“WHO IS YOUR CONTACT!” A fist to the already broken ribs. “WHAT DID YOU PASS OFF AT THE MISSION?” A hammer blow to the side of my face, there goes my orbit.

I spit blood on the concrete floor, “Your mother on both counts, sweet lady.”

He must’ve loved his mom; a second later, I was hooked up to a car battery, screaming my bloodied lungs out.

After the grab, they transferred me by car to some dingy little cabin in the middle of nowhere. They’d kept me up for god knows how long with adrenaline shots and electroshock. I was reaching the end, and I could feel it, there’s only so much a guy can take. I was short a couple of fingernails, and half my right ear, fuckers had chopped it off and fed it to the damn guard dog right in front of me. All in all, it could’ve been a lot worse, but as long as I gave them nothing, they had to keep me alive, or kill me and try and plan for what they didn’t know. Now here I was, blindfolded, getting a little convulsive therapy.

After a long few moments, my tormentor killed the juice, I collapsed into the chair, my muscles burning, I could smell the smoke wafting off my charring skin. “So, are you ready to talk tovarisch?”

I managed to choke back a sob; I wasn’t going to give this prick the satisfaction of knowing just how terrified I was. “ Sure, c’mere and I’ll tell you a secret.” I felt him approach, but he didn’t respond. “I might die in this shitty basement, but someone is going to kill you, slowly, and wherever I am, I’m gonna be laughing my ass off.”

A fist to the side of my head knocked my lights out.

Another bucket of water woke me up, and all the pain came rushing back. I felt my bonds being removed; rough hands stood me up. “Let’s go.” And oh God, the finality of those words.

This was it.

I’d figured after a few days and nights of torture; they’d have to get rid of me somehow. You think of yourself as tough, as a hard motherfucker, all that macho shit we told ourselves, believing death was a specter that couldn’t touch us. Faced with the end, none of those platitudes made a damn bit of difference.

Luna, guess I fucked up, huh? I know you’ll take care of her.

They marched me up the stairs, my bare and bloody feet picking up a few splinters from the rough-hewn floor. Neither of my captors said a word, as a blast of cold air, and we were walking across the snow, I could hear it crunching under their boots. Finally, the guy on my left spoke.

“Kneel.”

I dropped to my knees; there was nothing I could do; I was too weak to fight; there was nowhere to run. I was about to become a folded flag and a carved star on the wall at Langley. I heard the cocking of a pistol. I whispered weakly, “Hey, before we do this, could you take this blindfold off?” Wordlessly, the second guy pulled the duct-tape off my eyes. I blinked a few times to clear my vision, an endless sea of trees greeted me, the starry sky visible through the canopy. “Thanks,” my voice shook, and I cursed it, “Well, let’s get on with it, I’ve got shit to do.”

I heard a chuckle from one of the two goons behind me. “Even now, you make jokes, Goodbye, American.”

“Fuck your mother, you Commie piece of shit.”

The safety snapped off, and I could feel the barrel bounce off the back of my head. I braced for the shot, waited for everything to go black.

I’m sorry, Tia.

A muted shot echoed through the clearing, and blood sprayed my face. The body of my would-be killer collapsed across my back, slamming me into the snow-covered ground. The other guy fired his sidearm wildly into the darkness before another snap sounded, and his head split straight down the middle. Figures flitted between the trees, advancing towards where I lay. One of them darted forward and rolled the dead Russian off of me. “How many?” He whispered roughly in a British accented voice.

I was still trying to find my voice, so I just shook my head; I had no idea. The dark figure pulled a photo out of his pocket and shined a light into my eyes. “All stations, Whiplash has Jackpot, I say again, Jackpot.” He offered a hand, “Can you walk mate?” I took his hand, and he pulled me to my feet, I swayed like a drunk as my vision tunneled, thankfully he caught me, “Steady on mate. You’re safe now.” He flashed a couple of hand signals, over his shoulder the rest of the team moved into the cabin. His words sunk in and I began to shake, hyperventilating, the tremors rolled up my body in waves, and I felt his grip on me tighten. “Easy mate, easy, s’alright.”

I broke down in body-racking sobs; all the pain vanished, followed by the sweetest relief, the Brit hugged me, and I let it all go. Don’t ever let anyone tell you tough guys don’t cry. After a few minutes of handling it, I wiped my eyes, “Thank you, brother, thanks for coming to get me.”

