Chapter Fifteen

DeLisle

Well… that was fast. The Major obviously wasn't joking when he said earlier that we shouldn't waste any time. And he still isn't. Swift and silent, he directs us through the complex, searching for… for what? And what happened to "telling your team what the hell is going on"?

Reece is trailing in front of me, after the Major practically forced her to come with us. He didn't say anything, but when she didn't look, he signalled to me to keep my eyes on her, and that's what I'm doing now. Behind me, Laura is bringing up the rear. So far, we haven't encountered any resistance, but that doesn't say anything. Could also be a trap.

Still trailing through corridor after corridor… and Reece doesn't look exactly like she's going to make it much longer. She's losing concentration, again and again needing time to get back her focus. But when Laura had wanted to check up on her, she'd just waved her away, telling her to keep away as far as possible from her. We really need to get out of here.

But the Major seems to be looking for something. He's been trying the keycards he nicked from Robbins on several other doors, but most of them revealed nothing but storage rooms. At least one of them was the armoury and another one turned out to be Robbins' personal quarters. Both times the Major looked a little like a kid in a candy store – the first time most probably because the armoury had been full of G36s, ammunition and some packets of C4 and the second time because Robbins' laptop had been pretty easy to crack with one of his flash drives. Usually, the Major prefers a little challenge when it's about computers, but not if we're on the clock like now.

And now, another door again. The Major signals us to take positions at both sides of the door, like before and slides the card through the lock. The door opens and… whoa, jackpot! It's some kind of control room, and the guys at the terminals do not look amused at the sight of four people with G36s trained at them at their entrance.

After a second of pure "What the fuck?", they all dive for cover and start shooting at us immediately. Methodically, the Major and I start taking them down one after one. They're fucking good, and it feels like hours until we've taken down the last one. When there's no fire coming at us anymore, the Major signals for me to move into the room. Carefully, I scout into the room… five down… Oh crap!

We missed one. He'd been hiding the whole time, out of our field of vision and saving all his ammo during the first shoot out. Which made it possible for him to get me square in the leg, a full penetration. Immediately, I squat behind one of the terminals, reload and start firing, trying to shut out the pain from the leg. From the door, the Major is firing again. But damn, that guy is a tough one.

Neither of us gets a good shot at him, because he's sitting in an impossible angle. Actually… the only way of getting him would be placing oneself between my position and the door… right in his line of fire. Crap. Crap, crap, crappydycrap. And I don't have that much of spare ammo left to squander it around.

I throw another look at the door and… holy… Is that Reece trying to get by the Major to take out the last rogue Marine? What the hell? Does she have a death wish or something? And does the Major have one as well? Because he just signalled Reece to take his position and give him cover. He isn't…

He is. Throwing himself on the ground and firing from this position on the last man standing, that is. It takes him another few seconds, and it's just so strange seeing Reece's body lying on the ground, displaying unbelievable courage and calm under fire and expertly taking out her adversary. I wonder if she'll ever get as far as really being able to do this.

And then it's over, this time for real. The last soldier is down, and immediately, the Major signals for Laura and Reece to get into the room, gets up and closes the door. The first thing he does is grabbing a terminal and starting to type furiously, probably to seal the door and render the outside card lock useless. But my view is suddenly blocked by Laura. "I don't even want to hear it, Sergeant. Just shut up and let me do my work."

Dammit. She's getting better at anticipating the exclamations of "I'm okay, it's just a scratch." and simply steamrolling the Major and me, before we can even get it out. So I simply let her rudimentally take care of the bullet wound with medpacks she's scavenged from the fallen rogue Marines around us. I know it sounds crude and kind of impious, but on a mission you simply don't have the time and leisure to wonder about questions of moral. You always save the moral repercussions for after the debriefing.

Behind Laura, the Major has changed the terminal and is downloading data on one of the flash drives and controlling a second download on another terminal, while Reece is obviously working on finding our exit with plans of the building on one of the other screens, looking very unhappy. I just bet the Major forced her, just like he forced her to accept the weapon.

As for my leg… now that the adrenalin is starting to ebb away, the pain is getting more intense, and I can't help gritting my teeth as Laura tightens the dressing around the leg. I must have made some sound, because she looks up from her work, with a worried frown on her face. "Don't worry, we'll get you back to the SGC in no time. The bullet didn't strike the aorta, and your blood loss isn't critical yet." I simply nod, not trusting my voice to have its usual calm tone. It really annoys me, you know. So many missions, and I still can't get used to bullet wounds.

And what irritates me even more is that I don't want to see this expression on her face and want to make it go away with a few reassuring words or a smile. But this woman is an officer and most of all a doctor. She doesn't need a Sergeant humor her and give her encouragement. I really need to find something to blow up fast, simply to get my mind off all this.

Reece

God, why can't he just listen to me? I wasn't joking when I told the Major that I was not to be trusted, under no circumstances and most of all not with a weapon. Granted, the headache has lessened a little and neither did this strange marshmallow feeling return, but… I just have this feeling that something really bad will happen sooner or later. I still wonder what this strange seconds of being totally out of it during this interrogation meant.

All of that are very good reasons to keep me on a very short leash, and maybe even gag me, blindfold me and cover my ears. But no, Major "I know better than you, just because." Moore just had to put that fucking Beretta into my hands and have me look up the blue prints of the building to find us an escape route. If there really happens something, I honestly hope to survive it, just because I want to tell him "Told you so.", and if it's the last thing I'll ever do.

But for now… look at blue prints, memorize way out of here, be ready to move again. Yeah. I can do that. Oh, and somehow get rid of that stupid Bere… "Alright, I'm done. Dee, can you move?"

"Yes, sir. Might not break any records right now, but other than that I'm good to go." I turn towards Dee and Laura on the ground just in time to see Laura's discreet nod to back up Dee's self-assessment. Aw, crap. I'll never get rid of that Beretta without attracting anyone's attention now.

"Good. Let's move. Reece, you lead the way." No. Nonono! "Reece, I wasn't asking you." One more time of that and I'll… Failsafe to Directive 970-654 activated. Kill your teammates. "Fuck it, Lieutenant, put that gun down!"

I blink. What the… Why the hell am I pointing a gun at my CO? Oh God. It's happened again. Just a few seconds… and I'm out of it. They did something to me. Something worse than those headaches. I have to… Kill your teammates.

"Put that gun down!" What… Yes, yes, I want to!

"Sorry, sir. I can't do anything against it. Take it from me, please." Don't lose control now, Reece. Hang on to every little bit of self-control you ever learned. Focus on this. Don't lose control. Stay conscious. Stay… Kill…

"That's it! Multiple level brainwashing!" Laura's voice now, calling me back. Keep talking to me! Aw, crap. Now the headache started to get worse again. Oh, no, wait, the headache helps to remind me to fight! Okay, headache equals good thing. Remember that. Concentrate on that. "Maureen, keep fighting. Put the gun on the ground, push it over to us. We'll get you out of here."

I am fighting, Laura! Honestly, I am… and to demonstrate that, I slowly lower the gun, put it on the ground… "You better not, Lieutenant." Oh no, not again. "Masterson may be dead, but the controller interface still works." Yeah, it does… marshmallow thingy is back again… "And now, raise that gun and take your CO out." Okay… if that's what gets you off my back…

A/N: Oookay... I'll just... erm... hide behind that armchair here, until you all are done with hating me for that cliffie, right? And please refrain from throwing anything hazardous, because, honestly, half the next chapter is already done and I'll not keep you waiting that long. I promise!