All Hands On Deck

After their tortuous role-playing session finally ended, Fusco and Shaw made it back down to the beach where Root was sharing a lounge chair with Gina chatting, while Reese and Craig were throwing a football back and forth.

Root caught sight of her favorite primary asset and fake husband approaching their area and didn’t even stop the huge smile that spread across her face.

“Hey, Sammy, how was your session?”

The hacker was quite excited that her little firecracker came back to the beach, no doubt still in her black bikini under her shorts and t-shirt. She was even glad that Fusco came back; she bet the detective hadn’t gotten many vacations during his overworking lifetime.

“Who won the game?” Shaw asked as she sat in the lounge chair next to Root and Gina. She noticed Root while still wearing her red bikini; the hacker chose not to take off her t-shirt and shorts while talking to their possible perpetrator.

“Craig and I were no match for this killer Midwest couple,” Gina said as she toasted Root with her fruity cocktail. “Well, I guess this means it’s our turn for the good doctor.” Gina got up from the chair motioned to her husband, and headed back to the main resort building for their role-playing session with Dr. Tinswell.

As soon as the Roths were out of sight, Zoe and Harold walked up the beach. Bear trotted, along with them excited to be near the water and the rest of his team. Bear immediately pulled hard on the leash to get where Shaw and Root were sitting, until Finch gave him the stay command in Dutch.

“Finch, you did say this was a working vacation. Let Bear have some fun,” Root smiled while watching her favorite primary canine asset. Finch then reluctantly took the leash off Bear, who trotted up to Root and licked her face.

Shaw looked annoyed that Bear went to Root first. And she thought since when was Bear just giving out kisses to the hacker. Shaw jumped off her lounge chair, took off her top and shorts, and grabbed the football from Reese.

“C’mon Bear!” The petite firecracker teased Bear with the football and then ran towards the ocean. Bear sprinted after Shaw with gusto; he indeed looked like a happy puppy.

Root sprang up from her seat, ditched her shirt and shorts, and ran after them towards the water with a huge smile plastered across her face. The rest of the team just watched as the trio galloped further down the beach.

“Well, I was going to update everyone on what Ms. Morgan and I found out. Plus, see if the Roths revealed anything, but I guess that can wait until after Bear frolics in the Pacific Ocean,” Finch said with an agitated look on his face.

“Relax, Finch, grab a chair. As Shaw said, you do look kind of pasty,” Reese smirked.

Reese wanted to take Zoe’s hand, walk down the beach, and then realize he had his fake wife Root. However, his fake wife was chasing after another woman on the beach and getting close to catching her. He couldn’t help a warm smile while watching the two women, he glanced over to Zoe, who was watching him, and she winked at him.

“We should order a fruit plate,” said Fusco as he laid down in one of the lounge chairs and closed his eyes, sighing a sigh of happiness from the sun glowing on his face.

Bear was beyond excited to be running on the beach and chasing after Shaw with the football. The Dutch stallion canine sometimes got confused with Root running behind them and would jump back and play with her, which made the hacker shriek with giggles. Shaw ran out into the water; she stayed shallow so Bear could chase after her, jumping through the small waves.

“Oh, Bear. He’s getting filthy,” Finch said while watching his human teammates frolic along the beach with their canine teammate. “If Ms. Shaw weren’t undercover, Bear would be residing in her quarters tonight. She can clean all the sand from his fur.”

The trio continued to run further down the beach, Shaw still outpacing Bear and Root despite the hacker’s long leg advantage. The petite primary asset kept glancing back and giving them both a mischievous look.

“Bear, go long!” Shaw yelled as she threw the football just as Root caught up and tackled her, toppling both of them entirely into the ocean.

Bear did indeed catch the football, and then the dog ran towards the two women in the ocean, bouncing as he jumped in and out of the water.
Both Bear and the hacker jumped up on the petite primary asset when Root and Shaw popped their heads out of the water. Shaw grabbed the football from Bear and threw it on the land; the excited dog chased after the ball. The petite primary asset roughly grabbed the hacker’s wandering hands and pushed her further into the water. The hacker stared intensely at her favorite primary asset, one of her long legs snaked out to tangle around one of the shorter woman’s legs.

