“Da,” was the only thing he could think to say.
With Gracie calling out orders, Alexei was guided out of the jet under the watchful eyes and steady hands of two nurses. A third nurse waited at the bottom of the ramp with a hovering field stretcher within arm’s reach. Alexei knew better than to argue that he could walk, thank you very much, because Gracie always knew better than the patient and never hesitated to tell them. So Alexei got settled on the stretcher without argument, getting whisked away to Medical while the rest of his team handled Sean’s family and the fallout from their mission.
Annabelle had landed closer to Medical than the main building for purposes of treatment. The landing pad that air traffic control had directed her to wasn’t very far away from the emergency room doors they hurried through.
They brought him to a private room where they transferred him into a biobed and started to divest him of his clothes using heavy-duty scissors. After so many years in the military, Alexei wasn’t body shy, so he just lay back and let Gracie’s nurses do their job. He didn’t know how much time passed before Gracie showed up, but Alexei knew it had been long enough that the nurses had run him through a good dozen tests already.
“Minor operation to get the bullet fragments out of your body and then a low-level regen regime,” Gracie said as she studied the scan results hovering in the air above the biobed. “Your brain scans aren’t matching up with your baseline, but that’s par for the course when you’ve been hit with a neuro-jammer gun. Observation and some painkillers are the only things we can do for you there.”
“Was small hit,” Alexei said.
“Small enough to knock you on your ass. You’re going into surgery.”
Alexei let out a quiet sigh, bowing to the doctor’s orders.
He remembered being wheeled into the OR, but thankfully nothing after that. When he woke up hours later with the taste of chemicals on his tongue, Kyle was sitting beside him with a quiet stillness that Alexei had long ago found comforting.
“<
“<
An ice chip was placed against Alexei’s lips, which he sucked on greedily to ease his parched mouth. Kyle fed them to him until the cup was empty, finally setting it aside. Alexei took a moment to assess himself through a lack of pain.
He touched his side, fingers stroking over healed flesh, the wound there completely gone through a mixture of Gracie’s power and the regen regime she’d put him through. The strange tingling sensation that always made him think something was moving beneath his skin was a fading reminder of the microscopic nanites that had helped heal him.
“<
Alexei lifted his left arm over his face, squinting up at the bright numbers of the chrono shining through the skin of his forearm. “<
“<
They used to be unable to inform their parents about their injuries when they’d been with Strike Force until long after the wound was healed and they were free from blackout orders. Maria and Evgeni Dvorkin had never liked that aspect of radio silence when it came to how they did their jobs. The MDF gave immediate family members a little more leeway when it came to the agency’s field agents, especially their metahumans. They could be informed when someone was hurt, just not how or why they incurred the wound.
“<
“<
Alexei nodded, blinking sleepily. Having just woken up, he shouldn’t be tired, but pushing his body through a rapid healing process was exhausting. He didn’t know how Kyle managed to do it over and over without medical intervention and still be mostly fine afterward.
“<
“<
“<
“<
“<
“<
“<>” Alexei protested, which was a lie. It definitely crossed his mind there for a second.
Kyle poked him in the arm. “<
Alexei waved his brother off before closing his eyes. “<
That, too, was a lie, and they both knew it. Kyle wasn’t going anywhere while Alexei was still laid up, and Alexei wouldn’t want him to. If the situation were reversed, Alexei would be sitting right where Kyle was, counting down the minutes.
He let Kyle do exactly that through the night, waking up to dawn’s light creeping through the window. Kyle, awake and sitting on the chair, had his knees tucked to his chest in a pretzel-like position that looked uncomfortable, but which never was for him.
“<>” was the first thing Alexei said after giving in to a hard yawn.
“<
“<
“<
Alexei made a face at the horrendous taste in his mouth. Shoving at the blankets covering him, he swung his legs over the edge of the biobed, ignoring the soft chime of warning it gave off as he left its scan field. Kyle didn’t insist he get back into bed, but he did watch Alexei walk to the bathroom with sharp eyes.
“<
“<
“<
“<
Alexei rolled his eyes. “<>”
Kyle squawked in wordless indignation at Alexei’s mild revenge for all the times Kyle had overshared about his sex life. Alexei flipped him off with a smile before palming the bathroom door shut.
He took his time in the shower, scrubbing off all the dirt and sweat and blood the nurses hadn’t been able to clean off him yesterday. The warm water felt wonderful, but he couldn’t help thinking about the shower he and Sean had shared in Las Vegas yesterday morning.
Alexei squeezed his eyes shut, glad his head didn’t hurt anymore, but he still didn’t feel quite right in his bones. He moved one hand out of the way of the water, flexing his fingers. Concentrating, Alexei reached for his power, searching out that indiscernible sensation of heat in his very cells that he’d lived with since being turned into a metahuman. His pyrokinesis was accessible, if only just, a tiny curl of flame flickering across his palm.
