A/N: Ok, new fic guys! Hopefully I'mgoing in the right track here... never attempted this kind of stuff so... please go easy on me.

Warning : Auto corrects and typos are always behind my back so please forgive me for any mistakes. And please don't get mad at my attempt at typing Hindi, it is NOT my First or Second language so I am prone to make mistakes.

"Guys, we've got our next mission. Kabir, Varun meet you for the debrief in one hour. We need to leave by this evening" Major Abdul Rahmani said, leaving no place for discussions as he stared at the two officers.

"Yes sir" they said in unison as they wrapped up whatever they were doing in favour of the debrief. The debrief was brief and to the point, allowing the soldiers to make arrangements and pack the necessary supplies before it was time to leave.

The mission in itself was quite simple. Go in, scout, capture the guy alive and come back. They all thought that it was a piece of cake. Until it wasn't.

Now that Kabir looked back to that day, everything pointed towards the downfall of the mission. It was so clear that no one knew how they were so blind not to receive the signals.

The minute they got off the plane, it felt as though there were many eyes on them. And that should've been the first warning sign. The alarm bells started to ring when they got into a cab and Abdul gave directions that were completely on the other side of where they were supposed to go.

"Updated location" he'd said and they'd been stupid enough to go along with that excuse. Well, it was valid but still, as experienced people, they should've known that something was amiss. But they'd believed whatever was said and unknowingly, walked into the trap.

The place seemed to be some sort of a dead end, it was neither a cliff, nor was it an open ground. Their gut just screamed at them to run away but they ignored it and moved ahead because the mission always comes first.

Things escalated pretty quickly from there... one second, it looked like Abdul was scouting and the next second, his gun was out and he'd shot Varun twice, right in the heart and managed to get a shot at Kabir, the bullet grazing his arm and Kabir acted quickly, rushing forward and tackling Abdul, still trying to catch up with the fact that he'd turned on them.

The fight was brutal. Punches and kicks traded everywhere and both of them where bloody by the time Abdul managed to get the upper hand and pinned Kabir to the ground.

"Kyon?" Kabir asked softly, just coming to terms that this wasn't the man he'd looked up to or worked with. This was a completely different man, who'd been hiding all this while and had finally shown his true colours.

"Kyon main yeh sab kar raha hoon? Yahi pooch rahe ho na? Badla, paise, the usual you know? I want to see the country burn. And if this is a small price to pay soldier, I'll gladly do it. Nothing personal" he said with a fake smile as he held out his gun again and quickly shot twice at Kabir's collar bone.

"Try and stop me" he said with a maniacal laugh as he sees Kabir trying to reach for the gun. Kabir could sense that his body was slowly shutting down from the blood loss and he renewed his efforts to reach for the gun.

"Aur haan... Goodbye soldier" he says as he points the gun at Kabir, ready to take the kill shot. But he hadn't noticed Kabir reaching for the gun near him and in a flash, it was pointed towards Abdul, his hands shaking as he tried to aim.

And Abdul made the mistake of staring into Kabir's eyes. Gone was the admiration and respect that Kabir once showed to him. All he could see right now was the anger simmering in Kabir's eyes and the steely determination as he steadied his hand. There was still a fire in his eyes, but it wasn't the fire to prove anything, it was the fire that would burn down the place, for revenge. Before Abdul could react, he'd pulled the trigger and shot Abdul, right in the eye.

"Just. To. Be. Safe" he pants as he sat up and shot the other eye, tears flowing from the pain and betrayal. He activated the come back up and said "Compromised" before all the strength left him and he passed out.

Later on, after he'd woken up, the doctors would say that he'd been lucky that the locals had spotted him and brought him in at the right time. But Kabir just felt empty, hollow as he'd just lost a loyal partner and the other had just betrayed him.

And this hollowness just made his heart a stone. The once energetic and quite care free soldier was now closed off, keeping everyone but a select few at an arm's distance. He often took on risky missions, preferring to go in solo for most of them.

That was until he got his own team, handpicked by himself as at one point, he started to realise that he couldn't go on like this path of self destruction he'd paved for himself.

Anyone who'd worked with him or trained with him earlier could easily spot the change. They often discussed about the sudden change among themselves, behind Kabir's back, often throwing him sympathetic glances. They often thought that this sudden change was due to his partner dying and being betrayed by the person who he'd looked up to. But little did they know... everything was going to change after a few years, the day when he joined the academy.

A/N: My firstattempt at this type of fic so... I'msorry if it soundsa bit... off. Please don't be hesitant to point out any mistakes. It'salways appreciated. Hope you all like it! All comments and criticism accepted and appreciated! Any prompts are welcome!

Thank you all for reading!

Rasi10 signing off

Published on 9 April 2020