Disclaimer: I don't own FMA.
AN: Hey all! My apologies for posting a few days late this week. This weekend was crazy busy! Just an FYI, I changed up a couple details related to the Hughes family and I did my best to explain them adequately in this chapter. Also, responses to guest reviews from the last post can be found at the end of this one. I hope you enjoy the chapter!
The Watchmen (~3 Weeks Later)
Roy groaned into his pillow when the cellphone rang from the bedside table, yanking him from a deep and dreamless sleep. He lay on his stomach and kept himself buried in sheets and pillows until the last possible moment, hoping the caller might simply capitulate and hang-up. He finally sighed and with a few grumbles, rose onto his elbows when it continued to ring, reaching for the cruel device and wondering what had happened to the sanctity of the weekend.
He cleared his throat and answered, voice still thick from sleep. "Mustang." Rolling onto his back, he rubbed his eyes and stretched his neck.
Raven's deep, booming laugh came over the phone, and Roy decided it was entirely too early for that much noise. Then he saw it was already 0830. "Did I wake you, kid?"
"If I said yes, would it matter?" He stretched and yawn, beginning to untangle himself from the bedding.
The man guffawed. "Not much, no. You youngsters sleep too damn late." He paused, prepping for an old-guy style lecture. "You know, when I was young, I had to be up at 0500 every morning. It was good for me...taught me not to waste the day."
Roy chuckled derisively as he climbed out of bed. "Oh, really? Did you have to walk uphill both ways to school, too? I bet it was in a fucking blizzard...Tell me, Gene, did they have shoes back in the 1800s?" He walked to the kitchen for a glass of water.
"Wiseass."
"You woke me up...on my day off."
"And I thought you were a morning person."
"I usually am, just not on my day off." He took a drink and then gestured with the glass. "Are you sensing a common theme, here?"
"You're a little shit, you know that?"
He chuckled again. "So I've been told...repeatedly." He took another drink and cleared his throat. "Pleasantries aside, what's going on?"
"I need a favor, kid."
"Why do I get the feeling this favor involves me working tonight?"
"Probably because it does." Raven paused and took a breath. "Do you remember what your old partner tried to steal that night he shot you?"
A muscle clenched in Roy's gut and he ran a hand through his sleep-mussed hair with a quiet exhale. "Yeah."
"We've received intel that someone's going to make a play for it again. I want you and your team there to make sure it's secure. I know it's a bit below your pay-grade, but your team really knows its shit...and you're the most reliable."
He looked out the window as he contemplated his boss' request. "Well, the shameless attempt at manipulation via flattery aside, we'll do it." He wanted to be certain that no one managed to possess that weapon.
"Thank you, Roy. Really. I can't be there myself, and you're the only one I trust to handle this."
"You're welcome, sir." His brows drew together when Raven called him by his first name as opposed to the usual 'kid' or 'Mustang.' It was odd, and he could not recall the older agent ever using his name, but he tried to shrug it off.
"You won't have any trouble getting your people to work a Saturday night?" There was skepticism in Raven's voice.
He shook his head. "No, we'll be there. They may not be especially happy about it, but they'll work."
"Drinks are on me at the bar this week."
"My team would appreciate that." He ended the call and put the coffee on to percolate, grabbing some leftovers out of the fridge for breakfast. After taking a bite, he picked up his phone once more and dialed Havoc's number, starting on the calls that would no doubt make his entire team immensely happy.
Later that day, Roy parked his car in front of a modest, two-story house and strolled up the walk to the front door. The home was white, no shutters, and had a porch in front that spanned the full length of the building. The neighborhood was always pleasantly quiet, and this particular house was basically a second home to him. There was an open invitation to dinner, and he could not count the number of evenings he had spent with Hughes and his family. He had his own life of course, but he always set aside time for them; they had become his family as well.
He checked his watch before knocking on the door: he had to meet his team in a couple hours for their overtime that night and needed to keep an eye on the time. After a few moments, the door opened to reveal Gracia's smiling face. She was Maes' wife, and had become something of an unofficial sister to him over the years. He grinned in response, she beamed.
