Clay rubbed at his temples, trying to block out Pooch's rambling complaints. He knew that Pooch was just frustrated with everything, but it was getting to be too much. The new member issues, plus the house, and the shooting were all messing with Pooch's sense of control and it was leaving him flustered. Added with the fact that it had been over a month since he'd seen his girl and Pooch was an annoying mess. Roque had already taken off to get away from him, but Clay had to stay to make sure Pooch didn't get himself into any trouble. That was the last thing they needed.

"Why don't you just go to bed? We can figure things out in the morning," Clay sighed, leaning back to look at where Pooch was pacing in the little nook they'd carved out for themselves. They were in an open bunk area, since their temporary displacement wasn't important enough to free up a private room for them.

"You're talking to me like I'm a kid who can't wait for Christmas to come," Pooch growled, glaring at Clay's eye roll. Most COs wouldn't let their subordinates get away with backtalk like that, but Clay tried to stay more relaxed with his people. As long as they did their jobs and could be trusted, he wasn't going to police their words during times of stress.

"He's obviously fine, if he was able to leave and hide himself away from us. What's got you so hung up on this kid?" Clay asked, trying to get a better understanding of where Pooch was coming from.

"I just keep thinking about all that shit he said about his old teams and how people have treated him. It's not right," Pooch hissed, sitting angrily on his bunk. "He saved my life without a thought of what might happen to him. I can't just sit back and do nothing. I owe him."

"Well, here's your chance," Roque grunted, walking up with a squirming Jensen in tow.

"Hey guys," Jensen mumbled, ducking his head low.

"Jay! Where the hell were you?" Pooch exclaimed, jumping up and pulling Jensen into a hug. The other man winced a little before Pooch pulled back in shock. "What happened?"

"Uh-"

"You're bleeding!" Pooch gasped, spinning him around to get a better look at his back. Sure enough, there were a few red stains on the back of his shirt. Nothing too worrisome, but more than he should have after being stitched up by actual doctors.

"Roque?" Clay questioned, raising an eyebrow at his second in command. He wouldn't be surprised if this was his fault.

"Don't look at me," Roque scoffed, crossing his arms.

"He didn't do anything, really," Jensen said, leaning closer to speak in Pooch's ear, even though his volume didn't change. "Is this guy really on your team? He's damn scary."

"What happened?" Clay asked.

"Seems like Welch ran into your boy and was still a little upset about being bumped from the team. Decided to make his feelings known," Roque explained.

"And you just let him hurt Jensen?" Pooch snapped.

"I didn't let anyone do anything. And I'm pretty sure he's a grown man and can take care of himself," Roque shot back.

"It's not a big deal. Your old tech just had a few things to say to me, I bumped into the wall, and then it was over. No harm, no foul," Jensen insisted.

"I would consider busted stitches harm," Pooch argued.

"Look, I'm already going to be the guy who ran his mouth and messed up someone else's spot. I really don't need to be branded as a snitch as well, especially over something so small. I get enough shit around here as it is, so if you really think you owe me something for earlier, which you don't, you'll listen to me and leave this alone." Clay and Pooch shared a look, contemplating what he'd just said. Gossip was an issue on certain bases and it wouldn't be fair to Jensen if they caused problems for him after what he'd done for Pooch. But Clay still didn't feel good about how things were at the moment.

"I won't report this to the brass, as long as Welch doesn't try anything else," Clay agreed, standing up and herding Jensen further into their area before he said the next part. "And as long as you let us check your back."

"Wait- aw, come on," Jensen whined, trying to twist so his back was facing away from everyone. "I don't want to go back to the hospital."

"I didn't say anything about going back. But if you don't let us check, that will be your only other option," Clay said, standing up to his full height. "And that's an order." Clay could see Jensen wanted to argue, but he forced himself to stay quiet.

"We only want to help you," Cougar assured him, guiding Jensen down onto one of the bunks.

"I've done pretty well on my own for a long time. I mean, I had my sister, but she was always busy with school and work, so I was left to my own devices a lot. And then when I joined the Army I was really alone, but that's okay, cause I was used to it. So you really can just forget about me," Jensen babbled, gripping the bottom of his shirt. "It actually is pretty easy to forget about me. My parents did once when I was four years old. I think that was my first memory even. They left me at a mall for a few hours before they realized and came back. It was okay though, since I just followed around other families for a while."

"What the hell?" Roque grunted, looking around as if he wasn't sure what he was hearing.

"It was an honest mistake. They'd taken my sister to a slumber party earlier and I guess they just forgot I was still with them. I'm sure they felt bad about it."

"Do you need help taking off your shirt?" Cougar asked, cutting off the next tangent before it could begin.

"Well, if I had a nickel every time I'd been asked that, I'd have at least one nickel," Jensen joked, still pulling at his shirt. "I'm just kidding. I do very well with the ladies, when I actually try. I just haven't had the time recently. I bet everyone goes crazy for that hat. There's just so much mystery behind it. Do you think I could pull one off? I'm kind of liking the spiky hair thing I've got going on right now, but there's nothing wrong with having options. I've always been more of a baseball cap kind of guy though. I don't really have the swagger for a more outlandish style."

"Just cut the damn thing off," Roque growled, unsheathing one of his absurd knives.

