"You shouldn't have hit him."
"Probably not."
"What were you thinking?" Elliot stopped what he was doing and searched his face.
"He was talking shit about you." Hale's eyes were dark. "And I wasn't going to just stand there."
Elliot's throat tightened. This wasn't worth Hale's career. But saying that out loud would reduce the last two and a half months to nothing. So he stayed silent.
"What did Chen want?" Hale's voice flattened.
"Someone reported us. Fraternization allegations."
Hale went very still. "And?"
"I didn't say anything." Elliot forced himself to holdHale's gaze. "Chen said normally it would mean immediate dismissal. For both of us."
"But?"
"But given certain circumstances and two weeks until completion, they're willing to overlook it." Elliot's hands curled into fists. "As long as it stops immediately."
"Certain circumstances," Hale repeated with caution.
"Chen didn't say it directly. But he’s not going to stir up shit that could land on The General’s desk. Easier to bury it.”
"Oh.” Hale sounded surprised.
"Yes." Elliot kept his voice even. "One of the many perks of being a Shaw.”
Hale seemed to absorb that. His hand still braced against the doorframe, wrapped knuckles pressing white against the wood.
"So we're supposed to just stop," he said finally.
"That's what I agreed to."
Elliot looked past him, but he could feel Hale’s eyes locked on him.
“That wasn't your call to make."
"Yes, it was." Elliot met his eyes. "Because you would've made the wrong one."
Hale's jaw clenched. "You don't get to decide what's right for me, Shaw."
"Someone has to. You’re not thinking straight."
"I am thinking perfectly straight." He pushed off the doorframe. "He was being a fucking asshole."
"So you risked your entire career."
"Yes." Hale threw his hands up. "And I'd do it again."
Elliot's breath caught. Hale was too close. The door was open. Anyone could walk in.
"We can't do this anymore," Elliot said in a low voice. "Chen was serious. I’m not letting you put your career on the line."
Hale moved closer. “I know what's at stake. But in two weeks you go east and I go west and that's it. So don't ask me to spend them pretending none of this happened."
Elliot’s chest tightened. "It's not about what we want."