"Hey, Gracia." They hugged.
"Hi, Roy." She stepped aside to allow him entry. The welcoming scent of food wafted through the house, and laughter could be heard from the next room. "The birthday girl's in the living room."
"And how old is she now?" He followed her into the kitchen.
"Sixteen...if you can believe it. Seems like only yesterday we adopted a nine-year-old." Gracia shook her head good-naturedly as she set to work.
"Jesus...sixteen." He shook his head. Seven years ago, Gracia and Maes adopted a young Elicia after she had already lived in the foster system for a couple years. Before that, she lived with a grandmother who passed away; she had no memory of her biological parents. The Hughes were unable to have children, and when they met the young girl, the trio just clicked. "Why do I come here? You all only remind me how old I'm getting."
"If you need help with that, come see me anytime, Roy-boy." His Aunt Chris, the woman that raised him after his own parents died, joined them in the kitchen.
He gave her a quick hug in greeting and chuckled. "Hey thanks, Aunt Chris, I'll keep that in mind. Anytime I want to feel horrible about myself, I'll visit you."
"Do you hear that attitude, Gracia? I hope Elicia doesn't develop one similar," she teased, popping a cherry tomato in her mouth.
"Yes, Uncle Roy is a terrible influence." Gracia grinned at him as she finished icing the cake.
"No he's not, Mom. Uncle Roy's awesome," Elicia declared as she entered the room to grab a soda, stopping to give her 'uncle' a hug.
"Thanks, kiddo. I'm glad someone's on my side." He gave her shoulders another squeeze. "And happy birthday."
"Thanks! So, I need you to help me talk Dad into buying another car cause..."
"You're enlisting him too?" Maes interrupted as he walked through the kitchen door. "Not gonna happen, Lici."
Roy lowered his voice and quietly added to his niece, "Don't worry, we'll wear him down." Elicia gave him a thumbs up with a smile before she left the room. He then turned to shake his friend's hand. "Maes."
"Roy...thanks for coming. Don't you have to work later?"
"I couldn't miss our girl's sixteenth birthday. And yes, don't remind me. I agreed to do it as a favor to Raven." His tone conveyed mild exasperation.
Maes laughed. "And now you're regretting it." He moved behind his wife, wrapping his arms around her waist and planting a kiss on her cheek. "Need any help?"
She pushed light brown hair out of green eyes and surveyed the kitchen. "No, thanks, hun. I think I'm fine. Chris is helping out, too."
"Aunt Chris? Helping in the kitchen?" Roy feigned extreme surprise.
"You're alive, aren't you? Clearly I managed to feed you all those years," she retorted, and he dodged the tomato she threw at him, chuckling.
The two men went out back to sit on the patio and he accepted the beer Hughes handed him, twisting it open and taking a long swig. Part of him sorely wished he had not agreed to work, while the other part did not trust anyone else to keep the Stone safe. He glanced out over the backyard, which was full of plant-life and well-landscaped thanks to Gracia. The family lived in one of the many Washington, D.C. suburbs and, though the partially visible D.C. skyline reminded him of the bustling city not far away, it was peaceful.
"Is it Loki tonight?" Maes glanced at him and then leaned back in his chair, beer bottle cradled in one hand.
"No. Guard-duty at some FBI storage facility. Someone may be making a play for that secret item that cannot be mentioned, and Raven wants us there." He took another drink, crossing an ankle over the other knee and exhaled slowly, taking advantage of the opportunity to relax.
"But maybe Loki?" His friend smiled, eyebrows raised inquisitively.
"Do you have a new-found mega-obsession with Loki?" He laughed. "Seriously, though, I doubt it. They've been inactive for weeks...not even any chatter since we found them at the repository. And the Stone really isn't their type of target." He swirled the beer, thinking once more about the unexpected job he and Havoc had interrupted a few weeks ago. Roy had kicked himself that night after being so close to nabbing her before she managed to escape yet again.
