[ RISK'S POV ]

"Believe me now?"

McCann and his buddy signaled their men to stick near the door as they approached us.

Meanwhile, Team Bravo and Slick headed straight past Rebel and I toward the rest of the former LASAR agents, their low tones of conversation growing a little louder behind us.

McCann forced a smile. "Kind of hard not to," he admitted to me. He waved toward the shorter man who stood next to him, whom it felt safe to assume was his partner. "Risk, this is Detective Elson."

I nodded at the other detective. "I'm Risk."

"Rebel," Rebel volunteered from beside me. He was sticking closer than normal. I could practically feel him side-eyeing my injury.

"Right, more incredibly unusual names," Elson mused with a wry smile. He looked around the entirety of the room, then between the two of us before his gaze settled on me. To his credit, he didn't seem at all phased by the number of bodies that were on the floor. "So. Ghost organizations and government infiltration. That sounds like a fun little escapade. Got any more information on that front that you might be interested in sharing?"

"We've got three of ours in there," Rebel said, nodding toward the connected room, "interrogating each of the UN leaders. They're determining which of them are and aren't legitimate."

"And they can do that ... how?" McCann asked carefully.

"One of them's a lie detector and the other's a truth inducer," Rebel said frankly.

Elson arched a brow. "And the third?"

"He's commonly considered intimidating," I said with a sharp smile.

"Ah," Elson nodded, his gaze cutting to the closed door before returning to myself. "So when they find the traitors ..."

"They have orders to send them out here. Originally we were just going to hold them," I said, "but since you're here, you can go ahead and arrest them."

"We don't actually have any interest in dealing with them," Rebel said.

"Absolutely none," I agreed.

"What about them?" McCann asked, looking past us at the rest of our team. "They were involved in this ordeal too, right?"

"They're to be left alone," Rebel said, an undertone of warning to his voice.

Elson and McCann exchanged a quick look that, for a moment, reminded me of any LASAR team engaged in wordless communication. They both looked back to us simultaneously. "Seems manageable," McCann said slowly.

"Though there'd be less to worry about if they weren't here," Elson added bluntly, giving us a pointed look.

"Way ahead of you there," Rebel said. He turned just enough toward the others for them to notice his attention and cease all conversation, and his short nod was all it took for them to move.

"Ay, coppers!" Cat called as he leaned out an open door, one of his hands on the shoulder of an older man. "We've got the first fake for you!"

McCann and Elson both looked between Cat and us.

"Yeah, I'd get a move on that before Catatonic decides to take matters into his own hands," I said with a barely concealed smile of amusement.

"Right," McCann said. "Okay. Elson, if you keep a list, I'll arrange to have our people escort them downstairs."

Elson gave a quiet sigh before nodding. "On it."

The two detectives headed off toward the connecting room then. I watched for a moment as McCann signaled two of the police officers who had stuck near the doors.

"See ya later, Risky," Legion said as he and Sergeant headed for the exit.

"Yeah, we'll see you soon, I'm sure," Sarge said with a cheeky grin.

"Don't have too much fun without us, all right?" Snag asked with a too-big smile of her own. Her arm was wrapped around Gunner's, who nodded at both Rebel and I with a pleased smile of his own.

"You'll be in contact?" Imitate asked, her pace slowing as she and Desmond passed us. They were holding hands, and Desmond was still being incredibly purposeful about not looking anywhere a dead body may have been.

"Kind of have to be," I pointed out, my focus on Desmond. "You still planning on being helpful?"

Desmond's bright eyes skipped to mine immediately. "Oh, yeah. Definitely. For sure. Though you weren't, um ... clear on what that would look like—"

"Nothing outside of your wheelhouse," Rebel said. "No offense, kid, but we really don't ever want you in the field again."

Imitate managed to conceal her laughter.

Desmond nodded. "No offense taken. I don't ever want to be in the field again. Ever."

Imitate did laugh at that, the sound causing Desmond to flush red as a sheepish smile pulled at his lips. She tugged him along and gave Rebel and I one last wave before they headed out of the room after the rest.

"And another one!" Catatonic called, this time flat out shoving a man in a suit out of the room and in McCann's general direction.

Slick approached us next, her steps slow. She was watching the detectives work, and there was a far-off look in her eyes that I couldn't quite interpret. She managed to pull herself out of it, and gave Rebel and I a tired smile. "I'm glad you had it handled. Hardly surprised, but still."

"Outlaw doing okay?" I asked.

Slick nodded, her gaze dropping to my shoulder. Her eyes narrowed. "You need to get that looked at, Risky."

"I'm aware," I said.

"I'll deal with it," Rebel assured her.

"You really think it was a good idea to leave Outlaw on her own?" I asked then, arching a brow.

