Cut and Run 4 - Divide and Conquer

Clancy.
    “What‟d I miss?”
    “You‟re two rounds behind, Grady,” Alston announced.
    “What took you so long?” Clancy asked practically on top of
    Alston‟s words. “And why didn‟t you keep the uniform on?”
    Zane just watched his partner, again feeling the rush of
    thankfulness for being able to see. Ty was, as the cliché went, a sight
    for sore eyes, and Zane wished they were anywhere but a bar crowded
    with their friends and co-workers. He swallowed hard, feeling his pulse
    pick up as the same thoughts that had been racing in circles in his head
    the past few hours started right back up again.
    He‟d told Ty that he loved him, no ifs, ands, or buts. There was
    no going back now, and Zane wouldn‟t if he had the chance. But damn,
    they had to call some kind of moratorium on important declarations
    during life-threatening situations.
    286 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

    Ty gave them all his trademark crooked grin, either oblivious to
    Zane‟s gaze on him or ignoring it like he often did when they were
    together in a crowd. “I had to change and take everything to the
    cleaners before the burnt smell settled in,” Ty told them just as the
    bartender called out his name.
    Ty turned and stretched across the bar to take the two beers he‟d
    ordered. He stood right there at the bar and gulped down one bottle as
    the others heckled him. He slammed the empty on the bar, nodded to
    the girl cheekily, and then brought his other bottle to the table with him.
    He sat on the edge of Clancy‟s stool, the two of them using each other
    as backrests. Ty‟s knee brushed Zane‟s as he settled in, and when Zane
    caught himself watching his partner, he was glad it was fairly dark in
    the pub‟s interior but for the colored light of the beer signs and the
    several LCD TVs mounted on the walls.
    Zane could see how very tired Ty was in every move he made,
    when he‟d stare blankly at nothing and then shake it off, how he was so
    still. He‟d been through the emotional wringer today, and the whole
    past week certainly hadn‟t been a cakewalk. Zane was even more
    concerned now than he had been earlier.
    When they‟d spoken briefly before leaving the office, Zane had
    honestly thought Ty might drop on the spot, and he‟d suggested they
    just skip the wake. But Ty had insisted he wanted to go, so Zane had
    relented. They‟d stay until the party started to break up; then Zane
    would drive people home and take Ty home with him. Maybe now,
    finally, they‟d be able to sleep one night in peace, without dreading the
    coming day. More than anything else, he wanted to hold Ty through the
    night and know he‟d be there in the morning, safe and sound.
    “We thought Mac locked you up somewhere,” Alston said. “They
    about had Garrett shackled to the table all evening for the debrief.”
    Ty had his bottle to his mouth. He looked from Alston to Zane
    and nodded, still drinking. After he set the bottle down, he reached out
    and patted Zane‟s knee. “My partner did all the heavy lifting. They
    didn‟t have too many questions for me, just the basics. Do you like
    risking your life for your stupid partner, do you have suicidal
    tendencies, does the dark still make you piss yourself?”
    Divide & Conquer | 287

    “Oh, par for the course, then,” Perrimore egged.
    Zane didn‟t try to hold back the chuckle. “Now, now, Freddy,
    don‟t get him all riled up when we finally get to relax.”
    Ty just gave him a raspberry and continued drinking his beer,
    wearing a decent enough approximation of a smile. The whole table
    laughed, and Zane soaked in the unusual feeling of camaraderie as the
    group fell into casual talk again.
    The chatter was interrupted when one of the assistant SAICs
    stood on a chair and yelled to get everyone‟s attention. The whole pub
    calmed, and Dan McCoy stood up, drink in hand.
    “Okay, I think everybody‟s here who‟s coming. It‟s been an
    absolute hell of a day, more for some than others, and I want to tell you
    how proud I am that you all stuck with it through this mess. It would
    have been way too easy to knuckle under when the public turned on us
    and the bombs kept coming. But we all did our jobs, even when we
    knew we‟d get nothing but shit for it.” McCoy lifted his bottle. “To
    Lydia Reeves, who died in the line of duty. God bless her memory.”
    “Hear, hear,” Alston said, just loud enough for the table to catch.
    Zane and the others echoed the sentiment as everyone