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"You said it before Burns put us on this case for a reason; both of us are already fuckups who should have been fired or buried He’ll keep us on it," Zane asserted as he studied the otherfrom your head?"

"Why?" Ty asked defensively

"We can use it to our advantage If you’re off your usual style, that may throw hiht wake up after a thirty-minute nap and be back to your usual irascible self"

Ty stared at him for a minute and then his lips twitched in a half-s his hands over his eyes with a sudden sigh of frustration, he shrugged "It’s like swi to remember the past couple weeks," he answered "I reer things, I can’t recall at all"

Taking the few steps up so he could reach him, Zane pulled Ty’s hands away from his eyes "Don’t push it--that’s what the doctors told ive you a bad headache"

Ty looked down at him, nonplussed "I already have a headache," he admitted

Zane s both of Ty’s wrists in his hands "You look … unwell," he murmured with a frown

"I can’t think," Tyas much as a man could when he was perched on top of a staircase with both hands being held by someone else

Zane sobered and watched his agitatedhis hands so he could pace if he wanted to "Ty You’ve got to calht now; that doesn’t mean on’t be able to do more later"

"I can’t," Ty finally told him with an uncharacteristic show of emotion He sat down hard on the top step and bent over, placing his hands on each side of his head and squeezing his eyes shut as if he were trying to block out everything He began to rock back and forth slowly as he spoke "I can’t concentrate on anything, not when all I can think about is you And noith this fucking headache," he ground out in frustration, not finishing his thoughts as he closed his eyes once more and held his head in his hands "I feel sick,"

he finally added pitifully

Zane’s breath was caught in his chest This wasn’t what he’d expected at all Ty was obviously having more difficulty with the concussion than he had been outwardly letting on, and the slip of ad but Zane made his body warm uncoh the babbling

"What do you suggest?" Zane asked softly, trying to stay as detached as possible, at least for a little longer

Ty pressed his lips tightly together and breathed out slowly through his nose "I think I need to request medical leave," he answered finally, his voice hoarse and full of pain It was obvious that he had never before been forced to ad

The mask broke, and Zane looked stunned "Ty … I …" He didn’t knohat to say His hands curled into fists

"This can’t be done alone; we’ve already established that," Ty breathed "And I can’t … think," he ground out in frustration "If I request it before they can suspend us, the suspension won’t go in your file," he added

Zane nodded slowly, feeling helpless Powerless Again He lifted both hands and rubbed at his eyes

Ty sat there and bowed his head with a sinking feeling "We both know I’ht-headed right now"

Dropping his hands, Zane pulled open his eyes to look at Ty "Lie back before you fall over," he said quietly, tone soft, even worried "Please"

Ty tilted his head up, and his expression softened as he looked up at Zane "You won’t ht decision, to pull himself off the case It didn’t ers through Ty’s hair, but just as the tips of his fingers touched, the loud clank of the stairwell door being pushed open startled theesture

Ty lowered his head again as an agent stepped into the stairwell, and then he looked up to ain They looked at each other intently for several heartbeats before Ty climbed to his feet unsteadily and turned to face the ent

"AND I want you both to know this will in no way negatively impact your records Grady, you’ve been cleared of any involvement in the murder, not that we really expected trouble there," Assistant Director Burns said as he looked at the two men He received no answers,"Garrett, you’ve been put back on active duty for ients in the rooht and day frohtly distant and reserved He’d been kept at a hospital in New York under observation for nearly a week, diagnosed with a severe concussion and PTSD When they released him, he’d been flown directly back to DC and driven to this veryBurns noticed that he still wore the little hospital bracelet on his wrist

Meanwhile, Zane had been taken straight to Washington to be debriefed over and over as the internal investigation continued His attitude had understandably been for shit the whole tiht, but Burns didn’t really blame the man

Now, Ty was scheduled forat him as he sat in his office, Burns wasn’t sure he would pass muster He had never seen Ty Grady look so defeated And Burns had his doubts about Zane’s willingness to go back to work at all Zane stood at the , staring out with his arms crossed, face schooled blank Burns suppressed a frown The Zane Garrett of old seemed to have made a reappearance: dark jeans, T-shirt, black leather jacket, two days without shaving, at the least Burns could s off him from ten feet away It was only because he’d seen Zane’s one back to any more of his old habits

It was almost like the two had switched places He shook his head

This had not been his aim when he had paired them up He should have known Ty could corrupt anyone

"Do you two have any questions?" Burns asked Ty shook his head, and Zane hed