McDaniels Family Residence
Appalachian Mountains, VA
02.30 EDT
The cry shocked Clayton Webb from sleep and had him on his feet, gun in hand before he had made a conscious choice to do so.
The cry came again...from the room across the hall.
He raced out his bedroom door and made his way to Casey's room.
The full moon lent the room an eerie glow, Casey sat upright in bed, her eyes staring straight ahead of her towards the wardrobe.
"Casey?" he whispered.
She made no move, she gave no indication at all that she had even heard him speak.
She flinched suddenly and then stared at her hands in what could only be described as horror.
"Case?"
She still didn't answer.
He moved into the room pistol raised, and checked all directions.
She was completely alone.
Clay took another look at Casey, she was pale, a sheen of sweat coated her, dampening her red hair so that it stuck to her neck in snakelike tendrils.
Clay lowered his gun ,clicked on the safety and walked towards the bed. It was now evident to him that his partner was still asleep and was having a nightmare.
He breathed a sigh of relief, his muscles relaxing from their state of battle readiness.
He sat down gently on the edge of the bed, placing a hand on her shoulder he gently shook her.
"Casey, wake up. It's a dream"
She was mumbling in her dream state.
"Blood...oh god...so much blood."
Clay shook her again to wake her, but she seemed trapped in this nightmare and unable to wake.
Tears streamed down Casey's face as she whispered.
"I'm sorry Wilkes...oh God....I'm so sorry."
Clay stiffened as he heard the name she whispered.
Agent Paul Wilkes had been the operative killed in the last big mission conducted by The Company. Scuttlebutt said he was a double agent and had been killed after attempting to murder another agent.
It suddenly dawned on Clay that Casey had most likely been that Agent.
The tears running down Casey's face gave way to sobs, Clay looked at his partner, anguish tearing at him.
Never in 5 years together had he seen Casey like this, she was completely vulnerable.
He scooped her up from the bedclothes and held her close to him, he wished he could chase away the nightmare she was having , but since he couldn't , holding her was the next best thing.
Slowly he felt her relax against him, all the tension easing out of her body.
He sat there in the moonlight and held her until she went to sleep again.
Saturday
06.45am EDT
Casey woke later than she had planned.
The dream had come again last night and this morning she had woken drained and in need of something to chase away the memory of it.
A cup of coffee and a ride out to the waterfall with Clay was just the cure.
She showered and made her way to the kitchen, Clay stood at the counter making coffee.
"Morning" she greeted him with a smile.
"Morning Case, Coffee?"
She nodded and he handed her a steaming cup of coffee, she let the aroma tingle her nose before taking a long sip.
"Sleep well?" Clay asked.
Casey gave him a bright smile.
"Sure, I guess so? You?"
"Well I was sleeping fine...until you had that nightmare and woke me up."
He gave Casey a hard look, he had promised himself that he wouldn't push Casey about what had happened on her last mission, but whatever had happened was affecting her badly and she needed help to deal with it.
Casey's eyes snapped up to his.
"I'm sorry about that...I have them sometimes. Did I keep you up long...I don't remember."
"You were talking in your sleep...."
He hedged
"What was I saying...anything interesting?."
Casey said brightly.
"You were apologising to Wilkes." he said pointedly.
Casey's whole body tensed at the mention of his name.
Clay came to stand beside her.
"You want to tell me what happened last time you went out?"
He asked referring to the mission.
Casey shook her head her mouth tightening into a grim line.
Her hands visibly tightened around the coffee cup.
"Well actually Casey, I don't care if you want to tell me or not! You ARE going to tell me. This has gone on long enough!"
Casey's blue eyes flashed angrily at his tone.
"Back off Clay, it's nothing to do with you, anything that happened I can handle it."
She said quietly.
Clay eyes narrowed.
"Really Case...you can handle it yourself can you? And you're doing so well...that little nightmare last night was testament to that. How many of those do you have a week Case.2,3...7?"
"Go to hell Clay , I told you before I don't want to talk about it"
She turned and walked away from him.
"No! Case I though we were supposed to be partners. Partners.....that means we share the good things and the bad."
He yelled at her retreating back.
Casey turned around and looked Clay dead in the eye, she could tell from the look in his eyes that he wasn't going to back down from this fight. He wanted the truth and nothing less would suffice.
"What exactly do you want to know Clay...you want to know about Wilkes?"
Clay nodded and leaned against the edge of the counter.
"How shall I start this morbid tale Clay? Shall I start with how he broke into my hotel room intending to kill me? How he put the gun to my head,? How the only weapon I could get to was a knife and then how I stabbed him with it. Is that what you want to hear Clay...how I killed a man? Will that satisfy your curiosity Clay? You wanna hear about the blood Clay? How it coats your hands and gets everywhere, in your clothes and your hair and it's so goddamn sticky you think you'll never get it off..."
Clay looked on helplessly as tears ran down Casey's face her voice had been steadily rising as she spoke, to a near hysterical pitch.
"...and I never will get it off. His blood will always be there on my hands. Clay....I killed a man."
She made that last statement with such finality and despair that Clay's heart nearly broke to hear it.
"Case...you did it in self defence. It was him or you, you did it as a matter of survival."
"Survival..."
She repeated as though she'd never heard the word before.
"He's dead Clay and I'm in hell, how is THAT survival?"
Clay crossed the room to where Casey stood and took her in his arms, she didn't fight him and she didn't push him away. She just let herself be held as the tears gave way to sobs.
From the back door to the kitchen Harm & Mac had listened silently as Casey told Clay about the mission and about the horror of having to kill a man at close quarters.
They had always assumed that Clay & Casey's job was mainly pencil-pushing, at that moment they realised how wrong their assumptions had been.
Casey & Clay put their lives on the line just as often as any combat soldier did....maybe even more often.
But for them, there would be no glory, no medals pinned on their chest, just the silent recognition of others in their field and the knowledge that they had done something for their country.
They watched as Clay held his partner in his arms.
They knew they were seeing a side of Clay that he kept well hidden, his job and often his life depended on his lack of emotion.
Clay turned and saw them standing in the doorway.
He didn't tell them to leave...he just looked at them, his own anguish at his partners horrifying ordeal showing in his eyes.
For one brief moment Harmon Rabb Jr & Sarah McKenzie saw into the soul of Clayton Webb...and they found nothing to condemn