After All

Eli took another bite of his sub, looking down at his wrapper as Ryan pressed the issue of danger. He didn't answer her right away, just letting her continue to talk as he chewed his food. His eyes sprang up at her last comment though, and a crooked grin creased his lips. "Yeah, about that..." He cleared his throat and took a sip of his pop before resting his elbows on the table. 

"But first... back to your question..." He knew if he kept putting her off, she'd keep pushing. "If I ever start to question whether I'm gonna make it home at night, I will pull out." He looked her in the eye, remembering how she'd looked in that hospital bed when he'd come to Nevada. He'd promised himself at that moment he would never walk away like he once had. He was all she had left, and she was all he had left. "I love what the Elite does, and their purpose, and the extra money is nice but none of that is more important than you and Scarlet. Okay?" 

He sighed and straightened up. "Now... about that whole..." He gestured with his fingers. "Family topic. I, um... I need your help on a secret mission... that has absolutely nothing to do with the Elite." He grinned again. "I've narrowed it down to three rings for Scarlet, but I need help deciding which one to buy. I'd ask her myself... she probably figures it's coming sometime soon, but I kinda want it to be a surprise as much as possible."


Garret set his hands on his hips and looked at the ground, kicking a couple pebbles with the toe of his boot. He knew if Reese, or Kirk especially, found out about what he'd done, he could be in some real hot water. But he also knew Nate wouldn't tell on him. 

"I... may have found him yesterday on lunch break." He glanced up at Nate, squinting one eye. "Figured if he came back on his own he'd be more likely to stay, so... I left him be... after I told him Sam and Pete got suspended." He shrugged. "Guess I thought it was worth betting that he has a heart after all."


Kirk wasn't convinced, and his eyes narrowed slightly. "I'm not so sure it's heart we're seeing. Maybe he just decided going back to the Agency really was stupid, but he had nowhere else to go." All of a sudden, a thought struck him though. "Wait... he knew Sam and Pete had been suspended. How?" 

Reese pursed his lips, but shrugged when Kirk looked at him. He had his own theories, but he wasn't going to voice them. There really was no reason. "I'm not really sure it matters at this point."

"Well, regardless of whether he has a heart or not, I don't think he's in any position to be trying to bargain with us. I say we throw him down in a cell for a while and see if he's still willing to talk in a couple days." 

"Or..." Reese shrugged. "We could call Sam back in. Take her off suspension. Pete too. And... then maybe we wouldn't need to imprison Aaron."

Kirk blinked. "You're nuts. You know that, right? I mean, how could you even consider letting him roam free again after what he pulled?" 

Reese took a deep breath. "Sometimes... you have to act on faith, Kirk. It can bite you in the butt, but it can also bring about better results than you think."

"Law enforcement cannot run on faith!" 

"Then maybe the Elite shouldn't be in law enforcement."

Reese's statement hung in the air for several long, silent moments. Kirk set his hands on his hips and looked at the floor as he tried to stay cool. His eyes drifted to Adison again. Nothing was black and white here. Absolutely nothing. He finally looked back to Reese. "So you're willing to bring back Sam and Pete because of Aaron's request or because you think they're ready to come back and do their jobs right?" 

Reese cocked his head. "Seems to me... maybe they already did their jobs right." He glanced at the window to see Aaron still sitting silently, though looking physically uncomfortable. "We have an ex-Agency man ready to talk. I'd call that pretty successful work, wouldn't you?" 

Kirk's mouth hung open for a few seconds before he finally just had to laugh and shake his head. "I don't know whether to think you're a genius or downright unintelligent." He threw up his hands. "Alright. I'll call Sam. You call Pete. We need to decide who should be Aaron's new handler though."

Reese quirked an eyebrow. "You don't think Sam should assume her role again?"

"After what happened? We've got two issues - one, what she did, and two, what he did to her. I highly doubt she'd even want that position again." 

"How about we leave that up to her?" Reese aimed for the door. "In the meantime, I'll have Con and Hal put Aaron back in his room. He looks like he could use a shower and a hot meal." 

Left alone with Adison, Kirk sighed and shook his head slowly. "I don't know if I'm ever going to get used to this..."