"Thank you, sir." Mitchell narrowed his gaze on Grey and thought a curse.

Grey quirked a brow. "I just find it curious."

Outside the hut, on their way back to the field hospital, Mitchell stopped and turned to Ramirez and Brown. "You guys think I made a mistake?"

"Absolutely not," said Ramirez. "And don't let Howitzer get to you, sir. She was born pissed off."

"What about you, Marcus? You don't look so sure."

"I don't think it was a mistake, but . . ."

"But . . ."

"You know they're breathing down our necks, watching everything we do. If you show any bias at all, they know about it. That's all I'm saying. We've always been clear where we stand with you, sir."

Mitchell nodded. "It's the old reminder: don't let it get personal. I know. And if it were anybody else . . ."

"You did the right thing, sir," Ramirez said. "You heard the colonel. And what the hell did they expect? If they were so worried about you showing bias, they would've denied your request to lead this mission. Come on."

"Yeah. Well, there's no love lost between us and the CIA, and this didn't help. I think that's Grey's problem. I've put her in an awkward position."

"Like you said, we're all on the same team," said Brown. "Those spooks will figure that out. And they'll get over it."

It took another fifteen minutes to reach the hospital, and once there, Brown and Ramirez went off with Diaz to grab something warm to drink while Mitchell checked on Rutang.

To his surprise, Rutang was sitting up in bed, awake, an IV already in. A nurse there said they'd already drawn blood and that they'd had him scheduled for X-rays because of the blunt trauma to his head and face.

"Yo, Tang, what's up?" asked Mitchell in his best spirit-lifting tone.

"Scott, I think I'm done. Stick a fork in me."

"Whatever they drugged you with is wearing off. Your eyes look good."

"Don't change the subject. I told you, I'm done."

"Done with what? Filling your bedpan?"

"Between this and the Philippines . . ."

"Uh, let's see, you've had two missions that went south out of what, a hundred? It's like plane travel. You only hear about the crashes."

"That's what my cousin keeps telling me. The bastard just made colonel, too."

"Good for him. But we're talking about you."

He closed his eyes. "When they were beating me, I just kept thinking about Mandy and the kids, about how selfish I am for wanting to do this and how they were going to lose me--when this is the time they need me most. Everybody warns you about having a family."

"That's a cop-out."

He snapped open his eyes. "Then why is everybody single or divorced? Look at you."

Mitchell made a face. "Rutang, this isn't the time for career decisions. You focus on recovery."

"Yeah, whatever." He glanced away.