"Crap, is there anyone who isn't after him?"

"Alyx, you should go to bed," Darien said as he poked his head into her office. He'd gotten up for a drink, assuming she'd crashed in the downstairs guest room she'd taken over like she had been since they'd gotten back from up north. His dad was at the other end of the house in another guest room, that had the bedroom set from Cold Springs in it, probably sound asleep. He seemed to feel relatively secure and confident that Alyx's system would keep intruders at bay, at least long enough to allow them to get to weapons. She'd modified the system to account for their guest and armed it. No one would get in that wasn't permitted, and that list was very short. Most, including Hobbes and Claire, would need to be buzzed in from the gate just to get on the property, which, while inconvenient, both agreed to be the right choice. Better for a friend to be slightly put out than an enemy have access.

"Not tired," she muttered, tapping a few more keys.

He walked over to her, setting a hand on her shoulder. "Which might be part of the reason you're not healing. Isn't Claire worried, 'cause I sure am."

She tipped her head to look up at him. "I don't have time to hibernate and heal right now."

He sighed softly. "And you if don't take care of yourself, you'll be of no use to any of us, my dad included."

She muttered imprecations under her breath. "Do you really think I want to be up forty hours straight? Do you really think I would be doing this if I didn't have to? You have no idea what is going on."

He cupped her chin with one hand. "You're right I don't. Is it work or personal?" They'd agreed secrets for work could and would stay secrets when necessary, but personal… that was a different story entirely.

"And if I said both?"

"Well, that would explain why you're all twisted up in knots." She'd hid it well, but it still had impinged on his awareness. Something was wrong, he simply remained unsure as to what.

"There's so much I can't tell you that I chose to tell you nothing," she admitted, closing the laptop, suddenly deciding to be done for the night.

"Which is doing you a whole lot of good. How bad did this last job go?"

"It went fine. I accomplished the goal; just got hurt in the process, but better me than-"

"Me."

Darien's head whipped about to see his father standing in the doorway, a concerned look on his face. "She got shot over you?"

"I didn't know," Mason stated, "and if I had I would never had let her. I can handle this."

Darien snorted. "Clearly not if she took a bullet for you."

"Dare, he had no idea I was there." She looked over at Mason. "Hell, I didn't know he was the target until almost too late." She leaned back in the chair and rubbed her face in her hands, looking exhausted. "I was supposed to make certain you were… eliminated. I got the shooter to alter his target at the last possible moment."

"And yet you still welcomed me. Why?" Mason seemed confused by this, and Darien could understand why since his dad didn't really know her or the lengths she'd go through to protect those she deemed worthy.

"Wait. He was your target? The 'Fish sent you to kill my father?" Not what he wanted to even consider, but not overly surprising in the grand scheme of things.

"No. It was a loan job and I am not saying for whom. That would be the work part. Your dad made it very personal."

"Which is why you left breadcrumbs to come here." He wagged a finger at her. "You are very sneaky."

"I but try my poor best," she simpered. "Let's just say there are factions who would rather that the information you have in your head never see the light of day. And their solution is of the permanent type."

"They want me dead. Can't say I'm surprised." Mason shrugged. "It's what I would do."

"Me too, " Alyx agreed, earning a gasp from Darien. "What? It makes the most sense;" she waved at Mason, "he can't tell what he knows if he's dead. And he's, shall we say, a bit of an embarrassment for the USSA."

"Why is that?" Darien asked, feeling suddenly exhausted. This was not a conversation he had ever expected to have. Then again he hadn't expected to see his father ever again, so feeling a tad put out was probably within the realm of normal.

"I said no."

"Plus, they burned him, thinking he'd gone rogue, only to discover his handler was the one who had gone over to the dark side."

That earned a surprised snicker from the elder Fawkes and a look of surprise from the younger. "What? I'm still human. Though one, two, and three were horrible." He winked at Alyx who laughed softly. "Do you have a plan to solve my little problem?"

She shook her head. "Not yet. Some options, but I need to do some digging first. Figure out how high the kill order goes so I know who I'm going to be pissing off."

"Then go get some sleep. Tomorrow is another day and you… well, to be frank, you look like shit."

"Glad you were willing to fall on that particular sword," Darien said sotto voce, earning a slight grin from his father.

