Four Years Later

Sean managed to get Alex to a nearby medical clinic. One of his sisters did pro bono work for the place, he knew it could help her get clean safely. It wasn't a hospital or a shelter, so he was following her wishes. But he wasn't going to abandon her to the streets or wherever she called home. She needed real care. Alex seemed to panic at the idea of sharing her information with the clinic, however. Sean figured she must've been in some kind of legal trouble. He didn't comment on it, though, nor did the doctors. In that part of town, they experienced that sort of thing all the time. Their focus was only on helping people, so they took her limited information without question.

Alex was taken away gently by a nurse, leaving Sean by himself (he told the nurse he had found her strung out and decided to bring her in, there was no need to involve the police; they wouldn't have been able to do much anyway). The look she gave him kept him in place for a second. He promised to never leave her, and she desperately wanted that to be true; she had to hold onto something. He'd be there for her when they allowed him to go back and visit her. She was going to be stuck with him for a while. In the meantime, however, he had to report his teammate to their superiors. He couldn't keep shirking that off; he needed to face reality.

There wasn't anything Sean could really blame his friend's drug use on besides PTSD. They're latest assignment was probably the thing that drove him over the edge. It was top secret, as all of their ops were, yet there was something different about it. Information was need-to-know, and so were the orders. Sean and his team were barely told anything besides their own specific role for the mission. He had heard through whispers it was somehow CIA related. His commander's old Naval buddy worked as a CIA analyst. Apparently, he passed along information of an illegal op they had to stop. Sean wasn't certain how accurate that rumor was, though it did explain the secrecy.

However, nothing could explain away what they had experienced. There was the typical (well, typical for Seals) gunfire and explosions; the fire fight was intense, yet nothing they hadn't handled before. It was the opposing force they were up against that frightened Sean. They didn't move like combatants they had faced before. In fact, they moved sort of like them; they even had similar fighting styles. A part of Sean thought he was facing fellow Americans. Except, that would've been insane. The unit must've learned from them and adapted. That was the only logical explanation.

Things took a nasty turn fairly quickly. The Seals had surprised the unit at first, managing to foil their operation. But the group fought back instantly and viciously. Sean thought they had won the day by ruining their goal. And maybe he could still claim that. But they had barely made it out of there alive afterwards. It was as though the group thought they could beat them into submission to save their op, or at least kill any witnesses. The unit didn't succeed on the first tactic, but the second- the second was horrific.

Sean and his team had seen death before; it was the price they paid for duty. However, they hadn't seen it to that scale. Killings were usually done at a distance with snipers or bombs. They were never up close with a crooked knife where you could hear your team screaming. That was what gave them the nightmares and the fear- the screams of those they couldn't help. They were pinned down, helpless, and listened to their friends die. And for what, no one but their commander knew. If they were simply told what their teammates died for, maybe they could have processed it. Instead, their latest assignment was pointless. They might have foiled some kind of plot, yet it was all for nothing.

Although Sean thought over his complicated feelings, he didn't express any of them to his commanders. He stated the facts of finding his friend trying to cope with drugs, and explained he was late to report it because he was helping another addict. There was a lot of paperwork to file, as well as other medics and superiors to talk to. Sean didn't mind it. His friend needed all the care he could receive; that was how he was going to heal. It just might be how they all would heal.

His dying team's screams and the way their opponents moved kept Sean up at night. As did the fact the only thing he knew about the op were rumors- a CIA analyst might have given the order and they might have faced Americans. But he was done thinking about all of that. He shouldn't have dwelt on it. Reliving the past over and over again was going to drive him insane. He needed something new to focus on. And with no new active missions for a while, that something was going to be helping Alex. Whereas his friend had many people to care for him and look after him, Alex didn't. She was alone. But not for much longer.

