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She forced a laugh "Thanks I think"

Slowly she pushed upward and this tiht her hand, and she turned to look at hi I won’t ever forget it and I’ll make daht like the devil himself"

She smiled faintly and then turned her head toward Terrence "Give ely at her but didn’t hesitate He pulled a smaller nine millimeter froers around the stock, jacked a shell into the chamber and thumbed off the safety

Then she took a deep breath and stepped onto the platform that had been pushed up to the hatch

"I’et the fuck back in the plane!"

Rio’s furious voice made her flinch He stood a short distance away, beside another woman who’d been htly around the fist of the un to the back of Rio’s head

She took a step down, her gaze connecting to thedown froo with you, no one else gets hurt I know much about you, Hancock I’ve seen inside your mind I knoorks So maybe you’ll appreciate the implications of what I’m about to say"

The entire area went quiet, held captive by the strength in her words

She raised the gun held loosely by her side, but she didn’t point it at anyone There was a mad scramble within the ranks of Hancock’s men, and he barked a terse order for them not to shoot her No, they wouldn’t shoot her A point that worked hugely in her favor She could take one of theht now and they still wouldn’t shoot her They’d just slaughter everyone else while she watched

Instead she continued to raise the gun until she pointed it at her own teasps, curses and what-the-fucks quickly made the rounds fro?" Rio croaked "Put the gun down and get your ass back in that plane"

"Here’s the deal, Hancock," she said in just as arrogant a voice as he’d used o until it’s just you and me"

"And if I don’t?"

There was more curiosity in his voice than any real threat It was apparent that he’d been caught off guard by her approach Maybe he’d expected her to be crying or screao

"If you don’t, then I shoot myself and you have yourself one fucked-up failure of a mission"

Rio’s roar of denial echoed and mixed with all the other shouts and exclamations of surprise

Hancock s, and you’re insane No one here believes you I hold all the cards, Grace You hold nothing"

Her stare grew colder She stared until he actually flinched and glanced away for the briefest of moments

"Really?" she said coolly "I saw into yourtheh about slaughtering these people to achieve your ailess to you Your sense of honor, however twisted, is that the mission comes first Above all else Above life Even your own You don’t care if you die because one of the others will deliver uess what? I’m about to let you into my mind so you can see that I’o back to the endless torture I was subjected to But I’ll do it if it saves people I care about If you kill theive reat pleasure to deny you what you most want"

For the first time, a flash of uncertainty crossed his face She opened herself to hi intensely on the pathway she’d traced to him just moments earlier She saw his indecision and oddly his ad respect that she’d stand up and bargain for the lives of the others

Then she closed her eyes and let him feel her own determination Let hi been weighing down on her She let him see the past and how many times she’d wanted to die And then she showed him cold resolve Her decision to die by her own hand before she allowed that evil son of a bitch to win She felt his shock at the realization that she’d been utterly serious

She felt the quick change in hiency to acquiesce to her de he wanted was for her to kill herself because then it made him a failure, and he saw failure as the ulti the sha s to die but for different reasons"

"Stand down," Hancock shouted Then he pushed Rio forward, and the rest of the uns on the ently in his mind

Why? Why did you do it?

His voice was shaken and broken, despair ripping through his of failure, his inability to protect her That she’d sacrifice herself for the rest It e And finally, finally she felt worthy of that regard She’d taken a stand No longer was she a victim

Because it’s the only way I won’t have you all die for nothing Either way he’s going to take me You can’t help me if you’re dead It’ll be up to you to findI’ll last this time

You survive, he demanded harshly You do whatever the fuck it takes to survive You stay alive for oddamn earth that can keep me away from you You just do whatever it takes You do what they want And you goddamn stay alive forfor you and I’ll go to hell and back if that’s what it takes

I love you

God, Grace, I love you too So damn much

Make sure they leave All of them They will kill you I saw into his mind, Rio He doesn’t care about you or anyone else All he cares about is carrying out his orders

"Stand down," Rio barked, echoing Hancock’s order Then he turned to stare hard at theto play this, Hancock?"

width=""Tell your et out of the plane We’ll take that one It’s been refueled already As long as Grace is in that plane, you won’t do anything to bring it down"

Rio gave a terse nod and then called to Terrence and Diego A moment later they appeared just above Grace and she un in Grace’s hand never wavered She kept it firht that would forever be burned into Rio’s memory It scared him to death because he too had seen Grace’s resolve He was so da he could barely breathe

Hancock let go of PJ’s hair and pushed her forward She stumbled and went to her knees but then slowly picked herself up and held her hands out froar," Hancock directed "No surprises or I give the order to start firing I’ve always thought playing lastwould be kind of cool"

Insane son of a bitch He’d always been acrazy Maybe Rio would’ve been this way if he hadn’t walked away fro Grace to the wolves The knowledge hurt This hat he used to be Mission above all else No conscience No sense of right or wrong Only of what his directive was Right or wrong hadn’t been for them to decide