Chapter 41

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A nd it didn’t.

A sharp crack split the air. Gunshot. Close. Too fucking close.

We both jumped like we’d been fucking electrocuted, our eyes meeting in a moment of shared panic.

“What the fuck?” I hissed, already reaching for my gun and scrambling to pull on my clothes.

Red was on her feet in an instant, already dressed and ready. “Roof,” she said tersely.

“Stay close,” I muttered, and we darted out of the room.

We didn’t waste time with words. In this line of work, hesitation got you killed. We flew up the stairs two at a time, footsteps thundering in the stairwell. As we burst out onto the roof, the scene that greeted us was pure chaos.

Raven and Viper were squaring off, both red-faced, shouting at each other like maniacs. Raven’s hand was on her sidearm, and Viper’s rifle was still smoking.

Fuck me, this was bad.

“What the hell were you thinking, you psychotic bastard?” Raven was screaming, her hand hovering dangerously close to her holstered weapon.

Viper’s eyes were wide, his hands raised in a placating gesture.

“For fuck’s sake, Raven, I was trying to save your life!”

I stepped between them, my hands raised. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Both of you, calm the fuck down. What the hell is going on here?”

Raven’s eyes snapped to mine. “This piece of shit,” she spat, jerking her head towards Viper, “took a shot at me while I was on patrol.”

I turned to Viper, raising an eyebrow. “That true?”

He shook his head vehemently. “I wasn’t aiming for her, Rogue. I swear on my life. There was someone behind her, coming at her with a knife. I was trying to take the bastard down.”

“Bullshit!” Raven snarled, taking a step forward.

I put a hand on her shoulder, holding her back. “Alright, let’s fucking cool off for a second,” I said, trying to keep my voice level. "Viper, you’re saying you saw someone sneaking up on Raven?"

He nodded, his eyes darting between me and Raven. “Yeah, couldn’t see his face, but the fucker had a knife. He was coming right for her.”

I frowned, something not quite adding up. “How’d you miss? Your aim’s usually spot on.”

Viper dragged a hand through his hair, looking like he wanted to rip it out. “The angle was shit, okay? I had to lean out over the edge to get a clear shot. By the time I steadied myself, the guy had already ducked behind some rubble. I took the shot anyway, hoping to at least scare him off.”

Raven scoffed, clearly not buying his explanation. “Don’t listen to this traitor, Rogue. He’s feeding you a line of bull— ”

“Traitor?” Viper cut her off, his calm finally shattering. “How the fuck am I a traitor when I just saved your ungrateful ass?”

They lunged at each other, fists flying. I cursed, throwing myself between them again.

“Enough!” I roared, shoving them apart. "We’re on the same fucking team!”

Raven’s eyes narrowed, confusion replacing some of the anger “What are you talking about, Rogue? We agreed Viper couldn’t be trusted. Remember?”

We had talked about Viper, sure. But that was before... before everything went to shit. Before Red and I started seeing the bigger picture.

I glanced at Red. She had the same look in her eyes—uncertainty. Should we tell them? Could we trust them?

Fuck it. If we were going to get to the bottom of this, we needed allies.

“Viper’s not the traitor.”

Raven’s head whipped toward me. “What? But we agreed—”

“I know what we agreed,” I cut her off. “But I’ve been doing some digging. And I’m starting to think we’ve been barking up the wrong tree this whole time.”

Raven’s eyebrows shot up. “What the hell are you saying?”

I took a deep breath, knowing once I said this, there was no going back. “It’s Pyro. We think Pyro might be the one behind all this shit.”

Raven’s face went through a series of emotions—shock, disbelief, then slowly, reluctant consideration. “Pyro? But... why?”

“Think about it,” I pressed on, warming to the topic now that it was out in the open. “Every time a mission goes tits up, who comes back without a scratch? Who’s always in the right place at the right time? And who’s been pushing for more aggressive tactics, even when it puts the team at risk?”

Understanding dawned in Raven’s eyes. “Son of a bitch.”

Viper nodded, grimacing. “Hate to admit it, but it makes a fucked up kind of sense.”

Red finally spoke up since we’d hit the roof. “Viper, this man you saw attacking Raven. Was he armed with anything other than the knife?”

Viper shook his head. “Nah, just the blade. Why?”

Red’s brow furrowed. “Doesn’t it seem odd? A single insurgent with just a knife? It’s practically suicide.”

“Unless,” I said, the pieces clicking into place, “it was someone from inside.”

Raven’s eyes widened. “You think someone on the team is working with the insurgents? But that’s... that’s—”

“Fucking insane?” I finished for her. “Yeah, welcome to our world for the past few days.”

“Hold up,” Viper interjected. “If someone on the team is dirty, wouldn’t it have been easier to just shoot Raven? Why the whole knife routine?”

I paused, turning it over in my head. “A gun would make noise. Alert everyone. But a knife...”

My voice trailed off as another thought struck me. I looked around at the others, seeing the same realization dawning on their faces.

