Reflexes

Garret slowly, slowly continued to close the gap between himself and Aaron as he spoke, stopping only when he was near enough to see Aaron's finger twitch on his gun's trigger.


From across the field, Jason muttered under his breath. Aaron had moved Susanne just enough that he no longer had a clear shot. He couldn't see Aaron's gun hand anymore, and could no longer see his face...which meant he could no longer gauge the threat. 


Garret's hands were still held up and out to the sides in an attempt to appear less threatening, but by now, Aaron was too suspicious. "Aaron...don't do this..."

Hearing Victoria yell, Garret's instincts kicked in, and he didn't hesitate. He immediately knew exactly what Victoria was doing, and was not going to risk an innocent woman's life. Not this time. Not anymore. 

It only took two strides then a leap in Susanne's direction to reach her and tackle her to the ground the same instant he heard the shot. Susanne screamed as Garret brought her to the ground, but couldn't even fight back, with her hands still bound. Not intending any harm, Garret rolled out of the way and into a crouch position, his eyes sweeping the entire scene. 

As the bullet ripped through Aaron's flesh, he instantly dropped to the ground, losing both Susanne and his own gun. Crying out in pain, he clutched at his right knee. Had he seen it correctly? Had Victoria actually shot him? Had Garret actually helped save Susanne? His world spun as the pain caused him to writhe on the ground. What was going on here?

Taken completely off guard, it took Reese a moment to realize what had just happened, as Katie took down Victoria. Despite Aaron being shot, when Reese saw Garret now still so close to Susanne after tackling her, he drew his gun. "Garret!" he thundered. "On your feet, now! Move!"

Garret, seeing Aaron on the ground, ignored Reese's command, and started for his fellow agent instead. Kneeling next to him, he saw how badly Aaron's knee was bleeding, and cringed. 

Aaron glared up at him, trying to speak through the pain. "You're a...a traitor....you ...of all... all people..." 

Reese had come up behind Garret, and now had his handgun pointed at his head. "On. Your. Feet. Now."

Garret gritted his teeth as anger built within him. And his adrenaline took over. Moving with trained stealth, he sprung to his feet, spun around and disarmed Reese, to turn his own gun in him before Reese could even react. 

Pete, after seeing Katie had Victoria under control, had started for Susanne and had just gotten her blindfold off, when he saw Garret threatening Reese. Not having his gun anymore, he lunged for Garret, only to be met with  strong boot to his chest, knocking him to the ground hard enough to knock the wind out of him. 

Garret growled in frustration and hurled Reese's gun into the field. "When will you people learn?!" Without being asked, he stalked back towards the others, on guard and angry. All he wanted was to make sure Aaron was going to be okay, but obviously he was not allowed such a luxury. 

Stunned and angered, Reese let him go, and retrieved his cell phone to call in Rick and Gunner. It would seem they had a new prisoner that needed more immediate medical attention than Susanne. 

Susanne's eyes were wide as Pete managed to right himself and catch his breath enough to resume helping her out of her bonds, but for right now, all she could do was sit and shake. 

Getting back to the SUV, Garret refused to look at Victoria or Nate. He leaned on the hood and took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself, but it was apparent he was still quite upset.


Eric continued to look at the ceiling as he was bombarded with a whole new set of emotions. She was...willing to stay with him? To help? Even before they knew the truth or not?

His eyes finally drifted down to hers as he reached up to cradle the side of her face. "Thank you..." He tugged her shirt sleeve to bring her back down close again, drawing her in for a kiss. He'd only been gone a week, but it felt like a year, and he showed how much he'd missed her by the passion he gave in his kiss. 

Drawing back, he hugged her close, burying his face in her hair. "I'm scared, he admitted softly. What if it really is true? What am I going to do?"