A/N: Yay! My finals are done! I have no idea how I did, but I'm ecstatic it's over!
Ack, bad week for reviews it seems...huge thank you to those of you that managed to stop in and drop a few words! You guys are too awesome. I'm hoping the quiet is because people were just as busy with school as I was...either that, or Ben and Jimmy's fight shook them up so much with emotion they were struck speechless :D.
Thank you to Greg for beta-ing.
XXI.
Although it was still very early morning, Weaver's headquarters were already a bustle with fighters reporting in and accepting new assignments. Jimmy hesitated in the hall outside of the classroom a moment, carefully mulling over what he would tell Weaver. He'd checked the injury on his face that morning in one of the bathroom mirrors. Most of the swelling had gone down, the bruising was still evident but it had faded as though several days old, and the cut on his lip was practically non-existent.
At least that was a relief for Jimmy. He didn't exactly feel like explaining that the reason he needed to scrap his assignment was because he'd gotten into a fist fight with the de facto leader of the unharnessed teens. Roman may have started it, but Jimmy was certain Weaver would view it as a personal failure on Jimmy's part; a better teacher would've been able to reel the students in and take command of the classroom.
Jimmy sighed as the thought occurred to him that maybe he should just tell Weaver the truth. Weaver would lose respect for him no matter the excuse he came up with; he might as well at least have the decency to be honest.
When the last of the fighters left the room, Jimmy gathered himself up and stalked in, his heart dropping swiftly to the floor. Weaver and Dai were both standing at the front of the room, as if this confession wasn't going to be difficult enough to deliver to one of his mentors, but now he would have both as audience. Weaver barely glanced up at the sound of Jimmy shuffling forward, though Dai paused to stare at him thoughtfully a moment.
"What do you need, Jimmy?" Weaver questioned gruffly, his eyes surveying a map sprawled across the table in front of himself and Dai.
"I wanted to talk about my assignment. The training the unharnessed kids one," Jimmy murmured. Nervously, he brushed the hair from his face, though it fell right back into place, and he subconsciously fidgeted with his sleeves. Weaver cleared his throat and straightened, hands on his hips.
"About that, I talked to Roman last night," Weaver said and Jimmy felt as though punched in the gut, all the air fled instantaneously from his lungs. At least it saved him the trouble of having to explain but he couldn't help wondering how much more of Weaver's respect he lost by not being the one to deliver the news himself.
"Oh," Jimmy stammered, dropping his gaze to the ground, cheeks flushing and eyes blurring with a line of unbidden, frustrated tears, "Sir, I don't…I didn't mean…well…I know what…I did what I…"
"I'm impressed with you, son," Weaver remarked and Jimmy faltered, brow shooting up in surprise. That wasn't exactly the admonishment he would've expected. Typically and with obviously good reason, Weaver disapproved of physical altercations amongst members of the group, especially between fellow fighters. Things were bad enough without the last bits of humanity turning on one another.
"What?" Jimmy gaped.
"I thought you'd have a bit more difficulty with those kids, but Roman says you're a great teacher," Weaver continued, causing Jimmy to falter, brow scrunching and air seeming to coagulate in his lungs, "Says you know your stuff and he's really learning a lot from you."
"I…we didn't really…" Jimmy shook his head and ran a hand across his face, trying to put the pieces together in his head. What game was Roman playing at?
"You look surprised," Weaver laughed, and then candidly commented, "I'm not. I knew you were the right man for the job. Tell me, what's your impression of them? You think they're going to be alright out there? You think they'll be able to keep up with Ben?"
"I…I don't know…sir," Jimmy murmured, he cleared his throat and straightened at attention, stating more firmly, "I'm still getting a feel for them. They're kind of…a mystery…still."
In surprisingly new ways, it seemed.
"Well that's certainly understandable," Weaver replied, sounding only slightly disappointed at the answer, "They aren't going to spill all their secrets to you right away. That kind of trust takes time. I think you know that better than most."