"LIke you haven't been broadcasting it for days." She rubbed her forehead, then pushed the chair back, getting to her feet with an audible groan. Darien didn't hesitate, walked around the desk and scooped her up in his arms. She didn't fight him one bit and actually curled up against him, resting her forehead against the side of his neck. "I did not know the job was a hit until the last possible moment, else I would have warned you," she said to Mason. "I was simply the spotter."

"Who was the shooter?"

"Yakiro."

Mason nodded slowly. "He's good. Rarely misses and uses… Shit, no wonder you are still so bad off."

Alyx twitched and sighed heavily. Darien got a wash of irritation from her. "What are you hiding from me now?"

Mason gave her an apologetic look, making it obvious he realized he'd screwed the pooch on this one. "His weapon of choice has been highly modified, as have the rounds he uses. They can do up to ten times the damage of an equivalent standard round." He cocked his head to the side. "How are you even walking? It should have shattered your femur."

"You are assuming it didn't," Alyx groused. "Look, a side effect of my… abilities is to heal faster than normal. That said, the damn bullet left bits behind and it'll do more harm to go in and remove them than to just let my body do the job itself. Trouble is it's taking longer than expected."

"Which is why you keep bleeding, the original wound won't heal till all the shattered bits are gone," Darien summed up, not thrilled with the reason she was still in pain. "But did you break your leg?"

She shook her head. "No. I had some control of the damage it did, just not enough." She lifted her head to look straight at Mason. "Yakiro is very good. He was taking a head shot at you."

Darien could see that his father was thinking hard, trying to figure out when the hit had occurred and how she had managed to turn a head shot at person A into a leg shot on person B. "Calgary?" he asked and she nodded. "Through the building? Christ, that took timing on your part. Does he know he hit you?"

"No. He thinks he just missed." She shrugged. "If you hadn't turned your head when you did he wouldn't have."

" 'Cause once he fires he doesn't watch. His ego makes him certain he'll hit his target. He will hate you if he finds out, this is his first miss in years."

"Is there some sort of sniper club out there and you all compete to see who's the best?" Darien questioned, his tone only slightly hysterical he hoped. This was nuts. Completely nuts. Strange enough to learn his father was a sniper, a good one, but another thing entirely to hear him discussing it as if it were a normal part of every day. For some it might be; he and Alyx had been lucky that they'd never really had to worry about such things. Well, maybe only him, as this adventure made it clear Alyx had at the very least assisted at such things.

"Not exactly." Mason leaned back against the wall, one hand coming up to rub the back of his neck. "I want to know how he… how they knew I was there."

"I assume you took all the usual precautions?" Alyx asked, getting a nod in response. "Cameras maybe?"

Darien asked, what to him had to be an obvious question, "Who did you meet in Calgary?"

The look on his father's face made Darien want to laugh. "What makes you think I went there to meet anyone?"

"Because if you made no mistakes, someone else must have. So who did you meet?"

"He's a natural, isn't he?"

"So, I've been told," Alyx confirmed. "We'll check on your contact tomorrow."

"Hell, if they put pressure on her…"

Darien's eyebrows rose at that. Hopefully, his father hadn't gotten shot at over a tryst.

"D, he's not dead and it's none of your business."

Mason laughed. "She's an ex-spy and a contact I made years ago. Though she does have grandchildren."

"And everyone will break with the right pressure. Did she know you were going to be in that park?" Alyx asked.

"No, no one knew. I decided to go to that park maybe fifteen minutes earlier. The area has very few cameras, and I avoided all of them."

"Maybe your friendly eye in the sky tracked you," Darien said in full sarcastic mode.

"Satellites? Not likely. You can't do facial rec-" His dad's words cut off dead the same moment Alyx stiffened in Darien's arms. "Or can you?"

"Alyx, now would be a good time to share with the class."

"If you two think the only way to find someone is via facial recognition then you'd be nuts. And, yes, satellites can do it - multiple ways."

"And you know this how exactly?" Darien had to ask even if he really didn't want to know the answer.

"How do you think? I helped modify the existing algorithm. Hell, it's more accurate than the facial rec the NSA uses."

For an instant Darien was sorely tempted to drop her and just walk away in disgust. And Alyx couldn't have missed it if she tried.

"Put me down."

"Son, none of this is her fault."

"I know that," Darien snapped.

