Small Kindness, Information & The ONE
Isolated Warehouse Complex – Small Locked Room
When the mean men left the room Ben scooted next to his mommy. He laid his head on her chest listening to her heartbeat. He wished his mommy would wake up. He wanted to go home. This place was scary. Fresh tears fell from his green eyes. The door opened again and a very scary looking man entered. Ben whimpered and closed his eyes tight.
Bandar knelt down to the boy and said kindly "I need you to be quiet. I'm going to take off the tape but you have to be quiet as a mouse okay."
Ben opened his eyes a tiny bit because the man did not yell at him or hit him.
Bandar gently as possible removed the tape from the boy's mouth. He disliked seeing the red marks it left on his cheeks. He pulled out a very long knife from its sheath and Ben's eyes opened wide and he squeaked in fear. "Ssshhh it is only to cut your bonds." Bandar quickly sliced the tape on the boy's hands and feet, sheathed the knife and removed the tape.
He grasped a small bag he had over his shoulder, put it down in front of him and opened it. He pulled out a water bottle and uncapped it then handed it to Ben "Drink."
Ben's little hands shakily took the bottle. They shook so much he couldn't drink, just splashed water onto his shirt. Bandar reached down and steadied it for him as he drank. When the boy was done drinking he set the bottle down next to the boy.
Next Bandar pulled out an apple and a small chunk of cheese and held them in one open palm offering them to Ben. "Eat."
Ben tentatively reached out for the cheese then nibbled on it.
Bandar placed the apple next to the water. While Ben ate, Bandar carefully peeled the tape from the woman's face and took out the gag. He cut the tape with the same knife and removed the tape from her hands and feet too. He then pulled out a clean cloth and poured a small amount of water on it then wiped the dried blood from Daphne's face. He checked her vitals as Mousa had ordered. She was alive, just out cold. She might have a concussion since she was still out.
Bandar put the cloth down then looked to the boy. He had finished the cheese. "I have something you left at the house. I thought you might want it now."
He reached into the bag and pulled out a small love-worn stuffed Donald Duck and handed it to Ben. He hoped the boy's favorite stuffed animal comforted him even just a little.
The boy clutched it then crawled close to his mommy and held tightly to her. He started to cry and mumble something that sounded like begging Sam Duck to come get him.
It made no sense but it broke Bandar's heart to see the boy so traumatized. Mousa was a cold-bastard to use a boy in such a way. Ever since Assaf was killed this morning he had been trying to figure a way to help Daphne and Matt.
Bandar had found the duck in Assaf's belongings and knew who it belonged to. Daphne had no clue he was deep cover too, it was safer for her that way. Bandar had watched from afar for many years and facilitated her objectives covertly when he could.
He had urged Assaf to talk her into leaving when the boy started talking two years ago. She was too stubborn, that was until the boy said his full name to the last client. He had tried to warn Assaf that Mousa was watching the house and Daphne but he couldn't. Only the cores were allowed phones or communication devices of any sort and even that was so tightly controlled as to be essentially nonexistent.
Mousa kept everyone on a very short leash and unfortunately he had not found a way to save them. He would gladly break his cover that had taken him seven years to develop to save the boy, but they wouldn't get more than ten yards from the place before Mousa or his men would mow them all down. Mousa attracted the scum of the earth who had no issue with killing innocent children, some would even enjoy it. He shuddered as an image of Qasim entered his head.
Bandar brushed away thoughts of Qasim. Even if he could get away from here he didn't know if any help could be found close by and by the looks of it Daphne wouldn't get too far without help.
Hell he didn't even really know where here was. Mousa moved everyone except Yassin, Syed and Fadel under the cover of darkness and in windowless vehicles. He could be anywhere and he was ninety-nine percent sure there was no option to save the boy. Bandar decided it was better to stay in cover until he discovered that one percent option. But time was so short now.
Bandar had joined the covert ops division of Special Forces and gone under cover because he wanted to save innocents. As he observed the little boy, possible options continued to run through his mind. In his mind he yelled dammit loudly. He could think of nothing that would work. It sucked being a pragmatist and a realist sometimes. Unfortunately in his mind it was a cold hard fact that he could not save this one innocent boy and this good woman.
He knew his, Assaf's and Daphne's work had saved hundreds if not thousands of innocents. But that was of little comfort to him now as he watched the terrified boy clutch his stuffed duck and cry. If only he could find a way.
