Guess who has the best readers? ME! Oh my god you guys are awesome. I woke up this morning with like 12 emails that were half of your reviews! You really know how to make someone's day! Because you guys are so awesome, I put this chapter together just because I don't want to leave you hanging for so long. So on with the chapter my friends! (Oh and I did that homework by the way, but now I have some Algebra staring at me and I needed a break from it)

OOOOO

The second Alex's eyes landed on Rorke's face, anger swelled in her chest. He killed Ajax. He tried killing Merrick and the others. He tried to kill her. He pulled a chair up in front of her and sat down. "You're up early. The Walker boys and Elias are still fast asleep, but brother is awake though. He keeps demanding to see his sister." Alex's heart fluttered. Merrick was still alive. "But someone is missing from the party…" Rorke pointed out. "Where's Keegan?" Was he serious? Did he really think she was going to tell her where Keegan was?

"You're crazy if you think I'm telling you anything." Alex said. Rorke rested his elbows on his knees. "If you tell me where Keegan is, I'll make sure when I kill your brother, he doesn't suffer." He growled. Alex's heart sank. Merrick was the only brother she had left and she couldn't handle having his blood on her hands. But she knew Keegan was coming back at twelve and he promised her he wouldn't be late. She just had to wait this out for as long as possible.

"What I can't wrap my head around is why you hate them so much." Alex said, changing the subject. "Elias dropped you, I get it. But it was either you or the whole team. Everyone understood and I am pretty sure you did, too until the Federation put you in a whole and broke you down piece by piece. They made you believe that Elias did it for only his benefit."

Rorke gave Alex a long look. "Elias always said that you were a legend. The way he talked about you…he looked up to you. He didn't want to drop you, but he didn't have a choice. If you were in the position he was in, you would have dropped him too." Alex added.

Rorke leaned back in his chair. "You know I read your file." He stated, switching topics again. "You were in the top ten in basic training, an important asset on the Delta Force, and now you're a Ghost. I knew Merrick had siblings, three brothers and a sister who he described as sheltered and weak."

Alex wanted to scream. She wanted to hit Rorke in the face with something hard and sharp repeatedly. She knew Merrick didn't say that. Rorke was trying to manipulate her the same way he was. The only difference between her and Rorke was that she knew where her heart was and loyalties lied.

"You aren't going to break me Rorke." She told him. "I'm not you. But what are you going to do? Threaten to kill me? Put a knife to my throat or a gun to my head? I'll die before I tell you anything."

Rorke nodded once and stood up. Alex followed his movements as he pushed the chair to the side. He turned to face her and met her eyes. "I'm giving you one last chance. Tell me where Keegan is." He said. Alex pretended to think. "Why don't you go to hell?" she retorted.

Rorke made a fist and sent it flying towards Alex, landing a punch on the right side of her face where she was already cut up. Her head snapped to the side as it followed the blow of the hit and she could feel the painful throb in the side of her face. Rorke grabbed her chin and made her look at him. She tried to pull her head away, but his grip was too tight. His eyes landed on the right side of her face and he examined it. "Your pretty little face seems to be getting damaged a lot lately." He pointed out. Alex thrusted her head forward, her forehead making contact with his nose. There wasn't enough force to break it, but there was enough for him to stumble back and at least leave a bruise. Once he got his bearings, he smiled. "Feisty." He stated as he stood up. "You're definitely Merrick's sister. He used to be just as stubborn as you."

Rorke threw another punch across her face and Alex could already feel it beginning to bruise. "I could do this all day." He said. "But can you?"

"Let me see my brother." Alex said. "Let me see Merrick and I might consider telling you something."

"Not gonna happen."

"If you're gonna kill us at least let me see my brother one last time. I have twenty bucks that say you have Hesh and Logan together."

The thought of Hesh made Alex's chest ache. Rorke said he, Logan, and Elias were still asleep, but how much longer until they woke up? What would happen when they did wake up? Way to go Alex. Get in a relationship days before a psychotic, ex-ghost captures you.

Rorke yelled out something in Spanish and Alex let out an irritated sigh. More. Spanish. Literally everyone but her knew it. She took it in high school, but after that she forgot most of the terms while her brain was refilled with the fundamentals in basic training.

A couple of minutes passed when two Feds came in with Merrick. He had his hands tied behind his back and the Feds were restraining him by his arms. Rorke stood with his arms crossed as they brought him in. Merrick instantly saw his sister tied to the chair and at first he was relieved to see her alive, but then saw the purple bruise forming on the side of her face that was already decorated with small cuts.

