Chapter 2

  Clary listened as he cried out desperately, What do you mean, we’re done? Will you leave me?

  No, she stated. You’re my patient. Remember that part. But it means I’m not discussing this any further. I’ll pop back in a couple hours. Do what needs to be done, and then I’ll leave you to your world.

  You make it sound like my world is one that you don’t want to visit, he murmured.

  What I don’t want to do is visit somebody who’ll bitch and whine at me, while I’m trying to keep him alive, she clarified. I’m here for a reason, and, if you can’t live with it, I just won’t talk to you about it. As soon as you are good to be out there on your own, I’ll disconnect, and you can go on your merry way.

  Is it that easy? Because I don’t think so …

  It’s never that easy, she said. There’s always a chance of something going wrong. There’s always a chance of something else happening, but that’s the least of my problems right now. Right now it’s all about keeping your energy stabilized, and, as soon as you go into some kind of arrest, she added, I’ll have to step in and make sure that I do what’s needed to keep you alive.

  A long moment passed, before he murmured, And you can do that so easily?

  Yes, I have done it several times already, … with you. She heard what felt more like a gasp. Speaking to him like this was also odd, but she was really enjoying it, and she was probably burning up too much energy in order to make it continuously happen, but she would examine that later when she got back out again.

  All right, he replied quietly, I’ll trust your judgment.

  Well, that is more than I expected. That would be the first agreeable thing you’ve said so far. She laughed. Honestly I don’t think you trust anybody’s judgment. She was pushing all the right buttons.

  I’m not very good at it, he admitted, but, if you’ve kept me alive all this time, it would be selfish of me to cause trouble now.

  I suspect you do cause trouble about a lot of stuff in life, she said, mostly because you care, but it’s not okay. Because you care, it also makes you dangerous.

  Only to people who are in my way. Simply put, only people who are stopping me from helping those I care most about, he murmured.

  Exactly, she replied. So, my answer will still depend on whether you’re capable of compromise. She really needed him to understand the ramifications of his actions.

  Are you sure? he asked. Because your need to shut me down because you see some danger happening—overruling a decision of mine that would keep somebody else on the team alive—doesn’t seem like a good compromise to me.

  Meaning?

  You are a doctor, not fighting battles in the real world. So you won’t necessarily understand what’s happening if you’re not close to me physically. Even then, you won’t fully understand what we’re going through and what is needed at the time. So, if you shut me down, it could very well put somebody else on my team in real danger.

  And that will have to be a risk assessment I complete at the time, she noted calmly, or as calmly as she could. Because she understood in more ways than he did exactly what he was asking.

  You also have to understand that my sister is with Rick and that I would do anything to keep her alive, she added passionately. So there’ll have to be a risk assessment on many levels, every time something happens. But you, … no offense intended, and she made it very clear in her tone of voice, are currently the weak link. And, if we need to snap my connection to you, I will. I’ll keep you alive, but I can’t have you putting other people in danger because you’re not up for something.

  I understand. And, if I get weak out there, can you bolster my energy to get me home again?

  Yes, depending on how bad it is.

  Depending on how ugly things get, you mean?

  Right, she said, with finality.

  As with any plan, there are always these surprise parts and pieces that we must accommodate for, once the plan is in action, Brody explained.

  There always are. There always will be, she murmured. Again, we do the best we can in the moment, but there are no guarantees.

  Got it, he said. Then please do what you can do to get me out of here, so I can go to where I need to be. Then hopefully we can come to an agreement with Terk and the rest of the team that keeps all of us alive.

  It’s not just an agreement, she noted. What they’re doing? … They are planning an attack.

  Of course they are, he said a little desperately, and I need to be part of it somehow. I need to see some closure to this nightmare.

  There is no closure for you right now, she stated, and honestly, Brody, you’re still in the baby stages. You are not doing anything or going anywhere in terms of a mission.

  *

  Brody hated it, but she was right.

  The team has already had weeks to recover and to assess. They have their defense planned and sorted out. They know the situation and understand what’s going on, Clary explained in Brody’s head. You can’t be a liability now, while they’re all working hard to make this nightmare go away.

  He glared, wishing she were here in person to receive it. I can help. I can do something to help my team.

  I don’t see you here for the party.

  “Shit,” he yelled, facing the window. “That’s Terk now.”

  Yes, he’s leaving, Clary stated, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t coming back or that he hasn’t made other arrangements.

  “But you also know,” he stated out loud, an accusation in his tone, “that it’s up to you to determine whether I get to leave or not, and … that just drives me nuts.”

  I get that, Clary noted, and I know that there’s one way we can make this happen. It’s just more of a commitment than I was prepared to make.

  He looked around the room. “What is it?” he asked. “Why can’t you show up here so we can talk face-to-face? … What can I do to make this happen?”

  You being okay with my conditions. She glared at him. And, … well, it can’t happen right now, she murmured to herself.

  “That’s not true,” he cried out, holding his head. “Talk to me. Come on. It needs to happen now,” he pleaded, as he watched Terk leave. “Don’t you understand that he’s leaving?”

