One week earlier….
Tamsin drove at break neck speeds enroute to Derrick and Erica's compound for the joint exercises. All along the way she was trying to piece together how it came about that Bo and her became an EXCLUSIVE item. 'Got drunk, then had great sex, followed up by my good deeds, which led to better sex, which then led to me pledging my fealty to Bo, followed quickly by a 3 some, only then to have Bo professing her love in return in the form of words then backed up my extreme possessive jealously, which led to where we are at now. SHIT!' Tamsin thought as she rolled her eyes, 'The alcohol started it all. I knew it would lead to my down fall sooner or later. I gotta stay off that crap.'
Tamsin stretched her neck muscles while she was driving. She hated the fact that she was human and had to take care of herself. She just needed to last long enough to find Laruen.
It really burned her that she couldn't find Lauren. All the places that were human only districts were cleared in the immediate vicinity. This made Tamsin have Kendra's team do a sweep in her areas she cleared before without success thus far. They should be done in a couple more weeks but she knew chances were slim to none that she missed Lauren's hideout.
Bo as always was understanding and did her best to bolster her spirit. Lauren just disappeared without a trace.
Lauren was definitely not in major city or urban hubs. If she was wanted by Interpol, then her face profile was probably uploaded to the camera security grids which included at times retail camera systems.
That left Tamsin with 3 options she brooded. Expand her search radius again, look for Lauren in Fae held areas or she may be 6 feet under already.
Expanding her search radius deeper into human only areas was not an option since her net was already very wide. Kendra's human team could go into those areas by pulling some strings, but that would lead to too much attention. Also Lauren was a creature of habit, and since she knew the existence of Fae and was comfortable with them so therefore, she had to stay near them but not close enough to get detected.
Hopefully she was still not experimenting on Fae.
Therefore her next step would be to hit sparsely populated Fae held areas that had access to all items Lauren and maybe her security force needed.
What if that was a bust? Tamsin questioned herself. Well that led to the last option.
Lauren was killed and she would need to find the body.
As much as the former Tamsin would have not cared, maybe even relished this thought just a little bit, Tamsin now had to worry.
Tamsin mused further. If this was true, then her succubus girlfriend would be devastated. Bo would need all the emotional support… uggg EMOTIONAL support… she could get. Lauren is her girlfriend after all.
Tamsin cursed loudly in Valkyrie beating her steering wheel as she drove. It loosely translated to 'pain and very slow death of a thousand cuts bleeding out in a pool of alcohol.'
"Fucking insanity!" Tamsin exclaimed out loud only to herself. "I *AM* HER GIRLFRIEND! BO IS BONDED TO Meeeeeeeee! Not some fucking test tube hugging, petri disk licking, frail bookworm, second rate human sorry ass excuses of a traitorous doctor! I *AM* TAMSIN. Bonded Pair of Bo Dennis, leader of the *ALL* Valkyrie orders in Valhalla. That's right Lauren, Karen, Amber, or whatever you call yourself 'cus ALL Valkyrie orders in Valhalla worship *meeeeeeeeeeee*."
Tamsin was not even close to finishing her tirade as she paused only briefly to take a breath. "Oh I got hundreds and thousands of war hardened Valkyrie orders at my disposal. What you got? Millions and billions of single celled bacterium to your beacon call? PLEASE….. And Bo? She is your EX-Girlfriend now. LIVE WITH IT. Yup serves you right for slapping me. I bet it will burn your ass to no end to know *ALL* the things I did to Bo while you were gone and she enjoyed every second of it. Bo can't even stay clothed long enough when I am around. Annnd Lauren, if you do manage to get Bo to drop her cloths for you, you will never dominate her EVER even if I leave this world. Fucking slut."
Tamsin smiled sadistically feeling a little better about herself. It was good to just let out all her frustrations. She never vocalized to herself about all the orders worshiping her or the statue of the missing Valkyrie but it was nice since it made her feel powerful at least just this once.
Her mission for Bo? That always brought her back to reality. Yea, it was still on. She needed to hurry up and find Lauren before Bo tried to call it off. Each time they were together, she could tell Bo would want to not follow thought and when she did vocalize it, Tamsin hated it when she had to convince her to stay on course. It was taking more and more convincing each successive time. It was also bruising her ego but love demanded many such things no matter the pain involved.
LOVE.
PAIN.
Up until recently a foreign concept for Tamsin but being new to it made her aware of love's intimate association with pain.
Tamsin pulled over to the side of the road and rested her head on the steering wheel. 'We all strive in our lives to avoid pain; Physical pain and even emotional pain. We learn to avoid it and maybe even find coping mechanism if need be. We therefore can turn off the pain or minimize it, but the PAIN as a result of LOVE we accept wholeheartedly. That is what separates us from animals. It makes us 'human'. It demonstrates in a way that we are alive.' Tamsin told herself as she felt her heart ache.
Arin was practicing in an open field in Valhalla with 2 short staffs to prepare for the upcoming tournament in which all Valkyries, using non bladed weapons, compete against each other for a chance to graduate to higher orders. She stopped briefly and considered what Tamsin just said about love and pain. Not that she wanted to pry, but Tamsin's thoughts kept leaking to her when she was distressed. It was happening more and more often now.
It amazed Arin that Tamsin was such a deep and profound thinker these days. She was learning lessons about love and life all on her own. Lessons that even evaded her. Why now under these cruel circumstances? Arin concluded that good times may not grow a person's character, but will flourish in the bad so long as they don't give up.
Tamsin just kept thinking ahead as her truck idled along the side of the road. It didn't matter if she was a perfect match for Bo or had money to do what they pleased together although Tamsin knew she had both.
Tick Tock.
Tamsin, the fallen was now ever vigilant on the second hand movement.
Tick Tock.
She was ever aware her life force was melting away like ice on a hot day. She made sure to sleep less when she was away from Bo to get more out of it.
Tick Tock.
She had weeks left, maybe less.
