This is the result of a fifteen-minute writing sprint. You are welcome. ;D

"Hey, you guys are playing checkers? That's a great game." Quinlan dropped cross-legged to the floor. "I'll bet you just like it because the pieces are black and red."

Tech rolled his eyes. "Yes, of course. That's the only reason we'd like a game."

"Or . . ." Quinlan paused. "Hey, did you guys pick your whole black and red color scheme because you liked the game?"

Hunter performed a slight double-take, then blinked. "Vos, why would we base our colors on a boardgame? And what in space would make you even think of that?"

"You guys are as random as I am," Quinlan replied happily. "Almost."

Crosshair and Hunter exchanged enigmatic looks.

Quinlan set up the board. "Only two players. What do you guys do, draw straws to see who plays?"

"Nope!" said Wrecker. "We go in teams. So, say I play against Crosshair and Tech plays against Hunter. Then there'll be one last game, where the two winners play against each other."

"Good idea," said Quinlan. "Look, I'm terrible at checkers, so I'll just watch."

And watch he did, for the forty-five seconds it took for Crosshair to win. Wrecker responded to each of Crosshair's moves so fast that Quinlan could barely follow what either of them were doing.

No one said anything when Crosshair jumped his black piece over Wrecker's last red piece. Tech and Hunter automatically moved to position, Hunter taking red and Tech taking black, while Crosshair leaned against the wall. Wrecker, who didn't look phased in the least, started reading.

During the next couple of minutes, Quinlan practiced slowly and dramatically raising one eyebrow. He felt like doing it more and more lately, with the way these guys functioned . . . Might as well get it down to a fine art, since Tech and Hunter were playing much more carefully than the other two had.

Eventually he looked up from the game to see that Wrecker was staring curiously at him. "Vos, what are you doing?"

"Practicing," he said, flicking a piece of lint from his black tunic.

"Practicing what?" Hunter murmured absently, frowning at the board.

"The eyebrow of death," said Quinlan. "Cody's got it down pat. I think him and all the medics do." Well, those guys and Mace Windu . . . "For some reason, I just can't get it."

Hunter glanced up at him and, very slowly, raised one eyebrow.

Tech caught him doing it, rolled his eyes, and looked over at Quinlan. "I have theorized in the past that clones in positions of authority become particularly adept in that expression."

Undiscouraged, Quinlan slouched casually back against the wall. "Yeah . . . I'd say that's probably an accurate assessment."

He'd placed a mental bet with himself that Tech would win – a bet which he lost very badly. Once again, none of the commandos seemed to have any reaction. Tech got up, took his datapad from Wrecker, and went back to work. Hunter stayed where he was, Crosshair took Tech's place, and Wrecker picked up Hunter's datapad and went back to reading.

"Maybe it's just me," Quinlan commented, studying the ceiling. "But you guys sure seem accustomed to this."

"Well, yeah," said Wrecker cheerfully. "That's 'cause it happens the same way every time. Tech and I always lose."

"Even when you play Hunter and Crosshair plays Tech?"

"Yep."

"Huh. What about when you and Tech play with each other?"

"They don't," interrupted Hunter, jumping two of Crosshair's pieces.

"Ever?"

"We used to," Wrecker said. "But the game always ended up violent, so we don't anymore."

"The game," said Quinlan wisely, "is an inanimate object and cannot be violent."

"You'd be surprised," replied Hunter. There was a long silence, broken only by the clink of the chips against the board.

Crosshair captured one of Hunter's pieces. "The violence wasn't the problem," he said, by way of clarification. "Not until one of the chips got stuck in the hyperdrive lever."

Quinlan snorted. "Yeah, but last game Tech threw pieces at you."

"Yeah," said Crosshair. "He threw them. That's not violent."

It's not? "You said a chip got stuck in the hyperdrive level . . ."

Hunter, still focused on the checkers board, nodded his agreement. "Stuck is one way to put it. The piece was driven into the lever. We never did figure out how that one happened."

Tech looked thoughtful. "I know – I've been thinking about it, and I still can't remember. Everything after the first minute is kind of a blur."

"Same," said Wrecker. "But yeah, that's why these checker games always go the same way."

Hunter made his final move, beating Crosshair. Without speaking or reacting in any way, they began to clean up the game.

Quinlan snickered. "Guess that eventually I'll have to play against one of you, just to shake things up a little."