Team Building with Jack Landors (SPD, A Squad, #35, T)
characters: SPD’s A Squad (Sky, Jack, Charlie)
prompt #35: shattered
word count: 1800
rating: T
summary: "Less than half my team is still committed to SPD, let alone to picking up a morpher."
Team Building with Jack Landors (shattered)
by *Andrea
“Okay,” Jack said, closing the door to the conference room behind them. “We gotta get everyone two things: some time off, and a regular schedule. Preferably both, but I’m willing to prioritize the first if we can’t manage the second right away.”
Sky sat down, mostly because he thought neither Charlie nor Jack would do it first. And he knew how Jack’s plans went. If this was going to be quick, he would have already done it himself. He’d asked for their help, therefore, the “hour” he’d asked for could end up going until lunch.
“What do I have to do with it?” Charlie wanted to know. She pulled two chairs back from the table, sat in the first one and put her feet up on the second one. “I thought you said there was a problem.”
Jack turned a chair around and swung his leg over it, resting his arms on the back as he stared at the table. Sky blinked. Looking from one to the other and back again, he remembered story after story: rebellion, improvisation, disciplinary action, failure to follow orders. Not the perfect soldier. The anti-soldier.
The tradition of the Red Ranger.
It was a strange moment, realizing that the role of leader wasn’t to do as one was told, but to question why everyone else obeyed. Jack and Charlie did it without thinking, without effort. Because they really didn’t know. It didn’t make any sense to them that people would follow blindly--them, or anyone else. That was why they ended up standing with the others, instead of in front of them.
“There is,” Jack was saying. “But here’s a more important thing: I told Commander Cruger that I was keeping this morpher until you asked for it back. So far you haven’t asked.”
Charlie rested one hand on the table, fingers still on its surface. “No,” she agreed, staring back at him. “I haven’t.”
“It’s yours when you do,” Jack told her. “It’s not mine, and I know it was well as Cruger does.”
Charlie didn’t answer.
“Next thing,” Jack continued, and Sky raised an eyebrow. Interesting way to start. Especially since, if he knew Jack, he was about to follow up with the actual problem. “Kat’s pregnant. She’s not gonna be patrolling anymore, and she voluntarily surrendered her morpher.”
Sky glanced at Charlie and found her looking back. “Maybe I heard wrong,” Sky said, “but I thought you just said Kat’s pregnant.”
“Dr. Felix confirms it,” Jack said, refolding his arms on the top of his chair. “Kat is pregnant.”
“Our Kat,” Sky repeated, just to make sure. “Dr. Manx, from the lab?”
“How is that possible?” Charlie asked, frowning. “She’s the only one of her--” She waved her hand vaguely, though whether to indicate species, race, or people, Sky didn’t know. “Kind,” she finished, “on Earth.”
Jack held up his hands. “You’d have to ask her. I don’t know who the other parent is, I don’t know where they are, I don’t know when they knew each other. All I know is that her due date’s in April, and she doesn’t know if she’ll be able to keep working in the lab that whole time.”
“Sophie,” Sky said, suddenly understanding.
“Boom,” Charlie said at the same time.
“Both of them,” Jack admitted. “It’s gonna take at least two people to do Kat’s job when she’s gone, and they’re the ones she wants. Which means they’re gonna need extra time with her pretty soon. While she’s still around.”
Sky glanced at Charlie, and she folded her arms. “Yeah,” she said, not looking at him. “I get it.”
“Look, we’re just marking the space,” Jack said. “A Squad is your team. You can have as much time as you want, but I want your input before I pick new subs. They’re still your morphers. They’re ready when you’re ready for them.”
“We’re not,” Charlie said bluntly. “Less than half my team is still committed to SPD, let alone to picking up a morpher. I’ve got one thinking about quitting and one who’s fallen off the radar. I can’t promise you anything right now.”
“What about you?” Sky asked, before Jack could say anything. “Are you staying?”
