CHAPTER 21

ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER


"One, this is Havoc" Jason heard on the comms, and he got alert. They still were out of reach from the comms of the guys at the outpost, so they depended on Davis to pass any information. "Two has sent the information that there is a vehicle with a long range missile at the street near the pink square building, armed to hit the outpost. I'm sending the drone to confirm".

The Seal who knew the area told Jason that he knew the building, and it was a couple of minutes away.

"Havoc, this is One. Making our way there now. Two mikes to target" Jason answered in a monotone voice, but his heart was racing.

They left their cars nearby, to not be spotted, then made their way in two groups to the large vehicle; it had a big missile weapon on top of it, and it was being held by a rebel, with five more guarding it. The team took positions and Jason made sure he hit the guy holding the weapon first, but just when he was going to give the commanding order, the guy fired. "Execute, execute" he quickly said, and three of them were shot down, including the man holding the weapon, and the team continued to shoot, with the rebels taking defensive positions and shooting back, and during those seconds, Bravo could hear and feel the missile hitting the outpost, the floor shook. They eventually managed to take control of the weapon and the vehicle, and as they were running back to their jeeps, they heard a second explosion coming from the west, and they all desperately continued to make their way to the outpost.


Dianna was quickly walking down the stairs with the prisoner when the Seals were making their way back up with heavy weapons to take down the car bomb, and one of them handed Dianna a bulletproof vest, which she even forgot she wasn't wearing. She pushed the prisoner down to put on the vest, and she managed to put it on but not close it properly, when she barely heard Ray's voice upstairs. "Incoming", and a whistle sound.

Then it all went blank.


Ray saw when the rebels' vehicles got positioned, and men took control of heavy machine guns on top of them, but they'd obviously wait until the missiles, or car bomb, or both, devastated the outpost to then finish them off.

As soon as the Seal got back with the heavier weapons and handed to them, Ray told Clay and another Seal to go to the west side of the roof and see if they could hit the car bomb, that was probably coming as well. They needed to stay on the roof so they could have a clear shot of the car bomb and of the guys in heavy machine guns. The missiles they couldn't stop, and Ray was counting on the rest of the guys to manage it, unfortunately.

He suddenly heard a whistle sound, still very low, but he immediately warned everyone at the roof.

"Incoming!", and he took cover behind a wall, not sure where the missile would hit.

He felt his floor shake, and his ears also felt the explosion. When he opened his eyes again, behind the dust, he saw all the guys unharmed at the roof, but a huge hole was showing where the missile hit, right between the two buildings, actually, more to the first building, at the ground floor and roof. If Dianna didn't alert them, he'd probably be around that place, and the people from the Embassy would be at the ground floor at the first building, and not downstairs at the second one. He heard Clay's voice, yelling, even though they both had comms.

"Car bomb, northwest, fast approaching" and Six shot, trying to get the driver out, while one of the Seals used a grenade launcher and the car deviated its course a bit, not completely hitting the gate, mostly the wall, but it exploded, loudly, opening more than enough space for the rebels to come in, and destroying a lot of the cars parked inside.

"Two, this is One, do you copy" Ray suddenly heard Jason's voice at the comms. He was relieved.

"One, this is Two. Copy. Really glad to hear from ya. Where the fuck are you?"

"Two, we're taking position to take down one of the machine guns, we saw two of them. We're in two groups. Got the missile launcher down. How's everyone?"

"One, we're ok, positioned at the rooftop of the second building. Everyone made to the second building and is downstairs, at the basement" Ray paused a second, and had to tell the truth, "Blackbird might be at the ground floor, but the missile didn't hit too hard here. A car bomb just partially breached our main gate, at the northwest side, we're focusing on it now".


Jason was relieved when Ray said that everyone was downstairs and that the guys were ok at the rooftop, but was concerned about Dianna. He knew the guys couldn't leave the rooftop to check on her, and she probably was ok, but while they were taking positions to attack the second heavy machine gun, he had to try. She probably had the radio next to her.