Bandar bent his head and did something he had never done before. He said a silent prayer, then lifted his head and said softly but out loud "Please let the winds of the air carry my prayer for help to willing ears and capable hands."
As he closed his bag and rose he heard the muffled sounds of the boy now calling out for windy sam duck to come. What strange things the little boy said. Little Matt must be so frightened to be so incomprehensible.
Bandar looked down at the scared little boy one last time clutching tightly to his Donald Duck toy. What he had just done was the only small kindness he could show without being caught. Bandar left the room and re-locked the door.
He needed to take a walk. It hurt too much to see, he had to get out of here for now. He could always ask Mousa if he could check the perimeter so he could walk to the tree line and clear his head.
Yeah he would go for that. Mousa liked security so he would go for that. Bandar walked down the corridor intent on finding Mousa.
SRU HQ – Interview Observation Room
Russ had been listening for a long time now. They were mostly quiet or teased the guy that ran about being taken down by mere women. He had responded back to them with a long tirade of curse words and disparaging comments about women.
Christ these men had idiotic attitudes and seemed rather stupid. Russ had seen his fair share of extremely capable and brave women. Daphne came to mind then he thought, damn that take down of this man by Jules and Leah was something to see.
He heard a few prayers. He heard complaints about the food they were offered. About fifteen minutes ago he asked Sergeant Parker if the subjects could be left totally alone in the room. No officer present.
Russ thought they might loosen up and talk differently under that condition. Parker agreed and the officer now stood just outside the room while he was in the adjacent room listening and watching through the one-way mirror.
"فاضل ، چه می خواهیم کاری انجام دهید؟ "
(Fadel, what are we going to do?) Kamaal asked.
"هیچ چیز ، آرام باشد."
(Nothing, be quiet) Fadel responded.
"اما ما به نیاز برگشتن به انبار."
(But we need to get back to the warehouse) Kamaal replied.
"شما بهتر است در اینجا، آرام باشد"
(You are better off here, be quiet) Fadel urged.
"اما موسی خواهد بود عصبانی ما نمی گرداند شما سعی به اجرا شود. چرا که همه ما نمی امتحان کنید؟"
(But Mousa will be angry we didn't return. You tried to run. Why don't we all try?) Kamaal said worried.
"من را ساکت کرد. فقط خوشحالم شود تو اینجایی. در غیر این صورت شما مرده خواهد بود. آیا همیشه می گویند نمی نام او دوباره"
(I said shut up. Just be glad you are here. Otherwise you will be dead. Don't ever say his name again) Fadel responded frustrated that Kamaal kept talking.
"اما فاضل ، چرا ما مرده باشد؟"
(But Fadel, why would we be dead?) Kamaal asked his eyes lit with concern.
"از آنجا که او برنامه ریزی شده برای تمیز کردن خانه شما ادم سفیه و احمق . اگر شما در خانه امن میرند شما را در انبار می میرند. خفه شو در حال حاضر Kamaal."
(Because he planned to clean house you idiot. If you didn't die at the safe house you would die at the warehouse. Shut up now Kamaal) Fadel growled out contemptuously finally losing all patience with the stupid man. The men Mousa and Yassin hired were always lacking in intelligence; made it easier to manipulate them but so frustrating at times.
"موسی برنامه ریزی شده به ما را بکشند ؟ چرا ؟"
(Mousa planned to kill us? Why?) Kamaal asked disbelieving.
"بله شما ادم سفیه و احمق ، او همیشه می کند ."
(Yes you idiot, he always does) Fadel said disdainfully.
"Guard, guard I want to talk" Kamaal yelled.
Fadel launched himself at Kamaal even though he was still cuffed yelling for him to shut the fuck up, that he would kill him if he talked.
Russ rushed to the room and with the help of the officer guarding them pulled Kamaal to safety out of the room. Fadel continued to rage that he was going to kill him if he talked. Russ told the officer to place Kamaal in another interview room as he ran to get Greg.
He finally had something they might be able to use and someone who was willing to spill more information.
SRU HQ – Briefing Room
Shortly after Jules left the briefing room and Sam followed her Mason had pulled his men off to the side. He finally briefed them on the situation. Apollo had reluctantly admitted to his rash behavior with the team. Mason had taken him outside and privately read him the riot act for his behavior and made clear his expectations with regard to his behavior in the field.