Tamsin new Kendra was worried about her. KENDRA. The crazy human who wanted to lay waste to all Fae shape shifters at one point. She cared for Tamsin whenever she got seriously injured in training and was the person who patched her up all the time. Tamsin surmised that Kendra knew she was no longer healing as quickly, even for human standards.
Tick Tock.
Tamsin need to find Lauren to succeed her and she needed her now because TIME was what Tamsin lacked. One can always get more of everything else in a finite life, but TIME.
CLICK.
For Tamsin felt death ever close. Beckoning to her to leave this forsaken land. Death was by her side as the bells of the clock tower would soon toll for her.
Dong, Dong, Dong.
Tamsin snapped out of it and straightened herself up. She ran her hand through her hair as several strands broke off. She glanced at it and just flicked the strands away as a steely determined expression came on her face. Tamsin then put her truck back into drive and drove off quickly. Time was wasting away after all. Ever resolute that death will not take her from this vale until Lauren was reunited with Bo.
She drove quickly on the windy side roads over passing several vehicles with her sirens on. Kendra's precinct was nice enough to upgrade her truck. They called the upgrade the 'presidential package' which included upgraded engine, run flat tires, and bullet proof glass with body panel inserts. It was the same package Kendra had on her truck. Tamsin really didn't care for it too much, but it was the team's way of saying thanks. Besides, the sirens always came in handy to run lights she brooded with in evil grin.
She did make up some time but was 15 minutes late. Her car was waved into the compound by an auxiliary security team. 'Rent-a-cops', she thought and scowled but knew that the full teams was already doing drills.
She parked her truck into any space quickly and abruptly got out running her way toward her team in the mist of pushups pulling her pack along on one shoulder.
Kendra fought to get back to consciousness. Rapid MP5 fire and cursing could be heard. She was just put down and dragged a few meters.
"Carrot Top, to central, Bravo falling back to egress point foxtrot! Multiple officers in Bravo down. Lost contact with Alpha who sustained heavy losses. They were overrun." Carrot Top yelled as he fired a couple more rounds. "Chica, shape charge, blow a hole in the exterior wall. Skipper, assess Rickshaw. Gillian, Stunner, and Brutis fortify your positions, cover fire now!"
She could barely open her eyes as Skipper added more bandages to her deep cuts bleeding out on her stomach.
Kendra could hear from her ear piece. "Central to Carrot Top, be advised backup unit ETA 1 minute."
She was losing consciousness again as she flashed back to Eric and his horrific death she just witnessed. Unadulterated fury and rage fill her soul. It was a foreign emotion to Kendra.
"Central!" Carrot top yelled, "Advise backup units with ARs and class 3 armor to surround and extract us. ALL OTHERS surround and hold the perimeter but do not engage."
"Carrot Top, this will delay extraction of your team. Sargent Shaw, do you concur?" Her radio blared in her ear.
She saw through the heavy lids of her eyes Skipper shake his head toward Carrot Top which reflected her condition. There was no way she was going down without a fight. Not when they just killed her boyfriend, her friends and family. She felt her anger inside her overflow and finally burst.
Carrot Top just talked into his radio with urgency "Sargent Shaw is incapacitated. I am the highest ranking now. DO IT or find someone at your end the will … FUCKING now 'cus we are getting slaughtered here mother f …"
Kendra hit her transmit button on her ear piece in a swift motion as if jolted back to life. Skipper just jumped scared for a second.
"Shaw to central, DO IT!" She yelled with new life. "Advise ALL UNITS… ALL UNITS. Terminate with extreme prejudice! REPEAT. Concur with Carrot Top. All units terminate with extreme prejudice. Backup units switch to Rifles and +P+ pistol rounds if available. Shotguns and MP5s are ineffective. Repeat shotguns and MP5s are not effective on target."
She pulled out her Glock as a shifter came down from the rafters. Skipper fired his MP5 as well. She almost needed to empty her whole magazine to take just one of these things down. She needed something with more stopping power and her sniper rifle was lost somewhere in the building.
Kendra yelled at the top of her lungs toward the remaining team, "Kill them ALL! Kill all these fuckers! I WANT THEM ALL DEAD! Deeeeeaaaadd!"
"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Chica yelled.
She was losing consciousness again as the shifter jumped on top of Brutis and slit his throat even though it already had several Glock and MP5 rounds in it.
A huge explosion from behind her blew that shifter back a couple meters.
Kendra's Glock at this time was empty as the slide locked back. She felt really dizzy and Skipper turned to address another shifter closer to him. The shifter recovered and got up slowly, it was injured but still very dangerous. Kendra was now the closest to it as it snarled at her. It then bared its teeth and hissed as it made its way to her.
Kendra pulled out her backup weapon even though fading in and out of levels of consciousness while sitting on the ground leaning against a pole. She has issues aiming now but remembered that the round currently in the chamber was dud and as such she cycled her slide and cleared it. The bullet ejected from the pistol, bounced off a wall next to her and landed back in her lap.
The shifter crawled its way to her as Skipper was engaging another shifter in hand to hand. She cracked off all 7 rounds just as the shifter start to charge her. It collapsed on top of Kendra but was still moving and it began to pull itself up.
She was extremely dizzy now and only had seconds left to kill this thing to be killed. It was a war of wills now. Who would stay conscious longer?
The injured shifter changed back into human form and from that she could tell it was about to die. He put his hand around Kendra's throat and started to squeeze.
Kendra was too weak and too gone to use her combat knife. In a somewhat dreamy state her hands found the recently ejected round on her lap, fed it clumsily into the locked and opened breech of her backup weapon. She pressed the slide release with all her might and it closed rapidly ready to fire.
But fire what? This bullet already failed to fire once for her but maybe, JUST MAYBE, it will fire for him.
AIR, she needed air. She brought the gun up between his arms and locked it under the shifter's chin.
'Just squeeze the trigger Kendra .. just this last time… SQUEEZE!' she told herself falling quickly into unconsciousness as a curtain of darkness descended over her. She closed her eyes and remembered Eric as a tear escaped.
