Day 7 Morning

It was an odd thing to think of somebody else going out as a sacrificial lamb for her. Amelia mentioned it several times to Barret, who gently smiled and tapped her on the cheek. "You did your part. Let us do ours."

"I feel as if you've already done so much," she murmured.

Nikolai stepped up beside her. "Barret won't be out there alone. I'll go too, and others, and we've got a sled and will be taking your dogs," he shared, with a nod. "I need to be part of this, and I'm pretty sure that this… I won't say it all started with my father, but it certainly involves my father."

She winced and nodded. "Got it," she murmured. "Good luck, you guys. I'll stay here and hope that it all happens way the hell out there." Then she hesitated. "What about…" She winced. "What about Elijah's son?"

"Yeah, that's another problem because we don't know who we'll come up against in the wilderness," Nikolai shared. "As long as he's not here with you, then chances are we're okay."

"Maybe," Amelia replied. "We also don't know for sure that somebody else isn't involved."

Samson placed a hand on her shoulder. "And we're prepared for that too. Now I need you to go back to your room and wait." She hesitated, but Mountain gave her a look. She glared at him. "I won't always be so agreeable," she announced.

His grin flashed. "Is this being agreeable? I can't imagine what you not being agreeable will look like."

"You're about to find out," she declared, with a threatening note in her tone.

Mountain leaned over, picked her up with absolutely no effort, and gave her a bruising kiss. When he put her down, he whispered, "Now hang on to that thought, until we get back."

And, with that, they snuck out in staggered groups. She slowly made her way back to his room, wishing she had brought coffee or something with her to help make it a little easier to wait. When a knock came on the door, and Sydney's soft voice identified herself, Amelia opened the door to find Sydney with a tray of food and drink. Amelia looked at her in surprise and relief. "How did you know I was sitting here, wishing I had thought to bring something?"

"Considering that we're still not letting you move around very much, you've already done more than you should have," the doc said in a scolding tone.

Amelia sat back down on the bed, with the tray of goodies in front of her, and looked at Sydney. "Will you join me?"

Sydney nodded. "That was the plan. You'll find other people will be coming by too, as we are all taking shifts."

She stopped and looked at her carefully. "Meaning, I'm not allowed to be alone, huh?"

The doc gave her a cheeky grin. "What do you think? Yeah, not happening," Sydney declared. "Mountain has done an awful lot to help everybody here, so we'll all do an awful lot to help him."

"And not me?" Amelia teased, with an eye roll.

"And you," Sydney confirmed, with that same cheerfulness. "We want to ensure this comes to an end."

"Me too," Amelia muttered. "I want to know that, whatever I do from here on out, I can do without looking behind me all the time."

"That's the worst, isn't it?" Sydney noted, her voice quiet. "We went through some tough times here before—I won't even say, before this all blew up, since it was certainly in the process of blowing up. We just didn't know it yet," she explained. "Anyway it wasn't fun for any of us, so I do understand what you're going through to a certain extent."

Amelia studied Sydney and realized she really did understand, and empathy had filled her gaze too. "You must be good at your job," Amelia noted in a quiet voice.

Sydney looked at her in surprise and laughed. "I don't know about that, but I do my best to help. Sometimes you can't do what you need to do, and that's heartbreaking, and sometimes, for all your efforts, it still won't be enough, and that's definitely heartbreaking too."

"Surely some good is in it."

"Yes,… absolutely there is. Sometimes there are miracles. Those are breathtaking too, and I absolutely love every minute of every day when that becomes a possibility," she shared with a bright, cheerful smile. "The day that Teegan turned up, that was a miracle we all needed." Sydney gave Amelia a clipped nod. "A miracle made possible by you. Mountain was absolutely devastated that his brother had gone missing for so long, and all the more frustrated when he couldn't find him. And, because of his brother, Mountain's the one who sounded the alarm up here. Because of everything he mobilized, this operation is ongoing right now."

"So now it just needs to come to a conclusion."

"Exactly, and that conclusion needs to be the right one," the doc noted, "and hopefully before we lose anyone else."

"And yet somehow I suspect that, before this is over, maybe even before this night is over," Amelia said, "we could have more dead than anticipated." Sydney looked at her, startled, and Amelia shrugged. "I think, when they've cornered this rat, it'll become beyond dangerous, and it won't be easy on anybody involved."

Sydney nodded. "I won't argue with you on that.… I hope it doesn't cost us any of those people who are out there doing so much to keep the rest of us safe."

Amelia realized Magnus was out there too. "Oh, God. I'm sorry, Sydney. I shouldn't have brought it up." But she got a headshake in return.

