Chapter 33

She had always been told that a true hunter never backed down from a fight. Yet retreat was acceptable; live to fight another day. This though was a fight to the death and she had no intention of backing down. She let Rorke tackle her to the ground and used his momentum to her advantage by using her feet to push him away. Rolling to her feet she maneuvered into an attack position with her hands ready.

"Now this is more like it," Rorke commented. He grinned as he circled her. He eyed her body and how the muscles tensed up perfectly. They spoke of a well-honed killer that he knew was hiding there. "Come and get me."

Sequoia eyed Rorke with a narrow look as she tracked him. She wouldn't attack first without any idea of what was going to happen. A good hunter scouted out their hunting grounds and laid down where they would have the best advantage. Unfortunately Rorke was just like her but he was dangerous. She gave a slight toss of her head and was ready to block when the man came at her with his fists swinging.

It was an almost playful exchange of punches as Sequoia blocked and countered whatever was thrown her way. She threw a couple of her own but it was mean more as a means of showing the man that she was not going to play his game.

Rorke nodded and said, "You know what you're doing. I'll give you that." He grinned at her and added, "That business on the beach was nothing and you just let me slap you around."

Sequoia gave a slight smirk and replied, "I don't respond to cowards."

"Still calling me a coward? What about you Little Charlie? You're the one who gave in and decided to join me. Hell you came back."

Sequoia eyed the man. This whole thing was orchestrated to give the man ego. Her first priority was escape but her training kicked in and that was to take advantage and bring something back to Command. It was the hidden chapter of Freefall but only a few were ever able to handle it. She had been learning things since she was old enough to train. Her father taught them to her and it made her not only good at interrogation but infiltration as well and it was ingrained to not walk away without something.

It wasn't like she intended to get caught. To be honest, having been out of Freefall and under Elias' command had her not thinking in terms of getting intel but rather what she had been taught growing up and that was to look after her men. It wasn't exactly smooth sailing anyway since she did interrogate their prisoners and executed a few traitors without formal trial. It was war and she had been given that much leave. Still once she realized her situation, she did what she could but escape was always on her mind and she hated what she had to do.

Looking at Rorke, she prepared to block and replied, "As I told you: I realized my situation. I did fire at my team."

Rorke threw a couple of punches and managed to get a few in. "And I'm sure that went over well."

The fight continued. Sequoia knew that Rorke was toying with her. She had to step it up and she knew at some point that he probably couldn't and wouldn't be taken alive. When he threw punches and kicks her way, she blocked and countered. At one point, Rorke pulled a knife and tried to slash her with it. That sent her going low and crouching while trying to find the opening. The maneuver ended up getting her caught in a headlock with the knife to her throat and Rorke saying, "I thought you were better than that Little Charlie."

There was the unmistakable click and both Sequoia and Rorke looked to see Hesh holding a pistol and it was pointed at them. Rorke taunted, "You think you can pull that trigger Junior? You couldn't the last time."

Hesh held the pistol at the ready position to fire. His muscles were coiled and his shoulder and ribs were throbbing but he wasn't going to back down. He had managed to get himself untied and looked around for a weapon. With a bad shoulder and broken ribs, he wouldn't be much in a fight and on some level he understood the need for Sequoia to fight this out. However, he was going towards the same goal and that was to kill the man that killed his father and then dared try to hurt his brother and her.

He had found the gun and it was like the train all over again with him pointing it at Rorke and Rorke having someone that meant the world to him in a headlock and in a position to be killed. It was déjà vu in the worse possible way and he couldn't see any way out of it… not that Sequoia would let him get out of it.

"What's it gonna be? You gonna shoot me?"

Hesh kept the gun at the ready. He really disliked being in this position and it was pissing him off. He didn't want to back down. Not with that knife so close.

"Just shoot," Sequoia called out.

Hesh couldn't believe what he was hearing. He knew that he had to shoot but… His lip twitched as he held up the gun and ready to fire but he couldn't pull on the trigger. Rorke's taunting didn't help either because deep down he knew that he couldn't pull the trigger. Not unless he wanted to kill her.

"I knew it," Rorke taunted, "You couldn't do it before and you can't do it now." He moved to drag the knife across her neck. "Now you get to see the consequences."

"Don't," Hesh called out the moment Sequoia reacted. He watched as she drove her elbow into the man's gut and she dropped to the ground. Seeing the opening, he raised his gun and fired.

He knew he hit Rorke since he saw the reaction but he couldn't process it fully with a knife sticking out of his shoulder. He still had his grip on the gun and raised it just as Rorke gave a hard punch to Sequoia's face and knocking her over. He gritted his teeth and growled in anger. He was going to do it and squeezed the trigger but at the same time it was knocked away and Rorke punched him across the jaw saying, "Not this time, Junior."

