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Chapter 10

Calling from the north

Abandoned Factory, Montana, United States of America (UTC -7)

5th of March 2023, 2345 hrs

Staring at the long corridor she couldn't help but feel her heart sinking into her chest. She hated this place ever since she saw the blueprints. Enormous factory complex located in the middle of almost desert like steppe, looking like a small ghost town.

With every step she took, her breathing was getting heavier and heavier. Her senses were going crazy, muscles tensing up, getting a better grip on the weapon. Even the awareness of the fact that they had support of FBI forces, didn't put her at ease.

"This one is much bigger than the one I used to work in."

The man unexpectedly somehow found himself right next to her. She almost fired a shot hearing the Swede's voice. There he was, the reason behind her fear.

Selin didn't care to turn her head fully, just giving him a short, annoyed side eye. She still couldn't comprehend Thermite's decision. How could he allow somebody who worked with Deimos into the team? Into their team! He was making the exact same mistake as Harry. How could he be so stupid and not see that?

"What have they been doing here?" Captain Çağlar turned around, stopping for a moment. The big hall they have been in now was filled with the chemical stands, empty barrels. Stains on the floor looked like a river of clotted and dried blood, covering the titles almost around every stand.

"Probably the new Z-8." Fenrir kneeled down, running his fingers on one of the stains. "Bleach is one of the compounds."

"Of course it is." the Turk muttered under her breath. "And you know the full formula for the chemical weapons. Of course you do. I bet that you were the one who made it."

To her surprise, Emil didn't look at her with hostility. More of… disappointment? Why? He expected sympathy from Rainbow's side or what? Something was telling Selin that he was the one who blew their current operation.

This place was supposed to be crowded with White Masks, while the only thing aside from them which was here was wind. Just by how messy the laboratory stands were, Selin could tell that Deimos ordered them to leave in the rush. As always- Rainbow was two steps behind this fucker.

Moving with the team through the abandoned factory she felt like in some maze. The whole complex was now surrounded by Rainbow's and FBI's operatives, but it didn't make her feel safer. Not even the thought of having her brother, Thatcher and another five soldiers in the range of ten meters couldn't calm her down. Not when Fenrir was here. His aura was making her feel threatened, as if he was ready to attack them in any second. What if he was leading them into a trap?

"What on Earth is this?" Batu's voice snapped her out of her mind.

"We used similar cages for animals we tested. But those are… big. Bigger than the ones we had in Brazil."

"Big? You mean that they've been doing tests on humans?"

"I'm not saying that Deimos did that for sure." Fenrir quickly spoke up. "I don't know that. I've been working only on F-NATT."

"And it did end up on human subjects. So we can't exclude that option." Selin rolled her eyes, walking further into the room. It was dark, the unpleasant smell irritating her nostrils. When the stream of light from her flashlight creased the desk, she frowned. "Guys…?"

They all had been standing there, frozen in place. None of them dared to move even an inch. Staring in silence at the box with an innocently tied pink bow on top of that, exchanging glances between each other.

"Bring a bomb squad in. We might have something…" Wasp radioed, finally breaking the silence. It was like thunder cutting through the darkness of the silence, lightning up the horizon, waking everybody up from that unreal state of lethargy.

"No." Fenrir interrupted him. "It's not in Deimos's style to do something like this. Whatever he left here, he wanted us to see it." The Swede made a step forward,

"Then open it. See it yourself." her voice was acrid, piercing through the man's ears, causing an uncanny feeling to go through his spine. He was aware of the feelings Rainbow's operatives had for him, but at the same time he didn't expect such open hostility. "How are we supposed to know if you're not lying to us?" Selin kept going, hissing through her teeth.

She couldn't contain her anger anymore. How stupid it was of them to take Fenrir here? Just two weeks prior he was the one to work with Deimos. Letting him here was a mistake. Just another mistake. Another mistake in a row. Would this one also be as tragic in consequences as the last one?

