*7*
The tableau that greeted Hobbes as he opened the connecting door was an unusual one. Graywolf was standing at the foot of the kid's bed in jeans and a black t-shirt, his hair in one long braid down his back, hands planted firmly on his hips, and glaring down at the redheaded spitfire who had a look of total frustration and disbelief on her face. The, not quite shouted, words had been easily heard in the next room, if not understandable, at least not without leaning one's ear against the door. Which, of course, Bobby Hobbes would never do.
Gray was looking amazingly healthy considering his rather pickled state when he'd returned to the room about two hours after Hobbes had put Fawkes to bed, to sleep off his share of the 100 proof hootch they'd imbibed in. If Gray had a hangover, he was hiding it far better than Hobbes' idiot partner, who had spent 20 minutes whining and swearing on his brother's grave that he'd never drink that much again, while taking an early morning trip on the porcelain bus. Not the most pleasant of sound effects to wake up to Hobbes noted again.
That very same idiot partner was currently moaning and groaning his way through a shower, in a vain attempt to turn himself back into a human being, instead of the pitiful wretch he currently was. Hobbes had left a bottle of Tylenol on the counter next to the rather impressive pile of hair crap Fawkes lugged with him everywhere. His hope was that his partner would get the hint and down a few to ease the pounding of the 15 pound sledgehammer that had, most likely, taken up residence in his skull.
You'd figure, considering he had himself a steady girl, he'd do something realistic with that hair besides making himself look like he'd just stuck his finger in a light socket, but no. In fact, he put great effort in making sure that it not only stood up, but that it did it just so. Watching Fawkes create that work of art was more than enough to make Bobby glad his hair had moved off into other realms; one less point of vanity he had to deal with. Besides, all the people who really mattered liked him just the way he was.
"Damn it Sil, you are not going anywhere!" Graywolf bellowed for the fourth or fifth time, at his frustrating female partner.
"Graywolf, who the hell do you think you are? My mother?" Alyx shot back, at least she had come up with something original for a response every time, unlike him. She was sitting up, sort of, her back perfectly straight and still, since, as she had discovered the hard way, she was very, very stiff and about 10 times more sore than she had expected. The patch job Bobby had done was holding up, but she didn't want to start it bleeding again. And she was getting damn tired of this argument. "I am more than capable of sitting on my ass in some archive while staring at a computer screen. My mind works just fine." To prove her point every loose item in the room, including the table and three chairs, lifted into the air to hang for a couple of dead silent minutes, without a wobble in the lot, before finally setting them back down. Her point, she thought anyway, made.
"Then you are perfectly capable of sitting on your ass here," Gray snapped back at her. He couldn't miss the anger that flashed in her eyes. She was going to get all obstinate on him and he had yet to figure out how to tell her no and have it stick.
"Kid, you thinking we can't handle a boring morning in a dusty file room?" Hobbes stepped into her line of sight, though it wasn't very likely that she hadn't known he was there.
"No... but the last time we were in that boring file room we got attacked by four unknowns," Alyx countered, with a smug look that made Hobbes roll his eyes and sigh.
"Which is how you ended up hurt in the first place." Gray stabbed a hand in her direction to emphasize his point, but it was obvious the purpose of the display was lost on her. "You are staying here." His voice was nothing but a low growl. "You spent half the night having nightmares and the other half whimpering in pain." His shoulders slumped, his irritation and frustration draining away as he remembered exactly how bad the night had been at some points. Yelling at her was getting them nowhere, except to encourage her to arrive, all that much sooner, in stubbornville. Gray lowered his voice and softened his tone. "You need to rest, to give your body a chance to recover. One day is all I'm asking. Please."
Part of her wanted to shout that the reason she'd gotten hurt was because she'd been too distracted by saving Gray's ass to watch out for her own, but refrained. Saving him was something she had to do, would have done even if she had ended up hurt far worse than she was. She looked from Gray to Bobby and saw that he was in complete agreement with her bullying partner. "All right, but I'll assist you from here. Your phone works and I can hack into the system with the laptop." Gray sucked in a breath to argue, but she ran over the top of his words. "One word against and I'll get up off this bed and walk out of here."
