Challenge

As Adison passed and touched his arm, Kirk caught her eye for just a moment. Whatever had happened earlier in the day with Jamison had obviously very much impressed her to the point of her now defending the poor guy and wanting him to come with them to the Elite. Kirk hadn't seen him in action...but he had just seen him take down Mark and that was no small feat, especially for someone Jamison's size.

Wandering over and helping pick up the last few pieces of paper, Kirk cocked his head. "Sorry you got suspended. You didn't deserve that."

"Oh well, you know how it goes." Jamison shrugged, but the look in his eye showed how much this pained him. "I knew better. I lost my temper so it's my own fault."

As he picked up his boxes and turned to leave, Kirk stopped him. "Jamison...what do you know about the Elite?"

Jamison frowned in confusion. "Not much, other than they're too vigilante for Barnes' tastes. Why?"

"Can you give me a full report on them by morning?"

"What?" Jamison's eyes widened. "I'm not even supposed to be here now, and my system account will have been suspended, you know that. How can I find any information, let alone for a report, let alone in such short notice?"

Kirk shrugged. "Find a way."

"And why should I even bother? What's this about?"

"Let's just say it's about the potential of someone who has gone overlooked for far too long." Kirk started to leave. "You like a good challenge, right?"

Left standing alone, Jamison's confusion increased. Who was Kirk referring to? Him? Someone else? What did the Elite have to do with that? What was so important that it had to be done right now? His good sense told him to just walk away. He could get into even more trouble if he worked while on suspension. And yet...he did like a good challenge...


Garret chewed on the inside of his lip as he nodded again. "Yeah, okay." Why did all of this seem so hard? He'd never been so indecisive - ever. And it was all just about a silly event. He'd handled shootouts against ten men. Why was this fazing him so badly?

Laura couldn't help her small smile. She felt badly for Garret. She knew he cared about Maggie more than he'd admit - it was obvious. But she also knew that being a part of this family and doing things for each other just to make the other person happy was totally foreign to him. No one had ever done anything for him just to make him happy so why would he understand this now? Going with Maggie, as simple as it sounded, would force his heart to open up a little wider, and that was most likely where that hint of terror in his eye was coming from.

Garret finally stood up. "I'll talk to her. Don't worry."

As he left to go to his bedroom, Laura gave Nate's hand a squeeze. She knew he recognized the same things she did. A man was growing right before their eyes. "You better get going," she promoted softly. "I'll wait up for you though. I want to know what the meeting was about..."


...The meeting room was full. Con had joined the Elite group, and even Ty was there. The table had been pulled off to the side and all the chairs were in a couple rows. Reese stood at the front of the room, and Kirk off to the side. The tension was thick. It was rare Reese called a meeting like this, and usually it meant bad news. Jason sat next to Katie, as on edge as everyone else - maybe more. He'd been given the go-ahead to go home as long as he wore protective gear, but now this.

"Thanks for being here guys," Reese began. "I know this is an inconvenience. I'll cut right to the chase. I'm sure all of you have wondered why Agent Young has been hanging around and asking questions, and the truth is, we've been under the scrutiny of the Elite board for a while now, and they insisted on the FBI coming in to evaluate us."

The door opened again and Carson slipped into an empty chair in the back. He smelled of sweat and pizza grease, and he'd have to return to the restaurant to clean up later, but at least he'd made it. Being told to be at a meeting was rare enough he knew he should come.

"As a result, there are going to be a lot of changes in the coming weeks." Reese paused. "One change has already happened. You may have noticed that Gunner isn't here tonight. The reason is... he's been let go."

"What?" Pete's tone indicated his surprise and irritation. "Why?"

Reese held up his hand. "If you have any questions about it, you may ask me later. As a-"

"I wanna know why he was let go," Pete insisted. He'd been Gunner's partner a good portion of his time here, and this...hurt.

Reese sighed. Maybe it was better to address this now. "Alright. Each one of us was evaluated and Gunner was deemed too emotionally unstable, and unfit for duty."

"Unfit for -"

"The decison has been made," Reese stated flatly. "The rest of us will remain, unless anyone wishes to leave. I'd...be disappointed if that happened but... I'd understand." He went on to explain everything - how the Elite would be functioning differently and reporting to the FBI, how there would be several FBI agents added to the team, and how they would be relocated. On one hand there was relief they could still function as their own entity. On the other hand, it was hard not to take offense and be upset about all of this.

Jason sat, almost stunned before glancing at Katie. They'd all functioned so well for so long. This was a big change. New rules. New office. New people. This was not going to be easy.

"Are there any questions you'd like to ask me or Kirk?"

"Yeah." It was Pete again and he was even more unhappy now. "So anything we do...if Kirk here doesn't like it, all he's gotta do is give us a bad report and we're done. Is that right?"

Kirk stepped forward to handle this one. "In essence...yes." He was not going to best around the bush. "But to be honest, that could be true of just about anyone. The board doesn't think the Elite can function - within the boundaries of the law - on its own. I'm here to prove them wrong. Therefore it's my job to make sure we do function in such a way that we won't be closed down - not to try and make that happen."

"And all those wonderful interviews?" Rick asked sarcastically.

"I've spoken to most of you already about that, and I hope you can learn to trust me. My evaluations had to include the bad and the ugly in order to battle the  board, and my own first impression. Which, I freely admit was wrong. During this short time I've come to respect all of you and what you've accomplished."

Scott threw Dalton a wary look. Would the two of them be separated in the restructuring?

Con gave Jamie a reassuring nod. Change was inevitable. But he'd made up his mind today...and he was coming back.

Rick glanced at Misty. Reese hadn't said anything about the infirmary. It was a unique part of this place...would their skills still be needed?

Reese looked out at all the worried faces and found Angelica to help give him the courage he needed. "Any more questions?"