Chapter 1
Gustave "Doc" Kateb was a man who was rarely impressed by the careers of others. However, to say the young man's file was promising would be an understatement. Kateb needed more help in the medical side of Team Rainbow considering the only other medic was Oliver "Lion" Flament, and, their relationship wasn't exactly positive.
"So why am I here Six?", Kateb asked looking up from the file at Six, director of Team Rainbow.
"I want your input Gustave" Six replied
"Olivier was needed, but I want you to approve any future medical personnel".
"He has the pedigree to be here. I see no reason not to bring him here", Kateb replied.
"Good, you're going to recruit him then", Six replied with a sly smile.
"What!?"
"Luke is sick of the 24th. I need you to convince him to come to Rainbow.", Six continued, "Your flight to North Carolina leaves in four hours".
15 hours later…
Kateb was exhausted, he was falling asleep at the wheel of his rental. He practically starting cheering when he saw the sign for Pope Field AFB. He pulled into the address given by Six and walked into what seemed to be a small brick barracks. Inside the lobby was a lone airman watching camera feeds. He nodded at the young man and flashed GIGN credentials. He kept walking down the hallway past rooms of sleeping airmen, looking for a giveaway where Luke's room could be. Then he saw it, a room with a huge Texan flag draped on the wall. Besides the flag, a desk, and a bunk there was nothing else.
"Excuse me, sir, are you looking for something," a voice asked from behind. Kateb turned to find a short girl with glasses.
"Yes, I actually am. Do you know where TSgt is?", asked Kateb.
"Yes, he's just down the hall in the gym. Would you like me to go get him?", replied the girl.
"No the won't be necessary," Kateb said as he made his way out the door. He continued down the hall as he heard the muffled guitar solo of a metal song grow louder. He opened the door and was hit with a wave of heat and the smell of chalk. The song was blasting its chorus as Kateb looked around. Most airmen were on benches or using dumbbells, however, one was at the rack. Hernandez. He was mid squat with 500 pounds on the bar. Kateb was dumbstruck by the ease the airman had at lifting it. The young man racked the weight and moved to swap out weights. Kateb approached.
"Tech Sergeant Hernandez?".
Luke turned around to the sound of an unfamiliar voice and an even more unfamiliar man. "My name is Gustave Kateb. I'm here to offer you a job." the man continued.
6'5" was a lot bigger when you stood next to it and Gustave felt dwarfed compared to the American. He waited for a response from the giant Texan.
"Luke Hernandez, nice to meet you", Luke spoke with a twinge of Texan drawl, "give me a minute and we can take a walk".
Luke clapped his hands to get the chalk off and walked out motioning for Kateb to follow. He continued down the hall to his room and began digging through his locker for a clean pair of trousers.
"Kateb ain't American and you don't sound American, where are you from" questioned Luke as Kateb stood in the threshold of the room.
"France, GIGN" replied Kateb as Luke pulled his trousers over his pair of athletic shorts and began putting on his boots. "Have you heard of Team Rainbow?" asked Kateb, as Luke stood up.
"Once or twice from SEALs, something about terrorists hunters, blah blah blah, black ops" responded Luke, "let's walk and talk".
Both men began walking toward the lobby.
"Six has taken interest in your skills as a medic, I'm all that Rainbow has currently. That's why we want you" explained Kateb.
"I'm in" replied Luke flatly, surprising Kateb. "Just like that?" asked Kateb.
"Iraq and Afghanistan are winding down and we ain't doing anything" explained Luke.
"Well then how fast can you get Hereford?" asked Kateb.
"When's the next flight?"
2 days later..