Now that they all understood the gravity of the mission, they reconnoitered their behaviors and adjusted them appropriately. After all they were trained as special ops, about time they acted like it instead of like eager puppies. Each donned serious attitudes and focused on the tasks they were assigned.
After leaving Jules in the women's locker room Sam had retrieved his own encrypted unit phone from his locker again along with his Glock and extra clips from his lockbox. He chuckled lightly, as he held his unit phone and realized he was running out of pockets for phones, he now carried three; his personal, Blaze's unit phone and his old unit one.
Sam had contemplated putting his personal one in his locker but at the last moment decided to hang onto it. He used his encrypted unit one to contact Colonel Sutton. He was now in the corner of the briefing room discussing when the team's security clearances would be available. His expression indicated he did not like what the Colonel was saying.
When Jules returned to the briefing room no one said a word about her reaction to Sam being in an Army uniform. Each of the others had been just as shocked. They had all noticed the new bruise on Sam's jaw but again said nothing about that either. Jules sat down and rejoined the group that was assessing the photos.
Leah covertly glanced at her. She could see the slightly puffy and redden eyes and knew Jules had been crying.
She understood the need to hide the softer emotions. They were highly skilled women working in a male dominated field. They often had to work doubly and triply hard for acceptance and not to be seen as weak; although the men of this team accepted them just fine.
She laughed inwardly and the word fine. She would probably get lots of hard looks using that word like she did from Sam earlier today. It was very hard to change ingrained habits. But then she thought about it, after taking a life today she might just be very close to the team's definition of fine. She forced the thought away and refocused on the photo in front of her.
Sam hung up his phone with a deep frown. He looked to Mason and signaled for him to come over. Speaking so as to not be overheard "Mason, your rooks, what are their skill sets and security levels?"
Mason quickly looked at his men then replied in the same soft undertone "So you noticed they were rooks?"
Sam gave him a look that said who wouldn't recognize that but kept quiet.
Mason smiled and said "Cameo is my comms and intel man level two, Pawn is recon and medic level one and Apollo is my long distance marksman and tactics also level one."
Sam nodded. Mason could see him struggling momentarily with a decision.
Very quietly Sam explained "Okay. Sutton is having a hell of a time getting clearance for the team. Needs some committee's approval and running into all kinds of road blocks, essentially snafu. You and I both know we cannot afford the time delays. I'll understand if you don't want to and I'll find another way but I need to bend protocol a bit. I need Cameo helping Spike. Spike cannot access the databases directly himself. But if Cameo accesses them Spike can direct him what we need to run. Are you okay with that?"
Mason instantly called out "Cameo, new assignment" as he trod over to Spike.
Sam followed and Cameo joined them. Mason quickly explained what Cameo needed to do and got immediate agreement from Cameo. Spike and Cameo moved off to a corner of the room and began to work.
Sam smiled as he watch Spike's reactions as Cameo pulled up access to a special facial recognition databases, special vehicular tracking software, aerial footage analysis program and he was sure a few other cool things.
Spike's eyes opened wide and eager as Cameo accessed the database. "Damn this is sweet." His fingers began flying. Very happy geeky sounds were being emitted by Spike as he and Cameo accessed all the new tools.
The team looked at Spike and smiled. They loved it when he geeked out but they would never tell him that. It was more fun to tease him about it.
Russ raced into the room ever so slightly out of breath, more from the excitement that he had news to share than physical exertion. He saw Blondie and said "Blondie..," then stopped stunned as he registered the uniform and a new bruise on his jaw.
He recovered quickly and continued "Got three names. Two are in custody Fadel and Kamaal. They were talking about someone called Mousa. They referred to a warehouse too." He then highlighted the conversation and the fact Kamaal wanted to talk. He pointed out who Fadel and Kamaal were to Spike.
Sam patted his back and said "Great work Russ."
Greg, Jules and Russ rushed off for the interview room to speak with Kamaal. Spike started searches to try and find full names and associations for the men in custody and for the other name Mousa in the special ops terrorist database.
SRU HQ – Interview Room 8
Greg and Jules were questioning Kamaal. He was very cooperative but not much usable information had come from him yet. He didn't know the location; he was always transported in a windowless truck. He was only told to kill the guards at the house. He didn't know why. He didn't know who Daphne or the boy was.
