"Stop," Alaura Petrovich whispered and watched her team down below. She overlooked the whole building complex from her vantage point, which made her job much simpler. Sweat dripped down from her shoulder-length black hair to the side of her temple; she baked in the heavy outfit she wore, but she had to deal with it. The surrounding area had been covered in snow, but her outfit made it unbearably hot. The moon hung high in the sky overhead and lit up the area around the buildings. Her navy blue eyes focused in on the night vision binoculars and she held her breath.

Two guards strolled by the position of her two teammates. The fireteam members stopped in the shadows and hugged the wall. Their breaths stopped short when they heard the order and waited, their fingers ready to pull the gun up at any moment. The guards inched closer.

One step.

Two steps.

Three.

Alaura's teammates took one guard each and dragged them into the shadows. Xavier Jules shot one with his silenced assault rifle, while Sheyla Yan shoved a knife up underneath the other's jaw. The bodies were slowly lowered onto the ground to keep the noise level down. The soldiers moved the blood-stained snow towards the wall to cover up their trail.

Alaura exhaled softly. "Clear."

"After we're done here, we should get some Chinese food," Kai Martinez offered as his brown eyes watched the enemy's movements through a thermal sniper scope. His short dark brown hair flattened against the weight of his helmet. He smiled slyly and stayed low to the ground on the other side of the compound. The shadows shielded him from the moonlight shining on his sweaty tan face. Being the overwatch seemed too boring to him, so he improvised, even if he knew Alaura wouldn't like it.

"I could go for some food. Oooo, Italian!" Xavier whispered into his earpiece. He sucked in a sharp breath as he steadied himself and licked away the sweat falling onto his thick lips. Sweat glistened on his dark skin before they turned the corner into a shadowy area. Xavier's oak-shaded eyes flickered between their surroundings and his partner as he followed her through the alley way towards their destination.

Sheyla remained calm and quiet, tightening her grip on the knife in one hand and a pistol in the other. She crossed her arms in a T formation, positioning the hand with the pistol on top for steadier aim. She never liked using automatic weapons, so she carried a small firearm, and had a grenade launcher on her back for emergencies. Her wide dark eyes matched her long brown hair that had been pulled up into a bun. She came up to Xavier's shoulder and was the shortest person on the fireteam, but she was nimble and could fit into tight places. The guys liked to make jokes and called her the Mole, which she didn't appreciate. Sheyla always got her payback during practice after kicking their asses and yelling curse words in Korean. Sheyla glanced back at Xavier before stopping at the next corner.

Alaura rolled her eyes and reported, "We will decide what to eat on the ride home. Evac is five clicks from here, so we have to finish this mission before the hour is up. Moving out now." She motioned for Leroy Whitman to move out. He nodded and started down the hill. A shiver crawled down Alaura's spine as a few snowflakes brushed against her cheeks. "It's fucking cold outside. The enemy won't be expecting us. Use bounding overwatch when we attack."

Xavier chuckled lowly, and Alaura was sure there was a smug smirk on his face. "When we're done here, I'll keep you warm."

Leroy shook his head in dismay. "Xavier, always flirting." He hoisted his assault rifle up into an easier to access position and trudged on. His piercing blue eyes focused on the bottom of the hill and he huffed when he lost his breath. The belt and sash full of extra ammo weighed his uniform down more than usual, and it took a toll on his lungs. Leroy was getting up there in age, but damn, he was a great soldier.

"In your dreams, Jules," Alaura scoffed.

"I'm going to be sleeping good tonight, then."

Kai commented quickly, "Have some fucking decency, Jules. She's your CO."

"Come on, man. She knows I'm kidding." Xavier nodded towards the other building and made sure the coast was clear.

Sheyla waited patiently for the all clear and whispered, "You're just mad because you got shot down, Xavier."

"Oooo, she speaks!" Leroy exclaimed lowly in surprise.

Sheyla snapped, "I can talk, jackass."

Alaura sighed to herself. She loved being the Commanding Officer and having her own team, but handling all of them together was a totally different story. "Everyone settle down. We have a job to do."

Kai bit his lip as he focused in on Sheyla's area. "You're clear, Yan. Cut their comms." With the all clear in place, Sheyla and Xavier snuck into the building. Cutting the enemy's communications was vital to the mission. It allows the fireteam to move in and out of places sneakily.

Alaura nodded towards the door of the first building they came across. One room per building made it easy to search for the captive. Leroy waited until Alaura was in place against the opposite side of the door and proceeded to open it. Alaura went in first, holding her gun up and toggling on the night vision of her scope.

The pitch black room was silent and unventilated. Walking in there seemed to be like wading through a boiler room full of steam. Alaura held her breath and listened for any kind of movements possible. A breath. A movement. A noise. Nothing arose from the darkness. When she searched the room and found nothing, they moved to the next building.

