Team Building with Jack Landors (SPD, A Squad, #13, T)
characters: SPD’s A Squad (Charlie, Jack)
prompt #13: big problem
word count: 1400
rating: T
summary: Charlie finds something interesting in Jack's personnel file.
Team Building with Jack Landors (big problem)
by *Andrea
The cat was skinny and soft and surprisingly affectionate for something that had probably been out on the streets its entire life. She rolled over on her back, pressing her head against Charlie’s hand, then twisted to attack with flying claws and ferocious teeth. Baby claws. Baby teeth. This cat’s definition of “ferocious” was enough to sting a little, drawing little pink lines across her fingers and wrist without actually breaking the skin.
“That’ll be really cute when she gets bigger,” Sky remarked, sitting on the floor beside them and eyeing the cat as though she was some sort of parasite. Charlie thought she could guess why the cat wasn’t staying in Jack’s room anymore.
“She’s just playing,” Z declared. She was lying on her stomach, waiting for the cat to get bored with Charlie and come back to pounce on her hair again. “She has to learn how to defend herself.”
“She’s pretty friendly for someone who’s practicing--” Charlie closed her fingers around the cat’s midsection and lifted her up. The cat stuck like a burr to her hand. “Kitty death matches.”
“You do what you have to do to survive,” Z said. “Doesn’t change who you are.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Charlie saw Sky shift his skeptical look to Z. “Please tell me you’re not using this cat as a metaphor for the broader social landscape.”
“Why?” Z tilted her head, her hair brushing the floor as she smirked up at him. “Are you hearing metaphors in my perfectly innocent kitten talk?”
The cat twisted, digging her claws into Charlie’s hand as she sprang free, leaping for Z’s hair. She just missed Z’s head, tumbling with zero grace to the floor when the hair turned out--for the third time--not to be the solid creature that the cat seemed determined it was. “Oh,” Z said, laughing. “Sorry! Still not food!”
“Hey,” Jack’s voice interrupted. “Sophie’s gonna be mad if she finds out you’re harassing her cat.”
Charlie looked up from a cursory inspection of her hand--still mostly intact--in time to see Jack drop down to the floor beside them wearing what looked like the remnants of riot gear. She raised her eyebrows at him. “Why are you wearing a tac vest?”
Jack didn’t hesitate. “‘Cause I was in a hurry,” he said easily, “and I like the way Sky looks at it.”
“Never ask a question you don’t want to know the answer to,” Z advised, but Charlie was more interested in Sky’s reaction. He rolled his eyes, of course, but he didn’t complain and from past experience, she wasn’t sure Jack was wrong.
“You already eat?” he was asking Sky.
“No,” Sky said, his gaze flicking to her. “But Charlie wants to talk to you.”
“What, now?” Jack looked at her too. “You want to join us in the mess?”
“Just you,” she said. “It’ll only take a minute.”
Jack looked at Sky again, and she was very aware that she got time with him on Sky’s sufferance. Sky was exactly as domineering in his personal relationships as he was in everything else, and so far, it seemed to work for Jack. In a way that maybe it hadn’t for Dru, who had always seemed to indulge Sky’s demands as he might a pet.
“Yeah, okay,” Jack said, when Sky nodded minutely. “We’ll take a walk.”
“Bring back some cat toys,” Z said, trying to disentangle the claws from her hair without getting her fingers bitten.
“Why?” Sky asked, as Jack got up again and Charlie followed him to the door. “She’s already got you.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea.” Twin voices spoke in unison, and Charlie didn’t have to turn around to know that the cat now had two Zs to play with. She’d probably stand a better chance of distracting the cat with someone else to help her, and it didn’t look like that someone would be Sky.
“Went looking for information today,” Charlie said, falling into step beside Jack in the hallway. He was heading away from the great room and the lifts without having to ask. “On you and Z.”
Jack didn’t flinch. “You’re a pretty tight group here,” he said. “I get that.”
She nodded. “Yeah. You know Sky and Syd had the same dad?”
That got his attention. He stopped where he was and turned his full attention to her. “Yeah,” Jack said warily, searching her expression. “I didn’t know that was common knowledge.”
“It’s not. Their teammates knew.”
It was Jack’s turn to nod, slowly, and she thought he was probably reviewing his mental list of who that might include. Her, Gibbs, Bridge. Sky might have told Dru, but Syd definitely hadn’t spread it around. She seemed happy to let everyone think she was flirting when she got a little too close and Sky didn’t bite her head off for it.
“Their teammates still know,” Jack told her. “So?”
Him and Z, then. She wondered how that had come up. Sky and Syd didn’t lie about it, but they danced around the subject with an ease born of long practice. As far as most of the base was concerned, Syd was from a whole different class, let alone family.
“So I saw your file,” Charlie said bluntly. “Are you and Syd biological or adopted?”
Jack stared at her like she’d lost her mind. “What?”
“Jonathan Drew,” she told him. “That’s you, isn’t it. I assume at least one of your parents was--” She waved at him impatiently. “Black?”