"Oh, she's not on her own," Slick said with a devious sort of smile. "I left her with Liam. He's the contact I had ... the ex-boyfriend," she clarified with an eye roll. "Couldn't get her to shut up about that part. It only got worse when he gave her pain meds."

"Does he know to keep her away from anything that can be turned into an explosive device?" Rebel asked.

"Let's just say I made sure she had melatonin in her and that was halfway asleep before I left," Slick said with an undeniably affectionate smile. "She'll be fine, though. A few stitches in her, but she should be at full capacity in a week or two." She gave a silent sigh then, glancing back at the cops when Catatonic shoved a man and woman out.

"I'm guessing you have a plan," I said, drawing her attention back to me. "Or at least, I'm hoping so."

This time her smile was closed-mouthed. "Something of one," she admitted with a shrug. "I figured sticking around London for a while wasn't such a bad idea. Since LASAR is a thing of the past, and we don't have to worry about the Kinetic trying to kill us ..."

"You won't get bored?" I challenged.

Slick grinned. "Not with what we'll be doing, no. Turns out Liam's fairly close to the detectives over there," she said with a nod toward McCann and Elson. "We were given an offer. Not a half bad one either, under the circumstances."

"You're going to help the police," Rebel said, a note of incredulity to his voice. He barked a laugh and shook his head. "Those news stories are going to be legendary, I'm sure."

Slick gave another shrug, an unashamed smile still on her lips. "Seems like a good idea for the moment. No worries though," she winked at us, "the moment it gets boring, I'll be sure to give you a call. Besides, where else will we find people as loco en la cabeza as we are?"

Rebel and I both laughed at that.

"Anyway," Slick sighed. "I've got to get going. Don't want to risk Law waking up without me there. Goodness knows what she'd put Liam through. I'll be in touch," she promised.

"We'll be keeping tabs on London," I returned.

Rebel and I watched her leave for a moment, neither of us turning this time when Catatonic let another faux leader out. Instead, Rebel turned toward me. He stared pointedly at the knife wound before making eye contact with me. "We need to get that stitched up."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Reb," I said sarcastically. "You trying to tell me it won't close up on its own in the next five minutes?"

"Not unless there's something you'd like to share with me," he retorted. His green eyes looked past me at the detectives then. "We can have them send up a paramedic, or something. I'm not too keen on leaving those three alone with the police."

"Yeah, Cat would give them a run for their money," I mused in agreement. "We'll have to stick around until they're all done sorting through the UN leaders."

"Shouldn't take 'em much longer," Rebel said, a hopeful tinge to his words. "Come on," he urged then, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "Let's go get our new friends to call a paramedic up for you."

By the time said paramedic had stitched up my shoulder — after going wide-eyed when I refused any painkillers before she began — Catatonic and Low had finished sorting through the United Nations leaders. They and Rage were the last people who were not officially, legitimately part of the UN to leave the connecting room. Rage was somber as usual, and seemed a little annoyed at having to endure such close quarters with Catatonic for so long, while Cat remained chipper as usual, sticking almost obnoxiously close to Low.

"All done?" McCann asked hopefully.

"Yes," Low answered curtly while Cat was still in the process of opening his mouth.

Rage gave Rebel and I a pointed look before he silently made his departure. Elson gave him a sideways look as he headed past him toward where the rest of us stood, but he didn't say anything about Rage leaving.

McCann visibly relaxed in relief, but he maintained his air of professionalism as he nodded. "Good. Then I can have the rest of our men come up here and serve as escorts to the legitimate UN leaders."

"Happy to make your job easier," Catatonic said with a catty smile.

"Cat," I warned.

"Sorry, Boss," he said with an entirely unapologetic voice. "So," he said, looking between McCann and Elson now, "what're you guys gonna do about the mysterious youths who are getting away? Surely that's gonna make for an obnoxious amount of paperwork."

Low arched a brow in silent punctuation of her friend's question.

McCann actually smiled. "It'll be handled. Nothing any of you need to worry about, to say in the least."

"Not that you would worry, anyway," Elson said.

"Fair point," Catatonic said before glancing down at Low. "You ready to get outta here?"

"You're not driving this time," was her answer as she took hold of his arm again and began to steer him toward the door.

"That's offensive, Low, I am a brilliant driver," was the last thing I heard Catatonic say before the two of them had successfully made their way out of the room.

McCann and Elson turned back to Rebel and I. "Well," Elson said, tucking the notepad with the list of faux leaders under his left arm as he extended his right hand, "in spite of how insane this entire thing has been, it was nice working with you."

"Made our lives just a little easier for a day," McCann agreed as I shook Elson's hand, and then his.

Rebel shook their hands next. "You shouldn't expect that to happen very often. If ever again, actually."

Elson laughed. "Somehow I was expecting you to say that. So ..." he looked between us both, canting his head. "What're you guys gonna do now?"

Rebel and I exchanged a look. When we answered, it was together. "Make sure the job's finished."