Thankfully the major had had enough sense to conduct the tongue-lashing of his senior NCO in private. A needed to use every ounce of restraint he had learned during his hellish drill sergeant training not to squirm as he waited for the dressing down he was sure was coming from the Major. This would be the first one he had received from his new commander; he and Major Eberbach were both relatively new to the intelligence unit and to each other. While he supposed it was inevitable, he still dreaded the confrontation. It rankled a bit to be chagrined by a commanding officer even younger than he was, but at least he did have the small consolation of feeling that he could stand behind his actions. That thought encouraged the young blond NCO to straighten his shoulders a smidgen.

Major Eberbach gave a small, barely perceptible nod as if in approval to the straightened stance but if that were so, his words gave no indication of it.

"Agent A. Would you care to explain to me why you chose to approve sending Agents H and Tset on this mission, rather than L and M?"

"Sir, Agent Tset volunteered for this mission and-"

"So did L and M!" Klaus thundered in before he could finish. "Are you aware that Agent Tset is six months –" Taking a breath, the major's eyes flickered to the wall calendar and A's followed. "- make that five and a half months – from retirement?"

"Sir, yes sir, I am." He was also aware of how badly he wanted a cigarette to calm his nerves. The major had his own pack clenched in his fist and from time to time he'd pass it to the other hand. A's eyes kept being drawn to it longingly despite himself.

"Then what the hell possessed you to send our oldest agent out into the field? Were you completely ignorant of how dangerous the mission was?" The major was pacing now, practically biting off his words. His tone was an obvious challenge and it caused something to flare up behind A's baby blues in reply.

"Sir – permission to speak freely?" The words left a sour taste in his mouth but he forced himself to be patient. Klaus waved his hand and grunted, which he assumed was permission enough.

"Agent Tset has never failed a physical examination, and he repeatedly scores in the top percentile for his age. But that aside, when I reviewed the criteria for the mission, I judged that experience would be needed a lot more than physical agility. L and M were sent to us practically straight from training. They've probably got potential to be good agents, but they've never been on their own in the field. Agent Tset was the only other agent available with the skills needed to complete the mission."

Inside, A was fuming. He had lost several nights' sleep over the decision already. Did he send two green agents out and risk their covers being blown from their own inexperience? Or did he send out their best, albeit oldest and close to retirement? He might have been new at the intelligence game, but so was the major, and he didn't appreciate the insinuation that he would place his men in danger because of his own stupidity and incompetence. He had enough nightmares about that as it was, but in this case, he really felt he'd made the right call.

Z had already considered the odds himself; he had volunteered to go knowing full well that if he didn't, L and M would have been sent. Rather than allow the lives of the Alphabet's newest recruits to be risked so early in the game, the agent had chosen to accept the risk himself. 'Don't tell me you're going to send the two babies. Better give them a mission where they can learn to walk before they have to run. Besides, I'm getting arthritis in my ass from all this sitting around!' he had said to A. The blond's lips curled up slightly as he remembered it. In the end, he had sent Z, although he had chosen both himself and H to accompany the grey-haired agent as back-up.

"As their leadership, you and I are responsible for these men's lives." Startled, A blinked. He had almost forgotten about the major's presence. The officer had ceased pacing and his gaze was fixed intently upon the cigarette he was currently lighting. "Agent Tset could have been killed. Instead of sending him back to his family with a pension and honors, we'd be sending those honors along with a coffin and a letter of condolence. Are you willing to accept that responsibility?"

A nodded. "Yes, Major, I am."

Klaus blew out a fine line of smoke, grey-green eyes studying the sergeant's freshly bandaged arm. He already had two reports on his desk – one from Z and one from H – detailing how the young NCO had acted without hesitation to extract his men from the line of fire when their mission had become compromised, despite the danger to himself. A's report on the matter had been much more apologetic. Curiosity satisfied, he shifted his attention from the blond man back to his cigarette. "You're dismissed."

A had instinctively snapped to attention and started to move before he caught himself. Klaus had already turned away but he still couldn't resist asking. "Sir?"

Surprised, Klaus made a sound that was half-growl, half-questioning grunt.

"In my situation, what would you have done?" A waited for what seemed like an eternity before the major cracked a grin. Instead of answering right away, the dark-haired officer strolled towards him. When he was almost a step beyond A, Klaus replied.

"The same. And then I'd be in the Chief's office, getting my ass chewed by the fat walrus. Now come on. We've wasted enough time. Those idiots are going to think I killed you and that now I'm trying to find a place to hide the body."

A gave a nod of his head before scrambling after the major and back to the barely-organized chaos that was their office and their lives.

~fin~