away. He wasn’t about to let some government agent ruin his master plans, not now! He’d come too far to just lie down and die. If that agent wanted this facility back, he’d better be ready to fight, because Steele was bringing the fight to him.

            The elevator doors slid open and Balto and Jenna stepped out into the white hallway, guns at the ready. Balto moved the barrel of his rife in a sweeping motion down the hall, ready for anything and everything. Jenna kept her handgun at the ready, the slightest movement and she’d have her gun trained on it faster than it could react. After their near-death experience with Nikki’s explosives, they weren’t about to let anything get by them now.

Balto saw a camera and realized he hadn’t shut them down on this floor. Raising his rifle, he put a single round through the lens, effectively shutting it down for good. Smirking, he carried on down the hallway, Jenna by his side. He motioned to her bandanna and eyed it for a moment.

“Where’d you get that? You from the Western states?” Balto asked. Jenna glanced at her bandanna, laughed softly and shook her head.

“No, it’s just something my mother gave to me when I was little…” Jenna explained, touching it gingerly, “I’ve had it most of my life and I’m never letting it go.”

“Sentimental value, huh?” asked Balto, giving her a small smile.

“Yeah… It means a lot to me…”

Jenna returned his smile and carried on surveying the halls. Her amber eyes darted around the empty corridors. She held her breath and raised her hand, motioning for Balto to stop. Balto froze and looked around.

“What is it?” he asked, giving Jenna a strange look.

“There’re no guards here either… Nikki’s down here…” Jenna told him, pointing her handgun down the hallway.

“How do you know that?” Balto asked, his eyebrows rising in interest.

“When I was here before you, they were doing tests with the guards. Whenever Nikki was setting up explosives, they would evacuate that area… There were no guards on the bridge and there’s none here, so Nikki must be here…” explained Jenna, getting a surprised look from Balto.

“Wow… That’s impressive Jenna…” he complimented, “Better keep our guard up then, huh?”

“Yeah, with Nikki, be ready for anything…”

Both agents cautiously proceeded down the long white corridors, keeping their eyes on the walls and floors for any explosives. When they finally reached the connecting hall, they sighed with relief. It had been smooth sailing so far, so why would it not continue? Using her keycard, Jenna opened the door and revealed a large tiled tunnel, going on as far as Balto could see.

“This is it?” Balto asked, staring down the tunnel.

“Yep… This is it… Come on, we can get across faster in one of these…” Jenna said, leading him over to a small collection of jeeps parked along the wall.

She climbed in the passenger seat as Balto took the driver’s side. Starting the ignition, Balto pulled them out and began to speed down the tunnels. Nothing bad happened as they drove on. About halfway down the tunnel, Balto chuckled and glanced at Jenna.

“See? You thought Nikki was rigging this place with explosives, but it turned out he did-” Balto said, but was cut off by a sudden explosion.

The explosion came from underneath the vehicle, sending it flying through the air and spinning. Balto and Jenna screamed as the jeep slammed to the ground on its side and skidded for several yards. It then jumped and crashed again, landing completely upside down. Groaning, Balto crawled out and pulled Jenna out along with him, helping her to her feet.

“You alright Jen?” Balto asked, looking her in the eyes.

“Yeah… I’m fine…” she replied, brushing herself off.

Suddenly, another explosion sounded and the tunnel began to quake. Balto and Jenna looked around nervously and saw the tunnel beginning to collapse behind them. Gritting his teeth, Balto motioned down the tunnel.

“C’mon, run!” he shouted to Jenna and both agents dashed as quickly as they could down the tunnel.

Rocks began to cave in behind them as the tunnel collapsed. Nikki’s work had been done; the tunnel was attempting to crush them. Balto and Jenna kept running, panting hard as they gave it their all. Despite their attempts, the falling rocks still came closer and closer to them. Just as they were about to be smashed, Balto grabbed Jenna and leaped forward, barely getting them out of the way as the cave-in finished.

“Are we dead yet?” Jenna asked, her voice muffled by the concrete flooring. Balto looked up and saw their luck.

“No Jen, we’re not dead… We’re probably the luckiest dogs on the planet right about now…” he said and Jenna looked up to see what he was talking about, chuckling weakly as she saw their good fortune.

