been stronger than ever. Cannon knew that his boss had a plan in mind that would guarantee a happy ending for everyone.
"Ed, go!" Danny demanded, waving in the direction that Mike had just gone in. He bit his lip and closed his eyes as a fiery pain shot through his body after he dared put weight on his slashed leg for a second. "You'll never make it if you wait for me."
"I'm not leaving you, kid." Ed replied, shaking his head. He slowly removed Danny's left hand and, thus, arm from the pillar and wrapped it around his own neck. "We're both getting out of here even if I have to use you a soccer ball and kick your beat-up ass all the way!" He started dragging the brown-haired, younger man towards the door. "Now, come on!"
"Looks like everything's wrapping up out here." Sam remarked as she watched Interpol agents and local medical officials load the Professor into an ambulance. Nearby, more local officials were also attending to Jillian, Delinda and Mary.
"Notice who disappeared the minute that Interpol showed up though." Nessa commented, rolling her eyes. "Such a coward that Jack Keller is! Admits that he did wrong, but can't take his punishment like a man!"
"I wonder if the boys got to Ed yet." a worried Jillian said as her, Delinda and Mary, who was now sporting a bandage around her head, made their way over. The older, blonde-haired woman clasped her hands together in a prayer-like pose. "God! I just want this nightmare to be over!"
"Oh, my God!" a horrified Nessa suddenly gasped, turning her attention to the side of the temple. Senator Henderson and Leo had made their way through the same concealed door that the Professor had just used, ending up right into the hands of waiting Interpol agents.
"It's Leo and that pervy senator." Sam noticed before worry suddenly washed over the brown-haired woman's features. "Oh, my God. You guys don't that they...Ed, Mike and Danny can't be..."
"They're not." Delinda shook her head, refusing to believe it. "They can't be!" Suddenly, her green eyes caught sight of Mike sprinting down the temple steps. "Look! It's Mike!"
"Mike!" a thankful Mary said as the bald, black man descended the last of the stairs, gasping for breath. "Thank, God! Where's Danny and Ed?"
"We've got to get out of here." Mike gasped, putting his hands on his knees. "Got to get to safety."
"Safety?" a puzzled Nessa repeated as several loud booms were heard in quick succession. Covering their ears, the women watched on, terrified, as the temple began to collapse in on itself. In their shock, they didn't even notice as Interpol agents grabbed them and carried them towards the relatively safety of the jungle nearby.
"Yes!" Senator Henderson exclaimed with absolute joy as the temple was quickly rendered to nothing more than a pile of rubble and a dust cloud that seemed to choke the breath out of all who stood near.
"No." Mary whispered with wide, tear-filled eyes as stillness began to descend the destruction site. Suddenly, she screamed so loud that those around her felt that they must have heard her back home in Las Vegas. "DANNY!"
"ED!" a teary-eyed Jillian screamed at the same time, holding a sobbing Delinda close to her.
To be continued...