Chapter 12

Kate

Power throughout the city was now limited. Barsad and Kate had settled that the team would stay together in a one bedroom apartment. Kate couldn't sleep; she was up staring out the window with a cigarette in hand. Everyone was fast asleep. She was surprised at how quickly they had fallen asleep. Then again, they didn't get much to begin with the night before. She watched and listened to the snoring, she wrapped her sleeping bag around her legs and blanket pulled up to her chin to keep warm. And lite another cigarette, she had cut off the tips of her gloves to make it easier to hold a cigarette.

"Another cigg?" Barsad asked as he sat up from under his sleeping bag. Kate didn't bother to look at him; she knew that smile was there. Instead she took another drag and stared out the window, from her side she could see over the roof and see the snow falling outside. Barsad got up from his sleeping bag and slowly walked over to where Kate sat against the wall.

"Do you mind?" He asked and motioned to the space beside her. "What difference would it make? You're going to sit down anyway." She replied with a grin. Barsad chuckled then slid down next to her. Kate hadn't expected him to sit so close to her but with the freezing cold from the window she didn't mind.

"Did you ever find your wife?" Kate asked as she turned and looked at Barsad. He sighed then shook his head, "No. I wanted to but I figured she left because she wanted to get away from me. Why make it worse by ruining whatever happiness she found." He said then began to dig through his chest pocket. Kate watched him as he pulled out a worn down photo. He handed it to her but looked away.

"She's beautiful." Kate whispered as she looked at the photo. They young woman looked as if her face was never touched by acne, only smooth clear skin a beautiful smile with full pink lips, almond shaped face and long black hair. Barsad kept his head turned away. "How old were you two when you got married?" Kate asked. Barsad took back the photo without looking at it. "Very young, we must've been about eighteen, maybe nineteen." He said.

"And the baby?" she asked still watching as he stared up at the ceiling. "I don't know." He said as he breathed into his cupped hands.

"Why did you decide to resign from the Bureau?" Barsad asked as he took the half smoked cigarette from Kate's hand, Kate flinched then glanced at him, "I'm out." He said then took a long drag before offering back her cigarette.

"It's crossed my mind for the last three years." She said then laughed out loud. Barsad eyed her with curiosity. "Was it the other Agent? Warren?" he asked then and watched as she closed her eyes. "No, he wasn't really everything he played out to be. He was just as dirty as the cops that betrayed my father." Said Kate taking the filter to her lips, she thought about Daniel from to time. She always wondered how she could be so blind to what he really was. "Snakes can be that way; they lead you on then turn around and strike." Barsad said as he rubbed his eyes. He pulled the red scarf over his face only leaving his eyes.

"Bane's file fell into my hands the day after that explosion in Germany." Said Kate as she flicked the burned out filter across the room. "The car bombing that went off just out of the U.S Embassy." Said Barsad, he remembered that car. He watched from a distance through a scope as Bane had a couple of guys work on it the day before. It had been set to go off as soon as the key in the ignition started lighting a spark in the transmission and giving life to the bomb.

"That's the one. That's what brought me in. I asked for it when they asked for volunteers. I went in to investigate." She said and bit her lip. Barsad glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "What was special that case?" he asked. Kate exhaled then pulled the blanket around her again when she felt the draft.

"My husband was killed in that explosion." She said plainly with no emotion. Barsad stared at her in silence for a moment. "Your husband?" he asked in disbelief. Kate smiled then looked up at the ceiling. "His name was Ryan Tyrell. We married on a last minute decision. He was taking an assignment on a border town; he said that in our line of work you never knew when that bullet had your name on it. Four months later he was in Germany to bring in an American national." She said then paused. Barsad exhaled, "Agent Kate Tyrell, has a nice ring to it." He said, "It did, but we never got around to making the name change official. We wanted to wait six months before getting the family involved. Jim never knew." Said Kate letting out a long exhale, she closed her eyes again. Barsad didn't know what to say that. He just sat there thinking to himself when he felt Kate's head slide on his shoulder. He looked down at her. She was asleep.

Blake

Since Miles' death Blake had managed to track down Kate and the team she was with. He had followed them to City Hall then waited until they came back out. Kate appeared to be in charge of the crew, He recognized Bane's right hand man they knew as Barsad, behind them they were followed by seven other mercenaries. They walked through the city streets unchallenged, they went about their business. Not talking to anyone, barely to each other. He followed them as they checked out an empty apartment complex, He saw as three guys went in. Kate, Barsad and the others waited outside guns loaded.

When the other three returned the group went in. Blake waited a few minutes when he saw movement on the second floor; the curtain had been ripped from the window. Blake pulled out his pocket size binoculars and focused on the window; he couldn't see much but continued to watch. He saw Kate walk pass the window then disappear. That was them.

