Rising early the next morning, Paige went to the bathroom mirror and examined the large black and blue bruise on her cheek; Briggs did a good job. However, as she had truthfully told her roommates, she was not upset with him. She and Charlie had been stupid trying to inject Paul without him understanding what was going on. For whom he was, and what he did, his reaction was normal; Ok maybe slightly over the top, but Briggs was an intense guy. She had already let it go and moved past it; now she had to convince him to to do the same.
Walking down to his room, she knocked on the closed door. After waiting a bit and receiving no acknowledgement, she slowly opened the door and entered his room anyway. She found him sitting in a chair, facing the ocean, over by bank of windows. She quietly slipped into the other chair and appraised him. "Did you sleep at all last night?"
Briggs shrugged and continued to stare at the sea.
She reached out and softly touched his skin. "You seem a little better this morning," she ventured. Paul jerked his head at the table and Paige saw an empty syringe lying on the table. "You used the antibiotics?"
Briggs winced. "You and Charlie went through all the trouble to get them."
"You would have done the same for any of us Paul."
He turned to stare at her with blood shot eyes. "And I repaid you by punching you in the face," he replied with an edge of bitterness to his voice. Dropping his gaze, he turned back towards the ocean.
"Do you need help with…"
"I can take it from here," he replied curtly.
"You know I don't blame you."
"That's your mistake. You should. I do." In voice was as close to pleading as Paige had ever heard from Briggs he added, "Please. Go."
Knowing she was not going to convince him of anything, she nodded wistfully and left. Heading back to her room she ran across Charlie. "How is he?" she asked heading for Briggs room.
Paige laid a gentle hand on her arm. "He wants to be left alone."
"That bad huh."
"Wounded, brooding, self-hating, total lone-wolf."
The two headed down to the kitchen. Snagging their morning coffee, they perched on the kitchen stools.
"He gave himself another antibiotic shot," Paige said after taking a sip of her java.
"That's good."
"Hmmm. Think his temp has come down," Paige agreed reluctantly.
"But…"
Paige sighed deeply. "But he hasn't forgiven himself… for what happened last night… for what he did to us."
Charlie grimaced, knowing Paige's assessment was on target.
"Remember after Donnie got shut, all the trouble Lauren got in?"
Charlie nodded. "Yeah. Briggs really went to bat for her."
"Yeah. You know he went after that Russian, personally. The one Lauren said beat her."
Charlie sipped her coffee before replying. "Briggs doesn't like when his 'family' gets hurt."
"Yeah." Paige shook her head slowly in agreement. "But when he found out Lauren lied to him, used him, he went inner-ballistic. He was so pissed at Laruen but you know what? I should have been just as pissed at him. Briggs used me, Charlie, as much as Lauren used him. He used me to get Lauren kicked out of the house."
"You were his unsuspecting wing-man. "
"And I didn't even see it coming. He's good."
"Damn good," Charlie agreed. "A legend. But it was for the good of the house." Charlie set her cup down and stared hard at Paige. "That is what Briggs does, uses people; the bad guys and the good guys. And he is really, really good at it."
"When the bad guys do it, we call it manipulation," Paige pointed out and Charlie shook her head in agreement. "But when Briggs does it, we call it justice… or at least he does…. in his mind," Paige concluded.
Charlie thought back to the Briggs she first met when she came to Graceland then to the man she knew today; same guy but not same guy. "Remember this, whatever Briggs does is for the safety of this house and its occupants. You know this Paige."
"I do and I trust him with my life. But I'm a little afraid, Charlie. What happened last night… will it change my dynamic with Briggs? Will he try to get me kicked out of the house for some reason?"
"You did nothing wrong." Charlie studied her with concern. "Are you afraid of Briggs, Paige?"
Paige laughed ruefully. "I'm always a bit afraid of him, even before last night. He is…"
"Intense, powerful, charismatic, extreme, passionate..."
"Yeah and he switches…"
"Between personalities…"
"So damn quickly…"
"And," Charlie leaned forward, "Leaves you wondering who the real Briggs is."
"Do you know, Charlie? The real Briggs?"
"I have no #ucking idea. But I'll tell you what; whoever he is… or isn't… there is one thing I know straight up…he'll protect us no matter what. His safety," Charlie shrugged, "Secondary. He might keep things close his vest, play things a little too hard but that's Briggs. I trust him with my life."
As Mike walked into the kitchen, he noticed the two girls deep in what looked like a serious conversation. Fixing a bowl of cereal, he strolled over and sat next to them. After taking in Paige's face he remarked, "Briggs nailed you good last night."
"Mike, it was an accident," she shot back, annoyed at his inference.
"Yeah…I'm sure it was. It's just…"
Charlie interrupted him. "Let it go Mike."
Mike raised his hand in mock-surrender and went about eating his cereal even as he filed this incident away in his 'odd Briggs' behavior folder. Mike knew in his gut there was more to this whole incident and one day he would figure out what was really going on with Briggs. After all, that is why he was here instead of DC.