December 27th, 2027
Rainbow 6 San Francisco HQ
San Francisco, CA. USA
Elena ran into the lab as soon as she saw me enter it. She looked extremely panicked and worried.
"What," I asked in a monotone voice.
"Derrick," she gasped. "I thought you went out on your own."
"Layna," I began, using my daughter's nickname for her. "I may be pissed but I'm not stupid."
"Most of the time," Megs answered from nearby. She too had been taken aback at the revelation of the Butcher's son. From what I remember, he was a fat incel with no girlfriend whatsoever….oh boy…I might know how the son was made then…With that happy thought in mind, hi. It's been a cool minute hasn't it? Last time we spoke was…what…when Megs went back to work? Yeah, that sounds right. Speaking of Megs, when she found out about this whole Jayke the Slayer thing, she apparently had sped over to my house (not far. 10 minute drive maybe?) to check if I was still there. As soon as I opened the door to see who was in my driveway at like 8:30pm on Christmas day, Megs had nearly tackled me and was acting all worried and frantic. I'll be honest, I expected that I was going to go fully ballistic on finding out about Jayke but as I believe you already know, my wife was there to comfort me at once. She had told me to calm down, be with her in the moment and deal with it when you're with your teammates. Currently, I was in a briefing room with Megs, Monika, Jordan, Elena and Craig. Mr. and Mrs. Skywalker were safely at home with their little ones. I heard that additional security was now stationed nearby their house as Zofia was targeted on Christmas. Thanks to Big Bad Lukas, that plan didn't end well for the Fallen. As for Tina and Zoey, they were safe. Zoey had taken a liking to Cobra who was the leader of security around my house. Cobra's real name was Cassie and Zoey often made the snake "sss" noise whenever she saw her. That little girl loved animals, especially cats. Just like her mommy.
"What's the plan of attack? Do we have anything?" I asked the room at large. To my surprise, Jordan nodded.
"Luke found a phone that gave pretty detailed instructions on how to get into this Jayke guy's hideout," he explained.
"Jesus Christ…what the hell are these guys? Kids?" I asked.
"Most of them look pretty young," Jordan said while scrolling through the various pictures of Fallen members we knew of. He stopped for a fraction of a second on the person codenamed "Artillery." They were wearing mainly white colored clothes…hang on a second. I knew someone that used to wear white a lot. They even used to stand like that.
"Jordan, go back to Artillery for a second," I said. Jordan did so. I studied the picture for a second. Then I imagined that person with an RPG on their back. That caused me to stand up so abruptly and angrily that Elena instinctively reached for a tranq dart gun. She didn't have one on her. I glared at the photo.
"Flak," I growled.
"What?" Monika and Megs asked.
"The fucker that shot me out of the sky," I said and pointed at the photo. "Craig, imagine this person with an RPG." I could see Craig's eyes get wide even under his sunglasses.
"Oh fuck me running…" he said. "What if all these guys are related to old White Mask members?" Yes…YES! They had to be. Remember what that guy said at Megs and Monika's wedding? "We will have our revenge." I ran this theory by the rest of the team.
"Seems a bit far-fetched don't you think," Jordan said. Monika however seemed to be on my side.
"No Jordan, I think Craig and Derrick are onto something. Look at this. Artillery. That's related to a flak cannon right? And this guy, Fear. He reminds me of that Dread guy Lukas…maimed. Plus we know that Bane was related to Venom too," Monika rattled off. I caught Megs' subtle look of affection towards Monika across her face but decided to not tease her this time.
"You think Jayke is the leader?" Elena asked while keeping an eye on my reaction. She didn't need to worry so much anymore. While I still wasn't 100% the same after my incarceration and torture a few years ago, the support that I got from my friends and family was the best comfort someone like me could ask for. Tina, Zoey and my unborn son were straight up the best things a guy could go home to after a shitty day dealing with shitty humans (that aren't my teammates). I shook my head at Elena's question.
"Doubt it. He seems just about as dumb as his dad. What smart leader would send out a recruitment form via social media? We reported that to the right people right?" I said. Yes. Homie put out a recruitment form for his "squad" on social media. Yet another reason I fucking hate that shit but I need to use it to stay up to date with memes and my other interests. Zoey however is never getting a Twitter account. None of that shit in my house. Elana nodded.
