The Soldier and The Spy: Jay Halstead - Episode 1

Chapter 1

X

The mountainside was in his crosshairs as he gazed through the scope of his M24 SWS.

His breathing was slow, measured, almost non-existent, as it always was when he held a sniper in his hands. He remembered spending hours and hours as a child reading up on everything to do with them, fascinated by his grandfather's stories of the war. Rifles and the shooter. Breathing determined your shot; the heavier the breathing, the more your gun moved. So he'd practiced breathing exercises and techniques, holding his breath and slowing his heartrate so that the drumming in his ears did not distract as he focused on his target. He'd become quite good. Very good, actually. He could hold his breath under water stagnate for seven minutes. Less if he moved.

His spotter shifted beside him, holding a scope to his eyes. Greg Gerwirtz, though everyone called him Mouse because he was the stealthiest man anyone had ever met. He could hack into any system within minutes, seconds sometimes. With his quick attention to detail he helped see to it that Jay never missed a target.

"Do you see that?" Mouse asked, his voice barely audible as he tilted the scope a fraction downward.

In fact Jay had seen it, or rather them. Dust was billowing behind two trucks as they drove up the trail on the mountain. Trucks that did not belong to the US military. He put his crosshairs on the back of the first truck bed, trailing it as it moved. His unit had been stationed on different posts surrounding this mountain range scouting for the enemy, for any sign of their compound. After days of being stationed in this spot it seemed their luck was about to change. He felt Mouse shift once more beside him as he reached for his radio, though his eyes remained on the scene below as he reported to the rest of their unit.The two trucks had covers, concealing whatever they had hidden underneath, but he didn't doubt for a second that they held weapons. Weapons they needed to ensure did not reach that compound. He aimed slightly in front of one of the tires, sucking in a breath and letting a small portion out, holding it as he prepared to shoot, but just as he was about to pull the trigger something fell out of the back and he froze as the second truck swerved around the... woman?

Was that a woman?

It crashed into a small boulder and slammed to a stop, the first skidding as it too halted. Men began pouring out, approaching with haste as she began to run for the hills, her hands bound before her. Their shouts echoed all the way up to their position and Mouse began speaking quicker, his scope steady as he described what they were seeing. The woman was battered and bruised, wearing nothing but undergarments, and Jay realized they had been torturing her.One of the men grabbed her by her hair and yanked her back, slapping her across the face as she fell to her knees. He pointed his rifle on him and held his breath but once again the woman moved before him. She reached for his knife as he began dragging her back, managing to get it and slash at his middle. He staggered back as he released her and then she was pointing the blade directly toward her own heart.

He reacted without thinking. His finger pulled the trigger but it wasn't the man that he shot, it was the handle of that blade, narrowly missing her hand as it connected with the hilt and flew out of her grasp. She was forced back from the blow and he quickly shot again, this time into the head of the man approaching her.

Nine others began whirling their guns around, pointing at the hills trying to find where they were hidden and Mouse tossed aside his radio, now barking the positions of each. The woman got up and he saw her eyes, though he knew she couldn't possibly see them, land directly on his location. On him. They were blue. She broke into a sprint towards him and he took down another man as they began chasing her. Seven left. One reached her, pulling her down from where she was trying to scramble up the mountain but she began to fight him off, sending her elbow straight into his nose. Crack. His next bullet found its target in the middle of that mans forehead. They let her run now, retreating to the safety of their vehicles but Mouse continued to direct him. Crack. Five. He waited until the trucks peeled off, driving up the trail and out of sight before he finally lowered his gun. He looked to Mouse and together they stood.

"Iranian?" His friend asked in a low voice as they began to descend down to where she'd collapsed.

Jay shook his head in answer. He had a feeling she wasn't, but it was hard to tell.

It was a while before they reached her, appearing from their hidden mountain path. She stared at them as they slowly approached, Mouse holding back as he pulled out his radio and contacted their unit once more. He didn't look at his partner as he approached, hands raised to show that he wasn't going to threaten or harm her. He watched her eyes dart to the American banner on his shoulder then back to him as he crouched in front of her, keeping a foot away so as not to frighten her, and his own eyes darkened as he looked at her; she was young, early to mid twenties, and there wasn't an inch of her that was uninjured. Her lips were dry and cracked, what looked to be black hair matted with dried blood and dirt, one cheek swollen and the rest of her body covered in bruises of various degrees and... burn marks. She looked like she hadn't eaten in days and wore only a bra and underwear, what colour they'd been originally he couldn't tell, one of the straps looking like it was ready to snap at any moment and further expose her. He kept scanning, counting her wounds, but stopped his assessment the moment he realized her hands were now unbound, courtesy of the knife that was once again in her hands. Once again pointed towards her heart.

His eyes flicked to hers.

Now that he was closer he could tell they were sapphire, hesitant and afraid, but he didn't think of him. She had probably grabbed it in case they hadn't been friendlies. Rage coiled in his gut as he thought about what she must have endured, how willing and determined she was to make sure it didn't happen again. He moved slowly as he reached up and removed his helmet, waving Mouse off when he began protesting, giving her a smile as he began shrugging off his jacket.

"You shouldn't take off your armour." She whispered, her voice so hoarse he almost didn't hear her, and then his heart clenched so tightly he honestly thought it might break

God only knew what she'd just been through and she was thinking about him?

He shook his head and waved her off, and Mouse, giving her another smile as he gently draped his jacket over her shoulders, and as he tucked it around her Jay swore he felt the slightest tug in his heart. "My name is Jay. That's Mouse." He used his thumb to point over his shoulder. "We're Rangers, with the 75th Regiment in the U.S. Army. What's your name?"

She tried to speak but ended up coughing so he offered her his canteen, scooting closer when her hands shook as she accepted it so he could help to hold it steady while she gulped the water down. He couldn't help wondering when the last time she'd had any was. He watched as she finished and breathed deeply, still keeping one eye on that blade.

"Tess." She rasped after another minute. "My name is Tess."

"Hey Tess. We're going to get you out of here okay. My unit is on their way; we'll get you back to our base and get you some help. I just... can I please have that?" He looked down to the knife and so did she, staring at it for a moment before she nodded, turning her hand over and unfurling her fingers. He breathed a quiet sigh of relief as he passed it behind him for Mouse to take, his spotter holding back so as not to crowd her.

When he looked back her eyes had filled with tears. "I'm-" Her breath caught in her throat and she began coughing again, and he hesitantly placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I'm CIA. SAD." His eyes widened and he whipped his head back to look at Mouse, who had come closer to hear and now began speaking into the radio again. "I didn't break." His eyes filled with sorrow as he looked back at her, as she shook her head and repeated herself. He could hear the exhaustion in her voice as the realization that she was safe began to sink in.

"You did good." Jay said softly, running his hand down her hair as he looked back to his spotter. Mouse made a motion and he nodded. "Listen Tess. It's not safe for us to stay here. Our unit is on the other side of that hill okay?" He told her, pointing to the way they'd come. "Do you think you could walk?" She made a face at him- they all knew she couldn't. He chuckled lightly and shrugged one shoulder. "My mom raised me to be polite." He told her with a smile before he put his arms around her back and under her knees, carefully lifting her to his chest. "I've got you."