He snuffed it out, ridiculously relieved he could access his power again.
When he finally left the bathroom, dressed in a clean uniform, Kyle had disappeared. Donovan had taken Kyle’s spot, chatting quietly with Gracie. The soft smile Donovan had on his face was one Alexei had seen many times before over the past year. Despite the jobs they had, Donovan and Gracie were still going strong. Watching them, Alexei could only think about Sean and wonder if they could make it work how Donovan and Gracie did.
“I see you didn’t fall over in the shower,” Gracie said, turning to Alexei with a quick smile. “Next time, please wait until after your morning checkup.”
Alexei shrugged, not promising anything. “Have debrief.”
“Which I�
��m supposed to escort you to,” Donovan said.
“Breakfast first. Mess breakfast, not hospital food.”
“Discharge protocol first,” Gracie countered.
Alexei suffered through a final exam before being discharged, even though Gracie made it clear she wasn’t happy with his decision. She’d have preferred to keep him under observation for another day or so, but Alexei wasn’t having it. His brain scans were almost back to normal and he had places to be.
Namely, the breakfast table.
Donovan walked with him to the commissary in the main building, where he demolished enough food to feed three people. Donovan didn’t judge him, just kept bringing Alexei plates piled high with breakfast options until he couldn’t possibly fit any more into his stomach.
“Feel better?” Donovan asked.
Alexei burped loudly and finished the last of his lukewarm synthcaf. “Da.”
“Then it’s time to get to work.”
Donovan escorted him to the elevator, leaving him to make his way up to the command levels alone. Alexei found the director and deputy director in the usual conference room Alpha Team always seemed to get sequestered in.
“You’re looking better,” Stirling said by way of greeting.
Alexei snapped off a salute before taking a seat across from his superior officers. The terminal was up and running in front of him, and Alexei logged in to start his report.
Nazari took a sip from his can of cherry-flavored Zing! before clearing his throat. “Let’s begin.”
The debrief was a grueling, four-hour marathon of words he had to twist his tongue around. By the end of it, Alexei was just grateful it was over. He knew his after-action report was necessary for the record, but it was always stressful reporting to Nazari and Stirling by himself.
“Thank you for your efforts, both during the mission and now,” Nazari said after they finished up the debriefing. “I know you’ve had a rough time of it.”
“Is nothing, sir,” Alexei replied as he stood up to salute them.
“It’s more than that, and we both know it, Staff Sergeant Dvorkin. You’re off-duty for the next day or so. Try to get some rest.”
The fact that the director didn’t mention the full regulatory time caught Alexei’s attention, but he knew better than to ask about it. Instead, he turned on his heels and walked out, glad to have the debriefing done. He’d still need to sign off on his after-action report later, but he had at least twenty-four hours to procrastinate.
Alexei decided there was no better way to do that than to find Sean.
“Ceres, where is Agent Delaney?” Alexei asked after the elevator doors closed.
“Level 19,” the AI promptly replied. “Would you like that to be your destination?”
“Yes.”
Alexei hadn’t seen Sean since they landed at headquarters yesterday afternoon. He knew someone from the team had been keeping Sean company, but that wasn’t the same as getting his own eyes on him. The mission hadn’t ended how they thought it would, and Alexei wasn’t about to let Sean walk away from their decision to be together in the wake of his family finding out the truth.
Sean can do the work partner paperwork, Alexei thought to himself.
He’d make it worth Sean’s while.
Sean looked up from the tablet in his hand when the door to his private medical room slid open. Elena popped her head inside, giving him a tired smile. Her dark brown hair was twisted back in a tight braid, spilling over one shoulder.
“Hey. Got a minute?” she asked.
“I’m only in here for another hour or so,” he replied.
“And then it’ll be time for that in-person debrief,” Katie said, not looking up from her own tablet.
Sean had been a little surprised when Katie followed him into his medical room for Gracie and her crew to look him over. He’d thought it was for the mental scan, which happened, but she stayed once she finished. Apparently, it was an unwritten rule within Alpha Team that any time one of them was injured, someone else on the team kept watch. Sean didn’t think he merited the company since he was only seconded to Alpha Team due to the Pavluhkin mission—which might not be for much longer if their identities were compromised—but Katie had made it clear she wasn’t leaving.
“I wanted to let you know the director has tasked me with getting your family settled in some of the on-base suites and preparing them for the legal disclosures. Someone from JAG is gathering the forms they’ll need to sign. The deputy director has authorized a redacted version of your personnel file for them to review,” Elena said.