“Assume they both were,” Jack said, eyeing her. “What’s it got to do with Syd?”
Charlie frowned at him. “You’re listed as her brother.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, lifting his hands to disclaim all responsibility. “I didn’t fill out any file. If you heard that from someone else, they’re on something, ‘cause the only family I know is the one I chose.”
She wouldn’t blame him for lying to her. Nor did she particularly care if he was involved with his half-brother... as long as that potential half-brother knew about it. Lying to her was one thing. Lying to Sky was something else entirely.
“Jonathan Drew,” Charlie said, studying him. “Born March fourth, 2005. Next of kin: Kylee Drew, mother, Joshua Drew, father... Sydney Drew. Sister.”
“Who the hell is Jonathan Drew?” Jack demanded.
“Jonathan Drew is the name in your file,” Charlie told him.
Jack snorted. “Well, since my name is Jack Landors, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say you got the wrong file.”
His morpher went off before she could snap, and he gave her a warning look that worked. Not because it was a warning, but because it implied that he really thought she might keep talking over an open channel. She appreciated that kind of respect.
“Go for Jack,” he said, and it was Kat’s voice that replied.
“Jack, I need to see you about a security breach,” she said.
He frowned. “Are you in the lab?” he asked. “We’re on break, Kat. Get something to eat.”
“In a minute,” she said, in that tone of voice that Charlie remembered so well. The one that meant she wasn’t really listening, that she thought humans were strange, and that if everyone would just do what she told them the base would run so much better. “This is important.”
“Okay.” Jack gave Charlie an apologetic shrug, then added, “I’m on my way.”
She waited until he had put his morpher away. “Des is losing his touch.”
Jack froze, then gave her an outraged look that bordered on comical. “That was you?”
She was careful not to smile, because Jack entertained her but she didn’t know him well enough to take his loyalty for granted. “You can’t just look up another cadet’s file, Jack.”
He shook his head, but he didn’t hesitate and he didn’t let her down. “Tell me what you did,” he told her. “So I know what’s an actual problem and what Kat should ignore.”
“Personnel hack. That’s it.”
“Got it. Hey--” Jack caught himself before he actually started to walk away. “Can cadets see their own files?”
“Unless you signed a waiver when you joined,” Charlie told him. “Everyone can request access to their personal information.”
He snapped his fingers and pointed at her. “I’ll let you know,” he said. Then he was gone, straight through the wall by the emergency exit at the end of B Wing. She stared at the place where he had disappeared for a long moment before turning back toward the lounge.
prompt #13: big problem
word count: 1400
rating: T
summary: Charlie finds something interesting in Jack's personnel file.
Team Building with Jack Landors (big problem)
by *Andrea
The cat was skinny and soft and surprisingly affectionate for something that had probably been out on the streets its entire life. She rolled over on her back, pressing her head against Charlie’s hand, then twisted to attack with flying claws and ferocious teeth. Baby claws. Baby teeth. This cat’s definition of “ferocious” was enough to sting a little, drawing little pink lines across her fingers and wrist without actually breaking the skin.
“That’ll be really cute when she gets bigger,” Sky remarked, sitting on the floor beside them and eyeing the cat as though she was some sort of parasite. Charlie thought she could guess why the cat wasn’t staying in Jack’s room anymore.
“She’s just playing,” Z declared. She was lying on her stomach, waiting for the cat to get bored with Charlie and come back to pounce on her hair again. “She has to learn how to defend herself.”
“She’s pretty friendly for someone who’s practicing--” Charlie closed her fingers around the cat’s midsection and lifted her up. The cat stuck like a burr to her hand. “Kitty death matches.”
“You do what you have to do to survive,” Z said. “Doesn’t change who you are.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Charlie saw Sky shift his skeptical look to Z. “Please tell me you’re not using this cat as a metaphor for the broader social landscape.”
“Why?” Z tilted her head, her hair brushing the floor as she smirked up at him. “Are you hearing metaphors in my perfectly innocent kitten talk?”
The cat twisted, digging her claws into Charlie’s hand as she sprang free, leaping for Z’s hair. She just missed Z’s head, tumbling with zero grace to the floor when the hair turned out--for the third time--not to be the solid creature that the cat seemed determined it was. “Oh,” Z said, laughing. “Sorry! Still not food!”
“Hey,” Jack’s voice interrupted. “Sophie’s gonna be mad if she finds out you’re harassing her cat.”
Charlie looked up from a cursory inspection of her hand--still mostly intact--in time to see Jack drop down to the floor beside them wearing what looked like the remnants of riot gear. She raised her eyebrows at him. “Why are you wearing a tac vest?”
Jack didn’t hesitate. “‘Cause I was in a hurry,” he said easily, “and I like the way Sky looks at it.”
“Never ask a question you don’t want to know the answer to,” Z advised, but Charlie was more interested in Sky’s reaction. He rolled his eyes, of course, but he didn’t complain and from past experience, she wasn’t sure Jack was wrong.
