TBITC Chp. 31

Jack waited on the back deck, smoking a cheap cigar while Alexx went to get her gun. He rarely smoked, usually only during times of great stress. What stressed him now was wondering if he could keep his promise to Alexx, to get Sam back.

The door opened, and he held out the box. "Want one?"

She laughed. "You know those are bad for your health, right?"

Jack turned to her and shrugged. "I was always a little slow on the uptake." He held out a hand and Alexx relinquished the Glock.

"Ok," Jack said as he examined the weapon. "First rule, never give up your weapon."

"And when should you?" she asked.

"Time comes you need to give up your weapon, you pray there's one round left in the chamber, put the gun to your head and pull the trigger." Jack said, and he wasn't kidding. "But that's not going to happen. At least not anytime soon." He quickly added at the look of genuine horror that came over her face.

"So, first lesson." He said, raising the gun. "Most important, in a combat situation, fine motor skills go out the window, largely due to adrenaline and…" He stopped when he saw her looking at him. "Am I over doing it?"

She grinned and shook her head. "No, I just think you're cute when you get all teachery." She said, and he scowled.

"I try to give you information that might very well save your life and you make jokes." He shook his head in mock annoyance.

"Continue, professor." She said, smiling at him.

"Basically, what it boils down to is if you have to shoot someone, and you most likely won't, but if you do, don't aim down the sights, just look at the target and fire." He reached in his pocket, pulled out a set of earplugs and handed them to her.

He waited until she had the earplugs in, then pulled his 1911 from the holster on his belt and fired at the cardboard silhouette that Alexx hadn't noticed. His round hit the target in the chest, center mass. The M.E., looked on, impressed. "How long did it take you to learn that?" she asked with a grin.

"A week." Jack said, and when Alexx gave him a 'yeah right' look. "Ok, ok, it was more like a month. Alright, enough stalling, show me what you got."

Jack moved out of the way and watched as Alexx stepped up to the railing, looked at the target while simultaneously raising her Glock and squeezed the trigger. Her round hit slightly left of Jack's.

Lowering her weapon, Alexx turned and looked at Jack, smiling at the shock on his face. "Oh, yeah, boy. I got this. Don't mess with Mama bear."

Jack snickered, but in the back of his mind he was glad that she was able to put Sam's situation in the back of her mind and not let it be her focus. Because that wouldn't do any of them any good. Jack put Alexx through her paces, teaching her what to do if someone got too close, how to prevent that from happening and other drills. They'd worked steadily for an hour when Pavel came out onto the deck, clapping softly.

"Bravo, Dr. Woods. Impressive."

"Thank you. But I have a good teacher."

Pavel nodded. "I assume you want to recon the location before the rescue?" He asked, looking at Jack.

The former soldier nodded. "Yeah, that would be nice. You got any ideas how best to do that?"

"I have a UAV at the air field where we met." Pavel said, and Jack's eyes bugged in surprise. Then he cursed himself for not thinking of it sooner.

"Wait, what's a UAV?" Alexx asked.

"Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. We used them in Iraq and Afghanistan to recon enemy positions before we went in and did our thing. Do you have thermal imagery?" He asked, looking at Pavel.

The Russian gave him a look that said, 'what do you think' and nodded. "Yes, we can transmit the images back here and give you a rough idea of the houses layout and where everyone inside is located. Unfortunately, we won't be able to tell who is friendly and who isn't. Sorry.

Jack shrugged. "That's alright. You have no idea how much that helps. How long 'til you can get airborne?" Jack asked.

Pavel checked his watch. "Three hours."

"Do it."

000

As he watched the black and white thermal image being transmitted from the UAV on the "52 Plasma screen, Jack could swear he smelled popcorn, but that couldn't be right. Surely his mind was playing tricks on him. But when he looked at Mike, sure enough, the man had a large bowl of popcorn in his lap. "Dude, what gives?"

The former Navy Seal raised an eyebrow. "What'd you mean?"

Jack pointed at the bowl, then reached across Alexx and grabbed some for himself. He offered her some, and to his surprise she accepted. "This is a movie, right?" Mike asked, playing dumb.

Jack grinned and shook his head. "You Seals, always have to be the weirdest ones in the room, don't you?"

"What's the address?" Ken asked, not looking up from his laptop. Among his many skills, he was certified to fly UAV/Predator drones.

"421 Palm Road, star Island." Jack said, not taking his eyes of the screen.

It took a few minutes to find the correct address, but it wasn't difficult. "Ok, how many passes, boss?" ken asked, not turning from the screen.

"One without the thermal, then give me wide view with the thermal, then tighten on each location you get the heat signature." Jack said, still watching the screen. He felt Alexx lean into him, then felt her breath on his ear as she whispered a question. "I take it you've done this kind thing before?" she asked, whispering so as not distract Ken.

Jack's groin began to swell, and his mind flooded with images of the female medical examiner that while unbidden, were none the less enjoyable. It took every ounce of restraint Jack had not to take her right there, witnesses be damned.

"Uh," he coughed in an effort not to hyperventilate, concentrated on getting a certain part of his anatomy to relax, and said, "Yeah, a couple of times."

Jack forced his mind out of the bedroom and concentrated on the images being transmitted by the drone. He could make out four rectangular heat signatures in front of the house, presumably cars, and ten heat signatures in the house, six in the kitchen/living room area, one in what was presumably a bathroom and three in a bedroom. Jack focused on the living room and kitchen, not because that was where the threats were, but because he didn't want to think about what was going on the bedroom, what they were doing to his son. He was glad he'd left his 1911 in the bedroom because he might've had to buy Pavel a new TV if he still had the gun.

Alexx let out a small whimper on his left and he turned to face her. The sight that met his eyes made him feel like someone had reached inside chest, ripped his heart out and stepped on it. Tears were streaming down Alexx's beautiful face, and she was literally shaking. Jack didn't think, didn't care what the others would say. The woman he loved was in pain and that was all that mattered.

Mike and Kenny watched the man that they had fought alongside take the broken woman before them in his arms and comfort her, and they would swear that Jack had changed into a different person. But hadn't they, as well? They were killers, and fighters of wars for their motherland and her people. And that did things to a man, killing. Things that couldn't be undone. But as they watched Jack comfort Alexx they, along with the CSI's, thought that maybe that wasn't completely true.

000

A/N: This chapter was hard to write. I have never before had a story take the emotional toll on me that this work has. When I write Jack's righteous anger and his pain at seeing someone he loves suffer, it is my own. Your reviews, story alerts and favorites have helped me to continue this journey. I began this work because of the suffering I've seen in this world and the righteous indignation that fills me at not being able to do more to stop and bring those who commit acts of heinous evil to justice. Some of you don't agree with Jack's brand of justice and that's cool with me, thanks for reading anyway. Thank you to all who've shared this journey with me thus far. But don't worry, it ain't over yet!

Thanks for reading,

Terry