“Ha, my boy caught it. Touchdown,” Shaw splashed water towards Root.

“Here’s my kind of touchdown,” Root said as her arm reached out and ran her fingers up and down Shaw’s torso.

Being in the ocean with Shaw in her black bikini, the sun glistening off her toned skin, dark wild disheveled hair dripping water all over her face made the hacker momentarily delirious, she leaned over and kissed the petite primary asset. Shaw also battling very similar hormonal overload problems with the hacker in a red bikini driving her libido over the highest cliff didn’t hesitate and reciprocated the kiss back fiercely until one tiny part of her brain sparked on. She broke off the kiss by lunging back down under the water. Water splashed up in the hacker’s face, and she couldn’t help but smirk. Root looked back down the beach to make sure nobody saw them, which thankfully their teammates were preoccupied with a waiter.

When Shaw came back for air, Root stared at her, “Root…our uh…fake husbands are right there.”

Shaw nodded to the beach further down, even though she wanted Root to continue touching her and especially wanted the hacker’s tongue back in her mouth. She would never admit that in extreme torture, under oath or another Tinswell therapy session. As long as they had this no-fuss agreement, she might get as much out of it as possible.

“And unless they have x-ray vision underwater, there’s nothing to see, plus we are further down the beach,” Root said as one of her hands went running down along Shaw’s thigh.

Shaw grabbed Root’s wrist but didn’t move it from her thigh; if anything, she moved it up higher, “Didn’t you say we’re on Her candid camera show all the time now, even here at the beach?”

Root paddled her arms in the water to make it look like she was standing while her legs wrapped around Shaw’s waist and squeezed. She got a smug look on her face when her favorite primary asset let out a small moan from the contact. Bear sunbathed on the beach watching the waves, and the two women fight off their carnal urges long enough to fully stand up and separate from each other reluctantly. They both walked out of the ocean, Root openly and wantonly lusting after Shaw. The hacker thought she could binge-watch Shaw all day, walking down a beach every day in a black bikini, preferably in slow motion. She was glad they had run so far down the beach, which meant she got to watch her favorite scantily primary asset saunter down the beach for an extended time. She wanted to catalog every glorious minute; she wanted this footage on her hard drive with multiple back-ups.

Shaw kept her eyes on Bear, watching her canine teammate bouncing in and out the waves as they all three shuffled along in the shallow part of the ocean. The petite primary asset did steal glances at the hacker in her damn red bikini that accentuated just about every damn body part, especially her legs. Shaw didn’t want to admit her eyes kept betraying her and focusing on Root’s calves, whenever the waves receded, and she could see them. Had the hacker been working out? How did the hacker have such drool-worthy calves Shaw thought.

When they reached the area where Reese and Fusco were hanging out, they found that Finch and Zoe were gone. The two male teammates were sitting in the lounge chairs, sharing a fruit platter.

“Finch said he did find something we need to check out,” Reese said while scanning the beach for any dangerous activity and not wanting to make eye or body contact with his two scantly clad female teammates.

Fusco leaned over and grabbed the fruit platter to put in his lap as he saw his fake wife approaching; Shaw reached over and grabbed a handful of fruit.

“And?” Asked Shaw in between bites of fruit.

“Said he would be right back,” Reese bent down and reattached Bear to his leash.

“Honey, I’m going to shower and change,” Root reached out, patting John’s arm, which caught Shaw’s attention, who had a slight unconscious scowl on her face.

“Yeah, me too,” Shaw tried to say as casually as possible while she punched Fusco in the arm, then she discreetly followed the hacker along the beach towards the resort.

