"Get up."

Nicolette was sitting at her cot finishing up the light breakfast that she had been served. She looked at her escort who looked annoyed to be doing this job. She recognized him as Said's baby faced trainee that had a temper on him. She swirled her tongue around to clear the last bit of food from around her teeth. "I'm not finished."

Pope gritted his teeth and retorted, "And I say you are."

Nicolette looked at Pope with a narrowed look. She studied him for a little bit and questioned, "Let me guess: top interrogator of your class and personally selected by Said?"

"Shut up and get up," Pope demanded. He took a step into the cell and tried to make himself look tougher and bigger.

Nicolette was not cowed by shows of bravado. She looked at Pope and scooped up another spoonful of oatmeal like stuff, which was pretty good, and put it in her mouth. It was an act of defiance done secure in the knowledge that Pope didn't really have the authority that Said had to order her around. She swallowed it saying, "I will when I am finished."

Pope lost his temper and overturned the tray. The contents spilled on the ground making a mess. Nicolette looked up at him and said, "I wasn't finished."

"You are now. Get up."

"I think I am going to wait until I receive notice from Said," Nicolette said. She adjusted her position slightly and to anyone with combat experience they would have seen that her casual position disguised her posture to attack if she was threatened. "While I acknowledge that you are from the Company, I am thinking that you are still a trainee."

"I'm in charge here and now. I am taking you to the box so get up," Pope demanded. He didn't care if he made a mess of things. He was tired of Said taking his time with this story telling. This bitch knew the truth and the only way to get it out of her was to make her tell the truth. The hardline questions and the whole nine yards.

Nicolette blinked up at Pope. She wasn't going anywhere unless it was with the assigned escort. She replied in a polite tone, "I don't think that you have the authority. You are an interrogator and I'll give you that. Said is the best so he would handpick his disciples and must believe you are good enough for his personal attention but I am starting to think that maybe your receptiveness may be in doubt."

Pope growled and grabbed Nicolette by the arm and yanked hard to get her up, "You are coming with me now and you're going to tell me what we want to know and no stories or any of that bullshit."

"Let go of my arm sir and I will not go with someone who thinks that the only way to prove themselves is through brutality." Nicolette narrowed her eyes at Pope as she gave her warning. "Besides you don't scare me. I was in a gulag and you are a pussy cat compared to them."

Pope was visibly angry and he replied, "You will do as you are told. Now you are coming with me." He gave a hard tug and ended up getting a reaction that he had been warned about but didn't heed.

It was roughly twenty minutes later in the box when Said came in. He took a look at his interviewee and the way she was sitting with an almost smug look on her face. He had seen the result of what happened earlier and had no pity for Pope. He had been given his orders and he thought he could push things along by using methods that clearly weren't going to work. He said, "I apologize for Pope."

"You shouldn't be apologizing for him Said. It's a sign of weakness and is not your fault," Nicolette replied.

"You seem to know about that," Said pointed out as he took a seat. He noted that she was not at all put out with the fact that she had been restrained by the guards and ended up with ligature marks. She seemed more satisfied that she gave Pope a beating he would remember.

"Let's just say that I know what the difference is," Nicolette replied as she examined her wrists. "So your trainee can apologize if he has the balls to do it or leave it. Doesn't matter to me either way."

"You could have killed him," Said pointed out.

"So could you. We both know a thing or two," Nicolette pointed out with a shrug. She put her hands together in front of her and asked, "So are your superiors still willing to hear the story or are they going to resort to the usual methods?" She leaned forward as if to dare Said to tell her a lie and then she would pounce on him.

Said took in her expression. She was serious about this and while the incident in the cells could be a mark against her, they decided it wasn't her fault. She didn't do anything to incite anger since she was polite about it and said that she would wait for Said. It was Pope that lost his head. He replied, "They are willing to overlook this provided you keep telling the truth and I assured them that you were within the boundaries you are held to. They seemed to understand that."

"We all work for the Company. We know the price of secrets," Nicolette replied. She sighed as she recalled the consequences of that. "Sometimes the cost can be a bit high especially when it involves people you come to trust and they come to trust you."

Said picked up on that from the beginning when she introduced Lt. Riley and Sgt. Sanderson. He noticed that she had a fondness to her tone but it was laced with regret. He knew that pretty well. It was hard to maintain a relationship as a spy. No doubt there was some trouble with that. "So there was some trouble in the 141?"