Jimmy nodded, remained silent, spiraling from this strange turn of events. Now how the hell was he supposed to back out of this assignment? It seemed easy before, when the unharnessed kids hated him, and he felt certain it wouldn't be safe to stand in the same room as them anymore, let alone with them armed on the gun-range, but with them singing his praises to the captain, heralding him as a great teacher, it made things a little more difficult. He couldn't exactly cite conflicting personalities as the reason for his needing to back out of the assignment if he was the only one who had conflict.
"How would you feel about taking them out on a trial run?" Weaver questioned, and Jimmy perked a brow.
"What?" he said dumbly.
Dai smirked, rearranging some of the photographs on the table as Weaver folded his arms over his chest and shifted his weight, walking a few steps forward.
"One of the scout groups brought back intel on a shopping complex that looked like it might have viable resources still in stock," Weaver explained, "The area is fairly clean, there's been reports of some alien activity but for the most part it'd be an easy run. I don't have many experienced fighters I can spare for it and I figured it would be good practice for your greenhorns."
Jimmy bit into his inner cheek and frowned at the ground. This wasn't going at all the way he planned. Weaver silently watched as Jimmy weighed his options: he could tell Weaver the truth – even though he wasn't entirely certain as to what that truth was anymore – or he could invent some excuse although he had enough trouble coming up with one when the truth was a lot less confusing but not quite the better option, or he could back out of his deal with Ben.
"I need an answer, son, we don't have all day," Weaver prompted gently, shifting his weight from one foot to the other and eying Jimmy askance.
"Sir…I don't…" Jimmy faltered, shoved his hands in his pockets and glared hard at the ground.
If he told Weaver he couldn't continue the assignment, then he would just be letting Weaver down, he'd be letting the whole of the 2nd Mass down. Although Ben would stop hunting alone, he would still be the go-to for the most dangerous ops. Such a conundrum, it put at invariably harsh squeeze on Jimmy's heart. No matter his decision, he couldn't protect Ben. And though he wanted to go with the one that he knew would make Ben happiest, he had to go with the one that he knew might keep Ben safer in the long run.
"Okay, sir," Jimmy murmured, clearing his throat and straightening to meet Weaver's steady gaze, "That sounds like a good plan. I think Roman and his lot would be happy for the opportunity."
A broad grin broke across Weaver's weather-etched features, "Good. Good. I'll give you a run through of the details; you can spend today and tonight prepping with the others and head out tomorrow morning."
"Sure," Jimmy agreed, trudging after Weaver as they surrounded the map laid out across the front table.
The only real preparation Jimmy needed to make was figuring out how he would explain this turn of events to Ben, he thought as a dark, horrible feeling swelled in his gut. He already knew that conversation would not go over well. If Ben didn't approve of him training the other unharnessed kids, it wasn't a difficult puzzle how Ben would handle the news that Jimmy would be heading into battlegrounds with the four.
"You'll be taking Ben with you," Weaver said, smoothing the wrinkles out of the map of their current area.
Jimmy felt the air knock from his lungs, nodding distantly and nibbling his inner cheek. At least now he knew what he would be saying to Ben. Oh yeah, they were going to have a fun conversation very soon.
"If he's going to be working with those four, then they need to get a feel for one another," Weaver explained, then lightly remarked, "Also…I feel kind of bad, I had to ground him to camp for what he did during the last op. He needed to be disciplined, but he really did think he was doing the right thing for his unit."
Jimmy furrowed his brow. He frowned, remained silent. Ben hadn't mentioned being 'grounded'; of course, Ben hadn't exactly mentioned doing anything requiring disciplining last op. The only reason Jimmy knew Ben had gotten in trouble at all was because of Roman, though Weaver certainly seemed of the impression that Jimmy would be well aware of that situation.
"The location of the shopping complex is right here," Weaver continued his briefing, plucking up a pencil to indicate on the map with its granite tip, "You'll take the interstate up this direction. Unfortunately, the long route is your only option, we've got heavy enemy traffic here and here and also here. I'm going to let you take a pick-up truck, the black diesel. How you feel driving?"