'I'll be you soon Eric. I love you.' she thought to herself.
CLICK.
Kendra knew as she fell deeper into the dream state it was a dud again since she heard the distinctive click of her own gun.
The shifter let out a throaty laugh as she felt his grip get even stronger around her throat. Death would be her destination and salvation now Kendra thought.
The shifter grinned with satisfaction and grunted, "You're just a waste of air. Useless pathetic human bitch! I'll make sure to fuck yo…"
BANG!
THUD.
She felt the shifter's bloodied body collapse on her but now at least she could get air. She also felt the gun in her right hand recoil and smelt the gun power.
Slow burning primer. Some badly made ammunition would detonate a second or so later.
That bad round in her backup weapon fired the second time around. Better late than never was her last thought as she gloated to herself since she did get the last laugh before falling completely into the darkness.
Her hand dropped limp as the backup gun left her hand then clanked onto the floor, the slide was locked back with smoke rising from the breech signaling yet again that it needed to be reloaded.
Skipper came over minute later and pulled the dead shifter off Kendra and carried her out the hole in the exterior wall Chica made escorted by the heavily armed backup units.
Knock Knock Knock.
Kendra was still waking from a dream groggily. Last thing she remembered was waxing that low life shifter as her team was falling back. 'WAIT. That was a dream. Where am I?' Kendra asked herself.
Knock Knock Knock.
"Mr. Wolfbane? Is Captain Shaw there, It's Alex." A meek voice could be heard.
Kendra opened up her eyes quickly and realized that Dyson was coming to as well.
"What is it?!" Dyson growled.
"Captain Shaw will be late for morning exercises if I don't find her now. Is she with you?" Alex's voice said with urgency through the door.
"SHIT!" Kendra exclaimed loudly jumping out of bed trying to find her clothes.
"Ma'am, I have your gear with me if that helps." Alex's voice offered through the door.
"Dyson, let her in…. quickly." Kendra said putting in her underwear.
Dyson had just put his pants back on and opened the door.
Alex quickly slid into the room with Kendra's tactical back pack, her weapons package and clothing all ready to go. Kendra had her back to her as she finished putting on her sports bra.
Alex nodded to Dyson and Kendra rushed over to see if she needed anything else.
"How much time before the exercises begin?" Kendra asked Alex as she pulled her wicking sports shirt over her head.
"3 minutes, ma'am" Alex stated at attention.
Kendra still needed a little more time since she looked like a mess. That and she needed to validate some of the gear herself although Alex looked like she got it all.
"Alex, report into formation immediately. You will not be late. Understand?" Kendra barked to Alex. "Inform Jessica Flanders that I was unavoidably delayed and will join in 15."
Alex crisply saluted Kendra and left the room hastily and judging by the sounds of her boots clacking in the tiled hall, was sprinting to make it into formation.
"Wow, now THAT is a side of you I have never seen *CAPTAIN* Shaw, Ma'am." Dyson let out as Kendra kept dressing. "And Alex, for not reporting directly to you, is giving you a lot of respect."
Kendra found that Alex brought her a hair brush too and started to get the tangles out her hair. Kendra just kept preparing and said "Yea Alex, for some reason ever since I joined Jessica's team has been trying her hardest to impress me. She doesn't even salute Jessica that sharply. Oddly enough, I feel that I have encountered her somewhere before. I just can't seem to pinpoint it."
Dyson's eyes roamed all over Kendra's toned legs. He just smirked in admiration knowing that Kendra was his.
"So how did Alex know you were here?" Dyson asked curiously never breaking his stare from Kendra who was now hopping into her pants.
Kendra glanced at Dyson with a mischievous grin, "I don't know exactly. Were you too loud in the showers with me during your sneak attack?"
"No, I was silent. Could it be that you just faun over me like a little school girl in with a crush?" Dyson teased which got the attention of Kendra as she checked and holstered her Glock then seductively sashayed towards him.
"Oh really?" Kendra purred as she rubbed her clothed chest on his bare muscular physique. "I don't do crushes. I think they're stupid. Eric, yea he had a crush on me initially, but I WAITED for LOVE. Any idiot can have a crush, passion and massive sex. You can LUST after one another, but that is just tinder to start a fire. But a fire needs something more. Something that lasts, something substantial to keep it going strong long after the tinder burns away."
Kendra paused and looked deeply into Dyson's eyes and continued. "Sometimes the tinder burns wild and hot but then dies away to nothing. THAT is lust or a crush. Other times the tinder is hot and then sets the remaining much larger logs ablaze. Now that is classic true love. But there are rare times I have seen a very small ember set ablaze a whole forest. That too is true love, but it is unexpected. No one looks to see if a tiny ember can ignite such a blaze but when that happens, sometimes it is these fires that burn hotter and longer than all the rest."
Dyson was hypnotized by Kendra and her expiation of love. He never heard this one before, but Kendra was dead on. She was a romantic after all.
He was so drawn to her that he automatically kissed Kendra on the lips and Kendra reciprocated. For that brief moment they shared love. It was not a feeling brought out of lust, but it was one that was free standing.
Solitary.
Pure.
Kendra was so into Dyson she was just drawn into him, like she was Eric. It was powerful as she kissed Dyson on the lips without any reservations. Sure she argued with Dyson on the job much of the time, but off the job they had a strong friendship. Now this was different.
Love.
As much as Kendra tried to shake the feeling off as just lust, this one kiss. ONE kiss spoke volumes. She however needed Dyson to know what was at stake.
Kendra broke the kiss and looked down. Dyson hugged her and whispered into her ear, "No Kendra, please don't shy away from me."
Kendra looked back up at Dyson and put her index finger to Dyson's mouth before he could say anymore then said "Dyson, what you and Bo had from what I hear was an inferno. The tinder and logs were all there. You had what I think was true love. THAT is why a portion of you still craves for Bo. You are trying to ignite and get that same fire again, but now with your wolf gone, you only have an ember left. Protect that ember and then choose wisely the WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, and WHY of love. You need to make sure all 5 are right this time. Second chances are extremely hard to come by. Don't waste it."
