"Yeah, what he said," Aiden agreed.

"Don't you have anything original to say?" Carys snapped at Aiden.

"Okay, get to bed. There's a room with your name on it. You just killed a man and were covered in your blood and his. You're still shaky." Aiden gently clasped her wrists in his hands so that they could all see her hands tremble. "If you'd give me that damn stethoscope, I'd find your heart still racing. You're white as a sheet. You need to rest for a couple of hours, or better yet, have some food and go to sleep for the night."

"I didn't ask for a monologue." Shit. She was shocky. That sounded like she was pouting.

"Dr. Adams," the SEAL said in a soothing tone.

"Carys," she corrected petulantly.

"Carys. He's right," David interjected. "You were the one who insisted your people rest the first day you landed. I really respected that." She was on the fence. He turned to Sarah. Come on baby, bring it home.

"Carys, if I was to check your blood pressure right now, what would I find? Let's go get some food. You and I can talk about the outreach plan. Then you can get a little bit of rest while I take over down here."

"Fine," she huffed. "Since I was triple-teamed. Where are you two going?"

"We have to go to the prison. They're coordinating the manhunt for the remaining prisoners."

"Are they as dangerous as the..." Carys' voice trailed off.

"They're all bad," David said grimly.

"Go get your food, Carys. When you're figuring out your outreach program, factor in military personnel going with you."

"You too, Sarah, and it will be me." There was no way he was leaving her safety in anyone else's hands.

"Same goes, Carys," Aiden said emphatically. David looked over at the big SEAL. The man worked fast.

Sarah was smirking, and she looked adorable. He pulled her into his arms, loving how easily she wound her arms around his neck. His beautiful gray-eyed nurse. Her lips molded to his and everything around him fell away, just Sarah remained.

"Captain." Okay, Aiden was still here.

David lifted his head, admiring her wet lips. One last quick kiss. She carefully pushed at his uninjured shoulder.

"Stay safe," they said in unison and laughed.

"Okay, Aiden. Let's go."

9.

When David arrived at the prison, a lot had been accomplished. Joaquin had finished briefing Gray and his men on the terrain and the convicts who remained at large. Riggs and Harrison were safely back with the young men, and all but six of the men who were going to still help with the manhunt had arrived back at the prison.

"Joaquin is a good man, you really lucked out," Gray said when he and David had a moment to themselves.

"I agree. What's your assessment of Riggs and Harrison?"

"I haven't had enough interaction with them to tell. But I read over their records, and I liked how they handled themselves to get those two kids. Damn shame about their fathers." Gray must have seen the guilt on David's face. "Stop it. You've done a hell of a job in a terrible situation. You've had to trust that the locals knew what they were doing."

"I appreciate what you're saying, but it still happened on my watch."

Gray nodded, respect evident in his eyes.

"How do you want to play this? I know these are your men. I don't want to be the one giving orders," David said. "What's more, you have a lot more tactical experience."

"The men of Las Flores look to you as their leader. I'll lay out the plan and assign my men, but you can assign the locals to their tasks."

"Sounds good."

They went back to warden's old office where everyone was gathered.

"Joaquin, what's keeping the men we're waiting for?"

"Their truck broke down. They'll be here in an hour."

"Okay, we'll get started without them."

David looked around the room. There were eighteen residents of Las Flores gathered along with the six SEALs, him and Joaquin.

"Lieutenant Tyler is going introduce his team, and then explain our plan. Joaquin and I will assign you men to different groups, paired with different Navy SEALs." David smiled to himself when the Las Flores men perked up at the term Navy SEAL, it seemed even here in Las Flores they had heard of the elite team of soldiers.

Bernardo had also been helpful in his efforts to stop the convicts. There was now a tip line set up, so they would not be flying blind. Carmen's daughter was coordinating the project and alerting the manhunt teams when a tip seemed to have merit.

It was agreed that Joaquin would coordinate things from the prison. Luis, the acting warden, had been disgruntled at first. David had explained to him that his job was too big to care for another monumental task.

"Luis, you're already trying to rebuild a prison, keep riots from happening, and hire new guards. It's too much to ask of you to do one more thing." David's words had pacified him.

With the six SEALs, Riggs, Harrison, and David, they had nine teams. O'Malley got a call.

"Gray, we have a problem."

"What?"