After some bad weather and a slight delay that left them at an Irish airport for a whole day, the taxi pulled into the front gate of Hereford Base. Both men had passed out in the back seat trying to catch up on sleep. The driver tapped them and then shook them awake. Both men were dreary eyed and made a silent vow to try and move their gear as quick as possible and get some sleep. Luke grabbed his gear and enter the building quickly, climbing the stairs to the empty room that was his new home. A young man passed him in the stairway giving him an odd look. Luke, to exhausted to care, trudged on. He looked above the doors before finding his at the end of the hall, unlocking the door and busting through. He practically flew into the bed as the door close behind him. He was out before he hit the bed. 3 hours later, Luke awoke to a gunshot-like crack. British weather. He looked out his window to find a thunderstorm whipping outside. Luke rose up and found all his gear where he left it. He walked out into the hallway and found it empty. Where the hell is the gym in this place. He walked down the stairs and into the bottom floor of the barracks. He heard laughs coming from what he could guess was the rec room. Very carefully he dashed across the opening hoping no one would notice him.
"Specialist Hernandez, it is a pleasure" a female voice called from the darkness of the lobby. An older African-American woman stepped out from the darkness into the dim skylight.
"I'm guessing you're Six" Luke asked.
"You'd be correct", she replied and then paused, "we'll be doing formal introductions tomorrow. I'd recommend you network a little bit before then. You may see some familiar faces".
1 day later…
Slowly, Luke rolled out of the mattress and sat up on the edge of his bed. His watch read 5:43. The 1 or 2 hours of sleep did very little to help his already exhausted state. He laced up his boots and stood to go shave when someone knocked on his door.
"It's open" Luke shouted.
The door opened to a familiar face. Craig Jenson. Luke had served with the SEAL on multiple occasions and was a little glad to see that he had been recruited.
"Six wants you to give a nice powerpoint on your life," Jenson said.
"No surprise", Luke replied. He stood up and followed the SEAL down the hall and down the stairs. After a brief walk across a parking lot, they came to a warehouse-like structure. They entered the lobby and Jenson placed card on a door panel and waited until it turned green. He opened the door and entered the room with Luke. Inside, there were over 30 people in various uniforms, but, all of them turned their heads when they saw a new pair of Multicam fatigues walk through the door. Luke felt like the new kid. Kateb and Six stood at the front of the room. Luke recognized some faces, Meghan Castellano and Erik Thorne. All colleagues he had served with in some capacity over the past few years. The presentation was a brief little affair that gave out some details on his career and his job in specific, however, Luke was unnerved by the piercing sets of eyes on him. Once he was done, Luke moved to the side of the room as Six detailed the agenda of today. The early day was mostly free time until around 1600 at which point a class was scheduled.
"Tactical Trauma Care, taught by our brand new trauma specialist", Six announced and motioned in his direction.
Finally, a team workout was scheduled for that evening. Lovely. She concluded the brief and turned it over to an older looking soldier, the apparent ground leader of Rainbow. He dismissed everyone and the room quickly emptied. Luke quickly followed suit and made his way back to the barracks. As he crossed the parking lot with the mass of operators he couldn't help but grin. It was almost like college with guns. All of the operators chattered incessantly like kids coming back from a long weekend save a few of the obvious outcasts. Luke split off and entered the building from another door to avoid further interaction. He walked up the stairs and quickly ran to his room. Once inside, he opened his closet door and started laying out his kit on his bed. He needed to calm his nerves and the range always helped. His rifle lay pristine in his hard case and his Glock machine pistol's slide shined in the warm morning light of his window. Carefully, he disassembled his rifle and examined all its parts for dirt or damage before reassembling it, and repeated the process for his handgun. He slid the vest over his torso and clipped his belt around his waist. After ensuring both fit properly, Luke grabbed his case and slipped into the hallway. Climbing down the stairs and walking to the lobby, Luke was almost home free. He started to push open the door, then.
"Привет, you leave so soon new guy".
Behind him a Russian leaned on the doorframe of the rec room, tracking him with his eyes.
"Shooting isn't fun without friend, here I go with you", the Russian continued.
Luke although irritated wasn't totally against the idea as he had no clue where the outdoor range was, his original plan. The Russian disappeared down the hall and returned a minute later with a beefy looking LMG.
"My name is Shuhrat Kessikbayev, but people call me Fuze. I'm with Spetsnaz. The rest of team are back in Russia on leave", the Russian said, extending a hand. Luke gave him a hearty handshake and they both exited the building.