"Damn it. Put me down now," she snarled, struggling in his hold almost to the point of causing him to drop her, which might very well have been her intent. She couldn't help but feel what he did, and there were times he hated that fact. The rest of the time he didn't want to be without it… live without it. He loved her, but there were times he didn't care for what she was capable of.

"No," he told her in a soft voice, then turned his face bury it in her hair. "Work is work, right?"

"Apparently not," she muttered, but stopped trying to wiggle her way out of his arms.

"I take it there is something beyond the usual couple issues going on here?" Mason asked overly-politely.

Alyx snorted. "Usual couple issues." She rubbed her forehead. "I has headache."

"How about we explain in the morning, so's I can get this one to bed?" Darien suggested hoping his father would drop it for the moment. Alyx was upset and exhausted and needed to sleep for days, but would be forced to settle for a few hours, but with him for the first time in over a week. That would hopefully make a difference in her state of mind and body come tomorrow.

"Son, just remember that when the time came she chose to save my life, hell, she took a bullet for me. That's what matters."

Darien hung his head. "Yeah, I know, but we haven't quite figured out how to handle when work overlaps the personal. Least on her outside jobs."

"But we will," she said in all confidence. "Get some sleep, Mason, tomorrow is going to be an… interesting day."

He nodded slowly. "Good night," he said as he turned and left them alone.

"I just keep fucking this whole thing up," Darien muttered as he shifted her slightly in his hold. She weighed nothing no matter how solid she felt. She'd lost too much weight this time around and had done nothing to compensate for that. Her powers may have been kicked up to the nth degree, but on this occasion, though he did not understand why, they weren't compensating, weren't pulling in more energy to heal her and keep her at that default perfect weight and build.

And he just kept piling more shit on her instead of doing what he could to help.

"Yeah, you do," she agreed, still tense.

"Well, for tonight anyway, I'm done." He walked out the room, heading for the stairs, fully intending to take her to their room and their bed. "You need to sleep."

"Then take me to my bedroom," she suggested.

"Our bedroom. You… we are not sleeping in separate rooms tonight. You will heal faster if you're with me and you know it." She always had before, no reason for it to not be true now.

"I'll bleed all over the sheets."

"So, we'll buy new sheets," he told her, not about to let her talk her way out of this. He turned at the top of the stairs, heading to the left where the huge master suite was located. "We'll get you all propped up and comfy and you will do nothing but sleep for the next several hours. And come morning I'm making breakfast and if you're good I'll even deliver."

"Dare, you don't have to do all this. I'm a big girl and can manage all on my own."

"I am well aware, but the point is you don't have to. We're partners, remember?" He stopped next to their bed. "Let me help, please?"

"Do you want to help? Or do you just want the target of your anger closer to hand?" The hard bite to her words well deserved.

He gently set her down, making certain she was steady before releasing her. He figured she might want to shower and change before crawling into bed. "I… this isn't easy for me and is forcing me to take a hard look at my life and I can't help but wonder what it might of been like if my dad had stuck around, or even just come back after mom died. My… our lives would have been so different and maybe… just maybe Kevin would still be alive."

"I get that. Really, I do. You think I haven't spent my time what iffing about Jess… About you." She limped away. "Why blame me for all of this?"

He'd actually had plenty of time to think about that very question and had come to the only logical conclusion. "Because it was easier than blaming myself," he told her. "I can't even blame him, my dad. I could have gone looking for him, could have tried to find the truth, but I just toed the party line. Following in my father's footsteps." He ducked his head, tanned foot pale against the dark wood of the floor. "I wanted to be a thief like him and instead ended up being a spy… just like him."

"Not just like him. You can't shoot for shit."

Darien snorted. "Can't argue with that. I'm not handling this too well am I?"

"Nope." Her hand came to rest on his back, he hadn't even heard her move. "Just don't block me out and we'll get through this. It's not like I expected him to show up on our doorstep. I figured he'd just disappear like always." He turned his head in time to see her smile wanly. "He is a ghost after all."

Darien turned about and set his hands on her shoulders. "Maybe he doesn't want to hide any more."

"Maybe," she agreed. "We may need help with this."

"What kind of help?" He wasn't certain he would trust anyone with knowledge about his dad.

"Bobby."

Darien had to think about that for a long moment before answering. "Why Bobby? Why not the Official?"

