Team Building with Jack Landors (SPD, A Squad, #4, T)
characters: SPD's A Squad (Jack, Cruger)
prompt #4: first
word count: 600
rated: T (for language)
summary: The inevitable fight with Cruger is one Jack would have preferred to lose.
Team Building with Jack Landors (first)
by *Andrea
Jack didn’t expect this to go well, but right now, he didn’t care. He only allowed Cruger the semblance of privacy because there was a very slight chance that the commander would actually hear some of what he said if he wasn’t doing it in front of the entire base. A very slight chance.
“Commander,” he said, slamming the doors on the B Wing lounge with way more force than necessary. “With all due respect, you need to tell me shit like this before you do it!”
“Jack.” The way Cruger said his name made it clear that this was not a term of affection, but rather a stripping of his rank. He wasn’t even a cadet in the commander’s eyes anymore.
That was fine with him.
“Let me explain something to you,” the commander continued, eyeing him as though he were a particularly unevolved form of life. “Charlie Carrera is A Squad Red. You are an SPD dropout who voluntarily resigned his morpher and shouldn’t have clearance to be on this base, let alone Command.”
“If it had been left up to you,” Jack snapped, “Charlie would be in solitary and her team would be serving multiple life sentences for treason! They’re fucking heroes after what they went through and we failed them six ways to Sunday before they ever even got home!”
Cruger held out his hand. “The morpher,” he growled.
Jack snorted. “Yeah, right. You got me with that once. Back when I thought you cared about things like rules and honor. But now I’m pretty sure that you need me to care about those things for you, so... no.”
“I’ll have you escorted off this base,” Cruger rumbled.
“I don’t think so,” Jack told him. “And here’s why: I don’t want to be here anymore than you want me here. And you know that. But here I am, still wearing the uniform, still getting past security. Why is that, Commander?
“I think it’s because you’re distracted,” he continued. His best chance was probably to keep Cruger from talking as long as possible. “You’ve got a thousand things going on right now, and you can’t make decisions for everyone. I can’t answer to Galaxy Command, I can’t coordinate citywide, I can’t even run the base and I sure as hell can’t save your marriage.
“But you know what I can do is catch some of the spillover, the stuff you don’t get to!” He glared at a dog who looked like he was pretending he had no ears. “I can help Charlie, Commander. I know what they’ve been through; I can help them. I can keep all of your cadets safe if you let me--if you’d just talk to me, I can make sure stuff like this doesn’t go down!”
“No one is safe,” Cruger snarled. “Let go of that illusion right now. You can’t set this right just by wishing for it.”
“And you can’t fix it by ignoring it,” Jack shot back. “Stay away from Kat until you talk to your wife, Commander. She’s one of mine now--and if that out there was any indication of how you ‘set things right,’” he added, jerking his head back toward the door, “I think everyone who got between A Squad and a blast rifle tonight would appreciate you putting a little more thought into what you’re doing!”
And Cruger roared at him. “You are out of line, Cadet!”
It was “cadet” again. Jack sighed inwardly, because he hadn’t been totally sure he wanted to win this one. “Commander, I’m so far from the line, I could be in a different dimension. Do you want my help or not?” Because he did owe them: he owed all of them, he owed the organization itself for everything it had done for him, and if Cruger let him, however grudgingly, he would try to make good on his debt.
“A Squad Red,” Cruger began, making an obvious effort to rein himself in, though the words came out through gritted teeth.
“Is Charlie’s position,” Jack finished. “Believe me, the second she asks for this morpher back, it’s all hers.”
Cruger hesitated just long enough for Jack to curse silently. How far did a guy have to go to get fired around here, anyway? Did Cruger have a mom he could insult or something?
“I want your word on that,” the old dog growled at last.
“Yeah, trust me,” Jack said, rolling his eyes. “You so have it.”
prompt #4: first
word count: 600
rated: T (for language)
summary: The inevitable fight with Cruger is one Jack would have preferred to lose.
Team Building with Jack Landors (first)
by *Andrea
Jack didn’t expect this to go well, but right now, he didn’t care. He only allowed Cruger the semblance of privacy because there was a very slight chance that the commander would actually hear some of what he said if he wasn’t doing it in front of the entire base. A very slight chance.
“Commander,” he said, slamming the doors on the B Wing lounge with way more force than necessary. “With all due respect, you need to tell me shit like this before you do it!”
“Jack.” The way Cruger said his name made it clear that this was not a term of affection, but rather a stripping of his rank. He wasn’t even a cadet in the commander’s eyes anymore.
That was fine with him.
“Let me explain something to you,” the commander continued, eyeing him as though he were a particularly unevolved form of life. “Charlie Carrera is A Squad Red. You are an SPD dropout who voluntarily resigned his morpher and shouldn’t have clearance to be on this base, let alone Command.”
“If it had been left up to you,” Jack snapped, “Charlie would be in solitary and her team would be serving multiple life sentences for treason! They’re fucking heroes after what they went through and we failed them six ways to Sunday before they ever even got home!”
Cruger held out his hand. “The morpher,” he growled.
Jack snorted. “Yeah, right. You got me with that once. Back when I thought you cared about things like rules and honor. But now I’m pretty sure that you need me to care about those things for you, so... no.”
“I’ll have you escorted off this base,” Cruger rumbled.
“I don’t think so,” Jack told him. “And here’s why: I don’t want to be here anymore than you want me here. And you know that. But here I am, still wearing the uniform, still getting past security. Why is that, Commander?
“I think it’s because you’re distracted,” he continued. His best chance was probably to keep Cruger from talking as long as possible. “You’ve got a thousand things going on right now, and you can’t make decisions for everyone. I can’t answer to Galaxy Command, I can’t coordinate citywide, I can’t even run the base and I sure as hell can’t save your marriage.
“But you know what I can do is catch some of the spillover, the stuff you don’t get to!” He glared at a dog who looked like he was pretending he had no ears. “I can help Charlie, Commander. I know what they’ve been through; I can help them. I can keep all of your cadets safe if you let me--if you’d just talk to me, I can make sure stuff like this doesn’t go down!”
“No one is safe,” Cruger snarled. “Let go of that illusion right now. You can’t set this right just by wishing for it.”
“And you can’t fix it by ignoring it,” Jack shot back. “Stay away from Kat until you talk to your wife, Commander. She’s one of mine now--and if that out there was any indication of how you ‘set things right,’” he added, jerking his head back toward the door, “I think everyone who got between A Squad and a blast rifle tonight would appreciate you putting a little more thought into what you’re doing!”
And Cruger roared at him. “You are out of line, Cadet!”
It was “cadet” again. Jack sighed inwardly, because he hadn’t been totally sure he wanted to win this one. “Commander, I’m so far from the line, I could be in a different dimension. Do you want my help or not?” Because he did owe them: he owed all of them, he owed the organization itself for everything it had done for him, and if Cruger let him, however grudgingly, he would try to make good on his debt.
“A Squad Red,” Cruger began, making an obvious effort to rein himself in, though the words came out through gritted teeth.
“Is Charlie’s position,” Jack finished. “Believe me, the second she asks for this morpher back, it’s all hers.”
Cruger hesitated just long enough for Jack to curse silently. How far did a guy have to go to get fired around here, anyway? Did Cruger have a mom he could insult or something?
“I want your word on that,” the old dog growled at last.
“Yeah, trust me,” Jack said, rolling his eyes. “You so have it.”