The gym at the barracks was unusually quiet, and Jason Berry decided he would take advantage of the fact to do some work on his upper body strength. Matthew was always having a go at him for not being able to bench as much as him, and it got to him at times. Though he would never task his leader on it. Jason knew the T-One never meant anything by it. Unlike the General, who never said anything he didn’t mean. That made him think of the whole conversation he’d had with Eskino. It still bothered him – that feeling of disloyalty still making him stew; however, he felt that the General wasn’t too far off the mark.

Over the last few months, Jason had noticed that Matthew’s focus had shifted a little. It was only a subtle change, but because he knew the elder male so well, it was noticeable to him. Just little things, a lapse of concentration during drill sessions, a missed comment to a recruit, hardly worth getting worked up over, except that it was unusual for Matthew who was usually so hard on everyone. Even himself. Yet, Jason didn’t think any of it was grounds for Matthew to be removed from his position as TaskerOne.

Jason sighed as he draped his towel over the beam of the bench press. Running a hand along the bar, he paused for a moment before stripping his shirt off and settling on his back, on the bench. Closing his eyes, he took several deep breaths before lifting the bar off its stand and bringing it down to rest just above his chest. He frowned a little, wishing Matthew was there. They usually went to the gym together so they could spot for each other. Perhaps he should have asked Dan to come with. Dan Abell used to be a personal trainer before he joined the Creed, and so he would make the perfect gym partner.

“JB?”

Jason’s head lifted, and he narrowed his eyes as the very same man he’d just been thinking about appeared in his line of vision.

“What?”

“Saw you come in here, need a spotter?” Dan leaned against the side beam, one eyebrow lifted in question. Jason smiled, shaking his head in the affirmative.

“Was just thinking of calling for you,” he said as he set the bar back up above his head. Then he rested his palms against the cool metal, as he looked up at the other man. “Shads usually does this for me.”

“Yeah, I figured, we all know how you two are about being in here.”

Jason raised his eyebrows. “What do you hear?”

Dan laughed, and said a reassuring note in his voice, “Nothing bad, Jason. You set an example for the kids. They all aspire to be like either one of you, y’know?”

“I don’t know about wanting to be like me,” Jason scoffed, rolling his eyes. He knew that the younger recruits looked up to Matthew. Most of them were scared of him as well, yet it was a healthy fear, which bordered more on respect than anything else. “It’s all about Shads…”

Dan chuckled. “I wanted to be like you.”

Jason made a rude gesture before pointing to a spot behind the bench. “You want to be like me? Then spot for me.”

Without complaint, the stockier male moved so he was looking down at the Captain. He grabbed the weight, and lifted it off its stand.

“Ready, sir?”

Jason grunted, holding his hands up to take the bar from him. Dan didn’t let go until his superior had the bar steady in his grip. Once he did, the stockier male braced himself against the stand and kept count as the captain began to press.

Silence settled between the two men, and except for the occasional grunt from Jason, and an update of the count from Dan, no other sound was issued.

As Jason concentrated on lifting the bar, pushing his arms up straight then lowering the weight to his chest, his mind wandered a little. He was still debating whether he should speak to Matthew about the General’s concerns. Eskino hadn’t explicitly stated that their conversation had been in confidence, so he felt that perhaps it would be the better course of action to let his friend know what was going on. But, on the other hand it was not usually common practise to discuss any private audience with the General. It was frustrating. He had no idea how to proceed with that.

Sighing, he shifted his grip on the bar before continuing. He eased into a rhythm and closed his eyes as he steadily pumped his arms up and down.

After a while, Dan glanced down at Jason who was now, almost lazily, lifting the bar.

“Ten more, sir. Then we can get out of here.”

“Uh…” Jason barely grunted through the last of the set then lifted the bar on its rest, above his head.

Dan laughed as he joked, “I think Starbucks is calling my name.”

“Agreed. I love our half days.” That was another reason why the barracks were so quiet, many of the men were off at home with their families and friends, enjoying the one day of the month where they could have a break. Of course, some had to take a half day rather than the full day because the Corps couldn’t afford to lose all their men in one go.

“Humph, speaking of, wonder how Shads is doing?”

Jason muttered, “Probably chilling.”

“Does he even know what that is anymore?” Dan cocked an eyebrow as Jason sat up, grabbed his towel, and dragged it across the back of his neck, wiping the sweat away.

He paused for a moment, thinking before he replied, “He might have to get used to it.”

“What do you mean?” A curious expression flickered across the other man’s face.

Jason sighed, but didn’t answer. He really had no clue what the future would hold for Matthew, but it didn’t look too good, really. Considering the Corps seemed to be just as focussed as ever even without the looming presence of the TaskerOne, it appeared that they weren’t missing him.

“JB?” Dan frowned at his superior.

Jason met his questioning gaze. “What?”

“Why’d he have to get used to it?”

“Because this is the longest he’s ever been given time off,” Jason said. And that was the truth, just not what he really wanted to say. “Come on, let’s get out of here.” He didn’t give Dan any time to respond or ask any questions, just stood and padded across the floor toward the showers.

