Alpha Bravo Team Ch. 02

"Yes, sir," Mia snapped. "Sorry for the delay, sir!"

"Gear up, Kodiak."

Mia dropped her bag onto the floor of the van and then met the eyes of each of the men sitting there. All but Romeo dropped his eyes. Mia shook her head before bending and opening her bag. She pulled her off duty weapon from its place in the small of her back and sat it in the case before pulling her camo pants out. Standing, she unbuttoned her jeans and let the zipper down.

"Is this a floor show?" she snarled at Romeo.

Aidan shrugged his shoulders, his eyes on her long legs and the amount of flesh visible beyond the tiny red satin thong she was wearing. He glanced back up at her face, laughing when he saw the look and the emotions in her eyes. "Hey, if it helps when we get back I'll strip down to my shorts for you, Mia."

"Romeo! Kodiak! Cut the bullshit and get ready to deploy!"

"Cutting the bullshit, sir," Aidan sang out, sitting forward just a bit so that he could run his hand from her ankle to the tiny bit of red satin that bisected the softest pussy lips he'd ever felt. Then her hand jammed down, her thumb landing exactly on the painful pressure point.

"If you don't want to have to fire your weapon with your nose, I'd suggest you watch where that hand goes," she hissed out just a bit too low for Demon to hear.

Aidan smiled at her even as he felt his eyes welling up with tears of pain. "Yes, ma'am." When she finally let go of his hand, she realized he hadn't learned a thing. "Who does your waxing, Mia? Smoothest pussy lips I've ever felt."

"You never will learn, will you?"

"You expect me to?" He brought up his hand to his nose and breathed deeply of the sweet fragrance of the juices she'd left on his hand.

Mia jerked her camos up her long legs, buttoning the fly quickly before tightening the belt. Her Sig Sauer went into its holster at her side, her hunting knife in its sheath. A small semi automatic weapon was thrust into the side of her boot and she stashed a handful of throwing daggers into her belt. When she was finished, she squared away her jeans and her bag before taking her seat next to Romeo.

"Sure you don't want to go for a drink after work?"

Mia glanced up at the tall, well-built, gorgeous specimen of man who sat so easily beside her even knowing that they were heading into a possible gun battle that one or both of them might not make it through. "I've already got a date after work, Romeo. Besides, do you remember Cindy Chase?" She blinked her pretty eyes up at him innocently.

"Cindy...Chase...Oh shit, Mia, you can't believe everything that girl says. She's psycho. She trashed my truck."

"Yeah," Digger broke in. "Little Juliet didn't like her Romeo fucking around on her. I thought she was going to force feed the boy some rat poison."

Horse howled with laughter. "She did a job on his truck," he bellowed, then hee hawed. His soft country twang was easy to discern in his voice. "That boy needs to learn how to relate with the ladies, not just piss them off."

"I hear that," Casanova said. "One of these days, dude, one of them ladies is going to go loco on your head and not just on your truck."

"I don't know how she knew it was my truck. I'd just gotten it the weekend before..."

Mia smirked but tried to hide it. She thought she'd done well until Digger called her name. "Mia, you didn't happen to have anything to do with Cindy and Aidan's truck?"

"Me?" She widened her eyes and tried to keep a straight face. "Why would I help one of Aidan's brain dead cheerleader girlfriends out?"

Aidan stared at her, his eyes narrowing. "You did, you showed her my truck, didn't you? What the fuck, Mia?"

"Okay, boys and girl. This is a bad one, get your game faces on!" Demon called back. Mia settled down on the back seat next to Aidan, ignoring the look on his face that promised retribution later. "What we got, Demon?"

"Male and female in their twenties. Married but busting it up the hard way. Two kids supposedly hiding out in a back bedroom. Man is using woman as a shield and wants us all to leave them alone. I think if that happens, we'll end up with a murder suicide."

"Shit." Mia's soft utterance was echoed in the faces of the men around her.

"You can say that again," Aidan whispered and nodded his head at the building that was currently being surrounded by cops, a police helicopter whizzed around it which added to the noise and confusion. There were snipers in the building across the street, and people ran in front of them, guided away by uniformed police. It looked like something out of a bad 'B' movie.

"What floor Chief?" Aidan called out.

