A Duet

He was taught to shoot every third heart beat. Al took another deep breath, and closed his eyes for a moment getting ready to fire. Al then adjusted his scope for the range needed and got ready. All this took about ten seconds for Al as he was an experienced sharpshooter. Then Al saw in his night vision that the guards had shot flares into the night to illuminate the surrounding area. Damn, Al thought. He quickly switched to the thermal setting as the flares had too much glare for him while using night vision. And the flares wasn't setting off enough light for Al to be able to go target to target without searching for them. With thermal on he could easily go from man to man using his rifle. Al could now see the thermal signatures each man was giving off. The body heat they were producing was more than enough for Al to notice.

Al looked through his scope and got a first target in his cross hairs. Al pulled the trigger and heard the 20 caliber round exit the rifle going toward the unknowing man. Heart beat one. Al watched through the scope as the man suddenly jerked backwards 5 feet as the bullet enter and exited his body. Heart beat two. The hole left from the bullet was the size of a plum. Al quickly got another in his scope. Heart beat three. Al shot another round off. The man jerk back to the ground and didn't move again. Al moved the sights to a group of men who were running towards Ayden. Al got the the sights at a man's head. Gave the sight an inch lead and fired. The head looked like a watermelon that fell three stories off a building and landed on concrete. Al shot off two more rounds quickly hitting one guy in the neck, the other in the rib cage. The magazine exited the rifle falling on to the snowy ground. Al got out another clip, fed it into the rifle, and pulled back the action. Al positioned himself again, getting ready to fire when he saw the men starting to shoot at him. Ignoring the danger Al pullede the trigger.

When Al opened the door Ayden ran hard to the fence. It was about 150 yards away. Ayden could hear the shouts from the men running toward the building and Al. Ayden kept running, and looked back when he noticed a red glow and saw the guards were shooting flares into the sky trying to get some light. It was a dark night, but things were less visible with all the snow falling. Ayden remaining focused on the task at hand and finally reached the fence. He was working fiercely, getting out the pliers to cut the fence. He began cutting the fence trying to make a hole big enough for him, then Al to get through. Ayden didn't have time to prepare for it when he heard the fast pace of four legs running and then a growl. A dog jumped on Ayden viciously struggling to bite into Ayden's neck. Ayden grabbed the big dog by both sides of its head using all effort to whack the dog away. The feeble hits were not getting the dog off him so he quickly turned the dog's head breaking the neck. He pushed the dog aside and got the pliers in hand. Ayden was finally making good progress with the fence when he felt bullets start whizzing near him.

After that first shot from the second clip Al noticed three men shooting toward Ayden. Al still using his breathing technique, and taking a deep breath, Al held it for a second and began releasing it. Al took a well placed shot. The bullet hit two of the men who were standing right next to each other. The last man looked at his fallen comrades in despair. He looked around before catching a bullet in his head. Al aimed back toward the guy's firing at him. Al would have taken these guys out first, but Al wanted to make sure Ayden was covered. Al felt the stings on his body and he knew the guards were landing bullets on him then. Al kept his three heart beats then firing pace. Three more men went down. Perfect accuracy Al thought and he even managed to get eleven kills with ten shots. Al released the clip and started getting the other when he heard Ayden scream that the fence was ready.

No more than eight minutes had gone by since Al kicked down the door. After hearing one shot from Al's rifle Ayden noticed two men who were shooting at him going down. Damn, Ayden thought. He is good. Al took out the other guy and then Ayden didn't have any bullets going by him. It didn't stop him from doing his task, but it barely worried him. Ayden almost had the fence cut enough that he could crawl though. Once he did Ayden put his pliers away and started crawling through. Once he got on the other side Ayden screamed to Al that it was ready. Ayden zoomed in with his goggles and saw as Al put another clip inside the modified rifle. Al got up to begin running the distance to Ayden. The guards were now pretty close to Al, shooting their automatic rifles at him. Al stopped for a minute to turn around. Al fired three times at the closest men. Three men dropped to the ground, but Al didn't stay to watch. Al turned around after shooting the third round and ran to the fence. Once Al was at twenty five yards and closing, Ayden took out his SCE. He clicked it to a three rounds burst and began firing at the men chasing Al.