Kamaal did tell them Mousa's full name and that he killed one man today for being asleep on the job. They kept trying but it was looking like a dead end for useful information. They had a name but no location. What they needed was a location.
Jules pulled Greg aside "Boss, what if we show him the pictures. Maybe he can confirm if those are shots from the location."
Greg said "Fantastic idea Jules. Also you can give Spike Mousa's full name. That might help too."
She nodded and headed for the briefing room.
SRU HQ – Briefing Room
Spike screeched out loud "Got a hit!"
Sam and the others rushed over.
"Jawhar Fadel is in the system. His known associates are Anwar Yassin and Azmi Syed. Running those names now" Spike shared.
Ed interjected "Do you have access to travel logs to see if either of his associates are in country?"
Sam responded "Would mostly likely be unhelpful. If they are in the database they would be flagged no fly. Red flags would have risen if they tried to enter. They would have used aliases. Any hit on Mousa?"
Spike moped "Yeah like over a two thousand. Apparently Mousa is a fairly common name without more details."
Jules entered at that moment having overheard the last bit of conversation. Jules eyes were alight and she said how about "Abdul Khaliq Mousa?"
Spike's fingers tapped away. His eyes widened and he whistled then looked up to Sam and frowned. "Whoa buddy, we can't access the information. Apparently there is some but it requires a level five security."
Mason grimaced and said unhappily "Christ only the top brass and a few key operators have that level. Blondie, who do we need to contact? Could the General help out?"
Sam reached for the laptop and said evenly "Excuse me for a few minutes. I have to access this in private."
Everyone stared at Sam as Spike handed the laptop to him and said in wonder "You have level five clearance?"
"Yeah" is all Sam said as he marched from the room with the laptop leaving everyone awestruck.
Ed thought, that kid has secrets, more than we will ever know.
Mason thought, damn he never knew the kid's level was that high, his was level three which was high for unit soldiers.
Apollo thought, wow being a General's son would be so cool. So many advantages. Level five wow.
Jules told Ed the plans with the location photos as she gathered some up. Pawn spoke up "Could I be of use? If he does recognize them perhaps he could be useful in putting together our layout puzzle."
Ed responded "That would be good."
So Pawn followed Jules from the room.
Ed turned to Mason "So, your unit looks a bit green. How long have they been with you?"
Mason had had his own concerns about his men earlier but seeing them work so far had eased them. He still wished they had the opportunity to run drills and gel as a unit before getting assigned but his initial fears were steadily ebbing the more he saw.
The rash, hothead he saw in Apollo reminded him a bit of Blondie when he first joined the unit. He recalled what he saw when he reviewed Apollo's file a week ago. His marks and scores in all areas were exceptional, he was a close rival to Blondie in many ways.
So he responded to allay Ed's concerns "Long enough. Green for Special Forces maybe but all extremely capable soldiers. They wouldn't have passed special ops training if they were not field ready."
Ed nodded satisfied. Mason was right; green as they maybe for SF they were still more capable than the average soldier. He walked to the window and took a moment to clear his head. The scene at the safe house had affected his team. When they found the location he wondered how much death awaited them there.
He glanced at Leah. He could tell she was still shaken from her first lethal. He wondered if he should bench her. The first was always traumatic. If she had to take more lives today it could be devastating. He needed to think.
SRU HQ – Conference Room 3
Sam entered the sound-proofed conference room and locked the door. He set the laptop on the table and pulled up a chair then typed in his security access code. The file on Mousa opened.
It was very thin and didn't even have a photo. He read the file on Mousa. It did indicate that Mousa was the head of a very active but very elusive terror cell.
Mason had indicated JTF2 didn't know who was responsible for the hits on the units. However the information in this file indicated that they highly suspected it was this cell. Sam realized that Mason was not aware of this fact because his security level was not high enough and this information was highly classified and on a need to know basis.
Christ, if this was the cell Daphne was undercover in that would explain why they hit so hard at the safe house. Daphne knew too much. What the file did contain was that whenever Mousa moved locations he never left any low level operators alive, Mousa killed them all. There were at least six suspected previous locations around the world.
If in fact those locations were Mousa's he had killed well over four hundred of his own. That made Sam's gut wrench. Mousa would have no problem killing one woman and one boy. His suspicion that person in charge of the safe house attack was a cold-blooded killer was absolutely correct.
