Jim's alarm jolted him from sleep. He spared no more than a half second's thought to turn it off. With a groan Jim rolled over, pulling the blankets with him. He sighed happily and settled back in against his pillows.

His tablet dinged. He sighed and ignored it. The tablet alerted again. He opened one eye before deciding he could let it sit for another minute. An extra five minutes of rest wouldn't hurt anything.

Two more messages dinged in. Jim finally grabbed the noisy screen so he could see what was going on. His friends never had this much to say in the morning unless something was wrong. Scanning his palm he flicked to the messages.

Sy 07:15

Hey, is everything okay? You're late for breakfast.

Sy 07:27

Jim? Classes start in half an hour

Sy 07:48

I'm coming to check on you

I hope you're alright

Jim shot straight up in bed. "Seven forty eight!?" His head snapped to his clock to confirm the time. "I'm late, I am so very late!" He scrambled for his uniform. Maybe if he ran he could still make it in time for class.

Someone knocked on his door. Jim slammed his hand against the button to open it before he pulled his shirt down over his head. He tucked it into his pants and zipped them up. "I overslept, I am so late!"

Sy stepped inside and picked up Jim's jacket and tablet. "Get your boots on. I saved you some of my breakfast."

Jim tightened the laces on his boots. "You're the best, Sy. Thank you so much."

Sy blushed. "Matt saved you a little as well, I think. The other three were going to head to class and try to cover for you just in case."

Jim paused so he could look up at his friend. "You were willing to be late to class for me?"

"Of course not!" Sy shoved a cup of coffee and a muffin into Jim's hands. "I got a refill, you'll have to use my old cup, sorry about that. Drink." He turned towards the door so they could exit. "I was going to drag you there in your pajamas if I had to. Don't forget your badge."

Jim grabbed it from it's hook on his wall on his way out the door and dropped it over his head. "Fair enough. Thanks so much, Sy. I don't know what's up with me today. I could have sworn I wasn't sleeping in for more than five minutes."

Sy shrugged and gave him a small smile. "Happens to everyone, I'm sure. We've got just enough time to get over to our class."

Jim raised an eyebrow. "Our class? Flight class is a practical for you as well today?" He took a bite out of the top of the muffin as they hurried through the halls.

Sy nodded. "Braxton thinks that we're joining your missions with the third years." He gave his friend a rueful grin. "Guess I should have insisted upon not listening in on your speculation after all."

Jim chuckled around his crumbs. "Guess so," he downed some of the hot coffee before continuing. "I'll just keep you on my team, then they can't blame you for outside knowledge!"

Sy gave him a grin. "This time, we'll be sure not to let them kill us."

Both boys were laughing as they entered the classroom. Varian waved as they made their way over to their group of mixed years. Matt handed him a hard boiled egg. Braxton had two slices of bacon. Varian supplied an apple. 628 offered him a piece of toast with jam.

"Thanks guys. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Starve."

Jim pulled a face at Braxton. Braxton just laughed.

Jim turned away so he could focus on getting his makeshift breakfast into him before Mrs. Parr could start the lesson. Sy sat down against the wall with their tablets on his lap. Jim's jacket he'd draped over his shoulder to keep out of his way. He spread a napkin across the top of the tablets and took Jim's egg so he could start to peel it for him.

As Jim finished the last bites of his meal Mrs. Parr, Mr. Da Silva, and the third year's instructor took the front of the room. With three years worth of students packed into the clear section of the room, things were quite crowded. Even so Mrs. Parr looked completely confident leading the large class.

"Good morning, men." She surveyed the assembled cadets before her. Jim did his best to slip into his jacket without drawing attention to himself. "As I am sure most of you have gathered, we are once more returning to the program we have been working with. I see most of my second and third years are already in their teams, excellent job cadets. If you are not already, please get into your pairs from last class. In addition, I want you to select a first year to join you."

Around the room young men started to gather up or shout for their friends. Sy flashed them a bright smile. "Stay here! I'll go grab two more first years, okay?"

"Thanks Sy!" Jim watched him disappear into the crowds before turning to the others. "He must be making more friends in his year. I'm really glad that he's starting to fit in more."

Varian, 628, and Braxton snickered on the sidelines together. Jim ignored them openly. The third years they had met on Tuesday made their way over to join them. Tuffnut shoved Fishlegs aside so he could be in front. Snotlout shouldered past Tuffnut to take the lead.

628 tipped his head as he studied them curiously. "Hello."

"What is that?" Tuffnut poked at one of 628's antennas. The experiment flattened his ears against his skull and growled. Tuffnut leaped back into one of his friends as he snatched his hand away with a yelp.

Snotlout shoved Tuffnut away from him. "Don't hide behind me."

"I wasn't hiding behind you, you were in my way."

"Cut it out, guys." Hiccup offered 628 his hand. "I'm Hiccup. Are you going to be partnering with Braxton and me?"

628 perked back up. "Yes! Braxton my partner."

"Welcome aboard."

"We need first years, too," Tuffnut protested. "Where are we going to get some of those?"

Fishlegs scanned the room hesitantly. "Maybe we could ask some of the ones by themselves?"

"My friend's got it," Jim answered quickly. "He'll be back in just a moment. He's probably gone to get Aladdin and, um, I actually don't know who else he might get."

"Impressive, something you don't know about your softspot." Braxton teased.

"Would you stop calling him that?" Jim shoved him. Braxton stumbled backwards into Varian. 628 snarled at Jim. Jim continued, "He's not my anything."

Braxton laughed and reached up to sooth 628. "Okay, okay. He's not yours." Casually he propped one foot up on the wall and leaned back. "But he is coming this way."

Jim spun away from Braxton and scanned the crowds for Sy. He did not spot the friendly grin and black hair he was searching for. What he did see was worse.

Much, much worse.