Emil stared at her quietly for a few seconds before turning on his heel and picking up a steady, confident peace, he got to the desk. His feet had been rhythmically dropping down after each other on the floor, until he stopped in front of the object. His hand hung in the air, as his heart pounded in his chest.

He was wrong about Deimos once. Watching the scientist kill each other, the blood splashing on the walls, their screams digging into his brain like a disease making him go crazy. He regretted so damn much that he didn't throw himself at the man at that moment, ripping his throat apart, taking off a ridiculous mask, smashing his fists into that terrifying face he had hated so much…

What if his blind trust in a psychopath has failed him again? What will happen? Maybe his body will be torn apart by the explosion?

"You better be right, Emil." a thought appeared in his mind as he opened the box.

The air filled his lungs as he sharply inhaled. He didn't even realize that he was holding his breath all that time. As if he was afraid that a single whiff would destroy everything, causing a chain of reactions. Just like in chemistry. One extra drop of the substance can lead to the explosion and wiping the existence of an inattentive scientist right with his laborator stand forever.

"And?" Selin crossed her arms, looking at him. He knew exactly what expression she had under her helmet. Disgust, annoyance, her brown eyes staring at him with rage.

He blinked a few times, genuinely not being sure what he was supposed to answer for that question. Holding a neatly folded paper and… metallic object. If he would be asked what that was, he would be able to respond without any problem. But.. it didn't make sense for him now.

"It's a… note?" Fenrir awkwardly scratched the back of his head, turning around and showing the objects to the rest of the team. Clearing the lump that got stuck in his throat he started reading out loud the text.

"Best wishes from Deimos. I hope you're enjoying our little play as much as me and my friends do. The terrorists are surprisingly helpful in today's times. Anyways, I got you a small gift. Unfortunately, it got a little bit dirty in the process, but I hope you don't mind and that you'll appreciate the effort. This one was way more problematic than the last one. Cheet joins team Harry. See you on the other side.

Sincerely, Deimos."

Before he was even fully finished, in one swift movement, the younger Çağlar got right in front of the Swed, violently snatching the second object from his hand.

Her chest was moving up and down, sinking lower with every breath. Glancing down at the dog tags she had in her hands, she shook her head.

"No…" her voice trembled, as she ran her thumb on the name carved out on the plate. It was like a dream, a nightmare, making her silently pray for it to go away. To stop torturing her so cruelly. It was just one of those nights, when she would wake up covered in cold sweat, pale, tears rolling down her cheeks. Just another night reminding her about the day when she found out that aunt Sila was murdered. Another night reminding her about Lale. Another night reminding her about…

Del A. Lawson

Her eyes were desperately going through every single letter hoping that she somehow got that wrong. That the name will change somehow. Disappear.

"Hayir…" she could feel the cold surface of the metal in her fingers. The weird rough texture, covering part of the tags, was dark brown. As soon as she realized what it was, she dropped it. "No! Fuck, no!" she turned around pushing all the things that have been laying on the counter off the desk.

"Shadow! Calm down!" the captain grabbed her by her forearm, making her look him in the eyes. "Calm down, sakin ol!" he raised his voice, terrified and surprised by her sudden reaction.

"No, no, hayir, it can't be true…" she was shaking her head.

"Selin, look at me." Batu tightened his grip, trying to stop her from destroying more stuff. His own breathing was shallow, ragged, his body tensed up, like strings that could break at any second.

"Wasp." the Brit's voice made his head turn, as he sent him a hostile glare. Thatcher's hand was high in the air, holding the covered in dried blood dog tags, which waved lightly from right to left. "We have a problem."

He could feel his stomach dropping to his knees. The world stopped for a moment, as his stare stayed fixated on the object. He didn't have to read who they belonged to, to know it. Selin's reaction was more than enough for him to be dead sure.

Was it possible?

Was it really possible that his friend was dead?

"Good luck, Batu." Del called out to him, seeing him opening the car door. The Turk didn't answer. He just smiled, waving him goodbye.