"Fifteenth and the elevator is out of service, folks." Demon laughed at their moans. "We're going to have to hump it."

"There's no way to sneak attack from inside, is there Chief?"

"There's one doorway into the apartment. Three windows but none with a fire escape." He grabbed the small bar built into the dash of the van as their driver stopped, rocking with the braking motion. "Kodiak, Romeo, take the roof, we might have to go for a roof entry."

"You got it, Chief. I don't know if I can pull his lead ass back up though," Mia snickered.

"Oh no, honey, you get the rope and the swinging. I know I can handle your weight and I know you love it on top." He wiggled his eyebrows at her seductively. "You'd enjoy every minute of it."

Mia couldn't help but think she probably would and she felt a flush heat her cheeks. She bent, hiding her face from Aidan and grabbing the rope that was under their seat. She thrust it against his rock hard abs. "Keep imagining, Romeo. I'm no Juliet."

"Maybe I'm tired of Juliets," he said softly so that only she could hear. "Maybe I want someone with a little more fire, a woman who can take care of herself and doesn't cry every time she breaks a nail. Did you ever think of that, Mia?"

She shook her head. "Don't give me this shit now, Aidan. You always do this when you've broken up with your latest floozy. Now we've got a woman and a couple of kids to rescue. Get your head in the game."

"It's in the game." He gave her a frustrated glare before coiling the rope over his shoulder. When the door to the van opened, he grabbed his assault rifle and was first out, staring up at the mammoth of steel and glass in front of them. "It's going to be a long trip up," he moaned and then held the glass doors for the rest of the team. Demon was growling into a head piece, collecting intel from the cops that had secured the building. He shook his head as he caught up with the rest of them in the stairwell.

"Okay, they've evacuated everything from the tenth floor up so civilians shouldn't be a problem. The window you two will be looking for is in the front, third from the right. It leads into the living room. The perp's been screaming out the window, shouting threats and letting off an occasional round to let the cops know he was serious. Any questions?"

"Anyway we can get him away from the window until Kodiak does her swan dive routine?"

"The city cops have a negotiator standing by. He's waiting for my go to make his initial call. I've seen the rap sheet on the perp, this kid's done everything but murder and he's a step away from that now. Kodiak, you get in there, you take him out hard. No fool stunts got me. You keep an eye on your six since Romeo seems to be fascinated on yours."

"Yes, sir." Mia said the words but she knew she wouldn't do anything until she had a better idea of what was going on inside that apartment. Watching your father be killed in front of you is something that is hard to get over, no matter what kind of bastard the man was. She wasn't going to put those kids through that, not if she could help it.

They were quiet except for the sound of boots and the squeak of leather the rest of the way up to the fifteenth floor. Demon gave her one more look before heading through the door and the other men rubbed their hands over the top of her helmet. "Don't get dead," Horse said. It was a line from his favorite movie and he used it as often as he could.

Mia just rolled her eyes. She hitched her rappelling equipment a little more securely over her shoulder and glanced at Aidan. "Ready for this?"

"I'm not the one that's going to be swinging into the unknown, Mia. Are you ready for this?"

"Just don't get butterfingers on the rope," she said and jammed her elbow against his gut.

"I've never dropped you yet." Aidan's golden eyes glanced back at her as he passed her and led the way up the rest of the stairs to the roof. The building manager was waiting up there for them and he huffed importantly, tugging at his belt as he held open the door for them.

"A woman? You've got a woman to go up against Ryan Kelly? That man would eat you for breakfast, honey."

"I'm hard to digest. Where's this window?"

"Over here. I just hope you know what you're doing. Kelly is a bit of a bastard. He hits that sweet little girl he married and beats on his kids as if that's what they were put on God's green earth for. I'd have kicked him out a long time ago but for the little ones. They don't deserve what Kelly gives them and that's God's own truth. I told the missus that I would kick the bastard out and keep an eye out for her and the little ones but he has her terrified. Yes sir, that Kelly is really a bit of a bastard." He hitched his pants up again, tugging the waistband over his overflowing middle.

Mia waited for the verbose landlord to take a breath. "Mr. Greenaway, it would be best if you stayed back and let us work." Mia sat her assault weapon down, leaning it against the railing that ran around the edge of the roof. She stepped into her gear, before glancing down the side of the building and estimating how much rope she'd need to hit the window dead center. Hopefully, if it all worked right, she'd have a minute of surprise on her side of this deal for her to decide what to do. Her instincts had never failed her yet.