She met his gaze evenly, but he had held her while she cried. He knew she hadn’t been anywhere on that list. “I won’t stay without my team,” she said.
“There are other people here who care about you,” he reminded her.
“Hooray for them,” Charlie snapped. “I’m telling you how it is; you can take it or leave it.”
“You and Rose were a big help while Kat and I were gone,” Jack interrupted. “Do you have anyone who wants a morpher now? Temporarily or otherwise?”
Charlie put her hand back on the table and looked at it in lieu of either of them. “Rose wants back on a team,” she said. “Don wants back on A Squad. Des is pissed at Miguel right now and won’t commit to SPD without him. No one’s heard from Miguel in days, so who knows how that turns out.”
Sky frowned. He would have guessed Des would be the one to stay while Don left--if they split at all, which he hadn’t counted on. He’d pegged theirs as the friendship least likely to break, even before Charlie and Rose. There’d been a couple of days when he was sure Charlie would go too far and drive Rose away. Deliberately.
He obviously needed more practice with the whole psychological aspect of team building.
“Can I give Don the Yellow morpher?” Jack was asking.
Charlie shrugged. “Fine by me.”
“What about Rose?” Jack pressed. “Is she willing to take over for Ally? Ally’s just doing me a favor out there, and she’s really not happy about the hours.”
Charlie actually cracked a smile at that, which surprised Sky. “Yeah.”
“Yeah, you noticed,” Jack said, “or yeah, Rose will take a morpher?”
“She wants a vacation,” Charlie said. “Rose. She wants to go home and see her parents for Kwanzaa. I’m going with her.”
“That’s the next thing.” Jack seemed to think this was a perfectly reasonable evasion. “We’ve gotta get people time off. Holidays or not, we can’t keep going like this. We need a solid rotation with weekends for everyone and night shifts that don’t get changed at the last second.”
“It won’t happen,” Sky said. “Not until after New Years. Never does.”
“That’s true.” Charlie glanced at him, then back at Jack. “Rank-based scheduling is tossed during December. Every year. We default back at the beginning of January.”
Jack considered that. “You’re saying everyone’s used to this?”
They exchanged glances again, and Charlie shook her head. “This is worse than usual. Mostly because the streets are so bad, though. Not because of the schedule.”
“Patrol is usually easier this time of year,” Sky offered. “No one’s used to getting shot at so often.”
“Yeah, that’s a real morale killer,” Jack muttered.
“I’ll make the schedule,” Charlie said. “For the next two weeks. Then we default, and everyone can either suck it up or transfer.”
“Default scheduling is what you were doing when I started?” Jack was looking at Sky for confirmation, and he nodded. “Okay, so, back when we had five-day weeks and actual weekends.”
“Yeah.” Charlie waved at the embedded table terminal, and it glowed to life. Grabbing a stylus from beside the screen, she said, “Jack, days you have to have off. Go.”
“What? None of them.” Jack frowned at the screen. “You mean, in the next two weeks? I think Cruger’s trying to get everyone off on Christmas. I don’t have anywhere to go, though, so I’d rather work. Just put me in wherever you need someone.”
Sky shifted, but Charlie pointed to him before he could protest. “Sky, you want Jack off for Christmas?”
“Yes,” he said. He folded his arms, casting an uncertain look in Jack’s direction. “Thanks.”
“Done. Jack, if your team is Boom, Sophie, and Ally, who wants what?”
Jack looked surprised, but not displeased. “Uh... Boom wants Christmas Eve and Christmas. Sophie wants New Years Eve. Ally, too. Oh, and she wants the day after Christmas. Ally, I mean.”
“How do you know that?” Sky wanted to know. That had to be another leadership thing he was missing. The ability to psychically predict his teammates’ requests.
Jack gave him a look like he was kidding. “We talked about our vacation plans.”
“You didn’t even know you were getting a vacation,” Sky pointed out.