Bobby could see that she was dead serious. "Deal." When Gray turned and stared at him in total disbelief, Bobby met the green eyes calmly. "You know she'll do it, just to prove she can."
"Yeah, I know." Gray shrugged slightly and turned back to her. "You will eat, however."
"Hell, yes. I'm starved." Alyx carefully relaxed back into the pile of pillows now that an agreement had been reached. She wasn't entirely happy with it, but neither was Gray, so, therefore, it must be an equitable solution.
There was a groan from the doorway. "Don't mention food. And turn off the lights, they're too frickin' bright." Darien was leaning against the doorframe in a beat-up pair of dark brown khakis and an off-white long-sleeved shirt, which was haphazardly buttoned with the shirttail hanging loose. He was a lovely shade of pale tinted liberally with green, his eyes were bloodshot, and his hair... drooped.
Alyx had to put a hand over her mouth to hide the grin and the overwhelming urge to laugh.
"How ya doing, my friend?" Bobby made sure to say this far louder than necessary, using that borderline bellow that he had learned back in his days as a Marine, and that got the attention of even the most stubborn of perps.
Darien clapped his hands over his ears and whimpered, his eyes squinting nearly shut as he glared at Hobbes. "Cruel, my friend. That is very cruel."
"And who went out and decided to drink half a bottle of scotch in under an hour?" Bobby jovially thumped Darien on the back, nearly knocking him over, since his balance was currently set to unsteady. Bobby winked at Alyx. "I'd make him stay as well, but I have the feeling we might need his talents."
"Get over here, ya idge," Alyx directed Darien while she laughed, shaking her head at him. "Let's see if I can help a bit." She'd been ignoring the phantom headache he was echoing through to her; it was a minor discomfort when compared to aching void that used to be her back.
Darien staggered over to the bed and attempted to sit down gently, but didn't quite manage it. He misjudged the distance and dropped the last several inches with enough force to bounce the bed. "Crap, sorry."
Alyx made sure not to flinch, even though pain shot through her back at the bed's movement. She wagged a finger at him. "I should let you suffer. Maybe teach you a lesson." He did that look, the one that made her want to pet him, hold him close, and make it all better. She sighed. "All right, but next time you better take me with you."
"Yes, yes, anything. Just make the pink elephant stop the tap dancing lesson, please," Darien pleaded, crawling over until his head was in her lap.
Gray was so... so dumbfounded by the sight, that he was torn. Half of him wanted to laugh hysterically at the fool Fawkes was making of himself, and the other half wanted to shake some sense into the man, maybe slam him into the wall for emphasis. To drag Fawkes away from his partner and make him leave her alone... forever. He kept himself calm; his look bland, and reminded himself that it had been his arms wrapped about her in comfort when the nightmares had woken her. His voice that had brought her back to reality and calmed her. His hands that soothed the aches in her back when the muscles cramped as she lay fighting unseen enemies in her sleep.
They definitely needed to talk, but later. When Fawkes was not around to interfere, to sway her mind away from the reality of the situation. And he really wanted to know who this Jess was that so terrified her. He turned away from the sight of her gently running her fingers along Fawkes' face, to finish getting dressed and order some food for breakfast from the restaurant downstairs.
"Can you actually help him?" Bobby asked, as he moved over towards one of the chairs that had been floating near the ceiling not all that long ago. Spinning it about, he sank onto it and rested his forearms along the back.
Alyx nodded, still focused on Darien. "Don't see why not. It's not the first time I've, uh... eased the results of overindulgence for his majesty here."
"Why am I not surprised?" Bobby muttered, mostly to himself. "Well, so long as you know it works and that you're not gonna scramble his gray matter any more than it already is." He'd been on the receiving end of the kid's little pain reducing trick a time or two, and had to admit it was pretty damn useful. The lack of side effects, like one sometimes got with drugs, made it a big plus, even if the results were short term only.
Alyx turned her focus to the man lying sprawled across her legs. She'd been gently caressing his face to get him to relax a bit. He was doing a pretty good job at blocking her because of his discomfort and for this to work she couldn't be forcing her way in. "Relax. If you fight me I won't be able to help."