The military’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps usually handled the MDF’s legal needs for its employees. Sean pinched the bridge of his nose, the headache that Gracie’s power had healed away threatening to return. “Shit. I should be there.”
Talking to his family wasn’t something he wanted to do. He’d spent years lying to them and they’d discovered the truth in the worst way possible. He knew the probable argument with them in his future would be ugly.
“You need to rest. Let the MDF handle explaining everything. Trust me, it’s easier if an outsider does it. You’re too close to them to explain it in any rational way without getting caught up in the emotions of it all,” Katie replied.
Sean knew she was right, but he felt he ought to be present to answer any questions his family would have. He owed them that decency, but it looked like he wasn’t going to get that opportunity.
“How are you doing otherwise?” Elena asked as she approached his biobed.
Sean shrugged. “Tired.”
“I’m sorry we didn’t get eyes on the enemy sooner.”
“They’re ex-Special Forces. They know how to stay off-grid.”
“Still, we’re supposed to be better than them. I’m sorry.”
“No one on our side died, so I’m taking it as a win. The Pavluhkin mission might be fucked though.”
“We’ll see,” Katie said. “Travel records indicate Jansen left for Europe this morning, well before you had that meeting with the Wolcotts.”
“And if they try to get in contact with Jansen or Pavluhkin?”
“They haven’t so far. We’re monitoring their communications. A lot of calls between Declan and Dr. Valerie Hayes, but not to our main targets,” Elena said.
Katie nodded. “I’d put money on a mission coming down the pipeline. I doubt you’ll get the full three regulatory days off.”
Sean knuckled his eyes and shifted to a more comfortable position beneath the scratchy sheet. “Great.”
“I’ll let you get some rest. I don’t want Dr. Gold to find out I overstayed my welcome,” Elena said, patting Sean’s shoulder. “Glad you’re all right.”
“Thanks.”
Elena left and Sean let the quiet wash over him. He was tired, but it was hard to sleep when his thoughts were such a mess. Still, he closed his eyes and managed a fitful half doze that was interrupted when one of Stirling’s aides knocked on his door and let herself inside.
“The directors want to see you,” the aide said.
“All right. I’ll be there soon,” Sean promised.
She left, already murmuring into her comms an update on his status to whoever was on the other side of the line. Sean stared up at the ceiling and tried to muster the strength from somewhere to face his boss and his family, but he was so tired.
“Come on,” Katie said, tucking her tablet into her jacket pocket. “Let’s get you sorted.”
Katie stayed with him through Gracie’s discharge and list of things he wasn’t supposed to do. She remained by his side through the hours-long debrief with Stirling and Nazari, going over every last detail of their time in Las Vegas and New Seattle since Alexei was unavailable.
“He’s out of surgery and finishing up a regen regime. Gracie is keeping him overnight,” Stirling informed them before Sean continued with his side of the story.
When it was finally over and done, day turned to night and all the chronos c
ounting down to midnight, Katie was the one who bundled him into her sleek Maserati and drove him off base to his apartment in the middle of the Washington, D.C., megacity.
“The base has extra rooms. I could have slept there,” Sean told her as he watched the city fly by. Katie drove how Annabelle flew—if they went fast enough, they could beat the wind.
“And wake up before dawn to deal with your family? I don’t think so,” she shot back mildly. “You need rest, Sean. Get your head screwed on straight before you see them tomorrow. A couple of hours isn’t going to cut it. Trust me.”
The thing was, he did trust her. Katie was an exceptional second-in-command, even if she technically wasn’t his. He knew better than to argue with her though, remembering their time in London and the way she ordered everyone around, including Jamie. Which was why he didn’t say anything when she parked her car, walked him up to his apartment, and saw him inside.
“Hungry?” Katie asked, glancing at his kitchen.
“Tired.”
“Then I’ll pick you up in the morning.”
Sean nodded tiredly and headed for his bedroom, letting Katie see herself out. Exhausted, numb in a way he knew he couldn’t deal with at the moment, Sean stripped down to his underwear before crawling into bed.
He slept like the dead and woke up feeling hungover. Eyes gritty, mouth dry, he came awake to the smell of synthcaf brewing when he knew he’d run out last week.
“Ugh,” he muttered into his pillow. Someone was in his apartment, and he didn’t care who it was, because it smelled like they were cooking breakfast.
Getting up, getting moving, took actual effort. Sean grabbed a clean change of clothes, opting for a casual pair of dark jeans and a button-down, before heading for the bathroom, the siren call of the shower luring him in. Sean got clean, got dressed, and didn’t question Katie being there when he got out, breakfast made and plated for two.
“Your fridge was empty. Noticed it last night. My mother would be heartbroken if I left it that way,” she said before spearing a piece of sausage and eating it.
In the Shadows (Metahuman Files Book 3) Page 23