Kyle laughed, not begrudging Katie time with his old Strike Force captain. Matthew Gailani had been one of the operatives who fought beside them in the Montana raid. Strike Force had been granted clearance to know their identities, since they all ran in the same field of classified when everyone got right down to it. Kyle wasn’t at all surprised Matthew had kept in touch with Katie in the weeks following. He always knew his old captain had a soft spot for strongwomen.
“Let’s head to Medical so Gracie can check us over like the mother hen she is,” Jamie said as hestoodup.
“I’m telling her you said that,” Donovan replied. He and Dr. Gracie Gold had been dating for several years now, and Kyle wouldn’t be surprised if the other man popped the question onedaysoon.
“Go right ahead. We all know she considers it acompliment.”
MDF headquarters consisted of three buildings. While everything relating to their missions was handled out of the main one, getting checked out happened in Medical, which was linked by a corridor on the ground level. Building Two housed the agency’s R&D labs, but Kyle rarely ended up there unless he was testing a new weapon or getting fitted with a new combatuniform.
Their time in Medical lasted no more than an hour since none of them were injured in any major way. Kyle submitted to the nurses who ran the place, going through scans and tests that were checked against the baseline results in his records. He came away with a clean bill of health, as always, and was the first onedischarged.
Chewing on a high-calorie nutrient bar, Kyle claimed a seat in the nearest waiting room, killing time until everyone else trickled in. Alexei was the next one to escape, Kyle’s older brother poking at the back of his hand with ascowl.
“>” Kyle asked in Russian, the language he’d become fluent in as a teenager after being adopted by theDvorkins.
“>” Alexeireplied.
“>”
Alexei flipped him off and took the seat beside Kyle’s, stretching out his long legs. “>”
“>”
Alexei frowned. “>
Kyle slung an arm over Alexei’s shoulders, messing up his hair. “>”
Sean was an MDF agent who worked out of the intelligence division. A former CIA officer, he was used to going undercover for his job. He’d worked with Alpha Team back in January, and again in June, on secondment to the team for the duration of the long-running Pavluhkinmission.
He was also Alexei’s lover, something Kyle had grown to accept over the past six months. His brother hadn’t had a relationship that lasted more than a few weeks for almost a decade before Sean entered the picture. Their jobs over the years—working first with Strike Force and then with the MDF—were a level of classified that made keeping a relationship difficult, if not outright impossible some days. It helped that Sean worked for the same agency they did, and Kyle had high hopes Sean would work out for Alexei even if he was a little more reserved than they were. Alexei didn’t mind, and that was all thatmattered.
“>” Alexeiasked.
“>” Kylereplied.
He and Alexei shared an apartment off base, but neither lived there much these days. Kyle stayed at Jamie’s luxury penthouse condo, having moved in weeks after initially joining the team. If Jamie was away, Kyle stayed at the apartment with his brother to keep up appearances. Whenever Sean wasn’t tasked with an undercover mission, Alexei stayed over at the agent’sapartment.
Unlike Kyle and Jamie, Alexei and Sean could be open about their relationship with the MDF. They worked in different divisions, and neither were in the direct chain of command for each other, unlike Jamie and Kyle. Some days, Kyle was quietly jealous of his brother, but the jealousy never lasted long. He knew, like Jamie, what they risked if word got out about their relationship. Pretending to be a couple for the Pavluhkin mission was one thing. Actually acknowledging the truth within the lie could possibly derail theircareers.
Kyle doubted the government would stoop so low as to court-martial them, especially if Jamie’s father won the presidency. The MDF liked to hold onto the metahumans who came out of the military as long as possible. But he’d bet all his hazard pay that he and Jamie would be separated and maybe have an official black mark filed in their records. With Jamie leading Alpha Team, and Kyle his subordinate, he knew he would be the one transferred out. As much as Kyle rabidly disliked that idea, he knew Jamie would absolutelyhateit if Kyle had toleave.
Annabelle poked her head around the doorway, waggling her fingers at them. “Headin’ out. See y’all inthreedays.”
“Bye,” Kyle calledafterher.
Slowly, the others trickled out of their exam rooms and said their goodbyes. Alexei stayed with Kyle until Jamie showed up after conferring with Gracie about everyone’sstatus.
Alexei messed up Kyle’s hair in retaliation as he stood up. “Dasvidanya.”
Kyle didn’t watch his brother leave, too focused on Jamie and the calm, neutral expression on his face that hid whatever turmoil was going through Jamie’s mind. “You stickingaround?”
“According to Gracie, our regulatory time off starts now,” Jamiereplied.
Kyle stood up and let Jamie lead him out of the waiting room. “Breakfast?”
“Sounds likeaplan.”
The nurses had given them high-calorie nutrient bars and IVs, but metahumans had higher metabolisms and Kyle would never turndownfood.