Shaw saw a supply closet full of towels and other items for the resort hotel staff with the door ajar, so she grabbed Root’s arm and swung her inside, shutting the door behind them. Before Root even knew what was happening, the petite firecracker had somehow managed to untie her bikini top and planted several hungry kisses along the base of her neck. The kisses started migrating lower and lower Root’s chest. Root didn’t even have time to catch her breath before the Shaw’s lips found her nipple and started sucking on it. Root grabbed Shaw’s hair tightly and tangled her fingers through the wet curls, pushing the petite primary asset’s face harder to her body. They were both in their bikinis, dripping wet from the ocean with patches of sand scattered over their bodies. The sensations of their bodies rubbing against each other caused both of them to moan out when Root slid her thigh in between Shaw’s legs. Shaw slipped her hand underneath Root’s bikini bottom to grab the hacker’s ass roughly and dig in her short fingernails.

They heard the door handle jiggle to open, then the sound of keys being inserted into the lock. By the time the door finally opened, the hotel resort staff person only saw one woman helping another woman with her bikini top strap.

Root looked over to the hotel resort employee and smiled warmly, “I had a bikini wardrobe malfunction, and she was just helping me to avoid a nip slip in front of everyone.”

Shaw rolled her eyes as they exited the supply closet. Root smirked; she had no idea why Sameen had done that, except that maybe her favorite primary asset was just about ready to sexually combust as she was if they couldn’t get some alone time very soon.

As soon as they were walking back up the path to the resort Shaw spat out, “Let’s go to your room…right now,” as she adjusted her bikini bottom and a fire in her eyes staring at Root while also running her eyes up and down the hacker’s barely clothed body. They walked quickly through the lobby, without making eye contact with anyone and praying not to run into obstacles, which was for naught since Finch called out to them as they reached the elevators. They both sighed heavily.

“Ms. Shaw, Ms. Groves…I just got some coordinates that need to be checked out. I’m not sure where or what the coordinates mean, but the Machine calculates it could be something related to the Roth’s plan, which I think still somehow leads to Samaritan,” Finch eyed both of his teammates who seemed somewhat uncomfortable and fidgety.

“Do we need to check it out right now,” Shaw couldn’t believe the words coming out of her mouth, was she shirking off something dangerous and work-related because she needed to be inside a tall bikini-clad hacker so badly at the moment. Finch looked aghast at the petite primary asset. “I just meant, I wanted to take a shower to get off all the sand off,” Shaw hoped that was convincing, although one glance to Root and her lustful eyes, and it was probably pretty transparent why she wanted to hold off on work.

“Ms. Shaw, there’s a shower on the beach. Not to mention, you’re not the only covered in sand, so is Bear,” Finch said with an annoyed look to Shaw.

“Maybe John and Fusco could take a break from their fruit platter?” said Root in a hopeful voice while slightly nudging Shaw with her leg.

“Mr. Reese and Mr. Fusco are checking another lead as soon as they finish their fruit platter. Please, do hurry and report back what you find,” Finch walked off to find the canine teammate who was desperately in need of a bath.

Root and Shaw headed back to the beach area begrudgingly, and the shower stalls located close to the pool area for convenience with slightly grumpy faces.

“Don’t join me in the shower,” Shaw gently pushed Root away with her hand on her chest. “You heard the man, we’ve got coordinates to check out.”

Root sighed as she headed to one of the other shower stalls. Finch was not her favorite person at the moment.

*****

When Shaw came out of the shower stall, she couldn’t find Root. She sighed; she had just taken the coldest shower of her life in hopes of squashing down her hormones from ripping off the hacker’s bikini top. The petite primary asset didn’t want to admit that she did want the hacker to join her in the shower, even if it was slightly public. Her body was a very short fuse at the moment, and it still surprised her that the hacker was the match. She could still feel the sting of Root’s kisses and the heat of her hands roaming all over her body, especially her thigh in between her legs.

She was suddenly shaken from her thoughts when Root trotted up on a horse in the distance. Where in the hell did she get a horse? And why does she look so stunning on a horse? The hacker put her clothes back on over that damn red bikini, and her damp hair made her look even more charming while perched on top of a freakin horse. Root looked like she could be on the cover of a cheesy romance novel, NOT that Shaw knew what any of those looked like besides seeing them on magazine racks at grocery stores.

