════════❖════════
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE WAS 'KILLED IN ACTION?!'"
Amanda rubbed her temples as she looked at the three. Her veins were bulging out of her head, looking ready to burst. "As your attorney, this is unacceptable! The hostage you carelessly killed was the executive of one of our top donors on this operation against the Patriots!"
"This is the third executive the grunts have killed this month, we still don't know their bloody motivation." Amanda sighed as she pulled her chair behind her. She slumped down into her chair and presented Incident Report papers.
"We need to know everything that happened. How did the hostage die?" Amanda started writing down the known information on the papers. She felt a leg bouncing against her desk. When she looked up she saw Echo fiddling with his hands. "Tate, you seem nervous. Is there anything you want to tell me?" she had her harsh eyes set on him.
Echo frantically looked between James and Amanda. "W-Well it was kinda our fault that he died-" before he could finish Francis jolted up to interrupt.
"IT WAS ME! It was my fault the hostage died!"
She glanced at James and continued to say, "I had a shot focused on one of the grunts. By the time the bullet reached, they had moved and the hostage got hit." Francis squeezed her eyes, already planning her new job applications.
"Deputy Director Francis Arthur, you do understand he was a high value hostage. Your one job was to save the hostage and get out." Amanda stated curtly.
James added in, "At least we got rid of one the leaders of the Patriots. I take that as a win Amanda." He enunciated her name in the sentence. "So what if the hostage died? At least we got some info from them." James displayed the burner phone in his hand that he had grabbed from the grunt he maimed. "We can hack into this to see if there's anything useful."
"You know Rainbow's priorities, you bloke. Always save the hostage, then go for the enemies." Amanda snatched the phone from his hands. "I'm gonna send this to Cyber Forensics to see if they can do anything about it. Don't let this happen again."
Always needed to be the one to have the last word James said, "when we go up against Terrorists, ethics are irrelevant." Amanda let out a scoff before closing the door, "I'm only putting Rainbow on this case because I know your team is the best chance we have against them. don't make me regret that Director James Wolfe." she slammed the door closed.
James rolled his eyes before looking at Francis, "Thanks sugar I know you always got my back ♡ ." His face fell when his attention went to Echo, "The fuck was that Joel? I didn't think you were one to crack under pressure." James' remark aggravated Echo, "Sir with all due respect she's my superior. I had to tell her to tell her or else it would be treason." he whispered the last part as if he would get in trouble for a naughty word.
"No. I'M your superior. You listen to ME." James roared leaving the room. Francis followed closely behind him. Always.
. . . . .
A few hours passed since their debriefing. James and Francis were back at the Rainbow base in a James' office to figure out paperwork.
James was writing what happened during their operation. Francis finished before him, and was chipping off her nail polish. She broke the silence, "You know Echo looks up at you. You're like a father figure to him with him being a new recruit and all." James stayed fixed on the paper, not bothering to acknowledge her statement.
"He's a good kid, you shouldn't be mad at him for this.'' Francis pleaded. She moved across the desk to get closer to James.
"I'm not mad at him." James mumbled.
Francis rolled her eyes ''I know you; and I know when you're mad." she puts her hand on top of James', patiently waiting for him to respond. "He just gets under my skin, he's good at following directions but he tries too hard to please everyone. I saw him shaking earlier. What kind of soldier is he.." James flipped over Franics' hand then started to gently rub her calluses, his tension in his shoulders relaxing instantly. They were rough from all the years she has been working on this operation. His thumb hovered over her index finger, the callus there was especially rough as it was her trigger finger. His eyes glanced over to her ring finger, where it looked awfully empty.
"Should I remove him from our team? I already know candidates are lined up that can replace him in a heartbeat, or we can continue the mission, just us." James said as he looked at Francis, the eye contact gave her butterflies. "He's still new. I think we should just wait. I think with time he'll be a great part of our team." Francis spoke, keeping eye contact with him.
He finally let out a smile, "You right i'm just trying to rush things. I don't know where I'd be without you sugar."
YOU ARE READING
Patriots
Action"I'd do anything for him. Wherever he went, I was behind him. I would follow him till the end. Even if it meant betraying my country and my oath, " Francis uttered. She keeps her poker face solid in front of the court, but the words she spoke were f...
