Page 41 of Unraveling Connections

As great as it would be to do a job with Rylie, I am sure that we will have more opportunities in the future and this file and what it contains is my number one priority, taking Hunt down needs to come before anything else.

“Okay, that makes sense. Hopefully, there will not be any conflicts, and you will be able to do both.” Trick replies.

“We will see. I don’t think she is in a huge rush, so we might even have Hunt caught by the time she needs me to go with her to go after this target,” I reply, somewhat optimistically.

“I think that may be slightly wishful thinking,” Jensen smirks.

I grin, “Yeah, probably.”

All talk of work stops as everyone instead starts their own conversations while we finish eating, and then help clear the table.

“Pete, do you want to come with me while I get the update? Elijah hasn’t said that he is not able to check in yet so the call should be good to go ahead but just in case they can only make the update and nothing else, if you come with me, you will at least still be able to talk to him.” Trick asks Peter as we are finishing clearing the table.

“Yes please, thanks man,” Peter replies, and then turns to me, “I’ll come and find you if we don’t end up talking for ages.”

“Okay, don’t worry too much, we can watch a movie tomorrow instead, tell him I say hi. I’m going to catch up on some reading before we get swamped with work again.” I reply.

Pete nods and, with a smile, says, “Sounds good to me.”

“You want me there?” Cash asks Trick.

Trick immediately nods, “Yeah, man.”

I leave them to it as I try to remember if I put my book on my bedside table or if it is in the truck still I doubt I would have left it in the truck, and the weather is pretty fucking shitty, so I decide to check upstairs instead.

Peter

Cash, Trick, and I all head through the door to the other half of the house. The office where Atlas was working earlier is where we tend to do the update calls as we can use the secure line that we have installed so we can make sure that the signal doesn’t drop as it sometimes does in bad weather, and if we end up doing a video call instead we’ve got a big screen set up in there that’s ready to go and means that we can instantly switch it so that everyone can see and there’s no need to mess about with setting it up or anything like that.

I’m kind of hoping that the planned call switches to a video call. I really miss Eli and seeing his face and knowing for certain that he is okay with my own two eyes would stop this knot of nervous tension that I have had since he left from growing any bigger. It is the same every time that he goes away on a job, and I know that he feels the same when I am on a job.

We actually discussed either him joining our team or me joining his, but we decided in the end that it wouldn’t work for us and, amongst other things, he would miss his team, and I would miss mine. It is something that we have both had to get used to, and neither of us is doing very well with it, even after a few years of it happening.

I’m not sure it will ever get easier, knowing that he is in danger when he goes away and that there is a high possibility that something could happen to him. It’s not like it is a vague possibility, or a maybe, it is more likely than not that he will get hurt; the question is how badly.

It is probably one of the only things about my job that I don’t like. Still, I wouldn’t change it, and I don’t plan on stopping and going into the lab, which is something else that we spoke about and decided against. I like my fieldwork, and as much as I like messing about in the labs and creating stuff with the guys there, I really don’t want that to be my full-time job. Elijah understands that, although he would probably prefer that I wanted to work in the labs where it is considerably safer, just like I would prefer that he found something safer that he would rather do.

It is a complicated path to walk, wanting each other to be safe but completely understanding each other’s love for what we do.

"Are you okay, Pete?” Cash asks, pulling me out of my thoughts as we all take seats in the office.

“Yeah, I’m good. We are beginning to get used to this now. It is still hard being away from each other and not being able to talk to each other.” I explain honestly.

Cash grimaces, “Yeah, I’m not going to lie. I hate it when Ever goes off on her own, and we are usually in contact, and she is with one of the other guys.”

“Yeah, you know what we get like, and if you need a reminder, just wait until she goes on the job with Rylie, we’re all going to be worrying like crazy even though we’re more than aware that she can take care of herself and Rylie if she had to," Trick adds with a smirk.

“Yeah, I think honestly if we didn’t feel like this then we shouldn’t be in relationships, it's because we love them.” I point out.

“Yeah, that’s an excellent point.” Cash grins, “It’s not like it’s a bad thing that we worry about them.”

“Speaking of worrying,” I say, looking at Trick, “what time was he supposed to check in?”

Trick checks his watch, “Any time now, don’t worry, he’s not late.”

“And even if he is late that doesn’t mean that there’s anything wrong,” Cash reminds me gently, both of them trying to make me feel better.

I manage to keep it under wraps and just feel mildly worried under normal circumstances, but I always lose it in the minutes leading up to the time he’s supposed to call, it’s like because I’m waiting my mind takes advantage and likes to taunt me with all sorts of scenarios, including telling me that he’s really late in calling which means that he’s not okay and something has gone wrong, even when it’s only really been maybe five minutes if he’s late in calling at all.

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