Charlie and Paige walked into Brigg's bedroom with their bag containing the antibiotic. The agent was sprawled across his bed on top of all the covers. Paige took the bag over to the table by the window to prepare the syringe. Charlie tried to wake Briggs who was drifting in and out of consciousness because of the high fever. "I think we are going to have to do this without his cooperation," Charlie said unable to rouse the man.
Paige held up the loaded needle. "The package says intramuscular. Butt or bicep?"
Charlie smirked. "The butt would make for a better story but…"
"Bicep it is. Wipe down his skin," Paige instructed, handing Charlie a disinfectant pad. After carefully bleeding out the air, Paige walked over to the bed with the syringe. "Here we go."
Briggs was dreaming that he was at a drug bust that was going wrong when he suddenly felt something prick his arm. Panicking, he tried to pull his arm away but someone was holding it in place. Unable to break free, he cocked his fist and slammed it into the shadowy face that was injecting him, knocking them across the room. The needle dropped to the floor and Briggs saw a second shadowy figure try to retrieve it so he kicked out with his good leg catching the figure in the shoulder and spinning them away.
Silence settled over the room as Briggs struggled to fully regain consciousness and make sense of what was going on. He sat up on the edge of the bed, scrubbing his hands across his face. Slowly, he realized that he'd been dreaming. Briggs removed his hands from his face and scanned the room. Oh shit," he cursed when his vision cleared enough for him to comprehend that it was Paige and Charlie he had hit.
He hastily tried to stand but his knees buckled and he slid to the floor. In desperation, he crawled on his hands and knees to where Paige was sitting on the floor cradling her face. When he got next to her, he gently reached over removing her hands from in front of her face. He bowed his head and tears welled in his eyes when he saw what he'd done to her. "Oh God Paige. I am so sorry," he apologized.
Paige gave him weak grin. "It was an accident Paul. Shouldn't startle an FBI agent."
Briggs covered his face with his hands dropping them to his knees. This was his worst nightmare; hurting one of his own people especially since Paul knew it was his habit that had caused him to overreact.
"Hey. It's alright Paul," Charlie said coming up beside of him and laying her hand on his good shoulder. "We surprised you and you defended yourself."
Raising his head, he gazed at Paige, his eyes bright with moisture. He gently traced his fore-finger down the side of her injured face. "It is not alright," he said vehemently. "It is #ucking not. I hurt… I struck…" but he was so choked up he couldn't continue and resorted to shaking his head in denial. Briggs dropped his head to his knees again. "Get out of here," he ordered softly.
"But Paul…" Charlie started.
Briggs raised his head shouting at them. "God damn it. Get out of here."
Charlie helped Paige to her feet. They both looked over at the half empty syringe; they hadn't got it all injected. "But Paul, we need to finish…" Charlie started but Briggs cut her off.
"The only thing you need to do is leave," he growled, his voice low and dangerous.
Charlie looked over at Paige again who shrugged helplessly. "Ok Paul," Charlie said softly and the ladies left the room gently shutting the door. They slowly made their way downstairs where they immediately came under the scrutiny of the rest of the roommates.
"What happened?" Johnny asked looking at Paige's face while dropping the video controller on the table.
"Nothing. Nothing happened," Charlie said brusquely as she went to the freezer, removed an ice pack and handed it to Paige.
Mike got up from the couch and walked over to Paige to examine her face. "That looks like someone hit you."
"Guess we now know why Warren graduated top in his class," Jakes said sardonically.
"Back off newbie," Charlie warned Mike. "It was an accident."
Mike took a step back and raised his hands as a sign of peace. Paige sat down on the couch next to Jakes who leaned over and took a good look at her face. "Seriously. What did happen?" the ICE agent asked, concerned.
Paige sighed and fiddled with the ice pack. "We tried to stick a needle in a semi-conscious, highly trained, paranoid, FBI agent and he fought back."
Charlie flopped down on the opposite sofa. "Yeah. I don't know who the hell he thought we were but he did a decent job in fighting us off, even in his condition. But," she said looking directly at Mike. "It was an accident."
Mike shrugged but did not push the issue.
Paige glanced around the room at the housemates. "I'm Ok. Really. Trust me; Paul is taking this way harder than me."
"So what's do we do now?" Mike asked.
"We do nothing. If I know Briggs, he is sitting up there beating himself up more severely than anyone else could," Charlie stated matter-of-factly.
The house settled into an unnatural silence. Eventually, Charlie and Paige retreated to their rooms while Johnny and Mike tried to pick up where they left off in their game, but neither had their head in the game so they too decided to call it a night.
Upstairs Briggs remained sitting on the floor staring out the window at the ocean until, exhausted, he simply slumped over and fell asleep.