“Sky,” Charlie interrupted. “Days you need off, followed by your team. Go.”
“Just Christmas,” he said. “Bridge too, ironically. And Z. Syd’ll want the day after, and you should probably give it to Dan too. They both want New Years Eve.”
“How do you know that?” Jack mimicked, smirking at him.
Sky rolled his eyes. “It’s what they wanted last year,” he said.
“Z and Dan weren’t on your team last year,” Jack pointed out.
“Charlie, what about you?” Charlie asked aloud. “Oh, thanks for caring. Don needs Christmas and Christmas Eve. Who knows if Des will even be here. Ditto for Miguel. Rose doesn’t care about Christmas, but she’ll need either the first or last two days of Kwanzaa.”
“She’s taking the whole week,” Jack said firmly. “You too. Go with her. You can fly out on Christmas; maybe the lines won’t be so ridiculous.”
Charlie glared at the screen. “You saying you don’t need us?”
“I’m saying Rose hasn’t seen her family in more than a year,” Jack told her. “I think we can spare her for the week between Christmas and New Years. You’re not even on the patrol rotation, so I don’t know what you’re complaining about.”
“Fine.” Charlie tapped her stylus irritably and didn’t thank him. “I’ll harass the other squads until they tell me something useful or I get bored and assign them at random. Orientation levels are usually dismissed for the year on the twenty-third; that all right with you?”
“Yeah, that’d be great. Give everyone a chance relax a little. Who handles the rest of the base?” Jack wanted to know.
“Not us,” Charlie muttered.
“Support is handled internally,” Sky offered. “The other departments manage their own vacations.”
“Good enough for me,” Jack said. “Thanks, Charlie. I’m gonna go scare the lab rats before Kat can convince them everything is fine. Sky, pass the word?”
Charlie still didn’t look up. “I’ll post the schedule in the mess hall.”
Jack was already halfway to the door, so Sky called after him, “Don’t make plans for Christmas!”
Jack turned in the doorway, grinned back at him, and said, “Too late,” before he disappeared down the hall.
prompt #35: shattered
word count: 1800
rating: T
summary: "Less than half my team is still committed to SPD, let alone to picking up a morpher."
Team Building with Jack Landors (shattered)
by *Andrea
“Okay,” Jack said, closing the door to the conference room behind them. “We gotta get everyone two things: some time off, and a regular schedule. Preferably both, but I’m willing to prioritize the first if we can’t manage the second right away.”
Sky sat down, mostly because he thought neither Charlie nor Jack would do it first. And he knew how Jack’s plans went. If this was going to be quick, he would have already done it himself. He’d asked for their help, therefore, the “hour” he’d asked for could end up going until lunch.
“What do I have to do with it?” Charlie wanted to know. She pulled two chairs back from the table, sat in the first one and put her feet up on the second one. “I thought you said there was a problem.”
Jack turned a chair around and swung his leg over it, resting his arms on the back as he stared at the table. Sky blinked. Looking from one to the other and back again, he remembered story after story: rebellion, improvisation, disciplinary action, failure to follow orders. Not the perfect soldier. The anti-soldier.
The tradition of the Red Ranger.
It was a strange moment, realizing that the role of leader wasn’t to do as one was told, but to question why everyone else obeyed. Jack and Charlie did it without thinking, without effort. Because they really didn’t know. It didn’t make any sense to them that people would follow blindly--them, or anyone else. That was why they ended up standing with the others, instead of in front of them.
“There is,” Jack was saying. “But here’s a more important thing: I told Commander Cruger that I was keeping this morpher until you asked for it back. So far you haven’t asked.”
Charlie rested one hand on the table, fingers still on its surface. “No,” she agreed, staring back at him. “I haven’t.”
“It’s yours when you do,” Jack told her. “It’s not mine, and I know it was well as Cruger does.”
Charlie didn’t answer.