It was needle sharp pain as Rorke pulled the knife out of Hesh's shoulder and flipped it around, making the intent clear. Hesh did what he could by grabbing Rorke's upraised hand and trying to get an advantage, causing intense throbbing. He grunted as he managed to maneuver his body to be able to land a punch where his bullet hit.

Rorke grunted when he felt the punch but he didn't let it stop him. He punched Hesh in the face a couple of times to enable him to raise the knife again. "Should've quit while you were ahead, Junior."

Hesh knew that the blow was going to be a killing one the moment he saw it raised. It didn't come though when he saw Sequoia body tackle Rorke and deliver a few hard punches of her own. He managed to roll to his side to get a good view of the fight and possibly look for the gun.

Sequoia had a grip on Rorke as she slung him about until she slammed him into a tree. Using the tree as a prop, she gave the man a couple of hard punches until he blocked her and gave her a punch across the face. It sent her spinning backwards. She felt the tang of blood in her mouth and tentatively touched her mouth. She could feel the sting of the fat lip she was getting as she stared at Rorke and then spat out the excess blood.

"You really are not gonna quit are ya, Little Charlie?"

"I will hunt you till the ends of the earth as necessary," Sequoia replied.

"Good. I need that fire from ya," Rorke grinned at her. "It's what will destroy the Ghosts."

"Not a chance," she replied.

"That is where you are wrong." Rorke pulled a gun that he had hidden on him and pointed it at Hesh who managed to get his gun but didn't have time to bring it up. "Don't even, Junior," he said as he looked at Hesh and clicked the chamber to indicate that he was ready to fire. He then looked at Sequoia and continued, "You see Little Charlie, getting you to come after me… that makes it an obsession. I saw it in your eyes in Vegas. Oh you wanted to kill me, chase me."

"I wanted to kill you and still do," Sequoia replied, her lip feeling like it was too fat for her to talk. The abrasions on her face were just as bad and not to mention the bruises that were going to show up. "That is my goal. To hunt you until you are dead."

"And what happens to the others? I know you. You'll bring them in and they want revenge just as much as you. They'll follow your lead and in the end you'll destroy them."

Sequoia stared at Rorke and the situation. She knew that Hesh wasn't in a position to help out with that gun pointed at him. She looked at Rorke and saw the smirk. She really wanted to take him out but Command would probably want him alive as well. She had to play the game. "No, because you are the one that will win the war for us. It already is being won."

The silence was unnerving but Sequoia kept her focus and gestured around at the sounds that were coming. "Look around Rorke. The Federation is losing its stand. The rebels outnumber you."

"And whose fault is that since that had to come with a cost? Don't think that your hands are clean in this."

Sequoia's throat convulsed a little since that gun was not exactly in a place she wanted it to be. "I'm not saying that. We all have blood on our hands and that is what we are. Not even the most righteous of us is clean. But you are tainted beyond measure. You betrayed us and it was because you were afraid."

"Don't play your mind games, princess," Rorke warned, "The Federation opened my eyes while yours are still shut."

Sequoia shook her head and muttered something in her language. There were sounds of men advancing and she knew that Kick, Keegan and the others were on their way. "It's over Rorke."

Rorke heard the sounds coming through. He looked at Sequoia and then at Hesh who was glaring at him defiantly. He looked back her and said, "You something, Little Charlie, you may be right."

The bang was loud and Sequoia went down the moment she felt the bullet hit her in the side. She heard additional shots fired but didn't see anything. She did hear Hesh grunt in pain and then the sounds of footsteps towards the place she remembered well. Slowly she got to her knees and saw Hesh on his side and made her way towards him.

"I'm alright," Hesh grunted. He pointed in the direction Rorke went, "He went that way."

Sequoia didn't want to go but Hesh insisted and he started to move to get to his feet. She could hear the sounds of the others coming. Taking a breath, she took off in the direction that Rorke had taken. She only stopped to grab the gun that Hesh had and followed the man towards the last time they had a confrontation.

Hesh watched her chase after Rorke and waited until she was gone before wincing and letting out the breath he had been holding. His ribs hurt and his shoulders were throbbing and that wasn't counting the fact that he had been beaten upon. He slowly began to push himself to his hands and knees when he heard barking and footsteps crashing through. He was greeted by Riley and then Logan, looking a little worse for the wear.

"Hesh! You okay?"

Hesh accepted the hand up from his brother. "I'm okay."

"Yeah right." Logan looked at his older brother with annoyance and then smacked the shoulder that had the knife and watched his brother grunt and cuss at him. "That's fine?"