"Anthony and Dai have been giving me lessons when they have time," Jimmy mumbled, glancing acknowledgment to the aforementioned young man, who briefly flickered a look up at the younger boy and gave a short nod of his head before pouring his attention back into his own work, "But that one's stick shift…"
"I understand Doug has a bit of experience with that, you might want to discuss with him and see if he might be up for the drive, but let me know if you need someone. I'm giving you a bike, too. Set Ben up on that, he can be your front guard."
"Alright," Jimmy replied, "What about armaments?"
"You comfortable giving them all rifles?"
"I guess," Jimmy shrugged, "I've barely just started them on the shooting range, though, sir. They've used the AK-47s, and that's really about it."
"You shouldn't run into anything out there that'll require gun use," Weaver determined, "As a precaution, give them a rifle and clip each but if you do run into any trouble, plan on you and Ben being the one's doing the fighting. I really just want them familiar with working as a unit, give them a rundown of the hand signals we typically use in battle, formations, tactics, familiarize them with clearing an area and protocol out in the field. Just because we have to rush training, doesn't mean we can't be thorough about it."
"Right, sir," Jimmy conceded, absently running a hand across his face and along the back of his neck.
"You gonna be ready for this?" Weaver piped question, peering up at Jimmy from beneath the brim of his gray-green hat.
Jimmy peeked at him curiously, not fully comprehending the question.
"Taking point on this mission," Weaver clarified and Jimmy dropped his gaze. He hadn't realized it, but being the most senior fighter on the op put him as lead. His heart gave an exaggerated thump against his ribs, and he grimaced, folding his arms over his chest and stiffly nodding.
"Yeah, I think so…sir," Jimmy replied, his voice pathetic and quaking.
He knew he should be excited. He'd pushed so hard to reach this place: standing in this room, in front of this man, having this conversation. It didn't seem fair that he finally earned a semblance of respect as a fighter, only for it to be tainted by circumstance.
Jimmy was only there because his relationship with Ben made him the only viable candidate as teacher for the unharnessed kids. And if that weren't a hard enough pill to swallow, he would have under his command four unruly, unpredictable, volatile rookies that refused to listen to him, and a fifth soon-to-be very pissed off super soldier notorious for doing what he wanted, when he wanted, everyone's including, maybe especially, Jimmy's concerns and desires be damned.
Thrilled, would be the word Jimmy was looking for, yes, he was completely and entirely thrilled.
"You're going to be fine," Weaver commented, clapping Jimmy across the shoulders.
Jimmy smirked sardonically at the table, scanning the items sprawled across its top. Suddenly, his interest in Weaver's debriefing and his own sticky situation was gone. He wrinkled his brow, his jaw unhinged, and, without thinking, he took a few steps closer to the table and reached forward to pluck up a photograph from the mess.
It had to be a closer shot of the alien structure Weaver had been planning to destroy before being advised against it by the intel group, after all, the picture was in the same mess of photographs from the area. However, in the center of the structure was an oddly familiar mass, both iridescent and radiant, and crawling with Skitters.
"What's wrong?" Weaver questioned, concern edging the fine lines of his face. Dai paused, as well, watching the young boy with an unreadable expression.
"I've seen this before," Jimmy mumbled, self-consciously handing the photograph back and rubbing his arm absently as he spoke, "There was one like it…in the warehouse."
Weaver and Dai exchanged looks, and then both refocused on Jimmy. Jimmy took a small, subconscious step back and ducked his head down sheepishly, flustering at the sudden attention and wondering if he'd said something wrong.
"We scanned that warehouse looking for you, saw no evidence of anything like this," Weaver stated firmly, wagging the photograph in the air for emphasis, "Are you sure this is what you saw?"
"Yeah," Jimmy confirmed, shrugging, "Before I pushed the button. It was in the warehouse, coming up from the basement. There were all these Skitters with it. I think I destroyed it though; I tossed one of the explosive packs at it. It was gone when I woke up."
