Page 4 of Peaceful Chaos

Brett drops his hand on Grant's shoulder and squeezes. "Tempers are running high, why don't you let me handle this?"

Grant huffs. "Yeah, fuck this. I'm going out to the car."

Brett waits until Grant walks out of the house before he addresses us. "Grant is my friend, and my partner, but that doesn't mean I agree with him all the time. This is one of the times he's wrong. All of the people who were supposed to protect you have let you down over and over again. All of us. I didn't agree you should be shut out of his plan, but I was outranked this time."

"That's the thing. You and uncle dearest are bound by procedure, rules, and rank," Lucien interjects. "Damien knows this. He's bound by nothing. And, if any of you think there's a chance you've gained ground with him, you're fooling yourselves. There isn't a person on this planet my father trusts. Jesse was dead whether Sin opened his mouth or not."

Brett nods his head. "I know that. Grant will see it too when he settles down."

"Then you have more faith in him than we do," Lucien mutters and returns to his seat at the window.

Ford starts to pace and stops in front of Brett. "Can we discuss what we're supposed to do now? Are we supposed to withdraw from school?"

"In a perfect scenario, you'd all be placed in protective custody," Brett starts.

"Too bad most of the country has seen our faces," Lucien scoffs.

Sin remains still and silent. Usually he'd have something to contribute to the conversation. I decide to speak up in his place. "My brother is right. Unless you've got a deserted island to send us to, there's nowhere we can run."

I look at our friends. "You could, though. You don't have to take this risk."

Teddy's head jerks up, and he glares at me. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm not a stranger to this world, and it was only a matter of time before I got sucked back into it. I wish protective custody was a possibility for the rest of you though." His last comment is directed at Amber.

A look of fear crosses Lucien's face before he locks down his emotions. "Yeah, I'd like to save you all from the horrors going against Damien brings, but there's no way the FBI can guarantee your safety."

I expect Brett to argue with him. Grant would have. He's bought so deep into the value of the organization he wouldn't agree the FBI couldn't be trusted wholesale.

"Lucien is right. I fucking hate that he is, but we all know that Damien has many law enforcement officers in his pocket. If we miss even one, they'd have you rounded up in a heartbeat. If he thinks we're working against him he'll come after you."

"There's only one thing we can do," Teddy sighs. "We have to kill him first."

Brett's jaw clenches. "You know I can't condone that, but I will say this, I'm not going to fault you for protecting yourselves like Grant just did. There is only one thing that will really piss me off, and that is if you get yourselves killed. I'm going against my training here, but you keep me in the loop. If we have to work in the gray areas of the law, so be it. Like you said, Damien isn't going to follow any rules, and we aren't going to bring him down playing this by the book."

"Okay, so we go back to school and try and pretend everything is business as usual," Ford says. "Do we go back to our apartment?"

Brett sighs and shakes his head. "That would spread resources thin. There are only a few agents I trust to be on this small task force. Providing security for both domiciles would be difficult."

"My father would demand Holbrook keeps an eye on us. If he believes you are actually on his payroll that is. He'd expect you to keep us all close so we can be watched," Lucien thinks aloud.

"We need a bigger house," I think aloud. "We aren't going to keep our sanity on top of each other like we are."

Lucien smirks, and I point my finger at him. "Not now, big brother. I'm not in the mood for you to make a dumbass sexual comment."

He shrugs. "Looks like uncle dearest needs to make a show of dragging my ass around to find a more secure house where we can be kept in line."

Sin's head jerks up. "No. We keep him out of it for now."

Brett shakes his head. "You know I can't do that. He's still running this operation."

Sin’s fists clench by his sides. "The fuck he is. I don't trust him. If you don't want us going behind your back, and we can, then you'll keep this between us. Time to prove to us if we can trust you." Sin's words are laced with a hint of violence. Even I shiver hearing the thinly veiled threat.

Brett's shoulders slump. "I hate this, but I understand. I'll convince him you need space for the day and we can go look. At some point we're going to have to tell him."

Sin and Lucien share a look that says, "We'll see." The agents don't know it yet, but they're being pushed aside. Sooner or later, we're doing things our way. We're going to take our lives back, starting with where we rest our heads.

Shane stands up. "I'm coming along. Wherever we end up I'm adding my own security to it."

Lucien nods. "I like this new plan. It keeps me from choking out my new family member."

Shane groans and looks at Teddy. "A little help?"

Teddy goes to join them. "I'll keep him in line. I've got some ideas on what kind of house we should get."

"I'll go tell Grant to head to the office or something," Brett reluctantly agrees. "Be ready to leave in a minute."

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