"Nothing will happen."
Cael threw up his hands. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize your new Therian skill set included clairvoyance and immortality. Dad's right. Shit always happens around you. For fuck's sake, Dex, you died! You fucking died."
"You want to lash out at me? Fine. You know why I'm doing this? So I can protect my family and not find out thirty fucking years later that they were murdered by a bunch of assholes with delusions of grandeur!"
Cael flinched. He slowly sank back down onto the couch.
"I won't go through that again. I won't be helpless, waiting around for the next power-hungry psychopath in a ten-thousand-dollar suit or uniform full of shiny medals to take away what I love most because they want to shape the world in their image, or they just couldn't stand to live without that fucking private island mansion. Fuck them. I'm going to strike before they do."
"And the law?" Tony asked, his voice steady once again.
"You worry about the law. I'll worry about the assholes who think they're above it."
Tony's expression softened, and Dex braced himself. He could deal with an angry Tony. He wasn't intimidated by his sergeant dad, and neither was Cael. Not the way everyone else was. How could they be? They respected him as their sergeant, but fear him? Never.
This was the man who'd carried them on his shoulders when they were little so they could see the fireworks during the Fourth of July celebration along the East River. The man who made them chicken soup when they were sick, cradled them in his arms until they fell asleep, and didn't move from that spot until they woke up.
When Dex was seven, Tony bought him a black cape and black cat ears for Halloween because after watching Batman Returns, Dex couldn't decide if he wanted to be Batman or Catwoman, so Tony suggested he be both. This was the man who dared anyone to bat an eye at a six-year-old Cael for dressing up like Wonder Woman for Halloween because he liked her pretty bracelets.
When Cael was ten years old, Tony's Therian boyfriend told Cael that he chirped like a weak little kitten and needed to "man-up." The guy was dumped so fast that all these years later he was probably still wondering what the hell happened. Frankly, Dex was surprised Tony let the guy walk out and hadn't sent him off on a stretcher. His dad must have been feeling merciful that day.
No, his dad didn't intimidate him, no matter how angry he got. Now, when his dad looked vulnerable? That scared the shit out of Dex. Tony was his rock. There was nothing the man couldn't withstand. He was Dex's hero, and heroes never faltered. His didn't. Couldn't.
"Have you thought about what this could do to you?"
Tony's soft words snapped Dex from his thoughts.
"You'll be neck-deep in the most putrid, soulless filth this world has to offer. You really think you're going to walk out of that unstained?"
"I can handle it," Dex assured him. He even managed a smile.
"You're a good man, Dex. This isn't a job for good men."
"Even good men have darkness in them."
Tony pressed his lips together. He didn't like that answer. Mostly because he knew Dex had his own darkness inside. They both knew it. Dex gave his dad's arm a gentle squeeze.
"I'm not going to lose myself. I have you and Cael to think about."
Tony let out a heavy sigh. He wasn't going to win this, but he was damn well going to give it his best shot. Dex didn't expect any less of him. "Who's going to keep you from getting lost in the shadows? Who will protect you out there?"
Dex didn't falter. "My husband."
"That's a hell of a lot of responsibility to put on the shoulders of a man like Sloane."
"Meaning?" Dex tried not to let his father's words get to him. He knew what his dad was saying, and he hated that he had a point. That didn't mean he was going to accept it.
"Without you, he'd drown in his own darkness, and you expect him to keep you afloat?"
"Yes." Dex stood and ran a hand through his hair. He had faith in Sloane. In them. They'd get through the darkest, nastiest shit they'd encounter. Together. But to do this, he needed his family too. "Dad, I need you and Cael to trust me."
"No, what you need is our okay, and I'm not okay with this."
Dex nodded. He moved his gaze to Cael, who sat quietly on the couch, a frown on his boyish face and his attention on the floor. "Cael?"
Cael closed his eyes. He shook his head. "I'm not okay with this. I'm not okay with you leaving our team and going off who knows where to do God knows what. I just don't get it. You guys never trusted TIN. I don't... I just don't understand."
Dex's heart sank. He nodded and turned toward the door. All he could do now was prove to them that he could do this, that he could do so much more.