Our Saving Grace

Worth it - Gabriel

Jesus fucking Christ I hate this shit. I am not a person that is destined to work construction. It's fucking hot and everything is fucking heavy. Not to mention that my clothes are now completely ruined with a thick layer of sweat. What the fuck was Mr. B thinking putting me on this detail? Hauling shit around and shooting the shit with these cavemen workers is totally more Nathan's area of expertise than mine. 

Personally, I think that Mr. B is just trying to get North and Silas to actually talk to each other again and he assumed that Sean's sunny personality and my inability to withstand bullshit would help that process along. I have to tell you - if that was his goal then all four of us are failing miserably. North can be one stubborn son-of-a-bitch and other than a grunt here or a curse word there, he has been radio silent since we finally got Luke out of that awful place. The worst part is none of us know why North is blaming the entire thing on Silas. They had a huge blow up in Greece days after Luke was arrested, but even though we were all their to witness it, the whole fight had been in Greek and none of us understood a word. 

Well maybe Luke would have because he has been picking up Greek, but he wasn't there. He wasn't there because we failed him. That failure cost him more than any of us care to admit. 

And because of that, the Doc isn't his sun shinny self and no matter how much I cuss and demand they lay their feelings on the table, North and Silas won't even look at each other. It's fucking heartbreaking. And if I am being honest here, Doc hasn't been his sun shinny self for a while now. I think all of the shit he sees at the hospital is getting to him. He started smoking last year and I barley ever see him smile anymore. It's fucking depressing. 

And he isn't the only one that is falling apart at the seems. Ever since that business went down with that bitch Ava, Nathan is running through women faster than I can keep track of them. Victor, for some unknown fucking stupid reason, is reverting to his old ass ways and letting his parents back into his life. Or should I say he is letting them take over and run his life. Mr. B is as detached as ever and Kota is working himself to the bone trying to fix everyone. 

And then there is Luke. Not a single one of us assholes knows what to say to Luke. How does one recover from something like that? How do we fix us?

Unfortunately, I don't know if we can be fixed. I think Kota might be trying to stop the tide with his hands. 

Which is why I think taking this job was a fucking horrible idea. Family first. That is rule number two of the Academy and we just decided to act like a bunch of dip-shits and are ignoring the fact that we are damn near bleeding out. I shake my head, trying to physically banish these thoughts because it isn't like anyone will listen to me anyway. I am the low man on the totem pole. The runt of the litter that everyone pushes around but no one respects. I'm not smart like Mr. B, the Doc, or Kota. I'm not handsome like Vic, Nathan, or Luke. I'm not strong like Silas and North. I am the odd man out that they keep around out of some sense of responsibility. 

I let out a deep sigh and scanned the area. The two slabs of muscle that had been working with me had decided to leave for the day, finally leaving me alone on this level. Time to get to work. Some high up numbers guy in the Academy wrote a report that the number of illegal and unregistered guns had almost tripled over the last eighteen months and traced the huge influx to shipping containers containing construction materials originating from China. However, that was as far as the paper pushers could trace the weapons and decided that they needed boots on the ground. 

Hello Academy, let me introduce you to my team - aka boots on the ground. 

That is how a week ago Silas, North, the Doc, and I became brand new construction grunts for Gilbane Construction. Our job was to try to integrate with the workers and keep our eyes and ears open to any mention of weapon trafficking. Kota and Victor were integrating into the suit and tie side of the company while Mr. B, Luke, and Nathan were scoping out the ship yard and tracking the shipments so see if someone else was hijacking Gilbane transportation methods.