Chapter 15

Elliot entered the room he shared with his wife at his parents' home. As he turned from shutting the door he was met with a raised eyebrow from his wife who was perched reading on the bed. "Want to tell me what is going on?"

"Why do you think anything is going on?" he wondered as he crossed the room to the bed.

"Really, Elliot?" Mani asked, then at his look rolled her eyes: "OK, you couldn't get out of here fast enough! You went down to your father's office and the door was closed when I went looking for you. Considering he took a phone call and left the table, I'm thinking it was something major."

"Christian went to see an old friend…" Elliot started.

"He has old friends?" Mani asked reflexively.

"Yes, Mani, my brother has old friends. One of who just moved to CO. She…"

"Whoa, he has female friends?"

"WTF? Seriously, Mani, you want to play this game now?! Christian's friend was attacked outside of a club they were meeting at. She is in a freakn' coma!"

Mani inhaled: "I didn't mean… is Christian all right?"

"Define all right," he shot back as he started to pace: "he's fine physically, but he beat up the guy who attacked her…"

"Carrick going to go help him out?"

"He isn't facing charges. The thing is, the guy who attacked his friend," Elliot said as he turned to go and sit back down next to his wife: "was Jack Hyde."

"Weren't we supposed to be told when that asshole got out?" she asked taken aback.

"Yep… we don't know why we weren't."

"Well, she must have been some friend if Hyde went after her!"

"Mani… she worked for Hyde."

"So what? She was one of the girls in the videos?"

"No! He attacked her but she got away," Elliot told her. "And no, Christian didn't know. She was afraid of what he'd do. I only know because I overheard her tell someone else. Taylor made sure she was protected and I took care of Hyde with the help of one of the guys on my crew."

Mani pouted: "so she got protected and I didn't?"

"You didn't tell us he was harassing you any more than she did! Oh, wait, I take that back because she actually followed the security protocol that was laid out for her," he snapped.

"Oh, we are not going there, Elliot!"

"Mani…"

"I helped to save your sister. I did what I was told was the only way to get her back. Excuse me for believing the kidnapper."

"Oh you really helped by getting kidnapped too! Yeah, you really did good work there! Instead of just having to worry about what he would do to Mia we also had to worry about you and how we'd get you back!" he retorted as he ran his hand through his hair, afraid of where this was going, yet knowing it would end where it always did when they came to this subject.

"Oh, puh-lease, that's not what this is about! I thought you forgave me. That you didn't blame me!"

"So did I," he replied tiredly, because on the surface he had. It had taken many sessions with Flynn, but he knew it hadn't been her fault that one of his exes turned stalker. Still a part of him blamed her for what had been the outcome because she couldn't and wouldn't follow simple directions when it came to security. That she would ditch a guard when she thought she had control of everything, and it ended in despair.

"You don't get to act like you weren't at fault too!" she shot back angrily as she jumped to her feet.

"If you had followed the protocol…"

"You could've saved her! Phoebe didn't have to die!"

"Really? How? It was both of you or only her!" he shot back.

"You knew what my answer would've been and you did the opposite!"

He shook his head: "You blame me, even after three years?" he exhaled. "I had a choice. My wife and child or hope that my child had a fighting spirit. And she fought, Mani. For a day, she fought!"

"And I'll never know because I was unable to be part of that!" she shouted through tears: "you got to hold her and comfort her and bury her and when I woke up weeks later all I had was a picture!"

"You have me and Chis!" he yelled back and then shook his head. "Blame me all you want. Just follow the damn protocol this time because I don't want Mia and Sawyer to go through what we did," he said as he headed to the door.

"Where are you going?"

"I need a drink… or twenty," he muttered as he exited the room, leaving Mani to deflate onto the bed.

Mia watched as Sawyer walked out of the en suite bathroom in only his pajama bottoms and headed to the bed. Once he got in she looked at him and sighed: "You want to tell me what's going on? I can tell something is wrong."

"I wanted to wait a little bit, but… Mia, Taylor was the one who called your dad while we were at the charity event," he started softly.

Mia swallowed: "did something happen to Christian? Is it bad?"

"Christian was with a friend in CO. The friend just moved there. They were at a club and were headed someplace else. She went to get something from her car; Taylor and your brother were bringing theirs around to the back. She was attacked in the interim."

"Who did it?" Mia asked.

"The thing is…"

"Who?"

"Jack Hyde."

Mia exhaled in a rush as her hand went protectively to her baby bump: "did the police get him?" she asked in a small voice.

Sawyer nodded: "a friend of A.. of the woman's went after him and brought him back. He's in custody, but…"

"I'll need to follow a security protocol," she sighed then closed her eyes. "Who was the woman?"

"It doesn't matter."

Opening them she stared at her husband: "yes it does. It matters because of how important she might be to my brother."

"She worked for Hyde. Taylor thinks it wasn't because of your brother from some of the stuff that Hyde was spewing."

"It was Ana, wasn't it?" Mia asked perceptively.

"Yeah…"

Mia nodded: "I knew she and Christian still had to be in touch. No way was he still so hooked on her after all this time if it was just one way," she said as he brushed back her hair and then looked at her husband: "when do you leave?"

"What?"

"You were her CPO and I'm sure that Christian wants her protected so…"

Sawyer shook his head as he leaned over and kissed her softly to quiet her and then slowly moved away: "I'm not going anywhere. They'll get her another CPO."

"You're second in command."

"And you're pregnant."

Mia laughed slightly: "Darling, I love you. That said, I know my brother…"

"Taylor knew the owner of the club from when they were both in the service. The guy owns the club with two other vets. My guess is that they're going with someone he knows. That being said, I might have to go out for a day or two so Taylor can come back to spend time with Sophie. Weekends would be the longest we'd be apart and I'd be on Christian detail."

Mia nodded: "thank you for being honest with me. I just need to know what's going on. I will do what I have to to protect our baby, even follow the stupid rules."

"Mia…" Sawyer started as a door down the hall slammed shut. As heavy footsteps sounded outside the couple shared a look: "I don't want that to be us."

"We'll both do what we have to to make sure it isn't."

"We should have a talk about that" he said gesturing to the door.

"Why?" Mia asked. "You'd make the same choice as my brother did; even knowing that it isn't the choice I'd make. Why fight about it?"

"I just…"

"Luke Sawyer, I know, ok? We watched what they have gone through… I would be pissed and hurt and a whole lot of other things but I don't know that I would blame you. I know you want this baby too, but I also know that you don't want to lose me. If I was that adamant about the whole thing I'd ask my mother to have to be the one to sign the papers only if there was no other choice, but that wouldn't be fair to anyone."

Sawyer nodded: "we're different, right?"

"Only because we've seen what they have been through. Because we've had this talk…"

"Think we should schedule a session with Flynn?"

"If you do…"

"I'll call him when he gets back," he sighed as a knock sounded on the door. With a knowing look, he went and opened it to find Chris there wiping sleepy eyes. "Hey little man…"

"They were yelling again."

"Come on, buddy. You can stay with your aunt and me tonight. Go cuddle with Mia and I'll go grab your sleep gear," Sawyer said calmly as he let the eight year old into the room.

"I love you," Mia mouthed as Chris tiredly cross the room and climbed into the bid bed in what was all too familiar an occurrence. Sawyer just smiled back before going to get his nephew's things, not sure how he felt. He wanted Mia in his arms, but he knew that Chris needed this. One more night on the floor wouldn't kill him, he reminded himself as he quietly shut the door.