janitorscloset | [meme] RvB & Halo AU Meme

"Sounds smart. They brought me here because... well, unless you get a specialist, this is the best place for one of us to get treated."

Halsey herself would have done better, but no one had that pull. Except maybe John. Somehow Matt knew she would appear out of nowhere to help him if she could. The favored son. Helped that they all respected him. Even if Matt liked Kurt better.

"Can your doctors be spared if there's an augmentation going on? A lot of us died from that. What loss percentage are you experiencing?"

"That's why we come here ourselves. Jeromi isn't Halsey but he and his staff have handled all of our classes augmentation procedures thus far."

There was no one like Catherine Halsey, she'd quite literally written the book when it came to the Spartan-II program. But ONI had taken her research and some of the most brilliant minds in the UNSC had figured out how to recreate and improve upon the procedures they'd had to go through all those decades ago. Now, they weren't experiencing any loss of life compared to the near fifty percent loss their class had suffered.

"The heavy lifting is done, we're in the observation phase which is why we're shipping out tonight. We'll finish the rest of the rehabilitation back at the base, no sense in tying up their time more than we already have." When Matt asked him what percentage of Spartans they were losing in the augmentation process, Kurt was visibly excited.

"Zero percent loss and rejection in Gamma. We've improved Halsey's technique to such a level that we're not losing anyone. Compared to what we went through, her augmentation process looks like butchery." The pride was unmistakable in the man's voice, as was the unexpected criticism of Halsey.

The criticism actually left the man staring at Kurt. Incredulous. Shocked. A bit... less than pleased. The woman made him what he was, and he didn't mind that. He had been the one to fail her, not her him. Not her any of them.

"She did something no one else has. Repetition can make things easier. It wasn't butchery..."

It was them failing her. Matt shifts uncomfortably and looks away from Kurt. Gamma.

The name implies the number of classes, and leaves him wondering just why he hadn't heard of more SPARTANs. And why he would need more trainers. Surely his Spartans would have one or two who would help. Clearly there was a lot more he needed read into.

Kurt could see he’d surprised his brother and he felt a little bad for it. It wasn’t fair for him to project his own complicated feelings towards Halsey onto Matt.

“I know that, Matt. And I’m not trying to belittle what she did because she did the impossible. But I’ve also seen the communiqués she had with other doctors in her field including Jeromi. He warned her about the side-effects of her procedures, she knew exactly what she was doing and knew that a large portion of us would die from it. That’s why they wouldn’t fund her for her next attempts at duplicating the II’s”

That was not something that was common knowledge of course. And like Matt, he had believed in Catherine Halsey unquestioningly until he’d seen the other side of her research and realized just how she’d tried to play god with them. Then, it had become a little harder to forgive her for the Spartans who had died, or the ones like Musa who had been crippled for life. Even the candidates like Matt or Serin who could still serve in a limited capacity had paid a steep price.

“She made us who we are and for that, we all owe her a debt of gratitude. I wouldn’t trade my life for anything and I know you would do the same thing in a heartbeat.”

"I... expect we'll have time for that fight," Matt grumbles. "I... need time on that one, okay? And I need a doctor, my throat hurts. And I am going to finish your meal if you won't. I've been on IV since I was injured. And since I don't know what day it is..."

Could have been a damn long time he was out. And he doesn't know that he minds. Meant he was here, could enjoy this. In fact...

Matt smirks and just reaches across to liberate the meal anyway. Kurt could get his own food. COs don't need generosity from their subordinates. Which raised another question.

"Don't let rank divide us."

“Not a fight, a debate at worst but that’s fine, Matt. Let’s get you checked out and don’t push your voice anymore than you have to, alright?” Kurt said with a concerned look and nudged his tray across the small table towards Matt and informed him of the date.

His brother’s serious statement made him sober up and he shot a serious look over at the other. “I won’t let that happen. We’ll have to maintain some semblance of chain of command but when it’s just the two of us, you can speak as freely as you want to, Matt.”

He waited while Matt finished the food before he climbed to his feet so he could escort him to the medical bays where Gamma was recovering. Unsurprisingly, Tom and Lucy were both were nearby watching over them as he expected. Lucy seemed to notice them first and tilted her head towards them to get Tom’s attention.

The two Beta Spartans both came to attention and saluted when Kurt and the unknown soldier approached and it was obvious both teenage Spartans were curious about Matt’s presence though they had too much discipline to break protocol by asking.