Once Al heard that the fence was ready he took no time to wait and dashed toward the fence. Al heard the shout at him and could feel the bullets ricochet off his suit. It was hard to run when the RYNO suit was so tough, but Al knew he would already be dead if it wasn't. Al kept running until he knew the guards were too close. Al turned around aiming at the nearest man. He fired a shot off stopping the man dead in his tracks. He let out a crying scream as the round pierced his chest. Al shot off two more rounds into nearby men. When the third bullet left the chamber Al turned around and started sprinting. Al was getting close to the fence. Ayden had his rifle out firing three round bursts at the men behind him. Al got 3 yards away and flung his rifle over the high fence. Al got down and started crawling through the hole. His gun landed on the other side when Al was half was through. Al got to the other side grabbed his rifle turned to the men and fired the remaining bullets at the men.

"Lets go!" Al screamed to Ayden who was still firing his own rifle. Both turned around and got into a run into the mountains. Al got another clip into his rifle and told Ayden to keep going and to set up a few claymores up ahead. Ayden acknowledged the command and ran up further into the mountain. Al stayed with the last five bullets in his sniper. He watched as one man was already on the other side of the fence. Al quickly shot him in the head. Another was beginning to climb through the hole. Al used this opportunity and shot the man. He stopped moving and the men behind the shot man couldn't understand why he was no longer crawling. He then was dragged out and another man started going through. Al shot him thinking the same plan would work and this would slow them down. Then Al noticed that there were men using their own set of pliers on the fence. They were already half way done. Al shot one of them in the chest. Another man grabbed the pliers and keep working at the fence. In no time the fence was cut and men started flowing through the opening. Al stood shot off the remaining rounds in his rifle before running up toward Ayden.

Ayden had set up the two small claymores that he had and the two Al had. He set them up near a path the would bottle neck the guards into two at a time space. Ayden heard running and got his rifle out. He relaxed when he saw Al. Al came up and told Ayden it was time to go. Ayden made sure the strings were tight enough before the two of them ran up the side of the mountain. Two minutes later both of them heard explosions in the background. Hoping that would slow them down the two men continued up the mountain. Al reached a spot and changed directions to the west toward the field.

"Kaitlyn? I've got Ayden, we are on approach to extraction point bravo. Are you there?" Al spoke into his speaker as he held down his throat near his adam apple. This triggered for the communications link in his NAV. There was a tiny speaker that was implanted behind the outside of his ear so there was no need for an headset. The sound waves traveled through his jaw and into the speaker giving anyone a clear sound of his voice. It was also how he heard anyone who talked back.

"I'm here Al. Its good to hear your voice. What is your situation?" Al was pleased to hear from her. He explained that he had Ayden and the two of them were nearing extraction point bravo. He also mentioned that they had the required intel.

"Kat, they knew we were going to be there. Someone told them." Al spoke this to Kaitlyn in a stern but calm tone.

"I understand, get to evac you will be debriefed when you arrive." There was a small pause then Kaitlyn added that something was up and Williams was speaking with Gladden about how they knew for sure that they had a leak inside the CIA. Al thanked her for the heads up and got an unpleasant chill down his spine.

They both continued toward the evac. The amount of snow was slowing them down. Al heard a crash as he looked to see Ayden collapsing to the ground. Al went over to him and checked his pulse. It was a slow, but his heart beat was steady. Al couldn't ask anymore from Ayden. He was tortured badly back at the building and Al knew the adrenaline mix Al gave him would wear off eventually. It was only a temporary fix. Al picked up Ayden and got him in a fireman's carry. He began walking to the extraction point bravo with the unconscious Ayden on his back. Al thought about giving him another dose, but quickly dismissed it remembering the consequences of the serum.

If given too much it would take years from Ayden's life. The stuff aged the body and mind when given the serum. The first time it normally didn't affect the body or mind much, but if under extreme conditions, that serum would wear the body down. Too much over stimulation would burn out the body as well as the mind. Al started thinking of when he first learned about the adrenaline potion. It was pure adrenaline. It entered the blood stream so fast that within seconds the host would feel the reaction. It was formulated back during the first Gulf War. Its purpose was simple. To get soldiers mentally and physically aware and ready at an extremely enhanced rate. This stuff jacked up a persons senses to the max. It would get a sleep deprived man so awake he wouldn't be able to shut his eyes for long. It would get a man who was badly injured or near death enough stimulation he could keep fighting or get somewhere to be helped.