"That was Carys, she said that she received information that there were two kids hurt at a small farm about twenty clicks from one of the clinics. She intends to go out and get them to the hospital."

"Yep, that's a problem. Do what you need to do."

David's skin crawled. "Let me guess, she's not going alone."

"Nope," Aiden said. "Your woman is going with her."

"Dammit! I told her to call me."

"You're not raising her right." Aiden smirked. David's palm itched. Then his phone rang.

"David, it's me." His world settled.

"Wait for us. I'll be there in an hour."

"I don't think they have that long. Somebody got a cell phone to them. We talked to someone on site. They're in real trouble. They need immediate triage."

"Let Aiden go, he's a medic." He heard her talking to someone. He couldn't make out what they were saying.

"It's in the wrong direction. You'll have to meet us there."

"Don't you leave without us." He heard Aiden saying the same thing. It was stupid. The leader inside of him screamed that he and Aiden shouldn't both leave, but fuck that. He was going, and something told him that Aiden would be going too. So be it.

Phones to their ears, they grabbed their weapons and headed outside. David pointed to his truck.

"Hang up your phone, O'Malley." Aiden scowled but did as he was told. David did the same thing and handed his phone to the man.

"What do I do with this?" he asked as he took the phone. David started down the road as fast as he could, even though it was a rut-filled mess.

"I can track Sarah on GPS. We have that arranged on a bunch of different specific targets." He saw the man grin.

"They're already moving."

"Of course, they are."

"My God," Aiden breathed as they pulled up to what must have been a house at one point. They parked beside the jeep the women had used. An elderly man stepped over a pile of rubble as he headed toward them and he looked sick.

"Who are you? Where are the women who drove the jeep?" Aiden demanded.

"What?" the old man was dazed. David scowled at Aiden.

"Hello, sir. Do you live here?"

"My grandchildren..." He waved his hand toward the crumbling house.

Aiden pushed past the man and stepped through the ruined doorway.

"Sir, can you tell me what happened?" David asked.

"My little angel is dead. But my daughter she will not accept it. She just holds and rocks her while her other two children suffer."

David shook his head. He couldn't imagine the woman's pain. "Where's the person who reported this?"

"He left. He's gone to look for more victims."

"Stay here, I'm going to see if I can help." David went into the house. It was quiet. Too quiet. The ceiling was missing. He saw an opening that led through the kitchen, and there were two rooms. One contained a bed, but had no people, the other had all the people.

There were no blankets covering their battered little bodies, just underwear. He guessed the one in the pink panties was a girl. She couldn't have been more than five, and her legs were at awkward angles. Her chest was caved in, and there wasn't a wound, but it was clear that her ribs had collapsed.

The little boy was in Spiderman underwear with a bone jutting from his broken arm. Same with his right leg. He was writhing around and moaning. The mom was just as the grandfather said, sitting in a chair, rocking her dead infant.

Carys knelt next to the little girl, she had a grim look on her face and a stethoscope to the little girl's chest.

Sarah was kneeling next to the little boy. She looked up at David, her expression determined. But beneath the determination, he could see her heart aching. Breaking.

The little girl gasped. Then seized. Blood spewed from her mouth. David watched in horror. He looked at the mother. Her rhythm didn't change, she kept rocking her baby as if nothing was happening. As if her other daughter wasn't dying right in front of her eyes.

David looked helplessly at Carys, Aiden, and finally at Sarah. She shook her head, tears in her eyes. The wounds, what he'd seen, he'd known. It was amazing the child had still been alive when they had come through the door.

"We need to get the boy splinted," Aiden said as he put his hand on Carys' shoulder. She closed the girl's eyes and wiped the blood away. She nodded at Aiden. David watched as the three of them worked to get the boy taken care of.

The old man came in and explained that the man had returned with three other local men. David went out and met with them.

"I know Margaret," one man said. "I was friends with her husband. I am sorry it took me so long to get here." He looked down at the dirt, then back up at David. "We will take care of her."

"We're going to take her son with us. We will be able to care for him."

"He will be well?" the man said hopefully.

"Yes, we think so," David answered.

"Thank God," the man said fervently. They all turned to see Aiden carrying the small boy out of the house. He placed him in the back of the jeep, where they had made a pallet for patients.

"We're following you," Aiden said to Carys.

"Thank you," the man said to them.

"You're welcome."

10.