Never Judge

"Sir, they've begun the assault." Leon reported to Cedric as he sat at the conference table at the other end of Cedric's office.

In the span of fifteen minutes, Leon and his team had not just assembled a plan but also converted Cedric's office into their base of operation.

Cedric had of course asked Leon to do this so that  he could remain updated on what was happening with regards to Guan Ming's retrieval.

"Ced, I think it's time to tell Camilla." Ian said as he looked at his friend from where he sat. "You don't want her finding out after, she won't talk to you for a year if you do that."

Cedric silently nodded as he acknowledged what Ian had said. His friend was right, they needed to tell Camilla and soon. At least now it was too late for her to rush off anywhere to help Guan Ming.

He took a deep breath as he took out his phone and dialed Camilla's number.

She didn't seem to be busy because she quickly picked up the call.

"Do you have something to tell me, Cedric Clarin Reyes?" Camilla asked in an angry tone, calling Cedric by his full name.

"What do you know?" Cedric asked with a sigh.

"I heard about a terrorist attack at the airport, guess who just landed when the attack arrived?" She asked Cedric, daring him to answer her question.

"Camilla, look, I didn't want to tell you because-" Cedric began to reason when Camilla cut him off mid-sentence, she was furious and shouting at him at the top of her lungs.

"DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME THAT YOU WERE TRYING TO PROTECT ME!" Camilla said, angry at Cedric. "You have known me most of my working life and we both know I'm not some fragile princess!"

Cedric sighed and shook his head. Camilla was always the brave and headstrong one, she didn't want protection or care even if she needed it.

"Camilla, that's not what I meant." Cedric said.

"She's mad, isn't she?" Ian asked as he laughed at Cedric's predicament.

"PUT. ME. ON. SPEAKER!" Camilla said, angrily emphasizing each word as if Cedric wouldn't do as she asked.

"It seems she's mad at you too." Cedric said with a chuckle while he placed the phone on mute, making sure that Camilla didn't hear his side comment.

Once the phone was on speaker, he unmuted the call.

"There, you're on speaker, but I'd just want you to know that the people trying to save Guan Ming are here, so don't scare them." Cedric warned.

"Hey Leon, do a great job!" Camilla cheered in a sweet voice, making Leon smile.

Leon got up from his seat and walked over to Cedric's table.

"I will Camilla, we'll get Guan Ming out as soon as we can. I promise not to let you down." Leon swore, making Cedric and Ian roll their eyes.

"Good, cause if you do, I will personally castrate you." Camilla said in a sweet tone making Leon flinch. No matter how small and weak Camilla seemed, he knew she had a dangerous side to her.

"Of course, Miss Camilla." Leon said as he began to worry about Camilla's threat.

"Just go." Cedric said with a sigh as he waved Leon off, allowing him to focus on the work at hand.

Leon wordlessly nodded and left Cedric and Ian to deal with the temperamental Camilla. He knew that the best way to help her right now was to get Guan Ming out of his current situation.

"Sir, the hostiles are firing back." One of Leon's men said as he approached.

Leon tried to hide his worried look, based on the information they had gathered these men did not value the lives of others. When they fired their weapons, they fired to kill.

"Is anyone hurt on our end?" Leon asked.

He noticed that the conversation between Cedric and Camilla had stopped while his subordinate updated him on the status of their rescue mission.

It seemed Camilla was able to put aside her anger to listen to updates from the ground. This didn't surprise Leon, after having worked with the assistants for as long as he had, he knew what they were capable of and how professional they could be when it mattered most.

"So far, none, sir." His subordinate reported as he listened closely to the radio.

Leon stole a glance at Cedric, he couldn't read Cedric's expression. The young CEO had a cold calculating look on his face, but Leon knew better. He knew that over time, Cedric had mastered the ability of hiding how he truly felt, it was a skill crucial to his position as CEO.

"Have our men started making their way to the different locations?" Leon asked as he sat back down on his spot.

"Yes sir." The subordinate said before he suddenly held the earpiece of his headset closer to his ear. "Sir, we have a development."

Leon raised an eyebrow at the man, all his people knew that Leon hated half baked statements.

"Sir, we've captured twenty men at various locations around the airport." The subordinate said with a gulp, he already knew he made a mistake the moment he waited for Leon to react. "It seems that  they had planned for multiple escape scenarios in case we went for the chase."

Leon nodded as he continued to listen to the report.

"Make them do a secondary sweep." Ian ordered from where he sat. "If they suspected that we would chase them and find their back up, then they also would have accounted for the sweep. Have our people go about it in a different pattern."

Leon wordlessly nodded in agreement, he knew that Ian and Cedric would have valid suggestions, that's why he was more than happy to move the command center to Cedric's office for this mission.

"Do as Mr. Lim asked." Leon told his subordinate, who quickly communicated the message to those on the ground.

"Have them check rooftops too." Cedric added as he quietly studied the situation. "Guan Ming isn't just anyone, they will exhaust every resource they have to take him and use him, if not kill him. They may have helicopters waiting."

The subordinate didn't wait for Leon to give a command this time, he simply relayed the message to the team.

"Why do they all just listen to you?" Ian grumbled as he received a message on his phone.

"Because Cedric pays for their salary and you do sometimes have odd ideas." Leon said with a chuckle as he kept his attention on his men that were working.

Unlike the two men that were still bantering, Cedric did not smile or laugh. He knew exactly what was on the line and he had no plans of diverting his attention elsewhere.

"We'll get him out." Cedric whispered loudly, intending for Camilla to hear his words.

"I have faith in you and Leon and in our men." Camilla told Cedric as her voice shook over the call.

The group remained silent as Leon's men searched the area surrounding the airport and as they continued to engage with the enemy.

Cedric looked out of his window and sighed. The airport was too far from his office to see, but glanced towards its general direction hoping that Guan Ming would make it out just fine.

"Do you want to hear all of this live?" Leon asked as he noticed how anxious Cedric had gotten.

Normally, Cedric would be more involved, but he knew this matter was for the professionals and he didn't want to risk Guan Ming's life because he wanted to dip his toes in the water. But he was not about to refuse Leon's offer to hear everything real time.

"I would prefer that." Cedric said with a nod, prompting Leon to gesture for his subordinate to take off the headset and put the communications through a speaker.

Leon had set this up with the gut feel that Cedric wouldn't be able to last the whole time without being more involved.

Once everything was finally fixed the first new to come over the radio was good news.

"Alpha Team to HQ, the military has arrived, I repeat the military has arrived and it seems like they have brought with them some private back up." One of Leon's men on the ground reported, making Cedric sit up.

"That must be the Sebastian's private army." Cedric said as he realized who the private back up was. "The military would not arrive with any other private force, not even mine. Of course unless it was pre planned but this one happened too quickly."

"If the Sebastians sent their men the Laurences won't be too far behind." Ian added as he thought of how closely related the two families were.

"Sir, we found two choppers and one more team on the roof top of some buildings surrounding the airport." The leader of the sweep team reported.

"They are good." Ian commented as he listened to the live report.

"Yes, they are, but we are better." Leon said with a grin as he returned his attention to the task at hand.

Now they could focus on getting Guan Ming out of his hideout.

"Sir, do we keep them alive? Or do we kill them?" Leon asked Cedric. He didn't dare assume he knew what Cedric wanted.

"Keep just enough to interrogate. I want the rest dead.." Cedric declared as a new flame burned in his eyes.