(The Cost of Doing Business)
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I don't own Bones.
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They were the shadows of his failures. The marine shot after the helicopter went down, the boy who was gassed and died in his arms. He wanted to save them, he really did, but he had failed and now they were haunting him in a taco stand. Jason didn't understand why they were there, but they were and he apologized. "I'm sorry, kid. I'm sorry. I really tried to help you. I wanted to save you and I . . . I didn't."
Mandy saw Jason standing near an empty table. Talking quietly, but to whom she had no idea. "Who are you talking to? Jason, are you okay?" He seemed to be disoriented and she feared this was the result of his concussion.
Now there was no one at the table and Jason panicked. "No." He didn't understand what was going on. He shouldn't be able to see dead people, but they had sat at that table looking at him. Blaming him. "I shouldn't . . ." He backed up, knocking over a table and the woman who had been sitting there. Jason didn't notice. His eyes were on the empty table and he was afraid.
Mandy waved a patron away from Jason. "It's okay." She moved closer to her friend. "I'm here. It's okay." She could see the look of fear on his face. Not an emotion she ever recalled seeing before. She knew he was in a bad place. "Are you okay? It's me . . . It's me, it's Mandy. We're home." She was afraid he was flashing back to Afghanistan. She didn't know what he was seeing, but whatever it was, she knew it was bad. "You just had a concussion. You're okay." Except she knew he wasn't okay. One look at his face was enough to tell everyone in that room that Jason was far from okay.
Cautiously, she moved forward and took his hand in her hand. "Come with me, Jason. You can trust me."
Filled with anxiety, Jason gripped her hand and used it as a life line. He didn't know what was going on. He was home. He knew that, but something was wrong. He shouldn't be able to see the Marine or the child. They were dead. He knew they were dead. It wasn't possible, but it was happening anyway. "I . . ." Jason wanted it to go away. The pain in his head wasn't helping the situation. "I . . ."
She slowly pulled him toward the exit. "It's alright, Jason. Follow me. It's alright." And miraculously he did. His grip was painful, but Mandy ignored it. Once they were outside, she pulled her keys from her pocket, unlocked her car doors and opened the passenger door. "You're just tired, Jason. Sit down. It'll be okay."
He did as she asked. The sun was bright which caused him to squint as he moved to sit inside the car. "It's too bright."
Mandy reached in the car, pulled a pair of sunglasses from her visor and gave them to her friend. "I agree. Here. You can use these."
Jason took them and placed them over his eyes. "It's bright today."
"Yes, I agree." Worried, she closed the door and raced around to the driver's side. Once she was inside, she locked all of the car doors and placed the key in the ignition. "I'm going to take you home. You need to rest. You probably need some Advil too." He didn't say anything and she wasn't sure if that was good or bad. "It's okay, Jason. You're going to be fine." God, I hope so.
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Ray stood in the bedroom doorway and watched his friend sleep. "I knew that there was something wrong. He knew it too." It made him angry that Jason condemned him for deploying with a banged-up shoulder and yet he didn't think his concussion was anything to worry about. "Have you talked to Alana?"
Her arms folded against her breasts, Mandy shook her head. "No . . . she and the kids didn't meet him when he came back. Jason said she sent him an email saying she and their children are out of town. I don't think calling her will do any good."
"Probably not." Jason and Alana's divorce felt so wrong to Ray. He knew that they loved each other and yet here they were. "Do you want to take him to the doctor?"
"No, he just needs a lot rest." Alana had talked to her physician before she had called Ray. "He should have never gone on that last mission after he was hurt. He needed to stand down and let you lead the team. It was dangerous what he did . . . He's going to get that rest now whether he likes it or not. I assume you're going to get your shoulder operated on?"
"Jason told you?" Concerned, Ray glanced at Jason then back at Mandy.
She shrugged her shoulders. "Right now, he doesn't have a lot of people to talk to about anything . . . Yes, he told me, but I haven't told anyone else and I won't. He's worried about you. He needs you healthy and back on the team."
Not sure if he should be angry or sad, Ray sighed. "I've got an appointment with a surgeon tomorrow. He didn't need to tell you or anyone else. I'm handling it."
Mandy knew he was probably angry with Jason, but she also knew he didn't have all the facts he needed. "He told me because I went to him and told him that Paul Mulwray was going to use your accident at the hospital and bring you down. I told him that killing the boy was an accident, but Paul didn't care . . . I had leaked Paul a story that wasn't true and he printed it. At the time, I was trying to flush out the assassin, Abu Ali and I couldn't think of a better way to do it . . . Jason killed Abu Ali at Forogh Curative Hospital which took out a very dangerous assassin, but Paul didn't appreciate that. He took my false lead as a personal betrayal. He was going to go after you because of me. When Jason found Steve Porter's disks I realized that I could trade stories with Paul. He could go after Xeon Tactical and forget his vendetta. Jason agreed with me about what I was going to do. The price of giving Paul the story to bring down a corrupt organization that was responsible for the deaths on Echo Team was that he'd leave you alone. It's a huge story. He might even get a Pulitzer Prize out of it. He really couldn't turn it down."