"We didn't expect files would interest them either." Maes shrugged and sipped. "And they were files concerning you, no less, and that classified thing that cannot be mentioned." He paused again. "I mean, the thing may not be shiny, but it's certainly rare and has a big price tag. It's pretty close to their style."
"That's true." He nodded; his friend did make a decent point. However, he found it intriguing that she'd been after files that had just disappeared from digital storage, and that she'd taken the time to copy the damn things. To him, that meant she was looking for information but did not want anyone to know of her interest. He did not believe she had nefarious designs on the weapon. "I'm telling you man, whatever she wants, it's not the thing."
Maes gave another shrug before taking a drink. "Who am I to disagree with your famous gut? It's served you pretty well so far." He chuckled. "Except for when she elbowed you in the face...you did not see that coming. The bruise is pretty much gone, though. So that's nice."
"I know, finally." Roy grinned in amusement and reached a hand up to his souvenir from his last little skirmish with Loki. "Shit...I can't wait to bring her in."
"When you do, I really want to talk to her…You know, meet the woman that managed to evade and injure you on multiple occasions." He paused, lifting his beer. "I bet she's really interesting. She'd have to be…no one knew she even existed. She's that good."
"There is a whole team, you know, it's not just her. And it's my job to arrest her, I don't really care about her life story." Frustration bled through his voice momentarily as he had been catching some shit at the office after Havoc had spread the stories of his encounters with Loki. He took a drink and laughed inwardly at himself, surprised by how much the thief had gotten to him. Though he would prefer not to admit it, her story did interest him since he had never before come across a person that was quite so illusive. "You're gonna buy another car, aren't you?" Roy smiled knowingly as he changed the subject.
"Gah...probably." Maes half-laughed and half-sighed. "But you have to keep these kids on their toes. She can't know I'm thinking about it until the last possible moment."
He chuckled. "You're such a softie."
"I've been called worse."
"True enough. What'd you decide for your anniversary? It's coming up."
"I'm doing the Paris thing...got the tickets and everything. It'll be a surprise. Speaking of, can you be around to keep an eye on Elicia? She has school."
"Of course, man." He took a drink. "I'll make sure she doesn't throw any crazy parties."
"I should probably be more worried about you throwing the crazy parties, anyway."
Roy nodded. "Probably. Elicia's a good kid."
"Unlike us." Hughes shook his head again. "We did so much shit I would never let her do."
"What? You mean you don't want her to go on a fun-filled road trip to Canada?" He smirked. "That was a good time."
"Keep it down." Maes put a hand out to stop him and looked back toward the house. "That trip...well...I don't need her getting any ideas."
He laughed. "We weren't that bad."
"I'm sure Aunt Chris would have a very different opinion."
"Are you boys hiding away talking shop?" Gracia's voice cut in as she paced toward them, putting a hand on her husband's shoulder.
"No, we only talked work for a second, I swear." Hughes leaned his head against her torso and smiled up at her. "Okay, maybe for a few seconds. Cake time?"
"Yes." She leaned down to kiss him, the smile never leaving her features. Maes and Gracia had always been that couple that were so crazy about each other some people found it incredibly irritating. They were even highschool sweethearts.
Roy took a drink, eyes narrowed in slight confusion. "Ah...I may be mistaken...but don't we usually eat dinner first?"
Gracia gave a chuckle. "Elicia wants dessert first...and she's the birthday girl."
"Then who am I to argue?" He shrugged and followed them into the dining room for the birthday festivities.
Approximately an hour later, Roy started making his round of goodbyes. He gave Gracia another hug, shook Maes' hand, chatted briefly with a few more people, and promised his aunt he would visit soon for dinner. Aunt Chris owned and operated a popular bar in downtown Washington, D.C. handing a small box to Elicia when he reached her. "Happy birthday, kiddo."
Her green eyes looked at him curiously, and as she opened the box her expression went from unsure to overjoyed in mere milliseconds. "Oh my god!" Elicia jumped up and down in excitement. "Oh my god! You got me the tickets!" He laughed at her exuberance as she hugged him. "Mom will have to take me to the concert now! Ooh, she's gonna be mad at you." Her smile was wide.