"You came back?" It was a simple statement, except it confused Alex. She watched him walk into the room she was recovering in with curious blue eyes. Since she had medical attention, she appeared substantially better than she had in the crackhouse. Her skin wasn't as pale, nor did her body shake as violently. The withdrawal continued to beat her, however, she was continuing to fight it. Exhaustion was taking over her body, yet her eyes were alive.

"I told you. You're stuck with me forever," Gently, Sean reminded her. He pulled up a chair to sit next to her bed, keeping a slight distance. Alex didn't seem to be completely comfortable with him around. She gave him a small smile, but shifted away from him on the bed. He couldn't blame her. He was still a stranger, and she didn't have the best of luck with strange men. He was going to change that for her. He'd give her space and peace of mind. She deserved someone to finally treat her with kindness.

"Awesome. My own personal Seal bodyguard," Muttering mostly to herself, Alex settled deeper into the pillows. She closed her eyes tightly for a moment as if to fight off a dizzy spell or something. Sean wanted to reach out to comfort her, but decided against it. She didn't need to be overwhelmed. He shifted closer to her bed instead, and made sure to speak softly.

"You remembered that part?" Among the things Sean didn't know, why he asked that question was one of them. He didn't know anything about his last operation other than rumors and speculation. He didn't know why he was so glued to Alex's side other than her stubbornness. And he didn't know why he questioned her memory. Maybe he was simply dumbfounded by her. He couldn't think as clearly with everything going on around him.

"I'm going through withdrawal, not amnesia," She somehow managed to roll her eyes while they were closed. The fact made Sean chuckle. Alex sure was able to catch him slipping; he'd have to watch out for that.

He'd also have to watch out for that slight change in accent on 'amnesia'. Her voice was very American, nearly newsworthy with its lack of distinction. But it changed on the last word, almost as though she hadn't practiced changing her accent with it. To Sean, Alex sounded a bit Russian or something else Slavic. If she wasn't American, that'd explain her hesitation to give away any information, "Where are you from?"

"Why?" Blue eyes rapidly opening, Alex regarded Sean with that guarded trepidation again. It was definitely the worst thing to ask her. She moved even further away from him on the bed, and her gaze shifted to the door. She was planning her escape. So, he pulled his chair back from her to give her space.

"I can't get to know you after saving your life?" Sean replied, flashing her an encouraging smile. He had to move slower with Alex. She needed time and patience to open up to him. Or at the very least, time and patience to heal. He couldn't have her running off back to the streets.

"Where are you from?" Alex shot back, recovering from her slight panic. It was a fair question. Sean shouldn't expect to know everything about her and not give up any facts about himself as well. Trust went both ways.

"DC," Was the simple answer. He had moved all over as a kid because of his parents' jobs. But he had stayed in DC the longest. The city was usually the default he told people when asked that question.

Sean's answer appeared to relax Alex. She settled back onto the mattress in a more comfortable position, and closed her eyes again. She paused before responding with her own answer, however. It could have been her withdrawal, or she was thinking up some kind of lie. Sean wanted to believe it was the first explanation, "Jersey."

"So Alex from Jersey, got a place to stay once you're released? Don't think that house is the best place for anyone," Attempting light conversation, Sean asked her. He thought he could also help Alex get back on her feet after going through withdrawal. Detoxing was the first step of getting clean, there was a whole lot she'd have to do to continue fighting. He wasn't going to abandon her during any of that.

"No shit," Her bitterness was warranted. But she didn't open her eyes to stare at him like he was a threat anymore. She was simply glancing at him in confusion. That was an improvement at least.

"At some point you're gonna want a more permanent address. You know, stability is a good way to make sure you don't fall back into bad habits," Sean referenced the quick reading he had done on helping recovering addicts. He thought it'd be helpful.

However, Alex glared at him with poison in her gaze, "Why they fuck do you wanna help me so much?"

"Because you're strong," The words shocked Sean as much as it had Alex. They were true, though. She was incredibly strong. He wasn't going to take it back. For the first time since they had met, she gave him a true, genuine smile. And it was beautiful.