"Not trouble like insurrection trouble," Nicolette replied as she stretched her arms in front of her. "It is more like the kind of trouble where there are things you can't tell but you want to and both sides have a past and experience tends to cloud judgment kind of thing."

Said nodded at that. He could understand. "Being a spy is about keeping secrets even from people you trust with your life."

"Well it helps to have a moral compass and guidelines so far as what you tell people. Fiction works like that sometimes."

Said frowned at that, "I don't quite follow."

"Basic English writing is to write what you know. The best covers take bits of the truth and they are woven into the lie. In the end it's hard to see where the lie ends and the truth begins and that is when you know you are in trouble… and when it hurts the most." Nicolette tucked her hands together and looked down at them. She looked at her watch, glad that they hadn't taken it. They decided it wasn't it threat when they examined it and it wasn't like she was going to do anything to jeopardize that.

"You really cared about this unit," Said replied more as a statement than a question.

"I always look after my own."

"What does that even mean?"

Nicolette looked at Said. He finally started asking the right questions. She sat up and folded her hands to look at him proper. She replied, "You know my history, what the Company has on me so I won't bore you with that. Have you ever heard of Shakespeare?"

"Maybe in English Lit. What does this have to do with this interview?"

"Interesting that you call it that," Nicolette replied, amused by Said's expression. "There is a saying that my brother lives for and virtually all armed forces do to some degree though I think it resonates more with the various task forces. It is 'no man is left behind'. Part of that goes into the credo of watching the back of the man next to you and he watches yours."

"Understandable since you lived and breathed with a military group but I don't understand about Shakespeare."

Nicolette chuckled a bit, "MacTavish didn't get it either and Ghost just… Roach though got it and I think that cemented our relationship." She chuckled some more as she remembered when she recited Shakespeare. She looked at Said and continued, "It is considered the best speech I think and resonates what every soldier feels. As a kid, that resonated for me and when the various kids came through the system, I was there with Kyle and we watched over them."

Said thought about it and then asked, "What part of Shakespeare?"

"Henry V."

"Care to recite a little, maybe what you consider the most important part?"

"I might as I continue this story. It set the stage for our band of merry men during the events after the massacre at Zakhaev International."

Said nodded since she pretty much made that a promise. "Alright. So do you want to continue?" He picked up the tape recorder. Yesterday's recordings were already uploaded and being transcribed and there was the security footage. No doubt his superiors were baffled at her demeanor but this is the product of their work.

"I'm here to tell the story. To tell you the truth I am surprised you have stuck with me this long." Nicolette gave a slight teasing grin.

"What can I say? Your story is compelling and it does fill in holes that people have only assumed." Said paused a moment to consider his next words. Then he added, "What we learned from Hereford and Russia and various governments as well as a few former soldiers… the 141 was made to seem like terrorists."

"And what do you think so far, Said? If I may ask?"

Said set up the recorder so all he had to do was push the button. "I think that there is always one more side to the story. History is written by the winners but it can be changed. You're here right?"

"Funny that you say that about history being written by the winners," Nicolette said with a slightly narrowed look. "That phrase pretty much damned us with limitations once the 141 was disavowed."

"And Russia put forth the proposal to reinstate."

"True." Nicolette looked at nothing in particular as if to think about things. It was unnerving she knew but she had to consider her options. Finally she looked back at Said and said, "But it has me wonder about you. I know you'll be fair."

"I am fair… at least that is what is said of me and I like to think that I am. I do try."

"Then there isn't a problem," Nicolette replied with a slight nod. She sat up to make herself comfortable for another story. "As I said, Shakespeare is a theme here but in a way that best reflects the 141."

Said pushed the button on the recorder and said, "Alright then. Can you tell us how that applies? Within reason of course."

Nicolette grinned at Said, "You are getting better at this. You really are one of the best." She nodded and made ready to tell her story.

We may have caught our man Danie and gotten a step closer to uncovering potential plans of Makarov aka Kingfish but like the game of chess, he was always thinking three moves ahead of us. We shifted our game a little but probably it was too late by then. Events were already set into motion for the events to come. It is the nature of traps being set in the game. You did it so the enemy doesn't see it until it is too late.