The last time they saw each other. Right before they left for Portland. Maybe if he answered him, it would have turned out differently?

"Deimos is playing with us! It's just a sick game! He's messing us up!" Selin's desperate voice echoed in older Çağlar's thoughts. "We can't just claim that he's dead and stop looking for him!"

"I'm holding his fucking dogtags! If that's not good enough proof for you then I doubt that you're thinking straight!" Thatcher raised his voice, eyeing the woman.

"Shut up! Shut the fuck up! He's alive! That motherfucker is just messing with our brains! Where is the body then?!"

Batu closed his eyes. All the screaming just made everything worse. Obviously it could be just a sick game. But how did he get the tags then…?

His heart was pounding in his chest so painfully, making him unable to think straight. His mind, desperately trying to rationalize the situation. Wolfguard team didn't find Del's body yet, so it was not impossible for Deimos to put his hands on him.

"Shadow, do you hear yourself?!"

"He is not dead, Thatcher!"

"You both shut up!" the Turk snapped, feeling his voice waver. He couldn't listen to this anymore. Clenching his hands into fists so hard that the material of the gloves was painfully pinching his skin. "This is what he wants! To divide us, to make us weak. We need to analyze the situation,"

"You two are delusional! In denial! That's all!" Mike pulled his gas mask off. "He's dead. Make your peace with that. Soldiers die sometimes, if you don't understand that, you can't be a good leader."

"You think we haven't seen death?! I won't believe Del's fucking dead, until I see the body." Selin turned around,storming out of the room. A long sigh left Thatcher's mouth as he looked at Wasp.

"Çağlar. Be reasonable."

"Kiss me in my ass, Baker." the Turk blurted out.

His head was throbbing with pain. The last thing he wanted to hear was complaining of that old prick.

"They got his dog tags. It means that he's either dead or captured. And knowing Deimos, I really wish for him to be just dead rather than tortured by that psychopath. In both cases- you ain't getting him back. Make your peace with this and calm down Shadow before she'll do something stupid. You can't let Termotouch fall apart. You don't want her or anybody else to end up like Del and Harry, right?"

The man started heading towards the exit, but hearing the question, he stopped, turning over his shoulder.

"Didn't you hear me, Thatcher? Kiss my fucking ass."

Hereford, Great Britain (UTC +0)

11th of March 2023, 0834 hrs

"So?"

The woman raised her glare from the screen at him. Sam's hair seemed to become more gray since the last time she had seen him in Singapore.

Being in Hereford after all that time felt… weird. Wrong. Just by the looks on the faces of the operators she passed by she could tell how much they hated her. Was she surprised? Hell no. Kali was more than aware how much of a bitch and pain in the ass she used to be for them.

But at the same time- she didn't care about them. Not a single of them. Even now. She knew the stakes that were currently on the line. Too high, to occupy her mind with such simple emotions.

"We decrypted most of the files you've sent us. No traces of the F-NATT formula, so Fenrir might be telling the truth, though it seems like Deimos was actively trying to recover it." she leaned back on the chair. "But they were also working on something called Ares."

"God of violence."

"Fits Deimos pretty well, huh?"

"Indeed." Zero nodded slowly. " You're sure that it's not just another name for the F-NATT? In theory it was causing violenc-.."

"No." The Hindu cut him off almost immediately. "Already asked Svensson about this. Deimos mentioned it a few times, but in the end he didn't let him work on this. So I'd assume that it's something different."

Fisher rubbed his beard going silent. His dark eyes were focused at the screen as he was quickly scrolling through the files. The pupils jumping through the words, phrases, numbers… He wasn't sure what he was even looking for, just stared blankly.

"Do you think that we actually have a chance to catch him?" Jaimini's voice came out more like a whisper, completely unlike her.

"Yes. Popular criminals almost always eventually get caught. The more noise they make around them, the more mistakes they make. Justice is a powerful force." He muttered in a plain tone. "But to achieve this we need to work together. No more stupid grudges between Rainbow and Nighthaven.

