Poor Matt had only seen Mendez at his ‘worst’ as the man who was supposed to train them to survive. That didn’t afford him the luxury of kindness or mercy no matter how young his charges had been so the man had certainly garnered a reputation as a hard ass at best and a relentless monster who pushed them beyond their limits at worst. But now, Matt was here not as his pupil but as a fellow soldier.

Moreso than that, he knew just how few of his original students were left. Even ones who could not serve in full capacity like Matt were still a precious commodity. So he wasn’t very surprised to hear Matt succinctly sum up his service record over the last two decades as one being shuffled from one black project to the next.

“Can’t say I’m too surprised to hear that, seems to be par for course these days for all ex-Spartans not officially recognized on the rosters. I’d love to hear what kind of horse trading Kurt had to do to get you here but considering who we’re talking about, maybe I’m better off not knowing.” Mendez was frowning now and it was an all too familiar expression. “I’m getting too damned old for all these dog and pony show politics.”

He didn’t like the waters Kurt was swimming in these days or the sharks who kept him company but Mendez kept that to himself.