She glanced up, startled when Aidan tightened her belt for her and began to feed the rope through the eight ring.

"No stunts, Mia. You get in, you do the job and save the day and then we all go back to our day off. Got me?"

The seriousness in his eyes startled her even more. "You'd better watch that Aidan, people might think you actually care for something more than yourself."

"I'm not kidding, Mia. You promise me you'll do as Demon said or I'm calling this now. Promise me." He grabbed her stubborn little chin in his hand, forcing her to look up at him.

"Aidan, do you know what it does to a kid when they watch their father killed in front of them? Do you have any idea what the psychological damage is, what it can do to them? I just can't blindly go in there and pop their father because somebody is telling me that he's a bad guy."

"Dammit!" Aidan growled his frustration. "I'm not helping you get in that apartment so that you can get yourself killed."

"I'm not going to get myself killed, Romeo. Don't get your panties in a twist." She scoffed at him, than checked her rigging once more. He took her completely by surprised when he grabbed her chin again. He dragged her closer and dipped his head. Than his lips covered hers.

His mouth was hot, his lips soft and sensual, twisting on hers so that he could thrust his tongue into her mouth. That kiss was the sexiest, most demanding and completely sensual she'd ever had. When he finally lifted his head, she was surprised she hadn't drooled into a pool at his feet. "W-what was that?" she asked, breathless.

"I care about you, Mia, probably more than is healthy for me. I don't want to lose you to some nut before we can sort this damn thing out. So promise me you'll be careful and not end up dead."

She stared up at him, for the first time noting how long and thick his lashes were and the way they brushed against his skin when he blinked. "I...what?"

He stared down at her and for a single moment, she thought he was going to kiss her again. She wanted that kiss, almost more than she wanted anything in this world. She could still taste him on her lips, feel the way he'd kissed her all the way to her toes, which were still curling in her combat boots. But instead of a kiss, he tapped her helmet, taking a step back. "Just be careful, Mia."

She gave herself a mental shake, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "Yeah, careful, I got that." Picking up her rifle, she gave him her hand, letting him help her up on the ledge before he got hold of the rope, putting it behind his back and bracing himself.

Cocking his head, he activated their comm. device and let Demon know they were ready. He gave Mia a nod. "They're waiting on you, kid."

She took another deep breath before doing a two second check of her position and how much rope she had slack. Throwing her assault rifle over her shoulder on its strap, she nodded and turned then took a step backwards out into nothing. The building seemed to fly by and for just a second she wondered if she'd given herself too much rope. Then she felt it jerk tight and brought up her feet to kick out the window.

She landed on her feet, dropping the rope and grabbing her gun as she saw the stunned face of the man she'd been sent in to bring down. His eyes were wide, his face almost ludicrous in surprise. But it wasn't his face she focused on. It was his wife's.

Both her eyes were blackened, swollen from his fists. She had blood leaking from her nose and her lips were swollen. Hanks of her hair were hanging loosely from her scalp. The utter hopelessness and terror in her face was the thing that decided Mia and she took quick and careful aim and fired three rounds, hitting the man with each one. He was on his way to the floor when Demon and Horse burst into the room.

Mia had already kicked the husband's gun out of his dead hand and now she was comforting the wife. She moved to the side when a little boy and girl came running out of one of the bedrooms, screaming for their mother. She barely nodded when Demon clapped her on the shoulder or when Horse pulled the rope from her rig and then tossed it out the window, hollering for Aidan to coil it up.

They were there less than an hour longer, long enough to see the coroner off with the body and Mrs. Kelly off in an ambulance. The children stayed with a neighbor and they finished up and left before the crime scene tape had a chance to unravel.

Mia sat quietly, ignoring the talk that was going on around her. It was the same crap every time they finished a mission. The camaraderie was fantastic and it was part of what she signed up for when she heard that the government was going to start the Alpha program. She was the only female in the Alpha's. Six teams of men, taken from law enforcement, the Marines, even the Fire Department, like Aidan, were sent on missions around the world.