Kendra broke away from Dyson and went quickly to inspecting her AR and mumbled out "Impressive. Alex reloaded my spent magazines."
Dyson was still processing what Kendra just told him. She did love him, but she wanted her heart to be moved as well. She was nice enough though to tell him that he only had one shot at her and he better make it count. Kendra was also nice enough to tell him that if he went with Bo, there would be no Kendra and vice versa.
Dyson had some soul searching to do. The who was easy but not really. Sure it was common sense to CLAIM Kendra as his life mate, but deep down did he really mean it? Did he truly love Kendra or was he just looking for some post Bo fix? Was Kendra just the safe second choice?
Kendra then started to check her pack and opened up the compartments swiftly to make sure everything was in order but spoke again, "Dyson, I'm late for the joint exercises, so I'll see you later in the week at the 39th?" Kendra smiled at Dyson more as a formality more than anything else. She finally slung her pack over her shoulder and Dyson assisted.
"Thanks." Kendra said hugging and then kissing Dyson on the cheek just before she ran off down the hall.
Dyson just stood there looking down the now empty hall deep in thought.
Tamsin bolted towards the team looking for Kendra but could not find her. Jessica Flanders however, yea, she was not happy. She was doing push up too but glanced at Tamsin mid pushup with a scowl on her face.
Then out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone else running towards the formation.
Kendra.
Well at least she was not the only one late Tamsin thought to herself smugly.
Tamsin and Kendra took the rear of the formation and both began to do push ups as well just acknowledging one another with a nod.
The never ending drills took their toll on everyone. It was noon time and a spent Tamsin and Kendra sat down to take in some water during a break sitting on a stone retaining wall. There was no eating since it would just slow you down and good luck keeping any food down during the drills. They, as well as all the others, did reenergize on power gels. They absorbed faster and got them the boost needed.
"Sooooooooo" Tamsin said to Kendra breaking the ice, "was Dyson that good?"
Kendra just open her mouth feigning shock and batted back insulted, "Tamsin I didn't have sex with Dyson last night ok?"
Tamsin grinned evilly and then murmured "Oh so it was this morning? Wow."
"No. Wrong again Terminator." Kendra smiled knowing she had the upper hand.
"But you did stay with him NAKED in his STRONG arms right?" Tamsin corrected.
"Yes you're right. By the way did Bo somehow stop you from being on time with massive sex?" Kendra challenged.
"Yup, that ditz wanted to know what my precinct number was again. Had to show her." Tamsin smiled seeing if Kendra would get the joke.
"How can she forget, it's the 69th." Kendra blurted out without thinking at first but her jaw dropped and her eyes widened in genuine shock as she covered up a giggle.
"Just make doubly sure you don't use or say that number around Bo OK?" Tamsin smiled even broader as she chuckled.
"Right Terminator, like Bo would just have massive sex with me just by using a word." Kendra said calming down from the 69th joke.
Tamsin smiled wickedly, "You'd be surprised. I called her 'my girlfriend' once and she quite literally tore my clothes off at the Dal. Trick almost caught us."
"Oh my god!" Kendra laughed but stifled it when someone approached.
"Captain, Lieutenant." Jessica greeted as she sat down with them to take a drink of water.
There was an awkward silence but Jessica made sure to address it.
"Ladies, are there any more late arrivals I need to know about in the future? It is bad for team cohesion and John is already grumbling about it." Jessica said like she was just shooting the breeze.
Tamsin quickly deduced that John was the real CO in some fashion by that statement alone.
"No," Tamsin and Kendra said in unison.
"OK great. I am sure both of you were delayed by Dyson and Bo. While I don't have an issue with that, you may want to control your hormones until AFTER this event." Jessica said in a matronly manner. Jessica then got up and nodded to them and stated, "Ladies." She then moved off to check on Alex and company.
"I just feel like I just got scolded by my mom," Kendra said taking another drink of water.
"Ya can't please everyone," Tamsin said scrunching her face then taking in another drink. "Oh by the way, I took some sat images of the island property and wanted to know if you wanted to scout it and the surrounding area with me?" Tamsin said quickly changing the topic. A half a day of drills was good enough to her. Her body ached all over again, but doing drills kind of made her forget for at least a moment.
"Sure. It's either now or we do it later during the week which would be a challenge. Dyson just seems to want me more and more at the 39th." Kendra said capping her water.
"I wonder why?" Tamsin asked rhetorically getting up and capping her water too. "I guess we have to get our mom's permission first."
Tamsin and Kendra drove an hour to the island site. It was a neutral Fae ground because the island was on the small side. No one really housed themselves up there permanently since it had no beaches and was out of the way for most.
Surveying the island they saw nothing out of the ordinary until Tamsin was scanning the satellite photo at the event site.
"Kendra, did you notice a fire road off the coastal road on the way here?" Tamsin asked furrowing her brows.
Kendra walked over and then looked at the satellite photo. "Yes, it was," Kendra put her index finger on the map in the general area. "riiight there I think but I can't see it from this view. How old is this image?"
Tamsin brought the picture up close to her and said "48 hours."
Kendra took a copy of the satellite image and looked it as more closely as well. Yea, the satellite view is obscured by the trees but the fire road entrance would normally show up but….."
Tamsin continued. "The coloration and arrangement of the natural rocks and low brush on the side MAKES it look wooded as well."
Kendra then smiled and knew what Tamsin was thinking, "Shall we drop in for a visit?"
"Yup, oh looked, you can just barely make out a house," Tamsin as taking a look at her laptop and zooming into it at maximum magnification. "It too is obscured by trees."
Kendra than offered, "Whoever it is wanted to stay hidden and did it well. Shall I calling the 69th and Jessica's team for JOINT *LIVE* exercises?"
