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There must be just three seconds since the phone rings until Stiles answers it. For the last two days he hasn’t had his phone out of sight.
“Adam?”
“He’s alive. Stiles, he is alive.”
“Oh thank god. Thank you. Thank you!”
“You don’t need to thank me.” Adam smiles.
“I know.” But what are you supposed to say in a case like this? He’s never been through this before. Adam can’t blame him if he doesn’t know what’s the right way to react.
“I told you to trust him, didn’t I? I told you he’s too headstrong to die out there. I said we’d find him.”
“Yes, you did. You did, I know. But excuse me if I’ve seen too many spy series to be the most optimistic person in the world.”
“Well, I trained him, okay? I know what he’s capable of dealing with. And you’ll have him back home soon, so you can stop worrying.”
“How soon is soon?”
“Well, it depends on his recovery. He’ll probably need to stay in the hospital for a few days—”
“Shit. A hospital?” Stiles interrupts him. “I thought you said—”
“I said he’s alive but I didn’t say he’s exactly unscathed…”
Stiles just realizes that he got so excited with the confirmation that Jackson was alive, that he totally forgot to ask how he was doing.
“How is he doing? What’s wrong with him? Is he… I mean, is he…?
“He’s got all his members attached if that’s what you’re wondering.”
“All his members? Shit, Adam! That’s not what I was thinking! Is he going to be okay?”
“Stiles…” Adam hesitates, he’s not sure how many details to give over the phone.
“Just tell me already. I can handle it.”
The truth is that even if he knows Stiles can handle it, there’s never an easy way to say it.
“Yes… yes, he’s going to be okay… but it’s going to take a while. This is not something you can fix in a couple of weeks... or a month.”
“What are you talking about?” Stiles walks to the sofa and sits down.
“It’s not that simple… he’s been… well, he’s been tortured. So… he’s gonna need some time.”
Stiles is left speechless for a moment trying to process the information.
“Stiles?” Adam asks after what seems like too long. “Are you okay?”
“Tortured? What exactly do you mean?”
“You know what I mean. That’s something that series get quite right, actually…”
“Yeah, but what did they do to him? What happened? You don’t have to protect me.”
“Stiles… that’s not… I think you should talk about it with him when he’s here… that is, if he wants to talk about it, and I’m not trying to protect you, okay? All I know is that he’s got a broken leg, a few broken fingers and ribs, he’s lost blood too... and his face… well, he’s not his usual pretty self, as you can imagine. He’s having surgery on his leg as we speak, so you’ll have to wait a few hours to speak to him.”
“And when…” Stiles takes a deep breath. ”When is he going to be here exactly?”
“Our team is preparing his extraction for tomorrow morning. I just need the go-ahead from the doctor but yes, hopefully he’ll be back here tomorrow night. I’ll tell you as soon as I have the confirmation.”
Stiles sighs and runs a hand through his hair.
“So, you said, he’ll need time but he’ll recover from this, right? You mean that?”
“I think so, yes. Whatever scars he ends up with are not what you should be worried about. I was tortured once… I went through hell and survived, and the following months were hard but I learnt to live with it and the nightmares stopped being so frequent. It got better, eventually… I even started a family. And he’s got you to help him. But most of all, he’s resilient and proud, and I’m sure he’ll deal with it just like I did. If there’s anything I know about him is that he doesn’t give up and he’s too stubborn to let what’s happened end his career… but...”
“But what?” Stiles asks when Adam hesitates.
“Well, for that, he will have to accept help… from us… from you... and that might end up being more difficult… you know how he is.”
“Yeah, I do.” His husband needs to feel like he’s best at everything he does… and if it gets into his head that he wasn’t at the top of his game, he can only imagine how he’s going to feel.
“Okay, I’ll talk to you later—”
“Wait!” Stiles interrupts him before Adam can end the call. “I know you’ll say it’s all confidential and shit but when he gets here I’m going to ask him… so, you might as well tell me what you can… I mean, can you tell me what happened? How did you find him at least?”
“Stiles…”
“Please, come on. I’m sure this has nothing to do with the operation and whatever he was doing there.”
“Okay, fine.” It’s not like if Jackson won’t end up sharing what happened sooner or later. “We still don’t know all the details, which I couldn’t tell you anyway, but for some reason his cover was blown and of course, they only kept him alive because they thought they could break him and get valuable information out of him. But a week is too long and we knew he was running out of time. Fortunately, the other operative on this assignment was able to figure out what could have happened and the most probable place where they could be hiding him. So, we sent a team and basically their rescue mission went as smoothly as we could have expected… and he was still alive, so yeah, your husband is a very lucky guy. Apart from a damn good agent. Whatever happened, I know it has nothing to do with his abilities or his performance, and you should know that.”
“Yes, well, I’m not the one you need to tell that.”
Adam snorts and smiles. “Yes… yes, I know… Okay, now I really have to go. We still have to arrange a few things for his return. I’ll let you know when you can talk to him.”
“Okay, yes, thank you Adam,” Stiles says before hanging up.
Stiles leaves the phone on the coffee table, rests his elbows on his knees and hides his face on his hands. He can’t stop the tears of relief and happiness that start welling up in his eyes and escaping down his cheeks. It is the most indescribable feeling.
Holy shit.
He’s alive.
He’s going to see him again.