They'd been scouted, wooed and then brought into the hell that was the Alpha training camp. Drill instructors had nothing on the men who worked them over, toughening them up, making them Alpha material. Long days started with standing out in the cold air, doing push ups and sit ups, kip ups and more until they were physically numb. Over half the men that applied or were sought after failed the physical part of the training and were sent home.

They hadn't taken it easy on her, but Mia was a go getter. And she wanted this; she wanted it more than anything she'd ever wanted in her life. She excelled in the mental part of the training, the planning and execution, map reading, figuring the enemies next moves. She could do it all and pretty damn flawlessly. She wasn't afraid of the hard work or of the dirt. She didn't flinch at dead bodies or at having to kill. She'd gone on an operation in the Saudi dessert and hadn't flinched at the names or the comments that had been made. That didn't stop the men in her unit from taking those commenters to task.

She sometimes felt like she had six older brothers. They watched out for her, they cared about her. They even threatened any and every man she dated that they'd better treat her right, or else. Needless to say, second dates were scarce and her love life sucked.

That had to be the reason that she'd been so eager, so caught up in Aidan's kiss. She chewed the thought over, ignoring the men until Aidan jabbed her in the side with his elbow.

"Thinking about me?" he teased.

She felt her cheeks heat because he had interrupt some pleasant thoughts of his kiss. "Why the hell would I do that? You want me car sick?"

"I don't think you'd be car sick. I think you'd be a puddle of goo." He bent closer to whisper in her ear. "I'm hard as hell from that kiss."

"Well, get over it. It's an aberration."

"You want to prove that to me," he whispered in her ear, his breath causing gooseflesh to rise on her arms.

"I don't need to prove anything to you." The words were growled and she pushed him back, hating the ease at which he resisted her hands.

"You might not need to, but think of the fun, Mia. I could kiss and lick every inch of you and you'd probably purr like a kitten for me."

"I'd probably gag on you," she growled, pulling away from his hand as he tickled at her side. "Don't touch the merchandise."

"But it's such fine merchandise." His teasing words caused her to growl again and this time, Digger heard her.

"Something up your ass, Kodiak?"

"Not up my ass but definitely on my nerves." She scooted a little further to the side of the seat. "I think Romeo needs to learn to read."

"Read?" he asked, confused.

"Yeah, the no touching clause in my contract." She sighed as she saw the base in the windshield. "Horse, give me a ride home? Tanya has my truck."

"I'll give you a ride home," Aidan purred near her ear.

"No, thanks, but no thanks. Horse? That ride?"

"I would, Mia, but I'm not headed right home. Charity's booked my attention for the rest of my day off." He held up his cell phone, showing off the picture of his girlfriend. "Your house is way off the other way. Romeo would take you home."

"Yeah but I'd like to make it there in one piece," she growled. "Digger?"

"Oh, Mia, I'd love to but...Patsy is having a cook out on the beach. I'm bringing the male entertainment."

The rest of the guys nodded their heads and she sighed. "Okay, thanks anyway." She grabbed her rifle and her bag, pushing open the doors of the van and jumping out. Ignoring Aidan, she headed into the equipment room of the bunker, handing her assault rifle to the man behind the counter. "Clean it, Jimmy and check the compression. It felt a bit off."

"You got it, Mia."

"Great. You got change for a dollar? I need to use the phone."

Jimmy swapped out the money and watched as she walked right by Aidan, ignoring him as he called her name. "What's up her butt?"

"Me. I guess I rubbed her the wrong way."

"That's kind of hard to do with Mia. What, did you say something bad about that mutt of hers?"

"No, it's a long story. I'll talk to you later, Jimmy." He followed Mia out of the equipment room, seeing her on the pay phone. Walking up behind her, he pushed down on the disconnect lever and listened to her spit. "I'll take you home, Mia. I'll keep my hands to myself too."

Mia turned, her fist slamming into his stomach. He gasped and she grinned. "Back the fuck up, Romeo. I'm not interested."

"In my body or the ride?" he grumped, rubbing a hand over his stomach.

"I'll take the ride. But forget about anything else you might have in mind."

"Your sister's at your place anyway."

Mia had never been more grateful for her sister's presence as she was now. That kiss had stumped her. It had sent her body reeling and her emotions on overdrive. She wasn't sure she could handle another kiss like that or not. "So, that ride?"

"Let me get my bag." He held out his keys. "You know what it looks like."