I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or its characters, it belongs to CBS and its creators.
Chapter Twenty-Five
"How long do you think you'll be gone for?"
Alyx shrugs, adjusting her backpack. "It depends on how much intel we have about his whereabouts. They could have his location and we act immediately, or they have an idea of his location, and we waste resources. Captain said I can always take extra time off if I find out that it'll be a longer time than we thought." Steve nods, sighing.
"That's good." Steve rubs the back of his neck. "I know it's silly, but... I really don't want to see you leave." Alyx smiles, her ears tinting red. Before he could say anything else, she drops her backpack and wraps her arms around his neck, and he wraps his arms around her waist, holding her close. Her hair was tied into a slick bun and she was wearing her deployment uniform. She had her backpack and duffle bag sitting on the ground next to them. Her plane would leave in a few minutes, so they had some time left.
Steve really didn't want to pull away, to be honest. She smelled like honeycomb and citrus because of her lotion. He felt her nestle against his neck, probably not wanting to pull away either.
"I'm really going to miss you, Alyx."
"So am I." She sighs. "Hank hated it when I told him I was leaving."
"I'm sure. You guys have only been dating officially for a few months." She sighs. "You guys didn't break up, did you?"
"No, thankfully. He understood after I explained everything to him like I did with you. He's still upset, but he's okay."
Slowly, they separated, but he kept her hands in his.
"You come back safe to me, okay? I've known you for a year, and I really really don't want to..." He swallows thickly. "You know." She slips one of her hands out of his and lays it on his cheek, smiling softly. The sun was catching her eyes and making them bright silver and they shimmered like diamonds. He didn't know if it was because of tears or just the sunlight, but man, were they magnificent.
"I'll come back safe. I promise." He cups her face and brings her close, kissing the top of her head softly. She relaxes and hugs him once more.
"Lieutenant, are you ready?" They break away to see a soldier waiting nearby, and she looks down at her bags, inhaling deeply. She looks up at him and hugs him again, making him really not want to let go again.
"I love you." Steve melts and tightens his grip around her.
"I love you, too." Finally, they pull away and she pulls on her backpack and picks up her duffle. Steve straightens his posture and salutes, and she returns it, before following the soldier to the plane. Steve watches her walk away, meeting the rest of her team inside, and as the the door closes, she turns to meet his eyes once more before it seals and he's left alone at the landing strip.
"We believe that our target is taking refuge in this complex here." Commander Royce drew a circle around an area on the screen, tapping on it to enlarge it. "We've seen a lot of activity here recently, and according to some scouts, quite a few transports have come in, and have gone out."
"But is the person who we are after confirmed? That the person we are after is confirmed to be Kassim?" Yasmine asks, punctuating her words by tapping on the table.
"We're not about to go into this mission without confirmation of identity. It would be too risky on everyone's lives." Ivan adds. The room stirs with discomfort, and Alyx slides those pretty silver wolf eyes across everyone in the room, moving her hand away from her chin to sit up straight.
"As usual leader of this team, I do have to agree. I refuse to go into any mission without actual confirmation of our target." Alyx says, leaning forward to put her arms on the table, and she overlaps her fingers. "My team suffered the last time we went after him, and I won't make the same mistake again." Commander Royce nods.
"I understand. We only have partial confirmation of his identity, but we do know that this dealer ring is the ring that our target runs through. The other assets have been confirmed to be partners, so we do believe they are housing him."
"So, in more simpler words, it's not a one-hundred percent confirmation that he's there." Alyx rubs her eyes.
"Commander..."
"Think of it this way. The mission will go according to plan and we will get a large part of the dealer ring destroyed. That means less guns to known terrorists and less work for us." Alyx stands abruptly, making everyone shift a few inches back.
"You have better hope this goes how you think you want it to go." She fixes Commander Royce with a stern glare before turning and walking out. Ivan, Finn, Ray and Yasmine followed her shortly after.
They caught up to her as she headed to their tent, the sun blasting down on them. Her fists were clenched around her hat, and people moved out of her way like the Red Sea parting.
"Hey, hey." Finn gently grabbed her arm, stopping her before she picked up a gun and decided to shoot somebody nearby. She stops and looks at him, huffing softly. Her face is red from fury and her eyes are shining dangerously.
"Finn, it's basically suicide. He wants us to go in there with no confirmation about him. You lost your leg because of him."
"I lost my leg because I was an idiot, Alyx. Like Commander Royce said, if we do this, it will take down a major ring in weapons deals." Alyx pursed her lips. "And if Kassim is there, then hey, a bonus! But we were asked to do this mission, and we all agreed." Finn gives her a pointed look.
