Armor Piercing

OA has seen his share of injuries, even had a few. He's no stranger to being shot at, his time undercover got him used to that. He's not even afraid of being shot on the job, because that's happened once or twice before also, but those times were different. Those times, his vest actually stopped the bullet.

"Come on OA, hold on! Your gonna be fine, ok?! Just hold on! Please OA!" OA could hear the voice above him, coaxing him to open his eyes again. He wanted to, he really did, but everything hurt, and the pain was draining his willpower. He sensed a presence over top of him, seeing as the large, bright lights that had been assaulting his eyes a minute ago had now gotten a bit dimmer. The pain that was raging in his abdomen suddenly intensified when he felt a hard pressure shoved onto exactly where it hurt the worst. The shock wave seemed to awaken his senses, and he opened his eyes with a groan rising from his throat. He looked at his partner and the blood already staining her light blue dress shirt, and worry filled his cloudy mind as he tried to figure out if it was hers or his.

Six hours earlier…

OA stepped out of the elevator and walked towards his desk.

"Morning." Maggie greeted him.

"Morning. Looks like you've been here a while. Do you ever sleep?" OA asked playfully as he sat down.

"Well, apparently you make up for the hours I miss!" Maggie answered with a smirk.

"Oh wow." OA replied with mock offense.

"Alright people, look alive! We got a doozie today!" The two agents looked up from their work at the sound of Jubal's voice.

"Meet Andrei Wright, number 8 on our most-wanted list. Last night, we picked up chatter that not only is he back in the city, but he's here to pick up a weapons shipment that was recently stolen from our nearest military base." Jubal said.

"Do we know what part of the city he's in?" OA asked.

"He's staying at an underground hotel in Harlem, but only long enough for the deal to go down. After that, he has an escape plan to get out of the city, which means we don't have much time." Jubal said.

"So are we taking him at the hotel or when he's on his way out?" Maggie asked.

"The hotel is heavily guarded. I talked to a CI that's been in the hotel before, and she said they have the place wired. If they think the cops or the feds are coming in, they'll blow it up." Kristen said.

"Blow it up? What kind of hotel is this!" Scola said, a little confused by it all.

"Let's just say you wouldn't fit in very well there. None of us would. It's been on our watchlist also, as it's been known to hold auctions for weapons, drugs, and people. Unfortunately, we don't have a way to put it out of business just yet, but we do have the opportunity to take out one of its biggest suppliers." Jubal replied.

"Do we know how he's getting out of the city? Or when?" Maggie asked.

"No, but we think we know who might. This is Oliver Harbough, Wright's ex-partner. 12 years ago, the two were caught trafficking shipments of cocaine, but Wright got away and got Harbough's brother Owen killed in the process. Harbough took the wrap for everything and is doing the time. And then we also have Kelly Moore, Wright's ex-fiance. She claims she knew nothing about his dealings, but she was staring down jail time when she said it." Jubal continued.

"Looks to me like they were pretty smitten. Probably a good chance she pays him a visit if she knows he's back in town." Scola said, looking at the posts from the young woman's social media, which she had tried to delete.

"That's what we figured. Maggie and OA, you'll pay Harbough a visit, Stewart and Kristen you get the ex-girlfriend." Jubal said. The agents nodded, grabbed their weapons, and went on their way.

A long drive later…

"Alright, thanks. Yea, hopefully we have more luck." Maggie said, hanging up the phone.

"Let me guess, love is loyal?" OA asked from the driver's seat.

"Yep, Moore wouldn't give them anything. Let's hope the betrayal of a crime partner stings a little more." Maggie replied as they pulled up in front of the prison.

The two agents walked through the halls of the prison, guided by the guards, to a small interrogation room. They walked in and sat down beside each other at the table, opposite a gruff looking man in his late 30's.

"So they tell me your FBI. Hmph. Figured this day would come. He's back in New York, isn't he?" the man said, his deep voice matching his looks.

"How'd you know we're here about Wright?" Maggie asked.

"That a serious question? The ass got me sent to jail, kills my brother, and he gets to go on living? A man like Andi doesn't just walk away from all that. His ego and that kind of power? Like fire and gas." Oliver shook his head.

"Ok then. He is back in New York. If you know him as well as we assume you do, has he made contact with you at all?" OA asked, watching the mans face change. He and Maggie shared a glance when the prisoner let out a deep laugh.

"Give the guy a little more credit, geeze! He's managed to outsmart you guys for all these years, hasn't he? No, he hasn't tried to talk to me because he knows if he did, I'd rat him out before I even hung up the damn phone. Where I come from, lettin' someone take the fall for you, especially after what he did? He's dead to me." Oliver said, the contempt dripping off his words.