"I don't live in a world of denial," Sydney replied. "Absolutely no point, not up here. I'm perfectly aware of what people can be like and how rough this world can be.… So we'll stay strong, wait and hope for the best."

They huddled up, and they talked for a while about nothing and yet everything, as they tried to forget about what was going on around them. Later, when a knock came on the door, and Sandrine poked her head in, Sydney got up with a smile and ushered her in.

"My turn to man the clinic," Sydney explained to Amelia. "You take care now." And, with that, she was gone.

Sandrine bounced in and sat down in front of Amelia. "Hey. How are you holding up?"

"I was doing pretty well, until I realized how many were outside and how the rest have to babysit me."

"Either that or you're back in the clinic," she pointed out. "Which would you prefer?"

"Here," Amelia said immediately, and then she chuckled. "What a question."

"Right?" Sandrine said, with a bright, cheerful smile. "Just think. So much is going on right now, and the base is abuzz. Nobody really knows what's happening, but they all know something's happening."

"You'd have to be dead not to," Amelia noted, with a headshake. "Everybody here is pretty damn smart."

"They are, aren't they? It's been amazing to see how people here interact with each other. I came here very recently, so I wasn't a part of any of the original mess and found myself in an odd scenario where I didn't really fit in with anyone. For a while it was pretty wild, but I ended up spending most of my time with Teegan anyway. Of course Teegan and I have a history."

"Maybe you should tell me about that history," Amelia suggested, with a smile, "because he did mention your name a time or two."

Sandrine stared at her in shock.

Amelia nodded. "When I tried to question him on it, he went silent."

"No need to be alarmed, but I would guess it was mostly because he didn't remember us anymore," Sandrine suggested, with a laugh. Then she explained their history and soon had both of them laughing.

"Oh, gosh, the things that we get ourselves into, and then we don't know how to fix it," Amelia noted, with a laugh. "And I'm not even sure where or how I got into this, but apparently I'm somewhat involved with Mountain."

"Oh, well, if you have to pick somebody to get involved with here," Sandrine said, "you picked a good one. That man is all heart. According to what I've heard from everybody else, he didn't leave a stone unturned, trying to find his brother. He was pretty damn sure that you had him, but he wasn't convinced enough that he could rest about it. Yet he never could catch up with you. Then, when you brought in Teegan, Mountain just knew it had been you. He was desperate to talk to you and to see if you had answers. He spent days out there looking for you, once Teegan showed up here."

"I know," she muttered. "I saw him out there, but I wasn't sure of his motives or what he was doing. I didn't know he was Teegan's brother at that point. I would watch him from a distance," Amelia admitted, "unsure about what to do. Teegan had been so emphatic about not trusting anybody here at the base, so I didn't feel comfortable calling out to Mountain and letting him know where I was. Plus, I've heard since then how Mountain didn't show up here until after Teegan had been missing for about three weeks. So it's not like Teegan knew his brother was here, although he was praying for him to get here."

"And that just made it all that much harder on Mountain," Sandrine stated, with a nod. "On the other hand, Mountain should have to work for it," she teased, followed by a chuckle.

Amelia rolled her eyes at that. "I don't know about work for it, but I think Mountain would do anything to keep his brother alive."

"Almost as much as you did," Sandrine noted, with a pointed look. "I can't imagine all that you went through to do that, dealing with the fear of wondering who could be trusted or if you could trust anybody at all."

"That was the problem, not knowing who was trustworthy, and knowing that, as far as Teegan was concerned, I couldn't trust anybody in this base. So, I didn't dare take this poor man and put him back into the same scenario that he'd barely survived in the first place," she murmured. "And yet I didn't have anybody to ask, to talk to, to help me work my way through it."

"You got here in the end."

"Only because I was shot again. If I'd known Mountain, as I do now, it would have been a different story," she admitted, with a shrug, "but, even still, I'm going on instincts, trusting him at this point."

"And so you should," Sandrine said. "That's the one person you can trust."

There was something comforting about hearing that, and it confirmed what Amelia already knew, but it helped. It shouldn't have helped, but it did, and, for that, she was grateful to have yet another little nudge of confirmation.

When they finished their leftover food and tea, Amelia asked, almost in desperation, "So, how long do you get to stay here?"

"Oh, don't worry. You'll get a steady stream of people," she replied. "I am damn sure you won't be alone."

"I won't argue with that," Amelia muttered.

"It seems as if we're all very heavily involved in keeping people alive here," Sandrine noted, with a quick nod. "Too many people, too many things going wrong."