"We told the police that it was our problem and we'd handle it," she said.
"Speaking of handling it, how are we going to do that?" Craig asked. I did have an idea but unfortunately, Megs saw me.
"No. You are not going there by yourself," she ordered. "You have a wife and child at home."
"Soon to be two," I muttered. Again, Megs was unhelpful. She looked at me quizzically before she got it. She mouthed "What?!" I nodded but then mouthed "Later" Megs was already texting someone excitedly while everyone else wasn't paying attention to us. They were busy discussing the plan of action. I felt my phone buzz. It was Tina.
Lois Lane - "You told Meghan first? Typical :) "
Me - "Yeah, and you told Cindy on Boxing Day didn't you?"
Lois Lane - "Guilty. :) I'm just so happy I got my wish of having a son!"
Me - "And I just know he's gonna love his momma."
"Derrick," Elena said as I was still texting.
"Hmm? Oh sorry, what were you saying," I asked.
"I think it is the best plan to send you in for infiltration BUT," Elena held up her finger to Megs who was ready to object to this. "Craig and Ryad will be going as your backup. We will be monitoring all of you from the base." I nodded. Ryad said something in rapid Spanish that I could not make out but it did cause Elena to blush a little.
"Alright, what's my alias?" I asked. "Plus I think it might be more authentic if I went in without the projector this time. While it is durable, I'd have to like take on someone's identity instead of just creating my own."
"I actually agree with that," Monika said. "What did you have in mind?" I darted my eyes around the room for some sort of inspiration. My eyes lingered on a revolver Elena and I have been using in testing ballistics. My Loki smile came back in full. I turned to Craig and put on my best Doc Holiday impression.
"I'll be their huckleberry."
December 27th, 2027
Jayke The Slayer's Hideout
Exact Location Unknown. Near San Francisco, CA. USA
A gun was immediately thrust into my face when I performed the "secret knock" on Warehouse 24A's door. It was literally just "shave and a haircut". Fucking honestly.
"Who the fuck are you?!" a voice demanded.
"Howdy friend," I said in the Doc Holiday-esque voice. "Here to join up with ya."
"Damn, you actually got the information before the MAN took the form down?" the voice asked.
"Indeed I did," I said. In my ear I heard Elena's voice whisper "Dammit, why is he so good at that?!" Elena, please shut up. Your fiancee is nearby aiming a sniper rifle in my direction.
"I do not have any of the supposed items if you requested people to bring but I did bring my own firearms," I said and pulled back the green poncho I had on to show the two revolvers (Ruger GP-100s) I had holstered at my belt and cocked my head at the lever action gun I had slung over my shoulders. Needed to be careful with that one. It was Jordan's. His grandfather had given it to him when he joined the Armed Forces. I myself was dressed almost exactly like a cowboy/outlaw of the Old West except a little more modern. I wore blue jeans, a gun belt with ammo, a dark green poncho, a black scarf covering my face and, you guessed it, a cowboy hat. Black. With the joker card sticking out of the brim
"Sick!" the voice said before the gun barrel retreated from my face. The door opened and before me he stood. Jayke the Slayer. He looked just like his piece of shit father. Right down to the fat stomach. Took all of my resolve to not draw my revolver and blow his head off immediately. We needed information.
"You look straight out of a Western movie my guy," Jayke told me.
"I have an affinity for them," I answered and looped my thumbs into my belt. In my ear I heard Craig's voice say "We're in position Loki. Got coverage of the whole area." Fantastic.
"What if we started calling you…the Cowboy from Hell! That sounds AWESOME!" Jayke said.
"You a Pantera fan," I asked.
"No, who the fuck is that? Sounds like that hippy queer shit," he answered. Again, wanted to blow the bastard's head off. Unbelievable.
"Old band," I said. "Were you going to show me around your operation or am I going to stand outside all night?"
"Oh yes, yes come in come in. Me kah-sah is soo kah-sah or whatever those greasers say," Jayke said. Elena didn't like that and started cursing in rapid Spanish into my ear. Ryad joined in later but I did hear "Cálmate hermosa" thrown in there a few times. Walking through the warehouse I saw a few other members of Jayke's crew, all of them wearing aprons like him. There were only 4 of them and they were all playing cards around a table nearby.
