Leaf paused when he heard the new voice come on the phone. Not only because of the belligerent mannerism, but because the voice was much younger than any of those people he was sure Smith had with him.

"Who is this?" Leaf asked, looking over at Brooks, who was watching him carefully, the gun still deadly in his hand and his eyes cold.

"Ian Brooks. Who wants to know?"

"Ian Brooks…?"

Leaf actually pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it. Right up until there was the definite sound of a gun cocking. That drew his attention quickly enough back to Nathan, who hadn't missed the name.

"It- he says he's Ian Brooks," the retired admiral said, shakily, wondering what the hell was going on.

Nathan's eyes hardened even more – and Leaf hadn't thought that was possible.

"If this is a trick, Leaf…"

"It's not! I-"

"Toss me the phone – carefully."

Leaf did as he was told, careful not to make any sudden movements that Nathan might think was an attempted distraction. The large man caught the phone easily in the hand that wasn't holding the Beretta, and still watching Leaf intently, he put the phone to his ear.

"Who's this?"

There was a surprised hesitation.

"Dad?"

"Ian? Are you all right?"

"What are you-"

"Goddamn it, son, are you all right?"

"Yeah."

Nate couldn't see Ian, but he didn't have to to know that he was scowling. He also sounded incredibly tired.

"What's going on, Ian? How did you get that phone?"

Although Ian was wondering the exact same thing about how his dad had gotten that phone, the cadet answered the question.

"Some guys kidnapped Hayden. We chased them down…"

"Is he all right?"

"He will be. There's cops on the way." Ian could hear the sirens getting closer, and a fire truck was just starting to turn the corner several blocks ahead of them, and he didn't like the thought of Shawn stuck guarding Smith alone. "I need to go, dad. I'll call you back when things are straightened out."

"You're sure you're okay?" He'd never heard Ian sound quite so tired before.

"Yeah…"

"Be careful, son."

"You, too."

They hung up at the same time, and Ian dropped the phone on the ground, ignoring the cracking noise it made. He turned to Shawn, leaning slightly against the door as he felt another wave of weariness wash over him.

"Are you okay?"

Shawn nodded.

"You?"

Ian nodded.

"You sure?"

"I'm fine, Adams. Keep an eye on the guy you're guarding – and don't lose my gun."

He walked over to Shawn and put his hand on the younger cadet's shoulder – an action that surprised Shawn, since he'd never seen Ian make such an obvious gesture of friendship before. He suddenly felt a surge of something that he couldn't explain, and the pain in his arm that had settled into a throbbing ache suddenly eased up a bit. Probably just a reaction to his own surprise at Ian's uncharacteristic move, Shawn decided, feeling just a little warm and fuzzy inside at the thought. Maybe they were going to be able to get through to the lighter side of Ian eventually after all.

The fire truck pulled to a screeching halt just then, and as Shawn turned, relieved to have a little more help, Ian suddenly dropped to the ground, unconscious.

"Ian!"

OOOOOOOOOOO

Nathan Brooks hung up the phone thoughtfully, his eyes never leaving Leaf, and his expression not changing. Emboldened by the fact that Brooks' son was alive and well, the admiral spoke up.

"See? He's fine. You didn't need to-"

"Shut the fuck up, Leaf."

The admiral did as he was told, and Nate glared at him so intently that he actually felt like squirming.

"What were your men doing with my son?"

"Nothing! I didn't even know he was with them."

"You're lying."

"No!"

He wasn't lying. He hadn't known that Morgan had managed to pick up Brooks, and he wondered how much the man had said to the younger Brooks. And how this was going to affect the Trust. Nathan Brooks was influential and deadly - even more so than he'd expected – and there was no way Leaf would dream of bringing him into the Trust. For that matter, now that he thought of it, he couldn't imagine what he'd been thinking going after the dangerous man's son like he had. He hadn't realized they were so close. All his intelligence had said the two barely spoke to each other.

"Nobody fucks with my family, Leaf," Brooks said, his hand tightening on the gun. "Not you. Not your sycophants. Not even Kinsey."

"I-"

"I didn't tell you that you could speak," Nathan interrupted. "You made a huge mistake. You and Kinsey both. Kinsey's already paid for his, and I'd say it's high time you learned a lesson of your own."