The range was a half a mile down the road and was already busy with local military activity. Luke placed his case on the table and loaded his weapon as Fuze did the same.
"American, I make deal with you, we hip fire and whoever hit target more wins", Fuze said.
"You know, if your gun didn't have a hundred round belt I'd take you up"
"An American is scared to lose to a Russian. What a surprise".
"How about this, most rounds on target in 5 seconds".
"Sounds like deal, if you win I will clean your rifle for next month, if I win you have to go to help me pull little prank", Fuse said laughing at the thought.
"Deal"
They recruited one of the British soldiers on the range to keep time and made ready on the line. The soldier started the clock which made a loud beep and both operators started to empty their weapons downrange. As soon as Luke heard the click of an empty mag the soldier called cease fire. Fuze rushed forward like a kid on Christmas with Luke right behind him. They both tallied up their targets. 22 hits.
"How many", Fuze asked.
"22".
Fuze started laughing, "It looks like you will be on Monika's shitlist for long time American. I got 25".
"Damn Russians"
It seemed the Russian was growing on him. They both returned to shooting and for the first time in a few months, Luke had plain old fun.
The medical class was dry, as always, and most of the operators had trouble staying awake until Luke threatened to tourniquet the next person to fall asleep. The result was a redhead FBI operator groaning in pain for the rest of the class. After the class was finished, Luke quietly slipped back to his room and started cleaning his rifle. The time flew and Luke was almost late to the evening workout. Thatcher stood in front of the group of operators and behind him laid a large mat on the indoor track of the gym. A wrestling mat.
"Today we're going to have a little intramural fighting tournament. Striking is legal but we're looking for a pin or submission, not a knockout.", the old Brit explained, "and obviously we want to start with a good match so let's see Hernandez and Cowden".
The two operators stood across from each other and shook hands as Thatcher signaled the start of the match. Cowden tried to grapple with Luke but before he could react the adept wrestler threw him like a ragdoll, straight onto his back. Thatcher began the 20 second pin time as Cowden struggled to turn but Luke's vice grip held the Scot on the ground for the full time. Slowly the bracket dwindled to 4 people; Luke, SAS guy named Porter, a Pole named Zofia, and the FBI agent named Cohen who still look pissed from the tourniquet incident. A long time SAMBO champ, Zofia put a good fight until she put her weight too far forward allowing Luke to throw her. Porter was outmatched by what appeared to be Krav Maga moves. Cohen's throws were flawlessly executed and Porter could not keep up. He finally tapped out after Cohen trapped him in what could only be described as a brutal upside-down wristlock. Thatcher raised her hand as the FBI team, alongside a couple operators, clapped. "Hernandez vs Cohen. Championship round." Thatcher announced as operators propped themselves up to watch the anticipated bloodbath. The FBI started cheering for Ash and a few pity clapped for Luke as he stood up and walked to the center of the mat. "There's no shame in forfeiting", the redhead said with a grin. As Thatcher blew the whistle, the redhead threw a salvo of jabs at the Texan's face. One brutal uppercut connected with his jaw knocking him off balance. Welp, that hurt. However, the next swing she threw was intercepted by the Texan who returned the sentiment with a devastating straight leg kick to the gut. The FBI agent was sent flying to a chorus of resounding "Ooohs" from the audience. The Texan wiped the blood from a newly formed cut above his right eye and locked onto the redhead, still recovering from the kick.
Eliza Cohen was in serious pain, she had been shot many times and preferred that to the pain in her gut. She tried to stand up but had her legs kicked out from under her by her opponent. However, before he could capitalize the situation, Eliza locked her hands on his arm and wrapped her legs around his shoulder, trying to put him an armbar. The airman was in a bad position and he knew it. However, what he did next no-one saw coming. Keeping his hands locked together, he got his feet under him and began to strain his legs upward. Slowly, Eliza felt the ground under her back disappear. The Texan had her six feet in the air, hanging off his arm, like a monkey. Then she hit the ground. Hard.
