"Did you really think that was going to work? Pathetic," Jensen mumbled, tapping away on the keyboard.

"Do you ever shut up?" Roque muttered.

"Enough. Both of you," Clay demanded, shaking his head in frustration. Why had he decided to keep all the comm lines open for this mission? It seemed like a good way to keep tabs on everyone, but now it didn't seem like the best idea.

The flight and drive in to this mission had been a test sent from some sort of malevolent spirit, he was sure of it. An amped up Jensen was a talkative one and that didn't bode well for any of them, especially Roque. Not being able to escape the constant chatter had driven Roque up the wall and he was snapping at everyone left and right. Pooch and Cougar tried to guide Jensen's talking in their direction, but it was too late for that to matter. Just the sound of Jensen's voice was enough to drive him nuts. And all this made it such a treat to inform Roque that he was sticking with Jensen for the mission.

Clay was going to be at one end of the compound providing a distraction if they needed it, with Cougar covering him long range, while Jensen was getting the information off of the computers. Jensen needed someone to watch his back while he was focused on that task, and while Clay typically would've been fine with that job, there was another thing that needed to be done and it was Roque's specialty. After the information was secure, that whole area needed to be destroyed. And when things needed to go boom, you called in Roque.

Roque had tried to argue his way out of it, with Jensen even volunteering to go in alone, but Clay was having none of it. This was the job and they were going to put aside their shit and do it. They could bitch about it on the ride home.

"I think it's going well," Pooch chuckled from his spot in the getaway car. Easy for him to say, since he was on the outside of the action.

"Optimism. It's what I love about you man," Jensen snorted.

"If you don't shut up, I'll use you as the detonator of my bomb," Roque hissed.

"I've never really been an explosives guy, but would that even work? Seems pretty inefficient as well."

"Focus," Clay warned, checking his area again. It was so quiet that Clay was starting to feel uncomfortable. Either these guys weren't the ones they were looking for or they were and were smarter than they anticipated.

"I am focused. Not so much I can do while the files are downloading," Jensen mumbled.

"You know, I might not have enough wick for this dynamite. Do you mind if I use your entrails?" Roque growled.

"No thank you, but I appreciate that you asked first. I knew a kid in school who would steal everyone's shit. He even took the teacher's mug, right in front of her. I think he was the principal's son or something, so nothing happened."

"I look forward to the day that you're only a story I tell to people when I'm drunk," Roque sneered.

"Shut up," Jensen whispered.

"Excuse me?" Even Clay was surprised by that coming from Jensen.

"I think I heard something," Jensen mumbled, and Clay could hear him moving his gun into a ready position.

"Shit," Clay hissed, crouching in a way that made it easier for him to move if necessary. "Let me know if you need my distraction."

"Too late," Roque grunted, just before the sound of gunfire exploded in Clay's ear.

"Eagle, can you get eyes on them?"

"Negative," Cougar replied. Clay was completely in the dark from his position and he hated it. He shot off a few rounds where he was, trying to draw some of the fire to his area, but he knew it would probably be a lost cause. The enemy already had a threat cornered and they wouldn't be easily swayed away from their prey.

"Get down!" Roque snapped, followed by another spray of bullets.

"I am down!" Jensen shot back. "Shit!"

"I'm heading over," Clay announced, creeping along his wall of cover as fast as he could.

"I think we're clear. Checking now," Roque said. Clay paused, letting out a relieved breath. Getting through their first firefight together might help bond them a bit.

"Wait!" Jensen shouted, before twin gunshots rang out. The comms were eerily silent for the longest moments of Clay's life before the quiet sound of a gasp broke the calm.

"The kid is hit," Roque muttered, and all hell broke loose.

"Where? Is he okay?" Pooch shouted.

"Shit, just breathe."

"That's it. I'm aborting this mission," Clay declared, moving toward where his path should cross with Roque and Jensen. "Can you get him back on your own?"

"That- hurt," Jensen gasped haltingly.

"Hey man, it's good to hear your voice," Pooch chuckled in relief.

"N-no one's ev'r said to me 'fore," Jensen slurred back, setting Clay's hair on end. He didn't sound good.

"Well, as soon as you get to the van, you can talk about whatever you want."

"This is gonna hurt," Roque warned, before huffing out a breath of exertion. Jensen let out a choked off moan before going silent again. "Easy, easy. Give us two minutes to get to you."

"Got it," Clay grunted, taking out a couple more unfriendlies who popped up. It seemed like most of their target had been taken out by Jensen and Roque, before their luck ran out.

"I see them," Cougar said quietly. Everyone knew that Cougar didn't talk much, but that didn't mean he didn't say a lot. And the grave nature of his tone didn't make Clay feel any better about Jensen's condition.

"I'm pulling the van up to the south entrance. I should be right where you guys are coming out," Pooch said.

"I'll cover you," Cougar replied. They were going to take this so hard if Jensen wasn't okay. And even if Roque had done everything right in this scenario, would they ever forgive him? After all the earlier discord?

