Not Us 3: Odette & Ford

Chapter 1

Ford's POV

We were running through the streets of Italy, trying to get the fuck outta there. Shit went sideways. We had no fucking intel that we'd been compromised. Not even a single fucking whisper! It had been a fucking year! Over a year of recon, putting in the work, and building the backstory! Shit. I even had a fake fucking fiancé for the last six months! Somehow, they figured out we weren't with the Russians like we wanted them to think. Somehow, they put two and two together and figured out we were with some other agency. Natalia, my fake fiancé, was falling behind as we were making our way to the exfil point. It was another mile out. We just had to get to the port. The ship we were to board was there.

As I turned to grab her hand and pull her along if I had to, they shot her in the leg. She dropped and I went to grab her. She pushed me away.

"Run! Don't stop!"

She looked behind her and we saw them getting closer, weaving in and out of people. It was a lucky shot and probably from a sniper they had hidden somewhere. She looked at me and smiled, "I've always liked working with you Ford. Tell my wife I love her."

She pulled out her gun and shot herself in the head. I watched her brains fly all over the streets. I stood still for just a second, long enough for that image to be burned into my brain. For it to be a constant thing I saw when I closed my eyes. She was a great wife and mom. She showed me all the pictures of her kids and her wife. They looked so happy. When I asked her 'Why' she said the same reason I had.

'I was in a bad place. Put my name down, figuring it didn't matter if I lived or died.'

I turned and started running harder. Like my life depended on it. Because it did. I thought of Odette at the airport, smiling at me as I kissed her one last time and waved goodbye. I couldn't let myself die. I didn't want to stop running. I had to see her again. Don't stop, was the only thing running through my head. Not til I got to the extraction point. There was supposed to be a ship waiting for me in port. Just as I was coming up on the ship, it was pulling the walkway back in.

I jumped and barely made it. Fucking barely. Literally holding onto the side of the ship and the rope as the boat was pulling away from the dock. The men onboard heard and saw me jump and land on the side. They pulled me on board right as we started taking fire from the Italians and the Saudis.

I woke up, covered in sweat again. These fucking nightmares don't get away. The pills don't help. I know my psych doctor is going to be discharging me soon. There's a knock on the hospital door.

My old CO from Cali enters. "Welcome back Marine."

"Sir," He holds up his hand.

"Don't get up. I'm just here to tell you a few things. Briggs has kept me up-to-date on everything that's been going on. I took leave to come here. You ready to listen?" I nodded my head and he sat next to my bed. I was still bandaged from the torture I'd been rescued from. I was in physical therapy to try to get my body working like it should again. My mind was a different story, though.

"As best I know, Odette was pregnant when you disappeared. You were going to be a dad. I don't know if she had the baby or lost it. Briggs refused to update me on it any further. Said Odette didn't want you knowing since you could leave her so easily," it wasn't. It was so fucking hard. But I volunteered. Years ago, "Next, Mack and his wife passed. The woman who's taking care of the kids,"

"Wait. Someone else is taking care of his stuff? He left that responsibility to me. What the fuck?! Why did no one reach out?" I was pissed, and trying not to raise my voice to my CO. He may not be my CO anymore, but I still respected him.

"Breathe, marine." I took a deep breath, trying to calm the anger and betrayal I felt. What the fuck? He called me to cash in on the favor I promised him forever ago, throwing away the best thing in my life, to fulfill promises for him. He went from kicking in doors to working with the Agency. He needed someone who could kick ass and be there, but also someone who he could trust. He told me it'd be a deep-cover mission. I knew I wouldn't be able to contact anyone, but I didn't think shit would go sideways like this. The agency dropped the ball after he died. I was supposed to be pulled out if anything happened to him.

"You need to get your head right before you go see them kids. You need to work on that anger I see in your eyes. Do you have PTS? Night terrors? Cold sweats? Panic attacks?" I just nodded slightly incredibly embarrassed that I couldn't hack what happened to me over there. What I'd seen.

"I'll be transferring over here. If you need me. Even if you get medically out," he's saying, but I want to stay in. That's how I'll be able to get Odette back. That's how I can find her. I'm shaking my head hard, getting worked up again, "Marine. You need to get your head on straight. You're in no position to care for anyone."

This was going to be tough. I hope it doesn't take too long. I need to find her and get Mack's kids back from whatever gold-digging tramp they thought would be better than me. Fuck that bitch. Those kids are my responsibility. Not hers. She's probably erasing their memories too. Man, I was fucking heated.

"Yes, sir. I have two kids waiting for me." He nodded and stood up. If I had caught that smirk he had walking out as he waved back at me over his shoulder, I would have rethought my running into the house where Mack's kids were and cussing out the woman who I thought to be a horrible person and gold-digging tramp. I would have stopped and tried to be more civil about all of this. Because if I had seen it, I don't think I would have made the biggest fool of myself. My CO let me walked out of there once I'd been consistent in my therapy for at least six months. That's what he said I needed before he would let me go see the kids. And the woman I had built up in my head as this awful person.

"Thank you, sir."

I thanked the fucker for letting me drive over to the house. To the address he'd found for me. Somehow. I didn't even question it.

And then he let me put my own foot in my mouth. Right in front of Odette before her Dad and Briggs beat the crap outta me.