“Did anyone else hear that gunshot?” I asked slowly, eyes darting between them. Blank fucking stares.

Shit. Shit. Shit

“Check your comms,” I hissed, already reaching for mine.

Static. Nothing but fucking static.

The others were having the same luck. No response, no chatter. Just dead air.

“Shit,” Viper muttered, voicing what we were all thinking.

Without another word, we all turned and sprinted back towards the stairs. As we thundered down, my mind was racing. If only Red and I heard the shot, that meant someone had set this up. Isolated us. Drawn us out.

We burst back into the mosque, guns up. The main hall was empty, eerily quiet. Too fucking quiet.

“Alright, listen up,” I said, slipping into full-on command mode. “We sweep this place. Every fucking inch. I want to know what the hell’s going on.”

Viper and Raven nodded, faces set like stone.

“Viper, you take the east wing. Raven, west. Red and I will cover the main hall and the basement.”

I locked eyes with each of them in turn. “Stay alert. Trust your gut. If something feels off, you holler. Got it?”

They nodded and peeled off without a word.

I turned to Red, lowering my voice a notch. “Stay behind me. We watch each other’s backs, yeah?”

She gave me a tight smile. “Always.”

We moved like shadows, footsteps silent on the worn stone floors. Every damn creak in the building had me on edge, my gun ready to drop anyone who even thought about fucking with us.

The air was thick with dust and that familiar tension, making it hard to breathe—or maybe that was just the fear clogging my throat.

Red’s hand brushed against mine, grounding me for a second. I gave her a slight nod. This wasn’t something I needed to say. We were in this shit together. Come hell or high water.

“Rogue,” she whispered as we cleared another room. “What if we’re walking into a trap?”

I gritted my teeth, the same thought having crossed my mind a dozen times already. “Then we spring it on our terms. Keep moving.”

We hit the basement, the air turning thick and stale. Flashlights sliced through the dark, showing us fuck-all except dust and abandoned junk.

“Clear,” I called out, the knot in my stomach tightening.

Where the fuck was everyone?

We pressed on, checking behind old furniture, peering into dusty alcoves. Nothing. Not a goddamn thing out of place. It was starting to feel like we were chasing our own tails.

We regrouped in the main hall, all of us on edge. The silence was deafening, broken only by our labored breathing.

“Anything?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

Viper shook his head. “Fuck all. Place is clean as a whistle.”

“This is bullshit,” Raven spat. “It’s like we’re chasing fucking ghosts.”

I ran a hand through my hair, trying to think. “Okay, let’s go over this again. Viper, you saw someone with a knife coming at Raven, right?”

Viper nodded. “Yeah, clear as day. But now... I don’t know, man. It’s like the fucker just vanished into thin air.”

Raven let out a dry, bitter laugh. “What if... what if there never was anyone?”

We all turned to look at her.

“What do you mean?” I asked, though a part of me already knew.

She gestured around us, her movements sharp and agitated. “Think about it. Only you and ponytail heard the gunshot. Viper saw someone that no one else saw. Our comms are dead. What if this whole thing was staged? A way to get us all worked up, paranoid?”

She was always like that—cautious, always watching. Smart. I should’ve listened.

“But why?” Viper asked, his usual bravado nowhere to be seen. “What’s the endgame here?”

I felt a chill run down my spine as realization hit me. “To split us up. Make us doubt each other. Fuck, we were already halfway there, weren’t we?”

Viper let out a low whistle. “That’s some next-level psychological warfare fuckery right there.”

I nodded grimly. “Yeah, and we almost fell for it. Hook, line, and sinker.”

We stood there for a beat, letting it sink in. Whoever was pulling the strings was smart. Cunning. And they knew us well enough to play us against each other.

“So, what now?” Viper asked, his hand unconsciously tightening on his weapon.

I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could get a word out, a scream split the air. High, terrified. Red.

“Red!” I yelled, my blood turning to ice.

We all took off running, following the sound. How the fuck had she gotten separated from us? I cursed myself for taking my eyes off her even for a second.

We ran as one, racing towards the sound. It had come from somewhere near the back of the mosque, an area we thought we’d cleared. But as we rounded a corner, I saw it. A door, half-hidden behind a fallen tapestry. A door we’d somehow missed.

I didn’t hesitate. I kicked it open, gun raised, ready for anything.

Except for what I saw.

The room behind the door... it was a fucking graveyard.

Red was there, backed against the far wall, her face pale as death. And surrounding her were... fuck.

Bodies.

Stacked like cordwood. Our team. Faces I recognized. People we fought with. And right on top? The woman who’d given us shelter, eyes wide open, staring, like she was accusing us with her dead, glassy gaze.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Raven breathed behind me.

We just stood there, like a bunch of dumbasses, frozen in horror. The implications were staggering. If these were our people, then who the fuck had we been working with?

Viper walked forward, crouching next to one of the bodies, inspecting them. “Looks like they didn’t go down easy.”

