FELIX

Tony parks the van about a forth of a mile away from the secluded cabin where the criminal's picture was taken. We hide under the shadows of trees with broad tops and thick trunks. Here, the woods aren't as messy as they are back in Virginia, and by that I mean all the trees have at least five feet of distance between it and another tree.

Fortunately the cabin is at a lower altitude, so we can't really be spotted unless the woman has set up a bunch of security cameras, which Ajax claims she doesn't have. As he pulls out the schematics of the house and everyone discusses their entrance points, I test out a few of my favorite gadgets, like my automatic lock-picker and mobile heat sensor.

"Can I try that out?" Ethan asks when he sees me messing with the heat sensor. It's one of my latest ones.

I smile and hand it over. "Sure. Tell me how it does in the field."

"Gotcha." Ethan inspects it with care.

Ajax cracks his fingers at the desk imbedded into the side of the van. "On your mark, get set, go!"

Just about everyone rolls their eyes, including me, as we all pile out of the van and spread out. We sprint to nearby trees, taking cover as we get closer and closer to the cabin. Everyone goes separate ways except for Vanessa. She has a bunch of medical tools in a fanny pack I made for her and is on the heels of a focused Ethan.

I wonder what it's like for him to have her with him. If she was with me, I know I'd be distracted.

I chuckle at myself. I'm not even paying attention to what I need to do because I'm distracted right now thinking about if someone else is distracted.

I press on, moving toward the back door of the towering cabin. The cabin is made up of expensive, new wood that forms two stories. It has a balcony on the second floor, and a screened-in porch on the first. It's a beautiful place to keep a low profile at.

I step lightly on the steps as I climb up them, making sure that I don't make noise. I'm as silent as a mouse as I get to the door and use my automatic lock-picker. Once inside, I lift my gun up and survey the room.

It's a kitchen with no touch of life inside. The counters are clean, no pictures hanging on the fridge and no snacks littering the counter.

I move on, entering a dining room that is just as lifeless as the previous room. A table for four sits in the center of the room atop a boring red rug. A single decoration rests on the farthest wall. It's a black and white picture of a bare tree.

I press on, making it into a hallway. I quietly glide down it, checking the first room but finding an empty bathroom. The next door leads to a guest bedroom, and the one at the end is where I find movement.

There's a woman in this room, and I immediately recognize her as one of the CIA's most wanted: Jamie Courson. She has dark brown hair and brown eyes. She looks like she is from a Hispanic background, with thin eyebrows, a pointy nose, and small lips.

The room is quite large, and seems to be a living room or den of a sort. The wall farthest away from me is made of glass. There's a single couch in the middle of the room, facing the window, and Jamie is sitting on it, but she can see me in the reflection.

I have my gun aimed at her head. "Don't move."

I could shoot her right now. It'd be easy. But, I remember what Vanessa said about being a good guy, and the truth is, that's all I've ever wanted to be.

Holding my breath, I listen as Jamie says, "Who sent you?"

I don't answer her question but instead take a step toward her. "Don't move, and just listen. I want to take you in without a struggle. Can you do that for me? We just need to talk to you."

That's a bit of a lie, but I don't see any other way of convincing her to come with me.

She frowns at me in the reflection. "Right... And then what?"

I'm at a loss, but I just speak gibberish. "And then we'll let you go. We just have some questions."

She chuckles, and that sends a chill down my spine. Then, she suddenly does a maneuver where she grabs the back of the couch and does a full 360, swinging her legs in my direction. She kicks me in the head, and with a yelp I topple onto the floor, my gun flying through the air to who knows where.

She jumps over the couch, and I scramble to get up. I'm on my feet just in time because she goes for a couple punches. She comes at me quickly and efficiently, and I have to think the fastest I ever have had to as I deflect all her attacks. At every swing she undertakes, I stagger backward, trying to keep my balance.

I go for a punch, but she is faster than I am and twists my arm behind my back, flipping me around. She drives me into the wall, all the air escaping me as my mind spins.

I gasp for air and try to regain my regular train of thought. I hear her shuffling around behind me, and I blink a few times only to turn and see that she is moving toward my gun.

I gather all my strength and run at her, kicking her feet out from under her and sending a blow to her stomach. She grabs it for a moment, and in that time I reach for the gun.

She kicks it away, making a curse word rise to my mouth.

I run for it, but she trips me and I roll onto the ground. I'm on my feet within seconds, but she is right behind me, kicking her leg up to whack me in the side. Pain shoots from the spot, and I slam against the door. It swings on its hinges, closing rapidly.

She turns the lock on the door, and that's when I realize I'm all alone in this battle.

My whole world spins, and I charge her. There's no way I'm going down without a fight.

I go for a few punches, not getting one in. She fires some back at me, but we catch each other's blows. She kicks and I step out of the way of it. I kick at her knee, hearing it click at the sudden jolt. She cries out, and I almost feel bad until she grabs a firm hold of me and sends me sailing over the top of the couch and onto the floor.

I run right into the glass wall.

She could go for my gun, but she doesn't. She huffs and walks toward me, causing me to scramble to my feet. She goes right for me, grabbing a hold of my arm.

I yank her toward me and downward, and she lets go a millisecond too late. My knee is already being driven into her head.

She staggers backwards, her eyes wild. I don't give her time to recover, though, as I kick my leg up and send her falling toward the floor. She gets on her knees, sending a weak punch to my groin. It hurts just enough to make me want to kill her, so I get on her level and use her long hair to wrap around her neck.