"Because, depending on what kind of order is out on Mason, the Official might have no choice but to report that he's here, Bobby not so much. And he has decades of contacts that can get us into places that I might not even think of. I'm not saying today, but…"

"Yeah, he'd be good back up. Provided it doesn't put him in a bind." He rubbed his face with one hand, the other curling around the back of her neck. "Christ what are we going to do with him tomorrow?"

"Drug him and tie him to the bed?" she suggested. "I think we can convince him to stay here while we play good soldiers and go into work. I'll only be there a couple of hours unless Drake needs help hacking into something, which is rare these days. Claire just wanted to give me another exam and have me look over some notes on the new toxin inhibitor. After that I'm free to make some discreet inquiries into who ordered the hit on Mason and why."

"Me and Bobby have paperwork on the last case to file, after that it'll depend what the 'Fish has for us. Think you can keep Dad alive for the day?"

"More likely the other way around," she said causing him to frown. "D, my security is good, but even I can't prevent an airstrike." When his eyes went wide she added, "Kidding. Jeez, lighten up or neither of us will be able to relax enough to sleep."

Darien blew out the breath he'd been holding. "You are mean, you know that?"

She just grinned up at him.

He yawned, wanting to talk more, but the siren's call of sleep was gaining strength. "Need help?"

She nodded. "Just promise you won't freak when we change the bandages."

"No more than necessary, how's that."

"Good enough." She patted his cheek then hobbled off to the bathroom where the first aid supplies lived.

This was probably going to be uncomfortable for both of them, but together they would get through it just fine.

. . . . .

"So, Fawkes, how did things go yesterday?"

Darien twitched, wondering how the hell Hobbes knew that his Dad had made a surprise appearance until Darien remembered that he'd told his partner where he had been headed on his personal day. "Uh, fine. Got some of the blanks filled in, revealed a whole bunch more. It was good to see her."

"Gonna go hang out on Thanksgiving?"

Darien actually brightened at that idea. "Be a good time to introduce Alyx. Think we can con the 'Fish into keeping her in town and giving us the day off?"

"With the right persuasion, anything is possible." Hobbes leaned back in the chair, the paperwork done, finally. There had been nothing new today so they would be following up on several open, but stalled cases. It was looking to be a stakeout kind of afternoon. "How are you and the kid?"

Darien shrugged. "We're okay. Still working through some issues. She's not healing like she should."

"Yeah, well, when you get shot by Yakiro still being alive is a major accomplishment."

Darien went stock still for several minutes wondering if he dared ask Bobby how he had come by that information or just assume Alyx had told him even though she had agreed to hold off until necessary. And given she hadn't had time to do those detailed searches yet he had no reason to think she'd go to Bobby blind. "How… how do you know that?" Darien whispered hoarsely.

"Fawkes," Hobbes said with a laugh, "I'm a spy. I hear things. When Yakiro misses a shot everyone knows about it. The real question is why he hit the kid and not his target, but I have the feeling you have the answers."

"Shit, Bobby, I just found out the details yesterday, mostly 'cause they ended up on my doorstep." Darien got to his feet and began to pace their office, one hand trying to rub a hole through his forehead as he debated how much would be safe to say while within the environs of the Agency.

"And what exactly ended up on your doorstep," Bobby asked voice full of concern.

"A ghost."

Hobbes blinked as he endeavored to process the meaning of those two words, when he did he sucked in a shocked breath. "Oh hell, Fawkes. And this ghost was the target?"

"Yes." Darien lowered his voice. "Alyx caught that bullet to save him."

Hobbes sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I was afraid it was something like that. What's the plan?"

"Vague at best. Alyx is looking into who ordered the hit and who else might be after him. He's been running since he left here." Darien probably looked as dour as he felt. Would his family ever catch a break?

"And he came to you for help?"

Darien laughed bitterly. "Alyx, but, as he pointed out, we are a package deal."

"Crap," Hobbes muttered. "And you get some quality bonding time with daddy-dearest." He tapped his fingers on the desk. "You got some place you can stash him for a day while we plan?"

"Plan what?" Darien asked in confusion.

"How to keep your father alive. I can guarantee they are coming here and they will find him. Alyx can't protect him twenty-four seven. And I'm pretty sure he would not want her to take another bullet for him." Hobbes didn't pull his punches, and wasn't wrong. Mason Fawkes was family and she would defend family with every fiber of her being, even if it meant she lost her life in the process. He really hoped it wouldn't come to that, but feared it just might.