He reasoned that this must be why getting access for the team was so difficult. Not just anyone could access or be privy this information, not even most soldiers in JTF2. He had a higher security level than most in JTF2; only a very select few had this level.
Blaze was level five too. Sam guessed that was probably why Blaze's unit was assigned to protect Daphne. They both attained level five due to several black ops missions the two had been sent on when the rest of the unit was in down time.
Sam continued to read about Mousa's known associates. He was not finding anything really useful for today. Other than knowing it would be very dangerous because the man in charge of the cell was a terrorist that killed indiscriminately.
Stretching his back to relieve some tension he took a short sip of water then he pulled the laptop a bit closer. He only had one more associate file to review. Sam pulled up the file on a Rifat Qasim, Mousa's bomb expert.
Sam scanned the top of the page reading his MO for bombs. It was fairly standard but highly effective. Although the way he linked multiple bombs together would interest Spike. But damn, Sam could not share this information with Spike.
He scrolled the page down and an image of Qasim was displayed. He pushed back hard from the table and stood knocking the chair over trying to get away from the face shown on the monitor.
Sam's stomach clenched. He gagged as saliva gathered in his mouth in preparation of hurling. He was taking deep breaths to try and steady himself.
No. Just No. NO. NO. NO.
Sam stared at the man's face. Images of needles entered his mind and he started to shake uncontrollably. Phantom searing hot pains assaulted his entire body.
He knew that sadistic bastard's face.
Sounds of disgusting laughter full of malevolence filled his ears and roared in his head. His hands covered his ears trying to keep out the sound. It would not stop because the sound was inside.
His chest and back felt like they ripped open. His breathing became labored short fast gasps. Sam could not help himself, he screamed and screamed and screamed at the top of his lungs until his throat was raw.
No one heard.
The images, sounds and pains were relentless. His whole body had tensed and gone so rigid every muscle burned. Sam had screamed so long and so hard he had no more voice.
All logical, rational thought had escaped him. He was back there, in that room, staked to the ground, bruised, bloodied, wanting to die as they tortured him with the needles.
Oblivion came as Sam blacked out.
As he fell to the ground he struck his head hard on the sharp corner of the table causing a small gash over his right eye.
SRU HQ – Briefing Room
Sam had been gone for nearly twenty-five minutes and everyone was getting antsy. What was in the file that was taking so long?
Ed couldn't sit still anymore so he rose and headed for the door.
Wordy called out "Ed, where you going?"
Ed replied "To check on Sam, see if he needs anything. See if he found anything that we can use."
Mason got up and said "Coming with you."
The two men headed to conference room 3.
SRU HQ – Outside Conference Room 3
Ed knocked on the door and called out "Sam."
There was no answer. He knocked again harder and called again "Hey Samo."
Still no answer. Ed was getting agitated. The least he could do is acknowledge him.
Mason stepped up to the door and knocked more forcefully and called out "Blondie open up."
No answer. Mason and Ed looked at each other to judge their reactions to the non-answer. Ed's was frustration, Mason's was concern. Mason reached out and tried the door. Locked.
Ed pounded on the door and yelled irritated "Sam open up now."
Winnie had heard the commotion as she walked back from the file room "Ed he can't hear you, remember it is the sound-proof room. Use the intercom on the side."
She smiled, sometimes Ed's impatience got the better of him. Winnie stood watching as Ed mashed down the intercom button. His repeated calls to Sam went unanswered.
The concerned look he had seen on Mason's face had started to gnaw at him. Ed turned to Winnie "Do you have the key?" He felt something was not right.
Winnie went to her desk and returned with the key. Ed said "Thanks."
"No problem. Just bring it back when you are done" Winnie said as she headed back to her desk. She shook her head slightly as walked; Team One was having one heck of a day.
Ed unlocked the door and opened it. His eyes landed on Sam.
SRU HQ – Inside Conference Room 3
Ed rushed forward. Mason followed right behind. Sam was on the floor and bleeding from a small cut above the eye. Ed ordered "Close the door now."
Mason complied but asked "Why?"
Ed didn't know why, he just had a feeling. He didn't want to expose Sam's condition to the rest of the team until he knew what was going on. So he ignored the question in favor of focusing on Sam.