Kali nodded, visibly not pleased by this. But she didn't have any other choice, did she?

Meanwhile Léja was standing in front of the room entrance, waiting. She wasn't sure what she had been waiting for. Standing there for over three minutes, her hand inches from the wooden surface of the door.

Maybe she shouldn't do it? What would Bruno think if she did that? But at the same time… didn't he do the same thing? She still couldn't believe what the captain did was real. The betrayal came from her closest ally at the time when she needed him the most. It hurt her to admit it, but… she hated Bruno for what he did. She was left alone with this whole anger and pain. How could he do this to her?

The knock on the door pulled Batu out of his thoughts.

"Come in." he answered quickly, continuing to pack his stuff to the backpack. Although they just got back from the USA, they'd be leaving the next day. He didn't get even a single full night of sleep since they landed in Europe. The circles under his eyes were getting darker and darker with every day. Looking at the mirror the Turk didn't see himself… just somebody who was looking like him. Somebody old. Maybe he started getting old too?

"Captain…" the soft voice made him turn around immediately. The Lithuanian was the last person he expected to see today. From what Dima said, she didn't take the information about Del too well. Looking at her, he felt the same thing, just as if he was looking at his own reflection. It wasn't Léja. Not the Léja he knew.

"Nothing has changed, Léja. Just call me Batu." he sighed, taking a seat on his bed. "What's going on?"

"Okay…" she rubbed her hands together. "I'm coming to you to express… some of my concerns."

"Speak up your mind."

"It's just…" she hesitated. "Please. Sign me off another mission. I don't think I can do it."

The Turk froze in place, staring blankly at Bayrus. Processing what she had just said, he rubbed his face. This whole mess definitely added him some years.

"I know, I'm asking a lot…" Léja kept going. "... but please, it's too much for me. I'm completely mentally and physically drained. A lot of things happened recently… Harry's death made me angry, but Del's…? It made me feel helpless…"
"He's not dead." Çağlar hissed through his teeth, interrupting her, feeling his heart starting to race again. From anger? Fear? He couldn't even tell. "Don't let this fucker, Deimos, get into your head."

"Batu, please, just think. I understand that he was also your friend, but living in denial isn't good. He killed him and left the dog tags to tease us. That's it. He's not coming back no matter how hard you will want it." she sighed heavily. "No matter how hard I will want it…"

His eyes stayed fixated on her, like he was trying to burn a hole in her damn body. She was wrong, just like Thatcher. For the last week whenever he saw the old Brit he couldn't help but to send him a hostile stare. They didn't found the body, which meant he couldn't be fucking right. Not dead. Not like his teammates in Afghanistan.

He still could feel the blast from the explosion, the shattered pieces of their vehicle scratching his skin. He still could heat the screams of pain coming from all around, seeing the crimson blood staining dry desert soil.

A single thought crossed his mind, making his glare soften. Such an obvious thing he didn't think about earlier, being so focused on himself.

Léja was blaming herself. He could see it in her eyes. Blaming herself the same way that Batu was blaming himself for Demir's and Deniz's deaths. Looking at her in silence, he started to sense empathy for the woman. He was overcome with regret and anger at himself for treating her so disrespectfully. The Lithuanian woman did not deserve this even in the slightest. He should have been a better captain than Bruno, who made a mess and then disappeared.

"I'm… Léja, I can't do it. I can't and I don't want to do it. We need you here, we already lost two people. I understand that it's hard, but I'll need you." he handed her a tablet.

Her face took on a mixed expression. Something that Batu didn't really know how to describe. Fear? Confusion? Maybe anger?
"What about Kowno?" she raised her one eyebrow, not taking her eyes off the screen.

"NATO summit is going to take place there in a few days. If anything is going to happen, it's going to happen there."

"Good God…" Léja exhaled heavily, giving the device back to the Turk.

