Morning complaints and worrisome remarks

"Good morning Nick."

A murmured 'hmmpf' was all she got, accompanied by a tired look from her young friend who was nursing a hot cup of coffee and what looked like a headache by the way he was frowning.

"Okay, not so good then. What got you all cranky?"

The afro American woman smiled as she made herself some of her famous grandmother's herbal tea. She could never stand the strong bitter coffee early in the morning, but her colleagues seemed to live on it. Sometimes she could lure Derek and Rachel into drinking something else such as tea, but Nick? Beer, coffee and coke, three beverages he swore by.

"Here, catch."

Alex threw Nick a small box with aspirins, something he never took out of himself, but others had to tell him to take. Luckily he had learned to actually take them instead of trying to talk himself out of it. What was is with soldiers being stubborn?

"Thanks, I guess."

The young man made a face as he popped one of the white pills in his mouth, swallowing it along with a large gulp of coffee. Old habits died hard. He sighed, rubbing his forehead as he glanced at his watch. He had been up all night, but at least most of it was fixed and what wasn't had been ordered new already.

"You remember that nice little gift Derek got from his old pal? It exploded in the middle of the night and trashed a few computers."

"And you pulled an all nighter to get it fixed?"

"Yep."

Alex gave Nick a look, though it did explain the bags under his eyes. She had been sleeping very soundly if she hadn't heard that. What was it with cursed gifts she wondered as she settled on a chair, blowing on the hot tea. Nick did have a point last night when he said Derek's friends never did any good. And if Nick worked all night long, it was bad. No computer, no results of the scans, nothing.

"And the chalice?"

 "Completely destroyed, along with the scan results. The camera picked up some weird air like stuff leaving it though, so there was definitely something in it. What beats me."

He had been trying to see if the computer could work with it, but other then having it magnified to a golden flash was all he could do. If you would look closely to the image, there were face like shapes, but that might as well be coincidence. And whatever it had been, it wasn't in the house, not anymore.

"Rachel is on her way over. Nick…..pack your bags."

Derek had just entered the kitchen and made commands right away. The older man look bothered by something, a serious frown on his face. Though as Precept he was frowning a lot, and hiding his emotions away from others to say. So calling it a worried frown was just a lucky guess. The security chief shot Alex a questioning look, but she shrugged, having no idea either what their boss was talking about.

"Where are we going?"

"Connemara, Ireland."

"Derek……"

The stern look of his Precept made him swallow what he was going to say. But he wasn't liking this. He didn't want to go back there, not again. It held memories he wasn't sure he was up to facing again. He could see Alex was pretty much thinking the same thing, as she looked at her younger colleague worried. He had tried so hard to forget about Julia, to keep going and to not look back. Now they had to go back to the village where she had died.

"I'm sorry Nick, but there is no other way, not one I can see. You found out it comes from there, so it is the only place where we can find out some more. I understand if you want to stay here, though I would prefer you coming along."

Nick knew what Derek meant. Alex was a great researcher, but a lousy shot. It was safer too for her to stay here and try to find out more on the computer. I can do this, he told himself as he sighed. It was tempting to stay here and avoid the feelings that were bound to come in Ireland. But there was one thing Nick Boyle never did, and that was running away.

"I'll go get my bag."

Alex watched the young man leave the kitchen, his whole body tense and she had to bite her lip. This felt wrong, he wasn't ready to face Ireland again, it had been five years in which he always kept going, trying to forget Julia Walker, the woman who had been his girlfriend briefly. The love they shared had been real though, and everybody could have seen that, they were perfect together.

"Are you sure?" she asked Derek softly.

"I wish I wasn't. But there is no other way. Something was in that chalice and it's now free. We can't risk waiting, it may cost lives." His hazel eyes regarded her briefly, knowing she was worried, because he was too.

"I want you and Rachel to stay here and monitor the news as well as trying to investigate everything we tell you to. If you don't hear from us in two days, contact the London House and don't do anything on your own, understood?"

She nodded, understanding it perfectly. If she was going to obey was another thing completely. He couldn't expect her to sit by and do nothing when two of her friends were missing while investigating in Ireland.

"Be careful Derek, and keep an eye on Nick."