Page 90 of Pain
"I don't know, Honey, they didn't say." He didn't need to hear more than shot to know it wasn't good, but he hoped that him refusing to go to the hospital meant it wasn't very bad. At least it told him that Xander was awake enough to say he didn't want to go to the hospital. He glanced around. "You ready to go?"
"Yes." She followed him outside and to the car.
He needed to remember Faith was with him and speeding through town at two in the morning wasn't a good idea. As much as he wanted to get to Xander, he reminded himself that he was in good hands, and there would be nothing he could do that the team wasn't already doing. Dyson was with him, and unless Dy had gotten hurt too, he'd take care of Xander.
The drive to the house seemed to take twice as long as usual. Matt tried not to think the worst, but then again, if he expected the worst and it wasn't that bad, it would be a relief. He resisted the urge to call back and ask Carter questions. The team was busy, and he wasn't the only one who loved Xander and would be worried. If there was something he needed to know, then they would call him.
When he pulled up in front of the team house, his worry grew when he didn't see Dyson's car. That meant they weren't back yet. God, what had gone wrong with the sting for this to happen, and what did it mean for the team? He glanced over at Faith and tried to force a smile on his face. "Okay, we're going to go in. I need you to be quiet and let me find out what happened. I don't think Xander is back yet."
She nodded as she looked around nervously.
It had to be Xander being hurt that bothered her. She'd been to the team house several times and seemed to get more comfortable each time she was there.
Matt got out of the car and reached for Faith's hand as they met in front of the car. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Daddy. I just want to make sure Xander is too." She tugged his hand, leading him to the door.
He pushed it open and they stepped inside to find Carter, Trenton, Bryon, and Becca all staring at them. "Any word?"
Bryon shook his head. "Not yet."
"Hey, Faith." Becca smiled. "Want to come sit?" She patted the spot beside her on the couch.
Faith glanced at him, then rushed over to Becca.
Glad that Becca would keep Faith occupied for a bit, Matt turned to Bryon. "What happened?"
"We don't know. All I got was a call from Dyson saying that there were complications, Xander was shot, but the scene was secure, and the sting completed. I don't know any more than you do, and Dyson hung up after telling me he was headed back here with Xander and to have Beau here and ready to operate."
"He said operate?" Matt's chest tightened.
"Those were his words." Bryon sighed. "We've got everything ready. Beau is on his way. We always knew this could happen, so we have a medical room upstairs. He should have almost everything he could need."
Matt stared out the window. "Dyson would take him to a hospital if he had to, right?"
"He would. Even at a risk to the team. I've always made it clear that human safety comes before the team. If it helps, I could hear Xander swearing at Dyson when they called. He sounds like he's in pain, but the fact he was talking is good." Bryon shook his head. "This was supposed to be simple. Two adults, two kids on site. I don't know what went wrong."
"I'm sure Dyson will tell us when he gets here." Matt's heart skipped as headlights appeared out the window, but once the lights shut off, he saw it was Beau's car pulling up in front of the house.
"Fuck, where are they?" Carter paced.
"The site was almost an hour away. They'll be here." Trenton sat at the kitchen table with the files in front of him.
Matt glanced over at Faith, glad to see her talking quietly to Becca. He really didn't want her here for this, but what choice did he have? He should probably send her to the basement, but he hated making her sit alone before she really needed to.
Beau walked in the door. "What do we know?"
"Not much." Carter sighed as he explained what they knew.
"I'll be in the med room. When he gets here, if you can get him upstairs, we'll work there, if not, put him on the floor, not the couch. I need room to work around him." Beau headed up the stairs.
The room fell silent as they waited, all of them on edge. Matt tried not to let his imagination run wild, but all he could think about was where was he shot and how bad it could be.
All the conversations they'd had recently played through his mind. They'd just decided to live together, just proclaimed their love, and now he was at risk of losing him. He'd lost Jill. He couldn't lose Xander too.
This was part of their lives, and he knew that going in. There was always a danger, always a risk, but now that he was actually facing it, he wasn't sure he could deal. Especially knowing that Faith would be left alone if the whole team was somehow found out. He really needed to think about what he was doing and what consequences it would have on Faith. He'd thought about it before, but now, facing Xander being shot, it made it even more of a reality.
"They're here." Bryon was out the door before he finished his sentence.