  Of course he is, she murmured. He knows that it needs to happen.

  He frowned at the voice in his head. “Well, other things need to happen too,” he snarled, “and I need to get out of here. With or without your help.”

  Let me think about it, and then we’ll see. And, with that, she stepped out of his mind.

  Brody was incensed that Clary could walk away so casually and so blasé, as if nothing he said would stop her.

  He immediately looked around for clothes, anything more than the boxers he currently wore that would allow him to get out of here without drawing unwanted attention.

  The nurse knocked and stepped into the room almost immediately. “Terk has left, but he said he’ll call you in a few minutes.”

  He looked at her in surprise and then nodded hopefully. “Good. Can you find me my clothes?”

  She glared at him. “Just because he’ll call you doesn’t mean that you get to leave.”

  “I need to leave,” he snapped. “What’ll it take to make somebody understand?”

  “He said somebody else has the right to make that decision. It was very unlike Terk to say so, as he typically likes to be in control of the situation.” The nurse looked at Brody and sniffed.

  “Which I don’t understand either,” Brody confirmed, “because, as far as I’m concerned, no way anyone should decide but me. Terk also understands the scenario that we’re facing, and, no matter what he says, he needs my help.”

  She shook her head. “You’re still making progress, but you’re not out of the woods,” She noted his disapproving expression. “I’m not kidding. You’ll find yourself in a very weakened state for a while, and you’ll need a lot of therapy to get back on your feet.”

  Since he was already sitting upright on the bed, no point in jumping up and showing her that he could already do a lot. “I’m not as bad as you think I am,” he replied.

  She waved him away. “I’ve heard you yelling in here to someone, so I’ll disagree with you there. I’ll go get you a coffee. That’ll help.”

  He just stared at her back, as she closed the door on him. How the hell would a cup of coffee help?

  So much else was going on in his world right now that a cup of coffee sounded almost insulting. But basically it’s what she could do, not necessarily what he could do.

  And you have to be nice to other people, Clary snapped in his head.

  “That is mandatory now?” he exasperated. “Am I not being nice?” he asked.

  That nurse was hired to look after you. You have to let her do her job, without your emotional crap getting all over everything.

  “I am,” he snapped. “I’m not doing anything. It’s just that … she doesn’t understand that I’m already stronger than what she knows.”

  That’s because she truly doesn’t understand all your special gifts, so you have to accept that a lot of people don’t believe you should be leaving.

  “Of course,” he muttered, “but my team will understand.”

  Well, Terk has left the decision up to me, Clary repeated.

  Brody sat here with a fatalistic attitude, wondering how he would circumvent her decision because no way would she would let Brody leave. That was already a guarantee.

  I will let you leave, she continued, making him bolt upright, but, again, you have to agree to follow my terms.

  “Yes,” he said instantly. He didn’t know how he would live with it, but, if it meant getting out of here, he was all for it.

  You’re hardly in prison, she murmured.

  “No, but I feel like a prisoner, and I don’t want that. Not anymore.”

  I understand, she replied, but sometimes you need somebody else to tell you to calm down and to stop pushing. And that’ll be my job. So, if you can accept that, then fine. However, if you’ll give me crap about it, it’s a definite no. But be a good boy—

  “To get out of here and to get back to the compound, I’ll be perfect,” he murmured.

  Well, take your time and let that sink in. I’ll go talk to Terk. And, with that, she disappeared.

  Brody couldn’t believe his luck. He wasn’t sure exactly what had changed in her attitude, but he was grateful for it. He just had to make sure she understood that she couldn’t knock him down or stop him from doing something if he was in the middle of a mission.

  That would be dangerous for everybody.

  When his phone rang, he answered it, Terk laughing on the other end. Brody was immediately irritated.

  “Well, I don’t know how you managed to get her to agree,” Terk noted, “but she is letting you move over to the compound. Still, I have also agreed to a couple stringent conditions, and, therefore, I’m sending somebody, probably a team, to come get you.”

  “A team?” he asked, uncertain. “Wouldn’t stealth be better?”

  “Oh, it’s stealth all right,” Terk stated. “I’m not sure you’ve ever seen this team before, and it will surprise you. It might even just be one guy on the front lines.”

  “Okay, … that sounds mysterious,” Brody said. “Is it one of ours?”

  “Nope,” he murmured, a laughing tone in his voice, “but you have to remember that things are fluid right now.”

  “I don’t care how damn fluid they are,” Brody snapped, “just get me out of here. You have no idea what being lost out on the ethers was like.”

  “But I do,” Terk corrected him, his voice hardening. “And you still have to behave yourself. We can’t have you dropping off the grid, going rogue, and becoming a burden instead of an asset.”

  “I won’t,” he murmured. Brody was trying, and it showed in his voice.

  “Well, you will do whatever you do because it’s who you are,” Terk admitted, “so I’m trusting Clary and her ability to keep you in line.”

  “Yeah, I’m not all that comfortable with that either. About her,” he said cautiously, “can she really do what she says she can do?”

