Cut and Run 1 - Cut and Run

started and were taken care of before you were in the Bureau because you wouldn't have stayed in after developing them. Military?” he asked dubiously.
    Zane had to smile a little as he looked up and saw the wheels turning. “Not military. You get two more guesses."
    "Funny, I had you pegged for Air Force,” Ty drawled with a shake of his head and a smirk.
    A sharp bark of laughter escaped Zane before he could repress it. “Unfortunately, my candy-ass image is only recently cultivated. I'm pleased that it's so convincing,” he said, not at all brightly. He still wanted a drink, and his itchy hands and parched throat were getting worse. “You're military, of course."
    "Marines,” Ty offered as he looked up at Zane without moving his head, his fork stopping as he smiled slowly. “Force Recon."
    Zane's shoulders stiffened. So Ty was a highly specialized warrior, trained to take the worst of a hostile environment. To be there and be invisible. To be there and be deadly. The knowledge made something inside Zane go cold. “Makes sense,” he said tightly. “Anyone who could be so insubordinate could only have been the total opposite at some point in time,” he observed. Zane pushed the salad bowl away and strongly contemplated another cigarette.
    Ty snorted and shook his head in amusement. “Insubordinate,” he echoed with a little snicker.
    Glancing up, Zane was already resigned to being insulted. Modus operandi for Ty. “What?"
    "If I were really all that much of a liability, do you think I'd still be around?” Ty inquired curiously. “I mean, I'm good, but I ain't that good."
    Zane didn't even have to think up his answer. “Incorrect. It means you're so good that you can be as insubordinate as you like and get away with it. We both know there's a difference between being a liability in the field and an asshole in the office."
    "We certainly do,” Ty agreed with a shit-eating grin. “Asshole."
    "Coming from you, I'll take that as a compliment."
    Ty merely shrugged and went about eating his salad happily. Zane seemed to have a higher opinion of his abilities than he did of Zane's. Which was how it should be, as far as Ty could tell. Soon, the main dishes were brought out and Ty gave the waitress a wink for her trouble. “So, what'd you do?” he asked Zane finally.
    Zane knew what Ty was asking. His lips lifted into a small smile. “The hookers were informants."
    "Oh, yeah?” Ty asked, his tone of voice that of a patient parent entertaining a child.
    The anger flared again, and tamping it down took serious effort. “I don't need another goddamn priest. You want to know or not? Because if you're just going to humor me, then I'm shutting up,” Zane growled.
    "Temper, temper,” Ty tutted with a wave of his fork in Zane's face. “What sort of cybercrimes informants are hookers?” he asked, completely changing the direction.
    "I didn't always work in the Cyber Division,” Zane told Ty tightly.
    "Huh,” Ty commented disinterestedly. “And you were fucking your informants, too?"
    Zane shrugged one shoulder. What was it about Ty that made him want to fly off the handle?
    Ty gave a low whistle, shaking his head. “No fucking wonder you got busted down."
    Zane gave him a hateful look. “Didn't think when they put you on a leash it would be to a damn anchor, did you?” he asked testily.
    "I was expecting an anvil with a little pink slip attached,” Ty admitted. “Call me Wile E. Coyote."
    Surprised by the candor, Zane leaned back when the waitress refilled his tea pitcher, waiting until she was gone. “So what'd you do to piss them off?"
    Ty actually winced as he took a sip of his water and shrugged. “That's still classified,” he answered honestly.
    "Ouch.” ‘Still classified’ usually meant the shit hit the fan, and then some. “So the bricks, the anvil, and the ACME explosives."
    "You got ACME written on your forehead,” Ty muttered. He leaned back and cocked his head with an audible sigh. “I was in charge of the op,” he explained, completely unashamed of what he knew probably should have gotten him fired ... and possibly arrested. “We skirted some corners and whited out some of the rule book; then it all went to hell."
    "From what little I know of you, it should have worked, though, huh?” Zane said as their dinners were delivered. “It would have been worth it."
    "Yes,” Ty answered succinctly. “It would have been worth it."
    Zane raised his eyes to study the other man.