"Go!" she shouted at Winter.
The vehicle lurched forward. Mara threw herself into the passenger seat as they accelerated. Rounds punched into the rear panel but missed anything critical. The armor held.
Behind them, the building was chaos. Guards firing at anything that moved. Delta's team laying down suppressing fire as they extracted. The whole operation turning into exactly the kind of violent mess they'd been trying to avoid.
But they had Steele. That was all that mattered.
Winter pushed the vehicle hard, taking corners that threw everyone sideways. In the back, Kira was working on Steele. IV line already in. Fluids running. Her hands moving with practiced efficiency even while the vehicle bounced and lurched.
"How is he?" Mara asked, turning in her seat to look back.
"Alive," Kira said. "That's about all I can say right now. He's got significant blood loss, infection in the leg wound, at least three broken ribs, possible internal injuries. He needs a hospital. Real one. Soon."
Steele's eyes were closed but he was conscious. Mara could see his chest moving. Could see him fighting to stay present even though his body wanted to shut down.
"Steele," she said. His eyes opened. Focused on her face. "Stay with us. You hear me? You don't get to check out now."
"Bossy," he muttered. The word came out slurred but there was something in his tone. Something that might have been humor if everything hadn't hurt so much.
"You have no idea."
His mouth twitched. Might have been trying to smile. Hard to tell through the pain and the swelling and the blood.
"Knew you'd be trouble," he said again. Like it was important. Like he needed her to know he'd recognized something in that compound three days ago. "Saw it in your eyes."
"What did you see?"
"Someone who doesn't quit." His breathing was labored. Every word cost him. "Someone worth dying for."
Mara's chest tightened. "You didn't die."
"Not yet."
"Not ever. We didn't come all this way to lose you now."
He looked at her for a long moment. Like he was trying to decide if she meant that. Like he was trying to figure out if the woman who'd left him behind was the same one who'd come back for him.
"Why?" he asked.
It was a simple question. One word. But it carried weight. Mara knew what he was asking. Why come back? Why risk everything? Why coordinate with his team and breach a fortified building and extract him under fire when the tactically smart thing would have been to walk away?
She could give him the tactical answer. The one about debts and honor and not leaving people behind. The one that made sense on paper and didn't require her to examine what was happening in her chest.
But looking at him now. Seeing his eyes on her face. Feeling the weight of the last three days. She couldn't lie.
"Because I couldn't stop seeing your face," she said quietly. "Couldn't stop hearing your voice. Couldn't stop thinking about what happened in that compound. And I needed to know if it was real or just adrenaline and chaos."
His eyes held hers. "And?"
"Still figuring that out."
Something passed between them. Understanding. Recognition. The acknowledgment that whatever had started in that compound wasn't finished. That they'd have to deal with it. Eventually.
But not now. Now he needed medical attention and extraction and safety. Now she needed to focus on the mission.
His eyes drifted closed again. Mara turned back to face forward, watching the Iraqi landscape slide past through the windscreen. The road stretched toward the rally point where they'd transfer Steele to Delta's custody. Where this part of the operation would end and the next would begin.
Her radio crackled. Hawk's voice. "Delta Six to Shadow Veil. We have clean exfil. All personnel accounted for. En route to primary rally point."
