From Senn's prompt list: "He never was one for shades of gray."

Once again, kudos and thanks to the Beta Branch for being fantastic. This is part 2 of 3. Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, alerted, and favorited. Sorry this chapter is so short, but this is where it seemed to cut off the best due to the time skips occurring in the story itself.

As always, all mistakes are my own and reviews are snuggled.

Shades of Grey -
Chapter Two (of Three)
- Victoria LeRoux

"We'll keep him here at least another two days," the doctor said with a worried frown. "After that, he'll face at least another six months of PT and recovery for his shoulder. I can't promise that he'll ever be fully back to full mobility, but I have no problem releasing him provided there's no unforeseen complications."

"Just five days in the hospital?" Ethan asked with a frown of his own, his eyes fixed on the doctor who was beginning to look uncomfortable at the intense scrutiny. "That doesn't seem like very long."

"I see no reason to keep him longer. It's healing up fairly nicely, even though there was quite a bit of tendon damage. There was no massive nerve damage, but he'll probably have periodic pain and occasional numbness for the rest of his life. I'll provide a full packet on outpatient care and doctor recommendations for the PT, but to be frank with you, I'm not worried," the doctor gave a lighthearted smile that stood in contrast to his earlier expression. It appeared as though the man had picked up on Ethan's edginess, for he added soothingly, "it looks like he has a good group of friends to help him heal."

Yeah. That's why I shot him - because I'm such a good friend, Ethan thought sourly. He tried to glance through the door around the doctor, but the man stubbornly remained in his way. "Can I go see him now?"

The doctor hesitated, his hand on the door behind him. "He hasn't been very... talkative," the doctor admitted. "We've been cutting back on his dosage, so he's going to be in some pain."

"It's fine," Ethan replied urgently. He was used to dealing with a pained Brandt. "Now, if there's nothing else..."

The doctor hesitated again, but eventually gave a small shrug and stepped aside, pushing the door behind him open. Ethan needed no further prompting, and he quickly slipped into the room.

It was a relief to be away from the accusing eyes of Benji and Jane. Neither of the pair had completely forgiven him for being responsible for placing Brandt in the hospital to begin with. After Brandt had been driven away, the two of them had cornered Ethan and forced him to tell them the entire story. Both of them had acted carefully neutral after he'd quietly explained, and hadn't called him since. He didn't blame them in the slightest for not understanding his motives. Hell, not even Ethan himself was sure what he'd been thinking.

"Brandt?" Ethan asked softly as he stepped into the room. This was the first time he'd tried to visit his analyst, even though both Jane and Benji had been to see him several times. The low beeping of the heart monitor was his only initial answer. "Agent Brandt?'

There was the sound of someone taking a deep breath, and Ethan's eyes fell upon the bed. Brandt had curled up on his side, facing away from the agent.

"What do you want?" Brandt snapped.

Okay, hostile. Ethan could deal with hostile.

"How are you?" Ethan asked cautiously as he went to sit in the chair beside Brandt's bed. He purposefully selected the one that allowed his agent to keep his back to him. Ethan ignored the voice that told him it was as much for his benefit as Brandt's.

"Shot," came Brandt's surly reply.

Ethan sighed, allowing his face to drop into his hands. "Br - Will.I never intended... I didn't..." he fumbled, finding himself at a rare loss for words. He found himself wishing that he'd chosen the chair that allowed him to watch Brandt's face.

"Of course you didn't. Agent Hunt doesn't intend to hurt anyone. He just barrels along, leaving havoc in his path. It doesn't matter if it's Julia or the Secretary, or even one of his goddamned agents as long as the mission gets done," Ethan flinched as the analyst struck home each word. Obviously in the time since the man had woken up, he'd been thinking about what to say to his team leader. "Let me guess. You want me to tell you everything's going to be okay because you shot me."

Ethan let out a long sigh. He should have anticipated that he'd get nowhere with Brandt in a mood like this, but he hadn't been able to resist the urge to see Brandt relatively well and alive. "Fine," he snapped. It felt too satisfying to give into his own anger. "I'll leave your outpatient information with Jane."

The agent stalked from the room, brushed by a startled Jane and Benji, and did his best to leave his anger and guilt behind in the room with his suffering agent.

It bugs me how short this one was, but the next one is longer. Promise! Please review.