  “First off, if you aren’t comfortable with that, you aren’t coming here. Second, not only is she an excellent empath and telepath, she’s very adept at it. If you don’t follow suit and if you intend to try to cheat your agreement with her, it won’t go well for you,” Terk murmured. “So I suggest you cage that beast within. You need to get along with everybody, especially her.”

  “Wow,” he said. “How come we haven’t had these people on our team if they’re as good as you say?”

  “I tried,” Terk replied. “I tried to convince them at one point, but they really weren’t interested,” he murmured. “As you can see, they have abilities that go way beyond anything that we’ve ever seen.”

  “Well, that’s what I mean. I’m surprised that they weren’t part of the team because they sound so efficient at what they do. Almost too good to be true.”

  “They come with a huge price tag that means more than just money,” Terk warned him.

  Terk continued, and Terk’s tone reminded Brody of his boss’s op-voice, where he inherently warned them to not fuck this up.

  “Sometimes I feel like they know more than they’re necessarily willing to let on.”

  “Copy,” Brody murmured. “I’m not ungrateful. Believe me. I just need to get to the next stage and to get back with everybody. I’ll do my best not to be a burden, and I will try to heed your advice.”

  “And Clary’s. Plus you’ll find it strangely different now at headquarters. A lot of people are here.”

  “Of course. I understand. Terk, I belong there. I belong with the team,” Brody stated. “Even if we relocate somewhere else, I still belong with the team.”

  “What if there is no team anymore?” Terk asked, his voice heavy.

  “Then we’ll make it work anyway,” he declared. “Screw the government. We’ll go independent.”

  At that, Terk burst out laughing. “You and the rest of them. It seems to me that you guys have it all worked out without me.”

  “That’s what they’re saying too, right?” Brody asked eagerly.

  “Yeah, pretty much,” Terk murmured, “but it’s not that simple.”

  “It’s not that difficult either,” he reminded Terk. “We’ve done it before.”

  “Yes, but we’ve done it with government backing and with ample funding.”

  “True. But we’ve done more than that. We’ve relied on each other. It’s huge that we had a ton of help and people working to lay out our path for us,” Brody added, “but, if nobody else is around to help anymore, that’s fine too. We will do us the way we always have.”

  “So you mean—”

  “We won’t require any of them or their funding,” Brody stated.

  “Well, we have their funding.” Terk laughed. “I’m not even sure the government knows that, but I don’t think it matters.”

  “Does it?”

  “The money was supposed to be funding for our projects.”

  “I’m not sure what you’re telling me, Terk.”

  “Before all this, we had a hefty sum come in to help with the operation of our team. I don’t expect that anyone even knows or will be trying to take it away. And, since I moved it, they won’t be able to locate it now.”

  “I’ll think about all the problems that we’ve had in the past few jobs,” Brody added, “but instinctively my mind says it was the government that did this.”

  “The problem with that is, we’ll have one hell of an end game to flush them out and to make sure they can’t do it again.”

  “I know.” Then Brody asked, “Do you think your brother and his team would help with that avenue?”

  “Maybe, but we would have to convince them, and to spring it on them isn’t fair. If there is no other way, then maybe, but they’re in a difficult position. Their USA-based company will be in trouble, if they start dealing with our problems with the US government. We may get in the clear, but they will be on the government’s radar.”

  “I know,” Brody agreed. “I’ll think about it some more.”

  “Well, you haven’t got much time,” Terk noted. “I’ve already sent a message to the nurse that you’re being transported.”

  “That should make her happy.” He snorted.

  “She’s not happy at all,” Terk stated.

  “Dang, I was supposed to get a cup of coffee out of the deal.”

  “Well, she’s not even there anymore,” Terk added, “and you have no clothes to leave, so take your time. I’m sending some your way but not a whole lot. Make do as you can and make sure you get on that transport safely.” And, with that, Terk was gone.

  Brody hopped up, a little wobbly still, looking around the room, trying to be as efficient as he could with his time and energy, but even searching for anything resulted in him sitting back down again, flushed and unsteady. Swearing at his weakness for cursing his life and for putting him in this position, he waited on the side of the bed for something to happen. For someone to come.

  If the nurse was already gone, he wasn’t sure of anything. When and how that had happened, he didn’t know. What he did know was that he wasn’t looking forward to asking for help.

  And who the hell was coming to pick him up?

  Chapter 3

  Clary sat beside Charles in the unmarked vehicle, staring at Brody’s image projected from the apartment’s internal cameras to this car’s monitor. “He won’t appreciate me being here.”

  “Doesn’t matter whether he does or not.” Charles looked directly at her. “According to Terk, it was part of your contract.” He frowned. “Are you sure you want to get involved on the ground like this?”

  “Not sure I have a choice,” she admitted. “I’m already connected to him on a level that would be very difficult to disconnect from at this point. Besides, a sudden withdrawal like that could kill him.”

  Charles frowned and nodded stiffly. “I don’t even try to understand all this, but I trust Ice and Levi. And, while I don’t understand Terk either, I have worked with him many times. He is a man of honor, and, if he says this is necessary, then I’ll do everything I can to make it happen.”