“At ease, Matt, these are my two attaches, Tom-B292 and Lucy-B091. Graduates of our Beta class. Tom, Lucy this is Matt Greene. He’s transferring in to help us with Gamma.”

The Beta Spartans shared a glance but slipped into an at-ease posture.

“We look forward to serving with you, sir.” Tom said neutrally and since Kurt hadn’t offered up any rank for this Greene, he opted to stray on the side of caution by addressing him like an officer.

Lucy just offered Matt a tense looking smile but didn't say anything.

They aren't too much smaller than him, and Maine is almost impressed by that. Almost. Spartans are supposed to be big. He has to wonder if they are making a similar appraisal of him as he is of them. They seem young, but that isn't strange. It's been so long since he saw another Spartan that he'd been young then. Had been shocked to see how old Kurt was. How old that meant he was by extension.

"And I you," Matt agrees, his voice a pained rumble. "Excuse the voice. Recovering. I highly advise not being shot in the throat. Multiple times."

They seem tense, and Matt doesn't like that. How does he take that out of the equation? How did he bridge the distance between them when Kurt's tone was just the littlest bit familiar with his name?

Fuck saluting. Attaches should have a more casual relationship with instructors than a CO should. When there are subordinates around he will happily do whatever bending over backwards is needed. For now he offers a hand to them.

"I look forward to seeing what the Spartan program has to offer. Kurt speaks well of you."

Hasn't said much about them, but he's good for it.

Lucy was unusually small for a Spartan, Kurt had never figured out why that particular part of her augmentations had never took but figured it was part of that same not ideal genetic markers that would have made her unsuitable for Halsey’s vigorous standards of what a Spartan could be.

But she had never let her size be a detriment to her and even used it to her advantage in perfect concert with Tom’s more standard Spartan size and build. Halsey might have written her off as being not good enough for the Spartan-II’s but she and Tom had managed to make it through the hellish crucible of Operation TORPEDO that had doomed nearly every other Beta Spartan. They had survived while 300 of their brothers and sisters had perished.

It made them all the more remarkable in Kurt’s eyes.

“Not a problem, sir. Please don’t strain yourself on our account.” Well, that certainly solved a small piece of this puzzle didn’t it? Tom still had no idea why Kurt would so brazenly break protocol by bringing an outside amongst them.

“Matt and I go way back, he’s a good man and will bring some much needed fresh blood going forward with Gamma’s graduation testing and helping with Delta.” Kurt supplied with a smile.

Tom shook Matt’s hand firmly before stepping aside so Lucy could do the same. She was still pointedly silent thus far before she turned to Tom and made a gesture in the hybridized Spartan signing they had adopted to help her overcome her communications issue. Matt would recognize the signal for intel and injured.

“Ah, you’ll have to excuse Lucy, sir. She uh…suffered a combat injury and hasn’t been able to speak since. She does a pretty good job of communicating on her own but if you ever need any help, I will be happy to translate for you.”

Go way back. Matt almost huffs a laugh at that. Yes, they go beyond way back. Good choice there, Kurt. If the younger Spartans hadn't already come to the conclusion of 'SPARTAN' for Kurt's background, that was going to underline it. Because Matt's darker skin still shows his augmentation scars very easily, even after all these years. Never healed quite right, left them uglier on his hands, and still obvious on his fingers. Looking at all at the hand when they shook it would mean they could see it. Could draw the right conclusions. They should know what he was then. And if they were 'B's then he could logically only be Alpha team, or a II. Given his age...

"Need to learn for myself," Matt counters to Kurt, focusing on that for now. Can't go to the CO just because he can't understand the people that might be sent to communicate with him. Not efficient. Then again...

Perhaps they need some comfort of their own, and Matt offers it. Does it with a single sign of his own. One that would tell them all they really needed to know about him even if they clearly would be smart enough to guess it on their own. So he signs a smile at them both. Better to underline and confirm now than speculate later and let that take time off of the important things.

"I look forward to working with you both."

Matt hadn’t said for certain if he wanted Kurt to disclose his Spartan-II heritage or not. Technically, he hadn’t officially confirmed the fact that he was a Spartan though he suspected Tom and Lucy knew. After all, he bore the unmistakable augmentation scars and his superior height and bulk had him towering over many of his Spartan-III’s.

It was definitely a reasonable leap in logic to make though he suspected his two prized pupils respected him too much to pry. So he stuck to keeping things deliberately vague.

Kurt nodded placidly when Matt stated his opinion on the matter but didn’t argue. “Tom will help you out as needed. He and Lucy helped formulate the more extended dialect.”

