“You all just walked into an FBI investigation,” said John crisply, taking charge himself. “I think you got manipulated into a plot to murder an FBI asset. I need all of you to set down your gear and stay here until you can be searched and interviewed. Maintain control of your own gear, and don’t talk to your teammates.”
“My men don’t kill people, Agent,” said the Sergeant, clearly affronted. “This is a nonlethal extraction team, not a hit squad.”
Not giving the Sergeant time to protest further, John pulled the radio off his hip to call in Fisher’s men. “Team two, I need an investigation team into the SHU, ASAP.”
“Hey, wait just a --”
John cut him off. “This isn’t a witch hunt. If you didn’t come here to kill Aster, you won’t be in trouble. Except for ....” he pretended to scan the battered faces and identical black uniforms.
“Who tried to take me out with a stun baton and hit my agent? Oh, that’s right, Officer Schrader.”
Schrader looked down at his feet and cleared his throat.
“Set your gear down,” ordered John, forcing himself to keep anger out of his voice and expression. Kasdan was still huddled against his legs. The officer glared at John, setting his shield down.
“Remove all of your weapons slowly, set them on the floor, and stand with your fingers interlaced behind your head. You’re being arrested for assaulting a Federal agent.”
Something behind John’s calm voice scared Schrader, and he obeyed. Gary Wills stepped away from John’s side for the first time since the conflict began. “I got this,” he said quietly. He went to pat down the officer, and John called after him.
“Wills!”
“Yeah?”
“Treat that officer’s gear as crime scene evidence, especially the baton. Actually treat all of it that way. I don’t think that was any ordinary shock.”
“He should be fine by now,” said the now sobered Sergeant. “Little shaky maybe, but on his feet and functioning.”
Agent Calis shook her head as she finished attaching leads to Kasdan’s chest. “If there hadn’t been a vest disrupting that current, Crispy here’d be dead.”
“You know what that means, right?” asked John.
Kasdan shook his head weakly.
“When you tackled Schrader, you took that hit for me. I’m not wearing a vest, you saved my life.”
Kasdan gave him a proud little grin that turned into a grimace and cough.
She glanced up at John. “Ambulance. Now. The AED in the office, bring it.”
John stepped around tactical gear, medical bags, and a sulky handcuffed CO to head for the AED at the end of the hall while he called 911.
When John returned, Kasdan was flat on his back, an oxygen mask on his face. Wash was holding a wad of gauze to his ear, and Kelly was using his other arm as a crutch.
John frowned at Wash and Kelly. "Thought you'd be at home asleep."
Wash rolled his eyes. "Give us some credit, boss. You think you have an exclusive lease on loyalty to Aster? Or feeling for him when he's in that cell, scared to death because he's trusting us to dangle him over the mouth of hell?"
“John?” Nick called from the cell. John looked at Nick for the first time since all this started, and pressed his hand to the window. “Please let me sit with him.”
“No!” objected one of the regular COs sharply.
“Please,” said Nick, giving John a pleading look. “He was my handler.”
“We locked down?” asked John. The CO nodded reluctantly, and John unlocked the cell door.
“Fuck!” yelled a different, crankier CO who was currently being searched by Wills. “What did we fucking tell you about - Jesus, at least restrain him!”
John was good at controlling anger and remaining professional in a crisis. But damn it - yes, I’m emotionally compromised. Deal with it, assholes.
"What?" John snapped, his body going rigid. "How about 'at least put his ballistic vest on'? He's the one whose life is in danger, you--" He bit back the words and clenched his jaw. "Wash, go get his vest and helmet, please."
NICK
Nick limped to Kasdan’s side and knelt, putting a worried hand on the other Neil’s chest, near but not touching what looked like a nasty burn. He talked softly to the downed agent. “Hurt like hell, huh?”
Kasdan nodded, and Nick gave him a little smile. “Try not to worry. I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s normal to feel like someone dropped you out of an airplane when you get hit with a shock from one of those.”
The agent cracked a scared grin. “Good -- ‘scription.”
Nick squeezed Neil's hand, and the FBI agent squeezed back, looking into Nick's eyes with a sort of terror. It wasn't meant for anyone but Nick; Kasdan looked outwardly composed and stoic. But there was a bond of lowered defenses between them.
Kasdan was letting only Nick see that behind the FBI agent was a man very afraid he was going to die on the floor of a prison. "You're gonna be fine," Nick assured him.
“What’s not normal is your heart rhythm,” said Calis, frowning. “I’m gonna hook you up to the AED to save time just in case you go into v-tach.”
Kasdan’s eyes widened and his knees raised up in recoil.
“Relax,” said the paramedic. She patted him on the knee. “If I have to shock you, you’ll almost certainly be unconscious.”
“You be fine, okay?" said Nick. "I got a bit of a lead on that painting. And I need you back here, ‘cause you are one hell of an awesome bodyguard. That was badass.”
“Most -- action -- I’ve seen -- as an agent,” said Kasdan, struggling to breathe and looking disoriented.
