Brothers In Arms

Chapter 17

Before the ringing in her ears stopped, Josie was clambering away from her attacker as well as the fire. In her haste, she kicked the man in the face, barely even realizing she'd made contact and kept him from getting much further. Her head was swimming as she moved; the spreading fire helping to push her across the road to the tree line.

"Ope?" She called out blindly. "Babe, are you okay?"

Although he had taken a bit more of a hit than Josie, Opie was able to get back on his feet slightly quicker than she had. He pulled his gun, grabbing the attacker by the scruff of his neck, and pulled him up off the ground. As much as Opie wanted to empty his gun into this psycho's head, he knew the cleanest fix was letting the FBI take him.

"I'm good," he called out. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she replied.

Smoke billowed as the car continued to burn, everyone's eyes stinging and tearing from the heat.

"Don't move," Opie growled as he pushed the man further from the car. "Josie is with me now, you can obsess over that while you're locked the fuck up."

As they moved closer, finally in view, Josie felt her heart stop. "Aaron?" She stumbled back out to the road, coughing and rubbing her eyes from the smoke, but she was sure it was him. "How? What's going on?"

Opie turned the man around to get a better look and, although he didn't remember too well from the photos, he could see Josie was positive.

"Josephine," Aaron yanked away from Opie as Josie stared in disbelief. "We have to get out of the road." Sirens rang out in the distance and steadily grew louder.

"No," she moved back. "What is this? You're dead, I buried you."

"I'm not," he shook his head. "I was in the Middle East, I had leave. It was the only way to keep you and Jack safe."

"It was fake?" Josie gasped. "It was a fucking lie?"

With the fire department leading the way, cops and agents flooded the woods to search for whoever set the bomb. The paramedics ushered Aaron, Opie and a stunned Josie to the ambulances as the firemen worked to put out the nearly burnt out car.

"It can't be," Josie mumbled. "This isn't real life."

"Ma'am?" The paramedic tried to force eye contact. "Ma'am?"

"Huh?" She looked up from the ground. "What?"

"Do you have any head or neck pain?"

Josie shook her head, hardly truly conscious in that moment, as she obsessed over what had just happened. A few yards away Aaron sat on the back of a other ambulance, the paramedic checking him over and further to the left sat Opie in the same situation.

"I'm fine," she pulled off the blood pressure cuff. "I don't need any of this."

"Ma'am," the paramedic tried to force her to sit but she pushed him back.

"Don't touch me," she growled.

"Jos!" Spencer ran to her from the line of SUVs. "Listen we should talk about this."

Turning to face him, her chest feeling tight, Josie realized they knew. The whole team knew Aaron was alive. Spencer was nearly in tears, seeing her disbelief, anger and sorrow, as he tried to talk to her.

"How could you?" She snarled. "This is why I couldn't see him, the closed coffin, all of it. They said it was easier for me to let the Bureau handle it, I was too screwed up to question it, but you knew!"

"I didn't know then," he explained. "When they told us, I knew I couldn't. It was to keep you safe," he whinnied. "I wanted to, I did, but Strauss said we'd be prosecuted."

Josie didn't speak. She glared at him for a minute before storming off toward Aaron.

"Josephine," he stood and stepped off the ambulance. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?"

"I am," he said with sincerity.

"I need to process this," she said coolly. "I can't do this."

Josie turned on her heel and dragged her feet toward Opie. He was furious, and pretty shocked himself, but he tried to stay away and let her deal with the blow.

"Are you okay?" She asked, briefly touching his cheek. "I'm not hurt," Josie told him before he could ask.

"I'm fine," he grabbed her hand. "I don't know what to say, Jos."

"Yeah, me neither," she whimpered.

"Josie," Morgan came toward them. "We gotta take your statement."

"You want a statement?" She snarled. "Fuck you guys, all of you. I have NOTHING to say to any of you other than that."

"Let her go," another agent said.

"What do you want me to do?" Opie asked her quietly.

"Take me home, please."

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