Or at least attempting to kick his ass.
One look around the room told Dice that he'd have at least three of his squad joining in. Price was there in spirit, he imagined. It was only Thor who stood by passively, looking as if he was observing a great play of some sort. The amusement was etched on his expression far too clearly.
"What do you want, Spade?" Dice asked, exhaling deeply and forcing some calm upon himself.
It was damn difficult to do.
"I came here to be briefed, of course," Spade started mildly, shrugging his shoulders as he looked from one agent to the next. "I hear that Shifter Squad Nine almost brought down Etihad Tower number one. That's some kind of covert work there, boys."
"We didn't have a choice," Rio said, sounding convinced and adamant as he glanced to Dice. "Dice's woman was in danger."
"I didn't recall that your mission statements included anything about wayward mates or saving them from peril," Spade said.
He sounded like he was already entirely bored by the conversation.
"I wouldn't have left her in danger, Spade. You know that," Dice said, his tone grim.
"I have to imagine there would have been more elegant solutions than stealing an assault helicopter and bringing the whole nation to turmoil."
"Maybe."
That was all Dice really had to say about it. He didn't regret anything that he'd done, nor the ways he had done them in. The ends justified the means.
"And then," Spade continued after a pause. "Most of my elite team goes off on some fool's errand to ransack the private property of one of the most influential billionaires in the world. Who thought that was a good idea?"
"Most of the team, obviously," Ryker said with a chuckle, tucking a cigar in his mouth but not lighting it.
Dice was certain it was on account of Dean being in the room. For guys who seemed to have all the manners and breeding of wild beasts, they could really handle themselves around kids and women when necessary.
"I can't say I was surprised to get the call from Thor that your asses needed saving," Spade said.
"That's not exactly how I phrased it," Thor noted, though he didn't seem too keen on contradicting Spade about his assessment.
"I appreciate the heads up," Spade chuckled. "But I knew that you were going. Rowen's private detail had been trying to empty out the compound all day and we figured there was something going on that was connected to you miscreants."
"Wait. You knew where Meredith was being held? You knew where Dean was?!" Dice demanded, his voice rising in volume and pitch and only Meredith's quick squeeze of his hand and Dean's surprised look forced him to calm himself down slightly.
"I did," Spade said with the simplest of nods. "You should know this by now. I know everything."
The pause it brought in the room was thick with irritation. Dice got the very clear feeling that Spade had something on each and every man there and that was the only reason why they hadn't joined forces to lop his head off yet.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Dice asked, his eyes flashing brown and his voice a low growl.
"It wasn't time," Spade responded, simple and straightforward as usual. "Her work wasn't far enough advanced yet."
"How do you know about my work?" Meredith asked, surprised.
Spade rolled his eyes.
"Nothing in this team happens without a reason, gentlemen. You may think it does and you may hope that you're one step ahead of me, but you're not. I urge you to try and be adults and at least attempt to warn me about your idiocy in advance so I may make this easier on all of us. Meredith's work was important for us and I have little certainty that it would have come together quite so well without a little … push from The Arctics. But as you can see, we're all together here now, one happy family."
Spade spread his arms with a grin and this time it was Rio, snarling at him.
"You motherfucker. You almost got all of them killed. Those civilians, Dice's girl, the kids … "
"Price," Prowler added lowly, the usually upbeat and talkative hacker subdued that day on account of his blood loss and the obvious worry for his twin.
It was like a dark shadow was hanging over his shoulders.
"Every war has its consequences," Spade said coolly. "I'll see you gentlemen back stateside. Try not to blow up any skyscrapers between then and now, hmm?"
Hateful gazes followed Spade and his procession of spooks as they exited the central area, certain to go catch a helicopter and leave the bunker as fast as they could. Dice could only imagine that Julien Rowen was tied up and thrown in the back with them as well, as the squad had made a detour to pick him up after leaving the compound.
That, or he's sitting pretty with Spade, drinking fucking champagne.
Both thoughts were equally as likely to be true. It made Dice's blood boil.
When the door closed behind Spade, Dice could practically hear everyone letting out a collective breath. There was something about that goddamn guy that was so unsettling these days that his aura could command a room of men who weren't afraid of the devil, but the intelligence operative could make them all stand a little bit straighter.
"Fuck, I hate that guy," Rio exclaimed, shaking his head and wincing as a flash of pain must have shot through him.
"Do you want to tell us what happened, Thor?" Dice asked, ignoring the wish to join in with Rio about snarling about his former close friend turned frenemy.
All eyes turned on Thor and he smirked slightly before meeting Dice's gaze.
"What's there to say?"
"Why did you decide to come after us, for one thing," Ryker interjected.
"Yeah. I thought you were too good for sideline missions," Rio added.
"Guess I had my reasons."
"Reasons that made you go to Spade?" Dice asked.
Thor snorted at that, straightening up. "I'm gonna tell you what he told you already. He knows everything. You and I both know that and if the rest of you don't then it's about time you get on the bandwagon. Whatever you think you're managing to do behind his back, it's not happening. He's the one who gets us into these piles of shit, he's the one who has to get us out."
"Us?" Dice asked, catching Thor referring to the team in a manner which implied at least a passing interest in it.
"Whatever," he said, shrugging.
Dice looked at Meredith and her lovely blue eyes softened slightly. Gently, she slipped her hand out of his and crossed through the room, Dice watching her with surprise. She walked up to the tall, deadly sniper, slouched against the wall in a defensive pose, and put her hands around him, hugging him.
"Thank you, Thor. I am grateful for your help."
Dice couldn't hide his smile as the man seemed to be paralyzed in place for a moment, before he gingerly returned the hug. It was awkward at best, with him patting her on the shoulder like he'd been caught unaware, but that didn't seem to deter Meredith one bit. Her smile was genuine and warm and the affection and thanks that was evident on her expression sincerely heartfelt.
Dice shook his head as she went through the rest of the team the same way, smiling to himself.
What have you done to deserve a woman as good as Meredith?
He couldn't really answer that. But he knew that he was going to spend the rest of his life fighting to make sure that she knew how much he appreciated her in his life. He was going to be worthy of her, one day. Even if it took the rest of the days he had.
Epilogue
Meredith
"Dice, I'm not sure I like this," Meredith muttered as she held out her hands in front of her pawing her way forward.
"Relax," Dice's warm voice whispered in her ear, his strong hands on her shoulders, guiding her.
For the last forty minutes, she'd been blindfolded and deprived of the information she so sorely wanted to have. Dice had taken her on an unmarked airplane on a private airfield, flown her from Los Angeles – where they'd only arrived a few days ago from Asia so Shifter Squad Nine could be briefed on their next mission – and then made sure that she knew almost nothing since they'd landed.