"You son of a bitch!" Merrick growled as he fought against the Feds. "Let her go."

Rorke laughed. "You know Merrick I have to give your sister a bit of credit. She's tough." He said as he walked over to Alex, making Merrick grow more and more furious. He didn't want the prick anywhere near his sister. Rorke put his hands on Alex's shoulders as he stood behind her. "Where are her other brothers?" he asked. "Oh that's right. I heard they died but yet here you are. Looks like you made it out of a situation they weren't lucky enough to get of. Sound familiar?"

"Damn it Rorke leave her out of this!" Merrick yelled.

Alex cringed at the feeling of Rorke's hands on her. She didn't want him touching her in anyway. It made her uncomfortable and feel smaller than she was. Rorke slipped his gun out of his holster and put the barrel of it against her temple. Alex stopped breathing. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she could hear it in her eardrums. Merrick's face fell and he fought against the Fed's grip again. "DON'T YOU DARE! DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE! I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL KILL YOU. I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!" Merrick bellowed.

"Where's Keegan?" Rorke asked.

"Merrick don't tell him." Alex forced out, her voice a little higher than usual out of fear.

"If you don't I will kill her." Rorke warned, clicking back the hammer of his gun and pressing the barrel of the gun into her temple harder. "UTAH! HE'S IN UTAH!" Merrick yelled. Alex knew this was lie, Keegan was in Colorado Springs, but would Rorke believe the lie?

"What's in Utah?" Rorke pressed on further.

"Salt Lake City. We sent him there for a debriefing with another military squadron."

Alex knew that was a lie, too. Did Rorke believe him? At the moment Alex didn't know because the gun was still pressed into her temple. But then she felt Rorke remove it and dropped his arm. "Was that so hard?" Rorke questioned as he switched the safety on on his gun. Rorke motioned for the Feds to take Merrick away again and Merrick fought against them, wanting to stay as close to Alex as possible. But he was pulled out of the room and away from his sister, thinking it was going to be the last time he ever saw her.

Rorke looked at Alex once Merrick was out of the room. "Such a shame you won't be able to die with him." He said tucking his gun in the holster. Alex pushed her eyebrows together. "What are you talking about?" she questioned.

"I think I am going to see if I can get any use out of you. Once I get the other one, we'll be good to go. Two fresh soldiers to add to the bunch." Rorke explained.

Before Alex could ask who the "other one" was, a Fed came into the room and told Rorke that Elias was awake. Finally, some fucking English. "Looks like I will be seeing you later." Rorke said as he left the room, leaving Alex alone in the company of a single Federation soldier.

As Alex sat there tied to the chair, she thought about Merrick. Rorke was going to kill him. What was going to happen to Elias, Logan, and Hesh? Oh Hesh… Alex thought back to how only a few hours ago he kissed her awake from her nap and how it was just last night that he told her how he felt about her. She couldn't fight the tears that were building up in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Crying was something she didn't like doing. She saw it as an over emotional gesture and after crying over her brothers for weeks after their deaths, she felt immune to loss. She's lost family, team members, but today she may be losing a person she thought she could start a relationship with. This is what happened when you let people in and got attached to them; you got hurt. And Alex didn't want to keep getting hurt. That's why she tried to distance herself from Logan and Hesh. She's been hurt over and over and time and again and she didn't want to have to keep experiencing the same pain. But Hesh refused to give up on her. He refused to accept her ability to refuse new people in her life. Alex wasn't in love with Hesh and she knew he wasn't in love with her, and they'll probably never get the chance to love each other, but now Alex was saddened by the thought of not having him around.

A million thoughts ran through Alex's head of not having Merrick and Keegan and Hesh and Logan and Elias in her life anymore. They were more than just her team, they were her family, like she's said a dozen times before. Merrick was her brother, Keegan was her best friend, Hesh was something more, Logan was a close friend, and Elias treated her like a daughter. Life without them seemed impossible. And the fact that she was alone and they were all somewhere else made it hurt even more.

The sound of several gunshots a few rooms down made Alex close her eyes tight, terrified that someone was shooting her brother or one of the others. When the gunshots stopped, a silence filled the air before on final shot sounded and Alex knew that shot ended someone's life.

She didn't know how much time had passed, but when Alex asked the Fed for the time and he coldly told her it was a few minutes after twelve, hope filled Alex's chest. Keegan should be back. He promised he wouldn't be late and he never broke his promises. That's why when Alex heard a shot ring through the air that sounded from a distance outside the casino, she knew it was him. She knew Keegan was back. And she knew they were going to get out of this somehow.

Next chapter is the mission itself so watch for updates!