Chapter One: The Union

Moscow, the capital of Russia. A place to tour, a place some might fall in love, a place for American-wanted fugitives to hide out. Although it isn't the 'Big Bad Red' it was presumed to be back in the day, it has had its break out in crime, like every other country. Seven days ago, the Alpha Team or A-Team had been spotted in Moscow, and now the Department of Defense was stepping in.

1400 hours, Washington D.C., United States of America, 2011

Briefing Room, D.O.D. HQ

Captain Charisa Sosa and First Lieutenant Cyrus 'Blaze' Morrigan were summoned into a debriefing room of the Department of Defense in Washington D.C. Captain Sosa was a member of D.O.D. intelligence, whose main personal objective for the last year was to find Hannibal Smith's team. Cyrus, or Blaze as she preferred, was Military Police. Blaze had also earned a reputation as a hacker with better than average skills. She'd chosen the more physically active career in the MP division because she couldn't imagine herself trapped behind a desk all day.

Due to the formality of the meeting, both women wore their dress uniforms: Sosa in her army green skirt suit; Blaze in her dark navy jacket and skirt. Both women were decorated with badges and buttons to indicate rank and merit; Blaze also wore the gray sash on her right arm that indicated "MP".

"Captian Sosa, First Lieutenant Morrigan," the Colonel greeted them. "This mission is of vital importance. The recently trialed Alpha Team, containing Col. John 'Hannibal' Smith, Lieutenant Templeton 'Faceman' Peck, Sergeant Bosco 'B.A.' Baracus, and Captain James 'Howlin Mad' Murdock have been spotted in Moscow. Although I would say charge right in and capture them, these men have proven more clever than we anticipated.

"Now, these men are highly dangerous, and I do not want you two getting anywhere near them until you are given explicit orders. You are to find them and report back to us. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir." they answered together in complete unison.

"Good, now, I want you two to work together in this. Sosa, you're the ranking member of this team, and you are familiar with this A-Team, so you're in command. I want you in Russia as soon as possible. Do not, and I repeat, do not move in unless given direct orders from us. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir." they replied again.

"Failure is not an option. Those men must be retained and brought to justice. Now go."

The two women saluted and made their way out of the facility, preparing for a long flight to Russia.

0700 hours, Moscow, Russia, 2011, week three of operation

Peking Hotel, room 413

Colonel,

No solid leads on the A-Team as of yet. We have trolled local bars and have received information about a several men who fit their description. We have continued to follow those leads.

If anything develops, you'll be the first to know.

~ Lieutenant Cyrus 'Blaze' Morrigan

Blaze clicked the icon to send her brief email. She rubbed her eyes and wished she could send the message she'd composed in her head:

General,

Nothing's good here, it's all just a big empty jug of water waiting to be refilled by a dried out pump. We'll never find anything, for all we know they could've moved around already! They seem to know we're on their trail, and their doing their best to cover up their tracks.

We're working hard, but apparently not hard enough.

Sosa and I have not found any useful information about the whereabouts of Hannibal Smith and his team, just a bunch of drunks telling us about a large African-American man with a Ranger tattoo and yes sir, we kept that lead, but like most things over here it fizzled out.

No wonder vodka is the drug of choice in Mother Russia.

Anyways, that is my report, sir. Nothing more than a burnt out candle in the dark. We'll keep plugging away, but this is beginning to feel like a fool's mission. Any water you'd like me to carry in a sieve, next time?

Blaze sighed. The Colonel wouldn't be pleased about this. Being in Russia for almost a month, people may have expected big results, but with Smith's team being so elusive . . .

"Blaze, can you go downstairs and get us some coffee? I've been up all night," said Sosa, turning her attention to the woman at the other laptop.

Blaze wasn't the typical Military Police officer. She had jet black hair that was very choppy in places, a weird cut for the military in general, with a bright red streak randomly placed in it. Her eyes reminded Sosa of Face's, a deep blue with hints of lighter tones mixed between. Standing at 5'7, Blaze towered over Sosa by three inches.

The other woman nodded, her black hair falling away from her loosely tied ponytail.

Because of the undercover nature of the mission, none of them wore military gear. Although they couldn't blend in inconspicuously with the locals, they could at least try and be unremembered; just typical American tourists. Keeping with military training, however, each of them carried a sidearm in a concealed holster.

Blaze tightened the laces of her black Converse before standing up and stretching. She straightened out her t-shirt.

"Normal, Decaf? Cream? Sugar?" asked the MP, yawning and slipping on a leather jacket.

The Captain shook her head and turned back to the computer. "Black is fine. You guys want anything?" Sosa asked to her other two team members.

They both said, "no", and Blaze nodded and took a key off of the nearest table and trudged out the door. The hotel was old looking, although newly refurbished. She smiled as she looked at the architecture of the building, for she always had a fancy for that subject.

Hitting the button on the elevator, she waited patiently until a door finally dinged.

"We're getting off," said a man in a suit, standing behind a few other men. He urged the group forward.