"Is he gonna kill me with that? Please don't let him kill me with that," Jensen whined, whipping off his shirt in record time.

"Why are you walking around base with that thing?" Clay sighed, running a hand down his face.

"You never know when it'll come in handy," Roque shrugged, pointing it at the now shirtless man. "Worked, didn't it?" Clay rolled his eyes, choosing to ignore his permanently aggressive SIC. There were more pressing matters at the moment.

Cougar was carefully untaping the bandage from Jensen's back. It was soaked through with blood in some places and needed to be changed no matter what. Clay cringed when he finally got a look at the wound. They'd all gotten stitches at one point or another, but this was pretty extreme. This wasn't the couple stitches they'd had to put in each other to close up a small knife wound. This spanned almost his entire back. If he'd been a second slower, the bullet would've gone through his chest and done unspeakable damage. If he'd been a second faster, it would've missed him completely.

"Holy shit, Jay," Pooch whispered, staring at the wound Jensen got from saving him.

"It's not so bad, right?" Jensen asked, trying to twist his head around without moving his back. A couple of the stitches had been obviously ripped and those spots were slowly dripping blood. If they hadn't seen the stains, they never would've known. Jensen hadn't shown the pain he must've been in this whole time.

"A couple of these will need to be redone," Cougar said regretfully.

"No wait, I'm sure it will be fine," Jensen said, reaching for his shirt again. "I didn't sign up for the stitch punch card the last time I was at the hospital, and I doubt they'll honor past purchases. And besides, chicks dig scars, right?"

"Scars, yes. Big gaping wounds, no," Roque snorted.

"He's exaggerating, right?" Jensen panted, staring at Cougar in horror.

"What do we do Colonel?" Pooch asked, crouching down behind Jensen's back. They obviously couldn't leave him like this.

"I can restitch. It should only take a couple," Cougar offered.

"I don't know," Clay muttered. It wouldn't look too good if people caught them performing field medicine right down the road from the real physicians.

"What do you think, Jay? Would you prefer if Cougar took care of this?" Pooch asked.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Jensen asked, biting his lip anxiously.

"Si, I have a lot of experience."

"It has been a while since I played doctor with someone, although the circumstances were a lot different back then," Jensen murmured, jiggling his knee nervously.

"You're going to have to be quiet, okay?" Clay said, glancing around the room. No one was paying attention to them at the moment, but that could easily change. "Roque, keep a lookout."

"You guys are crazy," Roque scoffed, moving into position. Cougar gathered the supplies he needed while Pooch moved Jensen to lie on his stomach.

"Just- just don't hold me down, okay? I promise I'll try not to move around, just don't tie me down," Jensen stammered, moving his arms erratically as if he expected someone to grab them and pin him. Pooch sat down on the floor in front of Jensen, taking on the task of distracting him as Cougar got to work.

Once again Clay was impressed by this kid. After a couple reflexive flinches, he stayed perfectly still, even timing his breaths so they wouldn't interfere with Cougar's work. Pooch was talking about anything he could think of, trying his best to keep Jensen's mind off the pinches and pulls of the needle and thread.

There were only a few spots where a replacement stitch was necessary, but it was still more than it should have been. Clay might keep his word about not reporting Welch to the higher ups, but he saw a confrontation with the man in his future. And if he was feeling extra puckish, he might just ask Roque to join him.

"Did you know a woman set a record with 118 stitches in one minute?" Jensen slurred as Cougar tied off the last thread. "That was knitting though."

"Are you alright? You don't sound good," Pooch asked, resting the back of his hand on Jensen's forehead.

"Are you checking me for a fever? Man, you guys are so nice. I wish we could be friends," Jensen murmured, closing his eyes and relaxing as Cougar gently cleaned the wound and rebandaged it.

"Why can't we be? We already are, right?" Pooch asked, dragging a blanket up and draping it over his body.

"It never lasts, but that's okay. Today was one of the best days I've had since I enlisted."

"You were shot, given a drug that made things worse, held down for God knows how many stitches, had your glasses stolen, assaulted by a jackass for no reason, then stitched again without any painkillers and this still ranks as one of your better days?" Pooch asked incredulously. Jensen smiled a little, giving in to the pull of sleep.

"But I wasn't alone." Pooch leaned back on his heels, staring at the sleeping man for a long moment. Clay could see the wheels turning in his head and he knew what was coming next.

"Clay."

"No," Roque grunted.

"Why not?"

"He talks too much. I'll kill him."

"Roque," Clay sighed.

"I know that voice. You've already decided, haven't you?" Roque scoffed, shaking his head.

"We need someone, you know that."

"But does it have to be him?"

"We give him the same chance as everyone else. If it doesn't work out, we kick him back."

"Yeah right. Like Pooch and Cougar are going to let that happen. They've practically adopted the kid already," Roque snorted.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Pooch argued lamely, looking to Cougar for support. Cougar just shrugged and finished putting everything away.

"This isn't going to end well, and I'll be there to remind you when it doesn't," Roque warned, walking away from the group.

"Thanks Clay, I really think this is a good idea," Pooch said, leaning back against his own bunk.

"We'll see," Clay muttered, glancing down at the sleeping man. He'd let them think that Pooch had swayed him to make the decision to give Jensen a chance. They didn't need to know he'd already put in the paperwork earlier that afternoon. Now the kid just had to live up to expectations.