"How many ya got," I asked.
"Those are the only ones left. Big Boss Lady barely sends good people to me. Half of them get killed by law enforcement and the other half are so fucking useless I just kill them," Jayke said. "I was hoping the attack on that Polak's house would stir up the recruitment process. But alas, some Kraut bastard killed all three of my best guys with the help of the Polak." Holy fucking shit this guy is a raving racist. Bet you anything he's also a misogynist too. Jayke proceeded to show me around the rest of his…I guess "lair." Surprisingly it was pretty clean or you know about as clean as a teenage boy's bedroom. My heart plummeted into my stomach after what he showed me next.
"And this, this is my FAVORITE room," Jayke said and led me into a dark chamber. I saw and heard movement and when the light flicked on my rage nearly ignited again. In this room were about 8 teenage girls chained up and huddled together in fear of Jayke. They ranged in ethnicity. I saw Asian and African mixed in with what I guessed was European.
"Don't worry girls, Daddy is not in the mood right now," he said. "These are my wives." Complete silence on the other end of my comms for about 5 seconds before I heard Megs' voice growl "Derrick. Fucking kill him. NOW." Oh don't worry Megs, I would. And I would enjoy it because I saw signs of assault on these poor girls. One of them caught my eye and begged me to save her and her other captors. Jayke was busy looking at his phone so I chanced a quick nod to the girl. I saw relief go across her face before Jayke and I left the room.
"Come C.F.H., let's have you meet the boys and you can tell us about your life," Jayke said. We walked back to the room where the other guys were still playing cards. I took a seat across from Jayke next to someone that really forgot how to play with water.
"Who's this boss," one of them asked. Guy sounded exactly like that one dumb mobster character from every cartoon ever too.
"This my friend is the Cowboy from Hell! He's here to join us so we can show the head honcho how serious we are now," Jayke explained.
"Hang on a sec frend," I said (repressing a twinge of anger when I referred to him as "frend"). "You never told me how this whole operation worked." I put my boots up on the table as well as scattering the cards onto the floor. I even pulled out a cigar and lit it by striking a match against my boot. Now I don't smoke all that much but I have had a cigar with my dad every now and then. Do NOT tell Tina.
"Well, we are remnants of another organization that my father and uncle were a part of before they died. The White Masks," Jayke began. "We are called the Fallen. Many of us are family members and friends of members of the White Masks that were killed by various law enforcement officers. Our leader operates in this city but is trying to go nationwide. So far, we've only really got a presence here"
"Your father was one of them? A White Mask?"
"Yes. He was the White Mask interrogator known as the Butcher. My uncle was the man known as Flak. His claim to fame was shooting down some helicopter that housed some Air Force pilot that proved to be my father's downfall,"
"What about your mother? I heard the Butcher wasn't a hit with the ladies,"
"My mother was a whore. She deserved what my father did to her. Rejected his advances and love for years before he finally got his way. She was disgusted with me but kept me out of obligation as a mother. I never met my father but I heard of his deeds through other members of the Fallen. I even killed my mother too. Lousy fuckin BITCH," Jayke shouted and spit on the floor.
"Do you know the man who killed your father? I happened to be a bit of a low key bounty hunter myself from where I'm from. Could help ya track 'im down," I said and started to move my hand to my revolver silently.
"Oh yes I do," Jayke growled and banged his fists on the table. "He's the fucking bass player for that cover band Time Warp. I know the big blonde guy is the guy who killed my uncle too. We've been trying to get their addresses from Sekh for literal months but we got nothing! How hard is it to look up someone's address around here? His name is Castellano! But it's like his name has been wiped from the database! Shame, I heard his wife is HOT as fuck and I want her."
"So is that German dude's," one of Jayke's guys said. My hand was on the handle of the revolver at this point. And my finger was itching to shoot assholes right now.
"We do know of another Castellano in the area. His dyke sister. Plus I think we have his parents tracked down to southern California, I think it's bullshit though. My guess is New York with a name like Castellano," another guy said. I heard Megs' voice say "Daddy…no…not him!" My eyes narrowed in sheer anger. Nobody. NO-FUCKING-BODY threatens my mother.
