Unguarded (A Harry Styles short)[Completed]

Prologue

Three weeks ago I visited my partner, Agent Alex Martin, in the hospital. Alex was retiring from the FBI after a near fatal gunshot wound he received during our last case. As he held his wife's hand, he made me promise him right there in his hospital room that I wouldn't make the Bureau my life.

I made my promise to him, then left the hospital. Before I even got to my car in the parking garage I started having difficulty breathing. My heart started to race and I could feel the beads of perspiration on my forehead. Once inside my car I gripped the steering wheel for dear life as I felt myself in the midst of a full panic attack.

I knew the attack was a delayed reaction to the events of my partner almost being killed. My mind kept playing out the moment he was shot, the look he gave me before his eyes closed, then thinking he was dead. The memory is still vivid of how I just sat there frozen next to Alex, holding him in my arms, his blood on me. I didn't register anything other than the thought of what I was going to say to his wife. When two other agents that had come as backup took over to handle the situation, I accompanied Alex to the hospital in the ambulance. Even with the knowledge that Alex was alive, I was numb, and stayed numb until I got in my car and broke down.

I couldn't drive so I sat there until it subsided. An hour later I wiped my face of my tears, called Assistant Director Tony Dow and left a message that I needed to see him the following morning. Dow approved the additional leave I asked for on top of the traditional leave that accompanied these circumstances. I made an appointment with the Bureau's psychologist to get some counseling as well.

It was during one of those counseling sessions that I started to question whether the FBI was the right fit for me anymore, or if it had ever been the right fit for me. I had been with them for six years, the last two had been in the field with Alex, the only partner I'd ever been assigned to. Dr. Stafford told me what I already knew, and that was, that only I could make the decision as to what direction I wanted to go in my life.

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A/N: This short story is dedicated to all my followers:@Bea_Nice, @chanmapan, @DeannaSmith792, @LoveVincitOmnia,@PoisedPen and @XdancingTillFlamesX. Special thanks to @Editing.1D for the Harry Styles image for my cover.