She mumbles something, blood spilling from her nose. I pull her hair tighter, watching as her face turns a purple color. I don't like this one bit, but I'd like to see tomorrow.

Her eyelashes start fluttering, and she leans a little to the right. Before I realize what she is doing, it's too late. She already has the gun aimed at my chest.

My heart stops beating when I see the sly lift at the end of her lip. Then, the loud noise of a bullet leaving the barrel of the gun ricochets off the walls. Excruciating pain surges through my entire body, radiating from the place where a bullet has entered my chest.

All the walls crumble down around me as my breathing stops. My limbs go weak, one arm dangling at my side and the other shaking at the bloody hole in my chest. I watch as the dark red substance spreads, soaking my black attire.

I fall into a heap on the floor, watching as Jamie stands up and towers over me. My mouth is trembling, my whole body shaking. Fear slithers through every inch of me, and I just want to scream out. Scream out to my brother.

Jamie lifts the gun once more, making it rise to my head.

I'm literally staring down the barrel of a gun. Staring at my demise.

I never thought it would end like this. Where I'm all alone.

I swallow my pride and close my eyes, not wanting to see the smirk on Jamie's lips.

My ears ring, but through the noise, I hear something. It's the sound of someone trying to jimmy the doorknob.

My eyes fly open, and when I see that Jamie is distracted, a wave of relief flows over me.

She squats down to face me, her brown eyes as empty as the night. "Nice try."

Then, she rises to her feet, aims her weapon at the glass wall, fires, and leaves me all alone, lying in a pool of my crimson blood.

I gasp for air, finding it hard to breathe. At the edges of my sight, darkness is settling in, blurring my reality.

Oh, God...

I lift my bloody hand up. The blood is so dark. So warm. Is it supposed to look like that? Am I losing too much of it? How do I make it stop?

I push my hand against my chest in a sad attempt to stop the bleeding, but the pain that follows has me groaning. My hand falls to the floor.

I stare at the blank ceiling above me as my energy drains and my blood pours from my chest.

A sudden BAM reverberates off the walls, footsteps getting louder. Are they to my left or right? Is Jamie coming back for me?

Suddenly, Ethan's face is above mine. "Fuck! Vanessa, get in here!"

He kneels next to me, immediately pressing his hand against where I've been shot. "Shit. Felix, you're going to be okay, alright, man?"

I moan, and his eyebrows lift. "Can you hear me?"

I nod, wishing I could get my thoughts in order to reply to him. Something slurred escapes my lips, but I'm not even sure if I'm making sense. "She... The glass..."

Ethan nods, and as soon as Vanessa enters the room, he heads in the direction Jamie went in. He's yelling something, probably something to the team in the coms.

Wait... Can everyone hear me?

"Ajax..." I say, whimpering. "I love you."

Vanessa hovers over me, her caramel eyes scared. "Felix, I need you to stay calm, okay?"

She opens her fanny pack and dumps everything out. "Shit. I need to get you to a hospital."

"Felix? No..." Tony walks inside the room, his voice faint compared to the slow heartbeat that pounds loudly in my ears. Before Tony can even take two steps into the room, my brother storms through the door, out of breath and as pale as a ghost.

Ajax moves around to the other side of me. He cups my face in his hands. He looks to Vanessa. "Get the fucking bullet out."

"I can't." Vanessa says as she tears my shirt in two to see the damage. "The bullet could be anywhere. It could've nicked a bone and ricocheted in a different direction. I can't go digging around unless you want me to infect him. What we need to do is get him to a hospital ASAP."

Tony sprints out of the room, probably to go and get the van. They'll be too late. I know it. I can feel death gripping the edges of my sanity.

Ajax curses. "So, you're a doctor who can't do a damn thing?!"

I want to tell him not to be mad at her, but the words don't come to my lips. Vanessa starts speaking anyways, saying, "Well, he's losing a lot of blood. You guys have the same type, right?"

"Yes." Ajax replies quickly, and he immediately lifts his shirt up.

Vanessa takes out a plastic bag from her fanny pack. I forgot I even put that in there. Tubes come out as well along with a few other things Vanessa needs. She goes to work, sliding a needle into Ajax's arm. When blood starts filling the tubes, it goes into the bag--the bag that will soon be put into me. Good thing I packed an extra needle.

The van comes to a screeching halt beside the cabin's shattered window. Tony hops out, and Vanessa tells him to find something flat that they can lift me up with.

He disappears, and while all of this is going on, my heartbeat is slowing even more. My energy is dead, and I'm using the last ounces of it to listen to my brother's words.

He says to me, "I love you. I love you so much Felix. Don't you die on me now. You know we'll both die if that happens."

I try to shake my head, but the attempt fails. God, I wish I could tell him that he means the world to me, but the pain at my chest holds me back.

Vanessa finishes with the transfusion, grabbing another needle and switching them out, she injects it in my arm, and that's when I realize that I can't feel the rest of the body. The pain in my chest is making everything else go numb. Is that possible?

Blood flows into my veins, and that's when Tony arrives, dragging a fold-up table.

My whole body aches, and when they all work together to lift me up and move me onto it, every muscle groans at me. It's like the single movement sucks all the remaining energy out of me.

I think I mutter something before my eyes shut. Or, maybe I just imagine it. I'm not sure, but either way, I know I'm descending into the darkness of unconsciousness. The only thing making me feel welcomed is knowing my brother has his hand in mine the whole way there.