Dean opened his Individual First-Aid Kit and looked for a bandage. Anything that could cover a wound would be good enough to help Scarlet at this point. Her right neck was bleeding and blood stained her uniform. He also noticed that her breathing became very very unease.
"Dean… I'm sorry," Scarlet uttered as she ran out of breath.
"No, you'll be fine," Dean opened the first-aid kit and looked for any bandage and hemostatic agent. It might go through an artery considering how much blood coming out of her neck.
Dean opened his phone and called 911. He then compressed the wound with his hand. Who was the real target of the assassination? Was it Scarlet or was it Dean? And how Aveline was involved in any way imaginable? All of those thoughts were in his head as Dean compressed the wound using his hands.
"Dean, if I die here, can you say something?" Scarlet asked.
"You'll die when I tell you to die. Right now, you are unlikely to die," Dean said as he applied pressure to the part of her neck. "You are shocked, not dying."
"Good to know."
Truth be told, stopping the bleeding was harder than Dean initially thought. Still, as long as she was stable, it was good enough for Dean. An unconscious person would be a major red flag for him. Dean decided that the bleeding wouldn't stop on its own. Dean applied an even thicker bandage around her neck to stop the bleeding.
Dean sat Scarlet upright to help with her bleeding. He waited for the first responder to come while looking at Scarlet. Poor girl. She wanted to tell something to his friend only to find a SWAT team ambushed her.
Sirens could be heard in distance. There was no doubt that it was the first responder that Dean called. Dean sat down right next to Scarlet. He then patched himself up. He put a tube of a hemostatic agent into his gunshot wound and covered it up with a bandage. After that, he casted his healing spell.
It healed his wound instantaneously. Dean repeated the same process on the other gunshot wounds in his legs. Needless to say, Scarlet was more than surprised. She then asked Dean.
"Why don't you use it on my neck?" Scarlet asked.
"Can't do. That wound is too delicate and I think it also hits an artery," Dean said.
"Headache. I swear, my head is spinning."
"Just hold on. You won't die," Dean replied as he put his rifle on the wall.
===========
Adams and the rest of his team arrived at the crime scene. Scarlet was pretty much injured, and she was receiving treatment for her injury at the moment. Pipes were going through her mouth and her nose. She went unconscious just when the paramedic arrived. Adams didn't get it, why would a rogue SWAT team attack them?
After interrogation, the SWAT team wasn't actually a SWAT team, but rather criminals dressed as a SWAT team. Adams realized that he had been downplaying the threat to Dean. He should have been more proactive.
However, Dean was enraged. The target of his rage was none other than the girl with the white hair, Aveline. If this person was one of the key people in his assassination, Dean would be pretty much hit the jackpot.
"SPEAK! SPEAK NOW! I KNOW YOU ARE INVOLVED BITCH!" Dean shook Aveline with his hands.
"DEAN! STOP!" Adams tried to separate them.
Dean pushed Adams away, "Bullshit! Even Scarlet's last word is about you being involved in my murder attempt! Now talk!" Dean continued shaking Aveline's body.
Aveline was confused, but also scared. She might be more skillful with magic, but after seeing Dean manage to take down an entire team of rogue SWAT, she wouldn't even dare to touch his hair.
"Dean, what are you talking about?" Aveline asked Dean back as she began to shriek.
"DON'T PLAY FOOL WITH ME. I KNOW YOU ARE INVOLVED IN THE BOGUS SCHOLARSHIP LETTER. I KNOW YOU ARE INVOLVED IN THIS. NOW SPEAK!" Dean slammed Aveline's body into the ground while Adams was watching in more confusion.
"What scholarship letter? I only retrieve it from the teachers," Aveline begged.
"Wait, Dean. Move!" Adams pulled Dean's body from Aveline.
"WHAT?" Dean asked as he approached Aveline again.
"We'll get the MP. Now, please, calm the fuck down or I'll arrest you!" Adams shouted.
Dean moved away from Aveline as Adams put a cuff on her. Right now, it was the combination of terrific confusion and knowing who to trust for Adams. For Dean, it was his worry of not being able to get Aveline's testimony. He really wanted to put Mick into the slammer.
[+4,000 XP +20 Skill Points]
=====
"Shit, man, it's happening," Dennis said.
"What's happening?" Mick asked.
"MP got my sister, man," Dennis said.
The room inside of Mick's apartment went quiet as the news hit like thunder. Never in his life, did Dennis think that the MP would get his sister. Right now, the nightmare had come to fruition without any doubt. Even in that billiard room, the calming atmosphere had turned into something grim.
"I thought the rogue officers that we rent would solve our problem," Dennis added.
"Your problem, to be exact, but still, I thought they would kill the witness easily. The appearance of Dean Barnett is the one that I didn't predict. Shit," Mick added.
"What should we do, boss?" Dennis asked.
"What should we do? More like, what should you do, do I have to remind you that your sister is the reason why we are here? Had she not talked to anyone, we won't be in this deep shit," Mick reminded.
"So?"
"Deal with it by yourself," Mick said like he didn't even care a single bit about it.
"That's it, I have enough. Nothing's personal, Mick, but my sister came first and I won't risk her."
"Oh. Is that so?"
PEW. PEW.
Dennis' body fell to the ground as two bullets pierced his head. Mick couldn't risk having one of his friends talking. Now, he was thinking on what he should do to the body. Well, there was only one place to dump it, straight into the ocean.
=========
"Fuck me…"
A body had been reported to be floating in the ocean according to the news. It was the body of a male student coming from the 120th Training Battalion. According to the reports, two bullets pierced his head and his time of death last night. Dean read the news right after the ceremony ended.
Dean was not concerned about the student, but he was more concerned about the way that he was dumped into the Atlantic Ocean. It really reminded him of himself had his body not been found sooner or had he been shot in the head like the unlucky guy.
"Fuck you why?" Adams approached Dean who was standing right in the hallway while holding on to his smartphone.
"This." Dean showed Adams the news.
Adams just nodded, as if he had understood what had happened even without reading the news. Why was he so calm in certain situations where people would usually curse something out of their mouths.
"No wonder Aveline cried in the holding cell when your ceremony started. I figured that she saw the news or something, but some things are connected it seems," Adams talked nonsense according to Dean.
"Huh?"
"Dennis is the name of the student, right? He's Aveline's brother. But to think that this happens too damn consecutive is worrying, not going to lie about it," Adams said.
"So, I was right?" Dean asked.
"Yeah," Adams sighed, then he muttered something. "The victim, the witness, and the ignant."
"Excuse me?" Dean asked back, requesting confirmation for Adams' statement.
"The victim, you. The witness, Scarlet. The ignant, Aveline. Do you need more explanation?" Adams asked.
"I think so, sir," Dean answered.
"You happened to be killed by someone which we know with Scarlet trying to connect the dots while Aveline was only doing what his brother requested. Basically, last afternoon's assault is an attempt to exterminate Scarlet, not you," Adams said.
"Damn, what a can of worms," Dean said.
"Yeah, I never think it will go this far," Adams said.
"Sir, I think, our killer will go as far as he can to make sure he doesn't end in the military tribunal court," Dean said.
"Yeah, no doubt. Dean, go get your informant's son. I also want to put Mick to the slammer as quickly as possible," Adams said.
"So, this is an authorized operation, then?" Dean asked Adams back.
"No, but I want you to get her son as fast as you can before someone bite down on my team member again," Adams said.
"Copy that, sir."
"Good, very good. Now, Dean, I hold high hope for you, I hope you don't disappoint."
"I won't, sir."