"You're being a pain in the ass now?"

Logan watched as his brother staggered slightly to catch his balance. "I will if it will prevent you from being stupid."

"Not now," Hesh countered as he waved off his brother. "I gotta catch up. Hawk…" He started stumbling in the direction he had seen her take off in. He paused to look at Logan before continuing on his way.

Logan sighed before taking off after his brother. He had managed to go look for his brother after the building was being taken over and secured. He had to make sure his brother was okay since he fell out of a window with a Fed and when he managed to get to where Hesh had fallen, he saw the crushed Fed body and immediately started looking for his brother. He had Riley with him and I was easy to pick up the trail since the dog knew Hesh.

He found his brother getting to his feet and grimacing in pain. It had Logan concerned when he saw the blood flowing from Hesh's shoulder but he was up and running. He knew why too since he saw his best friend crash out the window with Rorke. It felt like déjà vu but Logan wasn't going to leave his best friend to fate and followed his brother after radioing it to Keegan. He checked his gun that he brought along and followed his brother, catching up to see his best friend nearly being thrown off the edge of the cliff by Rorke and his brother looking ready to charge.

The rules were being broken. They were being broken and Sequoia knew that. She knew that she shouldn't have given chase like that. It was reckless and not what a hunter would do. And yet it was something that needed to be done. She was in a fight with a predator and he wasn't going to stop. He would keep going at it until he was stopped by the permanent solution of death. But she had to bring him in if only to give Command what it needed.

She didn't like leaving behind Hesh either. He was hurt and part of it was because he couldn't do what he had to do. And it was because she was in the line of fire. Five years ago she would have taken the shot and her team expected that. She had put men out of their misery and told them that she expected anyone else to do the same for her. It was what made her that cold bitch that was talked about. Did that make her any different than Rorke?

I teach you these things my precious treasure because there will come a time when you will meet a hunter but the dangerous kind.

Rorke is that dangerous kind but I've done worse, Father. What does that make me?

Sequoia ran through the brush, tracking Rorke. He had a head start but she had the advantage of knowing how to track through wilderness. Tracking was the one thing her father had insisted upon from a young age. The family joke was that she had been sneaking up on people since she learned how to walk. So if she lost visual, she could track by what he left behind.

You are a hunter, my precious treasure. In the end you do not hunt for the pleasure of killing another; it is to protect others.

Do I really protect others?

Sequoia had this in mind as she crashed through the brush and came across Rorke. He had been waiting for her and he had that smug look on his face. She could see the bullet hole from where Hesh had shot him and it looked like it was in the same area when she saw it before. She halted at the edge of the clearing, immediately wary at what the man might do. She might have been reckless in giving the chase but she wasn't when it came to the actual hunt itself.

Rorke looked at her and grinned, "You're good Little Charlie."

"Please. I knew where this was."

"The night you escaped. Remember how much fun that was?"

Sequoia remembered that night. It had been pouring rain in the jungle. She was being soaked by being in the pit as part of her punishment. She escaped by using the tool she created to unlock her prison and escaped. Of course she had been chased and it was Rorke that found her and they fought on this very spot until she jumped into the river below. It was something that she survived the fall and then being carried down river like that.

Looking at Rorke, she narrowed her eyes and replied, "I remember. That was not a fight."

"More like taking back what's mine but you slipped through my fingers and yet you came crawling back to me," Rorke drawled in an almost come hither manner. "You can't resist. You love this."

"I enjoy the hunt," Sequoia replied, feeling the need to correct the man, "The hunt for a cowardly bastard like you." She looked at the man and could visible see him shake with anger. She was really pushing it.

"Coward?"

"You broke. I didn't." It was a simple explanation and one that Sequoia didn't mind giving in an offhand manner to the man if only to emphasize the differences. "And it pisses you off."

"You got that right."

Sequoia dove out of the way when Rorke brought up his gun in an attempt to shoot her. She rolled into the brush and started moving while staying low, letting the foliage hide her. She began to circle the clearing to get a bead on Rorke even as he taunted her to come out.

"You know you can't hide forever. I'll find you."

Sequoia moved slowly to get into striking range. Her movements were slow and deliberate. She was hunting the predator. It is not hiding if it is stalking.

Rorke was getting impatient until he caught movement. He swerved and pointed his gun and fired in that direct. There was rustling and he thought he had her but it Hesh that stumbled out. He grinned and pointed the gun at him ready to shoot when he was pushed from behind and the gun was yanked away. He turned to block the first that was coming towards him and held it in his fist. He stared down at Sequoia and said, "And you call me a coward? You sneak up behind and attack from behind."