"That's not enough! Rainbow Team or whatever has people all over that area regardless! One of them is a former Colonel too so there's no way killing him will be easy," Jayke said. "I really want to kill Castellano's family in front of him."
"Well that's a shame now isn't it," I said, dropping the Doc Holiday voice and using my other hand to pull down the mask and take off the hat. Jayke's eyes widened in recognition.
"YOU!" he shouted.
"Me," I retorted before drawing the revolver lightning fast and popping all 4 of Jayke's men within 10 seconds. All of them dropped to the floor in heaps of red. Jayke looked around at his now dead men before turning to me with the revolver aimed at his head.
"Just like your fucking father. Surrounded by allies but still ended up face to face with me," I growled.
"MY FATHER WAS A BRILLIANT MAN!" Jayke shouted and drew his own gun. I didn't even flinch.
"Your father was scum," I retorted.
"He captured and tortured you didn't he?! DIDN'T HE?!"
"And yet I managed to escape right under his tubby fat ass didn't I?"
"Fuck you!" Jayke shouted and fired. I knew he was going to miss and he did. By like a mile. The bullet flew several feet to my left. I retaliated by holstering my weapon and beckoning him forward. Jayke "aimed" and fired again and again but each time he fired the bullets went nowhere near me. On the other end of the comms, I could hear Megs yelling "DERRICK, JUST FUCKING SHOOT HIM!" at me. Don't worry guys and gals. Jayke was a terrible shot. Just like his father. That guy could not hit his target even if he shot it at point blank range. I myself was watching his shooting hand closely and repositioned myself so I was not in the line of fire. One of the bullets hit the lights above and the area was quickly bathed in darkness. Thank goodness I brought the night vision sunglasses prototype just in case. These were Monika's invention. Essentially, they looked like a normal pair of sunglasses but they had a few modes, like the aforementioned night vision. I put the glasses on and they automatically went into night vision mode and I myself slunk into the darkness. I could see Jayke frantically reloading and I took the time to pull out one of Lukas's new prototypes he had been working on before the twins were born. I called it the "Ventriloquist Grenade." It's like a decoy grenade right? But the user can record a small sample before throwing it. There was also a timer and proximity mode. Jayke shouted "COME OUT YOU BASTARD! I'LL FUCKING END YOUR EXISTANCE!" I quietly whispered something in the Doc Holiday voice again and lobbed it at Jayke's feet. After about 3 seconds my voice, amplified as if I had just spoken it at full volume, said "You're a daisy if you do!" Jayke turned around and fired at nothing but then the lights flashed which caught me off guard and blinded me a bit. Jayke heard me yell in sudden pain. He fired and this time, his shot nearly got me in the shoulder but I had ducked just in time. The lights kept flickering at this point so I no longer had the cover of darkness. Bullets flew through the cover I was hiding behind as Jayke yelled "FIGHT LIKE A MAN PUSSY!" Alright asshole. I'll humor you. I quickly checked how many shots were in the revolver to my right. 2 more. That was fine. I only needed one. Taking a deep breath I then said out loud "Say when" to which Jayke responded with "The fuc-AHHH!" Before he got done cursing me out, I had rolled out from behind my cover, drew my gun, got into a kneeling position, took aim and fired a shot that hit the bastard right in the stomach. He clutched at it and dropped his own gun. I finally got a good look at it and rolled my eyes. Gold plated M1911. Typical for a douchebag like him. Jayke started rolling on the ground in pain and started to crawl away towards the opposite end. I slowly started to make my way over to him, making sure every footstep was heard. Making sure that Jayke knew Loki was coming for him. When I got to him, I kicked him over onto his back so he could face death. He did not look as charismatic as he had been about 30 minutes ago. He looked just like his father did after I incapacitated him with a knife. Motherfucker even opened his mouth to beg for mercy but I knelt down on his stomach wound to shut him up. I aimed the revolver at him and pulled the hammer back and spoke 4 words before pulling the trigger.