* * * * *

“Two sugars, thanks,” Jason nodded to the girl who was taking his order as he shifted his cell phone to his left ear. Dan leaned against the counter next to him rifling through his wallet. Jason shot him a look and reached over to slap a palm over it, mouthing, “My shout, Abell.”

Dan opened his mouth to protest, but Jason ignored him as he spoke into his phone.

“Hey, bro, I need to ask you something.” It had been a while since Jason had spoken to his twin, but without Matthew being around, M Berry was always his second point of contact. “Really? Did he tell you why? No. Oh. Fuck. You didn’t tell the General, did you? Right.” Jason grimaced but forced a smile on his lips as the girl at the counter passed him his coffee. He juggled the paper cup, his phone and managed to pull his wallet out of his back pocket and tip out some loose change to push over to the girl.

“Sorry, just buying coffee…so…the Ernie Ball and the Schechter? What the hell is he up to?” He walked over to a table in the far corner of the café; Dan followed him as he continued to talk into the phone. “So, he didn’t actually tell you? Fu-uck. No. I won’t say anything. I mean, if the General finds out…it won’t be from me. Fuck. I’ll have to call him. Ask him. Yeah, uhuh…”

Jason absently stirred his coffee as he listened for a bit, and then asked, “Anyway, want to hang out? Yeah, it’s my half day.” He smiled at his brother’s response. “You can afford to shut up shop, y’know? No one’s going to break into that place.”

Dan raised his eyebrows at that statement. Jason rolled his eyes at the other man before he said into the phone, “Well, I’m at Starbuck’s. With the Body. Yeah, you should. See you soon.” He hung up and looked over at the other man. “Matt’s going to meet us here.”

The soldier nodded, leaning back against his chair. He scanned the café, absently taking in the other customers. All the usual crowd were seated around the periphery: teenagers with their books studying, a couple of business men having their meetings over a plate of pastries and steaming mugs of coffee. A young mother with twins sat close by playing peek-a-boo with each other. Dan smiled faintly toward the latter before he returned his gaze to his superior.

“So, what’s going on with Shads?”

“Huh?” Jason had sunk into a deep contemplation of the contents of his cup, and forced his gaze back to Dan’s. He had heard what the other male asked; it just hadn’t quite registered because he’d, ironically, been just thinking of the man himself.

Dan shifted on his chair before he asked, “Don’t you think it’s odd the General gave him so much time off?”

Jason’s lips pulled in a half-grimace. “Not odd, no. A bit…” he paused.

“Odd,” Dan interjected, with a shake of his head. “I mean, he’ll go stir crazy. Don’t think he’s had a break for years.”

“All the more reason for him to have one.” Jason wasn’t voicing his real opinion on the matter, because it still smarted, the discussion he’d had with the General fresh in his memory. The conclusion he’d finally come to was that perhaps if Matthew took this break with grace, and accepted it for what it was, it would help him in the long run, and maybe the General would quit thinking he needed to….quit.

Dan frowned. “What for? I mean aside from maybe being able to spend more time with his wife, I don’t see why?”

“You haven’t noticed him lose it at the Corps, like I have,” Jason muttered around a mouthful of coffee.

“Hah, he’s lost it at me several times, JB.”

Jason shook his head. “Yeah? Well, he needs this.” He was really trying to convince himself as much as anyone else. He would prefer that Matthew was still at the barracks; having the added responsibility was a drain on his own energy reserves. “After six years…”

“I get you,” Dan smiled. “After this is he’ll be a beast.”

“Yeah,” Jason snorted. “When he gets back, we’d all better watch out.” He laughed a little. But then he thought about what his brother had told him, and the smile faded from his face.

“What, JB?”

“Hmmm?” Jason sipped from his drink, one eyebrow lifted in acknowledgement.

“What’s that look for?”

“What?”

Dan just rolled his eyes. Jason scowled, but the other man didn’t press; he obviously sensed the captain’s reluctance to explain his change in mood. Which was a god-send, really. Jason didn’t know how he felt about the information his younger twin had given him. It just compounded his anxiety over the TaskerOne. If Matthew was starting to do things that were left of centre that was definitely a reason to worry. And he didn’t want to have any reason to believe that the General was right in his assessment after all.

He just hoped that whatever Matthew was up to, it wasn’t anything of any real consequence. There was probably an innocent explanation for it all. Jason figured, though that he would have to go see his friend about it. Ease his mind. He sighed, and glanced at Dan again.

“Drink up, my bro will be here soon…and I want to go see Shads, later.”

Dan nodded, draining in one gulp, the cappuccino he’d barely touched the whole time they’d been there.

“Right. I’ll come with?”

Jason smirked, masking the relief he felt at the younger male’s offer. He didn’t really want to go Shads’ place on his own. Even though they were friends now, he was still intimidated by the bigger male.

“The more the merrier.”

He polished off his own coffee, as he glanced toward the entrance. Knowing his twin, he’d be a little late, so they’d just have to wait for him before they could go do anything else. Sighing again, Jason settled back in his chair. At least that was one thing he could be certain of. His brother’s timing. Even if everything else made no sense…that never changed. And that was a relief.