"Tell the room to stop spinning," Darien griped, but did his best to comply. It took a couple of deep breaths and for him to run through a basic meditation countdown -- three times -- before he had a reasonable amount of success.
*That's good.* Alyx made sure to keep the contact light, since he still wasn't quite there yet. *The beach, remember? Go for a swim while I work.* Ages ago, when Alyx had still been working at the Agency, they'd come up with a few techniques that they used together. This particular one involved imagery and Darien had chosen a beach scene for his. *And after you can just lie in the sun and bake. The warmth seeping into your skin and as you relax and drift.* That did it. With a sigh that was just as much mental as audible, Darien fell into a light trance that allowed Alyx to track down the specific pain receptors that were being a bit over enthusiastic and convince them to quiet for a time. She was careful of those that were firing near the gland and let them be. He'd still have a headache, but mild in comparison to what he was dealing with at the moment.
She checked him over one last time before sliding back out of his mind and opening her eyes to gaze down at him. He had fallen into a light doze, which she wasn't all that surprised about, as he was actually tired from his less than restful night's sleep, and giving her a chance to really look him over. His color had returned, he no longer had the sickly pallor he'd been sporting just minutes before. His face relaxed instead of tight with pain. Alyx smiled and shook her head gently.
"He okay, kid?" Bobby had been quiet while she'd done her thing, not wanting risk disturbing her concentration.
"Yes," She lifted her head and turned to meet Bobby's concerned gaze. "He just fell asleep."
"I should've known. Well, wake him up." Bobby got up from the chair, headed to the bed, and poked Darien a good one in the gut. "Up and at 'em, ya mook."
Darien jerked backed to consciousness with a startled oof of surprise. "Hey, what was that for?" he grumbled in irritation, then realization of his considerably improved condition sank in. "My head doesn't hurt any more."
"That was the intention, was it not?" Gray commented, as he looked up from the computer where he'd been working for the past several minutes as an excuse to ignore what was going on just a few feet away from him.
"True," Darien responded amiably enough. He actually remembered the majority of the discussion they'd had the night before; he just wasn't all that sure how Gray had decided to take it. All Darien knew was that he had no specific plans to cause a problem between Gray and Alyx, but he also wasn't going to just fade into the background to make things easier. He fully intended to remain involved in her life-- all of it -- for as long as she'd let him. Rolling gently off Alyx he gave her a quick smile. "Thanks."
"No prob. Just wish you could do the same for me." She tried to shift and get a bit more comfortable without success. "Behave, though. You don't want to kick that headache back up. You know it doesn't work as well if it's done too often."
"He knows, kid. Let me change your dressing and we'll get out of your hair for a bit. Let you catch a shower." He moved over to the bag with the seeming never-ending supply of medical gear and looked through it for a moment. "I thought I saw ... Yes. You're in luck. Got waterproof tape in here." He carried the bag over and set it on the foot of the bed. "Make things a bit easier for you anyway."
Darien sat up to get out of her way as she slowly moved to lie on her left side and allow Bobby access to the bandages he'd put on last night that were now stained with old blood. "What happened?"
Bobby got to work and let Alyx answer the question. They hadn't really talked about the argument between the two agents as other things had occupied their attention at the time. Including Alyx actually passing out twice while Bobby had indeed done his worst to put her body back together. He carefully peeled back the bandage and tossed it into the nearby garbage can and began to clean the area as gently as he could manage with rubbing alcohol, causing Alyx to suck in a breath in reaction.
"Uh, I did one of my more brilliant and artistic moves and backed into the bureau." She reached out and grabbed one of Darien's hands and gave it a squeeze. "I'm fine and Bobby patched me up..." She stopped, her face scrunching up and contorting in response to what Bobby was doing. "Ow," she squeaked out in a rather pitiful tone.
"Sorry, kid. But it's a mess back here." Bobby wasn't kidding. The diamond-like pattern of the landing made the bruise look rather unique and oddly... pretty. Where she'd hit it on the bureau, the more prominent welts of the waffle pattern had broken open -- still following the existing imprint -- making an even bigger mess of the whole thing. Bobby debated, again, forcing her endure a few stitches to make sure the suckers would stay shut and finally stop bleeding. He turned to Gray who had come up beside Hobbes and looked over his shoulder at Alyx's back. "Waddaya think? Sutures?"
