"You've got to sleep at least a little, Alex. I know you're tired! I saw you stabbing carrots earlier. You're losing your edge."

Alex bristled, gripping the rubber ball just a little harder than necessary before tossing it at the wooden bedpost in front of him.

Thwack .

"I'm fine , mother ."

"He's been sitting there doing that for the past hour. Hitting the same spot. Hasn't missed it yet. It's actually a little creepy."

Tom answered, squirming around under his thick military issue blanket so that he was facing the older spy, hoodie scrunched around his face, tied together in a loopy bow.

"Traitor…" the blond muttered darkly, only half-serious. Or so Tom hoped.

Thwack.

"Hey! I never said anything about your general health. I'm better than that."

"Hyperfocus is a symptom of the painkillers St. Doms prescribed you, you know. So I know you're not entirely sober at the moment-"

"See. You've given him everything he needs." Alex shot back bemusedly, flipping the sheet was reading over.

Thwack.

"As a civilian , I'd like to plead neutrality."

"You know what? I'm actually kind of surprised he hasn't been approached by at least MI5. Do you have any thoughts on possibly enlisting?" Ben commented to Alex who snorted, not looking up from the report on his lap.

Thwack.

"They probably have enough tabs on him that he'd get flagged just enlisting for any regular military."

Thwack.

"And he'd probably be considered too much of a liability at this point. He's too close to me. Knows too much history."

"True."

"A liability...?"

"Or a security risk. It depends on who you ask."

"A security risk...?!"

Ben nodded.

"It's nothing bad-you know what I mean kid genius." he veered exasperatedly, catching Alex's judgemental look out of the corner of his eye.

Thwack.

"Look. He's a civilian. A civilian who's signed multiple versions of the OSA and who's probably been given some sort of low low-level rank. For safety at least because. But it doesn't change the fact that he's still a civilian. So he's on a completely different standard."

He turned his attention back to Tom who looked even more concerned than he'd already been.

Thwack.

"As I was saying, it's nothing bad. At least as long as you stick to what was in the OSA and keep your eyes and ears out of anywhere they shouldn't be. It's just mainly a security precaution."

"And if I- hypothetically speaking of course- happen upon something I shouldn't. Hear something I shouldn't have heard or seen something I shouldn't have seen. Something confidential, let's just say. Something big . What happens then?"

"Depends," Alex answered vaguely, tucking the sheet he'd been reading under the sizable stack in the file on his lap.

"I'd like to go with option 5; breaking the OSA will result in demotion with mandatory community service."

*"You really got to bring up old trauma like that...?"

Thwack.

"It was too perfect not to," Ben smirked.

"Anywho. Back to your question, Harris. Alex wasn't wrong. It does depend on how severe the break was. But you would be looking at anywhere from two to fourteen years and a lifelong 'security risk' mark in your files. It's not a fun place to be."

"And if the intel you managed to get to has a high enough classification, or if you start getting problematic near people with a high enough clearance, they'll make you disappear," Alex added, shrugging nonchalantly.

Thwack.

"Wait, is that a real thing? The 'they'll make you disappear'. Do they really actually do that?"

"Maybe. Maybe not." Ben shrugged.

"The moral of the story is, it's fine to be considered a security threat so as long as you don't do anything stupid. Otherwise, you'll be at the mercy of SO and they don't play around with those sorts of things."

Thwack.

"But back to the topic at hand-yeah you little manipulative shit, I didn't forget."

Alex groaned, rolling his eyes in irritation.

"Then you'd remember I said that I was just fine ."

"It's an all-night excursion, Alex!"

"I'm more than aware of that. I just can't sleep right now."

"Why not?"

"You know, I really wish I knew the answer to that as well."

"You took your meds, right? That's why you were so hazy?"

Thwack.

"Maybe…"

"Honestly, Alex. Those meds combined with last night's chaos should have knocked you out by now."

"I know . But I just can't, so here we are having this frankly unnecessary conversation right now."

Alex flipped the file closed, getting up from where he'd been sitting up against his bed.

"We've got an hour left, and I've been trailing the area where Rutledge was found. The trainees will be avoiding it by a good kilometer. The problem is, only the only way to stay as close to them as possible is through that area. We'd have to track from downhill at least 3 kilometers away, and that's too far."

Ben paused before capitulating.

Sighing in exasperation at the blond's skill of conversation manipulation.

"But I've got a bad feeling about getting so close to that area."

"Then we stick as close to the edge as we can. Wolf and some others are going to be following behind in a humvee, so we could do a front and right side guard. And if anything happens, one of use will be able to secure the left side."

He paused..

"And it's supposed to start raining in an hour or so, so if we're lucky, we'll have some sound cover."

As if things were shitty enough...

"So please, for the love of god. Get some rest. You won't be getting any more once we start."

"See. This is why I would probably never ever enlist. Insane. On my life ." Tom piped up, still lolled out comfortably on the bed.

Alex was almost a little jealous.

"Oh. And you-" Ben turned to Tom who flinched distrustingly, eyeing the man suspiciously.

"The Sarge said you can stay here in your hut. Just come by the mess hall for dinner so he can confirm that you're ok."

"Sounds good." Tom threw a thumbs up.

" Just the hut and the mess hall. Nowhere else."

"Like I said. I'm a civilian. I'm not about to wander around a special forces training base. I'm not that chaotic."

"Good. Because if you're caught, it'll be considered trespassing onto a military intelligence base. Which is highly illegal. Like breaking the OSA illegal."

Tom nodded with a grimace at the thinly veiled threat.

"Good. Oh, and Alex?"

"Hmmm?"

"Gregorovitch wanted me to give this to you. Said to tell you to check it over." he handed over the small box he'd been holding under his arm.

"Oh." he gave the box a shake.

"He'd said you'd know what to do with it."

"I do. And I'm surprised he's managed to find this…"

"What is it?"

"It's a Gemini." Alex half-smiled, opening the top, running a finger down its cold glossy black exterior.

"SCORPIA issue. A completely custom-made handgun. It's fingerprint sensitive, like the one Smithers made me. But this one is made so you can shoot twists and screw on long-range rifle extensions."

"SCORPIA gave you a gun and you're keeping it?"

Alex shrugged.

"It's a good gun. I lost it in Moscow during a mission. Didn't think I'd see it again."

"Interesting… Well. I'm going to grab some food before we leave. I'll see you at six."

"Right."