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Pulling out my phone and looking at the time, I reply, “It’s only nine-thirty.”
“I can try and call him now, but if he’s on a last-minute job before he comes up here, he might not be able to answer,” Atlas reminds me.
I sigh, knowing the right thing to do would be to wait until he arrives here, but being impatient enough that I don’t necessarily want to do it, “We don’t want to interrupt him if he’s on the job. Just send him a message and ask him to contact us when it's safe to do so and that it’s not urgent.”
“Are you sure that’s how you want to do it?” Peter asks, with a frown, “I know you. I know this is going to drive you mad.”
“It is,” I agree with a smile, “but I’d never forgive myself if I put Alaric in danger, and besides, we have other things we can focus on first. What else does the file say? What was she working on when she disappeared?”
Peter looks to the others before he answers me, “Are you all staying for this?”
“Hell, yeah. I want to see what sort of shit R got herself into this time,” Jynx announces, making me smile.
Lyric’s men all look at her, and she smiles softly, “I’d love to stay, but I am absolutely exhausted and will most likely end up falling asleep. Would you mind if we went home, and then you can give us the cliff notes tomorrow?”
“Of course,” I smile, standing up and hugging her as we all say goodbye to the others.
“We’re going to head off as well. we’ve got to get ready for that job that we’ve got just after Christmas, and we want to put the work in now so we don’t have to worry about it over Christmas.” Noel reminds us. “But let us know if you need anything. Trick, you’ll know better than us if we can push the job off for a bit.”
Trick nods, “We can’t. That one is relatively time-sensitive, but I think we’ll probably need you for the extraction. We’re so far away from that right now, and we’re going to be doing research for a while, judging from what Mr R said on the phone.” Trick replies to them.
“We're also going to need your help because we’re down three team members who all need to heal properly before they do anything physical that will most likely involve us fighting or being shot at.” I add firmly, looking at Trick, Jensen, and Cash before I continue, “As much as I want to get Rylie back now, Mr Rising told us that there was going to be a lot of research to do, which is the only reason why he gave it to us, knowing that we’re injured and supposed to be having some significant time off. Rylie is clearly highly trained, and even if we find her location, if you guys are not up to it, then either only some of us go with the support of the other teams, or we hand the job over to one of the teams at headquarters. I will not risk any of you, but there was a reason why Mr. R only told us about it.”
All of my guys nod in agreement, their expressions understanding and then their gazes turning to Trick, Cash, and Jensen.
Atlas says firmly, “And none of this saying you’re fine when you’re actually not shit. Ever’s right; we’re not risking any of you.”
“We got too close to losing you before. We’re not doing it again,” Rage adds firmly.
“I never want to have to fucking resuscitate one of you again.” Luc agrees, shadows in his eyes.
I don’t think any of us who witnessed that scene will get over it any time soon. I know I still see it when I close my eyes sometimes.
Jensen nods, his expression serious, “We hear you. Not only will we not put ourselves at risk, but we also won’t put you guys at risk by saying we’re ready and then not being able to give you the backup that you need.”
He reaches out to me, and I walk back over to where he’s still sitting, standing next to him as he wraps his good arm around me and holds me close.
“He’s right,” Trick replies. “We will be honest about whether we can handle it or not.”
“No matter how difficult it’s going to be to stay behind while the rest of you are in danger,” Cash adds honestly.
I look at Noel and the guys as I say, “Sorry guys, we got a bit off subject there. You guys do what you’ve got to do; like Trick said, it’s going to be a while before we’ve got a lead or have to do the actual extraction.”
Marty nods, “Okay, well, if you need us at any point before then, let us know. We’re up here for Christmas, and stuff anyway, and our job doesn’t start until the twenty-eighth anyway.”
“Sounds good. From how Mr R worded it and the urgency in his tone, I’m guessing that we will need all the help we can get as we get further into it. See you later, guys,” Riot says as they all get up to leave.
“Bye, guys,” Callen replies.
After we hear the front door close, so it's just us, Jynx and her men, and Peter and Elijah left, Peter turns to the rest of us, “Alright, since everyone wants to see, why don’t we go through to the front room and then I can hook it up to the TV, and everyone can see what I’m doing.”
“Good idea. I have a feeling that you’ll be getting asked every two minutes what you’ve found otherwise,” Elijah agrees with a smile.
“I’m neither denying nor confirming that.” I grin and then add, “Leave the stuff on the table. We can clear it later; I just want to get started and at least get an idea of what’s going on with this case,” I say as they all start to gather plates.
“Sure thing,” Rome replies.
“I’ve sent the message to Alaric; he’ll get back to us when he can,” Atlas adds.