"Uh, maybe. Need to figure out how to do it so's they think he's still here though."

"Simple, we bring him into the Agency."

Both men spun around to see Alyx standing in the doorway. A funky new brace adorning her left leg.

"Thought you said we couldn't trust the Official?" Darien questioned.

"We can't. Never said we were gonna tell him."

"A fake out. That could work," Hobbes said nodding his head. "Walk him in the front door all obvious-like and sneak him right out the back. I assume he knows about your talent?" he asked of Darien.

Darien ducked his head. "Well if he didn't before yesterday he does now."

Hobbes shook his head in clear dismay.

"What? A stranger shows up not just at my house, but on my patio. I grabbed a gun and Quicksilvered." Only a slight lie, but no way would he admit that realizing said stranger was his dad had caused the sudden invisibility as opposed to fear of his life.

Hobbes chuckled. "Took you long enough, but you're finally learning."

Darien rolled his eyes. Given the security at his house, unwelcome guests should not be possible. His dad continued to be that exception to break all the rules.

"He's been keeping an eye on you and while he may not have all the details, knows pretty much everything that happened to you," she told him, her voice soft, unable to meet his eyes.

Shit, had he really been that touchy on the subject? She looked like she wanted to cower, which meant he'd been being a total dick on the level of her husband. "Okay. That makes it easier, I guess. So, when? Tonight?"

"Tomorrow. I have stuff to set up first."

"Like what, kid?" Hobbes was always on the ball.

"Well, a car for one. He's going to need some way to drive away from here. We have to stay to make it look legit." She lifted her head to look at Darien. "You thinking stash him at your Grams for a day or two?"

Darien nodded. "It's off the beaten path and she'd probably like to see her son while he's in town."

"Doesn't solve the real problem, though," Hobbes stated.

"Which is?" Darien chose to bite on that one suspecting Alyx already knew the answer.

"How to get them off his back," Alyx told him. "Bringing him in might only make them want to kill him all the more. We have to convince them he is out of the game entirely, and there are only so many ways to pull that off."

Darien felt the blood drain out of his face. "He's gonna have to run, ain't he." He turned away with a snarl of frustration. "I just got him back."

Hobbes got to his feet and walked over towards his partner. "How did you think this was gonna end, Fawkes? Hell, how many times have we killed off the kid in an effort to throw hunters off her trail. We're just damn lucky she's so dangerous that at this point they're more afraid of her than their bosses."

"What are our options? Real ones," Darien asked. He tried not to cringe, suspecting none of the answers would be ones he liked.

"Witness protection," Alyx offered.

"Witless protection more like," Hobbes muttered. "Not a chance. Next."

"Well, he runs on his own or with a new identity."

"Better," Hobbes agreed, "but if they even suspect that's all he did he'll be running forever and I'm betting Fawkes would like the opportunity to hook up with his pa now and then."

"What else is there?" Darien asked, not sure what else there could possibly be.

"We let them kill him," she said, dead serious and freaking Darien out more than a little.

"No," he stated, voice faint. "He didn't go through all this just to-"

"Fawkes, calm down. She doesn't mean for real. Like when we killed her," Hobbes explained, hooking a thumb at her. "I like that idea. You got an exit plan for him?"

"Not yet, but I will. He'll be set up in style, promise," she said to Darien who still felt more than a touch taken aback.

"How are you going to do that, kid?"

"Bobby," she laughed, then changed into her best mob muscle voice, "I know a guy who's an expert at creating new personas."

Hobbes' face scrunched up as he tried to figure out who she meant. Darien took no time at all. "Jarod."

She nodded. "The covers will be solid and he'll be free to move about the cabin."

Darien looked from one partner to the other. "Can we do this?"

"Do we have a choice?" Alyx returned.

"No, I guess not." He didn't like it, but there did not seem to be a better option. "You heading home?"

"Yep. On Keepers orders, no less. She is less than happy with my current x-rays." Darien opened his mouth only to be shushed by a shake of her head. "Later. I'll give our guest a heads up as to the plan and then start working on the details. "Dinner at seven, I expect both of you there unless work bites you on the ass, understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," Hobbes responded complete with mock salute.

"We'll be there. Make it a good plan, okay?" Darien requested wishing that there could be another option.

She nodded. "Best that I can, promise." Then turned and limped away.

. . . . .