"Blackbird, this is One. Do you copy", and he waited. For half a minute.

"Blackbird, this is One. Do you copy". Still nothing. His heart was racing again, but he kept telling himself that she was just distant from the radio. But in that case, she had to pick up immediately.

"Blackbird, this is-"

"What" A grumpy Dianna casually answered. As if someone was calling her in the middle of the night.

Jason opened a wide smile, then he and the guys started to shoot against the second machine gun. He heard a second explosion to the west, obviously Ray, Clay and the Seals were hitting hard at the rebels coming in, with a grenade launcher, by the sound of it.

Jason heard Ray also worried with Dianna at the comms.

"Blackbird, this is Two. We're the fuck are you?"

"Two. And One. This is Blackbird. I'm near the stairs. I'm ok. Just dizzy. The prisoner next to me is a little... under the weather. I'm trying to drag him but he's too fat. Do I leave him here?"

"Blackbird, this is Three. Leave the piece of shit and get your ass downstairs" Sonny was next to Jason and laughed with him after saying that.

"Ok then. Oops. Bravo, this is Blackbird. Ok then. I'll go downstairs. Bye"


Dianna was not feeling great after taking the hit of the missile, but she felt it was probably normal. It was a missile, after all. It seemed to have hit the stairs next to her, of the first building, so some pieces of concrete exploded at her direction, and she fell off the last steps of the stairs, also hitting the wall to her right. The prisoner that was with her also fell on the last steps of the stairs, and apparently twisted his ankle or broke it, she wasn't a medic so she didn't know. He couldn't walk and be carried by her, he was complaining it hurt, then he complained when she tried to drag him out, and while she was doing all of that, and with her ears buzzing and her chest in pain, Jason kept calling her at the comms. She had to stop to take the damn radio from her pants and answer, so she was grumpy and making her way downstairs after leaving the prisoner behind near the stairs. Then she heard Ray's voice at the comms.

"Bravo, this is Two, we have a breach. Some rebels are making their way inside, from the main gate".

She stopped for a second, then took the gun that she had on her back, and got into the security room at the main floor, where she could look at the cameras outside, hoping they were still on. Most of them were, only a few cameras of the first building were blown up or off.

She sat on the chair in front of the cameras, grunting when her chest hurt again. Probably a couple of broken ribs or something.

"Two, this is Blackbird" she called, with a flight attendant voice. "I see from the cameras at the security room that there are two rebels outside the second building, about to get inside from the main entrance. And there are three others going around the building, looking for the back entrance. Do as you please with that information". Then she tried to remember Jessica's nickname. She was still dizzy, as if she had a couple of shots of tequila, but with the headache already going strong.

"Spooks, this is Blackbird" Dianna called, still with a flight attendant voice, because she knew Jessica was probably next to the radio that every building had in their basement, and she also knew that CIA agents knew how to shoot guns. After all, they were trained at The Farm, so she thought they should have great experience with it. She couldn't remember Jessica's nickname, at all.

"Spooks, this is Blackbird. If you could please, come to the main floor, there are two dudes coming in. I'll take one but I'm a bit dizzy. Can't guarantee about the other. So..." she stated, because she was seeing the guys at the cameras, and while one of them was walking to the other side, the first one was coming right at the direction of her room, so she quickly got behind the door and waited for him. She had to shoot with her left hand, because she couldn't raise her right one, with the ribs hurting. The guy barely came in and she shot him, first at his chest area on his back, then his head, just to make sure. The room was small and some of his blood flew to the cameras. She pushed his body a bit to the side with her foot, so she could get back to the chair. There, she watched as both Jessica and the blonde CIA agent shot the other rebel, but they weren't as precise as she thought they would be. The blonde, at least. He hesitated.

"Blackbird, this is One. What the fuck" Jason's words were harsh, but he still had that monotone voice. Diana noticed that, apparently, people talked differently at comms, including her.

