Chapter 28
The heavy wooden door clicked shut, but the space where Noor had just stood still seemed to hum with her quiet, resilient energy.
Link stared at the closed door for a fraction of a second longer, letting the profound weight of what he had just done settle deep into his bones.
Jonas Stephens. He hadn’t used his given name in years.
To the world, to his enemies, and even to most of his allies, he was simply Link. A call sign. A weapon. A shield.
But looking into Noor’s wide, dark eyes, the call sign hadn’t felt like enough.
I can’t just be her rescuer anymore, he realized, his heart hammering against his ribs in a heavy, rhythmic cadence that combat never caused.
I don’t want to be just a soldier to her.
I want her to know me. The real me. The man underneath the armor.
I want to build a life where she never has to be relentlessly strong again.
He took a slow, deep breath, forcing the tender, vulnerable hopes of Jonas back into a box in his mind. Right now, these men didn’t need Jonas. They needed Link. They needed their commander to walk them through the darkest hours of their lives so they could figure out how to survive the next ones.
When he turned back to the room, his professional mask slipped seamlessly back into place. The faint, lingering scent of Noor’s herbal soap faded, replaced entirely by the smell of stale coffee, antiseptic, and the sharp tang of impending accountability.
His men were watching him. Jax, Shadow, Jake, Thorn, and Enzo were battered, exhausted, and carrying the invisible ghosts of the men they had lost in the desert.
Bear stood among them, his own exhaustion palpable, but it was the weariness of a leader who had just faced the devastating consequences of a mission, not the direct fire.
He was a solid presence, his gaze as grim as the others.
“Alright,” Link began, his voice snapping back to crisp, unwavering authority.
He stepped up to the head of the rough wooden table, his eyes sweeping over the projected satellite imagery on the grimy wall.
“Let’s start from the moment Swede called ‘Contact.’ Jake, I want a full status report on comms with Michaels and Hank.
Shadow, your after-action on the command post destruction.
Jax, initial medical assessment on the crash site. ”
After two hours of the emotional stress of reliving the chaotic scene, laying bare every decision and every brutal outcome, the room grew heavy with a solemn silence.
Link turned to Bear, the lines around his eyes deepening. “I know you talked to Dog when you stopped at Ramstein on your way here. Catch us up on everyone.”
Bear shifted his large frame, the rickety chair groaning under his weight.
He looked exhausted, the burden of command hanging heavily on his broad shoulders.
“I saw them,” he said, his voice rougher than usual.
“Warden…he’s got a long road. Shrapnel wounds, bad break in his shoulder, internal bleeding they didn’t catch initially.
He’ll make it, but…” Bear trailed off, scrubbing a hand over his face.
“They’re talking medical retirement. Best case, a desk job stateside, but even that’s a stretch. ”
Link felt a phantom ache in his own shoulder. A brilliant operator, grounded.
Bear continued, his voice heavy. “Nova’s concussion was worse than they thought.
Minor brain bleed, but she’s stable now.
Her arm…they managed to save it, but the nerve damage is significant.
For someone with her skills, as a sniper, this injury is devastating.
The specialists aren’t making any promises about full recovery. Likely medical retirement for her too.”
Link nodded slowly, his jaw tight as he swallowed the bitter pill of the news. “Blast?”
“Leg was pinned, metal everywhere. They’ve already done three surgeries.
He’ll walk again, but they’re calling it.
No more field ops for him.” Bear sighed, glancing down at his hands.
“Dog and Spider…mostly cuts and bruises, some broken ribs, severe concussions for both. They’ll recover physically, but the mental trauma…
they watched their pilots die. They watched Tank die.
” Bear looked directly at Link, his eyes filled with a shared, unspoken grief.
“Tank’s family has been notified. The Navy is arranging transport home for his remains, Warden plans to escort him home. ”
The silence that followed was absolute, suffocating. Link looked around the table at his men. They had won. Noor, Sammy, and the girls were safe in the next room. But the cost of that victory was written in the blood and broken careers of the team that had backed them up.
Bear took a deep breath, breaking the silence.
“I also told them, Link. Every one of them. I told them that when they’re healed, Mountain View Farms is their home too.
There’s always a place for them with us, and a job if they want it.
They’re Protectors, through and through.
They’ll get through this, and they’ll do it with our outfit. ”
Bear paused, a flicker of something close to hope in his tired eyes.
“And on a related note, Dog specifically asked me to look into setting up a dedicated rehab clinic near the farm. Which makes sense, considering the email I got from him yesterday. The crazy son of a bitch finally defended his dissertation right before this op. It’s officially Dr. Dog now—PhD in Biochemistry.
He didn’t want to make a big deal out of it with everything going on, but he wants to put that degree to use.
He wants a place where the team can rehab together among their friends and teammates, not isolated in some sterile hospital.
I’ve already talked to Hank, and he’s looking into options for building and staffing a small facility. ”
Link’s brow furrowed in thought, then cleared. “A rehab clinic…maybe it could be attached to Flora’s office?” he mused aloud, a practical solution already forming. “That would make sense, with her expertise and the space in Monterey.”
Link gave a curt, definitive nod, a fierce surge of loyalty cutting through the grief. Jonas wanted peace, but Link knew that as long as there were monsters like Faisal in the world, the cost would always be high.
“Good,” Link said softly, his voice leaving no room for argument. “No one gets left behind. Not in the desert, and not in the aftermath. And a rehab facility… that’s exactly what they’ll need. Make it happen.”