Marcus

Prologue

7 years ago

Marcus~

Marcus could feel the sweat dripping between his shoulder blades as he and his teammates shook the hands of the secondary team they were joining forces with. The cafe' they were meeting in was stifling and hot with very little airflow, but it was the safest central location for an intel exchange. Marcus tugged his collar away from his neck, trying to allow air to pass beneath his vest, but it was no use, the air around him was hot and stagnant and he was just going to have to sit there and sweat it out with his teammates as they waited on their CIA contact to arrive.

Marcus was a member of a small team - Blade, Link, and Forest were his brothers in arms and the closest thing he had to family other than his sister back home. They moved as one and could practically read each other's thoughts, it was a brotherhood that settled deep into Marcus' bones and one he'd die to protect.

The op they had been assigned to carry out had grown into something much bigger, involving a dangerous Iranian terrorist outfit which required the assistance of a secondary team. But Marcus was less than impressed with the men assigned to assist. The team as a whole had a mediocre resume, but their team lead, Cutter, was a cocky asshole who thought he was God's gift to the military. Weeks prior Marcus had asked around the base, trying to get a feel for Cutter's reputation, but the words "Blue Falcon" were the only ones Marcus needed to hear to make his mind up about the guy.

A Blue Falcon - a.k.a a Buddy Fucker - wasn't a term of endearment and pretty much guaranteed that the person who had earned the nickname had screwed over his brothers for personal gain.

To say Marcus was less than impressed with Cutter's team in general was an understatement and he had a difficult time hiding that fact, unable to erase the deep scowl on his face as they met the adjoining team and took seats at two tables near the entrance. The cafe' was a last minute meeting point decided on by the CIA intelligence agent that was set to exchange a huge piece of intel that would allow them to start the next stages of their mission. Marcus was excited for the intel, but more excited to see their CIA point of contact, Caroline.

"This bitch always so fucking late?" Cutter sneered, looking at his watch.

The word bitch falling out of Cutter's mouth when referring to Caroline grated on Marcus' nerves, causing him to grit his back teeth to keep from flying off the handle by putting hands on him.

"Easy man, she's ten minutes late and deep under, sometimes shit happens so get fucking comfortable and wait." Blade said, shooting his eyes over at Marcus to try and gauge his reaction to Cutter's insulting words toward Caroline.

"And don't call her a bitch." Link added, giving Marcus a slight nod of his head.

"Jesus, y'all sure are sensitive today. She a barracks bunny that's makin the rounds or somethin?" Cutter scoffed.

Marcus cracked his neck to the side to release the tension in his muscles that gathered and flexed against every negative comment about Caroline. Rage coursed through his veins, moving down toward his fists which were starting to clench and ready themselves for contact with Cutter's jaw.

"She's not a fucking barracks bunny, she's CIA who's got a higher clearance than you and much more clout. You'd best remember that." Marcus growled.

Caroline was the absolute best at what she did and had been working with Marcus and his team for months. They used information that Caroline would gather and share, trying to find the whereabouts of a terrorist leader who had taken a foriegn dignitaries daughter hostage. Sometimes Marcus and his team would go a week or two without hearing from her and didn't have a high enough security clearance to know what she was doing or how she was obtaining intel, but every week Caroline would resurface with new information for the team that brought them closer and closer to completing their objective.