Gray considered it for a moment and shook his head. "No, she heals fast enough to not need them. We just need to keep her immobile 'til she's had a chance to." The last comment was obviously aimed directly at the woman in question and she knew it.
Darien snorted. "Not likely." He caught the hand that mocked swung at him and curled his about it. "You are a mess, as usual."
"Me? Haven't noticed the bruise on your cheek, have you?" Alyx commented and couldn't restrain the grin as one of his hands went to his face only to find she was right. The side that had slammed into the floor yesterday was quite tender.
"Crap. Like the new and improved collection on my ribs isn't enough," he groused. "Did any of us get out of that without damage?" He looked at the other two men and both shook their heads. "Great, bad guys four. Good guys zip. At least we're consistent."
"A few bruises, nothing serious. You two got the worst of it." Gray had true sympathy in his voice. Fawkes and Sil had taken the brunt of the abuse the day before. "Breakfast will be ready for us to pick up in 10 minutes." He informed the two men.
Taking the hint, Darien released Alyx's hand and got off the bed with far more care than he had gotten upon it. "I'll be ready. I'm starved." The instant he was out of the room Bobby chuckled.
"Wasn't he just telling us to not mention food?" Gray asked in disbelief.
"Yup, can't keep him down for long." Bobby held the new dressing in place as he covered it entirely in the clear waterproof tape, and returned Alyx's shirt to its proper position once he was done. "How ya holding up, kid?"
"Been better, Bobby." Her voice was raw from holding back the yelps of pain that had wanted to escape due to some of the things he'd done. "Been worse too. So, I'll survive."
"A'course you will." He put away the last few items and got to his feet. "I'll go prod Fawkes before he decides to spend an hour perfecting his pompadour."
That statement earned a soft laugh from Gray who sat down next to Alyx and helped get her a bit more comfortably situated. Once Bobby was gone and the door shut Gray took a deep breath to calm himself, not really sure how to broach this subject with her. "Are you really all right, Sil? He didn't hurt you did he?"
"No more than necessary," Alyx answered truthfully. She caught the sudden anger that shot through him, though he kept his look carefully neutral, and she was more than a bit confused about it, especially since it seemed to be focused at Darien. "Bobby did the best he could, but I knew it would still hurt." This time it was his turn at confusion. "Gray, why would you think Darien hurt me?"
The flush that burned his cheeks was almost as much anger as embarrassment. "Sil, you talk when you have nightmares and it was quite obvious that Fawkes or ... or someone..." He stopped at the pained look on her face.
"Ah, hell. I... now is not the time for this." Mainly because Alyx had no idea what to tell him and would not tell him the truth, not yet anyway. It was too damn risky for her family. "Gray, I swear to you it wasn't Darien." She picked up one of his hands and clasped it in both of her own. "I know you're upset with me and that you're having trouble trusting me because of it, but I still trust you. Just... could you give me the benefit of the doubt for now and not hurt him while working today. Please?" She looked into his eyes, not even trying to hide her feelings from him and after a moment he nodded.
For an instant he was tempted, almost beyond measure, to pull her closer and kiss her. To at least make the attempt, to see if, perhaps, she had feelings, real feelings, for him as well, but he remained still until the worst of it passed. "Come on. Lets get you up and moving and we'll bring you breakfast." With all the caution he could muster he helped her to her feet, actually surprised she was able to stand on her own.
"Breakfast in bed, I could get used to that." Alyx managed about half a smile, standing and walking hurt just about as much as she had thought it would. A hot shower would loosen the muscles dramatically and a low dose of one of her pain pills would take care of the rest. No more shots, if she could at all avoid it. Once the bathroom door was closed and she was staring at her reflection, her smile faded into a mask of pain, but it wasn't because of her back. Part of her wished it were because of her back since that would be far, far simpler to deal with. No, she'd been holding Gray's hand and caught the tenor of his thoughts, knew what he had wanted to, yet had refrained from, doing. Knew far more than she wanted to, now.