“What’re friends for?”

I sniffled, “Fuckin’ A right, you got a spare? I can help cover.”

He laughed, “Crazy fucking Yank, I know ya can, but you’re in no shape to.” He clicked his throat-mic, “Ten minutes, wrap it up, lads.” A few moments later, his boys emerged, one carrying a duffel bag filled with everything they could grab from the cabin. Each one of them giving me a nod as they passed. “Garret, Evans, on the PC.” Two of the bigger guys broke off and slipped arms around my shoulders, supporting my weight. The rest set up a diamond formation, and we moved out of the clearing and into the woods. I was limping along, trying not to slow them down, but after a bit it became apparent my legs were more fucked up then I thought, my ankle collapsed coming down a small hill, I bit back a cry as one of my rescuers picked me up and slung me across his shoulders. “Not far, mate,” he grunted, “enjoy the ride.”

“I’m sorry you have to carry me, man.”

“No worries, son, part of the job. You could stand to lose a few stone if you ask me.”

I chuckled, which turned into the quietest full-blown laugh in history. We broke through into another clearing, and there sat a Royal Navy "Wildcat" helo, the rotors already spinning up, I’d never seen anything sweeter. The group hustled me aboard the bird, and my new body laid me out on the floor, another took his place next to me, must’ve been a Medic as he started a blood sweep, checking for any active wounds. He started squeezing my limbs, working his way to my torso, I could feel bones grinding as pain lanced through my body. The helicopter slid into the air as he started an IV, screwing a syringe into the junction and miming going to sleep over the roar of the rotor blades. I was about to try and ask what he meant when I promptly fell down the K-Hole.

In my dream, help never came; I heard the Russians laughing before one of them pressed the barrel of his gun to the back of my head and blew my brains all over the cold ground.

I awoke with a gasp bordering on a shout…somewhere, somewhere with clean white sheets and soft pillows, more importantly, I was alive. A quick check around the room revealed Frank, lightly dozing in a chair across the room. I changed my voice, “F-Frank?” Nothing. I tried a little louder, “Frank?”

He stirred, eyes sliding open, and a smile spreading across his face. “We gotta stop meeting like this kid.” I smiled back, but then it broke, and tears slid down my face. Frank was up and moving, a hand flying to my shoulder. “Easy Brother, easy. It’s okay, man, we got you.”

“Fuck, Frank, I thought that was it.”

“I know Kid. It almost was. I had to grease a few palms, and Scott had to get rough with a few people; even then, we were almost too late.”

I shook my head, “Shitty bedside manner.”

He laughed ‘There’s a reason I didn’t go to Med school.”

“Frank, did the intel make it where it needed to go? Is it legit?”

“It did, and it is. Your source was right on the money, the Griffons are preparing for something big, but we don’t know when or where.”

I grimaced, “Are you telling me I got fucked up for vague info?”

“It's never that neat brother; you know that.”

I was almost afraid to ask the next question. “Frank… Am I blown?”

“No, Brits cleaned house on both ends.”

I breathed a sigh of relief, my ribs stinging as I did so, but the pain wasn’t nearly as sharp as it should’ve been. “How long have I been here? Where even is here?”

“ Landstuhl Medical. Two days, give or take. Healing potions helped quite a bit.”

“Germany? Does anyone know I’m here?”

Frank shook his head, “No, not even the Princesses, we needed to keep this under wraps.”

I nodded Operational Security and all that. “When can I get outta here?”

“You can leave once the Doc gives you the all-clear, I’ll go grab him.”

“Thanks, man, fucking sick of hospitals.”

Frank left me alone with my thoughts; I had time to stop and think about what had almost happened to me, and what that meant. These guys were serious; they were willing to break all the rules and go toe to toe with the Marines; they were ready to kill for these lofty goals of theirs.

That made two of us.

I was interrupted in my musings by Frank and the doctor, one quick check later, and I was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, walking down the hallway towards the parking lot with Frank next to me. We walked in silence through the lobby and out into the chilly German air, Frank took the lead, walking over to a standard-issue SUV, I slipped into the passenger seat and found a pack of smokes with a little bow on them sitting on the dashboard. Frank climbed in and chuckled. “I knew you’d want one the moment you got out.”

“This is why we’re friends.” I lit up and took a deep drag, relishing the slight menthol flavor mixed with earthy tobacco. “God, that’s good.” I thought for a long moment, “Frank, listen, my balls were real close to the fucking bandsaw. I think I need some time off.”