Building two was the bunkhouse. Alaura held up a fist and Leroy stopped in his place. She motioned to two of the men sleeping on their beds on the left side of the room, causing her teammate to nod understandingly. She took out the knife on her belt and knelt down beside one of the beds. She seemed to stop breathing before shoving the knife into the man's temple. She pulled the knife out slowly and held his head on the bed to keep it from making any sound.

Alaura moved to the next bed and settled there for a second to breathe. The man in the bed stirred and woke up, and Alaura quickly shoved her hand onto his mouth to muffle his yell. She held him down and struggled to keep him there. He grabbed her arm and put his hand to her throat, but to no avail. His attempt wouldn't work. She shoved the knife up his jaw, causing him to twitch and finally fall down lifeless. Alaura shook his grip off of her and nodded to Leroy that she was okay. They cleared the building and moved onto the next.

Three. Empty.

Four. Full of weapons, but empty.

The captive, an important US ambassador, huddled in the corner of the fifth building, tears streaming down his dirty face. His hands were bound behind his back and his wrists were bloody from his attempts to escape. Dirt smeared over his clean white shirt and his normally straight tie hung loose around his neck. The captive's left eye was bruised and a cut lined his cheek. This guy tried to fight back. Alaura respected that.

Leroy knelt down beside him and whispered the plan as he let him loose. The captive nodded and almost spoke until Alaura shushed him. The operation needed to remain silent and not alert any of the enemy forces. Nothing could go wrong.

Alaura whispered on comms, "Got the hostage. Moving out." Leroy nudged the captive in between them for maximum protection. If any bullets were to fly, the captive would be shielded.

The group exited the building and stayed along the wall. The moon touched the ends of their boots, so they were a bit more noticeable than they wanted. They moved passed a few buildings, slowly working their way back to where Kai was.

"Don't move," Kai stressed each syllable over comms. He watched Alaura's group hold position and zoomed out on the scope of his sniper rifle. Something wasn't right. There was movement in the shadows, but he couldn't make out what it was. The building blocked his view.

Everything on communications stayed silent, the silence buzzing in Alaura's empty ear. The seconds ticked by, but nothing could be heard. No footsteps, breathing, talking, or growling from dogs. The coast seemed clear enough. "Kai, are we clear?" Alaura questioned quietly.

"Take cover!" Kai yelled into comms.

A flashbang was thrown in between the trio and went off, causing a blinding light to appear. Alaura and Leroy pushed the ambassador back around the corner and down to the ground. Both teammates knelt down beside him. All of them stumbled to get a grasp on the situation, leaning up against the wall and floor to hold themselves steady. Alaura opened her eyes, but she couldn't see anything. Her ears rang and popped as if she had just moved to a higher elevation. She held onto her gun and blinked a few times. Her eyesight came back, but everything was moving and too blurry for her to comprehend.

"Alaura! Alaura, do you copy?" Kai called out. He saw someone move out of the shadows and shot them in the chest. Their body fell to the ground in seconds. "Yan, Jules, cover them! I can't see shit from up here."

"Ten-four, Martinez," Xavier answered and chucked a grenade near the wall where the flashbang came from. An enemy soldier went flying and slid across the ground. The corpse's arm had been blown off and metal had struck his chest.

Alaura's hearing came back and she spoke groggily, "Light 'em up. No one leaves here alive." When her eyes adjusted, she peered around the corner. The buildings were pretty far, and god knows how many enemies there were. She nodded to Leroy, who returned the gesture and tapped the captive's shoulder. Alaura took in a few deep breaths before getting a good grip on her weapon. She then charged behind another building's wall. Gun shots rang out and launched at her, but she kept her pace and dove for the safe zone. Leroy and the captive followed after her, getting to safety on time.

Yan and Jules took that as a cue to move up as well. Jules moved to the next barrier, a wall, and ducked down. Yan shot at the enemy a few times and hit her back against the wall. Gunshots were fired from the opposing side and nicked Yan's finger. She cringed and moved to Jules.

Bounding Overwatch was a soldier's game of leapfrog. One team would advance while the other provides cover. Kai came in handy because he was the eagle watching from overhead with a sniper rifle. Alaura loved using the tactic in situations like this. She motioned Leroy to move up while Jules and Yan fired shots that took a few men down.

When Alaura and Leroy got to the new cover, the captive broke down. He didn't want to move anymore and mumbled things to himself. His mumbling couldn't be heard over the gunfire, so they were stuck. Alaura chucked a grenade at the building and then knelt down next to the politician. "We have to move. You have to trust us to get you out of here alive," she urged him and glanced at Leroy, who was advising they move up quickly. The ambassador was hesitant, but quickly agreed when Yan started yelling at them in Korean. The mission was too important to mess up now.

A loud explosion boomed and made all of the earpieces screech an ungodly noise. The whole fireteam cried out and stood their ground until it settled down. What came after that only made everything worse.