"Like father. Like son." BLAM! The shot echoed out through the now almost unoccupied "lounge" area of this warehouse. I looked down at the now blood stained floor where there were also bits of brain matter. Without warning, I was hit with an agonizing flashback. I remembered torture, taunting and that feeling that the people I loved the most had abandoned me. Before I could stop myself, I bellowed in rage and drew my other gun and went to empty it into Jayke's face but then, a softer voice was speaking in my head.
"Der-wick. Der-wick, it's Megs. He's dead. Don't shoot the corpse. Listen to me." My vision returned to normal and I saw myself looking down the barrel of a gun over a rapist's corpse.
"Put the gun away. You got him," Megs continued calmly. "It's alright." I followed her command and holstered the loaded revolver into the right holster and put the empty one in the left holster. Before I could really do anything else, a new sound was going through the room. It sounded like the Skype ringtone. Frowning, I started following the source of the sound. I eventually found it in what could only be described as an office. Except this office was plastered with photos of…
"Oh…oh …oh GOD!" I said out loud and actually threw up on the floor. What did I see? You do NOT want to know. Ever hear of Jimmy Savile? Yeah, about that bad. I squinted my eyes and took the laptop computer that was blaring the Skype ringtone into the other room. On the other end of the comms, I could hear my various teammates also voicing their disgust. Monika had even shouted "DIE VERDAMMTE FOTZE!" which was the first time I had ever heard her swear like that to my recollection. I got back to the "lounge" area and looked down at the call I had just missed. Sekh. My heart started pounding. We got 'em. Finally, we got them. We were going to find out the indentity of this fucker.
"Jordan," I croaked.
"Yeah we fucking saw. Holy shit. That was absolutely VILE," he said.
"No not that. Look who called," I said after gagging a little. I would never be able to get some of those images out of my head.
"Oh damn, I'll get Eliza on the comms. She's at home. Give her a second," he said. Megs came back on the line.
"Derrick. Are you ok?" she asked.
"No…no Megs…I am not…what if…" I began. I could feel myself starting to cry.
"I know. I've been texting Tina updates. She's with Cindy and Zoey right now. Zoey is safe ok?" she said calmly.
"Y-yeah. Ok. I believe you. Thanks Megs."
"Ela says her kids are safe too," Megs continued. "Eliza's here."
"Loki? Do you read?" Eliza's voice said. That reinvigorated me. Hearing the voice of someone else I trusted completely even after everything that happened
"Yes. In my hands, I have a laptop where Sekh was calling our friend Jayke," I said.
"And how did you get that? Where is this guy by the way?" she asked.
"Dead. Along with his crew."
"Hold on let me rewin- what the…WHAT THE FUCK?!" Eliza must have rewound the footage from my body cam and saw what we all saw in Jayke's office. She must have access to our systems at her house too.
"Derrick. Call Sekh. You have that trace you've been working on with Monika?" Eliza asked. Yes I did actually. I wanted to take one just in case I found something like this. I pulled out the USB stick, plugged it in and pressed a few commands. The computer was now ours to control and trace. I hovered the mouse pointer over the call button.
"Ready?" I asked.
"Ready," Megs, Elena, Eliza, Jordan and Monika answered (Monika still sounded PISSED by the way). I pressed the call button. It rang for a few seconds before the call was picked up and I saw someone I never thought I'd see giving information to a terrorist cell like this. They were female. Wearing a beige bandana over their hair. A sniper was hanging on the wall behind her. She looked angry at being ignored initially. She got one good look at me, did a double take and then growled before shouting "Castellano!" It was Jaimini Kalimohan Shah. Also known as Kali. Of fuckmothering Nighthaven.
"Me," I growled back. On the other line, I heard Eliza positively screaming with rage. Had to turn down the comm a little.
"Why the fuck are you answering the Slayer's laptop?" she demanded. Megs' voice came through Eliza's shouts. "YOU SOLD ME AND MONIKA OUT YOU COCKSUCKING WHORE!"
"He's a bit indisposed," I said and showed Kali Jayke's dead body. "Now I seem to remember telling you something a few years ago. What was it? Oh yeah! I warned you that if I ever caught wind of you threatening my big sister again, the Hindu pantheon will be down one god." Quick sidebar. Yes, I had infiltrated Nighthaven years ago to help take them down from the inside. Couldn't tell you at the time but now seems like the correct moment. Eliza had contacted the US Air Force after hearing I was an infiltration specialist. This was about a year before Craig had talked to me about Rainbow initially which coincidentally was right after I had saved Eliza's niece and nephew. I went in disguised as Jack Estrada (Pulse) and worked alongside Monika. Yes. You thought Monika was going to join that rich kid club on her own? Nice wish. Same with Jack. I believe the file is called Operation Ragnarok if you want to read more about it.