"You bet." Tamsin said with a click. "Let me see if I can pull some strings to get satellite heat images for this area. It will give us a better idea of what we are dealing with."
Kendra and Tamsin busily called around and an hour passed quickly as the whole team showed up inside an open cafeteria next to the church. They were 45 strong.
Jessica approached Kendra and Tamsin who just finished up gathering all the data they needed and plan of attack.
"Captain Shaw, the team is all yours." Jessica stated as she sat down.
"This will be funnnnn. A human leading Fae into battle." Tamsin stated with a snarky expression and sat down.
Kendra ignored that comment. "Lights please." To which the lights dimmed in the cafeteria.
Kendra spoke loudly and formally to the Fae and human team. "This afternoon, Tamsin and I did a survey of the site in addition to possible hostiles on this small island. As it turned out, satellite images of this island were tricked into not seeing THIS road and large mansion within 2 miles of Derrick and Erica's wedding site." Kendra gestured to a zoomed maps which barely showed the road and may be house of some sort.
"Normally this would be a non issue since celebrities also do the same thing but are law abiding citizens. However, there are no public records on this site what so ever. No deeds, no tax records, no water or electric bills. The only records we find point to the fact that the state slated this for a conservation area and nothing more." Kendra announced glancing around and advanced to the next slide showing a heat map.
"This is the heat signatures for this same area. Notice that road now shows up better since gravel had a different reflect properties than of plants. In addition you now see a house the size of a mansion hidden behind all the foliage. These red dots? Move in a pattern taking minute by minute snap shots." Kendra pointed again. These dots moved around the building in a predictable circle as Kendra flipped through the next couple of slides.
"Security patrols?" John answered.
"Yes. It is our best guess that they have at least about 8 we can count outside. No idea what they have on the inside."
"So how are they getting their power, water and communications?" Alex requested.
"Good question. That mansion is by a fast running stream. I think they use hydro electric," Kendra stated gesturing to a hot but small structure over the stream. "and in addition that makes for a water source as well."
"Satellite dish in quadrant G5." Jessica offered.
"It is well camouflaged and probably mounted on top of a tree. Not easy to do if the canopy is 50 meters or so." Hump day added.
"So where is the traffic in terms of vehicular traffic or rarely planes we commonly see in large drug operations." Carrot top stated rubbing his scruffy chin.
"That is the odd thing. Sat images show minimal traffic from the island but it does not preclude aircraft." Kendra pointed to an open area toward the cliff drop off next to the mansion. There is no runway, but it still did not mean it did not exist.
"This area," Kendra pointed to the open area adjacent to the woods which had the mansion, "COULD be a place to land helicopters."
"Whoa. They have choppers? Are we looking at air wolf being stored here?" Heavy D mentioned.
Tamsin then spoke up. "No not exactly but we can use this to our advantage. It means we can get chopper support too and they have somewhere to land in addition. That makes for a good extraction point for those injured as well as provide excellent close air support."
"Ummm Terminiator, the chopper for the 69th is a death trap AND it is currently out of service." Chica added with a puzzled look on her face.
"Yep, so that is why, I got NOT one but 2 of these for our close air support." Tamsin said with a click and on queue Kendra advanced to a picture to 2 attack helicopters. "The Apache AH-64. Each with 8 HellFire Anti-tank missiles, 38 hydra rockets annnnd 2 by 30mm chain guns with over 1200 reasons NOT to fuck with them. INTIMIDATION. LOVE IT. I happen to know Fae in the Navy that happen to be doing exercises in range of our op and they are ALL game." Tamsin said with a conceited look.
A collective 'ohhhh' came from the entire crowd.
"Can you say swiss cheese? I knew you could. You can say it everyone. Tamsin is SOOOOO awesome." Tamsin scrunched her face and looked up relishing the effect she just had on impressing both Fae and humans alike.
John then interjected. "Isn't this a little over kill for a single drug dealer? Nothing you said shows they have that capability that warrants this response. They only have a max of 20 people looking at the staggering of patrols. A police chopper is more than enough, not to mention our team of 45 strong. HALF of which are experienced Fae. We already out number them 2 to 1. And we will have the element of surprise."
Tamsin then stood up and then addressed everyone but John in particular, "No such thing as over kill Johnny. But now that we are on the topic. I also called in yet another favor and got 2 heavily armed and fast speed boats to patrol the waters in the area in just in case. You know, to catch anyone that may try to escape via boat? NOW THAT gets me hot."
"Please tell me you are kidding." John said seriously in response.
Jessica, Kendra, Alex, and the rest of the 69th just shook their heads.
"Nope. And the bumper sticker on my truck used to read 'I heart carnage' before it went off the cliff," Tamsin said scrunching her face and loved the fact that everyone just shook their heads at both John's question and her rebuttal.
"I think my new sticker will be." Tamsin said looking up in thought. "Napalm. The *SMELL* of victory."
Kendra then cleared her throat and then murmured "Lieutenant."
"Thank me later bitches." Tamsin said with a very small wave and a sadistic grin as she sat back down.
"On to our approach, we stay off the fire road as it is probably monitored. Each team will bound slowly to target mansion but make sure you do not trip off any movement detection units probably closer to the mansion. If you detect them, halt and we will storm the place together with our close air support. As for the use of our vehicles, the road is too bumpy to surprise anyone, so they will be brought up as needed. As for our weapons package, we are adding tranq rifles again. Tranq as many perps as you can before resorting to other weapons if they don't surrender immediately. Questions thus far?" Kendra asked loudly.
It was silent for a time before she finally continued. "You will be working with in fire squads (small groups) your have already been assigned during our drills together. We depart in 30 at fifteen ten. Lock and load!" Kendra commanded.
Kendra felt odd and Tamsin was right. This was the first time Kendra, a human, was leading Fae into battle. Jessica gave her the command since it was her op. Kendra felt it was also a test to see how well she could lead and how this rag tag team of human and Fae worked out.