“Where did you get a horse? And why?” asked a slightly grumpy, confused Shaw. She looked up to Root, who looked down at her with dazzle and mischief in her eyes.

“The coordinates are a bit far out. We can get back faster…to shower properly,” there was definite innuendo in the hacker’s voice, “I bet Dr. Tinswell has horseback therapy next. Can you just imagine you and Fusco, riding along together bareback?” said Root with an evil twinkle in her eye.

“I will be a widow before that happens,” Shaw continued to stare up at Root, who looked too graceful, elegant, and just plain hot upon the horse. “Is there another horse? I wanna drive,” Shaw didn’t want to be pressed up against the hacker if they had work to do, her thinking was never that clear with Root around, and it was even muddier and cloudier now with Root on a horse.

“You can drive mine,” Root said with about as much innocence as a supervillain would say luring prey to a trap.

Shaw shook her head. Root outstretched an arm to help Shaw hop on the horse, but the petite primary asset ignored the helping hand. She wasn’t as graceful as the hacker, and she didn’t have the long height advantage. However, she managed to swing herself somewhat swiftly onto the horse and seated herself in front of the hacker on the saddle. Root immediately took the opportunity to place her hands on Shaw’s thighs and started rubbing circles on the inner side.

“Root…place your hands somewhere else,” Shaw said with the effects of her cold shower just vaporized by the hacker’s one action.

Root then moved her hands to hold onto the saddle begrudgingly. They were after all still on the resort grounds, so she knew she had to tone it down a little in case that pesky Joan materialized out of thin air, which was possible as the hacker suspected she might be a witch.

After a while, it was evident that Shaw wasn’t exactly the best equestrian or the horse didn’t seem to like her very much. She didn’t necessarily want to let Root take over the reins, but she relented, which meant the hacker now had the full excuse of wrapping her arms around her waist and setting her chin on the petite firecracker’s shoulder. Once they lost sight of the resort, the hacker took advantage of the distance. Root managed to steer the horse and plant open mouth kisses up and down Shaw’s neck, along with some heavy sucking. Much like all the marks, the petite primary asset left littered all over the hacker’s neck during her jellyfish sex-crazed incident; Root was doing the same to Shaw. Shaw put one hand on the saddle horn and grabbed onto Root’s thigh with the other, digging her nails in which spurred the hacker onto stronger sucking. She was fairly impressed that Root could administer all this horny physical action while still commanding the horse very deftly along the beach and a small patch of the jungle.

“Root…”

“Yeah, sweetie?” Root quickly asked as to continue her physical kissing attack on her favorite primary asset’s neck, since Shaw agreed to their arrangement she wasn’t going to let any moment they were alone together go to waste.

“Uh…we are undercover, what if somebody sees you going all Lestat on my neck while we’re on this horse. God forbid Joan trots by, although I will have to shoot her then, so that’s a pleasing thought,” Shaw said with a dazed look on her face.

“Nobody comes this far down the beach,” Root managed to mumble out in between sucking and kissing.

“Famous last words from a horror movie,” Shaw rolled her eyes, although the action had more to do with a hard bite to the neck, not because of the annoying words of the hacker.

They finally reached the coordinates Finch had given them. Once again, Root noticed the Machine was pretty quiet, just alerting her that they had reached the correct coordinates. Shaw didn’t want to admit she was a little light-headed and dazed from all of Root’s neck, sucking on her pulse point. The petite primary asset jumped off the horse a little shaky, she discreetly held onto the saddle for balance. Then Root slid off too gracefully, except her shirt caught on the saddle and rode up, revealing her torso, which Shaw unconsciously reached and grabbed because she thought the hacker needed help dismounting, not because she needed to touch her.

Both women looked around for something suspicious since they were further inland. They were mostly surrounded by jungle type forest. Then Root got that certain far off look in her eyes.

“This way,” Root said while leading Shaw to the side of either a mountain or volcano. The hacker pulled out a small flashlight from her shorts; she ran her hands along the wall until she found an opening. Both of the women looked to each other, slightly surprised. “She says there’s something in there we should see; she’s not quite sure what is though.” Root pointed the flashlight down the long cave-like tunnel.

