"If that were true, you wouldn't let them close to me either. Or have friends. You're scared of caring for them, Bill, because you know that's exactly what you would do."

Williams leans on his desk, his fists hard against the wood.

Solonna leans into her husband's side. "You would tear the world apart for them. They deserve to know the good man you are, not the mentor you have to be."

William leans his head against Solonna's, for a moment. 

"Sometimes I feel like you can read my mind."

"You're just easy to read." Solonna kisses William's cheek.

William kisses her once, and then rubs a hand over his face, sighing. 

"I'm so proud of them, Sol. Desmond got past Agnes, Kel. Even George. Never had someone so young get past trained field agents like that. And Sean? Takes every duty without complaint."

"You need to tell them that, Bill."

"Probably too late now. You've always been better at that part of this."

"We had children to have children, Bill. Not to raise more soldiers."

"Yet soldiers they have to be." 

"Being your son puts them in danger. Better they have the skills and never need them, than not and end up vulnerable."

"Exactly. So I sacrifice what I want for what they need." 

"But you don't have to do that!"

"I would rather my sons hate me and be strong. They have you to care and love them. I can be what they hate now, to protect them later." 

Solonna wants to argue, wants to push her husband to see how foolish what he thinks is right is, but this is an old, tired argument. So instead, she sits in the chair opposite his desk, and leans her head in her hand, and sighs. 

"You didn't pull me aside for this, I hope." 

William watches her resign herself to frustration, lets the hurt take him for a moment, and then moves on. 

"We've got intel from the Moscow cell. Some follow ups on the Shroud. Since you had access to the POE research, I was hoping you could confirm some things." 

He loads up the information on his computer.

Solonna steadies herself with a breath, and then gets up to look over the intel. 

Sean gives Desmond a few hours to calm down, and then, as the last bit of sun is sinking down behind the mountains, he tracks his brother down to his favourite hiding place. There's a jagged hill of rocks, the prelude to the mountains beyond, that has a flat plateau at the top, surrounded by a lip that hides you from the bottom. It's high up, and hidden, Desmond's two favourite things. 

Sean doesn't give him a warning before he's up and moving fluidly, swinging himself over the top. 

Desmond gives him one look, and then shuffles aside. He doesn't say a word.

Sean can't help his small smile. Even mad as Desmond clearly was, he still made room for him. 

Sean lies next to Desmond, staring up at the last stripes of pink and purple in the sky. "I'm sorry."

Desmonds shifts a little, and digs his shoulders back into the rock. 

"I know it's frustrating. To have to run all these fucking tests. Prove that you're a good soldier or whatever. But they do just wanna protect you. Give you skills to protect yourself." 

More shuffling.

"They just don't wanna show you something you might not be ready for, enano."

"How am I supposed to care about this if I don't even know why I care?" Desmond mumbles.