Alyx lets out a resigned sigh. "Fine. I don't like it, but... Fine." They return to their tent, where a garment bag is laid on Alyx's bed.
"What's that?" Yasmine asks. Alyx smiles, walking over to it and hanging it up to unzip it.
"My new uniform." She slides it apart to run her fingers over the new name, and they crowd around her to read it.
MCGARRETT
"You changed your name?" Ray asks, and Alyx nods.
"Yeah. Legally, too. I even have a uniform at work ready for when I get back that has it."
"I thought no one knew your real identity." Ivan says. Alyx sighs, nodding.
"Yeah. But once I get back, I'm going to reveal who I am and who I am to Steve to everyone. I'm tired of hiding." Alyx runs her fingers over the name once more as the others throw glances to each other behind her back.
"We only have a partial idea that our target is in this complex. That said, we are on this mission to limit the amount of gun deals that go around in this country. If you do see our target, do not hesitate to shoot. Others will say to capture, but today is not a capture mission. Does everyone understand?" Alyx asks as she adjusts her scope on her gun.
As everyone nods, one soldier leans to whisper to Yasmine.
"Um... I don't mean any offense to the Lieutenant, but... I knew a Commander McGarrett. Are they...?" Yasmine throws the dude a look, her eyebrow raised.
"Dude. How many McGarretts do you know?" The soldier leans back in his seat, staring at Alyx with wide eyes. Yasmine catches Alyx's amused look, throwing her a smirk, which Alyx returns.
"Do you hear me loud and clear, Lieutenant Koto?" Alyx asks.
"Yes." Finn replies gruffly. "I still don't understand why you guys didn't let me come along."
"Because you have one leg and half a leg?" Ray replies. Finn sputters.
"I can still walk!"
"After a year of physical therapy." Yasmine points out and Finn grumbles under his breath about being replaced by a rookie.
"He can hear you, you know." Alyx says nonchalantly.
"Sorry, rookie."
"It's okay." The young soldier chirps. "I understand." Alyx gives him her reassuring grin.
"So, Commander-I mean Lieutenant McGarrett, uh, how do you like Hawaii?"
"I love it. How do you know my father?" He turns red.
"He gave a speech at my graduation a couple of years ago. I never knew he had a daughter." She smirks all-knowingly.
"Yeah, neither did he." Before the stunned rookie could reply, the driver caught their attention.
"We're coming up now, Lieutenant."
"Good. You all ready for this?"
"Nope!"
"Good!"
They parked the truck about a mile away from the complex, slowly honing in on the complex. There was about ten guards outside, armed and alert.
"Picking up about ten heat signatures inside the complex. They're spread out, but be careful. They've been moving a lot of weapons out of this place, so they will have them at their disposal."
Alyx motioned for Yasmine and the rookie, Collins, to head south, while she and Ray took north. The two other soldiers, Brown and Garcia, went east.
"Keep a low profile." Alyx whispers into the earpiece. "Once they know we're here, everyone will be on alert."
"Yessir." She hears back immediately.
"Move in."
Slowly, thankful for the cover of the night, they move in, flanking the guards, and catching them off guard quickly. They were able to take down six, but the others quickly shot back, alerting everyone else of their arrival. The remaining guards were quickly taken out, and they moved in on the complex. There was shouting inside, and Yasmine, being their grenade happy girl, tosses a very enthusiastic stun grenade inside. As soon as it goes off, they rush in, managing to take down four immediately.
"There's two on your left, and the remaining two are upstairs."
As soon as Finn said that, two men burst into the room, and Ray and Yasmine shoots them.
"Confirm their identities. I'll get the last two." Alyx whispers and heads up the stairs.
Yasmine pretty much almost leaps after her, but she holds back. Alyx can handle herself, Yasmine told herself. They set to obeying her order, moving to look over them so their body cams can view them.
"They're all high ranked arms dealers, like Commander Royce said. Kassim is not one of them." They hear Finn make a startled noise on the other end. "Guys, I'm picking up some weird interference."
"What kind of interference?" Ivan asks. There's no answer, and they all suddenly get a very deep sinking feeling.
"Alyx? Come in."
"Put your hands where I can see them." They hear over the radio. They listen, not even breathing as they listen to shuffling on the other end. "I have Kassim." They almost breathe out in relief until they hear static on Finn's side.
"-Omb! Get... There!"
"Finn? Repeat! Finn!"
"BOMB!"
Their instincts took over, and they immediately fled. There was enough time to get about a hundred feet away from the building, before it went up in a large explosion.
The force knocked them down, their ears ringing from the sound.
Yasmine managed to get up first, shock turning into horror as she watched the building burn. She dug her hands into the sand as horror grapples her body.
"Alyx!"