Luke stood up. He was scared for a moment that he may have killed the FBI agent. However, she slowly rolled over into fetal position trying to catch her breath. Thatcher blew the whistle and Luke walked over to the prone redhead.
"Hey trooper, you good?", he asked.
The redhead made a slight nod while grimacing.
"American, you were supposed to pin the girl, not kill", Fuze said trying not to laugh as walked over, "but none would blame you if you did". Luke, offered his hand to Ash who swatted it away and went back to curling up on the mat.
"You're not going to be able to catch your breath like that trooper", Luke advised and slowly sat her up.
"Trooper? How'd you know I'm - was airborne?", the redhead asked trying to get her mind off the pain.
"Red boots. Worked with the IDF before.", Luke explained flatly.
"I think you broke some ribs", she abruptly said.
"Which side?"
"Right, and right on my side", she replied.
Luke looked around. By this time only Fuze was left in the gym with a stupid looking grin on his face.
"Hey, get me Doc", the Russian nodded and left.
"You certainly are out to cause me pain. Two times today."
"Three", replied Luke as he pressed his finger onto her side in search of any obvious fractures. Eliza tried to hold in her yelp.
"I can't feel any breaks, but you could have a hairline fracture", Luke explained. At that moment, Doc came in.
"Hernandez, you know there is a no in between do and harm?" the Frenchman asked with a grin. The two medics hadn't conversed since the taxi ride to the base but the friendly nature of Kateb reminded Luke of his old wingman.
"Think she broke a couple of ribs", Luke explained.
"Certainly building a reputation, mon ami", the Frenchman laughed.
"Wasn't expecting a UFC fight", Luke said.
"You two done making jokes at my expense", the FBI agent asked.
"Maybe", Kateb replied.
The two put her arms around her shoulders and slowly lifted her upwards. "Can you walk?", asked Kateb.
"Kind of"
They slowly made progress what Luke guessed was the infirmary. He really needed to take the time to look at a layout of the building. Waiting outside the destination was another familiar face. Castellano.
"If it isn't the prodigal airman. Guess they finally recruited your replacement Doc", Castellano laughed.
"I hope so, retirement sounds nice when I have to deal with you people", Kateb countered. The group walked through the door.
"Luke, help her to the last bed on the right while I find Meghan her files", Kateb ordered as he turned and began rummaging through cabinets. Luke guides the redhead to the bed and helped her sit down.
"First day and already taking girls to bed. Tsk tsk tsk", the redhead joked. Luke held down a smile as the girl starting giggling.
"Sorry about the whole breaking your ribs thing trooper".
"It's Eliza. Eliza Cohen. Please stop calling me trooper. You sound like those dads that call their sons sport", Eliza teased.
"Eliza huh, you got it sport".
"You and Jordan are going to be best friends. And I'm going to want to pull my hair out when you two Texans are together", Eliza said.
"A fellow Texan? Well, shid pardner, looks like damn fine day to me", Luke replied trying to emphasize what was left of his Texan accent. In truth, the last time he had been to Texas was for a funeral over a year ago and he hadn't gone back since.
"Your name is Luke, right? I kinda tuned out your presentation." Eliza cheekily responded.
"Yes it is," he said and then paused. "Well Eliza, I think I'll be leaving you to your misery"
"See you around. And I forgive you for almost killing me", she said smiling as he walked away.
"I see Lone Star already have girlfriend", Shuhrat said to Meghan, standing in the doorway of her room.
"I know, I heard her giggling in the infirmary like a 16-year-old cheerleader talking to the captain of the football team. Remember that British soldier she dated?.", Meghan asked, grinning at the memories.
"Poor bastard, she nearly kill him at bar one time in drinking contest. Maybe I should tell Jordan, he will have field day on Eliza when he hears"
"If you tell anyone then I will tell them about the helicopter incident", Meghan replied.
"Hey, it was only joke", he blushed. Tina would kill him if word got out about that. It wasn't even my idea.
