Page 4 of Beta Team-The Saviors: Part One

“I was never warned that I’d have to see dying kids!” Gavin yells, his blue eyes wild. “Don’t treat me like I’m fucking soft. Any normal goddamn person would be bothered by that, and if you want to make fun of me for it, you can fuck all the way off.”

“I don’t think he was,” Ari soothes. “We’re all struggling with that.”

“Then why am I the only one who still sees them every time I close my eyes?! I can’t fucking sleep!”

Axel stands from his chair, and Ari jumps from his, standing in front of Gavin. “I’m not going to do anything,” Axel scoffs, then looks at Gavin. “I’m sorry. I’m not making light of whatyou saw. We’ve all been here, Gav. We’ve all had our firsts, and they’re never easy. I didn’t realize how hard I was working you guys. I can send Kai and Sean to take care of it. No big deal.”

“I get you want time with your family,” Ari says. “But I want to make sure mine comes home, and at this rate, one of us won’t. We just need time to deal with what happened.”

“You should have said something,” Axel replies.

“Yeah, I should have,” Ari answers. Gavin storms from the room, and Ari slumps back into his chair, looking at the ceiling. “I don’t know what else to do to help him.”

“It’s going to take time,” Axel says. “You know how this shit goes. Take him home and know I won’t bother you guys for a while.”

“We can still work,” I add. “But can you keep us away from trafficking and near death, at least?”

Axel laughs. “That I can do.”

“Where’s everyone at?” I ask.

“Chelsea is out with Kai and Sean. Cole is out with Nolan. I had work to catch up on and didn’t want to lock them up in the house all weekend.”

We talk for a bit longer before Ari says that it’s time to go. He walks straight to his truck without a word and leaves us standing there. We climb into my car, and Gavin won’t even look at us. Gavin isn’t the only one with a problem. The only thing is, I think Gavin will eventually get over it. Ari will let the shit fester until his head explodes. I need to find out what the fuck is going on with him and Jason. Maybe Jason can help him in a way that we can’t. I’ve seen Ari flirting with him, but that’s just how Ari is. There’s something different about this, though. Ari hangs on his every word and seems almost mesmerized by Jason. I’ve never seen him like this, which makes me curious as hell.

“What do you think is going on with Jason and Ari?” I ask Keon.

“I don’t think anything is yet. I interrupted something tonight, so it’s well on its way.”

“Is Ari bi?” Gavin asks, finally turning from the window.

“No?” Keon laughs. “I have no idea. He’s been around a few times when I’ve been with a guy, but he’s never joined.”

“I think Ari railing anyone will help with a lot of his anger issues,” I joke.

“You shutting the fuck up will help with all his anger issues,” Gavin throws in.

“Speaking of shutting the fuck up,” Keon starts, “when did you grow balls big enough to talk shit to Axel?”

“Today, apparently. I can’t stomach another mission right now, and once I opened my mouth, it all came out.”

“You know you don’t have to go on all of them, right?” I ask gently. “We’d never judge you for staying behind.”

“I don’t want to stay behind. I love being a part of this team. It made my life actually mean something besides throwing money at trafficking victims.” Gavin flexes his hand, something that he does all the time. It’s the arm that was fucked up after he got shot, and he still has problems with it. I don’t even think he realizes that he does it. “I’ll be fine.”

“You were about to be roadkill,” I say. “Talking shit to Axel like you have nine damn lives.”

Gavin laughs, and it makes me relax a little. “If this would have been a year ago, he would have shot me on the spot.”

“If this were a year ago, he would have shot you before the first word left your mouth.”

“True that,” Keon says. “What are we going to do now?”

“We can go back to High Flyer,” I suggest.

“I’m down. I could use a drink or twelve,” Gavin agrees.

“I’m good with that,” Keon adds.