Moving one slow step at a time she started the water and stripped. There wasn't anything she could do about Gray's feelings. She was... flattered that he cared so much for her, but, although the sexual overtones were there, it wasn't love, at least not the kind he seemed to think it was. He seemed to simply be allowing the normal and natural care he had for her to be blown out of proportion, and it made her wonder if he'd ever been just a friend to the women around him. Alyx knew she was his first female partner and, near as she could tell, he was unsure what to do with the surprisingly deep emotions he had for her, and thus had fallen back upon the standard boy-girl relationship. And, yes, the element of desire was present, but it was different, almost forced, which was why he'd been acting so bloody weird the last few days.
It was just her luck to be stuck with three Alpha males who had all decided -- for very different reasons -- that she was his mate and each doing his damnedest to protect her from the others. Grousing about always seeming to get smacked with "something else" just when she didn't need it, she stepped under the water, and turned it even warmer, until it was as hot as she could take it. She leaned forward, hands resting on the wall, so that her back was receiving the majority of the flow. It would work out. She wasn't sure how, but she had the feeling it would.
***
The sound of keys being tapped almost covered the sound of discontented grumbling. "Treating me like a blinking invalid. Like I haven't worked with worse injuries. Only I could get stuck with three of the most overprotective men in the entire secret agent community." A slight smile crossed her features. It could be worse -- lots worse -- she could have been stuck with Morris and company and have to deal with their constant attacks and insults.
Her first month with the CIA had been like that until Agent Lauren Cavanaugh, the one in charge of their section, had noticed it and done something about it. The day Alyx had been called into the iron-haired woman's office had been extremely bad. Alyx had just returned from a two-day assignment -- successfully completed -- to find her desk slathered in insults about her method for successfully getting out of the Agency and up into the big leagues.' The poorly created and contrived images, and blatant sexual references, were beyond juvenile in her mind, yet, somehow, they still hurt. Her only audible comment had been along the lines of the poor choice of body double they had used and the lack of skill with which they had stuck her face to the body. Piling them neatly, she slipped them into a drawer which someone had, unsuccessfully, attempted to jimmy open. One good thing about having had a thief as a former partner, she knew quite a few methods to defeat potential burglars, or in this case practical jokers.
She had come within seconds of calling the President himself and telling him to go to hell and quit, to go back home to her kids; maybe call Darien and invite him for a visit, when she'd been called into her boss' office. The woman was a good decade and a half older than Bobby -- mid-fifties or so -- and had fought her way up to this position with sheer ballsiness and by being damn good at her job. She'd done her time in the field, had put up with being ostracized, much like that which Alyx was currently dealing with, and, in the end, had proven herself more than worthy of the challenge. Cavanaugh apparently saw the same strength in Alyx and told her so. They had discussed quite few things that morning -- including Alyx's need for a reliable and trustworthy partner.
Dealing with Morris had never become easier, but the job had. It was life overall that was becoming increasingly difficult to deal with.
Her screen finally did what she wanted it to, and she picked up her cell phone and dialed Gray's cell number. "Okay, Gray, I'm in the computer system," she informed him as she started a records search for adoptions that would fit the situation.
"Any luck on your end?" She could hear Gray moving as he spoke to her.
"Not yet. Uh, have one of the guys check for a death certificate for the baby." She wondered why she hadn't thought of that before. If Angela had died in childbirth the baby could have as well, even with a birth certificate. If a preemie she could have died days later. Alyx set the phone down and cranked the volume so that she'd hear if Gray spoke to her.
She could hear the sounds of movement, the metallic squeal of poorly oiled file drawers being opened and then the rustle of papers as Gray, most likely, thumbed through the records.
The connection to the computer system suddenly went down. Alyx stared at the screen for a moment in irritation, then started over again only to get an error message.
She picked up the phone. "Gray, the computer just went down." When there was no immediate answer she figured he was either distracted or that he couldn't hear her, perhaps had set the phone down and wandered away. "Gray?"
Shouts were suddenly heard across the distance.
"Damn it. Gray!" she shouted into the line. She listened for a few more seconds, trying to determine exactly what was happening, and then the line went dead.