“You already eat?” he was asking Sky.
“No,” Sky said, his gaze flicking to her. “But Charlie wants to talk to you.”
“What, now?” Jack looked at her too. “You want to join us in the mess?”
“Just you,” she said. “It’ll only take a minute.”
Jack looked at Sky again, and she was very aware that she got time with him on Sky’s sufferance. Sky was exactly as domineering in his personal relationships as he was in everything else, and so far, it seemed to work for Jack. In a way that maybe it hadn’t for Dru, who had always seemed to indulge Sky’s demands as he might a pet.
“Yeah, okay,” Jack said, when Sky nodded minutely. “We’ll take a walk.”
“Bring back some cat toys,” Z said, trying to disentangle the claws from her hair without getting her fingers bitten.
“Why?” Sky asked, as Jack got up again and Charlie followed him to the door. “She’s already got you.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea.” Twin voices spoke in unison, and Charlie didn’t have to turn around to know that the cat now had two Zs to play with. She’d probably stand a better chance of distracting the cat with someone else to help her, and it didn’t look like that someone would be Sky.
“Went looking for information today,” Charlie said, falling into step beside Jack in the hallway. He was heading away from the great room and the lifts without having to ask. “On you and Z.”
Jack didn’t flinch. “You’re a pretty tight group here,” he said. “I get that.”
She nodded. “Yeah. You know Sky and Syd had the same dad?”
That got his attention. He stopped where he was and turned his full attention to her. “Yeah,” Jack said warily, searching her expression. “I didn’t know that was common knowledge.”
“It’s not. Their teammates knew.”
It was Jack’s turn to nod, slowly, and she thought he was probably reviewing his mental list of who that might include. Her, Gibbs, Bridge. Sky might have told Dru, but Syd definitely hadn’t spread it around. She seemed happy to let everyone think she was flirting when she got a little too close and Sky didn’t bite her head off for it.
“Their teammates still know,” Jack told her. “So?”
Him and Z, then. She wondered how that had come up. Sky and Syd didn’t lie about it, but they danced around the subject with an ease born of long practice. As far as most of the base was concerned, Syd was from a whole different class, let alone family.
“So I saw your file,” Charlie said bluntly. “Are you and Syd biological or adopted?”
Jack stared at her like she’d lost her mind. “What?”
“Jonathan Drew,” she told him. “That’s you, isn’t it. I assume at least one of your parents was--” She waved at him impatiently. “Black?”
“Assume they both were,” Jack said, eyeing her. “What’s it got to do with Syd?”
Charlie frowned at him. “You’re listed as her brother.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, lifting his hands to disclaim all responsibility. “I didn’t fill out any file. If you heard that from someone else, they’re on something, ‘cause the only family I know is the one I chose.”
She wouldn’t blame him for lying to her. Nor did she particularly care if he was involved with his half-brother... as long as that potential half-brother knew about it. Lying to her was one thing. Lying to Sky was something else entirely.
“Jonathan Drew,” Charlie said, studying him. “Born March fourth, 2005. Next of kin: Kylee Drew, mother, Joshua Drew, father... Sydney Drew. Sister.”
“Who the hell is Jonathan Drew?” Jack demanded.
“Jonathan Drew is the name in your file,” Charlie told him.
Jack snorted. “Well, since my name is Jack Landors, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say you got the wrong file.”
His morpher went off before she could snap, and he gave her a warning look that worked. Not because it was a warning, but because it implied that he really thought she might keep talking over an open channel. She appreciated that kind of respect.
“Go for Jack,” he said, and it was Kat’s voice that replied.
“Jack, I need to see you about a security breach,” she said.
He frowned. “Are you in the lab?” he asked. “We’re on break, Kat. Get something to eat.”
“In a minute,” she said, in that tone of voice that Charlie remembered so well. The one that meant she wasn’t really listening, that she thought humans were strange, and that if everyone would just do what she told them the base would run so much better. “This is important.”
“Okay.” Jack gave Charlie an apologetic shrug, then added, “I’m on my way.”
She waited until he had put his morpher away. “Des is losing his touch.”
Jack froze, then gave her an outraged look that bordered on comical. “That was you?”
She was careful not to smile, because Jack entertained her but she didn’t know him well enough to take his loyalty for granted. “You can’t just look up another cadet’s file, Jack.”
He shook his head, but he didn’t hesitate and he didn’t let her down. “Tell me what you did,” he told her. “So I know what’s an actual problem and what Kat should ignore.”
“Personnel hack. That’s it.”
“Got it. Hey--” Jack caught himself before he actually started to walk away. “Can cadets see their own files?”
“Unless you signed a waiver when you joined,” Charlie told him. “Everyone can request access to their personal information.”
He snapped his fingers and pointed at her. “I’ll let you know,” he said. Then he was gone, straight through the wall by the emergency exit at the end of B Wing. She stared at the place where he had disappeared for a long moment before turning back toward the lounge.