“I’ll be happy to help in any way, Commander.” Tom put in with a polite looking smile. When Matt signed a ‘Spartan smile’ to the two of them, the Beta Spartans both stood a little straighter when the full realization of just who was standing before them sank in simultaneously.

“Walk with us? Matt here needs to be examined and you can catch me up on Gamma’s progress while the doctors are checking him out.” Kurt ordered once the introductions had been made and started up again, absolutely confident that the trio of Spartans would fall into line behind him.

"Guess he wants to watch me get prodded," Matt grumbles. Of course it's an empty complaint because it's supposed to be an empty complaint. Maybe he wasn't as good at it as Kurt had ever been, but playful ribbing was more in his wheelhouse now than he had been before. Freelancer had changed him, that much was obvious. To the point that he was happy to be a bit freer with information.

Thing was he knew this was an ONI black hole you didn't fall back out of. Freelancer had some candidates released, but training Spartans? He doubted he would get out of that so long as there was a demand. And he didn't care.

"Hoping I get to keep my voice," Matt admits. The more he spoke today the worse it sounded, leaving it now harsh but also quiet. Not so quiet that a Spartan couldn't hear of course, but still quiet.

“Nah if I wanted that, I’d insist on your doing a full work-up and physical rather than them trying to save the voice you’re supposed to be saving by not talking so much.” Kurt said archly with an amused look over his shoulder.

He hadn’t missed the fact that Matt seemed...different from the teenage Spartan candidate he remembered. He seemed less uptight, less serious and it was a heartening change because that would make the transition of him working with children and potential Spartan candidates easier.

Not that he’d been afraid of the man being too harsh on them that he might actually cripple their potential. But Kurt knew from first-hand experience that you needed a certain sense of humor to deal with rambunctious children no matter who they were. Spartan or civilian, they were still prone to getting into shenanigans and create mischief.

“How are we doing on getting Gamma prepared and ready to do for tonight, Tom?” Kurt asked and he had to use an ID card and a security code just to get through the next set of doors.

“Good, sir, we’re doing PT drills now and transferring them to Tarawa.” Tom supplied smoothly. “We’ll be able to do more physical rehab once we get back to Onyx and have them back to regular gravity.”

The Beta Spartan didn’t realize Matt hadn’t been fully debriefed yet and thus had no idea where they were…actually going.

In silence Matt considers all the information flying out around him. Better not to seem ignorant before he is read in. The other Spartans would handle him better if he seemed to know. Which would mean he had to deal with getting briefed soon. Which couldn't happen until Kurt could officially read him in. It was annoying but at least his throats gave him a reason to be silent.

Still he listened quietly as he followed, staying half a step behind Kurt so he could be guided to where they were going. Gravity had been so hard to adjust to when they came out of augmentation but he thought he might enjoy helping there. Even after PT in space the young Gammas would be learning more about their bodies. Their strength and speed. If nothing else he would be a better sparring partner than their normal trainers. More repayment to possible damage. It would be good for them and mean they were less likely to hurt each other as well.

And when he thought of it he could even see a use for himself with a new generation. They were being trained against Covenant threats. Maine actually had real life combat experience on that front, and unlike normal personnel, he was a good stand in for the larger species like the Elites. Might help to train them young in how to deal with bigger, faster, stronger opponents. None of his Spartan training had prepared him for that one unexpected fistfight with an Elite.

Matt smiles at his thoughts. Maybe he might. It fight this war as intended, but he was going to fight it. And probably fight off any promotion Kurt offered.

Kurt was well aware of the fact that Matt hadn’t been fully read in but he obviously trusted that his brother could keep up and didn’t need his hand held during briefings.

Matt would learn a lot during the walk through the more secure parts of the station. Like the fact that there were an unbelievable 330 of them. But then, considering how high Tom’s own Spartan tag of B292 happened to be, maybe it wasn’t so surprising after all. What was shocking was the fact that they hadn’t experienced one loss either to augmentation rejection or any of the myriad of deadly side effects that had killed so many Spartan-II’s.

He learned they were generally divided into five-men fireteams and that they seemed to be named after a variety of bladed weaponry of Earth origin.
“They still have another additional year of training before they will receive their final dispensation orders.” Kurt explained to Matt, finally looping him back into the conversation. “They will have to go through a more extensive rehabilitation and re-acclimation once we’re back on Onyx. We actually started hormone portion of the augmentation process months ago to induce a sort of artificial puberty so that the trauma to their bodies is lessened somewhat.”