Secrets work the same way. They can make or break a person especially when you count on the very people that you ask to trust you. The best way to do that is show them through action. Actions speak louder than words especially those that you fought and bled beside. In our chase for the drug lord Lorenzo Montero, we learned… I learned that valuable lesson along with various others…

Scars of Duty: Band of Brothers

Chapter 1

The gunfire was intense making the popping sounds in the dirt. Stray bullets hit the abandoned house and buried themselves in the wall. It was a miracle that they didn't go through and hit the occupants inside. They were undercover while she was doing what needed to be done otherwise they were going to run out of ammo and be overrun before rescue came.

Setting the charges this far out seemed like a good idea since the idea of danger close wasn't terribly popular with the group and tactically it was better. Now that she was out there out to reset the charges because there was a short. Not her fault and certainly not Roach's. Still the two sets needed to be reset in order to detonate.

The gunfire was thick and it was more likely sheer luck that she hadn't been hit yet as she made it to the first set of wires and grabbed the main one. She would have to follow it to the individual charges. The first one was good so she went to the second and third and they were good. It was the fourth that was disconnected and luckily near the conductor but the tip was damaged.

She pulled out her knife and tapped her ear, "Addy you got the schematics online?"

It was quick to cut the bad end off. It was another thing to wire the explosives. As she was working the gunfire erupted around her. The team was returning fire to cover but it wasn't enough. She felt the bullet graze her arm but it was deep. She gritted her teeth but the grunt came out. She managed to get the wire set up and the charges were set. She tapped her earpiece and said, "Roach, the west side is set. Prepare for detonation. Wait until they are in your sights. I'll radio when the north side is up."

Copy that.

Nicolette tapped her ear, "Addy I need those specs now."

The run to the north side of charges was like running through the Altay Mountains again. She brought up her rifle the M34 with grenade launcher attached. She 'borrowed' it from Ghost and gave him her sniper rifle. She fired at the tangos that had gotten close enough and then launched a grenade at an advancing horde.

The shot came straight at her and hit the same arm as the one that was grazed. The bullet hit her shoulder and she fell to the ground. She managed to regain her footing and continue on. It was painful to hold her gun and shoot but it was do that or basically be killed. Her hip was already throbbing from earlier but she was the only one that could move.

She made it to the second set of charges and inspected them. It was the main wire that was cut and even if she crossed wires to connect, the signal wasn't going to reach Roach in time. An RPG went off and hit not too far behind her. She hit the dirt to avoid most of the debris. "Roach, the main line is cut. I'm going to have to detonate out here."

Ryan…

Nicolette cut off Roach and went to work. She had to sever the lines and rewire the remote. "I need specs Addy like now!"

She got hit in the other arm as she tied the wires to her detonator. She grunted and got up and moved a distance away. She had to be within the signal range and but far enough away to avoid getting hit from the blast. Gritting her teeth, she got to her feet and gave a hop to get away. She leapt when she heard someone screaming about an RPG and dove for the ground just as it exploded into the ground. She was up and fired only to see the RPG grenadier take a shot to the head.

She picked up the detonator. It was now or never since they were advancing. She took deep breaths as the gun fire got thicker. The next set of shots lifted up the dirt and debris hit her in the face. She let out a loud breath and blinked since the tiny rock hit her face hard above her brow. She looked up and rolled to her feet with her hand on the detonator.

They were within striking distance. She mentally counted down like it were plan B. What the hell it was their plan B until retrieval came. At the right moment she pressed the button and waited for the big ka-boom. It took out what they needed. There was still a lot but considerably less than what had stormed upon their stronghold. At least they had a chance. She put a hand up and called, "This is S64 ready for extraction over."

She started making her way back to the stronghold. She popped off a few grenades to keep them back. She ended up falling but she propped herself up and continued to fire. "Status on exfil Addy?" She kept firing while she listened.

Things were looking grim though. She had many three mags left. Then there was what they had in the house. She then said, "Addy…" It was followed by a phrase in Russian and she lifted herself up to fire.

There was crackling and someone was shouting on the radio but Nicolette couldn't hear it. She aimed for the tangos in her sights and took them out. She pulled out a grenade and loaded it in the launcher. She took aim and fired just as an explosion nearby sent up debris next to her. She got hit again in the left shoulder and grunted at that but she kept firing. One got close to the safe house near Roach's blind side so she turned and fired.