“Next thing,” Jack continued, and Sky raised an eyebrow. Interesting way to start. Especially since, if he knew Jack, he was about to follow up with the actual problem. “Kat’s pregnant. She’s not gonna be patrolling anymore, and she voluntarily surrendered her morpher.”
Sky glanced at Charlie and found her looking back. “Maybe I heard wrong,” Sky said, “but I thought you just said Kat’s pregnant.”
“Dr. Felix confirms it,” Jack said, refolding his arms on the top of his chair. “Kat is pregnant.”
“Our Kat,” Sky repeated, just to make sure. “Dr. Manx, from the lab?”
“How is that possible?” Charlie asked, frowning. “She’s the only one of her--” She waved her hand vaguely, though whether to indicate species, race, or people, Sky didn’t know. “Kind,” she finished, “on Earth.”
Jack held up his hands. “You’d have to ask her. I don’t know who the other parent is, I don’t know where they are, I don’t know when they knew each other. All I know is that her due date’s in April, and she doesn’t know if she’ll be able to keep working in the lab that whole time.”
“Sophie,” Sky said, suddenly understanding.
“Boom,” Charlie said at the same time.
“Both of them,” Jack admitted. “It’s gonna take at least two people to do Kat’s job when she’s gone, and they’re the ones she wants. Which means they’re gonna need extra time with her pretty soon. While she’s still around.”
Sky glanced at Charlie, and she folded her arms. “Yeah,” she said, not looking at him. “I get it.”
“Look, we’re just marking the space,” Jack said. “A Squad is your team. You can have as much time as you want, but I want your input before I pick new subs. They’re still your morphers. They’re ready when you’re ready for them.”
“We’re not,” Charlie said bluntly. “Less than half my team is still committed to SPD, let alone to picking up a morpher. I’ve got one thinking about quitting and one who’s fallen off the radar. I can’t promise you anything right now.”
“What about you?” Sky asked, before Jack could say anything. “Are you staying?”
She met his gaze evenly, but he had held her while she cried. He knew she hadn’t been anywhere on that list. “I won’t stay without my team,” she said.
“There are other people here who care about you,” he reminded her.
“Hooray for them,” Charlie snapped. “I’m telling you how it is; you can take it or leave it.”
“You and Rose were a big help while Kat and I were gone,” Jack interrupted. “Do you have anyone who wants a morpher now? Temporarily or otherwise?”
Charlie put her hand back on the table and looked at it in lieu of either of them. “Rose wants back on a team,” she said. “Don wants back on A Squad. Des is pissed at Miguel right now and won’t commit to SPD without him. No one’s heard from Miguel in days, so who knows how that turns out.”
Sky frowned. He would have guessed Des would be the one to stay while Don left--if they split at all, which he hadn’t counted on. He’d pegged theirs as the friendship least likely to break, even before Charlie and Rose. There’d been a couple of days when he was sure Charlie would go too far and drive Rose away. Deliberately.
He obviously needed more practice with the whole psychological aspect of team building.
“Can I give Don the Yellow morpher?” Jack was asking.
Charlie shrugged. “Fine by me.”
“What about Rose?” Jack pressed. “Is she willing to take over for Ally? Ally’s just doing me a favor out there, and she’s really not happy about the hours.”
Charlie actually cracked a smile at that, which surprised Sky. “Yeah.”
“Yeah, you noticed,” Jack said, “or yeah, Rose will take a morpher?”
“She wants a vacation,” Charlie said. “Rose. She wants to go home and see her parents for Kwanzaa. I’m going with her.”
“That’s the next thing.” Jack seemed to think this was a perfectly reasonable evasion. “We’ve gotta get people time off. Holidays or not, we can’t keep going like this. We need a solid rotation with weekends for everyone and night shifts that don’t get changed at the last second.”
“It won’t happen,” Sky said. “Not until after New Years. Never does.”
“That’s true.” Charlie glanced at him, then back at Jack. “Rank-based scheduling is tossed during December. Every year. We default back at the beginning of January.”