Another security door later and they were inside a huge trauma ward outfitted with hundreds of empty berths, no doubt the home of the absent Gamma Company. Suddenly, it brought home the sheer enormity of this operation and the lengths they must have to go to ensure hundreds of teenage Spartan candidates were hidden away from the rest of the Hopeful’s occupants and crew.

“Of course, now they will have to re-learn how to move again but it’s preferable to shocking their system too much at once. Training will intensify from there with more realistic battlefield conditioning and they will finally be outfitted with their armor and how to effectively use it on the battlefield. Once we’re under way I’ll make sure you get a data packet on the tech they will be using.” The brunette turned then to Lucy. “Would you mind fetching Dr. Sinclair for me so that he can check out Matt’s injuries?”

The female Spartan smiled brightly and nodded her head to indicate she understood and left to carry out her orders only to return a few minutes later with a tired looking doctor with a shock of bright red hair. The look he offered Kurt was one of curiosity overlaid with wariness and perhaps some impatience.

“So, Commander, what’s so important?”

“A new patient for you, Doctor. More specialized than what your colleagues are used to dealing with, I’m afraid.” He let the doctor make his own conclusions from that and indicated Matt. “Multiple GSW to the throat, larynx seems to be mostly intact but partially damaged. I would appreciate it if you could do what you can for him.”

The doctor frowns at Matt, clearly considering something. Perhaps, Matt thought, the man thought the injuries familiar. As he watches he sees the flash of recognition. Clearly the man had heard of his case.

"You... aren't with..." the doctor starts to say, frowning.

"Reassigned. Classified," Matt grunts. And Sinclair almost, but doesn't really, smile.

"When is it not. Come on then."

He guides them back to the trauma ward and sits Maine down on a bed. It doesn't take too long for the man to work Maine over. There are little displeased noises and a few head shakes but at last he pulls away to turn to Kurt and give the prognosis. Through it all Matt sits silently. His throats should recover, he hears. After all, they were designed to survive. He even listens to the man talk about how improbable it was and how armor had saved him, no duh. What gets him down is hearing it will be a while before he can do lengthy conversations without strain and that his voice might always growl out.

"He should be good for solid foods in a week though."

Matt scoffs. Damn good chance he would lose some of his fighting trim on a liquid diet.

Kurt’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly when the doctor started to ask things he really shouldn’t be inquiring about. Curiosity was not a trait he particular wanted to see in the doctors who were treating his Spartans and he made a mental note to ensure he was vetted more closely by ONI.

He was one of the best doctors on the station which was why he’d been chosen for this detail but if the man was going to go prying into things best left unexplored then he might prove to be more of a liability than an asset and he couldn’t risk that sort of exposure despite his rather cavalier way of recruiting Matt into the program.

But then, Matt was Spartan, he could be trusted implicitly to keep their secrets.

Thankfully, Matt managed to cut Sinclair off before the doctor could overstep any bounds. Kurt did a pretty admirable job of blending into the background while the red-haired doctor did his exam of Matt and he listened with an impassive look on his face as the good doctor made his prognosis. The mention of armor certainly intrigued him but he shelved that for now, more intent on assuring his brother would have the best care he could receive.

It was a relief to hear that he wasn’t looking at permanent damage to his vocal cords and throat. The fact that the man had taken an entire clip to the throat and kept going just proved he truly was Spartan no matter what had been stamped on his personnel record.

“Thank you, doctor.” The dismissal was unmistakable in the commander’s voice in spite of the pleasant tone of voice and the smile he offered the man. “I appreciate you taking the time to check him out; we can handle it from here.”

Sinclair seemed to catch the brunette’s drift thankfully and with a small, puzzled frown and one last suspicious look spared to the four of them, he finally turned away visibly exasperated and made his way back through the door he’d come in.

“Well, I guess you won’t be doing your best Mendez impression for a while, Matt. But I’m sure you’ll find a way to communicate with our new Spartans all the same. Would you like to accompany Tom and Lucy on an inspection of them while I take care of some last minute details here?”

If it had been the two of them, he probably would have teased the other man about having an excuse to eat as much chocolate pudding as he wanted but he didn’t want to scandalize his attachés by being too familiar with the man in front of them. Eventually it would probably all come out, especially when Mendez clapped eyes on Matt but for now, he saw no reason to confirm any suspicions they might have about his past the man.

