Monday morning; Valary woke to the sounds of metal clinking against metal, leather sliding against leather. Matthew was getting dressed his attempts at keeping quiet not working as well as he’d hoped.

“Hun…what time is it?” Val asked sleepily.

Matt paused as he was about to pull his boots on. “Four…go back to sleep.”

“Why’re you up so early…?” she groaned as she wrapped her arms around her pillow. He just smiled as he reached over to place a hand on her shoulder. Then he stood and made for the door, his solid footsteps clear due to the tread of his boots.

Val frowned and sat up. “Matt?”

He stopped in the doorway and looked back at her. Watched as she ran a hand through her hair; wisps of it stood out from her head, the way it did every morning when she woke. Then she bunched the sheets around her waist as she glared at her husband.

“Why so early?”

Matthew sighed and said, “Have to get back to the barracks. See what’s what.” He leaned his forehead against the doorframe for a moment and shook it slightly. “Have to…keep up appearances.”

“How do you mean?” Val asked slowly, concern evident in her voice. Matt blinked at her as if he just realised what he’d said.

“What? Oh…uh…nothing important.” He flashed a smile at her. “Go back to sleep. I’ll see you...later.”

Val frowned more, brow furrowed, but eventually she nodded her head at him. It was too early for her to even try to think properly let alone question her husband on anything.

Matt sent one final smile her way, before he turned to leave the room the door clicking shut behind him.

* * * * * *

Standing in the main entrance of the barracks, Matthew took a moment to focus and steel his mind. A whole week away and then having the bombshell that was his demotion dropped on him had unsettled him to the extent that his normal ability to switch on had all but gone.

“Shads? Shads!”

He had to blink and drag his mind back to the present. Dan was in front of him, arms crossed and an expression akin to anxiety on his face.

Matt cleared his throat swallowing hard, several times. “Uh...hey.” For once he had nothing to say.

He didn't really want to speak to anyone, just wanted to get in there and do whatever duty called him to do. Not that he knew what that would be. He was completely in the dark, but he guessed he’d find out soon enough, or perhaps the man standing before him would enlighten him.

Dan grimaced, “I got sent to meet you. You need to move your gear from your old locker to the one next to mine.”

Matthew sighed as he ran the palm of his hand over his skull. Then he removed his Aviator's and hooked them at his neck.

“And so, it begins,” he mumbled as he strode passed the smaller male toward the locker area.

Dan made a non-committal grunt and followed Matt down the corridor. A couple of cadets walked by them; they paused in their conversation and averted their eyes as they did so. Matt's brow furrowed but he said nothing until they'd turned the corner.

“Dan?”

“Uhuh?” Dan leaned against the wall as Matt came to a halt in front of his locker.

“What've they been told?” he asked in a low voice while he opened the door and gazed in at the items inside.

Dan shook his head as he answered, “Not much. Just that you…well the General was kinda vague.” He frowned. “And JB wasn’t saying much either.”

Matthew gathered the few items that were in his locker, a razor; several packs of gum; a Mag light; a couple of spare belts; a towel and a second pair of boots. Then he slammed the door shut making sure it was locked before heading back down the corridor.

“So,” he said as Dan followed, “Basically they know nothing?”

“Yeah, guess so.”

Dan watched the bigger man as he got to the other row of lockers and with a calmness that obviously belied his true emotions proceeded to shove his gear inside the locker now assigned to him. Then he turned to face the stocky man.

“What now?”

Dan shook his head. “Gym. I’ll spot for you.”

Matthew grinned, but then the smile faded from his face as the one person he really hadn’t wanted to bump into approached them down the hallway.

“Shadows,” Jason’s voice was low, tight. “You finally decided to show.”

Dan stepped back as the two men faced each other. The tension in the room increased as they stared each other down.

Matthew replied tersely, “My week’s up. I assume I’m still on duty?”

His nostrils flared slightly; his former 2IC smelt of sweat and some kind of cologne as if he were trying to cover-up his body odour. As if he was nervous. Not surprising really. Since he’d probably replace Matthew as T-One of course he would be experiencing some degree of anxiety facing the man he’d ousted.

