Declassified

Declassified Part 40 Daddy Issues

      Andy and Dan watched the crowds of people leaving the plane, but Alex didn't appear to be one of them. 

      "Not yet, Thal." Dan told Thalia as they waited. Then he saw his brother, and he started. Alex looked awful. Even from behind the sunglasses he was wearing, the bruises on one side of his face were obvious, and as he raised his hand in greeting Dan could see a short cast on his arm. "He's there, Thalie." He said, pointing.

      The tiny redhead slipped through the crowd and Dan looked at Andy to see if he'd noticed how bad Alex looked. As the crowds parted they could see Alex wrap his broken arm around his girlfriend, kissing her with his sunglasses still on. There was a stiffness about the way he moved that was unusual for him, and even from afar they could see that Thalia was cautious about hugging Alex.

      As the crowds shifted, and Alex came closer, Dan sucked his breath in sharply. He looked even worse close up.
      "Hey, thanks for picking me up." Alex said, his arm still around Thalia.

      When Andy didn't make a move to hug his youngest brother, Dan stepped forward, carefully putting his arms around Alex. "Are you okay?" He asked seriously. He could feel bandages underneath Alex's shirt as he hugged him back.

      "Totally fine. Just part of the job." Alex gave him a one-armed hug. "No worse than playing hockey with you guys."
      Dan noticed that when Alex went to hug Andy, the bigger man leaned toward him but didn't actually hug him back. "What happened to your face?" Andy's voice was strained.

      "I'm fine, Andrei." Alex said in Russian. "It looks worse than it actually is." He slowly pulled his glasses off, revealing even worse injuries than Dan had imagined. His left eye was swollen and stitched, the whites of his eye completely red with burst blood vessels. The entire area was covered in bruises from jaw to hairline. He slipped the glasses back on. "It doesn't hurt anymore."

      "That's mostly healed." Thalia's voice was unnaturally quiet. "How bad was it when it first happened?"
      Alex didn't answer. "We had a lot of turbulence on that flight. You would have hated it, Andy." He said instead. "I can't wait to get home."

      "I'm glad you're back." Thalia said seriously, her hands lightly exploring the bandages through his shirt.
      "I'm fine, Thalie." Alex insisted, pulling her closer. "Andy, I like your nails."
      Andy looked at his nails, still navy blue. "Thanks. Thalia painted them."

      "You're getting my brother to wear nail polish while I'm away?" Dan could tell he was trying to make her smile, but Thalia's face looked as serious as Dan felt. "I guess that's better than ripping your arm off while rock climbing."
      Dan glanced at Andy, but he didn't even react to Alex's words.

      As soon as they made it to the car Thalia started pulling Alex's shirt off.
      "Come on." Alex protested, holding both of her hands in his. "Can't this wait until we get home?"

      Dan kept his eyes on Thalia's, willing her to say no, to insist on seeing the extent of his injuries because Dan wanted to know too.
      "I just--I need to see." Thalia sounded close to tears.

      To Dan's relief, Alex reluctantly helped Thalia remove his shirt, revealing extensive bruises in shades of black, yellow, and brown.
      "Alex." Thalia's eyes were wide, her voice barely a whisper. "How long have you been healing?"

      Alex put his hand over hers on his chest. "I'm fine." He insisted. "I would have called, but I didn't want you to worry."
      "I'm always going to worry." Thalia looked closer at the bruises around Alex's bullet wounds, but then she helped him pull his shirt back on.