Alejandro Vargas x Reader

Twenty-Two

With his arms crossed behind his back, Alejandro stood leaned against one of his range rovers and watched as a helicopter was about to land on his base.

"What do you think will happen, colonel?", Rudy asked next to him. "I heard they aren't that heartwarming."

But his friend missed to answer. His thoughts wandered off to his family, thinking how they were. After the unpleasant first meeting with the cartel and the terrorists, he didn't feel as confident as he used to no more. Somehow there was this feeling of chaos inside his chest.

Just to check, Alejandro fished his phone from his pocket. No messages of importance popped up. It was strange, usually you'd send him good night and good morning texts whenever he was away. And he'd respond with a cheesy line to tell you that he was alright.

But not this time. It upset him. Yet again, you were probably busy with the bunch of kids.

A low sound got stuck in his throat as he let his phone slide back into his pocket.

"Colonel?", Rodolfo asked again.

Torn from his thoughts, Alejandro looked up.

"Hm?", he blinked.

"The British supporters.", Rudi repeated. "We didn't get a lot of intel on them."

With a shake of his head, Alejandro got moving to greet the new arrivals at the helicopter.

"Laswell picked them.", he said and waited for the exit to open. "I trust her judgement."

"Ay, you trust her without hesitation. Makes me a bit jealous."

"Don't worry burro, I will start to trust you again once you stop almost dying on me all the time."

Both of them huffed.

The gates of the helicopter opened.

Two men stepped out. While one of them had the size of a giant, his face hidden behind a skull, the other was shorter yet visibly more fierce. He still had this shimmer in his eyes.

The colonel identified them as Simon Riley, alias Ghost and John MacTavish, who preferably went by the name Soap.

The two were British soldiers, send by Laswell to help aid in the growing issue that Las Almas faced with the cartel. It wasn't just friends helping out friends though. The two had a mission, to find a terrorist.

Alejandro had promised Laswell support. In exchanged to help him get El Sin Nombres head. It was a fair deal so Laswell had not been stingy.

These two looked sharp and capable.

"Alejandro!", Soap approached him with a confident smirk.

With his hands crossed behind his back, Alejandro raised his chin to greet him with a nod.

"Sergeant MacTavish.", he said and shook his hand.

"Call me Soap."

The colonels attention moved to the other man.

"Lieutenant.", he looked him up and down. "Laswell says they call you Ghost."

"Actually, I believe he prefers to be-!", Soap was cut off.

"That'll do!", Ghost thundered with that deep voice of his and a tone that gave away how little he wanted to be made fun off.

Alejandro nodded. These two reminded him a lot of himself and Rudi before they had been inseparable. He saw potential in the two. They just had to warm up to each other.

"Welcome to the city of souls.", Alejandro did a gesture with his head to guide the two over to the row of cars that stood ready.

"I've never been to Mexico.", Soap said as he walked next to him.

"This isn't México... This is Las Almas."

"Shepherd's contractors are unable to reinforce.", Ghost informed. "They had to aid their boss. Family matters, a passing, no clear intel. We'll have to do without the Shadow Company."

"My base is your base.", Alejandro threw a glance to the side to meet Ghost's gaze.

But as he let his eyes wander past his strange skull mask, he noticed a car that approached quickly. Frowning, he exchanged a look with Rudi, who shrugged.

"Was there a security breach?", Alejandro asked.

"No, colonel.", Rodolfo shook his head while he pressed a button on his coms. "Soy el Sargento Mayor Parra. Cuál es el estado de nuestras fronteras?"

"Sargento Mayor, Victor-8 responde.", the voice of a man answered. "No se preocupe. La base es segura."

Now the two Mexicans had to frown.

Rudi shrugged but Alejandro shook his head. There was no way that an unknown vehicle managed to get on base. He didn't know the license plate nor the kind of car. So however it managed to get this face, someone who was known had to be inside.

But there was only one person who could have made it past the guards without a proper approval.

"(Y/N)?", Alejandro asked confused and looked back to check his suspicion.

Confused, Soap and Ghost looked around between the two men.

"Who are we talking about?", Soap asked and watched as the car came to a halt with squeaking wheels in front of one of the halls.

The driver's door opened but they couldn't see who jumped out. Hastily the rear door was opened as well and something was dragged from the back seat.

An icy shiver crept up Alejandro's spine.

Unable to breathe, he started walking towards the vehicle. Someone disappeared into the hall before he could see who it was. His eyes wandered upwards. Just above the door was a sign with a green cross. It was the medical aid station.

His heart began to beat wildly, his own breath echoing in his ears.

"Colonel?", Rudi's voice sounded like it was speaking to him from thousands of feet away. "Colonel. Alejandro!"

With every step he took, it felt like the weight on his shoulders was getting heavier.

His hands were shaking when he came to a stop in front of the car.

There were red stains visible on the paint. Blood everywhere. The windows were splattered and dusty from a drive through the desert.

He could not see inside through the darkened glass.

With two fingers he pulled the handle. The door opened a crack.

Sobbing reached his ears.

Holding his breath, Alejandro opened the door wider.

There were his children sitting in the back seat. Their faces were sticky with tears, eyes red and their clothes were soaked in blood.

"Are you... hurt?", was all that he managed to press out before his legs gave in and he fell to his knees. "Mis corazones. Perdóname por abandonarte."