"One, this is Blackbird. Both dudes are dead. Six and a Seal are making their way to the other three dudes, from what I see" then she saw them taking down two of them, and making their way to the third one, with precision. "Two of them down. Wait. Ok. Six and Seal guy took all three of them. Good job" she knew she was talking like a drunk person, but she couldn't help it. It was fun to watch it all through the cameras.

"Blackbird, this is Six. Thank you ma'am". Clay's cockiness could be heard from the comms.

"All Bravo Stations, this is Havoc. A drone has confirmed that there are no more missile launchers near. Hold your position, two helos on their way, arriving in fifteen mikes". Dianna heard Davis' voice, she sounded like someone from the radio of the times of yore, and she felt relieved. And suddenly, sleepy.

She blinked a few times and saw Bravo guys making their way near the second building. Half of them were with Clay and the Seal, shooting against the rebels that were trying to make their way in, even though there were really only a few. They weren't trying to get in, only shooting from a distance, but the Bravo guys shot better, so the rebels were losing the battle, easily, and Bravo just needed to hold their position. She blinked again, and saw Jason and Brock making their way into the building. She knew that because Jason was wearing a green t-shirt and Brock a blue one. And they were really tall.

"Dianna" Jason got inside the room, that had the door kept open because a rebel was stretched in the middle of the floor, near the entrance. His head was very much blown up. Dianna was peacefully gazing at him, with sleepy eyes. Resting her face on her arms over the table, in front of the cameras.

"Hey" she greeted him, now really sleepy.

He noticed her sleepiness and that she was all covered in dust, and immediately looked at her head, he didn't see anything, then he held it and turned to the side, with Dianna complaining, and a bit of blood came out of her right ear. She was showing obvious signs of head trauma or concussion, especially because she felt dizzy before, and sleepy now. And she was talking like a drunk person at the comms.

"Get up, come on" Jason grabbed her arm, and she clumsily tried to get up, so he tried to wrap her arm around his neck, but she yelled with pain, then he saw she was hurt on her right side of the chest too, because he raised her t-shirt and saw a huge bruise there. She sniffed and just raised her left arm, for him to wrap on his neck.

"Dear God" Jason muttered to himself, trying to calm his own nerves, while he made her walk until they reached some benches not so close to the entrance of the building. He called Brock at the comms and asked him to switch with Trent, so he could check on any wounded people. Brock told him, after coming from downstairs, that the only wounded ones were Dianna and the fat prisoner, at the stairs.

"Jason. Jason Hayes", suddenly Dianna said to the empty bench next to her, smiling. Jason watched, alarmed.

"What?" he came closer to her face.

Dianna ignored his question, and glanced at him, then turned again to the empty bench. And spoke in Spanish.

"Pues, obvio, mami", then she turned to look at Jason, standing up in front of her, with a very concerned face. "Alto y con barba. Mi tipo", she stated, smirking at Jason.


Jason was sitting on the plane, covered in sweat and gunpowder, while the doctor checked on Dianna, who was put to lay in a bed. As usual, Jason was meddling, so the doctor politely asked him to get the fuck away from there and wait at the bench.

"We owe her" suddenly Jessica said next to Jason. He didn't even see her sitting next to him. He turned to her, quickly, then turned to look at Dianna again.

"I bet" Jason bitterly said, imagining, from the events, that Jessica missed something during the interrogation that Dianna didn't.

Jessica noticed his sarcasm. "Yes. She threw the rule book away, created her own questions, and in a second she figured it all out. And I didn't even know what was going on", she admitted, with a shaky voice.

Jason kept quiet, but had to ask. "What do you CIA agents learn at The Farm, huh? That apparently you can't seem to be able to read other people". He was indignant, because Jefferson also had that issue.

"They train us about real cases, psychology, things like that. The rest is mostly instinct. Maybe I should try to let my gut guide the interrogations next time" she raised her shoulders.

"Yes" Jason bluntly said, standing up. "Maybe you should".

He made his way to Dianna, because the doctor looked at Davis and Blackburn, probably with his diagnose.