Alyx stood outside on the sidewalk as they pulled up in the van, waiting for them as planned. Just like the delivery of any other high profile target, except for the decided lack of generic suits nearby. They'd had to keep those in the know to a minimum to prevent the Official from catching wind of it.

Darien turned about in his seat to meet the calm gaze of his father. "You sure about this? We can still go at this another way."

"Son… Do you trust her? Do you trust Alyx?"

"With my life," Darien answered without even thinking about it.

"Then trust her with mine."

Hobbes twitched, but wisely kept his mouth shut.

Darien, however, failed utterly at being convinced. He'd just gotten his dad back, had a million and one question to ask him and was instead going help him run away and start over without him.

"Son, if this doesn't work I'm dead and you won't have any chance with me anyway, so we might as well give it a try," Mason said, sounding utterly bored with the whole thing.

Hobbes snorted. "He's got you there, partner."

Darien sighed. Hating when the entire universe decided to conspire against him. "And if it does work?"

Mason shrugged. "You've made a life for yourself here, you don't need your father's approval for anything you do."

"Doesn't mean I don't want it," Darien muttered, kind of hating himself for feeling the need for his father's approval even though he was a grown adult. He'd barely remembered his father and yet had spent a fair portion of his life trying to live up to that image he had in his head of the man. An incorrect image as it turned out, but it didn't change the basic fact that he had missed his father and needed him to be there as he grew up… no matter how hard he had tried to deny it over the years. Yes, he understood why his father had stayed away, but it did nothing to erase the ache of loss or desperate need of approval buried deep in his gut.

"I know, son," Mason said softly.

"Fawkes, are we doing this or not?" Hobbes grouched, and he was right, this was not the time or place for a deep, meaningful conversation with dad.

"Yeah. Let's." He exited the van, playing the part by looking about to check for followers or watchers. Oh, they were there watching, waiting to see what they were doing, and they would spread the word that Forrester Perdue had been brought into the Agency.

Hobbes went around to the rear, doing his best paranoid and suspicious looks at everything. With a nod from him, Darien slid open the side door and waved for Mason to exit. Alyx swung open the building door waiting for them to enter so they could move onto the next step in this plan.

"You remember what to do?" Alyx asked as they walked down the grungy hallway.

Mason chuckled. "I do indeed."

She handed him the keys to the car he'd be using for this. "C'mon, lets get you in your ever so fancy disguise." She turned to Darien who wore a frown. "We'll meet you this evening at the rendezvous point. We'll bring dinner." She handed him a cell phone. "Hacked and untraceable. You should be able to use it anywhere in the world. I've set up an emergency supply bag that should cover most electronic contingencies."

"Where did you get that?" Hobbes asked, eyeing the piece of hardware with what looked like jealousy.

Darien snorted. "You really think she didn't just do it herself?

Alyx grinned. "Not this time. Did a barter job with a local outfit, their hacks are amazing, I just modded the encryption a wee bit." She turned to Mason. "I've programmed a selection of relevant numbers, including the best pizza joints in every major city."

Mason laughed. "And if I said I don't eat pizza?"

"Then I would have programmed what you do like," she told him, clearly confident she'd made the right choice. "C'mon, let's get you looking pretty."

She led them to one of the unused offices where she'd set up, as they turned a corner they damn near ran into Drake.

"Miss Silver, you may need to move faster than anticipated," Drake said as he fell into step beside her and trailed her into the room.

"Calls already?" He nodded. "Damn, they move fast." She waved for Mason to have a seat. "I need twenty minutes. Can you stall that long?"

He nodded. "I might even manage thirty, but don't waste any time, the Official has a meeting this morning that I was not able to reschedule. You do not want to be here when he arrives."

"We won't be… He won't be. We still have to pretend to work," Alyx assured him. "Now go run interference. I'll let you know when it's all clear."

"Works," Drake said as he scooted from the room.

"You let Drake in on this?" Hobbes questioned, echoing Darien's own thoughts on the matter.

She rolled her eyes. "We're in the building, it was let him in on it or have him find out and probably fuck things up. He doesn't know who he," she waved at Mason, "is, which gives him all the plausible deniability he needs."

"But if he's fielding calls…"

"D, trust me, Drake has his end handled," Alyx assured them, then turned back to Mason. "Makeover time."

Mason grinned. "Do your worst."

"Oh, she will," Darien informed him, smiling as well.