Shaurya was running in the garden of their hotel, with pods plugged in. His tee shirt was sticking to his body due to his sweat but his breath was regulated and he looked relaxed. A drop of sweat dropped from his damp hair and rolled down from his forehead, sliding from his sharp pointed nose and falling to the ground from his chin. 

His Jaw was clenched, and his puffy muscles were shining with droplets of sweat. Every girl in the park was ogling at him and most of them actually came to the park to see him. His eyes remained fixed on the path in front of him as he neglected all the stares thrown at him and concentrated on his run.

"Looks like our captain is again collecting girls like candies," Akshith, the vice-captain and his best friend who joined Shaurya uttered teasingly looking around at the girls eye-raping his best friend.

"Don't worry. You will have your share now that you are here," Shaurya replied coolly making Akshith chuckle. Both of them completed their rounds and moved to their rooms to have a relaxing shower. 

The entire team gathered for breakfast, mostly consisting of the nutritious food suggested by their nutritionists. The bus took them to the stadium where their last match was going to take place. The team gathered for the meeting after the coaches and captain assessed the field and pitch to check humidity and pitch conditions.

The head coach gave them a brief about the field conditions and the opposition team before explaining their roles to everyone. Once the head coach was done with his instruction, the batting and bowling coaches took their turns post which the captain explained their game plan. 

After their team meeting, the players moved to the nets to warm up. They started with basic stretches, jogging, and fielding drills. The batsmen and bowlers moved to nets to practice their skills and to get accustomed to pitch conditions. They also practiced fielding with catches, throws, and agility drills. 

The team decided to take a short break and get ready as the match was about to start in a few minutes.

*******************************************************************************

The firing of guns was the only sound that could be heard in the dark environment. There was no single source of light in the surroundings. Both the shooting parties rely on their hearing ability and the night sights attached to their pistols to take down the enemies. 

"Where the fuck is this backup team?" A man's distressed voice is heard from the microphone as he chides his team about the backup team being late for their rescue.

"They will be here soon, Rakku baby. Now stop getting irritated and concentrate on killing those bastards before they put a bullet into your skull," Another man commented making Rakshith utter a series of curses making other officers shake their heads at the banter of these best friends.

"Bhavin, I swear I will..."

"Guys, someone is nearing us," another voice cut their banter. Shika turned back, clutching her gun with both her hands. She shot the man before he could shoot Nithin. 

"The backup team will be here in exactly 90 seconds. Let's grab some kills till then, shall we?" A smirk formed on their lips as they sneakily moved forward hiding behind the walls and doors. They killed 3 members before the team joined them and together they killed 20 terrorists.

"We should search their hideout first," Nithin suggested and the team of 5 moved to the old house, which they found out as the base of the terror group they just finished. The team searched every inch of the old building and found a few maps, on which a few cities are marked with a red cross, two cell phones, and a few bundles of currency. 

"Looks like they are here to plan blasts," Bhavin said inspecting the bodies of the terrorists trying to find something in their pockets.

"Maybe we can get more information from their cell phones," Ananya muttered trying to inspect the cell phone in her hands. She pocketed the phone and tried to find something more in that shabby place.

"Rakshith, there!" she pointed to the roof, and with a round of shots, the piece of roof fell to the ground along with a packet. They picked the packet and it had a picture along with the details of the person. 

"Now who's this Bikhari(Beggar)?" Shika exclaimed looking at the man in the picture who looked like in his mid-40s, with his eyes blood red and his lips a dark shade of purple. He looked like a beggar with his messy hair and torn clothes.

"Don't know. Let's move," They got into their car and drove to the airport from where they took a flight to Delhi. Their flight landed in Delhi after one and a half hours. 

"I am going to sleep the whole day. We will go to the office in the evening," Bhavin fake yawned to show how sleepy he was. The remaining members rolled their eyes at his drama but they all wanted to rest for a while too. They didn't have proper rest for the past 10 days as they were keeping an eye on the terror group informer to find their hide-out.

"I agree with him guys. I am too tired to hear Kulkarni sir's lecture now." Shika rested her head on Nithin's shoulder who smiled at her, wrapping a hand around her shoulders. 

"Okay then. Pick me when you are going to the office," Ananya told them and tied her hair in a pony. The team nodded at each other and moved out of the airport. They just stepped out of the airport when Nithin's phone went off making the color drain from their faces.

"Jai Hind sir," with that one word they knew they were not getting any rest and were going to the office. Nithin tried his best to negotiate with his boss but he finally gave in muttering an okay sir.

"I should have slept in the plane instead of listening to your stupid rant," Ananya chided Rakhshith who shook his head knowing her antics very well. They all drove to their office instead of home and entered their wing.

"Good morning, team," Mr. Kulkarni wished them with an expressionless face making all of them roll their eyes internally.

"What good happened this morning?" Shika muttered under her breath which all of them heard and pressed their lips to stop the smile forming on their lips. 

"I know you guys didn't have a break for the past few days. Our technical team is trying to retrieve data from the mobiles you found and we also circulated the photo of the man to all our officers and police forces.  I called you here to inform you that you can have rest for the coming week. Meet you all after a week and don't party like animals," Their faces broke out into huge grins on hearing about the break. Finally, they are going to have a break.

"You may leave now," They were out of his sight as soon as Mr. Kulkarni completed his words. He shook his head at his team's madness and moved to the control room to check the progress. He might never confess in front of them but he is really proud of his team and their achievements. 

"So, the great chief called us to the office just to ask us to take a leave for a week? He could have said the same in the call too, right?" Bhavin whined resting his head on Rakshith's shoulder who was sitting between him and Ananya. 

"He just wanted to see all of us and check for any injuries," Ananya mumbled resting her head on his other shoulder. Ananya and Bhavin were in the same college and Rakshith was their senior. They had a great bond from the college times. Nithin and Shika became their friends in the academy and by luck, they all got assigned to the same team. 

"He would die but would never confess that he cares for us," Shika commented making everyone nod their heads, agreeing with her. Ananya and Bhavin slipped into slumber with their heads on Rakhit's shoulder who slept with his head against the back of the seat. 

"Guys, there is a cricket match today evening. We will watch it together," Nithin chirped when he remembered about the match scheduled for the evening, startling the people in the back.

"What the hell, Nithin? Who shouts like that?" Ananya chided as her sleep got disturbed while Rakhith who was a step ahead, spanked his head making him yelp in pain.

"Sorry, but please guys! Let's watch it," Nithin pleaded with his puppy eyes. After a brief discussion about where to watch the match and other arrangements, everyone agreed to meet at Shika's place as her parents went to a wedding and they could have their party there. 

Nithin dropped everyone off and went to his place as they decided to sleep in the whole day and watch cricket in the evening.