Chapter Text
Dr. Ryland Grace sat on his bed, notebook and pen in hand. He was scribbling down notes on theories and experiment protocols he wanted to try out as soon as Dr. Lamai released him back to lab duty. It had been two weeks since the UNESCO disaster, and he was going absolutely stir crazy.
The only reason he wasn't in the lab was because Carl guarded his door.
If he left, Carl followed him. He was allowed to go to the rec room. He was allowed to go to the mess hall. He was allowed to go on deck. He has wrangled into going to his physical therapy appointments. And he was grudgingly allowed to sit in on two hours of meetings every day. Carl was very strict about those two hours as well. Not even Stratt could force him to back down.
Other than that, he felt like he was being confined to quarters and Carl was his jailor.
He looked up as Carl knocked on his door. It was always Carl. There might be someone else with him, but Carl decided whether or not Grace could be disturbed.
"Come in," Grace answered.
Carl opened the door. "Time for dinner," he said.
"Give me five minutes. I'm in the middle of -"
"Now, Dr. Grace."
"Pushy!" Grace said huffily. "Honestly, why am I the one being punished here?"
"You're not being 'punished,' Dr. Grace. You're being forced to actually take care of yourself."
"Feels like being punished," Grace muttered.
"Downtime is not a punishment, Dr. Grace. Besides, maybe you'll pick up a few good habits. Although, I doubt it." Carl took Grace's notebook. "I'll give this to the lab so they can get to work on it. This evening, Ms. Ilyukhina has decided you're doing karaoke."
"I thought you liked me, Carl."
"I do, Dr. Grace." Carl flashed a smile at him. "But right now, I have full authority to make sure you're relaxing and recovering. And Ms. Ilyukhina has assured me that karaoke is good for you."
"And?"
"And she got me two boxes of Sour Skittles. One of which will be provided to you if you sing."
"You're a cruel man, Carl," Grace said with a grin.
Carl just led him to the mess hall over to the table where several people were already sitting. Then he went to get their dinner.
"Gracie!" Olesya Ilyukhina said. "Good to see you. Carl agreed you could come to karaoke tonight. Stay up late." She looked at him. "How are you feeling though, really?"
"I'm going stir crazy. I want to get in the lab, but Dr. Lamai won't let me until I'm done with my medicine."
"That's pretty sound," Commander Li-Jen Yao put in. "You're on some pretty powerful medication."
"I know. Lab safety. But I could just not take the medicine," Grace added. "It's not like I-"
Stratt happened to be walking by with two cups of coffee as he said this. "Dr. Grace, you will not refuse medical care." She offered him a sympathetic smile. "I want you back in that lab as much as anyone, but I am not going to have you suffering to do so. It's just another couple of weeks. " She looked at Ilyukhina. "For the record, the pain medication he is on cannot be taken with alcohol. So you are not to spike his drinks this evening."
Olesya nodded solemnly, as if this had actually been her plan. "Good to know. I wouldn't want to hurt Gracie by accident."
"Dr. Grace, I will see you tomorrow at 10 am for a briefing," she gave him a terse smile and walked out.
Carl came by with two trays and sat down next to Grace. He put one in front of Grace, who looked at the tray. Pot roast with mashed potatoes, broccoli, a roll and a slice of strawberry cake. He picked up his fork and loaded it with the pot roast.
Carl looked at him. "So, Dr. Grace. When were you going to tell us about your brothers?" he asked with a grin.
"My… my what?" Grace said, his fork stopping halfway to his mouth.
"Brothers," Carl repeated, smiling.
"You have brothers?" Olesya asked. "When we get to meet them? Are you baby family, I bet yes." She was clearly excited about this new piece of information.
"Um. I have a brother, yes," Grace said. His foot tapped.
"Pretty sure you have two," Carl corrected.
"Had two," Grace said tersely, setting his fork down. "I only have one brother now, and he .. Can we just change the subject?" he finished, clearly upset and trying desperately to cover it.
Now all of the people were looking at him intently.
Grace looked towards the door. Why did they have to bring this up?
Oleysa frowned, sensing his discomfot, then nodded. "What song you sing tonight, Li-Jen?"
Li-Jen shrugged. "I wasn't going to sing."
"Of course you sing. We all sing. Even Gracie sing, right?" she asked.
Now he was cornered. She'd just rescued him from talking about his brother, but the price was singing karaoke.