Al was talking to his former instructor when he heard about this artificial serum. His instructor told him a story of when this serum first was being used. It was a battle in the Gulf War. The last remaining soldiers who were ordered to hold a bridge was under heavy attack from the opposition. Lieutenant Price ordered his men to fall back to the end of the bridge when the opposition was using heavy weapons and began overflowing the bridge with men. The 2nd platoon under Price's command were already battle weary and strung down to a couple dozen men and women. Price used the few syringes of adrenaline serum on a few select soldiers. When the troops were order to retreat to the end of the bridge, Price ordered Private 1st class Lorelai Altomare to retrieve the trigger that would set off the explosions on the bridge to kill all of the enemy men crossing the bridge. Price gave this order to her when they were behind a wall of sand bags. The trigger was in the hand of a fallen soldier who was shot down near the bridge. There were many enemy soldiers on the bridge shooting.

Logically a person would think that a suicide mission would not be worth risking their life for, but under the adrenaline serum like Private Lorelai was, logic was replaced with a more animal instinct. She took the command and ran out in heavy fire, recovered the trigger, and detonated the charges. She returned to the Lieutenant trigger in hand. After she handed it over to the lieutenant. She said one thing: "I think I've been nicked Sir." After that she fell to the ground. She completed her task, but was dead during the process or rather died after. The autopsy later released information that she took over thirty rounds in her body and even managed to shrug off a 50 caliber shot in the side of her stomach. It left a melon sized hole in her. She was given the Medal of Honor at her funeral along with others for extreme bravery, patriotism, and risking her life for the sake of others. Her husband accepted the Medals on her behalf.

After hearing that story the government at first decided to ban the serum labeling it unethical. But after much debate it was determined that if she didn't blow the bridge, that thousands of American soldiers would have died because the enemy would have a bridge to cross the river rather going around it. Thus the serum was allowed but was dulled down as they still figured that no one should have to go through the punishment she did. When Al was told this at first he was mad that they would allow the serum. His instructor explained that Lorelai was a hero and nothing less. She would be remembered for all of time for giving her life for thousands more. That this adrenaline serum was a gift to save lives. Al knew first hand that his instructor was right. Ayden was alive all thanks to the adrenaline serum called EAS; Extreme adrenaline stimulation.

Al kept up a decent pace toward the evac location. Al was happy to hear a small chopper fly in the distance. Al reached the heli and laid Ayden down before climbing in himself. Al told the pilot that Ayden needed medical attention immediately. The pilot told him ETA to an airport in 10 minutes. The plane was fueled and ready to go to Moscow, then from there to Washington. Both planes had a standby doctor on them with medical equipment. The heli took off toward the airport.

When they reached the plane Al took Ayden and laid him on a stretcher. The U.S. Marines brought him onto the plane with haste. Al boarded the plane and sat down. A doctor went to Al and asked to take a small examination. Al was asked to remove his clothes which he did. Al wasn't badly hurt, but he had many bruises on his body from the bullets hitting his suit. There were a few open wounds to where the bullets actually penetrated the suit enough that there were two bullets that broke through the suit and went into Al. One was in his left calf the other in his left arm. Not big wounds though. The suit did its job well. The bullets were still sticking out of his skin. Al grabbed both and yanked them out. The doctor started taking out some tools to help Al, but Al told him that Ayden needed it more. At first the doctor didn't listen to him. He kept going along with his work patching up the wounds. Al grabbed the doctors hand looked right at him and told him to help Ayden. The doctor nodded and went to Ayden and the other doctor. It was thirty minutes later when they changed planes and were headed toward Moscow.

Al fell asleep on the plane ride to Washington. His dream consisted of thoughts of Elena and spending time with her. Al awoke at the airport as the plane was driven to port. Al looked for Ayden and saw that he was sleeping on a bed with an IV in him. In twenty minutes Al and Ayden were in the NSA building. Ayden being taken to the small hospital for care and Al to the debriefing room. Al was still tired and weary from the night before. He was hoping to find out what the hell happened back there. Al sat down at the small table in an room near the Converge area. NSA was split up with different programs in the building. The Third Converge had a large section of the building. The door opened and Gladden with Williams entered. Al stayed seated not addressing Williams. He didn't have time for political bullshit. Al wanted to know what was going on and he started right in.

