Justin turned from tying the anchor rope just as a swipe of headlights broached the confines of the compound. He took the heavy rope from Danielle and dropped it over the wall. They were shielded from direct vision of the road.

"I need a knife." Danielle held out her hand. He didn't have the time to question her intent, so he handed her his switchblade after he popped it open.

She started splitting her skirt down the front. "I can't climb down in a pencil skirt."

A burst of automatic gunfire flattened them to the ground and served to drive home the danger his brother and Alpha team had willingly put themselves in—for him—and he was supposed to leave them to it? Bullshit.

"Get yourself ready to rappel down. I'll be right back." Justin crouched low below the wall and ran back to the man who lay dead at the top of the stairs. He pulled a Russian assault rifle from under the body and grabbed the blood-soaked ammo pouch from the man's belt. He hated weapons, hated them, but he'd be damned if he wouldn’t help his brother.

Justin locked and loaded the weapon and switched the selector to fire...he hoped. He couldn't read Russian very well. Slipping up over the wall he surveyed the area. He could see Jacob and his men. The enemy was advancing from the flank. That put the twins in between two forces. Justin took aim and let out a breath before he pulled the trigger. His target gave a cry and went down. He terminated three more men before they found his position and started firing at him. Justin ducked below the wall.

Danielle was there directly behind him. Her fingers were busy freeing a fresh magazine from the ammo pouch he'd laid down beside him. "This is an AN-94. Move the selector one more time towards you. It will do two-round rapid fire bursts. You can scatter them quicker."

Justin nodded, flipped the selector and popped back up over the wall. He managed to clear his clip with the short bursts. He also saw Jacob's team moving forward. They fought as one. It was incredible to see.

A bullet thunked into the wall next to him and he dropped down and hit the extractor button to clear the magazine. Expended brass rolled around him, disturbed by his movement. Danielle handed him a fresh magazine. "Jacob's team is advancing. If I can keep their attention, they'll have a better chance."

Danielle nodded. "Then keep their attention. I don't want to leave them here any more than you do."

His eyes flared at the comment. The woman continued to amaze him. He lifted and identified his target before he fired.

"Justin!" Danielle's scream swung him around. A man in a khaki uniform had her on her knees, her hair fisted in his hands, and a gun pressed to her head.

"Drop the weapon, or she dies." Her captor jammed the barrel hard into the side of Danielle's head.

He could see blood trickle down the side of her face where the skin had already torn, and Justin raised his hands and slowly bent down. The barrel of the gun he held leveled at the man's chest. He'd pull the trigger, but if the bastard jerked, a bullet would kill Danielle.

Justin kept his eyes on the man, his finger on the trigger. He knew without a doubt that as soon as the weapon left his hand, Danielle was dead and so was he.

Justin could see someone approaching from behind. The dark uniform and boots crept up, telling Justin whoever it was didn't want the man holding Danielle to know he was approaching. Justin glanced up and spoke to keep the bastard's attention on him and not on whatever savior happened to be stalking the fucker.

"She's valuable. She's the one you're keeping as blackmail. Kill her and you have no leverage." Justin kept lowering his gun, slowly.

"She's going to die on video—”

Justin watched as the person behind the man reared up, shoved a fist through the crook of his arm and broke the hold he had on Danielle. In one smooth move, the aggressor brought a knife across the man's throat, damn near severing his head. Justin was up and had his weapon pointed at the man with the knife before the dead body dropped to the ground. Danielle scurried on her hands and knees to the wall behind Justin.

"Joseph?" Justin set down his weapon. "What the fuck?"

His brother wiped his knife on his black battle dress uniform and sheathed it. "I didn’t get an invite to the party, so I decided to crash it. Not nice to keep us from the fun."

"Us?"

An explosion rocked the front of the compound. Justin twisted in time to see what appeared to be a rocket slam into the rear end of the vehicle convoy parked outside the compound.

