Sam responded by raising his, then he pointed to the van, before slowly backing away, intimating that he was going to check on Alex. With his partner lost in the darkness, and a potential shoot-out, Alan nodded and then spun from the gate and approached the entrance to the car park. Sam shuffled up to the door of the van and peeked in, only for the door to swing open and crack him straight in the side of the face. The metal made a hard clunk, and the striking pain rattled his brain and he stumbled back, blinking through it.

‘Stay the fuck awa…SAM!?’ Alex cried out, her defiance quickly shifting to concern. ‘Jesus.’

‘Nice to see you, too,’ he whispered, shaking the blow and gritting his teeth. ‘Are you okay?’

‘What the fuck are you doing here?’ Alex hissed.

‘I’d ask you the same question.’ Sam looked over the hood of the van, watching as Alan took measured steps into the parking lot, his gun at the ready. ‘You told me this wasn’t going to be dangerous.’

Despite her best efforts, Sam could see the fear in Alex’s eyes. She was in deep, and whatever the reason Sinclair had brought her out here, it had gone south. Before she could answer, the sound of stumbled footsteps came from the parking lot and she turned to look, a sharp gasp escaping from her dropped jaw. Sam peered over the hood, and he felt every muscle in his body tighten.

Alan had already sprung into action.

Sam’s voice was as stern as it had ever been.

‘We need to go. Now.’

* * *

As Alan had approached the chain-link fence that surrounded the parking lot, he’d heard the back window of his car burst open and he glared back as Sam pulled his feet back through the empty window. It was a government car, so there would be no financial cost, but Alan still sighed with frustration.

Despite the man’s criminal past, there was a side to Sam Alan admired.

Possibly even liked.

Although Alan would never condone the course of action Sam had taken to avenge those he lost, he understood. They may have ventured down vastly different paths to get there, but they were both soldiers who were looking to put things right. Alan did his by the book and behind a badge.

Sam, on the other hand, had fought back against the system in a way that hadn’t blurred the line of right and wrong, but completely erased it.

But despite now being free of the clutches of the DEA, who would hand him back to the UK government to spend the rest of his life in prison, Sam wasn’t running.

Alan knew why.

Sam hadn’t broken out of the car for his own protection.

He was there to make good on his promise to Alex.

And despite the man’s defiance, Alan respected it.