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Agent Ballinger stomped out of the pseudo-interrogation room, shutting the door with just a little bit more force than necessary. Gaz met her while exiting the viewing room, leaving another agent to watch their superiors.
“That was intense, you alright?”
She let out a frustrated sigh and leaned against the cool wall, “yeah. Sorry you had to see all that.” She apologized for the outburst that had Captain Price sending her out of the room. “Price said you could patch me up.”
Gaz nodded and let his hand rest on her back as he led her to another room, “don’t wanna wait for Laswell?”
“No, it might be a while.” She shook her head, stopping in front of an array of supplies that lay on the countertop.
“Word.”
“Also, it’d be great if you didn’t mangle my face, Garrick.” Vaughn chuckled, holding a sheet of bloody gauze to the right side of her jaw. “I kind of need it.”
Helping the American onto the counter in front of him, he laughed along, trying to hide the anxiety from earlier that refused to go away, “I’ll try my best, Ballinger.”
“You better.” She looked up at him with sleepy eyes.
Gaz was busy watching the supplies on the counter, getting the cream ready to lay across her jaw.
“Laswell did that already,” the agent informed, putting her unoccupied hand over the top of Gaz’s, “before you two brought in our guest .”
“Good to know.” He mumbled, setting the packet down, instead reaching for the already threaded needle. “You sure you don’t want to wait for Laswell?”
“I trust you.”
Gaz gave an exasperated laugh, “I’m about to stick a needle in your face.”
“Yeah,” Vaughn shrugged, trying to hold back a smile, “and I trust you to do a good job.”
“Then you need to shhh .” Kyle explained, putting on a pair of gloves before reaching for the needle once again. “You’re the one with a gash on your face and I’m nervous.”
The agent shrugged, a lopsided smile on her round face as she finally took the bloody gauze off her jaw, showing off the angry wound. “Get to work, Garrick.”
In order to work on the injury, he had to get closer. Making space between her knees that were on the edge of the countertop and to get her jaw in better lighting, he used his right hand to tilt her head up and to her left. A position so familiar and so simple that was now so daunting and too intimate for the situation they were in.
As he did the first pass, he felt her hand come up and hold onto his wrist to occupy her mind by messing with the ends of his jacket sleeve. She may have been trying to keep the mood light but it was clear that she was shaken up by what happened in that townhouse.
“Can you say something?” She muttered out, eyes welded shut.
“‘Bout what?” He asked, focusing on the task at hand.
“Fuck—“ she grumbled as he poked and prodded, “anything but the mission.”
“I was thinking that maybe next time you, uh, you come out to my place, we could–” he got distracted as she almost flinched away from him.
“Sorry.” Vaughn huffed out, eyes still closed.
“You’re fine.” He mumbled, swiping across her jaw idly. Looking up at his girlfriend, he then noticed just how hard her grip was on his wrist. “Hey, Vaughn, look at me.”
She let out a deep, shaky breath before opening her deep brown eyes to meet his worried gaze.
“You’re fine .” He stated, pausing the task at hand. “You’re okay.”
Nodding, Vaughn let a tear slip down her round cheek, “it was a real close call, Kyle. Too close.” All she could think about was how it felt when she was yanked to the ground; the pain at the back of her head, the air leaving her body for a split second. Then the knife and the way it felt as it glided against her skin—
“Hey, don’t go back there,” Gaz wiped away the one, two, three tears that slipped down as he tried to pull her back to the moment. “You’re with me, Vaughn. It’s alright.”
Closing her eyes once again, she took a long breath, reigning her thoughts back in, “thanks for being here.”
Kyle knew what she meant as he went back to the task, but he was hoping he could get away with being a smartass, “Just doing my job.”
She kind of laughed? “You’re hilarious.”
It worked.
“Keep your day job, Sergeant.”
He was nearly finished, “just trying to lighten the mood.”
She shrugged, peeking at him through dark lashes, “...it worked. I suppose .”
It was silent as he finished patching up the cut, only the hum of the fluorescent overhead light taking up the room.
“All done.” He mumbled, setting everything down and quickly returning Vaughn’s tired glance.
She didn’t want to let go of Gaz, keeping her grasp on him as he took his hand off of her face and brought it down to rest on her waist. “Thank you.”
Kyle pressed his forehead to hers, “you’re welcome. I’m glad you’re safe.”