Jensen surprisingly fit into their team pretty well from that first night on. He still annoyed Roque to hell and back, but Roque didn't like anyone, so they just ignored him. They made him stay in bed for most of those first days, threatening him with a doctor's visit if he busted any more stitches, so he took the time to systematically revamp every piece of technology they had in the house. He even got the quality so clear for Pooch's calls to Jolene that it sounded like she was in the room with them. If he didn't already have Pooch's support, that completely solidified it.
He settled into the room with Cougar as well, providing the sniper with a steady stream of commentary as he did whatever Cougar things he was up to at the moment. Clay noticed that a lot of things Cougar would come out into the main living space to do were now done on his bed, but he didn't say anything about it. If listening to Jensen ramble on about anything helped Cougar clean his guns more efficiently, that was his business.
The chain of command he'd had to go through to finalize all of Jensen's transfer paperwork had all given him strange looks as he completed the process, one even going so far as to ask if there was some sort of blackmail or a lost bet involved in his decision. Clay had brushed all of them off, assuring them that he was of sound mind when he'd made this choice. He wasn't ready to scream from the rooftops about his faith in this kid yet, but he was going to give him a shot, no matter the base gossip.
Now was the day he was finally getting his stitches out and a full workup from the doctor, to see when he'd be fit for a mission. Roque had surprisingly volunteered to go with him, after Pooch and Cougar had been tapped to lead a training session for new recruits and Clay was buried under mounds of paperwork. He was suspicious of Roque's motivations, but he didn't really have a choice.
Clay started getting worried when there was no sign of either of them an hour after they were due to get back. And then when Cougar and Pooch made it home before them as well. Clay was about to send them out looking when Roque finally banged through the door, laughing his ass off. That wasn't a good laugh.
"What did you do? Where's Jay?" Pooch demanded, stepping up and poking Roque in the shoulder.
"He's right behind me," Roque scoffed, pushing Pooch out of his way and walking toward their shared room. A few seconds later Jensen stumbled into the house, but Clay could tell right off the bat that he wasn't okay.
"Hey guys," Jensen mumbled, before leaning forward and emptying his stomach on the throw rug.
"Whoa!" Pooch shouted, darting forward and catching Jensen before he could fall into his puddle of sickness. He guided Jensen down to his knees, putting his palm against his neck. "Cougar! I need cool water and rags, now!" Clay rushed over, helping Pooch get Jensen situated upright against the wall.
"What the hell happened?" Clay asked. The kid looked like he was two seconds away from heat stroke.
"Did I pass the test?" Jensen murmured, tipping his head back as his eyes rolled around in their sockets.
"What test?"
"To see if I'm good enough to stay," Jensen breathed out, squirming when Cougar came over and laid a wet rag across his forehead.
"I'm gonna kill him," Pooch growled, balling up his fists.
"Focus on Jensen and let me handle Roque," Clay sighed, shaking his head in disappointment. He was sure the other man hadn't set out to actually hurt Jensen, but his overly aggressive antics were getting a little old.
"Handle me how?" Roque scoffed, approaching the group.
"Look what you did!" Pooch hissed, forcing himself to stay where he was when Jensen leaned more of his weight on him.
"It's not my fault if he can't handle a little run," Roque snorted.
"What do you mean by a little run?" Clay questioned.
"From the hospital to here," Roque replied. That answer worried Clay a little bit. The distance between the two places really wasn't that far, so if Jensen was this bad off from that, Roque may have a point.
"Bullshit. Cougar and my route went along the same way you would've taken. We would've seen you," Pooch challenged.
"I might've gotten a little lost and turned around a few times," Roque smirked.
"You asshole! Do you realize how hot it is out there right now?" Pooch exploded, not noticing Jensen's wince as he practically screamed in his ear.
"He's got to be able to handle a little heat."
"Our training classes got canceled early today due to the heat! Even the Army thought it was too hot," Pooch spat.
"I did it. Do I get to stay?" Jensen moaned, moving his head away from where Cougar was trying to coax him into drinking some water.
"Everyone listen to me. No one is going anywhere. Jensen, let Cougar and Pooch help you. If you're not looking better within the hour, you've earned yourself another visit with the doctor," Clay commanded, taking control of the situation. "Roque, keep your mouth shut and get them anything they ask for. We'll talk about this later."
"Come on, let's get you on the couch," Pooch said, grabbing Jensen under the arms with Cougar and heaving him up, practically dragging him into the living room. "Roque, bring the fan in here, then you can clean up the puke."
"You don't tell me what to do," Roque grunted.
"How about we go out back and I'll show you how I feel about you right now?" Pooch hissed.
"Don't be mad at him. He just wants to make sure he can trust my abilities. He cares about you guys," Jensen sighed.
"Whatever," Roque scoffed, turning and stomping out of the room. Clay was about to follow after him, but he returned a few seconds later with the fan, thrusting it at Pooch with a glare. "Now, shut up and leave me alone." Clay could see that Pooch was about to snap back at him, but Clay stopped him with a shake of his head. Roque and Jensen both needed time to cool off, albeit in different ways.
"Do we need to take him back in?" Clay asked, walking over to inspect the man himself.
"No," Jensen whined.
"I wasn't asking you," Clay chuckled.
"Not yet," Cougar replied.
"We'll take care of him," Pooch added, setting up the fan to circulate cooler air in Jensen's direction.
"I'll be back," Clay sighed. He needed to set Roque straight before anything else happened. If his team kept getting delayed for missions by what looked like internal strife, the Army would have no problem splitting them up and sending them off on new assignments. Clay had worked too hard to get his team how he wanted it to let that happen.
Roque was sharpening one of his knives when he found him, of course. He always did that when he wanted to give off "don't mess with me" vibes, but it didn't work on Clay. They'd been through too much together for Clay to ever be intimidated by the other man.
"What do you want, Clay?" Roque grunted, checking the tip of his blade.
"I want to know what crawled up your ass. Maybe Jensen isn't the only one who needs a doctor's visit," Clay snapped.
"Funny," Roque snorted, rolling his eyes. "Did they already pack the baby up and take him to the pediatrician?"
"Is that what this is about? You're jealous because they like the new kid?" Clay laughed, knowing that antagonizing Roque sometimes helped get to the heart of the matter quickly. He could never resist arguing his point.
"I don't get jealous," Roque growled.
"So what is it?"
"You all are acting like this kid staying on the team is a done deal."
"What are you talking about? He's getting the same chance that all of our other temps are getting. Nothing more, nothing less."
"Oh come on, Clay," Roque argued. "With the way those two have been doting on him from the jump, do you really think they're going to let you get rid of him? Even if he's shitty at his job, they will fight tooth and nail to keep him here. That's how people get killed. When they let emotion cloud their judgment."
"Putting all that other bullshit aside for now, what makes you think he's going to be so bad at his job?"
"If he wasn't, he wouldn't be floundering around the base without a team."
"I seem to recall you in a pretty similar situation before I brought you in," Clay pointed out. "Maybe not because of your abilities, but because of your attitude. Should I have listened to all the people who told me not to waste my time on you? Because I gotta say, you are living up to some of those rumors right now."
"Whatever."
"And I'm going to ignore the fact that you seem to be calling my abilities to lead this team into question, out of the kindness of my heart. I know how to make the hard decisions and if I need to, I will get rid of him. But I will not stand by and let you manufacture reasons to boot him from the team. If you have a legitimate concern, you come to me. No more setting him up for failure, which by the way, didn't even work."
"I guess we'll find out soon enough," Roque muttered, focusing his attention back on his knives. Yeah, they would.