With bated breath, Rudi made his way into a house.

Alejandro watched as he went in, turned on his heel and rounded the outside. He trusted his friend. This wasn't the first time the two of them dealt with narcos and it sure as hell wouldn't be the last.

With a silent command he told the remaining police units to drive around the corner and block the main entrance in case somebody wanted to escape.

Shots sounded.

His head snapped around to check if there were movements in the windows.

"Watch for squatters.", Alejandro wanted Rudi over the coms.

"Estoy bien.", he replied.

More shots sounded, but the colonel refused to ask for status again. He had faith in the man who he trusted most. If there was one person he would have trusted more than Rodolfo it was you.

Sure, Rudi had loads of respect towards you, but if he was totally honest with himself, not even your own husband would have dared to pick a fight with you.

The thought made Alejandro chuckle. It wasn't the right place nor the right time but it felt nice to have someone to think about when the world around him downed in chaos and death.

The smell of gasoline rose to his nose.

He was almost around the house as one of the windows suddenly shattered.

Irritated by the sound, his head snapped around.

A cloud of smoke seeped through curtains into the night sky.

His heart skipped a beat.

"Hey, I'm seeing smoke!", Alejandro yelled over the coms. "What's your status? Rodolfo?! Im moving interior."

Sweat already showed on his forehead as he rushed up the porch to kick in the front door.

Immediately, black smoke hit his face.

The downstairs didn't burn yet, but the air quickly thickened with the stench of ashes and the heat of fire.

His gaze shot up.

Dark stains stretched across the ceiling. The smell of gasoline was now worse than outside.

His steps almost slipped as he jumped up the stairs, not paying any attention to possible dangers and enemies.

A body greeted him at the top of the stairs. Not Rodolfo, luckily, just an unlucky cartel member.

"Colonel, don't- I'm not getting out...", Rudi suddenly answered, audibly out of breath.

"Where are you?!"

"Listen, Hassan is gone. They're moving him..."

"Rudy..!"

Coughing sounded over the coms.

The house filled with smoke. It got so bad that Alejandro could feel his eyes water underneath the glasses.

"Something crossing the Atlantic...", Rodolfo continued, audibly struggling for air. "There's a ship, delivering something..."

Fire alarms raged. Their beeping was so deafening that the colonel shrugged to form a clear though.

He kicked the first door open.

Bathroom. A body in the tub. Not Rudi.

The second door down the hallway was still open. He quickly threw a glance into it.

Empty.

Only the third door was locked. Thick clouds of smoke crawled out from underneath.

With one hand in front of his face, he reached out and threw himself against the wood. With a loud sound, it shattered under the force of his weight, but remained standing.

Rodolfo appeared between an ocean of flames. Smoke wrapped around his body.

He bend under the force of a cough. Blood covered his forehead.

The sight made his friend see red.

With one more push, the door gave in and tore out of its hinges to shatter on the burning floor.

"Hang on, brother!", Alejandro rushed to wrap his arms around him. "I got you!"

Dazzled and injured, Rudi managed to lean on his partner. Blood ran down his forehead. He could barely keep his eyes open.

Almost too fast, he was dragged down the stairs, got caught in his own steps and stumbled.

Alejandro allowed him to fall into his back. His chest hit the wall opposite of the stairs.

Small flames had already made their way down into the living room. Their burning tongues licked over his bulletproof vest and left dark, ashy marks.

"(Y/N) will go ballistic if you don't hide this.", Rudi huffed, a tired huff drooling from his slightly parted lips.

He already failed to keep himself on his feet.

Annoyed, Alejandro bared his teeth, pulled his friend up on his back and rushed towards the exit.

Flames tried to bite through the fabric of his combat pants. The soles of his shoes started to feel uncomfortably warm.

The beeping of the fire alarms echoed inside his ears.

There was smoke everywhere.

With every breath he took it felt like he had smoked a dozen cigars at once. It scratched his throat and made it feel like thousands of knifes.

He already believed he wouldn't make it either as the sirens of the police cars mixed with the fire alarm.

Blue and red light cut through the wall of smoke.

"Over here!", a cop yelled.

Not being able to see clearly, Alejandro turned to follow the voice. His head was spinning. It felt like he was about to pass out the next step.

Finally, he managed to break out of the house and stumbled over the patio back into the yard.

"Fucking hell!", he gasped for air that felt so clean that his lungs couldn't handle it and forced him to cough.

"I got him!", paramedics rushed to aid Alejandro and took the barely conscious Rudi off his shoulders.

"Colonel...", he mumbled, more dead than alive.

Relived, Alejandro took another breath to clear his throat from the taste of lung cancer.

"We made it out, hermano.", he sighed.

Blood ran across Rudis face. All of a sudden he started to chuckle.

Irritated, Alejandro frowned.

"What the hell is so funny, puta?!", with his teeth bared in anger he followed the medical team to the ambulance where they put Rodolfo down on a gurney. "You almost died in there, pendejo!"

A cough forced Rudi to stop laughing.

"I know.", he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"What's so funny then, eh? You almost met your maker!"

His partner grinned.

"I was just thinking...", his eyes lowered. "(Y/N) is going to be so pissed about this."

Alejandro turned as pale as a ghost.

"Not a word.", he warned, his face blank. "We'll be dead men."

Nervously, Rudi laughed.

"Lo sé.", the fear sweat was almost visible on his forehead. "I'm scared, colonel."

"Me too..."