A/N: I know very little about technological things, so I apologize for any obvious mistakes.

xxxx

18 stories above the street, Jensen cut the glass window in front of him carefully, tongue poking from between his lips as he concentrated, glad for the simplicity of the compass-like tool that allowed him to cut in a perfect circle despite the dark. His head set crackled suddenly, and Clay's voice echoed in his ear.

"What's your status, Petunia?"

Jensen rolled his eyes as he eased the circle of glass out of the window.

"Just got the glass cut, Alpha," he answered, setting the glass next to him on the slightly swinging window-washing platform. "I still don't see why I got stuck with Petunia."

"Better than Pansy Ass," Clay responded, and Jensen groaned as he heard Cougar chuckle quietly and Aisha let out a snort.

"That was my vote," Aisha chimed in, and Jensen laughed humorlessly.

"Ha ha, you guys are hilarious." He paused for a minute and took a deep breath. "I'm going in right now, should be in the office in 45 seconds. Give or take."

"Great. Delta's got the van ready and Eagle One's got your back from the top. I'll be covering you from the bottom. In and out Petunia, let's get this done."

"Yeah, yeah, over and out Alpha."

Jensen carefully slid into the hole, landing fairly gracefully on the other side and hurrying across the room. He timed himself as he ran to the correct office, grinning when he made it in 41 seconds. He quickly went to the computer and turned it on, cracking his knuckles and adjusting his glasses.

"Bingo," he muttered as the password protected screen popped up and he hacked into it with practically no effort. He found the file he was looking for with no trouble, grinning as the passwords Aisha's informant had given them proved to work.

"Yeah, yeah, come to papa," he crowed under his breath, chuckling as he downloaded the files to his external hard drive. Two days earlier, one of Aisha's many informants had given them some information on a man who he claimed was responsible for Max's finances, and Clay had jumped on the chance to potentially figure out where Max was going for money. There was little doubt that the man was hurting following their last encounter, so it seemed logical that he would be trying to get money wherever he could.

Their plan was simple enough; break Jensen in, get the files, break Jensen out. Cougar would be covering him from the top, Clay would cover from the bottom and drive the getaway car. Pooch would get to stay home and spend some quality time with Jolene and the baby, and though Clay had only intended for the three of them to be on this mission, Aisha had insisted that she would be coming too.

Easy. Theoretically.

"Alpha, this is Eagle One. I've got incoming."

"You copy that, Petunia? You're going to want to hurry it up."

"I copy, Alpha, almost done."

"Petunia, you need to get out, now," Clay's voice barked, and Jensen winced.

"Just another second," he muttered, and he heard Clay swear under his breath.

"Petunia, get out of there or I'll shoot you myself!" Aisha yelled, and Jensen grinned, despite the stress of the situation and the sweat trickling down his forehead.

"Been there and done that, Delta," he said, laughing when he heard Aisha's indignant cry of rage.

"I apologized, Petunia, something I don't do very often, so unless you want me kicking your skinny little white ass, I suggest you shut your mouth and get down here!"

"Yeah yeah, I get it," he said, watching closely as the last of the files downloaded and grinning as he disconnected the hard drive and shut the computer down.

"I have the package Alpha, and I am making my way to rendezvous," he said, tucking the hard drive into his bag and heading toward the door. He stepped into the hallway and was startled to find himself nearly surrounded by guards, all with guns drawn.

"Shit!" He shouted, ducking into the nearest room and slamming the door behind him. He shoved a desk up against the door, ducking under it when bullets started flying through the door. A few seconds later, there was a thud as at least one guard threw his weight against the door. "Alpha, I'm under fire here, don't know how soon I can get to the window."

"Stay under cover, Petunia, I'm coming up to help you. Eagle One, do you have eyes on Petunia?"

"Negative, Alpha, I can't see him."

"Damn it! Petunia, what's your status?"

"Still under fire, Alpha, and it's getting kind of hot in here." Jensen swore under his breath as the wood of the desk splintered near his head, and the door thudded again as who-knew-how-many guards threw themselves against it. He knew it was only a matter of time before they either got through or found his harness and line at the window.