None of this will be easy. Thing is, he didn't sign up (so to speak) for easy. Nothing he'd lived through was easy. A lot of it was just different kinds of hard. And he could live with different kinds of hard. For now he was happy to just be free of the prodding. As he stands and stretches a little he listens to Kurt. Dismissed already? Made sense. They needed to divide and conquer on this. He had to be seen as different from Kurt, or at least independent from him.

He agrees with a small nod of his head. Better to be seen with the superiors of these new Spartans as soon as possible. To be seen as an authority figure would keep them from questioning too much. Thus he looks to Tom and Lucy and gestures for them to lead. No reason he should when he'd just get lost.

"Show me?" he asks. He'll need their guidance. In fact, he is going to rely on them until he learns his way with a lot of things.

Kurt would love nothing more than to spend more time with Matt but he now had the unenviable job of trying to explain to his superiors why he’d felt the need to shanghai him into their program and out from underneath the nose of some other black bag project.

He knew there would be hell to pay for it and he didn’t necessarily want Matt around to see that. “Contact me when we’re ready to start transferring Gamma onto the ship.”

“Will do, Commander. Sir? If you’ll follow us?” Tom said politely and he and Lucy fell into step together and lead Matt down two levels to the hanger bay which was serving as an impromptu exercise area. With three hundred plus Spartans, there just wasn’t any other space big enough to hold them. Booted feet pounded on the metal plates as the newly augmented Spartans jogged around the bay.

It was obvious they were still learning how to adjust to the additional muscle mass and their newly augmented bodies because many of them were struggling to maintain the pace and were occasionally stumbling over their own feet. Coordination would come in time of course. And standing there down in the center of the landing bay barking orders was an all too familiar figure.

Chief Mendez was older, grayer but no less an impressive sight as he controlled the gathered Spartans and the DI’s running abreast of them with flawless ease and confidence. “One more lap and you can rest. Come on, keep up the pace, you’re supposed to be Spartans now.”

Mendez? Matt freezes when he hears the man's voice, just... stands there, processing. It makes sense, of course it does, but that was one man he expected to see again even less than Kurt. Chief Mendez had no reason to ever show up on Matt's radar again, whereas if he believed in the after life or anything, he might be fated to end up seeing Kurt. But the man there, amid the mass of soldiers, of Spartans, makes Matt feel so much less sure of himself.

Two people and only two people had been present when Matt had been told he was going to be dismissed. Only two people had seen him put a serious dent in a wall. Only two people saw him that out of control, and there was no chance he was going to see the other. Seeing this one, though, it makes Matt almost... nervous? No. That wasn't in his wheelhouse. But he was more self-conscious than he had been.

If he was lucky Mendez might not recognize him. As it was he tried to keep his cool. He was going to have to work with this man.

"Alive," Matt observes to Tom and Lucy, his voice a rough whisper, like he can't believe his own words. He'd thought Mendez was ancient back when he was a kid.

At first, Mendez didn’t notice them because his attention was centered more on Gamma company as they made their final circuit around the landing bay. Judging by the sweat hanging off the young Spartans’ bodies, they’d been at this for a while. He’d done much the same to Kurt and Matt after their augmentation procedures.

He’d never had patience for lay abouts and always demanded a hundred and ten percent of his recruits. There was a reason even to this day that Franklin Mendez was viewed with awe and fear by some of the fiercest warriors the human race had ever produced. Even the Master Chief himself would have jumped to attention if he’d been there and seen their old trainer still as hale and hearty as ever and ready to bark out orders.

“Chief Mendez? Heh, I’m pretty sure he’s too stubborn to die.” Tom said quietly aside to Matt as though he too were afraid his words might carry to the man’s bat-like ears. “The Commander says they’ve offered him a full retirement package multiple times but he just keeps turning them down. Said he even served on the front before he came to train Spartans with the Commander on Onyx.”

It was doubtful Mendez heard them but the man had always possessed an almost preternatural awareness about him and as though his ears were burning, the man’s dark eyes darted over to the trio. An unreadable expression flickered too swiftly across the man’s face to be read but he gestured for them to approach and when they did, he was looking directly at Matt. “Just in time you two. Why don’t you cool ‘em down, wash ‘em, feed ‘em and put the babies to bed for me.”

Those dark eyes were scanning Matt’s face and taking in the sight of him with a curious sort of intensity. Tom and Lucy seemed to pick up on that curious intensity but both knew Mendez well enough to recognize the dismissal in the man’s voice.

“Yes, sir. We’ll catch up with you later, Greene. Looking forward to working with you.” Tom put in hastily as he and Lucy offered up crisp salutes to Mendez. The two Beta Spartans were practically radiating curiosity as they exchanged a wordless look before turning to jog after Gamma, thus leaving the two of them alone.

