Chapter 12

Barney's POV

Lee bandaged up Melanie while I drove us back to the safe house.

"Good job Melanie."I commented.

"Thanks boss, maybe I'm not a lost cause."She remarked, Lee looked at her.

"Stop down grading yourself, you're an expendable for a reason."he said in a bitter tone.

"Yes, but I failed to protect my own family!"she yelled back.

"Cool it guys, we're here."I ordered pulling in the driveway.

"Sorry, lets stay focused. We'll talk later."he said.

"Yeah, lets do it."she agreed.

"Everyone alright? Mel you're soaking wet!"a woman exclaimed, as we came in the door.

"Sasha I'm fine, I just might need to borrow some clothes."Mel told her.

"Melanie!"Maddie called out and ran into her arms.

"Hey, you alright?"she said.

"Yes, and thank you for saving my mom."she replied.

"You're welcome."she said and the girl whispered something in her ear and Melanie nodded.

The team assembled in the living room and we came up with a plan for going after Kross, we finished up as Mel came back in dry clothes.

"What's the plan guys?"she asked and I looked to her shaking my head.

"Barney, I have a right to go along."she said.

"I can't let you go with us, you're unstable and Miranda and Maddie still need protection just in case Kross has a back up plan."I explained.

"I was just upset before, please Barney I have to go."she begged me, I looked over her shoulder to Lee.

"Do you promise to focus on the mission and keep yourself in check?"he asked her.

Melanie looked at him for a few moments, "Yes, I promise."she answered and there was no doubt in her voice.

"Good, we'll explain on the way."I said and we headed out for Jersey to pay Kross a visit.

Toll's POV

Melanie rode with us this time though Barney didn't say why and she didn't ask him, not wanting to lose her spot on this mission.

"What did the kid say to you back there?"I asked her as we drove along.

"She said to save her dad too, we'll need to take him alive."she told me, I nodded as much as I hated the guy, taking him away from his daughter wouldn't be right.

"Barney mentioned what happened earlier, if you need someone to talk to I'm here for you. We all are, anything you need just let us know."I commented.

"Right, I want to talk to Lee but he doesn't give me a chance and he's always angry with me."she confided.

"Well if you're more positive and fun like you used to be, he won't get so mad, at least in theory."I advised.

"I'll try."she remarked and turned to look out the window ending any further conversation.

Melanie's POV

Upon arriving at the base, Barney asked where we could find Kross, but nobody knew where he was so split up to look for him.

I started in the mess hall, looking around not wanting to alert him if he was here. A man started to leave,

"Hey!"I shouted moving towards him, he turned saw me coming for him and ran off.

"Guys, he's heading east out of the mess hall."I told them as I gave chase to Kross.

"Keep on him, we're on the way."Toll replied as we ran through the halls, and corridors bumping into people left and right. Some yelled angrily, others just kept moving.

'You'd think they'd help me.'I thought making a left and watching Kross disappear through a door with a fighting symbol on it.

I went through and saw the guys had him surrounded,

"Get down on the ground!"Barney ordered.

"Come on guys, you can't expect me to just go along quietly, do you?"he said, whipping out his gun and aiming it right at me.

"Come here."he ordered, I walked over my hands visible to him.

Kross gripped me around the neck with one arm and used his other hand to toss my gun away before moving his gun to my temple.

"You're the reason my plan failed, I should kill you right now in front of your friends."he said.

"I got a question for you."I told him, the team was watching intently not wanting to act and get me killed.

"What's that?"he asked in response.

"How could you not care about your own child? She knows nothing of all this, she was scared and after saving Miranda, she asked me to save you too. How could you live with yourself if Maddie had been killed?"I asked, it'd been burning on my mind the whole way here.

Kross took some time before responding, "She's a spy's daughter, not mine. Therefore I don't care in the slightest."

"Are you saying, she's not yours?"I asked stunned.

"Yes, now shut up."he demanded whipping me in the head with the gun. It hurt of course and my vision was blurred for a few minutes from the blow but I recovered some as he moved backwards bringing me with him of course.

"Let her go Kross!"Lee demanded advancing on us, as did the others.

"No."he said and put me over his shoulder before running through the door.

Lee's POV

I ran right after them, the guys following behind me.

'He's going down,we have to get Mel back.'I thought as we went through the corridors, I turned on the right and stopped not spotting them anywhere.

"Nice armory."Melanie's voice whispered over the comm, though just barely loud enough for me to hear.

I looked to Barney, he nodded and we headed there; it only had two exits, Kross was trapped.

We went in our guns drawn, "Kross, you're done. Drop the gun and let her go."Barney ordered.

"If I let her go, you'll kill me. She's staying right where she is."he said, turning around his gun pressed against Melanie's head.

'She's not scared, or anything.'I thought surprised seeing her face blank.

"Seeing as I have the hostage, things go my way. You'll let me walk out of here with her, once I reach the vehicle bay I'll let go."he said.

"No, you're not."A man said from behind us, Barney turned his gun on him.

"I'm with you guys. Mikael, it's over I know everything there is to know about what've done. Drop your weapon and let this lady go, right now!"The man continued on.

Kross looked around the room, and back at the man. "I want your word that these guys and you won't shoot me."he said.

"You have it."the man said.

Kross dropped his gun at his side and let his arm drop from Mel's neck.

She kicked the gun away from him, "Game over."she told him and walked over to me.

The man cuffed him and handed him over to other marines to lock up for the time being.

"Who are you?"I asked.

"Admiral Hale, Miranda had sent me everything on Kross yesterday but it didn't reach me until a few hours ago. I'm Maddie's real father, thank you all for what you've done. Especially you, Ms. Cole, I owe you a great debt."he said his eyes on Mel as he thanked her.

"Just doing my job sir."she told him as they shook hands.

We left shortly after to head for home, Melanie climbed in our jeep with us.

Melanie caught my eye in the mirror, "Just a babysitter, huh Lee?"she asked me.

I chuckled the same time as she did, "One of the best."I commented, she smiled at me as I grinned back.

Hey readers, another chapter in. Sorry for the long stretch in between updates, going through a lot the last couple months. There's one more chapter for this story and then the epilogue. Reviews are welcome.