The ride back to the Hesperia was agony, air thick with tension, filled with a silence so absolute that it was deafening. Enzo’s proud smile grew more brittle with every passing moment, his bravado fading in the face of the confrontation he knew was coming. The other men in the pod were studiously ignoring his gaze, and for every quick head turn Enzo felt another flicker of apprehension. 

When they finally docked, the pod nestling into its place on the broad side of the ship with a clank, Enzo attempted to make a hasty retreat. Maybe if he hid for the next three centuries Kade would forget about his giant fuck-up. Kade, however, anticipated his charge’s move and caught Enzo’s shoulder once more in his iron grip. “You get back to my room, now, and wait there until I come get you. You’re not to leave for any reason, do you understand?”

Enzo let out a breath and nodded jerkily, refusing to meet Kade’s gaze. He could feel the eyes of the other men boring into him, and his cheeks flamed as he strode out the door without another word, affecting a measured calm. His composure lasted only as long as it took him to make it out of the hangar, but once the doors had closed behind him his steady stroll morphed into a rigid march. The sound his boots made stomping along the metal grates in the floor was immensely satisfying. He yanked off one of his gloves and shoved it into his bag, the other following suit shortly thereafter.

So maybe he’d been a little reckless.

So maybe he should have listened to Kade and trusted that his admiral would do what was best.

He’d still held his own, still saved T’ilix and ensured their payday.

He’d survived the encounter relatively unscathed, and wasn’t that worth anything?

He was jolted out of his thoughts by a shoulder colliding with his, causing him to stumble backwards. “Ugh! Man, what the hell?”

It was Talon, of freaking course, sneering at him with a raised green lip. “Watch where you’re going, princess!”

Enzo rubbed his shoulder and fought down his ire. His relationship with Talon had always been rocky, ever since the ten-year-old Terran had decided it would be a fun pastime to sneak into the bunk while the men were sleeping and steal Talon’s eye right off his bedside table. 

He’d scampered out of the room, grinning gleefully as the man’s angry screech echoed after him and at the time it had seemed like great fun. He’d gotten his first lesson in taking responsibility for his own actions that day, when Kade had found him twenty minutes later.

Enzo’s smile slipped from his face, the eye he’d been tossing in the air like some kind of grotesque ball falling into his lap with a thunk as Kade’s head poked up through the vent Enzo had escaped into. The man raised one thick dark eyebrow at his charge and drummed his fingers on the metal duct.

“So. Stole his eye, did ya?”

“Well,” Enzo started slowly, the tension draining out of his shoulders when he wasn’t immediately blasted. “Maybe he should have been more observant. I mean, really, if a ten-year-old human can still his eye right from under his nose, maybe he’s just a shitty mercenary.”

The sudden sharp bark of laughter from the admiral had him grinning toothily, and he knew by Kade’s smirk that his guardian was really kind of proud. The admiral gestured for Enzo to follow him, ducking back out, and Enzo tucked the eye in his pocket so he could crawl to the opening. He allowed his guardian to help him down, pleased when the older man placed him on the floor and clapped him on the shoulder. The rare gestures of affection Kade bestowed on him were precious, and he preened under the attention.

Kade used his grip on Enzo’s shoulder to guide him out the door. “Alright, you little shit, that was pretty funny. You need to give him his eye back, though, before he tears apart my ship trying to get to you.”

Enzo dug in his heels, ineffective as it was with the large man pushing him along, suddenly apprehensive. He gulped, hoping it wasn’t too audible, and pulled the eye out of his pocket to clasp to his chest. “Um – can’t you give it to him?”

Kade’s deep laughter washed over him and he frowned. “Hell no, kid. You wanna be a mercenary, you gotta learn to own up to your actions. You got yourself into this mess and you can sure as shit get yourself out.”

Talon was still young at the time (nineteen, maybe, though it was hard to keep track of years out in space), still rash and hot-tempered. When Enzo hesitantly held out his missing eye to him he snatched it out of the kid’s hand with a snarl, other fist clenched at his side. Enzo stepped back when the older boy made an abortive move towards him, colliding with his guardian’s thick torso. Talon noticed belatedly that the admiral was standing behind the kid, arms crossed in front of his barrel chest, eyebrow raised in silent warning.