“C’mon, you bastard,” muttered Calis, digging in her bag with one hand without taking her eyes off Kasdan. “Don’t make me cardiovert you in the hallway.”
“We need to get you some more fun assignments,” said Nick. He caught the worry on Kasdan’s face. “You’ll be okay. You really will.”
"You're having a rough week, looks like," said Calis, stuffing a bag of fluids into Kelly’s hands to hold. She tied a rubber strap around Kasdan’s arm and pulled the cap of a needle off with her teeth. "Who did what to your face?"
Some of the fear in Kasdan's eyes was replaced by amusement. "Aster punched me in it."
Calis shot a sudden hard look at Nick. "He did what?"
“Ow,” whimpered Kasdan half-humorously as the needle was rammed into his vein by a paramedic watching what she was doing with only one eye.
“I punched him,” agreed Nick with a casual nod.
Kasdan's eyes crinkled, looking up at Nick in affection. "I - I'm not used to real world confrontations. None of the training taught me how to arrest someone terrified -- injured -- in pain who liked me. Agonizing for us both. I escalated when I had no reason to, and he hit me. Think -- forgave each other as it was happening."
"I panicked," said Nick. "I thought I was going back to Rikers."
"None the less, keep your hands where I can see them," said Calis coldly.
"Agent Calis." John's voice was colder.
"Yes, sir?"
"This is my partner, and aside from maybe Kasdan here, the least violent person present. He can do what he damn well pleases with his hands."
“Hurts to breathe,” said Kasdan. “What — I need fluids for?”
Calis didn’t budge her eyes from the ECG. “You don’t. You might need drugs, and you might need them in a hurry. That’s what the line’s for.”
Kasdan looked sideways at Nick. “I feel like ....let you down, bad.”
The affection in Nick's heart countered the anxiety in Neil's eyes. Something new was happening as his bond with the Langleys was deepening. He was starting to allow himself to feel friendship. He wasn't avoiding ties, he was welcoming them.
He wanted to know this kind young FBI agent who had gone from uncertain to saving John's life in a confident split-second act.
He wanted to meet Wills on ground that wasn't official and awfu
l, and get to know the man he sensed that he could like very much.
He wanted to tell Alice that he was staying, that she didn't have to keep herself braced to wake up one morning to find him gone forever. His life hadn't had room for warmth or sentiment in it for a long time.
"John's not wearing a vest," said Nick. "You just saved a guy who's everything to me. You comforted me when I needed your voice in hell. Wonky definition of letting me down."
Neil grinned despite his face being twisted in pain. Wheels rattling on concrete and efficient footsteps announced the arrival of outside paramedics with a gurney, and Nick reluctantly stood back while the young agent was loaded and strapped in. He squeezed Kasdan's hand just before they took him. "Take care, Hero. And thank you."
The paramedic stretched and cracked her neck while they watched Kasdan being wheeled off. “Phew. Aster, he's actually stabilized a bit with you there.”
“What’s wrong with him?” asked Nick.
“He’s having cardiac arrhythmia issues, and I think one of his ribs is broken. Now let’s look at you. I need to know everything you’ve ingested in the last eight hours.”
“He’s not in danger, is he?” asked Nick.
“He is, actually,” said the Calis. “I almost had to defib him in the hallway, and I’m guessing they’re gonna have to push adenosine and do an emergency cardioversion on the guy, which is a pretty horrific experience. Electrical burns can be internal as well as external, and that's a nasty injury to worry about. But given that he’s not in arrest or unconscious yet, he'll probably be okay with care."
The Sergeant cut in. “Agent Calis, we got a credible warning this inmate poisoned himself. Please, take that seriously now.”
Calis’s hard expression returned, and she looked Nick up and down. “Did you?” she asked.
“No,” said Nick, affronted.
“Okay, well, I’m doing an exam on you,” said Calis.
Nick shrugged, and the Sergeant stepped close, pulling cuffs from his belt. “You heard the lady. Hands behind your back.”
Nick sent a frantic glance in John’s direction. I can’t say no. You can.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
Don't Get Poisoned in Prison
NICK
Calis glared at Sergeant Delancy, the erstwhile leader of the extraction team who was now attempting to cuff Nick. “I need to check blood pressure, heart rate, and many other indicators whose accuracy will be thrown off if he’s stressed and in pain from restraints.”
Nick was careful not to let them see his relief. Not only that he wouldn't be cuffed by a total stranger, but that Calis didn't want it done to him. The whole punching Kasdan thing hadn't put her off him too badly, then.
"If being cuffed for fifteen minutes hurts, you're doing something wrong," said Delancy, offended. "I'm not gonna hurt or stress him!"
John jumped in. "He was tortured with handcuffs, and his shoulders and wrists are injured. It both hurts and stresses him."
"None of that is your fault," Nick reassured the Sergeant, who now looked both sympathetic and offended. "I know you don't intend to hurt me."