He knelt down and lightly tapped his cheek. Sam felt cold and clammy. Not good, did he pull a 'Dale'? He had expressly warned him to stay hydrated today. As he tapped he called softly "Sam, buddy. Hey Samo come on wake up."
As Ed was on the floor dealing with Sam, Mason eyed the computer screen.
"HOLY FUCKING SHIT!" Mason roard.
Then Mason dropped to the floor, sat crossed legged and pulled Blondie's head and shoulders gently into his lap. He crooned so softly and caringly as he stroked Blondie's hair, emulating what Matt did all those years ago "It's ok, it's ok, you are safe. You are safe. I'm here. You're safe."
Mason continued his litany of soft comforting words as he rocked a bit back and forth and tears welled in his eyes.
Ed was dumbstruck to see this huge bear of a man cradle Sam in his lap and speak to him like you would a small hurt child.
Mason continued a little panicked "You are NOT there. I promise. You are NOT there. Come back, oh god please come back."
Ed glanced at the monitor and saw a picture. He looked back at Sam. He watched Mason's actions. He listened to his words.
It struck him. His head whipped back to the monitor. That was one of the bastards that tortured Sam. There could be no other reason. He looked back at Mason and saw tears starting to fall from his eyes. Emotion choked Ed's words as he said "He was one of the men that tortured Sam wasn't he?"
Mason looked to Ed, his voice quavered as he said "Not just one of, he was The ONE.
The ONE that pretended to care.
The ONE that drove the burning hot needles slowly and deeply into his stomach.
The ONE that laid open his back and chest with the whip.
The ONE that beat him until there was not an inch of skin not bloodied or bruised.
The ONE that did all that while he laughed sadistically.
The ONE that did it repeatedly for months until Blondie wanted to just die.
The ONE that broke him."
Ed grabbed the trash can and hurled as Sam's words from that night long ago came back and brought with them images of what he had endured. When there was nothing left in his stomach and when the retching finally stopped he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and sat back on his heels. It was silent in the room for a while as Mason simply held an unconscious Sam.
Finally Ed roused himself from his own stupor and said "We should get some help. He may have a concussion from falling and hitting his head."
Mason shook his head no without looking up at Ed. Concern but confidence laced his words "No, give him a moment. He will come back. This happened a few times in the first six months after but then stopped. I think seeing the picture triggered it. He will come out of it soon."
As if hearing this Sam started to stir. As he became aware of his surroundings Sam realized he was in someone's lap. Why? Damn his head hurt again. Did he hit it and fall? Did he fall and hit it? He was unsure of the order of things.
He reached up to the new ache above his eye and when he touched it he felt wetness. Sam moved his hand to his eyes and blinked them open. Yep blood. Letting his hand fall his eyes focused above him.
In a light but slightly brittle tone Mason said "Have a nice nap Sunshine?"
He saw the remnants of tears in Mason's eyes. The why rushed back. His body started to shudder again.
Mason said softly but urgently "You are not there. You are not there. Do you hear me Blondie you are not there."
But the tremors continued and increased as his breathing became irregular. Sam was trying, trying so hard to control it but it was winning. The sounds of cruel laughter started again and he covered his ears to block the sound.
Ed commanded loudly "Braddock stop now. You are at SRU. Sniper breathing. Do you need me to count it out?"
Sam registered Ed's strong voice over and above the incessant malevolent laughter. He turned his head to find the owner of the voice. He found Ed and locked eyes, blue on blue, and nodded yes.
Using the same powerful voice Ed counted out the breathing pattern over and over. Sam kept his eyes locked to Ed's and focused solely on his authoritative voice as he followed along. His breathing slowly came under control. As the breathing evened out the shaking lessened and then finally stopped.
It was Mason's turn to be dumbstruck watching Ed guide and calm Blondie; he watched Ed gradually take Blondie away from the past and bring him fully into the present.
Breathing normalized, shuddering stopped, Sam closed his eyes breaking the connection. He stayed still and silent trying to decide how to proceed. How many times was Ed going to see him at his worst?
Well maybe this is the last; he was stuck in the Army now. Sam shifted and tried to sit up. His whole body ached, he just wanted to lay here but he couldn't, he had work to do. He had to find Ben and Daphne or they would be dead soon.
Mason held Blondie down. He knew what the episodes did to him back in Kandahar. Blondie was physically hurting from it. Phantom pain or no, it left him aching and sore for days. He took a cue from Ed's method and in a firm tone ordered "Rest a minute. We need to tend to the cut above your eye."
