Off the field

It took Justin several minutes to regain control, still alone in the kitchen. Today was just a bad day and it was almost over. Tomorrow would be better. This chapter in his life was done and it was time to move on. Deep down though...he didn't know how he was going to recover from this. Grace's kidnapping. Sarah's death. If he hadn't gotten involved with the Elite in the first place, those never would have happened. He'd been arrogant to never think those around him might be touched by the Agency's wrath. He'd been foolish to think he'd be exempt just because he wasn't on board full-time. And he'd found out the hard way that even the smallest involvement could result in torment. 

Taking another deep breath, Justin finally moved from the counter. The tears were back down at a safe distance, and his anger was subsiding. As he returned to the living room and saw Beth, a new wave of guilt was added on top of everything else. He was a horrible person. 

Coming back to the couch, he eased down next to her, and pulled her into a hug, just holding her close for a few quiet moments. "I'm sorry," he apologized gently. "I didn't meant to upset you. We'll talk about this another day, okay?" He kissed the top of her head. "You wanna finish the movie or just sit here?" He'd let her pick. She was priority right now. 


"Oh, not another gummy worm." Kirk gave her foot a light kick in return. "Took me forever to get that out of the carpet. I even almost cussed... almost." He grinned as he took another bite of steak. It was too bad this had to be a working dinner. They were a great team, but they always focused on work. Even if they goofed off, it never lasted long - the subject matter always came back around to work...as it should. He couldn't let his mind run away with itself or get distracted. Their jobs were their priorities, and besides, that's what they both had always wanted. Right? 

Had he just been staring at her again? He dropped his gaze and finished off his french fries. "Okay. So, remember all those files I had before?" He quickly moved back into work mode. "Multiply that by about ten and that's what I've got to work with now. What I wanna do is come up with at least three different plans of attack that I think would work, then give Reese those options. That way I'm not just bulldozing him into the ground. He's still going to be in charge...ish. I'll just be making sure we keep heading in a direction that the board will be satisfied with. So that's where I'll need your brain And..." He hesitated. "There's one agent they want off the field, and I'm going to have to come up with a good way to tell Reese that."


Garret lay in bed, but was far from sleep, even though he'd used the excuse of being tired to call it in before the rest of the family. It wasn't that he hadn't enjoyed the ice cream and game...there was a part of it that had struck a strange kind of fun inside of him. It was new. Different. But it felt just a little dangerous, too...because a wall or two had been forced to come down. And he wasn't sure if he really wanted that to happen or not. What was happening to him? 

Upstairs, Laura brushed out her hair before crawling into bed next to Nate and cuddling up to him to lay her head on his chest. She sighed with content and draped her arm around him to give him a little hug. "I think tonight went well," she mused quietly. "Garret seemed...almost human there a time or two." She paused as her mind was hard at work. "I know it's not my place and he'll never talk about it...but I can't help my curiosity about his past. What he's been through. Why he was at the Agency in the first place. The kind of soldier they were trying to make him into. He's so tough and hard...but sometimes I look at him and all I see is a little boy screaming to get out. He shuts down so quickly though." She shrugged. "He's too smart to manipulate... I can almost literally see the wheels turning sometimes. But I know he has a heart in there somewhere because of how Maggie can bring him out from behind his walls. Surely there's hope for him."