Sure what Tamsin did was over kill. But one thing was for sure, this mission would not be a failure. If something went wrong today, they still had more than enough to pull it off even without the whole Fae team under Jessica. It had to be a sure thing and you needed to be alive to do a lessons learned for next time, which in their case would probably be the wedding.
Kendra's fire squad consisted of Heavy D, Alex and Jeff. Half human, half Fae just like everyone else. Alex was not Kendra's first choice, but at the recommendation of Jessica and the fact that Alex literally threw herself at Kendra made it so. Besides, Kendra needed to see what Alex was made of under pressure.
Something still kept bothering Kendra about Alex, like she knew her from somewhere. Tamsin also compared notes and agreed that Alex's file was suspect. Her file was either missing something or was fabricated in part. Obvious asking Jessica was not an option since the files came from her, so Tamsin agreed to get more info on Alex and peripherally John.
John's record was shortened for obvious reasons to make Jessica look like the leader of the team.
Were Kendra and Tamsin suspicious of their Fae counterparts? No, not yet, but in their line for work, they don't trust but verify, they verify THEN trust.
The mansion the team did approach did have a lot of surveillance so they all stopped less than 100 meters surrounding the mansion whose grounds looked immaculate. There were 8 men and women outside patrolling.
On queue, Tamsin's Apache Helicopters swooped in blaring their identification that they were police and to surrender. Also the speed boats showed up too cracking off 50 calibur rounds in the air as a warning.
Tamsin and Kendra just grinned maniacally as their fire teams advanced on the extremely surprised rent a cop type security.
The external security surrendered as soon as the choppers made them shit in their pants Tamsin surmised.
All teams stormed the mansion and Kendra led a team to locked back office. Tamsin's firesquad caught up a moment later.
All areas were reporting in clear and this was the last room that needed to be swept.
Everyone could make out the distinct sound of shotguns being cycled on the other side of the door.
It looked like there was going to be a fight after all Kendra thought.
Tamsin just grinned. It wasn't a party without blood shed.
"Get Chica here, blow the door." Kendra whispered to Alex who went off and get Chica, the demo expert.
"Flash and stun grenades after?" Tamsin said softly getting them ready to which Kendra nodded.
John came up to the front a moment later and whispered to Tamsin and Kendra, "Do you want to do this the human way or do it the Fae way since I can always flood them out. The door won't hold back a flood and the people in there will be too busy not getting washed away to fire upon us."
Tamsin still wanted the bloodshed, but this was a joint op.
Kendra for her response backed up and motioned John forward. "All yours."
Alex came back with Chica and after looking at John flex his muscle kind of got the message and stepped back along with everyone else.
John then announced. "Last chance. This is the police, put down your weapons and come out with your hands up."
The response was furniture being moved.
After a moment passed, John punched his hands forward as a deluge of water came forth breaking down the door and the initial gun fire was followed by people screaming to hold onto something stationary to prevent from being washed away.
In no time the water drained back into the hall with most of the guards inside being swept out gift wrapped for the team to arrest.
Kendra and Tamsin were impressed. Both figured out what type of Fae John was at that moment. He was a water elemental. A powerful one at that. It was the only Fae that both Fire sprites and Tree elders respected since water can control fires and can also control the growth of trees.
No wonder John was able to coral the team into 1, Kendra thought to herself.
As soon as most of the flood cleared, Kendra's fire squad immediately moved in followed by Tamsin's and John's. Carrot tops squad was busy covering the hall and cuffing those that spilled out of the room.
Tamsin looked at some of those they were detaining and their faces looked familiar. Her memory flashed back to the time Bo and her were at Taft's compound. The guy they just arrested was the prick that shot her. All this clicked as the team swept the room to hear coughing of 2 maybe 3 people in the back.
Kendra then yelled "Police, we have a warrant to search this place."
A guard stood up from behind the desk slowly. He was in full sopping wet black fatigues. He was muscular and looked like a 20 some hot shot rookie. He we fully armed but his shotgun was in a neutral position and his firearm was also. He had dirty blond wavy hair and piercing blue eyes. His face had square features.
"DROP YOUR WEAPONS, NOW!" Alex demanded advancing on him, but halted just past Kendra.
"Hey," the guard man said putting his hands up and playing cool, "How can you get a warrant for a place that does not exist. Do you even know WHO you are dealing with?"
Kendra gave signals for the team to flank the final holdouts when Tamsin spoke up.
"LAUREN! Doctor Lauren Lewis. Kendra comes at the behest of the Ash Hale Santiago. You know me. Tamsin remember? I represent Vex, the Morrigan." Tamsin yelled moving up the formation.
"Can we talk?" Tamsin requested. Tamsin kind of kicked herself internally. She wanted bloodshed, but it was not to be. If the doc was here leading this band of mercs, it meant that this was probably not a drug bust and that Tamsin should be protecting the doc for Bo. That sucked.
Tamsin still needed to have some questions answered. She needed to determine if the doc was good enough for her succubus. Before she didn't care, but now if someone was to replace her, she or he better be able to treat Bo right.
Slowly a totally drenched Lauren got up and surveyed all the heavily armed Fae and humans in her office. She was surprised at the speed in which her place was beached with all the security she did have. In addition, how the heck did they even find her?
"OK. Fine." Lauren said a little unsure. "It's ok Drake. They are friends of mine. Just have everyone that had not surrendered put their weapons down and come out peacefully. That means you too. I don't want any blood spilled on my behalf." She was adjusting her beige power suit and slacks trying to look more presentable since her white shirt almost became transparent on her skin. Luckily she had a jacket to cover up.
Drake grudgingly obeyed hanging his weapons to Alex. "Doctor, I was the last one" he clarified.
Kendra was still listening to her radio though all this dialogue. "All teams stand down and secure the location." She transmitted on the radio soon after.
Tamsin then gave an order though the radio shortly thereafter. "Hump Day, have my Apaches land and shutdown their engines and have our friends in the speed boats dock. Everyone is to go on standby for now."
"Copy terminator." Tamsin's mic squawked back.