"How in the hell did they know we were going to be there?" Al asked this directly to Williams. Williams gave out a breath as to say I'm exhausted. At first Al thought he was going to ask Al to sit down, but realized he already was. Williams didn't answer the question which pissed Al off immensely.

"We having been trying to figure who the mole is in the CIA, Al. As you know we had a pretty good idea on who it potentially could be, but now we know for sure." Williams started to turn his back to Al. Al grew impatient when Williams didn't continue with his explanation. Al looked at Gladden who was just looking at Williams waiting for him to finish. Al finally asked how they knew. Again Williams ignored Al's question and spoke something else.

"His name is Drake Deceimont, he is the director of experimental weaponed chemicals. It's a program that handles and creates chemicals to be weaponed. It's all experimental stuff. It's mainly used as a collective way to increase our knowledge in preventative ways to handle chemical outbreaks and how to clean them up. So he knows how to handle lethal chemicals and how to turn them into a weapon. What we understand is that this arms dealer hired Deceimont to create a dangerous chemical bomb. The arms dealer will be selling this bomb to the unknown faction for whatever reason they want one. Now that we know it's Deceimont, we can question him about this faction, the bomb he created for them, and why the faction wants this bomb so bad. Although we are sure it will be used for mass destruction." Al was now distraught with Williams' actions. He was treating Al like a child, avoiding Al directly. Williams continued explaining.

"Well we have found out in the intel you gave us that he has had contact with the arms dealer and the unknown faction about handling this hazardous material for them and making it into a weapon. He found out that you and Ayden were planning to infiltrate the arms dealer so he gave them a heads up." This didn't seem to bother Williams at all which made Al pretty fucking livid.

"How did he find out?" Al asked so demandingly that it made everyone in the room uncomfortable except Al. Williams waited a bit before finally answering.

"I told him." Al felt a sharp pain stab through him. Al hoped he had misheard Williams, but Al look straight at Williams and knew he was dead serious. Al looked at Gladden seeing if Gladden knew about this or not. Al couldn't tell. Either Gladden wasn't showing anything noticeable or Al was so furious that he didn't care. Al stood up staring Williams right in the eyes.

"You did what!" Al yelled in a deep tone that seemed to startle Williams and Gladden both. The two of them were looking at Al now. Williams started to explain that it was the only way to make sure that he was the mole. Williams figured that if the arms dealer found out about two spies entering the base that it had to be Deceimont.

Al didn't know exactly what he was doing, but as Williams explained his reasoning Al closed the gap between the two of them physically. Al got right up to Williams and when he heard Williams say it was worth it, he grabbed Williams with his right hand. He grabbed the front part of his shirt and started pushing him to the wall. Gladden started to make a move to get Al off him, but Al shoved Gladden aside. Al pinned him against the wall staring down at the pathetic man. Williams still shocked, wasn't doing much to get Al off. He knew he couldn't so instead he told Al in weakly sounding stern voice to let him go. When Al heard that he just used his right arm and lifted the now scared shitless Williams four inches off the ground. Williams kept trying to get Al to let go and so was Gladden. Al wasn't hearing it. He began to tell Williams his opinion.

"Next time I would think twice about almost wasting two mens lives for nothing more than a fucking confirmation. There were other ways to find out if it he was the mole or not! You're a joke Williams. You watch your back asshole, cuz I'm going to be there when you least expect it." Al was threatening a superior officer now and knew he would lose his job, but it didn't bother him much right now as his anger controlled his brain. Al let go of Williams and started to walk to the door. Al left the room thinking of how betrayed he felt by the government. He heard Williams shouting to Al that he was done here in the Shadow Asset program. Too bad he had no authority over it. He would have to file a compliant. Al just kept walking down the hall toward the infirmary. Al reached the infirmary and found Ayden's room. Al walked in to see that Kaitlyn was by his side her hand on his. She looked up at him and saw the discomfort Al expressed with his body language.