"Officer on deck!"
Zero, Niner and Thirteen both stiffened reflexively at Dubs' warning. Until they saw who was threading across the canteen towards them.
They'd seen little of Twenty-Six since being posted to Starkiller. The captain had recommended her for additional training, officer track sort of thing, which kept her away from the unit for weeks at a time. They never lost an opportunity to give her a hard time over it.
"Sir!" Niner and Zero greeted her with exaggerated salutes to which Twenty-Six responded with a distinctly less respectful gesture.
"I thought you weren't due back for another week?" laughed Dubs.
Thirteen dragged over another chair and Twenty-Six slid into it.
"I washed out," she said with a careless shrug.
Niner nearly choked on his drink.
"What?" and "Why?" rang out in unison from Zero and Dubs. Thirteen just stared.
"None of your damn business," Twenty-Six retorted, suddenly defensive. "It's bullshit anyway. Getting rotated out every six months? Fuck that. Besides. Someone's got to keep you idiots in line."
"Aaah, admit it, you missed us." Zero grinned.
"Thirteen's been pining." Niner could not resist causing trouble.
"What? No, I-"
"Oh, fuck yes, it's pathetic," added Dubs.
Thirteen's face had gone crimson, right to the tips of his ears. He'd been glad for her. Hell, he'd been proud. But he'd have been lying if he said that he hadn't been devastated, that he hadn't selfishly wished she could stay.
But when he looked up, he saw that Twenty-Six already knew all that. The only thing which puzzled her - her wry half-smile seemed to suggest - was why, after 24 years, he was still letting Niner wind him up.
Zero pushed to his feet. "I think this calls for another round."
It was nearly impossible to get drunk on the piss they served in the canteen, but they did their best. Twenty-Six told ghoulish tales about the amount of paperwork which junior officers were required to submit and it was generally agreed by all that she'd made the right decision.
"But just think," countered Dubs, "If you'd just stuck with it, you could be having proper drinks in the officers' mess, and not... " she twirled her glass reflectively. "What is this anyway?"
"Overpriced, is what it is," grumbled Niner.
"D'you remember that stuff Five-Oh scrounged up for Graduation?" asked Zero and there was a collective groan from the other four.
Twenty-Six cursed expressively. "Worst hang-over I have ever had."
"Thirteen, you thought you were dying, remember?" laughed Niner.
"Yeah," added Dubs, "We had a whole plan that if you died, we would bury you in the crater in the quad and blame it on 3rd."
Zero nodded. "Which would definitely have worked."
They all laughed, even Thirteen. Despite that night's near fatal excesses, it was a good memory. They didn't have many like that.
Thirteen realized he was staring at the empty place beside Niner and his eyes dropepd to the drink in his hands. But it was important. Important to remember. If they didn't remember each other, then it was as though they'd never existed. No one else gave a damn.
Twenty-Six grew quiet as well, following his gaze. Then, after a pause, she raised her glass.
"Absent friends."