Russell was taken completely aback when he found Cassidy at Gillian's place. But a single glance at his friend told him they had reached some kind of agreement, so he swallowed the hundred questions he was dying to ask.
"Wanna stay for dinner, Agent?" she invited, helping Russell with the grocery bags he carried from his car.
"If you're sure I won't bother you guys," Cassidy said, taking the last bag and following them. "It's way better than eating alone at the hotel."
Connor stiffened when Cassidy walked into the family room, but just like Russell, seeing Gillian relaxed made him relax too.
"C'mon, kiddo, let's sharpen our knives before the lads get here," Russell said to him, nodding to the kitchen.
Gillian hid a smile, seeing the way Cassidy observed them. That was his real reason to accept her invitation: he wanted to meet the rest of the team before any formal meeting, he wanted to see them all interacting. And that was why she had invited him. She liked that curiosity the man tried to hide. If he was good at observing, it would save them both a lot of talking.
The doorbell rang while they lay what they would need for the homemade pizzas Russell had planned for dinner. Connor went to the door and soon he was back with Aldana and Tanya. Both of them shot questioning looks at Gillian when they saw the stranger helping Russell. Cassidy noticed and hurried to stretch out his hand to them.
"Hi, I'm Roy," he said with a charming smile.
Aldana was about to shake his hand when Gillian completed the introduction, her voice oozing sarcasm.
"Girls, meet Russell's boss, Violent Crimes Section Chief Cassidy, with the FBI. Agent Cassidy, they are Aldana Miles, sex crimes, and Tanya Lawrence, tech analyst."
Cassidy scoffed, his hand still stretched out. "Busted," he admitted. Behind him, Russell and Connor traded a wink.
They shook his hand and turned to Gillian, who motioned for them to go to the living room. "If you'll excuse us, gents," she said to the other three.
"Coffee coming in five," replied Connor.
"You rock, son."
She followed Aldana and Tanya with one last quick smile at Cassidy. "Please, make yourself at home, this is gonna take a while."
The rest of the team arrived over the next thirty minutes, including Ron, and they all sat together in the living room to listen to Gillian. In the kitchen, Cassidy was named Sauce Section Chief and put to work, while Russell taught Connor to knead the dough.
Fred closed the door to the family room and stayed near it, as to make sure nobody would interrupt them. All of them were dying to know what the hell was Russell's boss doing there, and Gillian told them about his unexpected visit.
"So long story short, this is what he's willing to grant: we'd join the FBI as a unit and remain a unit, as a part of the permanent staff of the Boston field office, with Cooper as our direct senior. The jerk of her husband is above us, but Cassidy swears he's about to be sent to the West Coast within the next months—actually he's about to send him there, because the jerk answers to him now. So I don't see any problems about that, especially after working for a dinosaur like Cook." She waited for them to agree and went on. "We would do what Russ and Brockner do: take cases as they come, both in and out of town, and solve them."
"When would we start?" asked Hank.
"Just like the troopers, the feds need at least ten working days to get the paperwork through, so we would start by the first week of April."
"April's fool," mumbled Kurt, propelling Tanya's elbow to sink between his ribs like a spear. "Ouch!"
"Russell would be in charge of our formal instruction on—let me word it right—the Bureau's Standard Protocols on Procedures, Conduct and Administration. I hope you heard the capitalization. I swear I did when he said that."
All of them looked at her with a neon sign on their faces—you gotta be kidding. She raised her eyebrows.
"Let's thank God it's gonna be Russell giving us the crash course, not Cooper or Brockner."
"Now that you mention it," said Ron. "What about the... gear, should I call it? Do they want us to live in a suit like Brockner and the other agents?"
"Be at ease, my child, that won't be necessary. Maybe they expect us to be a little more formal, but not to the suit extent. Let's say that you guys can follow Russell's sense of fed fashion and it'll be just fine."
"We're doomed," teased Fred. "I don't wanna be a skinhead."
They allowed themselves to chuckle and relax a little.
"We'd attend the field office every day to take our Proper Fed 101 course, and when Russell thinks we're ready, we'll be assigned a workspace for all of us, and start working."
"What about me?" asked Ron, concern clouding his voice.
"If you can attend the course with us, it'd be great. Else I'll give you some home-schooling. You can join us whenever your doctor clears you to move around, 'cause sure as hell we'll have paperwork to do. And once you're cleared to be back to the field, you're on. In the meantime, you'll get the regular salary of a field agent on leave for lesions in the line of duty. After all, you did get your lesions on an attack against a bank, which is federal jurisdiction."
They all nodded their approval at her words, and Gillian saw Ron's smile reflected his relief.
"I owe you big, Reg," he said.
"You owe me shit," she replied with a warm smile.
"And what d'you think about this?" asked Aldana. "Isn't it just too good to be true? I mean, after what Brockner said, the very big shot comes to knock on your door with such a proposition... Where's the catch?"
Gillian took a moment to consider Aldana's realistic question.
"What Brockner said?" repeated Fred, frowning. "What're you talking about?"
"Looks like uptight Agent Brockner doesn't think we cut it to join his precious Bureau."
"What?" the others asked at the same time.
Gillian dismissed it by shaking her head. "Never mind what he said, he made the big shot curious enough about us to be here now. So he actually did us a favor."
"Then what's the catch, Reg?" repeated Hank.
"I don't know, lads," she said, shrugging. "I actually don't see any, and I can't smell one either. The man has his own agenda, but I'm not quite sure it involves us directly. He looks more like the kind of long-shot guy."
"So you trust him?" asked Tanya.
"Yeah, sort of. Don't get me wrong. He's ambitious. I'm sure he aims for no less than the FBI's big golden chair in the long run. But he's not a newbie at the game. He knows we're a good bet, and that he'll double his call in results, so he's willing to grant us some special treatment. If we can fit in and function, we keep the job and all the credit goes to him. If not, it's just a transitory setback for him, and it's been a pleasure for us. But that would happen to us at any job, right?"
The rest of them traded consulting looks.
"Let's do it, Reg," Ron said for all of them.
Kurt sniffed the air and flashed a wolfish smile. "The pizzas are out of the oven," he announced.
Fred opened the door and let the host into the family room and the kitchen, where they found Connor watching closely how Russell seasoned Cassidy's sauce.
"Lay the table and get the drinks, guys," Russell said.
Cassidy almost climbed to the breakfast bar, to keep from being trampled by the sudden coming and going of the whole team all over the kitchen. Connor brought two pizzas to the table and Russell waved for his boss to take a seat. Cassidy moved his eyes over the faces, like counting heads, and frowned.
"We ain't waiting for Brockner?" he asked, and he couldn't help but notice the puzzled frowns on every face.
Gillian looked up at him with yet another ironic smile. So this was how he did things. Good to know. "Nice try, Cassidy," she said, and explained to the others, "He thinks I'm sleeping with Brockner."
The team burst out in a long, loud laughter. Cassidy sat down by Russell with a slight frown.
"I was just asking," he muttered to Russell, as to explain himself.
"And I think you got your answer, sir."