“Great,” Shaw pulled out her gun from her shorts. She wasn’t a fan of wearing shorts on missions, specifically for gun-related reasons.

Root grabbed Shaw’s hand and headed into the cave-like tunnel with the small flashlight beam leading their way.

“What is this? Is this a cave near one of the volcanoes?” asked Shaw as she looked around the tunnel as they went deeper and further into the darkness. She hoped they weren’t actually in a volcano.

“Do you want to know that we’re inside a volcano?” asked Root grinning at Shaw even though she knew in the darkness she couldn’t see her face.

“No, not really,” just what Shaw didn’t want to hear.

“We’re inside a sleeping giant, much like Samaritan, try not to wake it up,” Root kept timing it, so her and Shaw kept brushing up against each other as they crept further down the cave-like tunnel.

“Is this…uh, an active volcano?” asked Shaw, trying to sound nonplussed.

“It’s a lava tube. Volcanoes created all the Hawaiian Islands once upon a time; tubes are newer, though. Lave used to flow through them, draining lava from an eruption; then, they cooled and left cave-like tunnels. Some are active, and some are extinct, let’s hope this one is dormant,” Root smiled and brought up the flashlight under her face to raise her eyebrows to Shaw.

“And if it decides to erupt?” Shaw yanked the flashlight out of Root’s hand, “How much further are we supposed to walk, what are we even looking for?”

“Look at these lavacicles. Think of all the shifting magma, its kind of turn on,” Root paused to awe at the nature scenery around her, with another small flashlight she had someplace hidden. The hacker admired the walls then turned her attention to the best scenery in the world, her favorite primary asset.

“You’re such a nerd. Next, you’re going to tell me Star Trek fanfic does it for you,” Shaw had stopped as well to look around at the wondrous cooling lava around her.

“No, I’m more a Xena and Gabby girl,” Root could already feel Shaw rolling her eyes at this comment. “This volcano could erupt at any time, kind of exciting. Could be right now.”

“Let’s hope it stays calm,” Shaw on purpose aimed the flashlight in Root’s face before pointing the light back down towards the long tunnel before them.

“True, we can’t outrun lava. We would just become part of this lava tub forever, which is kind of romantic,” Root had a goofy look on her face as she bit her lower lip.

“Sure, in a Romeo & Juliet stupid kind of dead way,” Shaw immediately started cursing herself, damnit. She thought of how that was completely the wrong kind of thing to say to the right kind of crazy Root.

“That’s quite the comparison Sameen,” Root couldn’t believe her ears; well, she couldn’t believe her whole situation with Shaw at the moment. Then suddenly, she heard the Machine in her ear.

“No, I meant the Descent, the cave movie where they all died with disgusting crap all over them,” Shaw tried to explain her wrong reply. She could tell from Root’s serious far off look she was listening to the Machine instead; getting some vital information hopefully.

“She just told me we have 27 minutes,” Root moved closer to Shaw with a blaze in her eyes. Then the hacker took off her t-shirt and dropped it nearby; she then reached to remove the Shaw’s t-shirt.

“27 minutes until what?” Shaw watched Root with those damn big eyes, her complete undoing for some insane reason.

Shaw thought that 27 minutes wasn’t nearly enough time for what she wanted to do to the hacker. Yet, she also knew all the foreplay Root had pressed upon her over the last few days and very begrudgingly what she had done to the hacker during her jellyfish infused sex craze was enough foreplay to last at least five nights of debauchery. Shaw was about to implode if she didn’t have the hacker in some quick capacity. And this dizzy feeling in her head when the hacker was around lately was impeding her judgment regarding anything work-related.

“She didn’t say,” Root was successful in getting Shaw’s t-shirt off. Both women stood in front of each only in their bikini tops. Root grabbed Shaw’s waist and pulled their bodies together, so almost every inch of their exposed skin were touching somewhere. “We can do a lot in 27 minutes,” the hacker spat out before finding her petite firecracker’s pulse point once again on her neck and biting down hard. She also slid her hand down to cup Shaw’s ass, while her other hand went to one of the primary asset’s breasts, pushing the restricting bikini top out of the way.