It turned out to be an uneventful day but the joint exercise was a big success. Jessica and John made sure to inform Derrick and Erica how well it went. As for Kendra's team, they just thought it was great that they could work alongside the Fae and still hold their own.
Laruen was still in shock. Tamsin, the lone Valkyrie wore a uniform and worked with a team and Kendra was much tougher than she imagined. She heard rumors about Tamsin being fallen and taking down some major Fae drug cartels with Kendra at the lead.
Tamsin follow others? Lauren could not see that, but with the way Tamsin interacted with Kendra just now, it was clear Tamsin was subordinate to her.
As for Kendra, Lauren heard that she was Dyson's property and an asset to the light.
Tamsin walked up to Lauren as Lauren spoke to Kendra. "Captain Shaw, I have a lab downstairs which I know your team already saw. Please try not to touch or disturb anything. I have several experiments which are sensitive. Also I have a patient in shock right now that I am trying to treat. I will be more than happy to give you a tour and fill you in now if you like."
Kendra looked Lauren up and down. She was a tall slender brown eyed blonde. She was dressed conservative and professionally but looked almost frail. So this is the doctor that had Bo's heart Kendra thought offhandedly. Kendra just nodded but she needed more time to find if this place was part of a drug ring. From initial reports and her gut feeling, it pointed to no. If that was truly the answer, then this was Tamsin's gig and not hers.
Tamsin then interjected scrunching her face, "I think it can wait for now. The doc might want to change into some dry clothing."
Tamsin then said in an aloof manner, "Care to show me your room?"
The walk was short and Lauren's room was at the top of a wide ornate cheery wooden half circle stair case.
"Wow, you've done good for yourself doc," Tamsin mentioned 2 steps behind her looking over the mansion.
"Tamsin, it's not like that. This was all Taft's and I just took it over after Dyson killed him." Lauren said never looking back at Tamsin reaching her bedroom door.
"How convenient. Continuing in the tradition of Doctor Moreau are we?" Tamsin questioned suspiciously.
Lauren felt insulted by this low life Valkyrie and turned to look at her neutral but stone cold expression and spat out, "NO TAMSIN. Taft…. He was a MONSTER and I'm glad he's gone. By the time I figured out what he was doing by experiments on Fae I wanted no part of it. He… he held me hostage Tamsin until I cooperated. I was no good to anyone a prisoner. The only reason why Dyson survived is because I SAVED him. Taft was no match for Dyson because I made him a weak Fae."
Tamsin was partially convinced but asked in a cold calculated voice, "So this army you have, the lab. Why do you need them if you are on the up and up doc?"
Lauren was worked up and mad and finally in an upset tone stated, "BECAUSE you idiot, ALL the Fae think I experimented willingly on them just like you. Evony put an edict out there that put crosshairs on my back. Even though she is no longer the Morrigan, I need to look out my wellbeing as well as those in Taft's former service. THEY are probably being hunted too."
Lauren exasperated finally threw her hands up in the air and turned around and threw the door to her room open.
Tamsin just followed behind her still waiting of the other shoe to drop.
Lauren was looking through drawers and pulling out items to get changed into.
"Look Tamsin, take a look around. I have nothing to hide. NOTHING." Lauren said peeling off her wet suit jacket slamming it down to the carpeted floor of the immaculate room.
"I have furthered Taft's research WITHOUT experimenting on Fae." Laruen said still upset as she kicked off her shoes and unbuttoning her wet shirt. "Heck, I .. I'm pretty close to solving early stages of cancer not that you CARE."
Tamsin was conflicted. Lauren may be the enemy so therefore she needed to keep an eye on her. Lauren was also a friend and well former lover of Bo who trusted her unequivocally, which meant Tamsin should turn around and give her some respect and privacy.
Tamsin looked away without thinking, taking a look at some of the serene pictures on the wall. These pictures were all framed and the pane of glass on all of them allowed Tamsin to see Lauren in the reflection.
All Tamsin knew was that Lauren was really pissed right now. Last time Lauren was pissed off she got a hard slap on the face, but then of course, Tamsin prodded her to do so. How she loved to press the doc's buttons, but this time she was not so sure. Lauren had Bo's respect after all.
'Shit this is fucked up,' Tamsin thought.
Lauren saw Tamsin look away as she unbuttoned her wet shirt. How dare this dark evil Valkyrie or former Valkyrie EVER question HER judgment? Tamsin, no matter all the good she has heard about her recently, was still Tamsin, the self-serving, egotistical, morally questionable, drunk. NOW she shows insincere respect by turning away?
Lauren then shouted at Tamsin furious, "LOOK AT ME DAMNIT!" Lauren blared pulling off her shirt forcefully throwing it to the ground. "I will not be called some dishonest hoodwink or Dr. Hyde by a low life like YOU of all people. You tried to steal my Bo with a kiss and I never forgot it. So take a GOOD look," Lauren stated unbuckling her bra and pulling it off, "to see that I am NOT hiding anything from you and to let you know some of the many reasons why Bo went with me."
Lauren finally finished her tirade and pulled her thong underwear off and spun around with her arms out stretched.
"SATISIFED Tamsin? So do you mind if I get dressed now?" Lauren spat out never removing her steely gaze from Tamsin who just stood there with a blank almost bewildered expression on her face.
Tamsin knew Lauren was mad, but this was new. If Lauren wasn't so serious, she might have laughed when she talked about the many 'physical' reasons why Bo was hers.
WAS.
Bo was Tamsin's now and the doc had no idea. Tamsin was so tempted to correct Lauren but now was not the time or place. Nor will it ever be probably.
Seeing Lauren totally naked was definitely not something she wanted to gaze upon and at this point although the doc was beautiful in her birthday suit, Tamsin got more than she bargained for. Some things you just can't 'un-see'.