Clay heard them before he saw them. After years together, he could recognize the sound of Roque running anywhere. But now it was accompanied by stumbling, dragging steps.

"Shit," Clay muttered, rushing over to meet them as soon as he got eyes on them. Roque had Jensen's arm draped over his shoulder and looked to be the only thing holding him up. It was admirable that he was even upright at this point, but it looked like he wouldn't be for much longer. Jensen's head was slumped forward to his chest and only one out of every few steps were done under his own power.

"Took an armor piercing slug to the chest. Didn't get a chance to look at it, thanks to the gear," Roque grunted. Clay ducked under Jensen's free arm, relieving some of Roque's load. Jensen let out a pained whine, shuddering out gasping breaths.

"Hang on. We've got you," Clay assured him, even though he had no idea. He'd been hoping for a bullet to the leg, maybe even high on the shoulder, but the chest was almost worst case scenario. Jensen was still alive, but for how much longer? Would he be able to survive the trip to the hospital?

"I- I-" Jensen stuttered.

"Save your energy," Clay said, kicking through a closed door. Only a few more yards to the exit. The sun was glaringly bright when they finally made it outside. It almost felt like the sky should be gloomy, to match the somber mood of the group. Pooch had the back door open, so Clay slid in, dragging Jensen along with him

"How is he?" Pooch asked, taking off toward where Cougar would meet them as soon as Roque climbed in and closed the doors.

"I don't know!" Clay snapped, feeling frustrated by everything. This wasn't supposed to happen to his team and he felt like he was failing as a leader by not knowing if Jensen was going to be okay. He was supposed to have all the answers, but right now he had none.

"C-can't-" Jensen wheezed, pawing at his throat.

"Dammit!" Clay hissed, pulling Jensen into a seated position against his chest. Jensen tipped his head back onto his shoulder, coughing out a mouthful of blood.

"Oh my God," Pooch moaned, rapidly shifting his eyes between the windshield and the rearview mirror. Jensen was writhing around in his lap, choking up more and more blood as his panicked, short breaths did more harm than good.

"You gotta calm down, okay," Clay directed, feeling around his chest for the entrance wound. The dark clothes and his angle weren't helping, but they had to at least try to stop the bleeding. He was already bleeding internally, which they couldn't do anything about.

"C-Clay."

"I know it's hard, but you gotta try. Slow breaths, okay?" Clay could see Jensen was trying to follow his command, shaking from the effort. He seemed to be getting a little bit more air into his lungs, but it probably didn't feel like it from Jensen's position.

The van stopped for a second to let Cougar jump into the front seat and he quickly scrambled into the back, perching to the side of Jensen and checking him over now that he was up close.

"Oh no, amigo," Cougar murmured.

"W-worse th'n last t-time," Jensen gasped, shuddering when Clay finally made contact with the wound. It was dangerously close to the center of his chest, only slightly to the right. The bullet had obviously hit his lung though, which meant it was only a matter of time before it was completely filled with blood.

"Save your breath. Don't try to talk," Clay said, balling up a shirt Cougar conjured up and pressing it to Jensen's chest. They really should take off all his gear, but he was hesitant to jostle him that much.

"Ten minutes," Pooch called out, guiding the van through a sharp turn.

"You hear that, Jensen? Only a little while longer."

"Hafta tell you," Jensen rasped, reaching up to grab Clay's wrist.

"Whatever it is can wait, okay? You can tell me later."

"'Portant," Jensen insisted, squeezing his wrist with a surprising amount of strength. If this was some dying declaration, did Clay have the right to refuse it?

"Okay," Clay nodded, tipping his head closer to the man, so he wouldn't have to talk as loud.

"Drive in my pants p-pocket," Jensen croaked, barely forcing his eyes back open between blinks.

"What?" Clay asked in confusion.

"Password is the day I met you," he mumbled, letting his head slump to the side.

"No, stay awake Jensen, come on," Clay demanded, shaking him a little to try to rouse him. Jensen cracked one eye open, flashing a weak smile of blood stained teeth.

"Didn't wanna let you guys down," Jensen whispered, before finally losing the battle to stay awake.

"Son of a bitch," Pooch hissed, punching his fist into the steering wheel as he sped down the road. Clay belatedly remembered that their comms were still in, so everyone could hear Jensen's softly spoken words. "He thinks we care about the mission more than we care about him."

"Help me get this off of him," Clay grunted to Cougar, gesturing to Jensen's layers. He could still feel the little puffs of air against his neck, but if that changed, they couldn't waste time before moving to CPR.

Clay flicked his eyes toward where his second in command had been sitting in silence this whole time. He looked angry, but Clay could tell that it was mostly at himself. He'd been so convinced that Jensen would mess up and prove him right, that he'd probably never considered this outcome. But now Roque had to live with the aftermath, knowing that even after making it clear to Jensen that he didn't belong, he still cared more about the objective than himself. Clay just hoped that they'd get the chance to show Jensen he was worth more than that.