As five o'clock rolled around, he waited but no one came out of the apartment. Blake knew that he had to come back in the morning, Early enough to catch them before they disappeared again. He had to admit they were difficult to track. They moved around a lot, from one place to the next. The week before he followed them to the docks, he was on them until the next day when he went back at first light but they were gone. He wouldn't make the same mistake again.

The next morning he was out in the street hiding in the dark. He started out at 4am, by 5:30 he was back outside the apartment complex across the street. He saw a light on the second floor and knew that he had made it before they left. He waited in the cold until he saw the light go out, a few minutes later they were out at the front door. A few of the street lights were still working, he watched them as they made the turn at the corner going east.

He ran across the street, stayed close to the wall so he could jump into the shadows if he needed to. He got to the corner then peeked around and saw them far ahead walking in the middle of the street. He stayed at the corner until he saw them come at the street light. He figured it was far enough to go unnoticed, so he darted to the other side of the street. He paused to see they stopped to look back. They didn't. Instead they continued east for two blocks before turning north. By then the morning sun was out giving him less cover, so he waited until they were out of sight before he came at the same turn.

He peeked around the corner but they were gone. He looked around at the buildings to see if he could guess which one went into. But nothing stood out, he wanted to go further out in the street but didn't want to risk them noticing that they had a tail. He figured he wait there a while. He walked into the nearest department store that had been looted. The door had been kicked in and the windows were shattered, he looked around and saw that it was once a grocery store. The shelves had been stripped bare, everything had been taken. He posted himself at the right corner of the store to get a good view of the street.

If they went into any of the buildings on this street, they had to come back out. He just had to be patient.

Barsad

He stopped for a moment as they came to a street light; he heard a tap, tap sound on the pavement behind them. He wasn't sure if they were being followed but he had a gut feeling that they were being watched. He looked at Kate who stopped and waited on him. He looked at her then to the others who seem to understand what he was thinking. They went on another block, he heard it again. He slightly turned his head back and thought he saw a shadow but it was gone.

"Keep walking ahead, make a left on the next block." He said but low enough for only the team to hear. No one said a word, they continued in silence. They kept quiet to hear if they were being followed. When they came to the turn, Kate looked down the nearest alley.

"If we're being followed they'll fall back, day light's coming. They won't risk it." Said Kate as she looked ahead, Barsad knew that much but he was never one to look over his shoulder. He thought about it to himself when Kate stopped.

"In there, if we have a tail they'll want to see where we went and probably run ahead to catch up." Said Kate as she quickened her pace and hid herself in a door way. Barsad followed her to the doorway as the others dashed behind a dumpster and an abandon car. They waited, no one passed them. Kate looked at Barsad across; He was facing the street and waiting. He held his sniper rifle out and aimed to take the shot if needed.

He continued to stare ahead. He looked at Kate in front of him. "Five more minutes then we follow the alley and back track two blocks down then we'll go east again." He whispered to Kate. She nodded then waited. Five minutes felt like forever. But nothing happened. Barsad stepped out first and put his hand up for Kate to wait. He then motioned for the others to stand up. He pointed to Olavi and Riley to look around the corner and for Conner and Johan to go back to the turn they made.

Barsad waited patiently until they came back. It took them an hour to back track through the alleys and back on schedule. They stopped every ten minutes to make sure they weren't being followed again.

"There was something off about that." Said Kate as she looked at Barsad as they waited on Micah to return from scouting ahead, Riley was at the back to watch the rear. "How?" he asked as he looked back to Riley give the signal to that it was clear. "Whoever it was didn't keep going. Instead, waited, waited as if expecting that we go back out in the open. Waiting on us to give away our position." Kate explained. Barsad thought about it.

"This person knew to wait and see. Had patience, something a person with proper training would do." Said Barsad as he pieced it together. Kate looked back in alley then back to Barsad. "We're being followed by a cop or someone with the training." Said Kate.

They arrived to a small run down part of town with depressed looking living residential area; Barsad had gone over the last known address of Avery Mills. "It's this one, a subbasement." Said Kate. Barsad didn't like it they stalked out the area from down the street. He posted Conner, Micah and Johan further up the street from them. Riley and Olavi were across the street one floor up. Arben and Ivan were posted at the apartment next door. "It's a good place to open fire on whoever wants to go in guns blazing." Barsad said looking around seeing no other way in. For the last hour there wasn't any movement in the house from what they could see but that's made Barsad uncomfortable.

"Only one way to find out, we go first and knock." Kate said looking through the binoculars. Barsad wanted to be at her side but at the same time he wanted to be out on that second floor. "I'll go first." He said and held his rifle in front of him. "You sure about that?" she asked and grabbed Barsad by the arm. "Let me. I'll go unarmed, if he's in there and I go without any of you guys he won't suspect anything." Kate said.

