Page 52 of Pain
"I assume—" The sound of Xander's phone ringing interrupted what he was going to say. He picked it up and nodded to Matt. "It's Bryon. Hello?"
Matt continued to get dressed as he tried to guess what Bryon was saying to Xander.
"Yeah, I'm on my way." Xander ended the call. "He asked me to come in for a team meeting."
"What does that mean?" Matt struggled to stay calm, his mind racing every which way.
"It doesn't mean anything. He calls these all the time. You've been called for them before, but the fact he didn't say team meeting to you, but that he had to talk to you makes me think this could be about Faith. We won't know until we get there." Xander pulled his shirt on.
"Fuck, I shouldn't hope this is something big, should I?" Matt moved to the bathroom that connected to his room and ran a brush through his hair before brushing his teeth.
"Hope isn't a bad thing, as long as if it ends up not going how you want, you don't let it crush you." Xander came up behind him and wrapped his arms around him from behind. "We'll deal with whatever it is he has to tell you. I can't see him calling you in to tell you it was a dead end. That's something he could easily say over the phone, but it could just be to tell you that more information has panned out. It doesn't mean he knows where Faith is or that he has confirmation she's alive. It just means he needs to talk about something. Don't let your mind go places until you have more information." Xander kissed Matt's neck before borrowing his brush.
Matt braced his hands on the bathroom sink. "I'm glad you're here. I'm not sure I could drive."
"Me too." Xander met his gaze in the mirror. "Now let's go. Bryon better have coffee waiting since we don't have time to make any." Xander swatted Matt's ass with the brush before dropping in on the bathroom counter and walking out.
Matt took a moment to shut the door and pee, but quickly finished and followed Xander out of the house and to his car.
As he sat down in the passenger seat, he tried to push back the feeling that this could be it. He could be minutes away from knowing where Faith was, but just as easily, he could be minutes away from still knowing nothing. If he could survive this, he could survive anything.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Xander pulled up in front of the team house, trying to think of anything to calm Matt's nerves. Honestly, there was nothing he could say because he didn't know any more than Matt did. He hoped that if Bryon felt the need to call them in this way, he would have some good news.
"You okay?" Xander asked, putting his cigarette out, then turning to Matt before they got out of the car.
"Yeah, I will be. I just hate not knowing, wondering." Matt pushed the passenger door open. "Let's go see what is going on."
Xander followed, fisting his beard nervously as they walked into the house, surprised when Bryon met them near the front window.
"I'm assuming you two were together since Xander wouldn't have had time to pick you up and get here this fast?" Bryon raised a brow.
"Save it for later." Xander snapped, not in the mood to deal with Bryon playing authoritarian. "Be glad I was. He wasn't in any shape to drive after your veiled request for him to come in."
"He wouldn't have assumed it was about Faith if you hadn't run off and told him about it, would he?" Bryon glared back at him.
"You know what, Bry? Just fuck off. You're not our father. You're just part of the team. We give you respect because you're the oldest member, but we don't need you telling us how to live our lives or deciding what is right or wrong. I'm sick of you playing god." Xander shoved past Bryon, glad to see Beau, Dyson, Becca, and Carter in the living room.
Matt followed, turning to Bryon once he was in the room. "Do you have news or not?"
"Kasey should be here any minute and we'll talk. Everyone needs to hear this." Bryon turned and headed down the hall to the geek cave.
Xander sighed, reaching out and pulling Matt to the couch by his side. As he rested his hand on Matt's thigh, he ignored the looks from the others as they watched them. "Does anyone know what this is about?" Xander looked at Carter, who was the one who would know the most out of the group.
"There's a lot to go over. It's best to wait." Carter looked at Matt. "It's good news," he said in a lower voice.
Beside him, Matt blew out a long breath, some of the tension leaving his body, but he still fisted his hands in his lap and tapped his foot nervously.
No one said a word as they waited, and when the front door opened, and Kasey walked in, the tension in the room increased.
"Bry, everyone's here," Carter called.
A few seconds later, Bryon and Trenton walked into the room.
"Thanks for coming on short notice." Bryon glanced at Trenton, then at the file in his hands, then back at Matt. "I'm sorry for being vague, but I needed you in a controlled environment when you heard the news. Faith is alive, and we know where she is being held."
Matt stood up. "She's alive?"