Joseph snorted in disgust. "Jared just couldn’t keep his mitts off my M72. Get her the fuck out of here. I've got Jacob's back now."

Justin turned and offered his hand to Danielle. Blood still trickled from the gash the bastard had put in her temple.

"You own a light, anti-armor weapon?" Danielle's voice wavered.

A smirk crossed Joseph’s face. "She's a keeper. Now go!" He barked the command before he headed down the stairs.

"Come on." They ran back to the rope. Justin pulled an extra set of gloves out of his vest and gave them to her. "Get down. I'll keep watch. When you're on land, I'll drop the weapon to you."

"Got it." She pulled on the gloves and wrapped her split skirt around the thigh she was winding the rope around. Without a second glance, she stood on the wall and let herself drop. Justin thanked God they'd done the rappel off the building under construction. She continued down, slow and steady. He kept her in sight while making sure nobody else was on the wall. The weapon fire behind him was hot and heavy. One more explosion ripped through the night air. Dani reached the bottom and uncoiled. He unloaded the weapon, dropped the magazine first and then the rifle, knowing if he dropped it loaded, it could fire when it struck the ground. He wrapped the rope around him and dropped. Heat from the rope sliding through his hands tore at the skin on his palms, but he dropped as quickly as he could without losing control. When he reached the ground, the skin on the palms of his hand was gone. It was a small price to pay. Danielle held the gun and focused her aim on the top of the wall.

Justin grabbed the weapon from her and nodded toward the deadfall tree. "Leap from the log to the rock in the middle to the ground on the other side. You'll need a running start. Use the log as a catapult and let your momentum carry you through the jump when you hit the rock."

Danielle nodded and backed up to the wall. She studied the jump for several moments. A loud exchange of gunfire triggered her flight, and she took off, the gloves on her feet slapping the ground as she ran. He held his breath as she used the log to launch. Her skirt flew up and away from her legs as she stretched to reach the rock and sprang to the ground. She hit the bank and rolled forward through the dirt. Justin swung the rifle strap across his chest and situated the gun on his back so it wouldn't impede his run. He drew a deep breath and bolted. The log shifted as he punched up. He landed on the rock and literally threw himself forward. He landed half in and half out of the water. He scrambled forward to his feet.

"Are you alright?" Danielle was beside him within seconds.

"Wet, but fine. This way." He grabbed her hand and led her to through bushes and trees towards where they'd left the Jeeps.

Behind them, the sounds of gunfire became sporadic. Justin moved through the underbrush carefully, trying to pick the flattest route. Even though Danielle wasn't complaining, her feet had to be sliced to shreds. A metal on metal noise from near where the Jeeps were parked reached them. He lifted a hand and dropped down, feeling her lower herself beside him. He turned, handed her the gun and whispered, "Stay here," before he moved forward through the brush, soundlessly making his way forward.

In the moonlight, he could see a figure on the far side of the vehicles. Justin crouched waiting. A shuffle of underbrush behind him and a small hand on his shoulder startled the fuck out of him.

"You don't listen." He pulled her into him and pushed the brush back down allowing her to see.

"That's a woman," Danielle whispered to him. Justin whipped his head toward the vehicles. Fuck, a woman. He reached out and grabbed the stock of the Russian rifle. "Wait." Danielle hissed and pointed to Justin's left, toward the compound. A male figure pushed through the brush.

"Well, that took fucking long enough. What the hell am I doing by the Jeeps? I thought I was going to see some action." Jade's pissed off voice rang clear and true through the night.

"They aren't back yet?" Jared ripped off the question.

"Do you think I'd still fucking be here if they were back? Lord above, did you fire your brains out of that damn rocket launcher?"

Justin chuckled at the snark in Jade's voice, then stood up in the brush and helped Danielle to stand.

"Jacob said he sent them over the wall, but Justin was laying down suppression fire so Alpha team could advance. Fuck, I need to go back. Someone could have..."