"Why. Why are you telling the Fallen about us." I ordered.
"YOU RUINED ME!" Kali shouted.
"You did that yourself when you told me you wanted my help to help you murder my own sister AND my future wife you bitch! That woman from Colombia found and apprehended you after you and Osa escaped after dealing with me. I recall that day fondly," I said. Again, long story. What the operation file didn't say was that Kali and Osa had escaped our clutches after I revealed my ruse. Went on the run for a little before…oh crap…what's her name? Solis? That sounds right. She and a squad called Ghosteyes apprehended her again. As for our confrontations at the Stadium in Greece? She was not supposed to be there. Guards hadn't seen her or her teammates enter. Not important right now. We had Sekh…wait a fucking minute…I'M A MORON. Sekh as in Sekhmet. The Egyptian goddess of destruction. Like the equivalent of Kali. Dammit!
"Fuck off Castellano. You'll never find me!" she taunted before she must have noticed my smile.
"You thought I was going to use a known terrorist's laptop without installing superior Rainbow tech in it first?" I taunted myself. "Oh that's rich."
"What?!" Kali demanded before I started to see faint red and blue lights from behind her. Oh yeah, we traced the call. Monika's really good with computers. Better than me actually. She turned and swore loudly in her native tongue.
"YOU FUCKING CUNT CASTELLANO! I WILL END YOU DO YOU HEAR ME! YOU AND YOUR TEAMMATES!" Kali shouted. I pressed my hand to my ear and switched comm channels to speak to someone not technically on Rainbow but very close to me. Not before hearing Eliza shout "I WANT THIS BITCH DEAD!"
"Cobra, you are clear to use deadly force if needed on the terrorist known as Sekh a.k.a. the disgraced former head of Nighthaven, Jaimini Kalimohan Shah. She's wearing a beige bandana, a leopard skin jacket and quite the mean expression," I said coldly. Cobra responded with "Roger Loki." I turned back to Kali who now looked petrified with fear.
"I'd go quietly. Cobra's a very good markswoman. Far better than you ever were. Ta ta now!" I said and hung up the call. I turned back to the Rainbow channel and was assaulted with Eliza's shouts.
"JORDAN, I WILL NOT FUCKING CALM DOWN! SHE SOLD OUR INFORMATION TO TERRORISTS! SHE SOLD OUT MEGHAN, MONIKA, ZOFIA AND YOU! I CAN'T LOSE YOU YOU IDIOT! I WILL NOT BE A SINGLE MOTHER! I WILL NOT!" she was shouting. Ahh, so Tina had been correct. Eliza was pregnant. That explains why she was not at the base…or hadn't been for a few weeks by now actually…
"You're lucky only Derrick can hear you right now," Jordan muttered. "Wanted that kept quiet."
"Oh…oh Jordan…I'm so sorry…I ruined it," Eliza said and I heard her start to cry. Mhm. She was pregnant alright. Jordan must have cut off the others because he said "You know?"
"Tina suspected it the other day. When are you due E?"
"In…around July," she said.
"Ah, so right around when Baby Castellano number 2 is born," I whispered. Eliza and Jordan gasped.
"NO WAY!"
"Yes, later ok. I have just remembered about the poor girls being held captive here," I said and cut the comm link for a minute. I walked back to the dark room where those poor girls were being held captive. Again they huddled together when I turned on the light. Most of them I saw were basically wearing tattered clothes. Some of them must have been here for weeks. One of them, a young woman with blonde hair, spoke to me in a thick German accent.
"You kill evil man?" she asked.
"Ja. Ich spreche übrigens Deutsch," I said in German. I just told her I spoke German but I'll relay the conversation in English for you.
"Thank God you came!" the girl said and ran forward to hug me. Poor girl smelled terrible.