“No shit,” I muttered.

But I wasn’t focused on what happened to them. I was thinking about who did this.

And then, like the universe wanted to twist the knife even deeper, a voice came from behind us. Calm. Amused.

“Well now, what’s all this commotion about?"

We whirled around, weapons snapping up on instinct. And there, leaning against the doorframe with a smirk on his face, was Pyro, standing there with this eerie calmness like he hadn’t just walked in on a massacre.

I felt a surge of rage so intense it nearly blinded me. “Funny,” I spat, my finger itching on the trigger. “I was about to ask you the same fucking thing.”

Pyro’s eyes scanned us, pausing on the raised guns. He didn’t look worried. Not one bit. “Me?” he asked, with a shrug. “I just heard some noise and thought I’d check it out. Gotta say though, quite the welcoming committee. Care to explain?"

Raven stepped up, her weapon trained squarely on Pyro’s chest. “Cut the bullshit,” she snarled. “We know something’s going on, and we know you’re involved.”

Pyro’s smirk didn’t falter. “I don’t know what you think you know,” he said, his voice taking on a harder edge. “But you’re making a big mistake.”

A harsh, humorless laugh bubbled up from my throat. “No, asshole. The mistake was ever trusting you. How long, huh? How long have you been playing us, you piece of shit?”

For a second, I thought he might try to bluff his way out. But then I saw it—his posture shifted, tension coiling through his body like a snake ready to strike. And then, he smiled. A real smile this time, full of malice and triumph.

“Long enough,” he said simply.

And then all hell broke loose.

Viper moved first, lunging for Pyro. But the bastard was fast, impossibly fast. He ducked under Viper’s swing and came up with a knife like he pulled it from thin air.

I shoved Red behind me, bringing my own gun up. “Down!” I yelled, just as the first shots rang out.

The room exploded into chaos. Gunfire, shouts, the sickening sound of fist meeting flesh. I lost track of who was where, my whole world shrinking down to one thing: protecting Red and taking this asshole down.

I caught a glimpse of Raven grappling with Pyro. Viper was down, clutching his leg, but his gun was up and searching for a clear shot.

A bullet whizzed past my ear, so close I felt the heat of its passage. I returned fire, the rapport of my weapon deafening in the tight space.

“Rogue!” I heard Red’s voice, covered im fear.

I risked a glance back, saw her crouched behind a stack of crates, weapon shaking in her hands. Shit. She was the first thing on my mind, the one person I had to protect above all else. But everything was going to hell.

“Stay down!” I yelled, whipping back around just in time to see Pyro break free from Raven’s hold.

He was bleeding from a cut above his eye, but the bastard was still grinning. “You don’t get it, do you?” he called out, his voice clear even over the gunfire. “This is bigger than you. Bigger than all of us.”

“Fuck you,” I spat, squeezing off another shot.

It hit him in the shoulder, spun him around, but the son of a bitch still didn’t drop.

Pyro laughed, the sound chilling me to the bone. “Oh, Lieutenant. Always so righteous. Did you ever stop to think that maybe, you’re on the wrong side of this?”

Betrayal burned in my gut, like fucking acid. I wanted answers. I wanted to know why the hell he was doing this. But more than that, I wanted to put a bullet between his eyes. He sold us out. He led our team to slaughter.

That traitorous piece of shit.

I saw red. All the pent-up rage, all the frustration and fear of the past weeks, it all came boiling to the surface. With a roar, I charged at him, abandoning all pretense of tactics or strategy. This was personal.

We went down in a tangle of limbs, my fists flying, smashing into his face, again and again. Every hit felt like vindication. But Pyro gave as good as he got, his knee coming up to catch me in the gut, driving the air from my lungs.

I heard Red scream my name, but it seemed distant, unimportant. All I cared about was pounding that smug grin off his face.

I kept hitting him, feeling the bones in his face crunch under my knuckles. I wanted him to feel everything we’d gone through, all the pain, all the loss.

He grunted, but there was no emotion in his eyes, no regret. Just cold, calculated focus.

We rolled across the floor, neither of us willing to give an inch. I tasted blood in my mouth, felt the sting of split knuckles. But I didn’t stop. Couldn’t fucking stop.

And then, pain. White-hot, searing pain in my side.

I looked down to see Pyro’s knife, buried to the hilt.

“Always too slow, Rogue,” he whispered, his face right up in mine. “Always one step behind.”

I tried to speak, but my voice wouldn’t work. The world was going gray around the edges. I could hear Red keep calling my name, frantic. The acrid smell of gunpowder. The taste of blood in my mouth.

And all around us, the sounds of more footsteps, more voices. Reinforcements, but for which side?

“Why?” I choked out, barely managing the word. “Why do all this?”

Pyro’s face loomed over me, his eyes wild. “Because sometimes,” he hissed, “you have to burn it all down to build something better.”

The last thing I saw was Red, her eyes wide with horror, reaching for me as I fell.

I’d failed her.

And then, darkness.