The Eyes of Fate (Currently in Rewrite)

Chapter 43

"So I take two steps, and suddenly I'm knee deep in liquid." Will, Fang's brother-in-law, says. He's almost out of breath from laughing. "Thing is, with the NVG's on, I couldn't see the pit the privates had dug earlier."

"Oh no!" Ranger gasped, suddenly realizing. "You fell into the latrine pit?"

"Ayup." He nodded. "Covered my uniform in shit, soaked into my pants and my boots. Had to go through the rest of the god damn mission like that."

Ranger threw his head back laughing, one hand on the M1911 on his lap to keep it from sliding off. The older man joined him, laughing at something that probably wasn't funny at the time. 

"So what about you?" Will asked. "You got any good stories from your time?"

"What do you mean?" Ranger asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"Dude, come on. It's so obvious you were in." Will waved his hand. "Even if I didn't count all the slang and shorthand you know, you walk and talk like every snake eater I've ever known."

"Damn, guess I'm caught" 

"So come on, who were you with?" Will leaned in.

"Okay." Ranger sighed and leaned in. "Keep this one quiet though, okay?"

The older man nodded, suddenly serious. 

"You've been in longer than I have, so I'm sure you know about "Team Diversity" right?" Ranger rolled his eyes as he recalled the name.

"Yeah, the team that ran almost exclusively of females." Will nodded. "They met some kind of end after going rogue, right?"

"Going rogue?" Ranger laughed bitterly. "That's how they spun it?"

"Yeah," Will nodded. "Supposedly their team leader was caught assaulting a local, and after they discharged him, he came back and starting ending officers with info from his former subordinates."

"Jesus." Ranger shook his head. "That explains why they split my girls up or put them out."

"Wait, you were-"

"I was." Ranger nodded.

"Is that how-" he started, gesturing towards his own eyes.

"It is." Ranger cut him off again. "You wanna hear what really happened?"

Will nodded, and Ranger took a deep breath. It had been a long time since he shared his story, but something about Will made Ranger want to trust him. Maybe it was because he was the first serviceman Ranger had met since he left, or the way he spoke about the "official story" like he knew it was bullshit. Whatever it was, it would certainly be put to the test with his story.

"Excuse me everyone." Came a voice from his right, near the corner of the house. Ranger looked over, and felt his blood freeze.

Agent Wist stood there, with Lexi and Whitley on either side of him. Behind them were a half dozen men holding rifles, all of them pointing at the ground. Ranger was on his feet in an instant, pistol in his hand and aimed right at Wist. He could have dropped Wist, hell he could have dropped all of them, but he had to pause.

Wist had Fang's oldest nephew, whom he learned was named Jake, in front of him, with one arm around the boy's chest and the other holding his berretta to the boy's temple.

"Jake!" Came a cacophony of voices around them, family members voicing their outrage. Fang's voice was prime among them. Wist, to his credit, didn't flinch, merely waiting for them to quiet down. The two women were each smiling viciously, in spite of the fact that their son was being held at gunpoint.