"Yes. I'm part of the US Air Force. We have been looking for that guy for a while," I said. "How…how old are you by the way?"
"I just turned 18. I was kidnapped on my birthday," she said. Monika's voice came in on my commlink.
"Derrick, we have IDs on all of those women. They have been reported missing for weeks. We're notifying their families as we speak," she said. I relayed that information to the women in English, German and Italian because one of the girls looked Northern Italian. All of them nodded and started walking outside where I told them that Craig and Ryad would be waiting. The German girl stayed with me however.
"Are you ok?" I asked. She shook her head.
"I…I was his favorite. He did…horrible things to me…I want my daddy," she said and started shaking. Hearing her say that made me imagine seeing Zoey in this predicament. It almost made me go shoot Jayke's corpse again.
"Come on ma'am, let's get out of this horrible place. My guys will take care of the clean up," I said and started to lead her outside. She followed without question. Before I walked out of the warehouse completely, I told the girl to wait in the hallway for me as I went back to Jayke's corpse and gave it a mighty kick.
December 27th, 2027
Rainbow 6 San Francisco HQ
San Francisco, CA. USA
I was back at HQ about 20 minutes later. I had taken some of the hostages in the vehicle I had driven while Craig and Ryad had taken the others. We drove up to see a small entourage of people standing outside. It must have been the girls' families. The German girl had whispered "Daddy" when we got close to the crowd of people. As soon as I stopped the car, she flew out of the vehicle into her parents' arms. There were also 2 little kids nearby saying "Schwester!" in high pitched voices. I looked around to see the other families doing the same thing to their missing children. One of the mother's had grabbed me and started thanking me in Spanish over and over. Luckily Ryad was nearby and translated some of the other stuff I didn't know.
"You're welcome ma'am. I'm a father too. I can imagine how relieved you feel right now," I said. Ryad translated. The woman nodded and started speaking to Ryad. Craig walked over.
"We were watching you on our own feed. That shot you made from cover was possibly the best thing I've seen you done," he said after clapping me on the back. "The FBI is going to handle the clean up on that one. Those photos were just sickening." Suddenly, the German girl and her parents were in front of me. She told them I speak German and they asked what happened to their little girl. The German girl answered and even mentioned the pictures. The father looked ready to explode with fury.
"We'll make sure none of those are ever seen again sir." I said. "In fact, I just got word that the photos were destroyed." Satisfied, the family walked away in order to get back the time they had lost with each other. Craig and I walked back into that briefing room where Megs, Monika, Elena and Jordan stood waiting. Megs moved first. She walked forward and hugged me tightly.
"I know Derrick. I know. That was awful," she whispered.
"Tina is pregnant again by the way. We'll tell everyone else later. After we all cool off," I whispered back. I felt Megs squeeze me a little tighter. She must still love being an Auntie, even if this will be her…I guess 4th time now.
"Are you ok? Like mentally?" Elena asked tentatively. I pointed to my sister who was still holding onto me as if I returned from the dead again.
"What did that thing you say to Kali mean?" Megs asked. "She threatened me before?" I sighed. I think it was time to let her know. I told her about Operation Ragnarok.
"No way…that was you?!" Elena said incredulously.
"I was there too," Monika added. "Eliza had known about Derrick for a while. He and I had to pretend we didn't know each other during that initial Tournament he was at to maintain cover. Thankfully, I grew to like him. Then again, I found out he wasn't actually Jack either."
"But…but he said you two had to pretend you were in a relationship?" Megs said timidly. I mean that's understandable she'd feel that way. One, Monika is bisexual and two, I am an incredibly handsome man. But no. We did not do anything more than hold hands. Monika grasped Megs' hand gently.
"We did none of that Leibling. It was just hand holding and a peck on the cheek. We often met in secret with no one else around," Monika said. "Derrick even got Ela to return to Rainbow which was quite the feat."
"She realized I was an imposter but never got a good look at the real me. I had to convince her that she had left Zofia alone and that family was more important than your own pride," I said, glancing towards Megs.
"So…my little brother started the ruination of Nighthaven?" Megs asked.
