Chapter 25

BAU Headquarters
Quantico, VA

"Can I learn to use a lightsaber?" Spencer asked.

Sin shrugged and collapsed the beams.. "Sure, if you want to, I guess. You won't have any problem fueling up on this planet. Cass is a better teacher though. But…why?"

"Oh, we…this planet has some mythology built up around weapons like that. I never thought I'd see a real one. Besides, why not?"

"Because Nobles don't carry weapons. They don't need to. Even Sa'rai didn't, and she's nuts."

"I need to. For my job. Hopefully that's not violating any serious social taboo or anything. Who's Sa'rai? Want some coffee?"

"My former CO, in Criminal Investigations. She got stuck there after the clankers blew her leg off. She couldn't fly combat after that, something about the seam not holding under atmo pressure. What's coffee?"

"Okay, I understood about a third of that." Spencer said.

"And I understood less." Luke said as Matt nodded. "Coffee, very tasty. Highly caffeinated beverage. Come." He grabbed his cup and waved them along.

"I think Spencer said caffeine doesn't work on you?" Matt asked.

"No, not really." Sin replied. "I mean a little, but you'd have to drink massive amounts of it to manage anything. Um…". He pointed to Spencer's mug. "Like that."

"We can make that happen." Spencer said as he dug the a spare mug out of the cupboard and started building two cups. "Although I don't really need it, I've been sleeping so well lately."

"Put a pin in that." Luke said. He turned back to Sin. "So, CO, commanding officer. Criminal Investigations, I'm guessing that's like what we do. What kind of cases did you work?"

"Sentient trafficking mostly."

"Is that like human trafficking but more than one species?" Spencer asked.

Sin nodded. "In some parts of the galaxy Q children, especially Noble children, are unfortunately popular. And when we lost our planet and had to live in refugee camps and rely on locals for safely it became a major problem. Granted it's also a problem for Aldarans and Mrr'tani, but we had it the worst. We busted three major rings while I was working there."

"Okay, that's hard core." Luke said as Matt nodded. "So your CO was a combat pilot who lost a leg in battle, couldn't fly anymore and landed in a desk job?"

"How did you land in a desk job?" Matt asked.

In reply Sin turned and revealed a large scar that crossed his back at a diagonal. "I'm on my second set of ribs." He said. "Replacing them was not easy."

"I can imagine." Matt said.

"So, what's a clanker?" Luke asked.

"Keresdal Alliance uses these enormous battle armor suits. They're three times as tall as a house, shaped roughly like a person."

Matt and Luke looked at each other. Luke pulled out his phone, "Okay, I got to know."

In the meantime Spencer handed Sin his first cup of coffee. "What are those?" Sin asked.

"Doughnuts. Want to try one?"

"Only if you eat two."

A few moments later they were in Penelope's lair. "So this is a clip from a video play?" Sin asked.

"Yea." Matt said. "This is all made up, computer generated effects. We just want to know if it looks anything like what you fought."

They watched a few minutes. "This is like your military bases?" Sin asked.

"Yeah, it's pretty close." Luke replied. "Me and I both served in similar places."

"We would have a similar set up on planet. The tech would be different, but not the people." The movie clip continued to show a soldier calling home. "Lucky man." Sin said.

"You don't have any children anywhere?" Spencer asked.

"No. No point when you don't have a safe planet for them. Maybe in another five or ten of your years, when Mars is ready."

"He's got four." Luke pointed to Matt.

Sin chuckled. "Not that many."

A few moments later a helicopter transformed itself into a giant robot. "Yeah, that's pretty close to a clanker. Thicker armor, and they don't become other machines. Also, they attack in squads of three to five."

"Three to five Decepticons?" Penelope asked.

"Is that what you call them?" Sin replied. "What kind of weapons is your military using there?"

"Projectile." Matt said. "We have most of those down in the shooting range."

"I've never seen one before."

Luke beamed. "Next stop on the tour."

"Is anyone else really glad this is fiction right now?" Penelope asked.

Sin smiled at her. "You're welcome."

Off to the armory, where they learned that Sin had never handled a weapon with a kick before, and was going to need to work on that. Next stop was the gym and confidence course, which Sin really wanted to try. And then the cafeteria, where, after a moment, Spencer amused himself by seeing just what he could put on his tray that Sin would quietly take off and what might replace it. Eventually he caught on and grinned. "You're as bad as my sister." Sin said.

"But is this sister single?" Luke asked.

"Ahh, no."

Luke turned to Spencer. "Sorry, I tried."

"So where are you from?" Matt asked when they sat down for lunch.

"Quadris." Sin replied. "But I grew up in a refugee camp on Rigel."

"Refugee camp." Luke said. "There's a phrase that's a conversation killer. How about this, why did you join up?"

"Drafted." Sin replied.

"And there's another one." Matt said.

"How about you tell me stories about what I'm getting in to?" Sin asked.

Well, that was doable.

After lunch they went back to the bullpen where a stack of reading material lay on Sin's desk. "I am not a nobleman." He said. "There is no way I'm getting through this today."

"Well, you can't get into the field until you read it all and pass your firearms qualification, with our guns." Emily said. "I'll tell you what, pick one to cover in case you're not ready when a case comes up.." She indicated Matt and Luke.

"Luke." Sin replied. "No kids."

"Fair enough. If we have a case you two stick together. And yes, that means you room together." Emily said.

Luke groaned. "I'm feeling a lot better." Spencer said. "It won't be that bad."

"And I have some tech that will help." Sin said.

"Not a Nobleman?" Matt asked once Emily moved on.

"Yeah, they read real fast."

Everyone turned to look at Spencer. "What?" He asked,

Sin just laughed and dug into the reading.

At the end of the day he and Sin took the train back together. He was still telling BAU stories, but Sin was an avid and patient listener, which was kinda nice. Most people got annoyed when he rambles, but Sin seemed content just to listen. And not just endure, but from the questions actually listen. There was something nice about that. Or maybe it was just pheromones, hard to tell.

Sin walked him all the way to his building. "Now I can tell Command I got you home safe." Sin said.

"Is that what they want?" Spencer asked.

"For now. Besides, I got to hear the end of the story." Sin smiled. "Good night then."

"Um, wait. Do you want to meet tomorrow? In the morning? We can get some breakfast, take the train in together."

"Sure. Meet you at seven? Here?"

"Sure. You know how to get…"

"Yeah. I'm going to go catch a transport back to the house. You sleep well, yeah?"

"Yeah, Good night."

"Good night."

Spencer went up to his apartment, He put away his things, changed contacts for glasses, and started making his dinner.

Twenty minutes later there was a banging on glass and a yowling sound from the bedroom. He found himself grinning as he went to open the window. "I really shouldn't be…hey!" Tristan scooted in and leapt into his arms, rubbing his head against Spencer's chin and purring up a storm. "I guess you missed me, huh? I guess I missed you too."