"I'm glad you like it." He shrugged. "What are uncles for, right?" She had been begging to go to a rock concert for months, but Gracia had not yet given the green light. Roy had made sure to buy enough tickets so Elicia's parents could take her along with a friend of hers.
"Thank you, Uncle Roy. Seriously." It seemed she could not stop smiling.
He pulled her in for another hug before moving toward the door. "You're welcome. But I gotta go, see ya later, Lici." With a small wave he was out the door and striding toward his car. Perching his sunglasses on his nose since he'd be driving into the sunset, he opened the windows to get some air, and pulled away from the curb. His mind was already contemplating options for that evening at the FBI warehouse, deciding how they should set up their security. They would have some extra personnel, which would be helpful, but he still wanted his team to take care of the more important aspects of the job. He trusted them.
While half of him hoped no one would come for the device, the other half wanted someone to show up so that he could bring them in. After everything that happened the night Berthold tried to steal the Stone, he wanted it to be over with. He was tired of the weapon and that incident creeping back into the spotlight periodically. There were many achievements listed in his file, evidence of his effort and focus on work, but at times he felt as though that one night would follow him forever.
About a half-hour later, Roy drove into the parking lot of the secure FBI facility that would be their responsibility for the evening. He walked purposefully up to the building and took off his sunglasses as he entered, Breda falling into step next to him shortly thereafter. The man appeared cheerful, and seemed to be feeling rather self-satisfied. "So, ah, Boss. I did a thing, and I don't want you to be pissed."
He stopped and narrowed his eyes at Breda, running a hand over his jaw and crossing his arms. "What did you do?"
The other man looked at him, a wide grin on his face that said he knew he did something wrong but was pretty happy about it. "I...well, I ran Loki's sketch through the CIA." The last few words were marginally quieter than the others.
His brow furrowed. "What? How?" It did not surprise him that Breda had found a way to search CIA databases, and his intense curiosity was actually outweighing any irritation. When his tech-guy did somewhat questionable things, they generally benefited the team immensely.
"Well, that's the thing. It's possible that it was not entirely legal." He shrugged, grin making the transition to sheepish.
"I figured." Roy released a chuckle and shook his head. "You're killing me, man. Even if you found something, we couldn't use it." He gestured for them to start moving again since it was about time for their guard-duty to begin.
"I know," Breda acquiesced and then gave a little shrug. "But, it could point us in the right direction...maybe."
"So, you found something?"
"Sort of."
His expression was again one of mild confusion, and he smiled in amusement. "Do explain." They paused again in front of the door to the security office.
"Boss...a file came up." Breda's eyebrows rose practically to the roof to communicate is own surprise.
"You're kidding." Roy watched the man for a second. "They have a file on her?"
"Yeah, but I can't see any of it...not even the photo that matched our sketch, and no information whatsoever. The clearance is sky-freaking-high."
"Interesting." His eyes narrowed once more as he contemplated what that might mean. So, Loki, not as invisible as you thought. She could be an independent contractor, or an informant to whom they've given a pass to continue thieving as part of some agreement. Shit, she could be an agent. "Thanks, Breda. I assume you found this cleanly?"
He nodded. "Yeah...nobody will know I took a peek."
"Good." He led the way into the security office and they joined the rest of the team who were chatting amongst themselves. "Ok people. We've received intel that tonight an unknown individual or group may attempt to steal a device in this warehouse codenamed The Philosopher's Stone. Breda, man the surveillance equipment here. We have other agents stationed at all exits, and the rest of us will be running patrols. We'll be on comms."
"Where is the device itself?" Maria Ross asked.
"In a vault in the western portion of the central storage area. I've got men stationed there as well." He glanced at the rest of his team, silently inquiring whether there were any more questions. When none were forthcoming he continued, "Let's get to it."
Roy left the room and Havoc walked alongside him as they began the first circuit of the night. "That device...isn't that what your old partner tried to steal?"
