You’re exhausted, but you want to see the fort and you figure you’ve got time before Grisham comes back. There’s a not so little voice at the back of your head telling you that this isn’t a good idea, but you’re getting so used to ignoring that voice that you barely notice it at all.

As you emerge into the fort, you understand why Grisham spent so much time straightening you up. Everyone moves with precision and purpose. Their uniforms are spotless, perfectly pressed and presented with total pride. There is an atmosphere on the base that you find simultaneously intimidating and kind of awe inspiring. There must be over a thousand people here, but they all know their jobs and they’re all doing them.

Nobody really pays any attention to you. They have their jobs to do and they seem to assume you must have yours too. There’s not all that much on display to look at really, just people going back and forth from their duties. You’re a little skittish, keeping an eye out for Grisham so it’s hard to really get a decent look at anything

You end up at the range, where an elevated bridge provides a lookout. You can see people coming, which means you won’t get caught out, hopefully. There are soldiers training below, firing at targets with energy weapons which make a singing sound when they fire. It’s actually not a completely unpleasant sound. Sort of relaxing, almost…

WWEOOOO WWOOOEEEEOOOEE WEEOOOOEEEEE OOOOEEEEEEEWWWOOOOOOOO!

You jolt awake to the sound of an alarm, finding yourself curled up on the bridge. You don’t remember falling asleep, you just vaguely remember sitting down for a second. The alarm is ear-splitting, and it’s not the first time you’ve heard the sound. The last time was when Sarah made an escape. Something must have happened.

You descend from the bridge into an organized chaos. People are striding around looking efficient and concerned, opening doors, sweeping halls, that sort of thing. You try your best to stay out of their way as you head back to Grisham’s room. She’s not there when you arrive, thankfully, so you curl up in the arm chair and read the field manual. Hopefully whatever is going on out there blows over soon.

The door flies open and Grisham strides in. She stops dead two steps in and stares at you like you’re a ghost.

“What are you doing?”

“Reading the book…”

“No,” she says, her hand going to the radio at her shoulder. “Stand down,” she says. “Subject has been found.”

“Subject? Found?” It’s your turn to look non-plussed. “I’m not lost.”

“Where were you?” Grisham stands over you, her hands on her hips. She looks pissed. Seriously. Her eyes are narrowed, her jaw is clenched and you’re pretty sure the vein in her neck doesn’t usually stick out like that.

“I was uhm… well… I read the book, so I went to look at the range and then…” your voice gets smaller and quieter and trails off as her expression gets more thunderous. “Did you think I escaped or something?”

“You were nowhere to be found,” Grisham growls. “The possibility of an attempted escape did cross our minds, yes.”

“Oh, well, I didn’t.” You try for a playful grin, but it dies on your lips as she reaches down, one hand on each arm of the chair, and looks at you with an expression which makes your heart sink.

“I told you not to test me, didn’t I?” She growls the question at you softly.

“Uhm, I thought you said that you were going to test me,” you say, trying to sound innocent. “I studied all the chapters.”

“Don’t play word games,” she says, her face just inches from yours, her bulk making you feel smaller than ever. “You know you’ve messed up, don’t you.”

“… yes?” You almost whisper the answer, shrinking down behind the field manual. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know… all of this…”

Grisham shakes her head at you. “You just shut the base down for the better part of ten minutes, brat.”

“I didn’t mean to. I just wanted to see the range. I’m sorry,” you squeak, your face screwed up in apology.

“I should…” Grisham sighs and stands back up, her arms folded over her chest. “You deserve such a thrashing.”

Your lower lip starts to quiver. You already know what being punished by Grisham is like, and even when you deserve it, you don’t want it. Maybe you sort of deserve it this time, but you never intended to cause so much drama.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” you say again. “I did what you said though, I memorized the manual. You can ask me about any of it.”

“I bet I could. I bet I could ask you any question on any page in that book.” She still doesn’t sound happy. “I’m starting to see the problem Terra had with you,” Grisham grinds out. “You don’t mean to cause trouble, but it happens because you don’t follow orders to the letter. Unfortunately for you, the end result is the same as if you did mean it. And you’ve got to face discipline for it.”

“But… the manual…” you hold it out in front of yourself like a crucifix to a vampire. It doesn’t work. Grisham takes the book and tosses it on the bed.

“Forget the manual,” she says. “This is about you, and the trouble you’ve gotten yourself into. Again.”

You just know she’s going to thrash you. She spanked you hard enough this morning to last you a month, and now you’re in much more serious trouble. Your stomach churns as you curl up on the chair and bury your face in your hands. She’s right. You don’t know how to stay out of trouble, it just seems to follow you around. That’s probably why Terra left you here. She doesn’t need you fucking things up while she looks for Sarah.

Hot tears of fearful anticipation and self pity well in your eyes, and you can’t help but let out a little sob.

“Don’t do this,” Grisham says firmly.

“I’m not doing anything,” you whimper. “Just do whatever you’re going to do.”

You feel her hand wrap around your wrist and pull you up out of the chair. You brace yourself for the hard slap you’re sure is about to meet your bottom, but it doesn’t come. Instead, Grisham wraps you in her arms and sits back down in the chair, holding you in her lap instead of over it.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do with you,” she says as you quiver in her lap. “I was afraid you’d gotten yourself killed by falling into the lake.”

“That would have made your job easier,” you mutter. “OW!”

Her hand connects with the curve of your bottom hard enough to make you jump.

“Don’t even joke about that,” she says. “This is a dangerous place and I’d prefer you survived it.”

“Maybe…” you wipe your tears on your sleeve. “Maybe I should be sent home. I’m not cut out for this. I couldn’t even do the academy assessments.”

She cocks her head and looks at you with a curious gaze. “What do you mean?”

You tell Grisham how you never got through the assessment process because you kept messing up the psychometrics and then Terra offered you a place in her unit and that didn’t even last a day before you messed that up too.

“Uh huh…” Grisham looks concerned. “So you’re not officially in the academy anymore. You’re not a cadet?”

“No. I’m… part of Terra’s unit, I guess. I don’t know. They said it was for special special operations.”

“Oh, honey,” Grisham sighs. “There’s no such thing as special special operations.”

“There isn’t?”

“No,” she says. “There are unregistered operatives. Expendables, essentially.”

“That’s what Sarah said, before she ran away,” you frown.

“Sarah’s right,” Grisham says. “I don’t know what’s going on with your unit, or Terra, but I want you to stay really close to me. If there’s something going on like I think there is, the next time you disappear, I might not be able to find you again.”

You’re starting to feel genuinely frightened. “Did I do something wrong, what’s going on?”

“I don’t know what’s going on,” she says, running a soothing hand down your back. “And I doubt you did anything wrong besides being in the wrong place at the wrong time and coming to the attention of the wrong people. In the meantime, I’m getting you out of that academy uniform and into base fatigues. You need some cover.”