could force it down a little longer. It was easier when shooting from a distance. Better, but that wasn't the same as not there at all. He couldn't smell the blood. He didn't have to look at the corpses he'd left in his wake.
And then a cold nose pressed against the side of his face. "Hey, buddy," he breathed to his dog. "Gimme a sec to take this apart, Crysis."
"No," Bradley told him. "Pet your dog now. The gun will wait, Jason. You? Not so much."
Making sure his weapon was safe, Jason set it down and turned to his dog. "C'mere, Crysis."
Immediately, the mutt shoved onto his lap and began licking Jason's jaw. His arms wrapped around Crysis's neck, and he pushed his face into the fur, smelling nothing but dog. For this moment, all he had to worry about was his dog. Zara was fine, and Crysis was doing his best to make it impossible to think of anything else but here and now.
The dog wiggled, he licked, and he pressed in even harder. In the back of his mind, Jason could feel something releasing, giving way, and he wasn't sure he wanted to deal with it. Not yet. Not before he could make sure Zara was ok, but his dog wasn't giving him any other choice. Jason's breath rushed out and his eyes stung, but Crysis was there to lick the tears away before they fell.
It was hard to refuse happiness when a dog was this thrilled to simply be the center of attention. No, his service animal wasn't a cure. He was more like a release valve, keeping Jason from letting his mental issues build up. Grief was normal. Horror at what he'd had to do was only human. There was nothing wrong with him, and yet everything, but his dog made that feel just a little easier to deal with.
"I'm ok, big guy," he promised. "Zara's ok, and that means we're going to be just fine. We won, Crysis. We did it, bud!"
Then Bradley's hand clasped Jason's shoulder. "The case is closed, Jason. It's over. It's finally fucking over."
Jason pulled back from his dog and let out a sigh. The breath was filled with so much, and it seemed he'd been holding onto it much too long, but those words? This time? It was finally real. This was all over. He'd defeated the final boss, and his team had been there the whole time to help.
Eventually, he got Crysis off his lap, after convincing both Bradley and the mutt that he really would be ok. Then he went back to breaking down his gun and putting it away. Everything was supposed to be absolutely perfect now, but there was one little problem that Bradley hadn't thought about yet.
"I didn't get authorization to take the shots," Jason said as he closed his case and stood.
"You did," Bradley assured him. "I'm pretty sure I said to fire when you could, and as the ranking agent up here..."
"No." The sound of a woman's voice made both of them turn to see Alex leaning against the door to the roof. Clearly, she'd been there for a while. "When you both write your reports, I want you to indicate that I made it clear to use your judgement and take the shot if you felt no civilians would be harmed. I'm pretty sure I made it clear before you both left the hotel that I'm all in with this. Agent Raige, the authorization - and repercussions of that decision - are on me and me alone. You did good, sir."
"Only because none of the good guys died," he pointed out.
She lifted a brow. "I gave that man a vest. I made sure he had enough time to say goodbye." Then she paused. "I thought Braden got shot?"
"In the vest," Jason assured her. "He was talking to me until the paramedics got there. Probably broke a couple ribs, and he's going to be hurting, but he'll live. They're taking him and all the hostages to the hospital to be sure, but sounds like they're all ok, ma'am."
"Alex," she reminded him.
He nodded. "The Director won't like me being on a shooting where my wife was a hostage."
"He can suck our collective asses," Alex assured him. "I needed a sniper capable of taking that shot. You are that man. The local options don't have as much experience at the angle you were forced to use." She looked out over the roof. "You're covered, Jason.