Sequoia looked up at Rorke as she tugged to break free but even injured he was pretty strong. She replied, "A hunter knows not to attack upwind of the prey. They risk being seen before they strike." She gave a lightning quick punch to where Rorke's old injury and the current one was at.

The result was him letting go more out of the shock from the pain rather than scoring a good hit. He recovered quickly when Hesh actually tried to grab him in a headlock and drove an elbow to loosen the grip and Rorke yanked Hesh forward and drove a fist into the bad shoulder, knocking him to the ground. He didn't expect to see the flying blur that was Sequoia leap over Hesh waving a branch she had picked up and swinging it at him like she would a knife.

Used to swinging a tomahawk, Sequoia swung the branch she had picked up after holstering the gun she had brought. It was a little different since the weight of the head was not there but she knew how to swing and how to hit. And now her instincts were to protect Hesh since he was down. She gave a few good clouts with her stick and her feet, falling back on the skills her father taught her and she had improved on over the years.

Rorke grinned and grabbed his own, swinging it to counter her until he grabbed her wrist and held it tight and made to give an overhead strike. It surprised him when she grabbed his wrist and they were deadlocked. He grinned, "Awfully familiar Little Charlie." He brought his knee up to strike her injured side.

The strike hurt and Sequoia felt it. She knew that she had been hit but ignored it, deeming the mission to be important. The pain was enough to make her let go but she didn't. She let out a hiss of pain from the blow but didn't let go. She held on and gritted her teeth before squeezing on the wrist hard and lifted her foot to deliver a kick and released her hold on Rorke.

It was enough to make him stagger back but he rushed forward again, aiming to hit the same spot he hit earlier. He was impressed how she dodged his strikes and countered. It was ten times better than the previous one. He couldn't resist giving Hesh a strike across the face to keep him down. From his view it only seemed to get his Little Charlie to give more. "Come on. Here I am."

Sequoia knelt to check on Hesh while keeping an eye on Rorke. She flinched when Riley made a move and ended up getting cuffed on his side. She heard the whimper and the thud. Standing up slowly she looked at the man and said, "Give it up, Rorke. There is only one way this is going to end."

"I know and you can pick if it's gonna be Junior or the other kid."

Sequoia looked at the man. She knew that if it were truly to end, the man would have to die. But there was a fine line when it came down to it and it was a battle for the soul. "Neither."

"Have it your way." Rorke charged and she moved to counter. He managed to grab her gun and fling her to the side and almost off the cliff. He watched her land with a thud and said, "You know I'm really disappointed in you. You're like Charlie and yet you're not. You've got that fire but you won't use it."

Sequoia slowly got to her feet and rubbed her side. She was starting to feel her injuries but she couldn't back down. "Charles wasn't a killer. And I'm not one." She then said something in Lakota Sioux making it sound ominous.

At that moment, Logan charged through the brush, distracting what Hesh and Rorke were going to do. He took in the situation just as the gun started to rise and point at him. He saw his chance and took from his belt and tossed it, "Hawk!"

It was slow motion almost as Sequoia saw the gun start to point at Logan. She started charging the same time as Hesh started moving, her intent to end this once and for all. Her talons were poised to grab Rorke by the neck and give a twist when she heard Logan call her name. It was instinct or second nature for her to extend her hand and catch the hand axe he had tossed her way.

With the momentum of the flying object she swung and buried the axe between the shoulder blades of Rorke and pulled. There was a loud bang and shouts but her focus was on holding the man she aimed to kill as he waved his arms. She held tight as they stumbled together and back towards the cliff. One more step and they were falling and plummeting towards the river and she held on until she felt the splash of water.

The next thing Sequoia knew was she was being hauled up as her head broke the surface. Her lungs took in the air that came and she coughed out the water. A strong arm was wrapped around her as she was pulled towards the shore and she heard Hesh's voice telling her that he got her. Her response was, "You're mother henning again, Shappa."

The ground felt good as she lay on her back and took in deep breaths. Slowly she sat up while still coughing and turned to see Hesh looking exhausted and completely soaked. She looked at her right and saw she was still holding onto the axe and gave a snort of a chuckle and collapsed onto Hesh's chest, earning a grunt and she chuckled.

"Not funny Hawk."

"It's hilarious," she said as she started at the canopy of the jungle.

Hesh groaned but more that he was too exhausted to fight back. He just laid on his back until he heard the sounds of barking and his name and Sequoia's being called. It wasn't too long before they were joined by the Logan and the others including Reed. He breathed a sigh of relief in that this was over and he had her back.

A/N: The final fight and it looks like they might have gotten their man. Stay tuned for the conclusion of The Hunt...