Sloane was tempted to keep arguing, but instead, he nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Dex stood, typed his code into the panel and marched out. Just Sloane’s luck, seconds later, Ash walked in.
“You okay?”
Again, all Sloane could do was nod. He dropped down into his chair, hearing the swish of the door, and watching the walls go white once again. Ash came to stand beside him, and stared at him in disbelief.
“You gave him a verbal reprimand? Why?”
Sloane glanced up at his friend. “What do you mean, why? He disobeyed orders.”
“We disobey orders all the time. Orders aren’t always right. You know that better than anyone.”
“Are you going to tell me how to do my job too?”
“What the hell’s going on with you? You wouldn’t have reprimanded Gabe.”
Sloane jumped to his feet to confront his friend. “Gabe would have followed orders.”
“Don’t bullshit me, man. Gabe would have done the same. Hell, any one of us would’ve if we’d been in Dex’s place, and I know you wouldn’t have resorted to disciplinary measures.”
“He has to learn he can’t go off half-cocked, disregarding his safety, like everything will turn out fine.”
“So this is about Dex.”
“Yes, it’s about Dex. It’s about him thinking he can do whatever the hell he wants without having to face the consequences. He thinks he’s goddamn indestructible.”
“No, I meant this is about how you feel about him.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“You think I don’t see how close you two have gotten? It’s fine. No one’s going to hold it against you.” Ash took a seat on the edge of Sloane’s desk and shrugged. “It was bound to happen. He’s your partner.”
Sloane’s frown deepened. There was no way Ash could know.
“You two have become close friends. You work together, hang out together. No one said you can’t be friends with your partner. Look, the guy annoys the ever-living fuck out of me, but I can see why you like to hang out with him. You’re too serious, were too damn serious, and he changed that.” Ash let out a heavy sigh and tapped away at Sloane’s interface as he spoke, bringing up several online news sites. “After what happened to Gabe, I thought… I really thought that was it for you.” Sloane’s surprise must have shown, because Ash glared at him. “Don’t look at me like that. Of course, I was worried. You’re my best friend, but let’s face it, you’re different with him, in a good way. He makes you laugh, drags you along to do stupid shit. He’s like an excited puppy that never sits still, which makes me want to punch him.”
Sloane peered at his friend. “You want to punch puppies?”
“I’d never punch a puppy. What’s wrong with you? Dex I’d punch.”
“So what’s your point?”
“My point is, before he came along, all you had was the job. I could never get you to fucking relax outside of it. I can’t believe I’m saying this—and I swear if you tell him, I will deny it to my dying breath, and then I will beat the shit out of you. Don’t screw this up, Sloane. Talk to him. He’ll listen to you. The guy practically hangs off your every word.” He tapped the desk and the board to Sloane’s right filled with news articles, all concerning Dex.
Sloane came to stand before the digital board, looking over at various photos of Dex captured by photographers spanning from Detective Walsh’s trial, to the bombing at the youth center. He stepped forward and double tapped the image of his partner and lover emerging from the smoke filled building, his arm slightly forward as if he were reaching for Sloane who was walking ahead of him. The tagline read, Human agent, Dexter J. Daley saves Therian teammate in the aftermath of tragic events. Sloane swallowed hard. The irony wasn’t lost on him.
“Talk to him,” Ash insisted, the swish of the doors the only indication Ash had gone, leaving Sloane standing there in the silence of his empty office, staring at pale blue eyes.
“Damn it.” He walked back to his desk and closed the window containing all the articles, leaving the reprimand glaring back at him. His finger hovered over the “Submit” button before he tapped the screen and hit “Delete” instead. It asked him if he was sure and he let out a scoff. “I don’t know what the hell I’m sure about anymore.” Tapping “Yes,” he logged into his partner’s communication device. Dex was in Sparta. Fucking fantastic. This wasn’t going to end badly at all.
He headed down to Sparta, mumbling a greeting to his fellow agents as he searched for Dex. Just his luck, he found his partner in one of the training bays set up for boxing. Dex was down to his snug, black undershirt, his tac pants, and bare feet. He was taking his frustration out on the battered leather bag swaying in front of him, with wraps around his hands instead of gloves. He didn’t bother looking at Sloane when he spoke.
“What? Did you come to grade my performance? I’m not wearing shoes. Have I breached protocol again?”
“You gonna throw a hissy fit every time I have to do my job?” Yep. Not going to end badly at all.
Dex delivered a fierce left hook to the bag, followed by a right. “You weren’t doing your job, you were being a dick.”
Calm. Remain calm. “There are protocols and you failed to adhere to them.”