"Got it." Amelia nodded. "I'm worried about the men out there and now I'm worried about my dogs being out there too, part of the con, so I don't even have them for comfort."

"I understand. I think Joe wanted to come over and see you too, so maybe that'll be part of your visitation today."

"I'd be okay with that," she said, with a bright smile. "I do like him."

"We all do. He's a sweetheart, and he's just looking to go home at the end of this training session and have time with his wife." She jumped to her feet and announced, "Okay, my time's up. I'll check to see if your next replacement is there."

With that comment, she stepped out, closing the door immediately and leaving Amelia to question what she'd just heard.

*

Mountain had doubtsif this would work, but they had to try. As he drove the snowcat up to the scientist's camp, he looked over at Magnus. "I can't imagine that, in this weather, he would even be bothered."

"I can't imagine in this weather that he can afford not to be bothered," Magnus stated immediately.

Mountain frowned at that and grudgingly nodded. "I suppose it's possible."

Magnus smiled, trying to keep it light. "We have to give it a try, and we both know it."

"Oh, I agree, and that's why we're here." They parked at the scientists' camp. Then the two of them got out and immediately geared up to now be directly in the weather and walked back to the military base, keeping to the rises. They were dressed in all whiteout gear, as they deliberately hid their tracks, keeping their own visibility to a minimum, yet with the best view for themselves as they possibly could.

Using hand signals as they walked because noise traveled terribly far in this weather, they moved swiftly, until they saw Barret coming toward them, moving at a steady pace. He was struggling a little bit with the sled, and the four dogs, but then that would also look a whole lot better and more accurate to anyone assuming he was Amelia. He was also geared up with a bulletproof vest, just in case, and he had a special helmet on underneath Amelia's heavy parka. Anything for added protection, considering he was bait.

As Magnus and Mountain stayed up in the hills, they eventually crouched down and checked to see if there was any sign of anyone else. This was the dicey part because they must see their adversary, before they were seen themselves.

Barret had Amelia's dogs, the four of them, and they had decent-enough training and experience that the dogs were willing to go with him. Barret headed up to the scientists' camp, where they decided Amelia would most likely go in order to keep herself safe, particularly after saying that she'd been there time and time again, staying until she felt it was too dangerous and leaving again.

Barret moved steadily, using shoulder strokes to match Amelia's height, crouched over slightly to one side, as Amelia would be favoring her injured side, from where she'd been shot. They watched decoy Barret going slow and steady, noting his faltering progress.

Beside Mountain, Magnus whispered, "Damn, I hope he's faking it, and, if he is, he's doing a hell of a job. If he's not faking it, I would say he's in trouble."

"I know. I was thinking the same thing," Mountain murmured, as they remained here on this western edge, crouched down. Off in the distance, coming around on the eastern side, would be Nikolai. No way he would stay on the sidelines and out of this scenario. Egan and Rogan were at opposite ends of the tundra, and all the good guys out here had long guns on them.

Elijah was on lockdown at the base, with Samson keeping a close eye on him, along with Whalen and Teegan as backup, just to ensure Chef wouldn't go anywhere.

Mountain had filled in Magnus on everything they had heard from Elijah yesterday, and, not surprisingly, both of them were still processing the newest information.

Magnus muttered, "I can't believe that the three of them are so intertwined."

"Nobody really knew," Mountain murmured. "But that's the thing, right? Nobody knew, and, because nobody knew, they could get away with all kinds of stuff, and yet who's getting away with what?"

"That's the problem," Magnus noted, as he looked over—checking to the north, where Egan should be—deliberately making his movements slow and steady, so nobody else would pick up on him being there. He then checked to the south for Rogan. "I don't see anything out there," Magnus noted, his voice soft.

Mountain replied, "No, not yet, but that doesn't mean jack shit though, and you know that." They stayed hunkered down for another fifteen minutes, and just as he was about to believe that this was a no-go, a shot rang out. He watched in horror as Barret stumbled and slowly slid to the ground.

"Shit." Magnus immediately tried to bolt to his feet, but Mountain held him down.

"Hold up," he said, warning him in a low hiss. "If he's down, we'll get him, but, if he's faking it, we can't give him up. We have to catch whoever's doing this, or it's all for nothing."

Magnus struggled against the restraint, but, when Mountain was sure Magnus wouldn't break their cover, the big man shifted ever-so-slightly. Mountain whispered, "Remember. Every movement and every sound up here is amplified."