"Yes, she's concussed. But nothing too serious, apparently. She'll have to stay in observation for at least 24 hours, but it's best 48 hours, to see if any major symptoms develop. And of course, if nothing shows up at the CT-Scan that she should take today".

Blackburn looked at Davis. "I don't know, maybe she should get back to the States".

But Davis looked at Jason, then looked at Blackburn, "Sir. I need to tell you some developments that happened during the past few days. But it wouldn't be safe for her, now, to stay at the States, especially because she'd be alone there. I'd recommend if she comes with us to Serbia and takes the CT-Scan there while we're deployed. And if something more serious shows up, then she comes back to the States, or stays at the hospital in Germany".

Blackburn stared, confused, and agreed, but Davis needed to tell him what happened, especially because he was their superior. They went to the separate area, and Jason made his way to Dianna, who now was very awake, but anxious.

"What will happen? Where will I go?" she asked Jason, as soon as he came closer. The doctor had put a bandage on her chest, so her ribs wouldn't be hurt and could heal properly. She was still covered in dust.

"I think Davis will convince Blackburn to let you come with us to Serbia. You'll get a CT-Scan there". He instinctively cleaned the dust from her nose and lips with his thumb, and she looked, awkward, but he didn't care.

She licked her lips, and asked, cautious. "And what about Ambassador Marsden? Any information on her whereabouts?"

Jason sighed. "We managed to capture some rebels, and the CIA agent is interrogating the second one now. Jessica interrogated the first. The fat prisoner also is telling some new things."

"She's dead. I think". Dianna stated, looking at him.

Jason stared at her. As far as he knew, the rebels were saying inconclusive things, not admitting to anything. "Why do you think that?"

She raised her shoulders. "A gut feeling. If the rebels risked so much by attacking an armed outpost, they wouldn't have hesitated in killing her, before or after that. Especially when they knew that after their attack we would retaliate. And to make an example of her, so no other American would 'meddle' in their affairs in Yemen", then she paused, and added, "And the second prisoner kept looking north. While we were interrogating. He knew that that window faced somewhere north, and he glanced a few times, to see if the missiles were coming, probably. And since it was a cloudy day, for him to know if the window was facing north, he probably had access to information about the blueprint of the outpost. It's likely that the Ambassador told these things to the rebels under torture".

Jason kept quiet, looking at her, then looking down. "I hope you're wrong".

"Me too", she murmured.

"The CIA agents and their analysts think the Ambassador might be dead" Davis came to tell them, with the radio in hand.

Jason and Dianna glanced at each other, then at Davis.

"Tortured?" Jason bitterly asked.

"Unfortunately, very likely. They are collecting intel from some assets, besides the interrogations that are being held. We'll know more in a couple of hours. We'll stay here for now, to see if you're still going out for a rescue op. You should rest". Davis nodded.

"And after that, you're going with us to Serbia, ok" she informed Dianna, leaving them.

"And you are concussed" Jason suddenly said, to no one in particular.

"What" Dianna asked, confused.

He turned to her. "You concluded all of these things, that the CIA agents, analysts and interrogators are starting to conclude now, but you thought about all of that all alone, with a concussion". He slightly leaned on her bed. "And you saved the lives of a lot of people today, when you quickly realized what the rebels were planning. You didn't hesitate". He smirked at her, affectionate.

She understood that he was just reminding her about her accomplishments, but it wasn't making her feel better. Instead, she just remembered what she lost because of it.

"My mind never stops, Jason" she murmured, and he blinked. She looked at him. "I'm continuously aware of what people are capable of. Ignorance is a bliss, they say. I'd never know. I always picture the worse case scenarios, and unfortunately, I'm usually right".

Jason crossed is arms, because his mind never stopped either, but in a different way than hers. But in a bad way too. "So I guess you never relinquish control, as I thought, right?" he remembered their conversation weeks ago, at his place.

She chuckled, remembering the first time she was at his house. "Actually, I had to learn how to give up controlling some things. Minor things, that is. I couldn't continue like I did".

Jason nodded, envious of her achievement. Then he remembered something.

"So… what does your mom think of me?"

.