This was the first time he was hearing about Paul and it made him realize that there had been a lot going on behind his back. A lot. The meetings between Jason and Mandy and Davis. Jason had told him it was to protect him from Cutter, but he hadn't asked to be protected and he was angry that no one had told him that a reporter was going after him. It was too much.
"Why am I here if you don't want my help taking Jason to the hospital?" Ray had a lot to think about, but at the moment, he needed to know why Mandy wanted him at her place.
"Paul Mulwray called me a little while ago. He wants to meet with me." She saw the look of alarm on Ray's face.
"Do you think he's going to go after me after all?" This was a nightmare, an unending nightmare.
Mandy wasn't sure and she was afraid that Ray was about to become a victim of a vengeful reporter. "I don't know. I need you to stay here and make sure Jason doesn't go anywhere. He needs bedrest or he's going to end up in the hospital . . . If you don't want to do it, I'll call Sonny. He'd probably love to have the chance to sit on Jason to keep him here."
"No, I'll stay." Ray just wished Jason had kept him in the loop. He might have been able to help with Cutter and Paul. "I don't think he'll give me any trouble."
Relieved that Ray was willing to help, Mandy stepped away from the door. "Good. The less people that know about Paul and his connection to me and Jason the better. I'll be back as soon as I can. I have beer in the refrigerator. Don't let Jason have any."
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Paul met her at a bar near her apartment. Mandy didn't want to meet with him at any bar closer to the base. She didn't want to be seen talking to Paul if she could help it.
Once she was sitting at a table with the reporter, she ordered a beer and waited for Paul to begin the conversation.
Sipping from a glass of Scotch, Paul studied Mandy over the rim of his glass. "You heard about Cutter?" It was on the news and he assumed Mandy watched the news at least once in a while.
"Yes, he and several of his staff were arrested in Jalalabad." At the moment, that was all she knew about the situation. She had been too busy dealing with Jason to get on the phone with her contacts. "Congratulations."
"Yeah, thanks." Paul had thought long and hard about what he wanted to do, but he had waited to see if the information that Mandy had given him would play out. "This story is huge. This is going to bring down a lot of people, not just Alan Cutter. I know of two politicians that are scrambling to cover their asses at this moment . . . Senator Rentz is a former partner of Cutter's and he still has stock in the company. He's trying to separate his past from his present . . . He's not going to be able to save himself. He's in too deep."
Mandy had looked over the data before she had given it to Paul and had made sure she had multiple copies before she had given Paul his story. If Paul had decided that the story was too dangerous to pursue then she had planned to approach someone else. Alan Cutter was not going to get away with murder. "That's a shame." The sarcasm was caustic and she didn't care.
Amused, Paul chuckled. "Yeah, I get it. He betrayed our country, betrayed Echo Team and you want blood. I get it . . . I'm not going after Ray Perry. I gave you my word and unlike you, I can be trusted to keep it."
That statement was supposed to cut her, but it didn't. She had stopped a very dangerous killer from continuing to murder people and she wasn't sorry for that. "Good. He didn't mean to hurt the child. He made a bad throw while under fire."
Paul shrugged his shoulders. "Meant to or not, the boy is dead . . . I just wanted you to know that there are going to be more arrests in the near future. The FBI and Homeland Security have been talking to me for days now. I offered them Steve Porter's evidence if they kept me in the loop. I broke the story just before Cutter was arrested. All in all, this has been a very fruitful relationship. Of course, that's overlooking the shit you pulled on me earlier, but no hard feelings, right?" He was still angry and very hurt that she had used him, but he was a big boy and he had bigger fish to fry. "Of course, I will always double check everything in the future that the CIA or anyone else decides to pass along to me . . . I won't be used again."
She understood the underlying threat. "That would be very wise." She and Jason had their revenge and they could let it go. Cutter was not going to survive his betrayal. His company was worthless now and anyone attached to Xeon was tainted. "Steve Porter and Echo Team deserved justice."
Surprisingly, Paul agreed. "Yes, they did."
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Jason was awake when Mandy arrived at her apartment. He and Ray were sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee. "Cutter was arrested along with his staff this morning. Paul Mulwray told me that the FBI and Homeland Security are working the case . . . He's not going after you Ray. The story he has will make his reputation. He doesn't care about you."
"Gee, thanks." Ray wasn't sure whether he should be insulted for not. He was glad Paul wasn't going to do a story about him, but that didn't mitigate what had happened. He had killed the boy because of his bad arm and he had to live with that, but at least he didn't have to do it with the press breathing down his neck. "I need to go home. Naima needs me to watch the kids while she goes shopping . . . Thanks for having my back, Mandy."
"We both had your back." Mandy pointed at Jason who was staring at his cup of coffee.
Jason looked up and sighed. "I will always have your back, Ray. You can count on that." Ray was going to get his shoulder fixed and they could fix their friendship in the meantime. "Bravo Team needs you."
He appreciated the sentiment. Ray didn't want to leave Bravo Team at least not yet. "I'm seeing my surgeon tomorrow." Standing, he picked up his cup of coffee and finished it. "We'll talk later." He placed the cup down and left the room.
"Yeah, we will." Jason waited until the front door opened and closed. "Thanks."
Mandy smiled. "You're welcome."
"I mean thanks for everything you've done for me."
"You're welcome."
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