"And you're sure," Weaver pressed, "Because that was a rough moment, you would've been confused and disoriented-"
"I remember, sir," Jimmy cut in, unintentionally sharp toned, dropping his chin once more to glare at the ground, "That's exactly what I saw. It might not have been as big as that one in the photograph…and it was less…solid looking…and it was moving but I guess because it's a picture…"
"It moved?" Weaver interjected, "You're sure of that."
"Yes, sir," Jimmy insisted, "It moved. And there were…like…images or something inside of it and…"
"Why are you just now telling us this?" Weaver interrupted.
Jimmy swallowed hard, taking another small step back and shrugging. Weaver sounded angry, and understandably so, Jimmy had withheld valuable information, and though it was unintentional, it was a grievous error on his part, and he wouldn't be surprised if Weaver kicked him back to night watch and civilian duties for it.
"I don't know…I forgot. I'm sorry, sir," Jimmy stammered, wincing at the quiver of his words, and hating himself for sounding so weak in front of these two men that he, more than anything, wanted to view him as strong and capable. He flinched when a heavy hand fell to his shoulder, peering up in surprise at Weaver, features softened.
"It's okay, son," Weaver said kindly, "It wasn't a good day for you. I couldn't expect you, or anyone, to make note of those kinds of details, meaningless when taking into account you were running for your life. You remember now, and that's what's important. Take a deep breath, now, and calm yourself. Try and recall anything else that you can."
Jimmy nodded stiffly and closed his eyes, darting the tip of his tongue out to hastily wet his lips. He drew his breath in deep and let it out slow, flashing back on that not-so-faraway moment in time, when he burst through the corroded door in that fated warehouse in search of an exit, escape from the inevitable explosion and the mech on his heels, and found on the other side an army of Skitters, a mass more alien than anything he'd seen thus far in the invasion, and the loss of all hope he might survive that mission.
"It was in the middle of the warehouse. There were Skitters everywhere…I think they were guarding it…I don't know. They were on it, all over it…and it was weird…it didn't seem like they should be able to walk on it; it didn't look like it should hold them up. It was smaller than the one in the picture looks," Jimmy whispered, trembling slightly, he could still feel the heat of the explosion licking across his skin, could still remember those thoughts that should've been his last, images of Ben, his friends in the 2nd Mass, and of his family lost forever, "That's really all I remember, sir. I'm sorry. I tossed the explosives at it, pushed the button and then…that's it. There wasn't any trace of it ever having been there when I woke up. I don't know if it blew up or…if the Skitters moved it or…or what."
"Okay, that's good. That's very good," Weaver said, giving Jimmy's shoulder a squeeze before releasing him and wandering back towards the table. Weaver met Dai's eyes and remarked, "You know this means we might be able to destroy that thing."
"Maybe," Dai allowed, and then added, "If Jimmy is right about the one in the warehouse being destroyed. There was plenty of time for the Skitters to move it, though, too. It never made sense why they retreated so quickly that day."
Jimmy shifted uncomfortably as Weaver and Dai talked, he didn't feel he should be hearing the discussion, as though it were above his rank. He certainly understood the implication of his freshly reported information. If there was a chance they could destroy the alien structure, they might want to pursue it after all. And if they wanted to pursue it, then that meant Ben would be elected to get thrown in the fire again.
"That did cross my mind," Weaver murmured, stroking his chin thoughtfully, and Jimmy felt a growing dread. He didn't like the expression on the good ol' captain's face, or the thoughts he could easily predict churning inside that grayed noggin. Weaver was definitely considering Jimmy's worst fear of the moment.
"We should stay focused on the move," Dai recommended, "We still don't have enough information, and there are a lot more Skitters on this new structure than there were at that warehouse."
"I'm aware," Weaver said, then looking back to the silent young boy standing across the table as though suddenly remembering him, "Jimmy, do you think you could get this shopping trip underway by this afternoon?"
"I don't know…sir…that's really cutting it short…it was already short notice…" Jimmy stumbled through his words, taken aback at the sudden shift in gears.
