Daddy Defender

Roman knelt down next to Ashton, knife in hand and began cutting the netting material that held the sensors against their clothing. “Ashton is down, but alive. I’m getting these damned sensors off of him. I suggest everyone else do the same.”

“Roger that,” Derek said. “Steve has a medical team on the way.”

“I’m okay,” Ashton finally managed to get out. “I can move everything, at least, and don’t seem any more brain-damaged than normal.”

“Just sit tight,” Derek continued. “It’s going to take a minute to get to you since we’re in complete blackness out here.”

“Hey,” Lillian huffed. “I didn’t have time to finesse it. I just shot the hell out of the whole power box. I’m probably going to get fired for this.”

“Thanks, Lil,” Ashton said. Her quick thinking—shutting down all the power rather than trying to isolate the problem—had probably saved his life.

“No problem, Fitzy. How else am I going to get homemade muffins if you’re not around?”

It wasn’t long before people swarmed the training warehouse. Temporary lights were set up and a medical team got Ashton onto a gurney and out of the building. They took him back to the main Omega building where he could be thoroughly examined.

He had two noticeable burns—one on the back of his shoulder and one on his waist—and generally felt like he’d been hit by a truck, but he would live.

The entire SWAT team, plus Steve Drackett and the lab coat guy from the control room, was now crowded into the medical holding room with him.

“We’re glad you’re okay, Ashton,” Steve said, leaning back against the wall.

“What the hell happened in there, Steve?” Derek asked. “That was well beyond not having the kinks worked out.”

Steve gestured to the glasses lab coat guy. “This is Dr. Castillo, one of the main contracted developers of the training facility.”

Dr. Castillo cleared his throat. “We’re not exactly sure what happened. And it will be a little difficult to find out since Agent Muir basically decimated the power box.”

Ashton just lay back in his bed as the entire team started defending Lillian’s actions all at once. Loudly.

Steve finally shut them down. “Nobody is blaming Lillian. That was smart thinking and probably saved Ashton’s life.”

Lillian just shrugged from where she leaned against the bed. Ashton held out a fist toward her, which she immediately tapped with her knuckles.

“The truth is,” Dr. Castillo continued. “I don’t know what happened. All I know right now is that it wasn’t just one problem. Yes, the sensors malfunctioned on Agent Fitzgerald’s suit, but multiple other problems occurred. Problems that didn’t happen when we tested the facility before you went in there.”

“We’re going to need answers, Dr. Castillo,” Steve said. “As to whether this turned ugly due to human and/or mechanical error or if there’s something bigger at play.”

Dr. Castillo scrubbed a hand across his face. “Yes. Absolutely. Finding out what transpired here is my team’s number one priority. And not that it’s worth much, but we’re all terribly sorry and completely flabbergasted at the situation, Agent Fitzgerald. Please accept my sincerest apologies.”

Ashton nodded. “Just figure out what happened so it doesn’t happen again.”

Dr. Castillo agreed, said a few more things to Steve, then left.

Grace Parker, Omega psychiatrist and in this case Ashton’s physician, entered the room. “Okay, this place is not intended for the entire SWAT team. Steve, Derek, are you guys done debriefing?”

Steve straightened from where he leaned against the wall. “For the moment. Until we get a better sense of what the hell occurred in there today.”

“I’ll tell you this much, you’re lucky it was Ashton in that suit that malfunctioned,” Grace said as she lifted the edge of Ashton’s shirt so she could see one of the worst electric burns on his waist.

“Lucky me,” Ashton muttered.

Grace chuckled. “No, what I mean is that you have a lot of body mass, so those defective sensors were spread out further. For someone smaller—” she turned “—for instance, you, Lillian, the sensors would’ve been closer together and would’ve resulted in far greater damage. Maybe even death.”

The team glanced at each other, saying nothing. They’d all just chosen random sensors as they’d entered the facility. It could’ve easily been someone with less body mass than Ashton.

“Well then, we’re glad Ashton took one for the team.” Derek slapped him lightly on his unwounded shoulder. “Does he need to stay overnight, Grace?”

The older woman checked out the other burn on Ashton’s shoulder, then returned his shirt to its place. “No. No damage here that won’t heal on its own. Even your burns don’t look like they’ll blister too badly.” She smiled at Ashton. “You’ll just be sore for a couple of days, so take it easy.”

After showering gingerly, with cooler water than he would’ve liked because of his burns, he met the team at the Omega canteen to get their first meal since Summer’s muffins.

Nobody knew exactly what mood to be in. Everyone was glad Ashton wasn’t hurt any worse, but also hadn’t expected anyone to be in any danger to begin with.

It wasn’t a loss. But it wasn’t a win.

“Hey, who wants to go get a drink?” It was late, already after 9:00 p.m. Their day had been long, but no one wanted to go home.

Everyone nodded and looked at Ashton.

He smiled. “Sure. I’m buying.”

That certainly cheered everyone up. Derek begged off since his wife, Molly, and baby son, Sebastian, were waiting for him at home.

Ashton was just walking into the bar the Omega team often frequented when his phone rang.

Summer.

Why would she be calling him at nearly ten o’clock? He stepped back outside so he could hear more clearly.

“Summer?” he said by way of greeting.

“Hi, Ashton. I’m so sorry to call so late. You weren’t asleep were you?”

“No, not at all. What’s up?”

“I feel like an idiot.”

“No, I promise, it’s fine. What’s going on?”

“The power in my condo went out. I checked the breaker like you showed me, but couldn’t find anything wrong. I called the power company—they said they would eventually get here but had other priorities.”

“Do you want me to come check it out? See if there’s anything I can do?”

There was silence on the other end for so long Ashton worried they’d been disconnected.

“Summer?”

“No. No, that’s not necessary. I’ll just wait for the power company. One night won’t kill me.”