"Yes, and that's one reason we're here." He paused, looking around and getting a feel for the warehouse. "Hey, did Breda tell you?"
"The CIA thing? Crazy shit. But at least now we know whose door to start knocking on." They rounded a corner, making note of aisle-ways, dimensions, and creating mental maps of the building in the event something did happen.
"True. But it is the CIA...and they're about as helpful as a shark attack."
His partner chuckled. "Solid point." After a few steps he added, "Or they might be as helpful as an alien invasion."
He smiled. "Or a venereal disease."
The blonde agent laughed and they continued, efficiently completing their first rounds while verifying doors were locked, cameras functional, and checking-in with the other agents that had been assigned to the location. Once done, they returned to the surveillance room for a short respite and, as soon as they walked in, Havoc poured himself a cup of coffee. He then took a seat at the table at one side of the room, produced a deck of cards, and said, "Are you ready to lose some money?"
"Only if you're ready to lose a lot more," Roy responded, grabbing coffee for himself and taking a seat across from him. "If only there were a hot chick here to distract you and make my job that much easier."
"So I'd rather flirt with a lovely lady than pay attention to a card game." Havoc shrugged as he shuffled the deck. "Sue me."
He chuckled. "Yeah, I'm sure you're actually really good at poker. Your losing streak is evidence only of your interest in women."
"Okay, dude, I only lost spectacularly that one time. And that did involve a woman."
"Yes, and you've lost normally every other time." He picked up the cards Havoc dealt him and fanned them out slightly.
"Ya know, a partner is supposed to be supportive. I'm not really getting that vibe from you."
The hours passed agonizingly slowly, reminding Roy why he'd always despised guard-duty. He preferred to keep busy, and it there was one thing that never failed to drive him nuts it was sitting around and waiting for something to happen. Throughout the night the team alternated patrols, kept an eye on video feeds, and routinely communicating with the other posts. They tried to keep themselves entertained in the interim by chatting, playing cards, and drinking too much coffee. At one point, nearly bored to tears, they gave in to hunger and ordered food from a nearby Chinese take-out restaurant that was open 24 hours-a-day.
Midnight came and went with no sign of any activity at all, and he was starting to think they may get through the night uneventfully. The information could have been a false alarm, and he hoped that if their trap failed to snare any potential thieves the higher-ups would simply move the weapon to a more secure location and be done with it. Checking the clock, he saw it was once again his and Havoc's turn to make a circuit of the warehouse so he stood. Stretching, he hit his partner's shoulder and said, "Alright, let's do this."
The blonde agent rose to join him on the walk out the door, smothering a yawn with his hand. "I need more caffeine...or a beer. I'm not sure which one."
Roy chuckled. "Whatever keeps you awake, I guess."
"See, now that's the support I was talking about. Maybe more like indifference, but right now, I'll take it."
The storehouse was dim as they had kept only around half the lights on. Since it was a storage facility for a variety of items, including those of a top-secret nature, there were several strategically placed cameras inside the building. In a more modern facility there would have been more surveillance equipment. This warehouse, however, was older and for that reason he had requested the additional agents be stationed at the doors.
They outlined the building and then moved through the towering shelves housing old files, evidence, and who knew what else. When they came to the end of one such aisle, they happened to also be nearing an emergency exit door. Roy's brow furrowed when he noticed a substance on the ground he did not recall seeing when they'd passed through the area shortly before. Pulling out the flashlight for his firearm, he crouched down and shone the light on a small area containing what appeared to be droplets of a dark liquid. Suddenly, his suspicions that it was blood confirmed, he stood and drew his weapon. He gave his partner a nod, who then drew his own pistol as well and they crept along, looking for the culprit or the victim.
Quietly, into his earpiece, he said, "Breda, have all posts check-in. There's blood at the eastern emergency exit."
He listened as the various other agents confirmed that they were still at their designated location, until they reached two that did not respond. He could hear Breda saying, "Op 3 and Op 4, report in...Op 3, Op 4...do you copy?" Just then, the building when completely dark, and he retrieved his flashlight once more, turning it on.