Talon huffed out a frustrated breath, eye flicking from Enzo to Kade and back again before his green lip raised in a snarl. “Keep your filthy human hands off of my shit.”

A cocky grin was forming on Enzo’s face when he realized he wasn’t in danger, and as the man stormed away he couldn’t resist one more jab. “Hey, Talon! Remember, you gotta sleep with one eye open if you wanna be a good mercenary!”

Talon froze, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth as the rest of the crew who had gathered around to watch the exchange howled in laughter. The Droshian shook his head and popped his eye back in his socket before continuing his trudge out of the room, and Enzo crossed his scrawny arms in imitation of his guardian.

Later that day, Enzo had found an unmarked, unwrapped gift resting on his pillow. It was a black band which, when he clipped it around his neck and pressed the release button, expanded into a rebreather helmet. It was the most essential part of any mercenary uniform, with its holo display and ability to keep a man from asphyxiating in the vacuum of space. It had been far too large, wobbling on his neck as he ran around his room in excitement, but it was his and it was undeniably a gift from his stoic guardian and he hadn’t removed it for two weeks. 

Enzo rolled his eyes, prickly and ready to pick a fight. “Hey, speaking of watching things, how’s the eye treating you? Noticed anything off about it lately? You know, I really think you should get it looked at because, dude, there’s no way it’s working right if you didn’t notice that thing on your face.”

Talon reached up to touch his cheek and Enzo grinned. It was always too easy. He leaned forward and squinted, finger to his lips. “Oh, no, my bad! That’s just your ugly mug. Hard to tell sometimes, man, you know how it is.”

He raised an eyebrow as the other man let out an angry growl, embarrassed at his gullibility. “You think you’re so funny, don’t you princess?”

“The thought’s crossed my mind before, I suppose, but funny isn’t the word I’d use; hilarious, witty, droll, facetious even. It’s okay, though, I know how big words are hard for you.” He patted the tense man on the shoulder. “You’ll get there eventually, buddy. Don’t worry that ugly little head.”  

He ducked the fist aimed at his jaw, swinging up to land his own punch to the alien’s stomach with a short bark of laughter. Talon’s movements were clumsy in his ire, and Enzo danced out of his reach before he could land his own strike. His hand darted out and landed a stinging slap on Talon’s neck before he slipped away again, dodging a swing which probably would have knocked him flat if it’d landed on him.

When Talon did eventually land a hit, he felt his lip split under the knuckles and stumbled back. He cracked his neck, mirth gone, and threw himself at the larger man. That was a mistake. He was strong, sure, but he was still slender with youth where Talon was bulky with muscle, and it wasn’t long before he was pinned to the wall, panting, the coppery flavor of blood on his tongue. Talon’s breath was sour as he leaned in, fist clenched to the front of Enzo’s suit, panting with exertion.

“Not so fucking funny now, are you?” he hissed.

Enzo gagged dramatically. “Dude! Have you ever heard of a toothbrush? You don’t even need to fight me, your breath is about to knock me out on its own!” 

“You little – “

Enzo was saved a truly savage punch to his face by the approach of stomping boots.“Talon! Enzo! Stand down.”

Talon’s shoulders tensed, but he shoved Enzo once and backed away so that Enzo could peel himself off of the wall and turn to face the admiral. To say that the look on Kade’s face was thunderous would be an understatement. His jaw was working as he ground his teeth, and Enzo secretly thought that if his brows drew together any more they were going to fuse together and become one.

“Explain yourself, Enzo Hagen.”

Talon took a bold step forward, and if Enzo hadn’t been in so much trouble already he would have smirked at the dangerous look the admiral sent him. “Sir, Enzo – “

“Did I speak to you, Talon?” Kade asked, voice low.

“No, but – “

“Excuse me? No? Then shut up and step down.” He let out a sigh as Talon stepped stiffly back. “It has been a very long day, and I cannot deal with your petty rivalry right now. Talon, you’ve got cleaning duty for the next week. Report to Crux after your debriefing. Enzo, you’re already in deep shit. You’ve got ten seconds to get where I told you to go or you’ll be outside this goddamn ship scrubbing her till I can see myself in the reflection.”

“But sir! Enzo – “

 “Did I fucking stutter?” Kade hissed, and they wisely scampered off to do as they were told.