(no subject)
It's too late.
The phrase keeps repeating inside Auggie's head over and over again every careful step he takes on the plane. He's not sure where the person he's looking for is hiding, but he'll find him, he's sure of it. The listening device he's made is working perfectly, every sound amplified into his headset, guiding him in the way his unseeing eyes cannot any longer.
It's too late.
He stops when he hears it - the faint sound of breathing, slow and steady. He's behind some cargo from the feel of it, completely unaware of Auggie's presence. He keeps it that way, his training kicking in fully now. He's at a disadvantage and he knows it, and the element of surprise is what he needs to count on.
The improvised flash granade had been simple to make - comprised mostly of a camera, in fact - but it'd been as effective as he needs it to be. The sound sends Afran Felat Khani running right into where Auggie is lying in wait waiting. The other man making so much noise that it's easy to charge right at him, shoving him as hard as he can into the nearest surface.
It's too late.
Auggie knows he needs to keep as little distance between them as possible, to not relent in his attack. It's not enough, though, not when Khani can block his punches and he can't see any coming his way. The upper hand he started with slips, and suddenly he's in the receiving end of the punishment he'd been dishing out. He feels the air knocked out of his lungs when he suddenly gets shoved and then pinned against something behind him. There's a pause in Khani's attack, and Auggie distantly registers a hitch of what must be realization in the other man's breath.
"You," Khani growls out, obviously recognizing him from that day years ago, and he starts pummeling him again. The pain from every hit is dizzying, and Auggie knows if he doesn't get space between them, this will all be for nothing.
He manages to do so with one good punch, leaving Khani reeling for a long enough moment to let Auggie try to get his bearings. He clutches onto the nearest surface, trying desperately to get a sense of where the other man is. He can't, though, and he's not about to wildly charge in any direction. His blindness is painfully obvious now and leaves him vulnerable, something Khani proves by purposely making a noise to throw him off where he actually is.
The cockiness is what becomes his undoing. He slips up, assumes that because he’s blind, he’s no threat at all to him. All it takes is a few seconds for Auggie to reverse the hold Khani has on him, throwing him down and pinning him there underneath him.
It's too late.
Every ounce of rage he'd felt since the attack floods his senses. Underneath him is not a human being, but a terroristic animal who took the lives of people he cared deeply for. Why should he live and they die so young? Why should he be shown mercy when Auggie still woke up some nights from dreams of explosions and had to deal with the guilt that followed because he hadn't been fast enough to warn them all to get away from the Humvee? Why should he stop when he knew - knew - that this man knew no remorse at all for what he’d done?
He pauses in his assault only to pull out the knife he'd brought along, keeping the man pinned down with one hand around his neck. He can hear Khani's breath pick up speed. There are few times Auggie wishes he could see again, and this is one of them - to see a man who brought him so much pain and robbed him of so much be cowed and afraid for his life.
It's too late.
Knife held poised to strike, Auggie is frustrated to realize his resolve starting to slip away as time ticks on. Annie's earlier words are beginning to force their way to the forefront again, too insistent to keep ignoring. This one man, if kept alive, could save lives with the information they could extract from him. Saving lives was what they'd all wanted to do back then, why they risked everything to make the world a little safer.
Is it too late? Is he really doing what isn’t in the best interest of the unit he commanded to do this? Is it really doing their memory any justice at all, or was he making it worse?
The sobering thought is what finally brings him down from his anger-fueled attack, and he returns the knife to its sheath with a weary reluctance. He can't do it, no matter how much everything in him aches to do it. He can't kill this man and truly let him take everything from him. This realization doesn’t stop him from punching Khani one more time for good measure, which finally knocked the piece of filth out. It’s not satisfying, but it’s something.
The plane ride, which had been diverted as Annie promised it would be, ends up being long and uncomfortable. Khani drifts in and out of consciousness, but by the first time he’s awake he's bound with no way to escape. When they reach D.C., Auggie is more than happy to kick the terrorist out of the cargo hold to present him to the waiting FBI agents, to wipe his hands of him. He pauses only long enough to listen to them dragging him away to their waiting cars, the mental and physical exhaustion settling in finally when he realizes it’s all over. He knew he’s chosen the right thing to do, no matter what misgivings he had with it. That would do for now.
Extending his cane to help him off the plane himself, he expects to step off onto the hard concrete of the D.C. airport they'd landed in. Instead, he is surprised to find that isn’t the case at all - something that gave way much easier under his weight - dirt or sand, maybe? What’s stranger is the sudden silence that fell on him almost the second he stepped off - no sounds of cars driving away, no airplane engines, nothing that should be expected.
Instead, he hears an ocean, clear as can be. The smell and sound of the sea starts overpowering his senses nearly immediately, and he looks in the sound's direction, feeling the warm (too warm) sun on his face. He doesn't move, not an inch, trying to make sense of something that didn't make any at all. It’s a little bit after he starts trying to discern as much as he can where he stood that he realizes he can hear the sound of someone's footsteps. He turns in its’ direction, tensing up involuntarily.
"Hello?" he calls out. "Who's there?"
[OOC: Traditional debut. Find him anywhere along the beach. Please see/reply to this post before tagging in!]