United Under Fire

The Wild South

Julian was not happy; not only was Echo selected to deploy to South Sudan to rescue a team of doctors (something that on its own vexed him), but this time he had Tony and Tim in tow. The former had opted to bring Jeanne Woods, formerly Benoit (the wife of one of the kidnapped doctors/Tony's Ex and daughter of an illegal arms dealer whom Jace and Reese nearly got killed pursuing) along for the ride.

"Jace, I know you don't like this but─" started Tony.

"What don't I like? That you violated operation security by bringing a civilian related to one of the hostages along?" said Jace, not bothering to hide his snarkiness. "That you took advantage of my dad's health incident to do so?"

Tony sat in silence for the rest of the trip, he knew Julian had a lot to deal with already and didn't want to trouble him further.

"Thank you for all this," said Dr. Woods, genuinely grateful and apologetic. "I know that none of this must be easy with what happened with your father."

"It's my job, nothing more, nothing less. The moment we land you do as we say or I will kick everyone's asses back to the States."

Why couldn't Sheperd have sent someone less likely to sleep with their mark for her vendetta?

Jace internally cursed the departed Director of NCIS and Tony's libido for this predicament.

Once they landed they linked up with NCIS Special Agent Stan Burley and went to the village where the attack took place. They encountered a local woman who gave them the details of the kidnapping, but she didn't know where they went or who took the doctors. SOCOM resources were stretched thin already, meaning they had limited support.

Bishop updated them on the identity of the militia responsible for the kidnapping, a militant group took the doctors to save their commanding officer.

Jace took DiNozzo to the side.

"You're flailing Tony," said the Sniper. "You threw out every sensible tactic for the Benoit girl."

"Ja—"

Julian held up his hand, stopping the older agent.

"I understand that you feel like you owe her something. Are you willing to die for that? Do you intend on bringing the rest of us with you?"

DiNozzo was left speechless. Jace went outside to help search the village for anything that might lead them to the hostages. On his way, he ran into Benoit, from within earshot of his and Tony's conversation.

"That goes for you too."

Jace found a set of tire tracks different from the ones the doctors used. They set out following the tracks.

ISR and satellite footage located the militia and the doctors. Based on the body language of the insurgents the doctors were running out of time. Burley and McGee manned the M-ATV, and Tony stuck with Jace and Reese. The SEAL Troop set up an ambush, and Jace, Tony, and Reese made their way to the hostages. Julian gave the signal to commence the attack.

One of the other SEALs used an M12 as a diversion, they picked off the insurgents as the trio grabbed the doctors and made for the EXFIL point. Once they were clear the others followed suit. Jace requested air support from the Apache.

The militia tried to pursue them only to be cut down by the gunship.

The flight home was quiet, Jace watched as Tony looked at Jeanne and her husband. Jace thought about when he took part in rescuing Ziva after Mossad left her in Africa. He probably shouldn't have been so harsh on Tony, he just wanted to keep his friend safe. Boundaries were important in their line of work, kept them from going over the line, and ensured their safety.

. . .

7 Months later

Echo Team and a team from the Silver Squadron were selected for an AMCIT Recovery, a DEA Agent and CIA Officer were being held captive in a Venezuelan Blacksite, they had been caught surveying drug traffickers in the area and the local government accused them of espionage, refusing to negotiate with diplomatic channels. The SEALs had been practicing for the raid for months, rehearsing for multiple scenarios. They had just finished their latest exercise.

Jace was in his gear cage, maintaining his primary weapon, an HK416 with a 14.5" barrel for versatility as an assaulter and marksman. He outfitted it with a Leupold Mark 5HD 3.6-18x44 M5C3 FFP TMR scope and added an offset red dot sight for close target acquisition. While thirty-round magazines were standard, the team had opted for 40-round PMAGs since Venezuela was what SMU Operators called "the mother of all South American hot zones", with Paraguay as the only competitor.

The rest of his setup was pretty standard with a few personal touches, MK25 with an additional three magazines, weaponlight, and IR laser. A KA-BAR with a 7" partially serrated blade on his thigh, and a Karambit on his vest.

They were going to fly in under aliases, in plainclothes, rendezvous with the Agency's assets on the ground, and run recon on the site. The Silver Squadron team was already on the ground. Jace had one concern, the host government had doubled up on their security forces, and Venezuelan Special Police and National Guard were going to be on the streets 24/7. Their only window was the cover of the night during the scheduled shift change. The departing forces were going to do one last sweep of the vector and their replacements were doing their patrol on their way in.

This gave them a roughly 30-minute window.

On the personal front, Jace had started dating again.

FBI Special Agent Kara Blair was assigned to the D.C. Field Office as part of a Joint Task Force. She was a Marine Brat, like Jace, went to Harvard on a full ride and was commissioned into the Marine Corps. During a tour in Iraq, she was injured in an ambush and had to have a kidney transplant. She was given an Honorable Medical Discharge, graduated at the top of her class at Quantico, and bounced around the Bureau from Organized Crime to Terrorism. Now she was a member of the Counter-Terrorism Fly Team. She was SWAT qualified and graduated at the top of the Corps' Scout Sniper Program.

Kara was a childhood friend, their dads were Scout Snipers together. She was five years younger than him, whenever he was with the Pattersons she was close by.

They reconnected after Kathleen died, Kara would check in on him now and then. A couple months after Ziva left for Israel they would meet for coffee. Eight months in, she had a space in his closet and a drawer in his bedroom.

The triplets were fond of her and his in-laws approved. Dave and Brett approved of her.

Their combined work ethic made the time they had together all the more special.

She was currently on assignment for the Right and Left Wing extremist groups in Oregon.

Now it was time for him to get to work.