Luke sat on the edge of his bed and stared at the photo in his hands. It was the only other decoration he traveled with. It was a picture of his graduating class at the final EMT school PJs attended. 18 airmen, including him, sat in full kit while Charles Morgan held the class flag at the side. Class 08-13. They survived 9 weeks of indoc and 2 years of the most mentally demanding training on earth. He remembered the one day that Bernardi had put his boots on the wrong feet but the instructors wouldn't let him fix it. He almost quit but everyone practically held him down when he stood up to blow the horn. Bernardi was dead now. IED got him in Enduring Freedom. 5 others were gone too. Iraq and Afghanistan. He stood up and placed the photo on the corner of the desk. He sprawled back onto his bed and stared at his ceiling. If he was lucky or exhausted he might get 3 hours of sleep. Just him and his thoughts now.
Los Angeles, California
"Michael grab the fucking money", Ryan Carson screamed.
Two squad cars pulled up out front but the officers were unable to get out before their cars were hosed with bullets from Jace's M249.
"We got an air asset inbound and they just called for SWAT", Murtaz yelled, he was listening to police frequency closely.
"Let's go, I got it", Michael said running around the corner with a full duffel bag and the bank manager. Carson unholstered his 1911 and shot the manager in the face. Blood and brain splattered the wall. One of the women on the floor started crying.
"Carson what the fuck!?", asked Michael, his glasses covered in brain matter.
"Just in case", Carson shrugged, "now let's move".
All four walked out the front door and into the late morning light. Four more squad cars came blasting down the street with the lights on. Carson and his team raised their weapons and emptied the guns into the approaching vehicles. Once all the cops were definitely dead, they started running for their getaway car; an unassuming Toyota.
"Carson, we got tac units less than two blocks away", Murtaz said as the four heavily armed and armored robbers got into the small sedan.
They took off down the street and took an immediate left. In the rearview mirror, Carson could see an armored truck turn the corner as a helicopter flew overhead. For the next few minutes, they rode in silence, waiting to see if they were going to be pursued. Finally, they pulled into the darkness of an underpass and Carson put it in park.
"Carson, why the fuck did you shoot the manager? Robbing is one thing. We can't be fucking murderers. You may not remember but a long time ago we took an oath to protect and serve?", Michael yelled. "He could've identified us", Carson responded coldly, while Jace nodded her head in agreement.
Michael Romano tried to hide his disgust. Both him and Murtaz had noticed how ruthless their other two squadmates had become. The group of former cops had been laid off after they tried to expose their own corrupt station chief. Instead of being arrested, he got a fat promotion and they were fired. Ryan even went to prison on some whipped up corruption charge. When he came out, something changed, he changed. They had started by trying to expose the system that had ruined their lives, but now, Michael feared that they had become worse than the very people they were supposed to be fighting.
"Just put your shit in the back. I want to get out of here before they lock this shit down", Carson said.
They took off their body armor and masks and placed their weapons alongside the gear. Once they were back in, Carson threw the car in reverse and began speeding down back streets trying to avoid major roads. After a tense twenty minute ride, they arrived at their destination; a simple sheet metal warehouse. They quickly unloaded the gear and ran inside. After checking their gear, they met at the table in the center of the space.
"What's our next move Carson", Jace asked joyfully, like a kid wondering what she got for Christmas.
"Listen, we only got one more of these hits. Then we'll have enough funds to pull this off", Carson said, acting like this was supposed to be good news to Michael.
"For what Carson. What's the endgame here", questioned Michael. Carson looked at Michael with fury in his eyes, a look he hadn't seen since the chief had him put in cuffs six years ago.
"Redemption".
Authors Notes:
What's up guys and gals. This is my first fanfiction and I'm trying to get better at writing so bear with me. This is obviously the first real chapter of the story so stay tuned. I am a student and athlete so don't give up hope if there are any long pauses between chapters. I'm looking to make this a good 20 to 30 chapter story so get ready. Also if anyone would like to be a beta reader then I would really appreciate it, just shoot me a message.