Kai screamed out in sheer pain so loud that it echoed down to where the team was. He grunted and forced himself to stop screaming, leaving the sound of ragged breaths over comms. He grit his teeth and barely spoke, "Shit...damn rocket...hit me..."

Alaura snapped to attention and took initiative to run to the next spot before Leroy. She rolled at the end to avoid bullets that were getting a little too low for her liking. "Hold on, we'll work our way to you. You better be alive when we get there, Martinez." Alaura observed the situation and realized they were really close to the building now. One more surge up and they were in. "Jules, Yan, clear the building."

"On it," Sheyla Yan answered, and followed Jules into the building.

Alaura and Leroy ushered the ambassador up the mountain leading to Martinez. Her heart pounded against her chest and in her ears. Her pulse would throw her off as she tried to listen for where he was, but came up with nothing. Alaura ran ahead, yet she couldn't see anything in the dark. She scrambled to higher ground and called out, "Kai?"

"H-here..." he clicked the flashlight he had on and off, signaling where he was located. Alaura jumped down and checked him for wounds. Shrapnel grazed his face, leaving a cut along his cheek. A piece of metal pierced through his right shoulder, allowing blood to spill all over his suit. He cracked a small smile when Alaura locked eyes with him. Kai chuckled, "I'm...not dead."

"Good, stay that way," Alaura stated and put pressure on his wound. Blood soaked through her fingers and she took out a piece of cloth from her pant pocket. She cleaned up some of the blood as Kai cringed and cried out in agony. There was so much blood. Alaura's expression dropped and her voice shook, "Don't give up on me. You hear me?"

"Yes...ma'am..." Kai trailed off and closed his eyes. He kept his pain at bay, but his breathing was uncontrollable. It seemed like he was drowning in a nonexistent ocean.

Leroy tended to Kai's wound and sprayed alcohol on it. Kai screamed and clenched his jaw tightly to stop himself. Leroy glanced around at the shrapnel left behind and felt the temperature of a piece.

Hot enough to use. Perfect.

"Martinez, this is going to hurt. A lot." Leroy took out the metal from Kai's shoulder and pushed the hot metal against his wound. Martinez cried out and grunted before laying back. He was drenched in sweat at this point and couldn't take any more pain. Leroy took the metal away and looked over the wound. His skin melted together in a jumbled mess. "Stopped the bleeding for now. Not sure if there's any internal bleeding." Leroy glanced back at Alaura and shook his head. "We need the gurney. There's no way he can walk to the extraction zone. He should live until we get there."

Alaura nodded and took the makeshift gurney out of Leroy's bag. The metal rods linked together and made sure the fabric stretched out across the whole thing. It was a prototype in the field at this point, and she hoped it worked. She wasn't going to leave Kai. He'll live. He'll make it. She thought.

Xavier and Sheyla hiked up the mountain quickly and met up with the rest of the group. They moved through some of the bushes, causing sticks to snap under their feet. The snow fell off of the bush and onto the ground, adding to the overwhelming snow fall. An overwhelming smell of sulfur followed their arrival. The grenades that went off really must've stuck the smell to their clothing. Xavier looked at all of them worriedly, "Is he okay?"

Alaura pointed at Kai and narrowed her eyes, "No more talking. Focus on yourself." She turned back to the other two team members and nodded, "He'll get through this if we get to evac on time. Jules, will you help me carry him on the gurney?"

Xavier nodded and set Kai on the gurney. Sheyla wrapped Kai up in a blanket and helped lift him up. She held it there while Alaura took off her heavy jacket and gave it to the ambassador. He must've been freezing out there in the cold, and she told her superiors she would protect him at all costs. She adjusted her black sweater and took hold of the other end of the gurney.

They walked for forty minutes, listening to Kai groan in agony. Every move made the shrapnel twitch, causing more pain. The fireteam forced their way through the cold wind and snow. The cold froze their noses and their muscles ached. The woods around them was filled with noises like birds singing their babies to sleep or crickets chirping. Small rabbits and a few deer almost crossed their path, but ran the other way once they saw the team.

Alaura's limbs were freezing and the sweat that had once arose from the firefight turned into tiny icicles on her skin. She glimpsed around once they got to the landing zone and set Kai down. She cupped her hands close to her mouth and exhaled, bringing warmth to her cold skin. "What time is it?"

"Time for evac to get us the fuck out of here," Xavier responded in a slightly annoyed fashion. He looked the perimeter over from where he was to make sure they weren't followed.

Alaura knelt down next to Kai and smiled, "You haven't given up yet. You can make it." This was good. No casualties on her team. Another successful mission. Her superiors would be pleased.

"Well...it...it was an order," he grinned slightly and winced from moving. Alaura wiped some sweat away from his face and Kai flinched from her cold hand.

Alaura looked up when she heard the sound of a chopper in bound. The light shined on the team and she waved to them. They slowly descended from the sky and landed, allowing the team to get on board and go to the closest army hospital in the vicinity.