He had a crop of brown hair, cut cleanly. He had an American accent, and the grin he gave Blaze as he passed her showed utter cockiness. She rolled her eyes and stepped onto the newly emptied platform. Hitting the 'G' button and making it glow, the elevator's doors closed.

Blaze smiled tiredly to herself, leaning against one of the bars lining the walls.

The elevator reached street level and she got off, heading to the cafe located in the lobby.

Trudging slowly towards her destination, she watched the people around her. Some were tense or depressed, while others were happy and in love. Just a normal crowd of people.

She almost gagged at the sight of everything.

Blaze used her best fake smile as she entered the cafe. It was awful the way there was a Starbucks everywhere now, she thought.

"Hello, how can I help you?" asked the cashier at the register. The barista spoke in a heavy Russian accent, but at least she tried English.

"I need one coffee, black, and a strawberry-banana smoothie. Make it quick please," she replied politely.

The blender rang in her ears as she stood scanning the lobby. It was habit to be aware of her surroundings. She saw the group of men that had gotten out on her floor come out of the elevator. Their body language was odd: it seemed they were trying hard to act cool and collected. One had a scrape on his left cheek, right below the eye and close to the nose. The one who spoke to her near the elevator was missing.

She thought to herself, Weird. My Spidey-sense is tingling.

Paying the cashier and eyeing the men as they walked out, Blaze went back to the elevator and pushed the button. It didn't glow.

Even more weird, she thought, balancing the coffee while drinking her smoothie. Not a power outage, I hope.

She headed towards the stairs and opened the door. Carefully she jogged up the stairs, still balancing the coffee. Pushing open the door to the fourth floor, the MP went through the hallways, towards the room.

Walking up to the room labeled '413', she noticed the door slightly ajar. A heavy rock dropped into her stomach. Very carefully opening the door a little more, a destroyed room greeted her.

She called quietly, "Sosa? Gammons? Ravech?" all the while kicking herself for not paying attention to her instincts. She set the drinks down on the floor in the hallway and drew her sidearm from her ankle holster.

As carefully as she opened the door, she stepped into the room with even more caution. She took in as much detail as she could as she glanced around the room. Desks were thrown over, the dresser drawers had been dumped, and the computers were trashed.

"Morrigan..." someone mumbled from behind an overturned desk. Blaze heard her name, and hurried over to the source.

"Ravech," she began, running over to the desk and looking down, "what the hell happened?"

"This g-guy. These . . . men. Killed Gammons. T-took Sosa." He coughed up blood as he spoke, his words barely comprehensible. The MP knelt down by his side.

He was clutching his stomach, and Blaze notice the dark blood oozing from around his hand. A ragged hole in his shoulder was visible too, the same blood flowing from it.

"The guy took Sosa out that window. I-I heard a car dr-drive by . . . "

Blaze nodded and shoved her hand over his to apply more pressure to the bullet wound she knew was there. She also tried to staunch the blood from his injured shoulder.

"We're getting you to a hospital."

"Is he all right?" asked Blaze as the doctor came out. He nodded his head and rubbed his hands together.

"Yes, and he is asking for you," replied the doctor.

With a sigh the MP got up, running her fingers through her hair as she walked towards his room. She knocked slightly.

"Come in," rasped Ravech, his voice not as chipper as usual. She moved in and sat next to him.

"You're coherent," said Blaze, surprised.

"Yeah. I'm surprised too."

She laughed.

"Did Sosa say anything before she was taken?"

Ravech's head shot up, a quirky grimace on his face.

"Yes."

Blaze didn't like that he was being evasive. "All right, what is it?"

In the short time she'd known the Captain, she grew to like the no-nonsense team leader. If Ravech had information that could help get her back, he'd better spill it. Five minutes ago.

"She was shouting at the guy. The one who grabbed her. She called him Lynch, and Burress. Then . . ."

"Ravech, what is it?" she demanded as he hesitated. She was going through an emotional wringer right now: anxious and upset.

The Sergeant cleared his throat. "She was yelling at Lynch, and then to me . . . to find the A-team. Ask for their help."

The MP sat in shock at his statement. Ask for their help? she thought. What in the hell?

"She said that the team owed her some kind of favor," Ravech continued. "Luckily for me, this Lynch thought I was already dead and hadn't heard."

"Huh," was all Blaze could formuate.

Ravech closed his eyes and smiled still. "Now I need to sleep."

The MP left on his command, running his fingers through her black mane. She came to a quick decision. She knew she should report all this to HQ and await orders. They would never let her look for the A-Team and ask for their assistance. But Sosa herself had commanded to get them involved in this . . .

Blaze shook her head. This was no longer a locate-and-apprehend mission. Not anymore. It was a search and rescue.

AGH! FINALLY OUT! YES!

I want to thank my awesome beta reader/co-writer Hoodoo! This person...is amazing! Caught all my mistakes in army stuff and helped me tremendously!(and see? I think I spelled that wrong...) YAY!

So enjoy! And don't worry, some romance MIGHT come in later...I'll have to discuss it with Hoodoo!

Stay Classic, Live long and prosper, Hasta Leugo and don't eat the yellow snow!

~gleek2