Tiger

Kirk sat back in his chair while his fingers fiddled with his water glass. "I hadn't thought about that building. Good idea. I definitely want to check it out. I really think the Elite can improve with workflow if they had a better set up. Different office spaces... open area kind of like what we're doing instead of cubicles. Most of them are empty anyway since they downsized. They really were quite big with a far reach a few years ago. Now though... oh well. At least they're still fighting to survive."

He thought for a moment about her original question. "The agent they want to get rid of is Brent. Gunner. He's one loose canon. That was his file we went through that talked about him getting into all that trouble trying to find his parents' killers when there's probably no killers at all." He rolled his eyes. "Good agent. Lacks the sense to follow rules though. There's just no denying his history and the risks he's taken. He's seen multiple counselors but can't seem to let go of phantom bad guys. Not saying he's crazy but...I'm not sure he's got quite a full set of marbles either. I'm not sure I'd boot him off the team but... the board wants to flex their muscles, so they figure the best way to do that is force the Elite's hand in some way. In this case, they chose to target an agent. If Reese refuses, the Elite will go down. He won't have a choice, and neither will Gunner."

Kirk didn't like handling things that way. If Gunner really was a problem, he'd prefer to help fix that problem rather than just eliminating him altogether. But the board wasn't going to budge. "Anyway..." He sighed. "To be honest, I really don't want to work anymore tonight. So...we can plan tomorrow night if you want?"


Justin just nodded, and let Beth start the movie again. He really didn't want to talk about it any more right now. What was done was done, they were both upset, and both needed to just rest tonight. Tomorrow he'd go in to the Elite to see Reese, enforce his decision to be done there, and then he'd have to talk to Beth once the whole shock of everything had worn off. Only then would she see that joining the Elite was not the answer. 

Settling down on the couch, he kept his arm around her for the rest of the movie. This was just a bad day. It would all pass. Eventually. It had to. 


Laura nodded her agreement with Nate's observations. "He's so different with Maggie. I would never guess he was anything but gentle and kind." She thought for a moment. "Then when he gets upset or scared... I don't know. It feels like having a pet tiger. As nice as that cat can be, it's still wild and you just can't ever trust it a hundred percent. I want to trust Garret...and I don't think he'd hurt any of us on purpose. But he just has this look in his eye every once in a while that's like this little reminder to tread lightly." 

She nuzzled in a little closer to get warm. "I'm not scared of him. I just want what's best for everybody. But I agree... I know there's hope. No one is a lost cause. Not even him..." 


...Morning. By the time Garret heard stirring upstairs, he'd already been awake, showered and dressed for an hour, and was now sitting on his bed with the room's door open. He could feel his body still fighting to get well, but there was more improvement today. He really didn't want to go in to the Elite with Nate. But he also knew without anyone saying so, that since Nate had to leave, it would be best that he go too. And after last night...maybe there was a part of him that didn't want to jeopardize whatever it was he'd gained. He didn't even know what it was. But it was something that had felt...good. As long as he could return with Nate later, he'd go to appease him, and probably Reese, whom he was sure did not like this arrangement at all, even if Nate said he was fine with it.