“It’s already done, I talked to Rutledge, three weeks paid, more if you want it.”

“God, that’s music to my ears, but first, I need to go to Equestria.”

“You’re a free man Zack, let me know what I can do to help.”

“Get me on the next hop to the Portal?”

“Done and Done.”

I slept it off in a spare room in the BEQ on base, my flight left at oh-three-hundred, and within a few hours from wheels-up, I was walking across the entry control point and back into Equestria. The sweet air almost brought me to my knees, watching Ponies milling about, going about their days, blissfully unaware of the things that went bump in the night never failed to make me smile, it was the point of everything I did, Ponies here, Humans on Earth, didn’t matter, I loved being the guy that did my part. I stood between the right people and the bad. Cliche? Absolutely. But rewarding, especially as I watched some foals begging their mother for a taste of Human ice cream from the many stalls that dotted the border, all my doubts in the face of near-death yet again were washed away. I started towards the castle with a pep in my step.

A short walk later and I was in Celestia’s office, waiting, apparently she had a meeting. I bounced on the balls of my feet, the desire to see her had become intolerable, I kept going back to the moment I felt that barrel against the back of my head, and all I wanted was her. A few moments later, my prayers were answered when she waltzed into the room, closing the door behind her. We made eye contact, and the smile that had split her beautiful face shattered, “Something happened, didn’t it? Darling? What is going, o-mmph!”

I had all but sprinted across the room, throwing my arms around her and pulling her into a deep kiss, every bit of tension in my body uncoiled at once as she returned the kiss, her arms snaking around my neck. She broke the kiss after a moment, shuddering, “I-I almost lost you, didn’t I?”

I couldn’t bring myself to tell her, but she knew the answer, tears shimmered in her eyes and mine. “I- let’s just say things were a bit rough this time.” She pulled me back in, kissing me almost frantically like she was afraid I’d disappear if she stopped. I returned the affection as best as I could, before breaking away and leaning into her, I was suddenly exhausted, whether, from the quick turnaround or the bone-crushing relief that I felt, I didn’t know. A flash, and we were standing in Celestia’s quarters.

“I can stay for a short while before Day Court.” She whispered, sitting on the edge of the bed and patting the mattress, she didn’t have to tell me twice, I sat next to her, sinking into the plush comforter, Celestia shifted, and I flopped onto my side, my head coming to rest in her lap. We stayed like that for a while, she stroked my hair, dragging her nails across my scalp; it wasn’t long before I felt myself drifting off.

“Tia?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m not staying for long; I just had to see you after…everything. I’m going back across the Portal to visit my family.”

When she spoke, she sounded almost afraid, “W-will you be back?”

I turned my head, so I was looking up into her eyes, “Try and stop me.” I stretched up and kissed her softly, “I love you, Tia.”

“I love you too, Zack.” She whispered, resuming her scalp massage, I settled in and was out like a light in short order. For an hour, I slept like a log, without so much as a hint of a nightmare. I awoke to find Tia gone and a note on the nightstand, steepled and waiting. The paper was almost as immaculate as the handwriting inside.

“My Love.

I hate to leave without saying goodbye, but you were sleeping so soundly I didn’t have the heart to wake you. I cannot lie, not now, what I felt when I saw you standing there looking so hollow was something that shook me to my core, I felt fear unbridled. I understand that what you do is essential, as evidenced by new eventualities that have been brought to my attention, but the thought of losing you has even my immortal heart racing. I beg of you, darling, please be safe, please return to me again and again. I have so many beautiful things yet to show you, tangible and intangible. You have captured my heart and soul, mind, and body; I am wholly yours.

Please give your family my warmest regards, and extend an invitation from me, they are welcome in Equestria for as long as they would like, as guests of the Crown. I confess that I would love to meet the ones who have shaped you into the amazing man you are. The time grows short, and I must be off. Have a safe journey, and know that you carry a part of me with you always.”

-Tia

I sniffed a little, I knew, intellectually that we loved each other, but to see her thoughts committed to paper, enumerating exactly how important I was to her? That was something else entirely. I tucked away the letter and made sure to shut the door behind me; I had a flight to catch.

Author's Notes:

You know the drill. If you spot anything I messed up, or you just wanna tell me how shit the story is, get in there.

'Till next time.