Russian Roulette: Flashbacks [male x male]

Ch. 17: Are you sure, Jace?

Then

"Jace, stop it, please," Gareth sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

They were sitting in the conference room at his mansion, where he debriefed the men from the mission. Dutan and a few other team leaders had come back to Dublin with Rami, Jace, Malachai, and Cracker.

Jace and Cracker had brought Callie back to London, using a fake passport they had made for her. It had proven a fickle situation, explaining to her parents what had happened, especially convincing them to take credit for the operation that brought her back safe and sound.

At least as sound as possible with what Callie had been through. She was a strong girl, and though her kidnappers had forced her into some degrading medical exams to determine her virginity, and she had been kept naked, bound, and in sub-human conditions, they had not beaten or raped her like some she had met during her captivity. The memories of a world she had never known existed, a world she should not have been aware of, would stay with her forever. What she had seen some go through while there, and the knowledge that they had left others like her behind, would haunt her, just as it haunted Gareth's men.

Callie's parents had offered Jace and Cracker money, an obscene amount, as the only means to thank them and all of Gareth's men. Naturally, they had declined and wished for them to spend the money on security for Callie, psychological help, and maybe a long vacation as a family. Mark and Elizabeth Reacher had insisted on them taking the money to help fund more operations to free innocent people like their daughter, and they had sworn if Gareth, who they had only heard referred to as The Dragon of the Underground, should ever need additional funding, they would gladly step in. There was no point in explaining to them that Gareth would never need their money, but they received their offer with gratitude because both Jace and Cracker knew that was all Mark and Elizabeth could do to feel they made a difference.

Callie's parents would forever feel indebted to Gareth.

It was touching how Callie had been reluctant to let Jace go. He represented safety for her. Jace, feeling influenced by Gareth and Phoenix, had made Callie promise to get an education and live life to the fullest, to make something of the chance she had gotten, and not let the experience inhibit her dreams. He had offered her his email and a hotline number for Roarke's team, telling her that if she ever needed help, they would be there, and Callie had promised to keep him updated on her life.

Cracker had put them in contact with some people he knew from the underground who did security. With them protecting her, Callie would be safe.

While there, Jace had been jittery every time they had walked the streets, looking over his shoulder constantly, to the point where Cracker had noticed and asked what was up. Jace had no way of explaining the horrors of his past that circled in his head, and how his fear of seeing him again while in London festered inside him like something rotten, taking him over and putrefying his every thought.

Jace had excused it with being homesick for Dublin and shrugged it off. Though Cracker had not seemed convinced, he had not pushed the subject and left Jace alone. And since he had clearly relaxed when arriving home, Cracker had not brought it up again.

"We need to take that bastard down!" Jace insisted passionately and slammed both hands onto the table for emphasis, leaning forward toward Gareth in a move to challenge his decision. How could Gareth just say 'sorry, no can do' to his report about the dog boy, and ask him to drop it? "You didn't see what I saw, the boy's eyes... He died inside when we walked away from him. Please, you need to do something."