“You can’t be serious, we’re in what you said…a lava tube??” Shaw began pushing Root towards one of the pointy walls. Root only squirmed for a moment when her nearly bare back made contact with the prickly lava pillar.

“No time like the present Sameen. Although, we’ll have to skip appetizers and move right to the main course,” Root gripped Shaw’s hips roughly and pulled them towards her, pressing the full length of their bodies together again. “Plus, you tried to have sex with me in a cave so…”

“I did what?” Shaw didn’t know if she ever wanted to hear the full account of her twelve hours on a sex-crazed doomsday jellyfish brain. Just from the few tidbits, she had heard, and the brief video she saw on Joan’s phone was embarrassing enough never to ask about it again.

“Sorry, to have to tell you this Sam…this isn’t the first time you’ve been topless in a cave-like tunnel,” the hacker leaned down and, in one move, removed the petite primary asset’s bikini top.

Root’s lips latched her lips onto one of Shaw’s breasts, alternating between the two. Shaw barely had time to brace herself from the delirious onslaught and the new information she had tried to seduce the hacker while topless in a cave. The petite primary asset tried her hardest to hold down several moans from escaping from her throat.

Then Root stopped quickly, looked up, and stared intensely into Shaw’s eyes, “Our first kiss was in a cave.”

“You’re killing the mood,” said Shaw, once again she did not need to know any more details about those twelve hours, and specifically if she had been topless with Root and kissing her in a cave. She desperately wanted to do that now in this similar setting, and this time remember those actions. And consequences.

Shaw grabbed Root’s head with both hands and pulled her up; she stared into those big damn heart eyes that made her feel like she was swept away by a hurricane of desire. Or first kiss lust or whatever. She didn’t know why her chest felt so tight, or heart was pounding faster and harder than it usually did during sex with someone. The hacker placed long open-mouthed kisses all along Shaw’s neck and chest, moving back to her mouth. As soon as Root took Shaw’s top lip into her mouth, the petite primary asset gave a tug to the hacker’s hair and pulled her into a kiss with about as much force like she was drop-kicking someone. And then when Root took her tongue hostage in long, deep sucks and strokes, Shaw’s hand glided quickly underneath the hacker’s shorts and bikini bottom. The clock was ticking away fast; Shaw felt she needed to be inside Root almost as much as she needed life essentials. At this moment, she would give up the best porterhouse steak from St. Louis to stay as long as she could wrapped up in Root, to continue kissing her and hearing all the fevered sounds broadcasting from the hacker’s body. As soon as Shaw’s hand landed in the right spot, Root gasped and moaned; she kept masping until two fingers slid inside, and then she barely got out, ‘Sameen’ several times. The petite primary asset heard herself letting out a few moans just from being inside the hacker and feeling her move against her, to feel her muscles clench around her fingers.

Then suddenly, she let out, “Damnit Root,” as Shaw felt Root slip her hand down her bikini bottom, and before she knew it, the hacker’s fingers were very swiftly and very close to turning her into a pouring hot lava mess as they pumped inside of her.

“Well, just in case lava comes out and melts us right now,” Root said as she pushed deeper into Shaw, causing the petite primary asset to tilt her head back and close her eyes tightly fighting against an orgasm that was approaching way too fast and hard.

“Uhhhh….damnit Root,” Shaw rolled her eyes, and despite her hardest to control them, she kept letting out low guttural moans because of what the hacker’s fingers were doing to her.

Shaw recovered somewhat and managed to keep up her rhythm inside Root despite having no blood flowing anywhere except to her specific lower region area. They both pushed their foreheads together as they pushed each other further and further. Their mouths were almost touching, breathing in each other as they panted against each other.

Root opened her mouth and, through haggard breathing, “I can’t die having never been inside of you.”

“Is that one of your bucket list things?” Shaw said in between moans that were getting louder and louder as she was getting closer and closer to her own eruption.