"We're here," Justin said as he stepped through the last two feet of brambles and branches, pulling the larger ones away from Danielle as she followed.

"Shit, dude. You've got some explaining to do. What the fuck happened in that compound?" Jared reached for him and pulled him into a hug.

Justin instinctively slapped his back only to be reminded of the abused flesh on his palms. He was tackle hugged by Jade. "Damn it, Justin, can't you follow orders?"

"Ah...no. Can you?"

He pulled away from his sister and watched as her mouth opened and then closed several times. "Well, no, but I'm the one who breaks all the rules. Not you."

"I beg to differ," Danielle spoke from beside him.

"Oh, you got stories to tell about this bad boy?" Jade popped on the LED light on her tac vest and drew in a harsh hissed breath. "Damn it, you two are tore the fuck up. Dani, what the hell is on your feet?"

"Umm...gloves, tape and a lot of blood." She stood with her ankles bowed, all weight transferred to the outsides of her feet.

Fuck, Justin had no idea her feet were so bad. She hadn't complained, not once. He reached down and picked her up, cradling her next to his chest. "Why didn't you say something?" He moved toward the vehicles with Jade sprinting in front of him to open the back passenger door.

"Like what? Please stop saving my life so I can cry about my boo-boos?" Dani scooted back into the seat he placed her on and pulled what was left of her tattered skirt over her lap.

"I could have carried you on my back." Justin reached down to take off the tape on her feet.

"What the hell, Justin? What the fuck happened to your hands?" Jade pointed a flashlight at his palms. The blood and stripped skin rivaled the damage Dani had done to her feet.

"He rapid rappelled off a forty-foot wall without gloves. He gave his second pair to me." Danielle lifted her hands, the gloves were still on.

"Well, damn. You're tougher than I gave you credit for, pretty boy." Jade slapped the flashlight onto the floorboard. "I'm going to get some water and the first aid kit to clean those wounds."

Justin caught Jared's eye. "Why are you two here? And Joseph?"

"It's a long story."

Both of them spun at the sound of brush crunching. Justin grabbed the Russian rifle at the same time Jared lifted his M4. Jade was beside them in an instant, her own weapon raised and ready.

"Don't shoot, it’s the cavalry."

"The cavalry had horses, Drake. I don't have no fucking horse. I guess they have tanks and such now-a-days, and I sure as hell don’t have no tank." Dixon spouted off from somewhere behind Jacob and Joseph as they emerged from the foliage.

"They were dragoon regiments before they were designated as cavalry and they didn't have horses then." Drake fired back.

"Dude, you didn't say, 'Don't shoot, it's the dragoons,’ did you? No. You didn't." The twins went to the other vehicle and started loading their packs into the back.

"Can the chit-chat. Let's get out of here. We have a plane to catch." Jacob's order sent his men into action. Hands on hips, he directed a steady look at Joseph. "I take it you, Jared, and Jade are flying home with us?"

"That's the plan." Joseph leaned against the front end of the Jeep. He nodded towards Justin. "That boy has balls. He did well."

Justin blinked in astonishment at his older brother. It wasn't often Joseph talked and even less often that he gave anyone a compliment. He dipped his head in acknowledgment.

"I concur. He has stones the size of coconuts. Let's move this to the airfield. Doc can take a look at your injuries when we get airborne." Jacob slid into the driver’s seat. Justin ended up holding Dani in his lap on the passenger side. Jared, Jade and Chief crowded into the back seat. Dixon, Drake, Doc, and Joseph bounced after them in the other vehicle. Once again, Jacob used his night vision goggles to navigate the almost-there road.

Danielle snuggled against him, her face tucked against his neck. She held onto his vest as they jolted down the road. "When we get to the plane, I have a lot of questions."

Justin hummed an agreement to her exhausted whisper and held her, relishing the feeling of having her in his arms again.