“Greene, huh?” The old man said with a shrewd look in his eyes.

He's actually been left behind in Mendez's hands. Somehow he is worried that he will have to do laps.

"Better than Ambrose," he growls out. "Besides, followed Green Leader since day one. You remember."

Back in the day they had been certain Mendez remembered literally everything. Given the look Matt wondered if it might just be true. That appraisal spoke of memory, and that was after the man had apparently had a few hundred more recruits he had dealt with since. If Gamma's size was an indication of previous units, perhaps over a thousand other recruits. But still the man remembered him. Good to know.

In a way the man was the nearest thing Matt had experienced to a father. Not that either Halsey or Mendez had been seen as parents, or would have been good ones. Still, they were the first and most important authority figures in the life of Matt, who had started as one of the smaller recruits, though a determined one. Just seeing the man made him feel young again. And a bit ashamed of the last time he had seen the man.

"Sorry about the dent," he grumbled despite the pain in his voice. He hadn't been happy to. E sent away from the program. "Was stupid."

And now... how was he supposed to handle this man?

Mendez’s eyes were still as sharp and aquiline as ever and his face was damned near inscrutable. Matt could probably count on one hand the amount of times he’d seen the man smile, much less laugh in all the years he’d been training them.

It made him all the more intimidating and scary no matter if you were a six year old kid or a forty year old Spartan who topped him in over a foot of height.

Of course, the man had to go and utterly ruin that pre-conceived image of the self-same hardass Matt had built him up to be in his head by guffawing. “Ha! Blame Ackerson and his damned sense of the dramatic. Kurt seems to like it okay so I guess; all things considered it ain’t too bad a name for an incognito Spartan.” He smiled in a decidedly draconian way and yet his face didn’t crack or break contrary to all of the whispered rumors the young Spartan recruits had exchanged surreptitiously among themselves.

“You always were dogging Kurt’s footsteps, I dunno where the hell he dug you up from, Matt, but it’s good to see you all the same, son.” That was perhaps more sentiment than Matt had ever seen the old man show.

He waved the younger man’s apology off with something that might have been understanding in his eyes. “No need to apologize, you were upset with good reason. I probably would have done worse in your shoes. Was half afraid you’d get pulled off into one of ONI’s black bags and would never see the light of day again.” That seemed to be their MO when it came to Spartan washouts who could still serve in some capacity or the other.

SPARTANS don't gawk. They aren't supposed to. They are ideal soldiers and mostly stoic to a soldier. Except Kurt and Sam and maybe some of the new ones. That is what Matt always told himself. Thing is, he's gawking now, and without a helmet to hide it. Just openly staring until he casts his eyes about. Had anyone else seen Mendez almost laugh? There was no way that happened, or that the man was talking to him in such a familiar manner. It wasn't... possible. Nor was the smile. A smiling Mendez would be like... like the Conselor actually emoting, or the Director smiling. Not possible things.

Today is just full of the impossible he supposes.

"Served battle units some. Then bags. Black."

Seemed like he was made for it. A series of them. He was a whole set of matched black ops luggage. Still, it felt oddly nice to see his old instructor. To the point where he reaches up to indicate his throat. The clearly new scarring.

"Latest bag. Til Kurt."

Perhaps too much to admit, but this was one of the people he had always been trying to prove himself to. That he was good enough. That he could serve. This man had helped make that concept an engrained part of Matt. Almost made him want to break opsec. Not that he would. Kurt might get some out of Ackerson if he was read in to Freelancer, which Matt doubted. If Kurt needed support Ackerson could have scooped Matt for it years ago. As it was Matt clearly had fallen under some other ONI appointment.

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.

What would Mendez think about Matt literally falling into Kurt's lap on this one? Good luck or bad? Either way Matt huffed in agreement. Things were complex and messed up these days. But he was surprised to hear he wasn't the only Spartan to receive this treatment. Maybe it would have been better if he was. Would have meant more of his brothers and sisters were in a place to serve. Instead they were discards. Maybe he should t be surprised Freelancer found him after all.

For the sake of the conversation he shrugs. Not like he has an answer. Politics isn't his game at all.

"Told we move out tonight. Tired. Have some place I can rest?"

If Tom and Lucy were to be too busy to show him around and Kurt occupied getting strings pulled, he would rather stay out of the way and let his voice rest. It was getting hard to talk at all at this point. People could probably stand to be without him for a few hours.

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