Because hesitation wasn’t doubt. It was preparation.
Brutus stepped forward, planting his feet, muscles coiling under his jacket. The metal groaned as he tested it, just enough to feel where it would break.
I angled myself off to the side, knife loose in my hand, breath slow and steady.
Whatever was behind that door, I was going through it.
Cap leaned in. “Ghost.”
“Door’s hot,” Ghost said. “No cameras inside. Power draw spikes behind it.”
Brutus rolled his shoulders. “Say when.”
Cap looked at me. Held my gaze.
“You ready?”
I was already moving.
Brutus planted his feet and drove his shoulder forward.
The door gave way with a dull, ugly crack.
The smell hit first.
Stale air. Sweat. Blood. Something sour that turned my stomach.
Scout was slumped against the far wall, wrists bound, ankles chained. His head was down, hair plastered to his forehead with sweat. His shirt was gone. Bruises bloomed dark and angry across his ribs and shoulders. One eye was swollen nearly shut.
For a split second, I didn’t recognize him.
Then his head snapped up.
“Fuck you,” he rasped, voice raw and vicious. “I already told you?—”
He froze.
Blinking hard.
“Wrecker?” His voice broke on my name.
I crossed the room in three strides and dropped to my knees in front of him.
“Hey,” I said quietly. “You’re safe.”
Scout laughed. It came out broken and sharp, more like a bark than anything else. “That’s new.”
Brutus was already cutting the restraints, hands surprisingly gentle for a man his size. Ranger crouched nearby, scanning for movement, Smoke pressed close, tail wagging once when Scout looked at him.
Scout sucked in a sharp breath as the cuffs came away, his shoulders twitching like his body hadn’t realized yet that it was allowed to move again.
“Easy,” I murmured, keeping one hand braced against his back. “You’re not in a hurry anymore.”
He huffed out something that might’ve been a laugh if it hadn’t turned into a grimace halfway through. “Body didn’t get that memo.”
When Brutus eased him forward, Scout’s knees buckled. Just for a second. Just enough that I felt the full weight of him hit my arm as I caught him.
“Still got you,” I said quietly.