"It wasn't just me. That would be ridiculous. Monika was a great help. Saved my ass multiple times. You should have seen how mad I saw her get when she found out you were on Kali's hit list. Why do you think Eliza likes me and my shenanigans? Remember how broken she looked when I screamed I should have joined Nighthaven?" I asked her. Megs nodded before turning to Monika again. Monika smiled.
"I love you more than Derrick. Derrick's my goofy brother-in-law," she said. I raised my eyebrows at her jokingly. "He was right about that hitlist though," Monika continued. "I was so angry at her."
"Speaking of people we love, do you need me or can I go home to my family?"
December 27th, 2027
Our House
San Francisco, CA. USA
I walked into my house wearing more casual clothes. Jeans and the zip up hoodie Tina had given to me a few days ago.
"Uh oh Zoey, who's home?" Tina's voice said from around the kitchen.
"Dada?" Zoey's voice asked. She is much better at talking nowadays. She was almost 2 now….damn. It seems like just a few months ago I was telling you about how Zoey came into the world.
"Where's my little Snowflake," I said in a carrying voice. Zoey's shout of delight came next followed by her running around the corner wearing a big smile.
"DADA! DADA'S HOME!" she said before running into my arms.
"Hi Snowflake. Did you take good care of Mommy today?" I asked her. I looked up and saw Tina standing there looking incredibly hot in one of my old hoodies. It was slightly too big for her but that didn't matter.
"Will you let daddy hug mommy?" I asked Zoey. Zoey let go of me and said "Hug mommy dada!" I did so and I even heard Tina let out a small moan of affection. It was well over 4 years since we got together but this woman still loved me more than anything else in the world. I loved her just as much. None of those college flames could compare to Tina Lin Tseng Castellano.
"How's the little man doing?" I asked and put my hand on her stomach.
"Great," Tina answered before turning to Zoey. "What did you and Mommy do today?"
"Sing!" Zoey said. I turned to Tina and raised my eyebrows. She started to hum the opening of a Britney Spears song of all things. It was called "Sometimes." I let her sing a few bars before I joined in on the chorus. Zoey watched us with her eyes wide in excitement. I loved showing her how much I loved Tina. It was a lesson to her. This was how a man is supposed to treat her when she starts dating at 40 years old. Oh yes I'm serious. No dating until she's 40. It's what my dad used to say to Megs when she was a little girl. He wasn't serious of course but it still made me laugh.
"Would you like Daddy to help you go nuh-night?" Tina asked. Zoey responded "Dada! Nuh-night!" Then she yawned.
"Uh oh, is my little Snowflake tired?" I said and picked her up. Zoey proceeded to lean into my warmth.
"I love you daddy! You're the best daddy ever!" she said. I froze. Tina gasped.
"Aww! You are so sweet Mini Me," Tina said while sniffing a little. I looked down at my little girl and saw a mini version of Tina smiling back at me. There was no hatred in those eyes. Just love. She knew I would save her from any monster that tried to hurt her and her mother.
"Daddy loves you too Snowflake," I said and sniffed. I too was holding back tears. I walked Zoey upstairs and laid her down in her crib. She immediately grabbed Scooby and closed her eyes as I started singing her to sleep as per usual. She was totally out by the end of that night's song. For some reason, I had selected "Here is Gone" by the Goo Goo Dolls. Whatever. I gave Zoey a kiss on her forehead before walking back downstairs where Tina was on the couch watching TV. She looked up as I approached and hugged me again.
"Are you ok? I watched some of the mission footage…those pictures…that was horrible. Those poor girls…" she said and held my face in her hands.
"I got him though. I got the bastard. I swear to fucking God if this asshole shows up for a FOURTH time one way or another, I will go insane," I rambled. Tina stopped me with a kiss.
"I know. It's ok. Let me know if you need my help," she said before I saw her bite her lip. Oh spit. She wanted yo boi. I could tell. Smirking, I put on the Doc Holiday voice again.
"Howdy little lady. What can I do for you," I said. Tina inhaled sharply. Oh this voice worked. Filing that one alongside Gambit.
"Make me beg," Tina purred. Oh OK! She knew how to push my buttons too. Didn't want to let her know it worked though. I reached up and started to slowly unzip my sweatshirt. I saw her bite her lip again. Outstanding! I won this time! Then, I slowly leaned forward and whispered in her ear just two words.
"Say when."