Sergeant Delancy sighed and backed off, giving John and Marianna a nervous look as Fisher joined them. “Look - agents - I don’t know the story here. But I assure you, I’m not here to murder or harm your guy. All I did was make the mistake of coming to work today.”
“Sit, please,” Calis ordered Nick, helping him ease to the floor and leaning him against the wall opposite the cell doors for support.
Kneeling by Nick's side, Calis wrapped a blood pressure cuff around his arm, popped a pulse oximeter on his finger, and listened to his heart. “Sergeant, tell me in detail about that tip of yours.”
Delancy sighed. “COs have snitches too. Tipped me the inmate who cleans this unit hid a lethal dose of powdered acetaminophen and heroin under Aster’s mattress while you guys had him out of the cell.”
“Talk to that inmate?” asked Fisher.
The Sergeant shook his head. “No time, with a poisoning.”
“So your snitch could be lying, or that inmate could be lying,” said Fisher. He walked over to Schrader. He still knelt in the corridor where Wills had left him, cuffed and glaring. His face was turning red with anger.
“You know we have an entire FBI team infiltrated into this prison,” said Fisher, standing with a casual slump, one hand in his pocket. He swept the other hand to indicate the agents escorting the extraction team away for interviews. He pointed at the ERT agent photographing evidence. “This is bigger than an attempt on one inmate’s life. You played any role in it, at all, your only chance is to help us now.”
Schrader rolled his eyes. “Fuck off. I got antsy and started a copfight, that’s all. If your wussy agent can't take a few volts, that's his problem.”
Fisher shrugged. “Alrighty. I’ve got sixty-two indictments out of this case so far, no problem with you joining the ranks.”
John watched Calis check Nick’s temperature. “Anything?” he asked her.
Calis shook her head. “Vitals normal.” The paramedic looked up at John. “Could run him in to have his stomach pumped and administer some charcoal just in case.”
Nick glared at her with a frustrated sigh. Even the best of them.... “I’m right here, you know. Telling you I am not and never have been suicidal, and didn’t take anything.”
“Sorry,” said Calis. She gave him an absent pat on the hand and continued to look to John. “Whatta you think?”
Nick ground his teeth. His heart was racing, and he flicked the oximeter off his finger to hide it. “I. Do. Not. Consent.”
It made his head swim. Forcing him into a hospital and torturing him some more was being discussed like he wasn't even sentient.
John shook his head. “I’m gonna say no to forcing him through an unpleasant medical procedure without his consent. And please direct your questions to him in the future. He’s a competent adult.”
“Thank you,” muttered Nick. He let out a huff of relief. “What is it about being in custody that even when someone tries to murder you, you’re treated like you did something wrong, are lying, and should probably be trussed up and subjected to a few punitively miserable medical procedures?”
Calis’s eyes widened. “Dude. I’m sorry if I addressed your handler and not you. But I’m concerned about your life, and I suggested that so as to take no chances with it. Not to punish you. God. I like you.”
“Sorry,” said Nick with a sigh. “I’m stressed, is all. Last few weeks haven’t been pleasant.”
"Says the master of understatement," said Fisher dryly.
"From now on, please treat Aster as an undercover FBI employee who survived a violent crime, not a prisoner," said John with ice in his voice. "He volunteered to risk his life in a place they use to punish maximum security inmates. He could be in bed in a safe-house with a nurse serving him hot chocolate right now."
"Yes, sir," said Calis.
"Address him," ordered John.
Calis faced Nick. "Yes, sir. I apologize for the disrespect, and it won't happen again. If you'd like me to remove myself from your medical detail, I'll arrange a replacement."
Nick gave her a sympathetic look. Being on the wrong end of a John Langley lecture wasn't fun. At all. "I'd prefer you remain. I like having a paramedic who throws COs around like footballs."
Calis ventured a tight but sincere smile. "Sorry for my attitude. I like you and want to keep you in one piece."
Nick glanced at John with a grin. "Can we fight some more so I don't have to go back in my cell?"
John helped Nick to his feet, and Nick gestured at Fisher, bringing him close. “We’re assuming the poison tip was bogus, to trigger an extraction, right?” Nick asked in a low voice so they couldn't be overheard by Schrader.
Fisher nodded. “Already finding oddnesses in the extraction team’s gear. It’s likely been tampered with to render things lethal that shouldn’t be.”
“Mind if I talk to Sch
rader?” asked Nick.
“What you gonna do that I can’t?” asked Fisher.
“Speak his language,” said Nick. “I was watching him face off with John. That wasn’t aggression. It was blood lust. He came to kill, and when John got between him and me, he targeted John without any pause for rational thought. While he was shocking Kasdan, that wasn't fear or defensiveness or sadism. It was to extinguish life.”
Fisher raised his eyebrows. “If gear was tampered with, nobody on the team needed to know. They’d just accidentally kill him. Bad operational security for the hitter to get an officer to deliberately try and off him.”
Broken Blue Lines: Love. Hate. Criminal Justice.: An FBI Crime Drama / LGBT+ Love Story Page 48