"Sure, but so is the wind, the air, everything," Magnus muttered in frustration. "This place is deadly, without anybody trying to take us out. With people trying to take us out, it's beyond deadly."

"Exactly, and that's part of the problem," Mountain said. "We can't allow anybody else to play this game."

"And yet how the hell did our lives become a game? They shouldn't be. They should never have become a part of it," Magnus muttered.

"But you and I both know that they did, so something is completely messed up here." Mountain watched and waited, relieved when he saw Barret give a small hand signal, which they had decided upon beforehand. "He's fine," he said, then sighed. "Not fine necessarily, but he's given us a signal that he's okay."

"Good enough," Magnus replied at his side, his breathing calming down. "Damn it."

"I know. Believe me. I know," he said, at his side, "I don't want anything to happen to him either—or to anybody else."

"Who's on Amelia?"

"All the women are taking shifts, plus Joe."

"Who's on Elijah?" Magnus asked.

"Samson and Whalen and Teegan. Hopefully we won't be too long out here that we need a second shift for Elijah." Mountain looked at Magnus from the corner of his eye. "Do you think we need another shift?"

"I just… don't know. We don't know how many people are involved in this shit." Magnus groaned. "I can't imagine that all this time Elijah managed to keep anybody in control."

"The trouble is, this is the first base assignment where both Joe and Elijah were with him," Mountain pointed out, "and that's part of the problem."

"It's not only part of the problem, as it's apparently blown the lid off everything."

"Exactly, and that's why it's such a problem. Seems somebody started to lose control over our killer, and what wasn't an issue before is a huge issue now."

"Christ," Magnus muttered, as they sat here and watched. "How long will we wait?"

"I'm not sure," Mountain answered in a monotone. "As long as we have to. We're looking for any sign of anybody out there. Remember. When he shot Amelia, he checked on her and told her Good riddance. Plus he tormented her in the clinic, with more threatening words. He likes to confront his victims." All of a sudden, Mountain saw it. "Wait. Nine o'clock. Moving slowly,"

Magnus shifted enough that he could see. "Oh, that little bastard," he muttered.

"Yeah, and the question is, is Nikolai the closest?"

"That is one issue, but our second one is, are we sure our nine o'clock target is not Nikolai?" Magnus asked, with a note of humor.

"Yeah, we're absolutely sure our nine o'clock is not Nikolai," Mountain noted, with a frustrated tone. "But, if anybody had reasons to ensure this went down the way we all want it to, believe me, it's Nikolai. He's avenging his father's killer."

"How the fuck are you so calm right now?" Magnus muttered. "Do you think… Will Barret lose it?"

"No, he won't," Mountain stated, his voice firm. "He's a good man, and he knows what's at stake."

"I know he knows what's at stake, but that doesn't mean that, when it comes down to it, anybody'll have any control. This could potentially go south and very, very quickly."

As they watched, Barret shifted ever-so-slightly, enough that they knew he was alive and okay, but not necessarily enough that he knew he was about to be attacked. The wait had to be deadly for Barret, expecting to be ambushed and unable to see it coming.

As Mountain sat here, lining up a shot himself, as the others did so too, the target figure, moving ever-so-slowly on skis, neared Barret. Amid the complete whiteout, the wind picked up, and the storm around them started to scream its own hell and fury. Mountain groaned softly.

"What is it about Mother Nature," Magnus murmured at his side, "that makes her such a bitch."

"I think she's pissed that we're disturbing her peace and quiet," Mountain suggested. "You've got to think that she didn't bring this on. This is all man-made, this problem, and she doesn't take kindly to this evil interference in her world."

"And yet she doesn't really care," Magnus noted, smiling. "If you think about it, she's waiting for the dust to settle, so that her clean-up crew can come in and pick the flesh off our bones."

"Nice way to put it," Mountain muttered, yet with a smile. "Still, I would rather have a polar bear take me down, than some two-legged asshole."

"I won't argue with you there," Magnus replied, as they watched the figure slowly line up closer and closer to Barret. "I sure hope Barret's ready for this."

"You and me both," Mountain murmured. "Not only that, I think the other three guys are moving around. Nikolai's out there, but he's not alone now. I can see him, but somebody's with him."

"So either Egan or Rogan," Magnus muttered.

"Yep. Either way, Nikolai's in good hands."

"Are you sure about Samson? He's an unknown entity in all this. I haven't quite figured out that guy. Something is off about him."

Mountain chuckled. "In some ways there is. As soon as you figure it out, you'll be kicking yourself."

Magnus stared at him keenly, trying to make sense of what he said, when a shot rang out, followed by dead silence.