It All Started With Magnets

.35.

"You didn't deserve to be shot at like that, I agree." Hollister slowly sank down into his chair, his expression softening. "I can get in a shrink if you want to talk to them about it. In fact I might insist on it."

"Not right now. I'm tired and sore and the T-4s the doctor gave me are calling me." She was sitting stiffer than Luke had ever seen her and he glanced at Hollister.

"Quick debrief, the police believe the shooter was the one who made the pipe bombs that were sent to Hathaway's office. They found he was making more in the garage as well as manifesto they are going to be looking into. They've arrested his father as they aren't sure he wasn't involved." Luke said it as carefully as he was able, he didn't want to be the last straw for Roxie and have her burst into tears but she just scoffed.

"There's no love like God's love, huh?" She gave a rather disgusted laugh at that. "Making godly bombs filled with high velocity thoughts and prayers." Luke was aware she was probably rolling her eyes as she said it, he didn't need to see her to know she was doing it.

"I want my team, sir. I want them now." Luke had to say it, he knew the team he took out had done nothing wrong but he wasn't comfortable with them like he was with his squad. He wanted to have them on this mission with him, there was no one else he trusted more than them.

"I will see what I can do." Hollister nodded at him and then picked up another paper. "We apparently have a global summit in a week and a half that Lavoie is hosting in Ottawa. He wants you to explain the bare bones of the Accords, how you found the Galactic Union, how first contact went, etc. He wants you to give a full speech to the assembly." Luke rapidly thought out the logistics and wanted to tear his hair out. They needed to know which building it would be in, how big it was, how many access points. It was a logistical nightmare and he needed to know exactly how many people he could bring in, he needed to have time to vet them and he wanted his goddamn team.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Roxie groaned it out, leaning her head back.

"No. Here's the message." Hollister held it out and she set the ice pack down, reaching over and taking it from him.

"I have homework?" She said it with heavy distaste as she read it. "The G25 guys. Nice. I'm going to sound like a fucking idiot, I hope you know that." She reached over and put it back on the desk.

"I doubt that." Hollister snagged the paper and shook his head slightly. "From the looks of your videos, you can make a decent edit. Just make a slide show."

"A military grade power point presentation, yay." It came out of her completely flat and unexcited and Luke smirked.

"Oh don't make them like we do. Ours suck ass." He couldn't help but say it and she threw him a smile over her shoulder. That action made him feel better.

"Colonel Hudson!" Hollister barked it out and Luke straightened up.

"Apologies, sir." And he had zero regrets about saying it, not if it got Roxie to smile. After high stress situations, especially ones where people got shot at, there had to smiles and laughter. They had to balance out the cortisol and the adrenaline crash with something. He could remember the time he took a nasty round straight to the front of his ballistic chest plate and it nearly knocked him on his ass. As the guys were dragging him to cover as he tried to remember how to breathe, they were cracking jokes about how ridiculous he looked as he hit the ground. By the time he was able to breathe properly he was laughing right along with them.

"Okay, so then I make the best goddamned power point presentation y'all have ever seen." She shifted in her chair, clearly favouring that shoulder and Luke couldn't help but wince for her. She was taking that shit like a fucking champ. Ham had twisted his ankle during training and had bitched non-stop for nearly a week and outside of the comment about the T-4s, the cursing she had done after it had happened, and the 'could you not?' she had told the medic who was moving her arm when she got her x-rays, she hadn't complained once. She wasn't military but she was taking that hit better than most of the JTF 2 operatives he had met.