"Boss." It was Breda. "I've lost all feeds."
From Ross, he heard, "Falman and I are covering the western side of the building. We'll meet you in the middle."
"Copy. Breda, try to restore power." He and Havoc continued, pacing slowly and silently, ears straining to hear anything out of the ordinary. Roy's mind was racing through what data he possessed: no alarm went off when the eastern door was breached, they heard nothing via comms, saw nothing on the videos, and now the power was gone. He could not hear a damn thing.
Abruptly, they heard shouting up ahead, and the two men raced toward what had already been their destination: the cage housing the vault that contained the Philosopher's Stone. As he rounded the corner of one of the stacks, Roy could just make Maria Ross out in the darkness to his left down the aisle. She was cautiously approaching the cage, the gate of which hung open, guards absent, and then he caught movement at the far end of the aisle. In the dim light of an emergency floodlamp he could just make out what looked like an individual, dressed completely in black, standing with an arm raised and aimed at her. With little hesitation he broke into a sprint, then the retort of a pistol reached his ears and he dove, managing to take her to the ground and out of the line of fire.
He wasted no time jumping to his feet and running after the individual, who had already disappeared from the end of the aisle. Roy followed the sound of the footfalls, turning right around the corner of shelves, and saw them up ahead. From the build, he guessed it was a man. He was gaining when there was a sharp pain at the back of his head, and everything went dark.
When he woke there was darkness beyond his eyelids and he had a ridiculous headache originating somewhere near the base of his skull. Based on the sheets that felt about as comfortable as sandpaper, he suspected he was in a hospital. He groaned as he pushed the button to raise the bed into something closer to a seated position, wincing when the lights came on and an extremely cheerful nurse greeting him in a high-pitched voice.
"Look who's awake." She grinned at him, and he saw from the name-tag on her pink scrubs that her name was Melissa. "How are you feeling, Mr. Mustang?" She grabbed his wrist and pressed two fingers to the pulse-point, eye on her watch.
"Abso-fucking-lutely wonderful. What time is it?" He closed his eyes briefly against the florescent lighting, which was making his head ache even more.
She chuckled at his response and then pulled out a small flashlight to check his pupillary response. "Five in the morning. You've been in and out of consciousness, but you seem quite alert now."
"Boss?" He looked past the nurse and saw an incredibly tired-looking Maria Ross striding through the door.
"Ah, she's back! This young lady has hardly left your side, Mr. Mustang. I had to push her out the door just to get her to eat." She paused. "You're pretty popular, actually. One of your friends is asleep in the other bed...They actually shouldn't be here, but my Dad was in the FBI...thirty years...so I have a bit of a soft spot. You..."
"Ah, ma'am?" He raised a hand to massage his temples, amazed that a person could cause such pain just with her voice.
"Oh my goodness...ma'am? It's Melissa, honey." She lightly tapped his upper arm flirtatiously.
He gave a small nod, trying to keep his irritation to a minimum but finding it difficult. "Yeah, okay...When can I get out of here?"
She gave him the type of friendly smile that teachers or healthcare professionals give that can sometimes seem patronizing. "I'll just go track down the doctor for you, sweetie."
"Thank you." Once she was gone, he moved to leave the bed and get dressed anyway, but heard an unexpected clanking noise. That was when he realized that he was handcuffed to the goddamn bed-rail. "What the shit?"
"Right...uh, Boss?" It was Ross again, and she seemed nervous. "Uh...there are people that believe you had something to do with the theft of the Philosopher's Stone."
"So it's gone." He saw her nod and he sighed, lips forming a line. "Why in hell do they think I was involved?"
She shrugged and shook her head. "They won't tell us anything."
His ears perked and his head throbbed when he heard yelling down the hall. The voice was moving in his direction. "...kidding me?! You know the kid didn't do this, Jake!...I don't give a shit, he didn't do it….You WHAT?!" At that instant his boss Gene Raven entered the room and threw his phone down on the other bed. "Fucking idiots, all of them." He looked around the room. "Everyone out. I need to speak with Mustang." When Havoc did not budge Raven kicked the bed to wake him and then pointed to the door.