Barsad knew that seemed more reasonable. A woman alone and unarmed wasn't considered a real threat, he didn't like it but she had a point. "Alright, keep the vest on under your coat." He advised. Kate gave him her AK47 and both of her glock17s. She still had the knife in her boot, "I'll watch from here. If he's there try to draw him out." Barsad said as Kate walked out in the street.

He watched Kate walk up to the gate, then down to the door. He didn't like where he was posted, he couldn't get a good view of the door especially as Kate stood directly in front of it. She stood there for a moment. He looked through the scope and saw the door creep open. He whispered to himself, "Bring him out. Bring him out." He repeated.

Then she was pulled into the house, "Barsad she was yanked into the house." Said Riley through the ear-piece. "Fuck. Anyone see anything?" he asked in a panic as he watched the door. He began to panic, then went to the front door of the building next door and watched from the broken department window. He had a better view from this position; his scope was focused on the door then to the window.

A minute later the door opened. "Kate's out. Her hands are up." Riley reported, Barsad could see it all unfold right before him.

Kate was had her hands in the air, there was blood dripping down her face. He saw an arm wrapped around her neck. Then he saw the man who could only be Avery Mills. He recognized him from his picture. He was behind Kate with a gun to her head, from what he could see it was a 38 colt revolver. Barsad held his breath and waited for that clear shot, Avery had Kate close using her as a shield.

"Riley, I want you to step out and distract him. Get him to turn to his right so I can get a clear shot." Said Barsad he slowed down his breathing, he could feel his heart rate slowing down into a calm state. Then he saw Riley out in the street with his AK47 out.

"There's three others inside." Said Kate "Keep your mouth shut!" hissed Avery as she squeezed his arm around her neck. "How many are you?" asked Avery as he questioned Riley. "Enough." He said calmly and kept his cool. Avery was out by the gate still hidden behind Kate. Barsad could see a small part of Avery's head. He could see Kate's eyes looking back into the alley that he was in earlier.

"I'll kill her." Avery said as he pressed the head of the 38 to Kate's temple. "You're already dead, you don't know it yet." Said Riley who nodded his head and paced to the far Right of the street; Avery followed him with his eyes then turned slightly in that direction. Barsad saw the opening and squeezed the trigger.

Barsad exhaled the deep breath he had been holding. Both Avery and Kate went down with the shot. But he knew she wasn't hit, it was a powerful blow but he was Deadshot, he always hit what he aimed for. He scanned the scene; Kate was still down wrapped in the dead man's hold. Riley smiled back at Barsad as he stepped out from the department store. Kate let out cough. Barsad knelt down beside her and pulled her from Avery's arm. She was breathing heavy and shaken up.

"It's alright. I got you." He whispered as she wrapped her arm around his neck, he pulled her to her feet. "There's three others inside." She mumbled in Barsad's ear. He knew that her head was spinning. As she hung onto him for balance, Arben and Ivan went into the house followed by Micah and Conner.

He looked down at Avery who lay in a pool of his own blood. The head shot was another he added to his mental list. Normally he'd examine his work but as Kate held onto him he just stood there.

"You ok?" he asked and left her chin to see the damage. He could see that she had been punched in the face; the blood ran from her nose and down her lip and chin. She regained her balance then let go of him. She pulled back and stood still for a moment with her eyes closed. "That fuck, yanked me in when he opened the door, popped me in the face as the other guy searched me." She said as she looked at the body. Barsad sighed.

"This wasn't your best idea." He said and kneeled down again and turned Avery's head to see the wound. Clean shot through and through.

Blake

After an hour of waiting he knew they had figured out that they had a tail on them. Tracking them again would be difficult without help, but who could he turn to? He walked back to the intersection and glanced in all four directions. He guessed that since they weren't in any of the nearby buildings. They must have back tracked somewhere. But that still left the question, Where?

He decided to go east. He wasn't in any real hurry so he took his time. Stopping at every alley, and intersection to see if there was a chance that they had gone up or down a block to avoid him. But so far there was no sign of them. By noon he saw a few other people in the street. Some stopped at looked at him, others continued on about their business as if he didn't exist.

He kept east until he heard a gunshot echo through the dead silent streets. Then it was quiet again, he had his Beretta locked and load in his hand. He listened for more shots but it never came. He walked up the street and on his right he peeked around the corner and saw them a block ahead. Another body lay in the street; from that one shot he guessed another execution. But of who? He continued watching as three other men were forced into the street and on their knees. He held his breath and waited for the show to begin but he saw Kate tower over the men then motioned for her team.

He followed them back to City Hall. The three men were taken inside with their hands tied behind their backs. He had the address from the subbasement the came out of. He didn't have time to go in and see what happened there. Instead he wrote it down and decided he'd look it up later in the evening when there was a small amount of power.

From what he witnessed, it was a round up. He just needed the who and why.