Chapter 1166 - Missions To Fend Off Marcus' Attacks (9)

Outside, on the parking lot…

Nala and Julius made sure everyone from the squad is in the van.

"Go, we are right behind you.", Nala waved them to leave.

"We will wait for you one mile to the North.", the driver told Nala.

Nala nodded in agreement.

"Come, let's wait for them in the van.", Nala urged Julius.

Julius turned toward the van but paused when he saw with the corner of his eye that someone is coming out from the warehouse.

Julius' heart stopped when he saw that only Haru is coming toward them.

"Where is Allen?!", Julius shouted at Haru, forgetting that they have ear studs to communicate.

"He said that he can disarm it, but just in case we should…"

"NO!", Julius exclaimed and rushed toward the warehouse.

Haru grabbed his arm and pulled him back. Julius struggled, and Nala joined with Haru to prevent Julius from going toward the warehouse.

"Stop!", Haru shouted breathlessly. Julius is stronger than he looks (and he looks strong) and Haru was afraid that Nala will be hurt from Julius' struggle.

"Let me go!"

"No!", Haru growled while tightening his grip on Julius. "Allen said he got it… He said to believe in him… If he does not disarm it, you will just lose your life in vain!"

Julius stopped struggling. A second later, Haru and Nala let go of him, assuming that he gave up on going to the warehouse. Julius turned to Nala and Haru and looked at each of them dejectedly.

"What would you do if one of you is inside?! Could you go to safety and hope that the most important person in your life gets out of it alive?!"

Haru and Nala exchanged glances, both looking troubled.

Inside the warehouse…

Allen opened the box where the trigger mechanism is with screwdrivers. Based on the timer, he has two and a half minutes left.

He was carefully inspecting the path wires make when he saw a shadow above him.

"Juju? Why are you here?", Allen asked in panic.

Julius squatted next to him and his eyes didn't move from the wires in the trigger mechanism. "Tell me, what are you doing? Do you just go for the color? In movies, it's usually the red one." His voice was calm and soothing, like he is talking about something pleasant.

Allen swallowed hard, realizing that Julius has no intention to leave. A mix of emotions assaulted him: happiness that Julius is by his side, fear that he will get it wrong, helplessness because even if he decides to run now, they will not make it outside blast zone in time considering that the warehouse has volatile materials.

Allen does not want to run, because innocents will be hurt by the blast, but now that Julius is here, if there is enough time, he would run just to make sure that Julius is safe.

Allen reminded himself that the worst thing he can do is to panic. He took a deep breath to compose himself and explained: "That's in the movies… Here, the green one will interrupt the power supply and the timer will stop when I cut it. But, there is a possibility that a fallback mechanism exists which will trigger if the main power is interrupted…"

"What does that mean?"

Allen spoke while his eyes continued inspecting the device: "It can provide a backup supply and continue running the timer, or it can blow up right away, or anything in-between depending how they programmed it."

"You are looking to confirm if there is a fallback mechanism?"

Allen confirmed. "Yes. I have thirty seconds left. Then, if I don't find it I need to take risk. Because either fallback mechanism does not exist and I will disarm this thing, or it will blow up."

"Why thirty seconds? That still leaves you half a minute."

"Even if I find the mechanism, thirty seconds is not enough to inspect and disarm it… so I will just stop overthinking and take the risk."

Julius smiled. "OK."

Thirty seconds later…

"I don't see one, so… here goes nothing…" Allen said under his breath while carefully slipping the cutting part of the pliers under the green wire. He has a four-step-plan and thirty seconds to execute it: put the pliers in place, say a small prayer, tell Julius that I love him and cut the wire.

"Al?", Julius called.

"Yes?", Allen glanced at Julius and his world turned upside down when he felt Julius' usually warm palms, now icy-cold cupping his cheeks. Julius' palms get cold when he is nervous. 

Allen didn't breathe when he felt Julius' lips on his. Julius' lips were cold, just like his palms, and the kiss was clumsy and no more than few seconds long, but it was the best thing Allen experienced in his seventeen years of life.

Julius inched away and rubbed Allen's cheek with his thumb gently, starting from under the mask, while their eyes were locked on each other.

"I didn't want to die without doing this.", Julius whispered.

Allen realized that he is about to pass out because he is not breathing.

"What if we don't die?", Allen asked while taking in choppy breaths and hoping that Julius does not see how nervous he is.

Julius smiled. "Then I get a chance to do it again."

Outside, on the parking lot…

Haru and Nala are sitting on the floor of the van which has its back door open.

Nala is leaning in Haru's embrace and she smiled when she saw Allen and Julius walk out of the warehouse. Allen and Julius hooked their arms around each other, and Allen held the disarmed explosive device.

"You didn't leave?", Julius asked Haru and Nala.

Haru gave them a nod of approval before responding: "We don't leave anyone behind."

"What if I got it wrong?", Allen asked reluctantly.

"We believe that everyone in our unit is capable and that we will all go home safely. Together.", Nala responded with a smile.

Haru and Nala don't want to say that the two of them were bickering as soon as Julius dashed in the warehouse to join Allen. Haru told Nala to leave, and she didn't want to without Haru and then they looked at the time and concluded that it's too late to get out of the blast zone, and joint decision was to sit, hold each other and trust that Allen knows what he is doing.

Now that they were out of danger of blowing up the whole area, Haru called the rest of their unit back to help with the cleanup. Bodies of attackers were loaded in one of the trucks which attackers brought with them. Both cars were driven inside the second truck. They made sure there are no traces of fight left behind. Two trucks and the helicopter were taken to one of the bases where they will dispose of bodies, and check vehicles if they have any tracking devices before they decide what to do with them.

By the time the cleanup was done, additional six members of the army of Chaos arrived. Six newcomers will act as 'security in training' and wait for the next shift of regular security employees.

Haru, Nala, Julius and Allen went to the compound and then took their car back to the Cliffside villa.

Before driving away, Haru happily sent a message to Sarah and Aiden: "Mission completed. Full success. Allen and Julius did great. Allen disarmed a bomb and prevented a disaster in the area which would harm civilians. Julius took out 21 out of 41 targets. Bonus: we seized a helicopter. Full report will be ready in the morning."

Nala looked at the message Haru sent and glanced to the back of the car at Julius and Allen. Julius' head was on Allen's shoulder and they held hands while sleeping. They didn't remove their masks. It's past 1 AM, and the two of them are not used to staying so late, or the excitement.

Nala inched closer to Haru and spoke softly: "I thought that you will report how they recklessly rushed into danger for each other."

Haru pressed his lips into a line. "I was about to, but… I would do the same for you. How can I request a punishment for them if I am guilty of the same offense?"

Nala smiled and leaned her head on Haru's shoulder. She took Haru's right hand in hers and their fingers interlaced.

"I would do the same.", she whispered.

Haru kissed the top of her head before turning his attention back to the almost-deserted road ahead. "I know."

"They will be a great team.", Nala voiced her thoughts.

"Mhm…", Haru hummed in agreement. "They already are."

In the back seat, Allen's lips stretched into a smile and then he drifted off to sleep as well.

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