Sam tried to rise again and Mason bodily restrained him with one strong arm laid across Blondie's chest and the other holding his shoulder down.
Mason stated firmly "I ordered you to stay put Corporal. Willingly or unwillingly you are not moving right now."
Sam stopped trying to rise and lay back down. He knew Mason had the strength to keep him pinned in place with only one arm and god damn it Mason just pulled rank on him too.
Looking at Ed, Mason asked "You got a first aid kit around?"
Ed rose and left the room to get the one from the break room.
With his eyes still closed Sam heard Ed leave and the door close behind him. Sam struggled to speak as he rasped out over his raw throat "Mason, I know you know I'm fine right now. But I have to push that aside. I'm asking for your support for Blaze's, Daphne's and Ben's sake."
Mason was glad Blondie's eyes were closed so he did not see the pain expression he knew he wore. He knew what was at stake. He hoped the cost of the action he was about to take would not be too high.
Sam opened his eyes in time to see the remnants of Mason's pained expression as he reconfigured his expression. He also watched him wipe away the last of the tears from his eyes.
Mason ruffled Blondie's hair, gave him a grin and said "You need a haircut Sunshine."
Sam nodded understanding he had Mason's full support. Sam then closed his eyes and focused inward for a bit trying to sort a few things out while Mason forced him to lay here.
Ed reentered the room, closed the door then walked over and handed the kit to Mason. He sat in a chair and watched as Mason cleaned the wound and put a butterfly strip to hold it together. He knew Sam was not okay, but he knew for a fact in today's situation Sam would not admit to being fine. He would keep close watch. He would not lose him today.
When Mason was finished he stated "No stitches needed." He helped Blondie to sit up slowly.
Sam sighed and rolled his head around his neck then grinned at Ed. The grin did not light his eyes, it was false. Sam said in a still very raw, raspy voice "Damn my face is taking a beating today."
Mason and Ed chuckled at that. All of them knowing Sam was using deflection but no one calling him on it.
Ed rose, reached out a hand and pulled Sam to a standing position as Mason rose himself from the ground. All three sat in the chairs. Ed asked "So Samo any useful info in the secret file?"
His voice still very raw but sounding a little less raspy he replied "Not really beyond it will be very dangerous. Ed I'm seriously thinking of removing Team One from any tactical action."
That surprised Ed but he knew for Sam to even consider something like that he had to have a good reason so he replied casually "Explain why?"
Sam grimaced a bit as he swallowed. Damn it hurt to talk. He grabbed the water bottle and drank to try and ease his raw throat.
Then Sam explained "I cannot share the details in the file. Suffice to say the man we believe has Daphne and Ben is not a distraught family man or disgruntled ex-employee at the worst possible moment of his life. He is without a doubt a cold-blooded killer. The men he hires are the same. You saw the safe house and what happened to four war-hardened specially trained men. That is what we can expect when we go in to get them." He paused and took another drink.
Then he continued a little stronger and almost normal "I know the team does not have the soldier shoot first, no talk mind set. That is the mindset needed. It would destroy many of them to act in that manner. You saw Leah today. It was her first lethal. Can you imagine how she would handle it if she had to kill more today? And Boss, it would tear him up inside. I don't even want to think what it would do to Wordy, Jules and Spike. The team would never be the same."
Ed considered what Sam said. He was absolutely right and it mirrored his earlier thoughts. Sam was protecting others again, protecting those he cared about. He needed to be sure Sam was protected too. Ed looked to Mason then asked "Your unit, can they handle this?"
Mason knew what Ed was asking but not saying. He knew Ed knew that the men could handle the killing. Ed was really asking would his unit have Blondie's back? So he answered the real question "Yes we have Blondie's six."
Ed nodded "I have an idea Samo. Depending on the location, you and the unit clear and secure while Team One holds a perimeter and assists as backup if need be."
Sam was glad Ed did not fight him on this and he had supported his decision. He gave Ed a small grin and said "Sounds like a workable plan. Now all we need is to find the location."
Preparing to get up and leave the room, Sam glanced at the picture and silently vowed you are a dead man if I ever find you. He logged out of the file, picked up the computer and rose. "Let's see if the team has come up with anything new."
The three headed back to the briefing room.