They all went to bed soon after that, with Pooch letting Jensen stay in his bed while he took Roque's. The SIC never came back that night, a fact that Clay chose not to worry about. Roque may be a hothead, but he usually stayed out of trouble enough to not have to deal with true repercussions.

Clay laid on his back, listening to the sounds of all the other soldiers around him getting up and starting their day. It was hard going from the silence of a private house to this, especially when you'd trained yourself to wake up to every little noise while out on a mission. Ignoring a cough or sniffle in the field could get you killed, but he was surrounded by it now and that didn't equal good rest for any of them. At least their house was going to be worked on today.

Speaking of that, Clay looked over to check on how the newest member of the team was doing. Jensen hadn't moved much since he'd passed out the night before, still laid out over the mattress on his stomach. Clay thought about the whirlwind of the day before and how they'd gotten to this point. What was supposed to be a boring day of paperwork had turned into almost nonstop chaos. There was still an abundance of paperwork, but it didn't feel as bad as he thought it would. This kid was different from anyone he'd ever had on his team, but maybe that was just what they needed.

"Pooch, I swear to God if you wet my bed again," Roque growled, stalking up to the group from wherever he'd been. Not bloody or in cuffs, so that was a good sign.

"Again?" Jensen murmured into the pillow under his cheek.

"That was not my fault! You're the one who got me drunk!" Pooch hissed, flipping him off.

"Real men know how to hold it," Roque snorted, dodging the pillow that was launched at his face.

"Hey Jay, how did you sleep?" Pooch asked, ignoring Roque now.

"Uh, I slept…" Jensen mumbled, his eyes going wide as he realized where he was, "in your bed. Shit! I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine-"

"No, I didn't mean to! You should've just thrown me out," Jensen stammered, trying to roll off of the bed with a hiss of pain.

"Jay, take it easy!"

"You guys do me a favor and then I get in your way. What's wrong with me?" Jensen got himself into a seated position without doing too much damage, but Cougar stopped him there with a hand on his shoulder.

"Amigo, we wanted you here," Cougar said calmly, keeping the contact until Jensen quit trying to leave.

"You don't. You may think you do because of some misguided life debt or something, but you're gonna realize soon that you want me gone and it's just easier to skip all the stuff in the middle and leave now," Jensen insisted.

"I agree," Roque chuckled.

"See!"

"Roque, shut up!" Pooch hissed, glaring up at him.

"Enough," Clay sighed, swinging his legs to the side of his bed. It was too early for this bickering. "Corporal Jensen, do you think I'm a smart man?"

"What? Is this some sort of trick?" Jensen asked, looking around in confusion. At Clay's pointed stare, he answered. "Yes sir."

"Do you think I know how to do my job?"

"Well, I've never actually seen you do it, like on a mission," Jensen mumbled, biting his lip when Clay kept staring. "Yes sir."

"Do you think I know how to run my team?"

"I'm just gonna go straight to yes sir this time," Jensen said, earning himself a snort from Pooch.

"Good, you're learning," Clay chuckled. "So if all that's true, you'll believe me when I say that we want you here."

"I guess?"

"And when I say I want you on my team."

"Sure, I mean- wait, what?" Jensen asked, shaking his head comically.

"Paperwork has already been submitted," Clay confirmed. Jensen looked around at everyone, as if he was waiting for someone to deliver the punchline.

"You can't be serious. You don't even know me."

"I didn't know any of these guys before they joined my team."

"But they probably came recommended."

"Welch came recommended and you see how that turned out. I much prefer making my own judgments about people."

"And what's your judgment about me?" Jensen whispered, looking up at him hesitantly.

"That I've seen enough to give you a shot. Unless you don't want it. I can always pull the paperwork," Clay replied, challenging him with a raised eyebrow. "What do you say, Corporal? Do you have what it takes to become a Loser?" Jensen stood up, trying to exude confidence.

"I won't let you down," Jensen declared.

"We'll see about that," Roque scoffed, grabbing a change of clothes to head to the showers.

"Welcome aboard, dude. I know you'll do great," Pooch laughed, standing up to give him a quick bro hug. Cougar shook his hand, tipping his hat in approval.

"I hope this isn't too soon, but could I ask for a favor?" Jensen asked, squirming a little from all the attention.

"What's that?"

"Do you think I could borrow a shirt?"

The bug problem hadn't been as bad as they thought, so after a bug bomb and a few hours of airing out the house, they were cleared to move back in. It couldn't have come at a better time, since they had a new member to join them. Having Jensen separate from them wouldn't have been good with integrating him into the team.

"Aw, come on. I can carry my own stuff," Jensen whined for what seemed like the millionth time. He only had one bag of clothes, but what felt like countless bags of electronics.

"Do you really want to mess up Cougar's work?" Pooch asked, shouldering the heaviest of Jensen's gear for the short walk from the car to the house.

"No, but I can carry my own weight. I don't want you to think I'm weak," Jensen insisted, fluttering around the group as they made it into the house.

"We'll see how tough you are when the stitches come out and I take you through a training session," Roque sneered, bouncing the door open with his hip.

"Does that involve his knives?" Jensen whispered, looking to the others for help. "I really don't like getting stabbed."

"How often have you gotten stabbed?" Pooch asked, pushing him along.

"Not a lot, but you really only need to experience it once to know you don't like it."

"You have a point there."

"Okay, here's the deal," Clay said as soon as they were all in the house. "Cougar's room has the spare bed, since that's where our last tech slept, so you can be there for now. If you all want to switch around, figure it out yourselves."

"I'm definitely not bunking with him," Roque snorted, stalking off toward his room.

"You're probably a better roommate than Roque," Pooch said, loud enough for the other man to hear it.

"I don't know. I can always sleep in a closet or in a tent outside," Jensen mumbled.

"I do not mind the company," Cougar shrugged, taking Jensen's clothes to his room without another word.

"Are you sure? I wouldn't blame you if you decided to change your mind and pretend we never met," Jensen said, shifting his weight a little. Clay was starting to get worried about having someone so unsure of themselves on the team, but he wasn't the type to back out of anything. They'd dealt with worse types of people and one mission with him probably wouldn't kill them. But all the self doubt would get pretty old, pretty quick.

"Go to bed, Corporal. We'll figure everything out in the morning," Clay commanded. Jensen looked like he wanted to keep arguing, but he just nodded and walked away instead. Clay shared a look with Pooch and he could see the optimism in the other man's eyes. Jensen would get the same chance that everyone else did. They'd find out soon enough if he could hack it.