[MD2, 6:00PM, the house]

Kate already had her gun raised and aimed at 'Burrell' when Sharlyn suddenly lunged at him, blocking her shot, but giving Craig and Patrica an opening to pull Amy and Janet out of the way. Flynn made a move to grab Megan as she rushed past him, but she ducked away and disappeared into the cellar with Flynn hot on her trail. Janet struggled with Patrica, finally kicking her in the shin, distracting her just enough that she could break away, but instead of rushing to 'Burrell's' defense or trying to escape, she ran to where Carol's body lay at the foot of the stairs, fell to her knees and began to sob. Amy was too disoriented to do anything but stare at Craig as he pulled her out of the way and toward the front door.

*****

Flynn followed Megan back to the basement of the house. He was no more that five steps behind her, but by the time he reached the foot of the stairs, she was already standing over the pit where Damian and Sharlyn had been held a little while ago. She had a candle in each hand and was holding them out, ready too drop them into the pit.

"Don't do it Megan," Flynn said.

Megan looked up at him, almost as though she didn't understand what he had said, and smiled serenely. She dropped the candles into the pit. The loose sawdust that covered its floor caught the flame immediately and it flared bright and hot within seconds.

"Megan, no!" Flynn cried as he watched the girl throw herself into the burning pit.

*****

Kate tried to keep a steady aim on 'Burrell' as he struggled with Sharlyn.. The first opening she got, she would take. When he punched Sharlyn and got away from her for a second, it was the opening Kate had been waiting for, but Amy also chose that moment, breaking away from Craig suddenly and rushing toward her father.

"Daddy," she called out, just as she ran in front of Kate. Already in the middle of squeezing the trigger, it was too late not to fire. Fortunately, her years of close quarter combat training kicked in and she managed to change her aim in mid-fire, and discharged the round into the ceiling. No one seemed to notice.

Sharlyn rushed 'Burrell' again, knocking off balance and back toward a window. As she did, 'Burrell's' gun also went off, the round hitting Amy in the should and the girl fell limp to the ground.

"Patrica," Kate called out.

Patrica, who had been standing over Janet, trying to get her away from the body of her step-mother and out the door, turned, saw Amy on the floor and rushed to her side.

At virtually the same instant, there was the sound of breaking glass as 'Burrell' and Sharlyn fell first into the window, and then partially through it.

As if that weren't enough, Flynn came running back up the stairs. "Everyone get out here," he yelled. "The place is on fire!"

Sharlyn was half-in, half-out of the window, struggling to either regain her balance inside or get the rest of the way outside and continue the fight with 'Burrell'. 'Burrell', on the other hand, was laying on the ground outside, still clutching his gun and aiming it at Sharlyn's head. Kate stepped forward, took aim at 'Burrell' and squeezed off a shot that narrowly missed Sharlyn just as she managed to get to her feet. The bullet hit 'Burrell's' hand, just as Kate had intended, and knocked the now useless gun out of it. 'Burrell' let out a roar of pain and Sharlyn turned toward Kate, startled but uninjured apart from a few minor cuts from the broken glass.

"Patrica, Flynn, get Amy out of here," Kate said. Damian and Craig were already manually trying to pull Janet away from Carol, dragging the protesting girl toward the door. Meanwhile, 'Burrell' had gotten to his feet and, clutching his injured hand to his chest, was making a run for the woods.

Kate ran for the door, with Sharlyn close behind her, and came around the side of the house just in time to see him disappear behind a tree. Kate ran after him, navigating on pure instinct, dodging limbs and roots. 'Burrell' was slow. It didn't take long to catch up to him. Kate took him down with a flying tackle. Sharlyn was there half a second later, with a pair of handcuffs in her hand. She snapped them onto 'Burrell's' wrists while Kate held him down.

Kate nodded at her. "Good work," she said. But her words were drowned out by a loud explosion. The two agents looked at each other for a fraction of a second, then dragged 'Burrell' to his feet, and dragging him along at full speed, raced back to the house…

Or what was left of it. It was now little more than a flaming ruin. The team was scattered here and there at the edge of the woods, but everyone looked to be unharmed. Kate breathed a sigh of relief and made her way to where Patrica was tending to Amy.

"How is she?"

"She'll live."

Kate nodded. "Somebody better call for police and fire."

"Our phones stopped working as soon as we got here," Sharlyn said, shaking her head.

Just then, Damian approached them, talking on his cell phone, which he put away as he reached them. "I don't know what happened," he said, "but they're working now."


Back to mission logs