Clay swore passionately under his breath again, and Jensen heard the distant sound of gunfire.

"I'm gonna try to get out of here. Eagle One, I'm trying to get to the window."

"Copy that, Petunia. Be careful."

Jensen grinned at the small admonishment from Cougar, then took a deep breath. Timing his movement to coincide with the thudding against the door, Jensen heaved the desk to the side, following it so that he was in the little nook between the door and the wall as it swung inward. As he'd hoped, most of the guards were thrown off balance as the door opened suddenly, and he took the opportunity to leap over them, running into the hall with the hard drive clutched to his chest.

"I see you, Petunia," Cougar's voice crackled over the comm. as he burst into the room he had first entered.

"Thank Go-" Jensen was cut off with a grunt of pain, stumbling forward as pain erupted in his shoulder.

"Petunia! Alpha, be advised, Petunia has been hit," Cougar said, watching nervously as Jensen managed to climb to his feet and lurched towards the window, one hand clutching at his shoulder.

"Petunia, how bad is it?" Aisha asked, and Jensen grunted.

"I've had worse," he panted, praying that Cougar was covering him and that Clay was somewhere nearby. "Don't know if you heard, but I got shot in the arm by a crazy half-naked woman one time."

"Crazy half-naked smoking hot woman," Aisha answered, but there was no masking the concern in her voice. "You okay?"

"Peachy," Jensen muttered as he finally reached his destination. Painstakingly, he hooked himself into the harness and started rappelling down the side of the building. It was horribly painful and difficult to do one-handed, and Jensen felt his breathing come in harsh pants. Suddenly the line jerked and he hissed in pain.

"Eagle One, what the hell is going on?" Jensen gasped, wincing as the line started slowly and erratically pulling him back up to the window.

"They are pulling you up. I will stop them."

Despite the pain and fear he was feeling, Jensen grinned at the thought of Cougar 'stopping' his attackers. Unfortunately, it didn't work as well as he had hoped, because almost as soon as he heard the first startled yell of one of the guards, the line dropped and he nearly blacked out from the pain.

"They're cutting the cord. I cannot take all of them out fast enough to ensure your safety."

Shit.

"Alpha, where are you? I could, uh, I could really use some help here," Jensen said, starting to feel light-headed.

"I'm running into some trouble here," Clay said. "These aren't any ordinary guards, they're definitely hired help. They've got me pinned down here."

"Well they're, uh, damn it, they're pulling me up," Jensen muttered, shaking his head in an effort to clear it. It only made the spots in his vision worse. "I'm, uh, I'm getting kinda dizzy here."

"I'm trying Petunia, I'm trying to get up there."

"Th-thanks, Alpha," Jensen stuttered, head still spinning. "I, uh…"

His voice trailed off.

"What the hell is going on up there?" Clay barked.

"He passed out," Cougar answered. "They're pulling him up."

"We've gotta get to him," Aisha said. "I'm coming up."

"No," Jensen said suddenly, his voice weak. "'s too late."

"He is nearly to the top," Cougar said.

"'M sorry-" Jensen said, and then the comm. cut out, only static audible. Clay swore loudly and Cougar let out a groan.

"Delta, come around to the front now. Maybe we can cut them off down here."

"Copy that Alpha, I'm coming around."

Clay managed to fire off a few more shots, then ducked back towards the entrance. He hadn't been able to get past the elevator, had been unable to even leave the lobby. His frustration and inability to help Jensen weighed heavily on his mind as he raced to the front of the building.

Aisha was in the van, the worry clear on her face.

"Alpha-"

"Damn it, we've got a problem," Cougar said suddenly. "They took him out the back door and threw him in a van. They're headed northwest. He, uh, he was unconscious."

Aisha slammed her hand against the steering wheel in frustration. Clay ran a hand through his hair and swore passionately before letting out a roar of anger. Breath heaving, he finally climbed into the van next to Aisha.

"Eagle One, meet us at the rendezvous point. We've got a van to catch."