Cut and Run 1 - Cut and Run

keep giving you more until you get yourself killed. Meet your new partner, Special Agent Zane Z. Garrett."
    Zane couldn't have been more appalled, and it showed clearly in his reaction. This wreck of an agent was his new partner? “Director Burns,” he started impulsively, but he caught his tongue and tightened his grip on the chair. What kind of reward was this?
    "The hell he is!” Ty interrupted as he sat up straight. “I can't do my job with a ... a ... poster-boy partner,” he practically stuttered angrily as he flopped his hand toward the squeaky-clean man next to him.
    "And you can't do it without a partner, either, Special Agent Grady,” Burns responded with a hard glare.
    "Sir, it seems obvious,” Zane said, not bothering to keep any edge of disapproval out of his voice, “that this agent needs more than I can possibly provide to help him. Frankly, it will take a miracle to make him even remotely professional. No one will take him seriously."
    "Take me seriously?” Ty echoed in disbelief. “Christ, have those shoes ever even seen pavement? Shit,” he exclaimed in a sudden panic as he gripped the arms of his chair and leaned forward. “Are you sending me to Cyber?” he asked Burns, who was sitting behind the desk and grinning like a small child at Christmas.
    "Your tone of voice implies that investigating technological crime and terrorism might be below you,” Zane said to him coldly as he leveled an even gaze on the other agent. “Perhaps you should consider requesting a transfer to professional staff. Or submitting your resignation altogether."
    "Hey, fuck you, candy ass,” Ty snarled without looking over at him.
    "Quiet, both of you!” Burns barked suddenly. “Grady, you're staying in Criminal until you get your ass killed or do something so illegal even I can't cover for you, understand? Garrett, you're to make certain he doesn't do either of those things. Is that clear? And you will both like it."
    Ty's eyes widened as he realized he was being assigned a bookkeeping babysitter, and there wasn't a damned thing he could do about it. His stomach turned at the thought, but he supposed it was better than being fired. Or being in jail.
    The thought of being attached to this troublemaking loose cannon was nearly enough to make Zane lose his composure. After all he'd done, all he'd worked for, this was all he was going to get. Despair threatened for a moment, and he had to take a deep breath to push it aside. He wanted to rail at Burns, but it wasn't his place to object. He'd make the best of this clusterfuck, and then leave this agent behind, just as he had the Cyber Division. That or go down in spectacular flames.
    "Yes, sir,” he acknowledged through clenched teeth.
    "I expect you to learn from each other,” Burns instructed, his heart going out to Zane Garrett. It was a shitty thing to do to him, sticking him with a man like Ty Grady after he'd worked his way back up from hell to be Cyber's top performing agent. But for this particular case, these two men were unusually qualified. “And the Bureau expects you to perform efficiently on your next assignment,” he added as he tossed a file across the desk at Ty.
    "Respectfully, sir, I understand you need someone riding herd on this ... agent,” Zane gritted out. “But what am I supposed to learn from him?” he asked, slanting a disbelieving look Grady's way.
    Burns gave Ty a dubious glance and then shrugged apologetically in answer to Zane's query. He was well-acquainted with Garrett's past, but the man was resourceful. He'd had to be. He'd find a way to make this work.
    "You can learn to kiss my ass,” Ty shot back as he fumbled with the file his boss had chucked at him. “Just like you do everyone else's,” he muttered.
    Zane's temper lightened in the face of Grady's ridiculous assertions, leaving behind more than a trace of resentment. He would have rolled his eyes if he weren't aware of how it might be construed. The man's language was complete and purposeful insubordination. It looked like his new partner was a real prize, one that had somehow gained the favor of the Assistant Director of his new division—just as he himself was the focus of Burns’ ire.
    "Sir, if I may ask, who is this delightful new person I'll be calling my partner?” he asked, the sarcasm thinly veiled.
    "Special Agent B. Tyler Grady,” Burns answered as Ty scanned the file he had flipped open, ignoring them both as he looked through it. “Despite his