"You don't want to hear me sing," Grace said softly.
Dimitri laughed loudly. "Now we absolutely must hear."
Grace took a deep breath. "I'll think about it, but if your ears start bleeding, you only have yourselves to blame."
"I pick song!" Olesya declared.
Grace glared at Carl. Carl looked at him and pointed his fork at the tray. "Best eat, Dr. Grace. You know you're not supposed to take your medicine on an empty stomach."
Grace ate, but the meal tasted bitter and sat heavily in his stomach.
After he was done eating, Carl took his tray and left to take them to the kitchen area. Grace knew he was supposed to wait for the man, but he was not interested right now. He stood up and left the mess hall as soon as Carl was out of sight. He was supposed to go to the medical unit and pick up his evening pills, but he needed fresh air. Grace walked out on deck and stood at the railing, watching the waves crash against the Gansu.
How had Carl known about his brother in the first place? Grace was certain that it wasn't in his file. Why would Colt be in his file in the first place? They didn't have the same last name. They would have had to have access to adoption records, which were usually sealed. Yes, he had a twin, but they'd been separated in foster care. Grace had been adopted as had Colt, by different families. And how would he even have information about Courtland at all?
Grace stared out across the horizon. The last time he'd spoken to Colt had been ugly. He had managed to track his brother down by merest of luck. He had gone to a Tom Ryder movie and one of the edits on a stunt wasn't as clean as it could have been. It reminded him of his brother. He watched the names in the credits and sure enough, there had been a Colt listed. Colt Seavers. He remembered the thrill of realizing he may have found his brother, looking him up and seeing his own face mirrored back at him. It had taken him a few weeks to get the courage to reach out to the production manager to try to get in touch. He'd sent an email, and the next day, he had a call and was talking to his brother. Grace pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to push back the emotion that was starting to overcome him.
It had been like they had never been apart. Soon they met in person, and the two were just as close as they had been before-- no, Grace was not ready to think of before. They had been just as close as ever.
Until Colt's accident. Grace had tried to help him, but he just got angrier and angrier. He finally told Grace that all of this was his fault. Court was gone, because of him. His dad was gone, because of him. They grew up separately because of him. Because he was a coward.
And because Grace was a coward, he ran.
A few months later, Grace came here.
He hadn't spoken to Colt since then. He couldn't speak about him now. He didn't deserve to have brothers.
----
Damsel was smarter than most. She saw the contract but decided to play a longer game. She knew most of these idiots would come in, bullets flying. Drawing a lot of attention to themselves. But the thing she was interested in was information. She liked to hunt.
The Petrova Task Force was a huge undertaking, but it was moving in silence. Utmost secrecy. Highest security. Information on it was extremely difficult; however, having a key member of the task force at the summit would expose the entire operation's location. All she had to do was be patient. A member of the task force was coming to the summit, but their highest targets would be more difficult to reach.
Damsel was surprised when one of the two most wanted members actually walked onto the stage. No matter. Even if he were disposed today, the movement of the task force would be exposed, allowing her access to Director Eva Stratt herself.
So Damsel watched. She watched the security agents who protected Dr. Grace and paid heed to their movements. She followed all of the other attendees to the lobby, where she saw Dr. Grace loaded into an ambulance with those same two agents.
Damsel went to the hospital, intending to finish Dr. Grace, but he was too well guarded. None of the agents would talk to her. She snuck into an employee locker room and stole a uniform, before going back on the floor. Even still, she couldn't get near Dr. Grace's room.
She found an unlocked terminal and looked up the medical record for Dr. Grace, looking for his condition and any medication he would be prescribed. She found a notation that he was to be discharged in two days.
She nodded.
Damsel almost gave herself away when Director Stratt herself walked down the hallway towards Dr. Grace's room. The two most wanted people in her organization were currently at the same hospital. She knew Director Stratt. She would not stay here long. She would get back to wherever the task force was. Damsel didn't have time to bring in a strike team, or plan an assault. She chose patience.
As Director Stratt left, Damsel followed. Not close. Stratt took an elevator to the roof of the hospital. Damsel ran up the stairs. She was able to see the call sign of the helicopter as it flew off.
That was a start. She could get some sources to track that helicopter and start to trace where the task force was currently operating.
And when they moved Dr. Grace in two days, she could cross reference.
Then it was just a matter of finding a way to infiltrate. Damsel had time.