"I realize that, son, but we're kind of strapped for time," Weaver returned.
Jimmy tensed, folding his arms over his stomach and tightening them around himself, as the puzzle pieces fitted together in his mind.
"You want to send Ben and the others to investigate that building," Jimmy realized, gesturing to the photographs haphazardly spread across the table with a jut of his chin.
"We all want to make a significant strike against the enemy, this is the way to do it, but I promised Hal I wouldn't send Ben down there without backup," Weaver confirmed.
"I don't know if they'll be ready…" Jimmy started.
"Then get them ready," Weaver returned, "I have faith in your ability to turn those four into suburb fighters."
Jimmy sighed softly, balling his hands into fists. This meeting really wasn't going remotely as planned. He'd gone in there with the intention of never seeing those unharnessed four again, and now he was discussing prepping them to go on a mission he'd happily hoped scrapped for good with Ben. He started at a throaty noise from Weaver, glancing the old man warily.
"Listen, I don't plan on sending those four anywhere until you think they're ready," Weaver assured Jimmy, "But we need to get them out on missions and soon. We don't have the luxury of month-long boot camps, and you know that."
"Yes, sir," Jimmy murmured, straightening and giving a curt nod, it was difficult to force himself to make just that small a movement, to make words come out of his mouth, "I'll do my best to get them ready. We'll head out for the shopping complex as soon as possible…how long should I….?"
"Keep them out there as long as you need, but try not to spend more than…say…three hours, and that's pushing it," Weaver answered, "Run a few scenario drills, but mostly, I want you to find out how they work with Ben."
Jimmy scrunched his features but said nothing. He had a pretty good hunch how they might work with Ben but he thought it better kept to himself at that moment.
"Let me know full details of what you plan out there before you leave, alright? And listen, Jimmy, I'm putting a lot of responsibility in your hands, you understand that, right?" Weaver asked.
Jimmy took a deep breath, pulling his shoulders back and lifting his chin up a bit, he answered, "Yes, sir. I understand."
"Good," Weaver returned, "Don't let me down. You're dismissed. Rally your unit and start prepping for the op."
"Yes, sir."
Jimmy gave a short salute and, without another word, spun on heel, hurrying from the room. The door fell heavy behind him and he leaned back against it, head swimming as he replayed the meeting in his mind, over and over again. His heart raged in his chest, and his legs threatened to buckle beneath him. Suddenly, and too late to be of any help, a thousand excuses, denials, arguments leapt onto his tongue and his stomach lurched at the realization of every single one.
Shuddering, letting the frustration rush through him, Jimmy drew himself up, winced as he bit into his inner cheek hard enough to draw blood, and then strode forward in search of the various members of his 'unit'.
Ben should come first, Jimmy knew, but he wasn't eager to spill the news of their new assignment to the other boy yet, so he decided instead to head for the fringe of camp where he was certain he would find Roman and the others.
.
.
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A/N: Right. And who though Jimmy was really going to get out of his new assignment? Yeah, I didn't think so...
Let me know what you think please! Really, it doesn't have to be long (though I love the long ones), something like, "it was awesome" or "that sucked" or "hey, bitch, why aren't Jimmy and Ben sharing that tent yet, we all know they want to and nobody else sleeps in there...", you know, something to let me know you guys are still reading. :)
Reviewers: JDMlvr1, I hope by "painful", you meant emotionally and not awkward, not well written painful. Thank you for the luck, I hope your finals are going well! SassySavanna190, all are very good questions...none I can actually answer, but you'll see how they all turn out eventually, you'll see (a cheeky grin accompanies that sentence, so you know). Glad you liked it, hope you find this one just as great, and I'm glad you decided not to be harnessed. We'll be fighters together, compete with Skitter kill counts and whatnot, it'll be awesome. IcicleLilly, yeah, I can't give the boys rainbows and sunshine just yet. A very interesting thought on Jimmy's strange new affliction...interesting indeed...
Thanks for the reviews you guys, I'll see you all on...Sunday!