"He really did you wrong, huh? If you hate the guy as much as it sounds like you do, we may have an offer for you." OA said, studying the man for any change in emotion or show of interest.

"You guys want me to help you catch him? I ain't no rat….. But for him, I'll make an exception." he replied smugly. Maggie nodded.

"You two worked together for a while, so you know him pretty well. What's his favorite way to smuggle things out of the city?" she asked.

"Easy. He's a smart man, but nothing if not a creature of habit. Whatever he's into now, he'll take it out from one of the ports by boat. The guys' too afraid of heights to fly it out, and too lazy to do it any other way." he answered.

"Any particular one?" OA questioned.

"That depends on what he's taking and where he's planning to go with it. Situation specific. But hey, you're the FBI, you'll figure it out." Harbough said. They talked a little longer, then left and informed Jubal and the team of the new information on their way back to the office so that they could start narrowing down their options.

A few hours later, back a JOC…

"I got it! New York and New Jersey port!" one of the agents at the many desks in the room said, breaking the silence and drawing all eyes to her.

"Someone get her a gold star, she's on a roll! Show us what you found!" Jubal replied with his typical endearing remark.

"The CC TV cameras on the port picked it up. He might be good at hiding his face, but not his love interests. When he turns right… here, we get a shot of his license plate. The car is registered to the one and only Kelly Moore." the agent said, sending the video and data to the large screen at the front of the room.

"Ok people, progress! Now we just need to figure out when he's moving out. The deal already went down, how long is he willing to sit on the goods?" Jubal asked the crowded room.

"I got that one. Moore wouldn't rat on him, but when we were at her house, I saw her calendar. Today's date had the word vacation wrote on it, with the numbers 9 30. That has to be the time. I guess the two did link up, and she's planning on going with him this time." Scola added.

"9:30? That's in an hour. Alright everyone, let's get ready for a fight!" Jubal said, and once again the room was frantic with action. Agents were making calls for tactical support teams, roadblocks, a helicopter, and altering the Coast Guard, while Maggie, OA, Kristen, and Scola all got ready to tac up for a dangerous bust. Little did they know how dangerous it would turn out to be.

45 minutes later…

"Hey, hey look! Jubal, we have eyes on the suspect vehicle, looks to be carrying two passengers. Scola, has the boat moved at all?" OA said, turning his partner's attention to the drone feed that showed a grey work van pulling up to the edge of the port.

"Affirmative, it's pulling closer to the van." Scola responded.

"Alright folks, move in on my signal…. GO!" Jubal's voice sounded through the earpiece, and OA slammed on the gas, propelling the car across the paved port and towards the suspects, sirens blazing. Multiple vehicles pulled up alongside them, along with the helicopter that switched on its spotlight, and the roar of the boats from the coast guard filling the water.

"Andrei Wright, this is the FBI. We've got you surrounded! Step out of the vehicle with your hands raised!" The order blared over the sound of the sirens. OA and Maggie stood behind the doors of their car, closest to the suspects, with their weapons trained on them. There was a moment of calm as the van's sliding door opened. The moment quickly passed as Maggie saw the barrel of a high-powered rifle fly into view, and all hell broke loose. The sound of gunshots filled the air, and Maggie had begun to fire back when she felt a burning pain rip through the side of her arm. The force knocked her off balance, and he started to fall backwards, but caught herself on the car, pulling herself back to her feet.

"Maggie!" OA screamed, seeing her fall out of the corner of his eye. He fought every urge in his body to rush around the car to her aid but knew that he had to keep returning fire.

"I'm fine, it just grazed me!" a small amount of relief settled back in at her response, but not for long. They both could hear the sound and signals from many other agents who were taking bullets. This was getting out of hand. OA crouched down behind the door once again as the glass flew around him, cutting into the flesh of his hands and face. They had to make a push to get closer and get a better shot. He reloaded his gun and took a step out from behind the cover of the car when suddenly his view switched from that of the car and the suspects to the dark night sky and the shining lights of the port in a matter of seconds. Pain raged through his body, making his ears ring and his eyes vision go fuzzy. He vaguely heard his name screamed, the voice riddled with fear, followed by the words "agent down". His eyelids were heavy even though they were closed. A fresh bolt of pain filled him as he felt himself being roughly lifted by the strap of his vest and drug a short distance that somehow seemed to go on forever. He was lowered back to the ground, and a sharp pressure jolted his senses back into action. He opened his eyes and saw Maggie kneeled down beside him, her features riddled with panic.

"That's it OA, stay with me. Medics are on the way, your gonna be fine!" she said, trying to reassure herself almost more she was trying to comfort him. The shooting had finally stopped as one of the bullets from the FBI had found its target, but that didn't matter right now. Nothing did.