"The thing that worries me the most is that…" he hesitated. Maybe he shouldn't say such serious theories out loud. What if he was completely wrong? He would be just worrying the woman for no reason.

"That it's Deimos' way to take revenge on the team members. I know."

They were looking at each other in silence, both tired and worried. Exhausted. Losing their hope.

"Yes." he finally spoke up after a few seconds. "That's why I need you. I know that you wouldn't forgive yourself if you weren't there when some shit goes down. Especially that your d-..."

"Okay. I get you, Batu. In such case… We have some fucking asses to kick, don't we?" a frolicsome smile crept on her face.

The older Çağlar couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle. First in a long time. He couldn't recall the last time when he was beaming so brightly, his heart finally feeling somehow light, like somebody has taken an enormous weight off his shoulder.

The whole time his head was filled with concerns. It's been a while since he was a team leader. He had led teams when they were severely disorganized before but what he had now wasn't just disorganization. It was near combat ineffectiveness.

"Let's move, Léja." Batu took a quick glance at the clock. "We start the briefing in a few minutes, Kali and Zero are probably already waiting for us."

He tried to keep a steady peace, walking through the corridor. Counting the steps in his mind, trying to not show any sign of distress. One last big breath, before taking the final turn and almost bumping into Dima.

His face was red from anger, eyes fixated on Licho. Like a wild animal, he was almost showing his teeth.

"Guys, guys!" Çağlar got between them, looking from one to another. "The hell are you two doing?"

"Nothing, sir."

Dima didn't answer, though his expression seemed to soften.

"Whatever. We're starting the briefing, boys." Batu gently patted Artyoms's shoulder. He could feel the tensed muscles under the Pole's uniform, which made him more than sure that his action just stopped some kind of conflict from escalating. At least for now.

"Sure." Artyom muttered, turning around. All the veins pulsate on his hand as he grabbed the handle opening the door. Without any other word Skowron sat down.

A long sigh left Batu's mouth as he waited for others to take their places. The team felt somehow defective without Bruno and Del. The seat of the captain, right next to Zero, was making him uncomfortable. The concerns flooded his mind again.

"You probably remember Captain Çağlar and operators Bayrus and Skowron. Ursu joined us slightly later." Sam's voice felt washed off any emotions nor energy.

"I do. But they all seemed slightly more alive last time." Kali rolled her eyes.

"We didn't miss you either, darling." Putting her legs up on the table, the Lithuanian sent a hostile look to the Nighthaven's director. "Came here to make more mess or to finally clean your shit?"

"You're barking really loud today, puppy. Where's your owner, the Czech copy of Zero? Sykora, or whatever his name was."

"Kali, Léja, please." The Turk tried to keep a straight posture, but it felt like the chair was swallowing him, pulling him down. "We really don't have time for this. Ghosteye team is in Korea, Redhammer is operating with Viperstrike in Brazil and Wolfguard helps the victims of the attacks in the US. Our team is the only one who are available and whether you like it or not, we will have to work together." he eyed both women, hoping that they would let it go. Two stubborn bastards. Though it was good to see that Dvasia regained her old acrid spirit, it somehow made it easier to bear.

"Thank you, Captain Çağlar. I see that you've learned something from old Bruno. Have you been waiting long to take his place?" A light smirk was not coming off her damn face, but before the man could answer, the Hindu continued. "Anyways… There has been increased activity of the White Mask's in the US. Seems like they're moving away somewhere. The last attack was almost a week ago, so we think it's safe to assume that Deimos has something new in mind."

"NATO summit. It will be obviously protected by the international forces, but it's still the most probable flash point for some shit to go down. That's why I called this meeting. We need to go there." Batu's eyes were staring expectantly at the American, waiting for an answer, demanding it.

"You know that formally I can't prohibit you from anything. In theory I've never been anywhere in the Rainbow's chain of command. But… let's be honest, Wasp. Your team is not looking good right now. I don't think that Garcia should be involved in any action after what happened to Lawson… So there are just five of you. Are you sure that you can go there and not mess it up?"
"I'm more than sure." he didn't let his voice waver. It wasn't the time to drop his attitude, to show any sign of distress nor anger.

