The others nod, one by one.Brotherhood isn't just about the easy times.It's about standing together even when the path gets dark.
"Then let's move."
We gear up in silence.Guns checked, ammunition counted, escape routes planned.This isn't our first operation, won't be our last.But it feels different somehow.Heavier.
Because this time it's personal.
I make one more stop before we leave.Evangeline's door is cracked, light from the hallway spilling across her sleeping form.
I don't go in.Don't wake her.Just stand in the doorway and watch her breathe, alive and healing and mine.
"I'm doing this for you," I whisper."To keep you safe.To give us a future without looking over our shoulders."
I don't know if she hears me.But I need to say it anyway.
Then I turn and walk away, toward whatever ending this night brings.
* * *
The cabin is exactly where Ghost said it would be, nestled in woods so thick you can't see the stars through the canopy.One light burns in the window, casting long shadows across the clearing.
We approach in silence, brothers spreading out to cover all exits.Savage and Sniper take positions in the trees, rifles ready.Rogue circles around back.Tempest stays with me as we move toward the front door.
Inside, I can see movement.Shadows crossing in front of the light.Morrison's in there, probably thinking he's safe.Probably thinking he's got time to plan his next move.
He's wrong.
I try the door.Locked.One solid kick and it splinters inward, the sound echoing through the night.
Ethan Morrison stands in the middle of the room, a gun shaking in his hands.His expensive suit is rumpled, his face pale with fear and rage.
"Nowhere left to run," I say, stepping inside.
"Stay back!"He waves the gun wildly between me and Tempest."I'll shoot!I swear to God I'll shoot!"
"No, you won't."I keep my voice calm, steady.The voice I use when I need someone to really hear me."Because if you shoot, you're dead before you can pull the trigger twice.And you know it."
"You took everything from me!"Spittle flies from his mouth."She was supposed to be mine!My wife, my life, my future!And you ruined it all!"
"I didn't ruin anything.You did that yourself when you had Marcus and Calla killed."
"They were going to expose me!Destroy everything I built!"
"You built a house of cards on stolen intelligence and blood money.It was always going to fall."
The gun steadies slightly, pointing at my chest."None of this would have happened if you'd stayed away from her.If you'd just let me have what was mine."
"She was never yours."
"YES SHE WAS!"He's screaming now, control completely gone."I molded her, shaped her, made her into exactly what I needed.And you destroyed that!You made her think she could leave me, could choose someone else!"
"She chose herself.I was just lucky enough to be there when she did."
"Touching."The gun doesn't waver."Too bad you won't be there anymore."
His finger tightens on the trigger.I see it happening in slow motion, see the exact moment he commits to pulling it.
But Tempest is faster.