Jack considered that. “You’re saying everyone’s used to this?”
They exchanged glances again, and Charlie shook her head. “This is worse than usual. Mostly because the streets are so bad, though. Not because of the schedule.”
“Patrol is usually easier this time of year,” Sky offered. “No one’s used to getting shot at so often.”
“Yeah, that’s a real morale killer,” Jack muttered.
“I’ll make the schedule,” Charlie said. “For the next two weeks. Then we default, and everyone can either suck it up or transfer.”
“Default scheduling is what you were doing when I started?” Jack was looking at Sky for confirmation, and he nodded. “Okay, so, back when we had five-day weeks and actual weekends.”
“Yeah.” Charlie waved at the embedded table terminal, and it glowed to life. Grabbing a stylus from beside the screen, she said, “Jack, days you have to have off. Go.”
“What? None of them.” Jack frowned at the screen. “You mean, in the next two weeks? I think Cruger’s trying to get everyone off on Christmas. I don’t have anywhere to go, though, so I’d rather work. Just put me in wherever you need someone.”
Sky shifted, but Charlie pointed to him before he could protest. “Sky, you want Jack off for Christmas?”
“Yes,” he said. He folded his arms, casting an uncertain look in Jack’s direction. “Thanks.”
“Done. Jack, if your team is Boom, Sophie, and Ally, who wants what?”
Jack looked surprised, but not displeased. “Uh... Boom wants Christmas Eve and Christmas. Sophie wants New Years Eve. Ally, too. Oh, and she wants the day after Christmas. Ally, I mean.”
“How do you know that?” Sky wanted to know. That had to be another leadership thing he was missing. The ability to psychically predict his teammates’ requests.
Jack gave him a look like he was kidding. “We talked about our vacation plans.”
“You didn’t even know you were getting a vacation,” Sky pointed out.
“Sky,” Charlie interrupted. “Days you need off, followed by your team. Go.”
“Just Christmas,” he said. “Bridge too, ironically. And Z. Syd’ll want the day after, and you should probably give it to Dan too. They both want New Years Eve.”
“How do you know that?” Jack mimicked, smirking at him.
Sky rolled his eyes. “It’s what they wanted last year,” he said.
“Z and Dan weren’t on your team last year,” Jack pointed out.
“Charlie, what about you?” Charlie asked aloud. “Oh, thanks for caring. Don needs Christmas and Christmas Eve. Who knows if Des will even be here. Ditto for Miguel. Rose doesn’t care about Christmas, but she’ll need either the first or last two days of Kwanzaa.”
“She’s taking the whole week,” Jack said firmly. “You too. Go with her. You can fly out on Christmas; maybe the lines won’t be so ridiculous.”
Charlie glared at the screen. “You saying you don’t need us?”
“I’m saying Rose hasn’t seen her family in more than a year,” Jack told her. “I think we can spare her for the week between Christmas and New Years. You’re not even on the patrol rotation, so I don’t know what you’re complaining about.”
“Fine.” Charlie tapped her stylus irritably and didn’t thank him. “I’ll harass the other squads until they tell me something useful or I get bored and assign them at random. Orientation levels are usually dismissed for the year on the twenty-third; that all right with you?”
“Yeah, that’d be great. Give everyone a chance relax a little. Who handles the rest of the base?” Jack wanted to know.
“Not us,” Charlie muttered.
“Support is handled internally,” Sky offered. “The other departments manage their own vacations.”
“Good enough for me,” Jack said. “Thanks, Charlie. I’m gonna go scare the lab rats before Kat can convince them everything is fine. Sky, pass the word?”
Charlie still didn’t look up. “I’ll post the schedule in the mess hall.”
Jack was already halfway to the door, so Sky called after him, “Don’t make plans for Christmas!”
Jack turned in the doorway, grinned back at him, and said, “Too late,” before he disappeared down the hall.