"Maggie! Do you copy?!" Maggie was finally broken out of her thoughts by the sound of Jubal's voice in her ear.

"Uh...yea. Yea, I'm here." she answered shakily.

"What happened? How is OA?" Jubal asked, the hairs on his neck standing on end. This was the fifth call for an agent down, but Jubal would know the voice that yelled for it anywhere.

"He...he, uh… its…. He took one to the stomach, but the… the vest didn't stop it! They must've been armor-piercing rounds!" she replied, watching in desperation as blood continued to seep through her fingers and pool under her partner's abdomen, leaking into the pavement.

"Medics will be there any second. Keep him awake." Jubal said, sending a prayer for his people. Maggie croaked out her reply, trying to think about what to do next. She kept talking to him but was soon interrupted by two paramedics who gently pushed her away until OA was lifted onto a stretcher and rushed towards a waiting ambulance. One of the medics ushered her into the back, behind her partner, inspecting her own wound that she seemed to have forgotten about until the prodding elicited a hiss of pain from her. It was cleaned and wrapped, and she was given a shot of morphine, and then the other medic jumped out, closed the doors behind him, and in the next few seconds, they were moving, sirens blaring once again.

Later…

"Your good to go Agent Bell. Keep the wound clean, and there should be nothing more than a scar in a few weeks." Dr. Matthews said. Maggie thanked her, signed a few papers, and left the ER in search of the waiting room. She turned a corner and found it already occupied by Jubal, Scola, Kristen, and S.A.S.C Castile. Jubal was the first to her side.

"Hey. How's the arm?" he asked caringly.

"It's fine, just a few stitches. Any word on OA?" she asked quickly.

"No, last we heard he was still in surgery. Sit." Jubal said. She wordlessly complied, like a zombie, wishing they were anywhere else right now, and that OA was with them, not far away with so many unknowns. He had quickly become her best friend, and she didn't know what would happen if she lo….

"Hey, hey, he's gonna be fine, ok?" Jubal said in a comforting tone, almost brotherly. He squeezed her hand as he sat down next to her and handed her a tissue. She hadn't even realized she was crying. Dammit Mags, pull it together. You're in public she thought as she took a deep breath and nodded. Kristen handed her a coffee after a few minutes, and the silence hung thick in the air. That was, until the doctor walked over.

"I assume you are waiting on news about Agent Zidan?" he said, waiting for them all to stand.

"Yes, How is he?" Agent Castile spoke first.

"Recovering in the ICU. The bullet entered his lower left lung and exited just below his left shoulder blade. Although it was a sizable wound, we were able to repair the lung. Other than that, he had a few broken ribs and some shrapnel wounds, but we expect him to make a full recovery." Dr. Matts explained. Suddenly the air returned to the room, and Maggie felt a weight lifted off of her. He was going to be ok.

A few days later…

OA felt a new awareness surrounding him. He could feel the pillows underneath him, the warm air from an open window, and a cold plastic tube against his face. The beeping of the monitors was the next thing he realized, and then came how dry his throat was. He moved his hand blindly, up from the soft sheets that sure didn't feel like cold pavement, up towards the weird thing in his nose.

"No, hey, don't do that. Leave it." he heard a voice say, before gently pulling his hand away from his face. OA opened his eyes, squinting and blinking a few times to let his eyes adjust to the lights in the room. As soon as he saw the monitors, the memories of the other night came rushing back. He was in the hospital because… because he had been shot.

"Hey." he muttered through a scratchy throat.

"Welcome back. You gave us quite the scar. Mostly me…" She said after helping him drink a few sips of water.

"Sorry….bout that." he said.

"Why are you apologizing, it wasn't your fault you got shot." Maggie replied softly.

"I know. Sorry for getting your hopes of getting a new partner up." He said with a smirk. He laughed at the look on her face and the sound she made until the movement made his chest throb.

"Careful! Your lung is still healing. The lunatic was using armor-piercing rounds. It went through your lung, broke a few ribs. They had to have you on a ventilator for the first few days." Maggie said, recalling how the sight of how unusually pale his olive skin was combined with the tube protruding from his mouth had made her sick to her stomach the first time she saw it.

"Did we get him? Wright?" he asked curiously.

"Yea, someone finally killed him. As for Kelly, she came willingly and was arrested. Sang like a bird when we read off all her charges. She gave up his accomplices, who sold him the goods, and everything." she answered.

"Good. Sounds like you worked your magic. How's the wing doin'?" he asked, looking at the bandages on her bicep.

"Ah, it was just a few stitches, nothing major." she said, quickly deflecting the attention.

"Hey Mags?" He said after a few moments of silence.

"Yea?"

"Thanks."

"Of course. Now don't ever scare me like that again."

"Yes ma'am." he replied with a smile, slowly getting one in return.