Jason scowled, “Pending a final decision from the General, yes. But, you won’t be joining us for any of the usual exercises.” He glanced in Dan’s direction. “Abell’s been given leave to…escort you to your temporary duties.”

Matthew’s eyes narrowed then he said softly, “Thank you, Captain.” There was a pause; then Jason nodded and turned to continue down the corridor. Matt stared after him with hard eyes.

Dan who was still standing back could sense the animosity that the bigger male felt for the other, and knew that he would have to keep an eye on him. He would never forgive himself if Matthew got himself into trouble by getting in a fight with Jason. Though he had a feeling if it came down to it he wouldn’t be able to prevent it from happening.

“Shads?”

Matthew’s head swivelled toward him. “Yeah?”

“Gym.”

“Right.” Matthew turned all the way, grabbed his towel and shut his locker. “Let’s do this.”

* * * * *

“What are these?” Dan held up a couple of old files. Matthew, who was opposite him rifling through an antique filing cabinet, lifted his gaze and squinted.

“What?”

“These?” Dan repeated. The two men were in the Creed’s Archival Library sorting out old documents, one of the menial tasks that had been chalked onto Matthew’s list.

Walking into the library, Matthew had felt as if he couldn’t go any lower. The sympathetic look the grey-haired custodian had given him when they entered made him want to poke his own eyes out. Everybody knew he’d lost his position and it killed him on the inside. He hadn’t expected it to burn so much, to hurt so much, but obviously his position had meant everything to him. And he wasn’t handling it as well as he wanted. Of course, he hadn’t imploded, yet. But, he felt he was on his final thread.

The whole day had been a bitch; after he and Dan had worked out, Jason had come searching for them again and shoved a memo into Dan’s hands. Then he’d stomped off leaving the two men to decipher the formal documentation. It had basically stated that until the General had come to a decision as to what Matthew’s position would be he would only be permitted to work on ‘minimal duties’ which meant cleaning up after the men he used to command, checking the barracks, dealing with the garbage removal, all the mundane crap that was normally left to the rookies. And so he did it all.

Dan had been a real trooper, though. An empathic figure, not judging just being there, sorting him out and probably the only reason he hadn’t lashed out at anyone.

Part of him felt that he’d been wronged in the worse way possible; sure he’d been demoted but that should have meant he just slotted in as a normal rank and file soldier not demeaned and put down like a dog. Something was off. But, at the same time, he wasn’t quite ready to cause a scene. He would do everything he needed to do if it meant staying at The Creed for that much longer. After all, it was his first day back after his forced vacation. No point in having another one pushed onto him. Especially since he worried if it ever happened again it would probably be permanent.

“Shads?”

He shook his head dragging his focus to the present and returned his eyes to the files Dan was waving in his face.

“Here, let me look.” He took them from Dan before he accidentally hit him and set them on the desk in front of him. The first thing that stood out was the faded red stamp that read Classifiedclearly on the front of both files.

He grimaced. “Odd. They don’t usually keep classified files here in the Archives.” Dan leaned over to look as he flipped the first file open careful to not rip the cover.

“Oh, Hell no…” Matthew muttered as he stared at the contents.

“What is it?” Dan asked, noting the surprise in the other male’s voice. Matthew just shook his head and folded the files over shoving them in his bag. Dan opened his mouth but shut it tight when he got glared at.

“I’ll return them.”

Dan just nodded. He was good at keeping quiet. Still it bothered him a little. Classified files weren’t to be messed with and he wondered what his friend wanted with them. Or what it was that had affected him so. Still he wasn’t one to pry or make a big thing about things like that. If Matt wanted to take them, he wasn’t going to mention anything; just pretend he hadn’t seen.

Matthew rolled his shoulders and groaned, “I’m done. For today.” Dan nodded in acknowledgment and waited as Matt shut the cabinets and straightened. “Let’s get outta here.”