Roy had to admit, he felt somewhat relieved that he had Agent Raven on his side; someone who knew him well enough to know he never steal a weapon of mass destruction. The older agent also had the subtlety of a shotgun and frequently used that to support his agents. After the room was empty save for them, the older man shut the door in the nurse's face, who had appeared after all the commotion. "Sir, what the hell is going on?"
Raven opened his mouth to answer and then saw the younger man's hand. "What the…? They cuffed you?" He reached into a pocket and removed a key for the cuffs, releasing Roy from their confines. He shook his head. "I'm sorry about this, kid. They think you were involved."
"Why…?" He exhaled in disbelief, mouth slightly open and eyes wide, still unable to fully accept that he had gone from respected agent to suspect in a few hours.
Raven settled into the chair near the bed, sighing heavily and rubbing his face in fatigue. "Evidently, the shots that killed the two guards outside the eastern emergency exit came from a gun registered in your name...it was left at the scene. Also, your ID was used to access the gate." The older man sighed once more. "Roy, did you go to a secure records repository a few weeks ago?"
He eyed his boss, perplexed. "Yes...why?"
"All the files concerning the Philosopher's Stone, as well as Berthold Gavilán and the night he died, disappeared the same evening you were there." He shook his head. "It doesn't look good, kid."
"I didn't take them, sir." He stared at Raven and then at the wall, completely incredulous: someone was setting him up.
"I know that. Look, we'll figure this out. In the meantime, your team will be suspended while we investigate this issue."
"Sir, my team was with me all night."
"For the most part, yes. But there were times when you were split up, were there not?"
"Bathroom breaks, that's it. Otherwise, I was with someone all night." He lifted his hand only to let it drop back onto the mattress with a shake of his head; he could not believe this.
"Like I said, we will figure this out. I know as well as you that this is asinine." Raven leaned back in his seat. "Some of us think it was your girl Loki."
"Can you just get me out of here, Gene? I'd like to get home." As with the attempt on his life in Paris, it would be easy to blame Loki, but something in his mind still rejected that idea. There was no doubt they were capable of this, but it felt wrong. That night at the repository she left the original files and, if she was setting him up, that made no sense. His mind was fuzzy, and it felt like there was some detail that was just out of his reach. He could figure this out, but he needed to leave the hospital and clear his mind.
His boss nodded. "They'll want me to keep a couple guys on you."
Reluctantly, Roy nodded and dressed while Raven went into the hall and spoke with the medical staff to procure his release. They were not entirely willing, nor were they completely convinced he should go home, but eventually they agreed. Twenty minutes later, he was walking out the sliding doors of the hospital with Havoc, who had agreed to give him a ride to his vehicle which was still at the storehouse. When he reached his car, he drove straight home, waiting until he was inside with the door locked before he let the full extent of his anger, frustration, and confusion hit him.
He dropped into a seat at his kitchen table and held his head in his hands: this could not be happening. All his hard work, devoting his entire fucking life to that job, closing all those cases, and now he was a suspect. Just like that. The organization had to protect itself, he understood that, but to wake up cuffed to a hospital bed just rubbed salt in the wound. There was an odd hollow feeling in his chest, as if everything he had done over the past several years suddenly meant nothing.
Shaking his head, he thought, Don't be stupid. Standing, he moved into his bedroom and glanced at the one remaining photo of himself and his parents. It sat on his bookshelf, though he often hid it when he had a date in order to avoid having to answer questions about them. The photo bolstered him, and he resolved to prove his and his team's innocence. He would not let them become the FBI's scapegoat, and if he ever wanted to learn the truth about his parents, once and for all, he had to keep climbing the government ladder. It was not an option.
AN: So, I wanted Elicia to be a bit older for this story, and hopefully later chapters will make it clear why that is. Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and have a great day! :)
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