"Okay then. I would recommend you getting in touch with NATO forces who will take care of the security. The president of the city also hired PMC. Strigorii Security Group."

The silence brutally ripped the air of the room, as all the eyes turned at the Moldavian who sat here with a weird expression on his pale face. Confusion mixed with some kind of fear, anger. Why were they giving him such looks?

"You used to serve there, right, Soarele?" the Turk raised an eyebrow. This was quite unexpected information for him and he wasn't quite sure how to react to this.

"Yes. Solid guys, you can count on them." Dima nodded slightly hesitantly. Not because he was unsure about his ex-coworkers, but because he felt threatened. Threatened by all of them staring at him with those expressions from which he couldn't read their intentions. It was a pure coincidence, he didn't have an idea about this. His brain was telling him that they already put a sentence on him, before even starting the interrogation, before even saying a word of accusation.

"Solid as you?" An ironic chuckle escaped Skowron's mouth, as an equally sarcastic smile lit up his face. "I don't know if I want to go there in such a case."

Holding his breath, Batu got ready for a quick and violent answer from the other man. Or maybe he was just surprised? Surprised at the sudden change in Artyom's behavior. Something changed in him, the same way as it happened to Bruno those two weeks ago when he met him in the bathroom.

Did Deimos really have so much power over them? To create a conflict within the team though he didn't even make another move? To tear them apart from the inside like a cancer absorbing the healthy tissue?

"What the hell is your problem, Artyom?" Léja seemed to share the Turk's confusion.

"Absolutely nothing. Oh, wait, no- maybe it's just that you left him to die?! He's dead because of you!" the Pole couldn't hold it back anymore. "Bruno left because he knew more than well that not a single sane person would follow him after such a mistake. And now you're asking me to work with mercs, who started this all and people who left our brother in arms and have absolutely no regrets about it?! Acting like nothing has happened?! That's not what I'm fighting for. It never was." his fists were clenched, body tensed, as his shirt stuck to his back.

The Moldavian was silent. Completely silent, listening to those terrible, ugly accusations. He tried to focus more on the items laying on the desk, counting down in his mind. Just like Harry teached him to do.

Five, the screen of the tablet lightly illuminating Kali's eyes.

He couldn't say all those words he wanted to scream into Skowron's face. All the anger inside of him boiling his guts.

Four, a grimace of disgust on Léja's pale face.

"How can you say that, Artyom…?" she whispered, her lips thin and purple, small cuts covering the skin surface. He had seen so many times how she was biting her lip whenever some stressful situation was coming.

Three, his own hands covered in cold sweat.

"Mind your words, Skowron. You're letting Deimos mess with your mind, just like he wanted it. We can't confirm Del's dead. Let's keep to this, okay?"

Two. The white ceiling. Just like the one in the hospital.

"Don't tell me what to do, Batu. We both know it is…" Artyom kept his arms crossed, hissing through his teeth.

One. His damn gray eyes starling at him, piercing through him like a heated up metal rod.

"... all his fault."

As soon as the man finished his sentence, Dima couldn't hold it any longer. Standing up, tripping the chair, within two steps he got to the door, grabbing the handle so hard that he was sure he'd break it.

"Go fuck yourself, Arytom. Go fuck yourself!"

"Soarele, calm down. We really don't have time for this childish tug-of-war. I'm talking to you too, Artyom." Batu sighed, standing up. "Nobody is blaming you, Dima. We know it wasn't your call or anything. Stay, please, we can talk it out."

Ursu listened to the Turk, but as soon as his lips closed, he pulled the handle opening the door. The only reason why he didn't do it earlier was the respect for his captain. But none of the words could change the decision which was made before he even stood up.

Batu kept looking at the slammed door, thinking what he should do now. If there was anything that he could do now.