“Absolutely,” Root managed out in between her moans, “Oh Sameen…you’re melting me,” the hacker kissed her primary asset hard and broke off because her lava was making her push harder and harder the air in her lungs felt on fire as well.

“Oh gawwwwd Root….you’re such a dork,” Shaw could feel Root’s walls tightening around her fingers, which spurred her on even more, and she felt herself clench around Root’s fingers.

Root bit down hard on Shaw’s neck when she came, so the petite primary asset returned the action to the hacker’s neck. Both women left their marks behind each other, probably hoping to save their spot whether they wanted to admit it. As soon as they felt the wave of lightheadedness start to fade and their breathing slow down a bit, they started kissing again. Shaw didn’t remember ever kissing someone as much as she was kissing Root, then again, no one had ever tasted as good as the hacker. And she desperately needed to taste all the flavors of Root.

Shaw realized through her fog that her fingers were still inside Root while the hacker’s hands were busy trailing up and down her body. She went to remove her fingers, and Root stopped her, “Wait…”

“My fingers are going to pucker,” Shaw said in a teasing tone. The petite primary asset would never admit that she kind of did like she was still inside of Root, almost laying claim to the hacker.

Suddenly, they both heard a soft buzzing type of sound coming from deeper into the lava tube.

“What in the hell is that?” asked Shaw, she withdrew from Root and grabbed her t-shirt to pull over her head; no time for the bikini top.

Root followed her action. They both raised their guns from where the noise was coming from the darkness of the lava tube; the noise got louder and closer.

Root pointed the flashlight down the lava tube then suddenly; shadows were forming and coming at them fast. The two women looked puzzled because the shadows appeared to be flying towards them. Before they knew it, they both ducked their heads, and flying drones were headed straight for them. Three drones flew right past them over their heads and kept flying to the lava tube entrance.

“Drones? Why are there drones down here?” Shaw started chasing after the drones; Root followed her down the lava tube.

As soon as Root and Shaw reached the entrance, the drones took off in the direction of the resort, Shaw aimed and shot at the drones.

“Sameen, what are you doing?”

“Those are the sleekest drones I’ve ever seen; there’s no way those are for recreational use. And why three of them?” Shaw asked as she continued to aim and shoot at the drones.

“So, you’re going to try and shoot them all down?”

“No, try, do.” Shaw precisely aimed and shot down all three stealth drones. Semi-loud crashes could be heard from the three drones falling from the sky and smashing into the ground.

Suddenly, two more drones flew past them faster, and Shaw wasn’t able to get a good shot at them.

“More drones? What kind of evil lair lava tube are they coming from?” asked Root as Shaw took off towards the horse tied up to a nearby tree.

They both ran to the horse. Root quickly slung her long leg over and perched in the saddle, she reached out her arm, and Shaw reluctantly grabbed onto to the hacker’s hand to swing up on the horse because it was faster with help. They galloped after the drones on the horse. Shaw leaned up, holding onto Root’s shoulder for balance as she aimed for the drones. She shot, and one drone fell into the ocean. Then the last drone changed trajectory and started flying straight at Root and Shaw on the horse.

“This can’t be good,” said Shaw as the drone speeded towards them. The petite primary asset continued shooting at the drone.

Then the drone armed itself and started shooting at them.

“See recreational drones my ass,” Shaw quipped as she put her elbow on Root’s shoulder, aimed and fired while the hacker continued galloping the horse down the beach. The drone got off a few shots before Shaw blasted it down.

Root stopped the horse once the drone crashed on the sandy beach.

“We need to take one or two back with us so Harry can take a look at them,” Root said as she swung off the horse and hit the soft sand.

Shaw jumped down, looked over at the drone, then back to Root, and one thing caught her eye, and she let out a gasp.

“You got shot?” asked a surprised Shaw, who did not like that her breathing quickened, and heart rate raced from seeing the red color on Root’s shirt.

“Sweetie, it’s my shoulder…what did you expect. It’s like magnetic to bullets,” Root did her best non-wink to Shaw.