Tamsin to her own surprise found herself empathizing with Lauren as she reflexively pick up a towel and wrapped it around Lauren without exchanging any words. Tamsin kicked herself soon after, but could not shake the feeling that she now had to take care of Lauren like Bo would. Tamsin hated this deep down but if Bo loved Lauren and Tamsin loved Bo. Didn't that mean that Tamsin loved Laruen too by some messed up transitive relationship? Was it even logical?
'How the fuck am I going to explain this and save face?' Tamsin thought.
"As much as I loooove the show doc, you wouldn't want you to get a cold doc," Tamsin teased sarcastically.
Lauren was taken back when she thought for a very brief moment recognized the feelings of EMPATHY, KINDNESS, AND COMPASSION from Tamsin. TAMSIN. Those actions melted away her anger and made her feel embarrassed. Maybe Tamsin was being respectful by trying to turn away when she was changing Laruen surmised uncomfortably.
Lauren's cheeks then became a little red with embarrassment as she then meekly said "I… I'm sorry Tamsin." She then did a nervous laugh and continued. "I feel like such an ass."
Tamsin looked up in the air and walked toward the door and said over her shoulder "It wouldn't be….. wise to get a cold out here in the middle of nowhere doc." Tamsin essentially stopped herself from saying 'It wouldn't be the first time and it won't be the last'. How that succubus changed her.
"See you outside Lauren, ok?" Tamsin announced closing the door behind her.
This left Lauren speechless. Something was way off about Tamsin but she did not know what. Did her fallen status all of a sudden change her for the better? Was she so human now that she adopted human qualities? Now Lauren had more questions than answers.
"Tamsin," Lauren said a little louder. "Your gait and posture is off significantly when I last saw you. I can look at it if you want," Lauren offered in earnest.
Tamsin nodded ever so slightly then closed the door behind her not believing that she could not make herself go back to the way she was. Bo changed her and it was permanent. She had no idea how to treat her enemy and friend.
FRIEND.
That was new. Last time they met 'friend' was not even in the realm of reason.
Kendra and Alex walked up the stairs to Tamsin who was massaging her temples while leaning on the banisters.
Odd Tamsin thought, Alex was trying to stay glued to Kendra. What was her motive?
"So Terminator, Lauren ok?" Kendra asked knowing that Tamsin was in emotional disarray on this subject.
Tamsin straightened up and reported with a fake grin, "YUP, Sweellll."
"Tamsin, we searched this place pretty well already and Lauren is not a drug dealer or trafficker in any way. As such, we can't stay much longer. Lauren may have a mini army, but it isn't uncommon for there to be tighter private security around research labs. Also Lauren looks like she is working on cures for human and Fae aliments from what my team can tell thus far. She looks legit." Kendra reported formally.
"Yes, I know. Lauren told me the same thing in a heated diatribe." Tamsin said covering her face with a hand. She just could not believe that Lauren was one of the good ones all along. Tamsin was hoping that she wasn't so that she would have an excuse to not reunite Lauren with Bo.
"Captain," Tamsin said in all seriousness "Lauren has asked me to stay to attend to some of my physiological issues she had noted. I would like to stay behind with your permission."
Kendra knew by the sheer fact that Tamsin addressed her formally that this was something important to her. Kendra looked over to Alex a couple steps behind her and stated "Alex, can I get a moment with the Lieutenant?"
Alex saluted and said formally "Yes, ma'am." She walked off briskly down the steps and out of sight.
Kendra then turned her attention to Tamsin fully and hugged her tightly.
"Of course. YOUR mission is here Tamsin. It always was. Call me if you need anything." Kendra murmured. "Tamsin, NO ONE can ever replace you. Bo has no idea what she will lose but we do what we have to do for the greater good."
The door to Lauren's room slowly opened and Tamsin and Kendra separated right on time.
Tamsin turned away briefly to wipe a tear that escaped.
Kendra knew she had to cover for Tamsin who was still recovering, so she took a step towards Lauren and reported, "Doctor Lewis, the team and I apologize for the intrusion. We erroneously assumed that you were part of a drug cartel. As for Ash business, I work with Dyson and Hale and will report that you have been found and are safe. I will be in touch with you on next steps to open up a dialog with the Ash and respective council. Hopefully we will sort out all this mess. Finally, all of us will be taking our leave within the hour."
Lauren swore she saw Kendra and Tamsin in the midst of breaking a hug and Tamsin may have been crying. This did not make sense. When did Tamsin grow a heart? This day was just getting more and more odd.
Lauren took in what Kendra had to say "Thank you Captain Shaw for your understanding. Am I to assume that none of my people are being taken in?"
Tamsin finally spoke up, "No. You are all free to do what you normally do."
"So those helicopters and speed boats?" Lauren questioned.
"Will be gone as well." Kendra clarified.
"I… I .. thank you for talking to the Ash on my behalf, Kendra." Lauren said with a smile.
Kendra nodded to Laruen and then to Tamsin and walked away. She could be heard in the distance sending out orders over the radio as Kendra's and Jessica's team started to leave their posts and move out.
That left Lauren and Tamsin together alone again. Drake appeared at the bottom of the stairs in full gear with another guard.
"Do you take walk-ins?" Tamsin asked Lauren scrunching up her face.
"Don't you have to leave with Kendra and team?" Lauren asked with a curious look on her face.
"Nope. Kendra gave me some R&R just now since my neck is killing me doc." Tamsin replied with a smile.
"Tamsin, you are probably the first of the happy sunshine gang I have seen in a long long time." Lauren said with a broad smile warming up to Tamsin a little. "Please stay as my guest because physical therapy needs multiple sessions spread across days. I'll show you to your room."
*** A/N: I am actually conflicted on whether to post or not, even though this chap is near the 10K word mark. I know that many of you are waiting for the post Ave Maria scene. As you can and will see, lots of stuff happened before that scene. So the next couple chaps will be a slight detour off of Bo and it will concentrate on Tamsin's and Kendra's friendship. Yes more character growth for Lauren too. It was either this posting or have a 2+ month break and then post 2-3 chaps at once.
Talk to me.