“Wow… Now that was close… Let’s not do anything like that again, alright?”

“No promises… Come on, let’s keep moving…” Balto said, grinning at her and climbing to his feet. Jenna got up as well and the two finished their walk to the other end of the tunnel and to the other building.

Jenna walked him over to the other side and was about to open the door when she heard guards talking on the other side. Gasping softly, she backed up a bit, looking around for another escape. Spotting a ladder and hatch going up, she pointed to it.

“Up there, Wolf…” she said and Balto nodded, running up to it and beginning his ascent. Once at the top, he moved the hatch just enough to be able to look around. He saw snow and concrete, the outside of the other part of the facility, but no guards on the outside. Slinging his rifle across his shoulder, Balto drew his handgun and moved the hatch, climbing up first to secure the area. Jenna climbed up a moment later and closed the hatch behind them.

“Is this the entrance?” Balto asked, pointing to a metal shutter. Jenna nodded and ran up to it, sliding her card through a nearby scanner. The shutter began to open and Jenna grinned at her teammate.

“After you…” she said and Balto chuckled softly, stepping inside, Jenna right behind him.

Inside, there were a large amount of shells that could be fired from a missile launcher, all of them marked with a nuclear symbol. Balto began to worry more and more about this weapon, wondering what used nuclear warheads as shells.

“You know what these were made for?” Balto asked Jenna, pointing his gun at one.

“No, I told you, I haven’t been here before,” Jenna answered, placing a paw on his handgun and lowering its aim to the floor, “Could you not point that at them? I’d rather not be marked KIA, alright?”

“Yeah… Right…” Balto replied, lowering his ears in embarrassment for his carelessness.

The two agents moved onward, eventually arriving in another hangar area. This one, however, was filled with large sheets of steel. Balto was about to go inspect one when a gunshot caused him to freeze in his tracks. He quickly dove behind a stack of steel and glanced out, spotting a gun holding a handgun.

Damn! How could I have been so careless? Balto thought and growled softly at himself.

“Come out with your hands up now!” the guard demanded and began to reach for his radio.

Before the guard to grab his radio, Balto jumped out and put three bullets into the dog’s chest. The guard shouted and fell over. From his right, a short burst of fire was heard, barely missing his head. Jenna came out this time and fired of two shots, hitting that guard in his face and stomach. When both guards were dead, Jenna walked over to Balto, an angry frown on her face.

“Are you nuts? You almost got yourself killed just now!” she said, chastising Balto.

“Look, I’m sorry, alright? Happy now? It was a mistake…” Balto snapped back, raising his hands defensively. Jenna sighed and softened her voice.

“I know… I’m sorry Balto… It’s just- this mission has me stressed a bit... I think I need a vacation after this…” she replied calmly.

“How’s a week in the Caribbean sound?” Balto asked, grinning at her. Jenna smiled slightly and closed her eyes, picturing it mentally.

“That sounds perfect… I think I just might do that… Thanks for the suggestion…” Jenna answered and motioned for them to carry on, “Come on, let’s go…”

Just as she was about to walk on, the elevator in the hangar opened and Jenna gasped. She quickly shoved Balto behind a stack of metal and out of view, stowing her handgun quickly. Steele stepped out of the elevator and saw her and the dead guards. His face took an expression of confusion as he approached Jenna.

“Jenna, what happened here?” he asked, staring at her.

“I don’t know… I just came through here and the guards were dead… I guess that agent is here, huh?” Jenna said, faking innocence, which Steele bought into.

“He must be… I’ll put the guards on secondary alert then… Come on, I think it’s time you and I spent some time together, hmm? This job’s been such a stress on me and I figured we could use some relaxation time, what to you think?”

“I think that sounds great Steele...” Jenna said, putting on a sweet smile.

“Great! Come on, let’s go…” Steele said, leading Jenna back towards the elevator.

Balto glanced over the steel sheets and gave Jenna a questioning glance. Jenna gave him a look that said ‘Continue the mission. I’ll catch up to you later,’ and stepped into the elevator with Steele. The doors closed and the elevator began to ascend. Sighing heavily, Balto came out of hiding and walked over to the elevator, pressing the Call button and waiting for it to return.

The moment the elevator returned,