Code Name Shadow

Chapter 1

Brielle

My eyes are narrowed and my brows furrowed as I glare down at my opponent. Beads of sweat drip down my face, but I'm too concentrated to notice. I take a deep breath and shake out my hands. I can do this. I reach my arms out and push as hard as I can, willing the dresser to move. Come on, you piece of shit.

I've been trying to move it for a good ten minutes at this point, and I've decided that I cannot do anything else until it's inside the house where it should be.

"Need some help over there?"

I glance up and see my brother standing in the doorway of our new house, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face.

"No" I snap. "I've got this."

"If you say so," he responds with a chuckle. I shake my head and tune him out. Nothing will distract me right now.

Using all the strength I can muster, I let out a low growl as I extend my back leg and push as hard as I possibly can. The dresser moves a few inches, but I'm still nowhere close to the front door. I bend over and place my hands on my knees, breathing heavily. I hear laughter again as my brother crosses the front yard and down the driveway towards me.

"Easy there tiger, we've still got more in the truck."

I straighten up and look inside the back of the moving truck, leaning my head back and groaning when I realize he's right. Even though I hoped to accomplish the task on my own, I decide to admit defeat and take him up on his offer.

"Fine, but just so you know, this is all your fault. What did you put in there Beck, rocks? You were supposed to empty it before it went in the truck!" I reach over the dresser and smack him on the arm.

"Ow!" he says through his laughter, recoiling like I just hit him with a baseball bat. I roll my eyes at how dramatic he is. "I just had a few sweatshirts that didn't fit in my other suitcase, I didn't think it would be a huge deal."

"Unbelievable," I mutter under my breath as I squat down on my end of the dresser and get ready to lift. "You gonna help me or not?" He's still got that smug grin on his face but he finally bends down to grab the other side.

"On three, ready? One, two, three!" We both lift and together we make it easily across the driveway and into the house. Thank god this house is only one level, if I had to carry this thing upstairs to get to his room I don't know what I would've done.

Once the dresser is in his room and positioned exactly how he liked it, we make our way back outside and finish unloading the truck. Luckily, everything that's left is pretty small and we're done within an hour.

When we finally finish, we both let out a sigh and collapse onto the couch. God, moving sucks. He turns on the tv to some baseball game and we laugh and joke as we settle into our new home.

Eventually a comfortable silence takes over. I'm sitting on the couch, smiling, watching the game when Beckett's voice breaks the silence. "Hey Bri?"

"What's up?" I ask, half paying attention and still watching the game.

"Can I ask you something?" I freeze, staring straight ahead for a minute before straightening myself up and turning on the couch to face him. He sounds unsure of himself, and he's never unsure.

"Okay..." I say slowly. He shifts uncomfortably in his seat and clears his throat. Oh god. I have a feeling I know where this is going, but I really hope I'm wrong. I can't think about this right now.

He takes a deep breath before saying anything. "Do you...Is this...I mean, do you think you'll be alright here? I know this is a lot, and nothing will change overnight, but I just...I really want you to be okay and as much as I believe the fresh start will be good for us, I don't want to speak for you."

I slowly release the breath I didn't even realize I was holding and stare back at him. I close my eyes for a second, trying to come up with the right words. I'm not okay, and he knows that, but I also don't want to scare him. He's trying so hard and changed so much about his life recently just for me, and there's no way I want him to feel like I don't appreciate it.

I can't tell him the full extent of how I'm feeling right now, so instead I tell him a partial truth. "I'm okay, Beck. I mean, I will be. I'm excited to be starting fresh and I think it'll be really good for me, for both of us." I give him a small smile and he returns it, sadness and worry still evident behind his eyes.

"Okay," he says. He stands up and makes his way over to me before wrapping me in a hug. "I love you, Bri."

I smile a little bigger. "Love you too, Beck."

Shaking his head and clearing his throat, he ruffles my hair and smiles wider, trying to lighten the mood. "I'm gonna go shower, don't break anything while I'm gone," he says, pointing his finger at me.

"No promises," I say as I smirk at him. He laughs and shakes his head before taking off in the direction of his bedroom. My smile slowly fades as I watch him disappear behind his door, suddenly aware of my own thoughts in the silence that overtakes the room.

It all started about a year ago. Beckett had just settled into his new job after graduating from the FBI academy. He had joined the marines right out of high school at 18, not yet knowing what he wanted to do with his life but knowing he wanted to help people. After his four years were up, he realized he wanted to go into law enforcement and FBI was the perfect fit for him. We were all so happy for him, our mom, our dad, and I.

Not long after he had started there, his team was called in on a complicated and dangerous case. Not that every case they took wasn't dangerous, but this one was different. He couldn't tell us anything about it at all, and he seemed constantly on edge. 

One night, while he was working an overnight shift, three armed gunman broke into our house. They killed both of our parents and took me hostage as leverage. I was held captive for five months by the men who took me while they negotiated with Beck and his team. I was tortured, mentally and physically, almost every day. I thought I was going to die there. I slowly lost hope, and by the time they finally rescued me I was practically on death's door.

After months of rehab in the hospital, I was finally released. My brother is the only family I have left and I'm the only family he has, so it was practically a no-brainer when he asked me to move in with him once I left the hospital. 

After that traumatic experience, he quit the FBI and reconnected with some of the other soldiers he served with. Many of them had retired from the military and moved to working as part of SWAT, and Beck jumped at the opportunity to join them. Even though that job poses its own risks, he loved the idea of having people he trusted around to help out if he or I ever needed it. The job was across the country, but it didn't matter. We needed the fresh start anyway.

Even though I'm physically doing a lot better, I'm still working through a ton of trauma. Beck knows that I've been through a lot, but I've never told him exactly what happened to me for all those months. I don't want to talk about it, and I don't want to subject him to hearing about it. I know he feels so bad about everything that happened and blames himself, even though it's not his fault at all, and I don't want to make things worse by telling him. He worries about me enough; he doesn't need all the details of the torture I endured.

I take a deep breath, in and out, before standing and making my way to my own room. I have so much unpacking to do today since I barely did anything, but after glancing at the clock and seeing that it's already 11pm I decide that that will be tomorrow's problem.

 I throw the boxes of clothes and blankets off my bed and flop down onto it. I smile as I think about the new opportunities I have coming up, and for the first time in months I drift easily off to sleep.

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