The Price We've Paid

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The next few days felt like a marathon. You spent them frantically searching every corner of the internet for any signs of your team. You wanted to know if they were indeed back from their break, so you could keep an eye on them; and if they were, what specifically they were doing.

Unfortunately, you got the answer to both of those questions in the absolute worst way possible.

Three days into your search, a heavily encrypted file surfaced on one of your search engines. It had so many security measures set in place, it took you several hours just to load the video. But that alone clued you in that it must be pretty important.

You were right...and it made you sick to your stomach within a few seconds of streaming the video.

Gunshots rang in your ears as you watched your four teammates mowed down by automatic weapons.

"Shit, shit, shit!" You cussed to yourself as you began trying to figure out where the video originated from. As you typed commands into one monitor, the other continued playing the feed. After a few moments, you could hear the soft plink-ing of bullets being pushed back out onto the concrete floor.

Cut the feed...please tell me they cut the feed.

They didn't cut the feed.

Eventually you watched as your teammates got up, one by one, bullets still being pushed out of their bodies and began fighting the armed men. Gunfire rained and screams echoed throughout the sterile room.

You watched as each of them used their unique combat skills to kill the masked men. Nicky and Joe worked together. Joe had a shotgun while Nicky eventually pulled his sword; Joe joining him after he ran out of ammo. Booker remained tactical, using an automatic weapon with some minor hand combat.

Andy's skills however, were by far the most impressive. She could and would use guns if absolutely necessary, and did a few times; taking out people with her signature shot.

Pop, pop, pop.

But she was just as deadly without guns as she was with them. After over 6,000 years of practice, she truly was an artist when it came to death. Before you left the team, you would often say that Andy was the paintbrush of Death's eternal canvas. She never quite liked that comment; it made her feel like a villain. But you were always quick to remind her that the idea of heroes and villains was quite archaic in nature. After all, your team had lived on every side of the line imaginable.

As you continued to attempt to find the origin of the video file, the sudden shing of Andy's labrys being pulled from its sheath caught your attention. She loved that labrys. It was the first weapon ever made personally for her and she held it near and dear to her heart. And because it had been with her the longest...longer than swords...longer than guns...longer than even you...it was her weapon of choice when she went into every fight.

She was deadly all on her own, but add the labrys...it gave death a new meaning. Watching her handle the double sided axe with such grace and precision, even through a tiny computer screen; you couldn't help the feelings of lust and desire that rushed through you.

It really was extremely attractive.

"Everyone still with me?" You heard her ask a few minutes later. You had returned to your search engine but hearing her voice drew your attention back to the other monitor

"Joe?" She called.

Even hearing her say those few simple words sent your heart a flutter. You hadn't heard your wife speak in over 28 years. The last time had been on a security camera you were sure they'd missed as they'd crept through a warehouse in Sarajevo.