There were more coming that had come from the backside so she got up to move to cover and it was painful but she kept going to head them off. She shot her rifle until she rounded the corner that needed coverage and took out the trio advancing with a grenade. All of a sudden an RPG exploded next to her and she was sent flying to the side. She felt her body hit the ground hard and the air left her body.

Her limbs felt heavy and everything felt heavy. It was like that other close call with an RPG but this time she just wanted to sleep. Her hip was throbbing and well everything was throbbing. All she was hearing was the sound of gunshots and shouting. The last thing on her mind before everything went black was that she needed to get up since there were wounded to take care of.

Nico!

Three Days Earlier

The marketplace was bustling with its trade with the merchants hawking their wares and people haggling over for what they needed. It was a typical day except it wasn't for the woman in modest hijab and robes as she walked through the market holding a basket and walking through the streets, stopping at various vendors and 'shopping' for food.

She moved her way closer to one set of stalls that were near what had been called the Meyer Hotel. It was an odd name for a hotel but it was one that had been built in the days when western day was a welcome thing. It now had a reputation for housing the lieutenants of the warlord that pretty much ruled the city and was also currently the residence of Lorenzo Montero the current ruler of the nearby poppy fields and it was where she wanted to be.

It didn't take much to find a place that served water. It was an unusually hot day and considering that it was proper to wear all black… It was also one of the few places that served women and properly dressed women. She put her basket on the table and looked around after accepting a glass of tea. A glance at her watch told her it was tea time and she had to almost snort at the irony of some western traditions still were in existence.

Looking around there were some younger men smoking opiates and some were chewing the stuff. It made sense since the poppy fields were the major source of income here for these people. It wasn't that much different from the coca fields in Columbia and yet the products produced major problems on all sides and in this case contributed to the coffers of Montero who in turn funded the one person that was pushing for his party's agenda and in addition to causing acts of terrorism. This was just another step closer to shutting down these poppy fields and getting to the main target.

A sort of silence fell over the crowd nearby and the woman turned to get a view but kept her head lowered as was proper. She spotted their current target walking through this part of the market looking superior and smug. He was tailed by the little rat she had spotted earlier and had tailed to this part of the marketplace.

Abdi Salaad was the chief financier of operations for Montero's partner Jibril Habran Almojel, the warlord that was looking to establish trade with Montero or more likely to establish and expansion of markets. Jibril was small time but it had been revealed that the primary was known for using the small fish to stockpile what was necessary. It was a smart maneuver since the assumption was to use the best in the fields they were chosen from. This was an exception.

Salaad walked through the marketplace with his aide and passed the woman. He didn't give her a thought except for maybe the hum of approval at her reverence. The woman waited until he had passed before turning back to her basket and she looked downward and whispered, "Leaving."

Copy that. Pull out.

The woman said nothing as she finished her glass and paid for the water. Water was a precious commodity. Of course it would stand to reason to buy and sell it. Plus she was taking on the hospitality. She said her thanks and picked up her basket and started walking through the streets. She took the long way to the outskirts of the small city to catch one of the roads that led to a village or to where the small airfield was. She was careful even though her face was covered. They couldn't take chances on fucking things up.

There was a nice view to catch Salaad's convoy heading out to wherever he was going to go. More likely he was heading to the production plant for the opium to check on production. Or he could be visiting one of his other businesses. He was just a businessman after all.

The woman made it outside the city before she pulled down the veil covering her mouth. She looked around and noted the Little Bird helicopters along with the Black Hawk following the convoy. She tapped her ear and said, "We're go on interception Addy."

Copy that S64. Surveillance is cued to follow extraction force. Captain MacTavish says to get your arse to the rendezvous and to not be late.

Nicolette couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Copy that Addy. Heading to rendezvous point and will await retrieval. And I have some good stuff for dinner."

I am sure that the 141 will be happy.

Nicolette felt her lip twitch at the slight sarcastic tone Addy had responded it. It was a childlike voice with a British accent but she rather liked her specialist. It reminded her of her when she was a girl. "They will, considering that they have been living on C-rations for the last two weeks. Over and out," she replied and continued walking.

A/N: And here we enter into part three of Nico's story. Looks like they are on the move and with a new addition called Addy. Who is that? Keep watching for more Band of Brothers...