Page 24 of Metal & Mud

"And where does Jess fit into this?" Sabby asked, her mind racing.

"Jess is already under scrutiny for her leadership style," Brian said, leaning in and lowering his voice. "If Logan gets an Article 15, it could really hurt her career. She's his direct supervisor."

Sabby's stomach flip-flopped. "How can she be blamed? He's only been there a week."

"Unfortunately, it doesn't matter," Brian said. "When you're an NCO, you're held accountable for all of the troops under your command. Anyone in first platoon screws up, even if we're not accountable for it, Lieutenant Starr and I both get taken to task for it. Doesn't matter if it's the first day. You're always accountable for your people."

Sabby sighed, nodding. "I don't like it, but I get it."

"Good," Brian said. "A minor issue in my platoon? Major Kirk would handle it with Starr, or Top would chew my ass for a bit. No malice involved, just making sure we keep things in line."

"This isn't minor," Sabby corrected him miserably, and Brian nodded. "What could happen to Jess?"

"Goodman has only been on the fire team for a week, but it still goes in her file that a private under her command got busted for striking an officer. That'd hurt Parker's record too, and probably Nichols'. It could derail Jess's next promotion."

Sabby stared at her hands, feeling the weight of the situation pressing down on her. "What should I do, Brian?"

"Sabby, I can't force you to do anything. Truth is, there's no evidence of what happened. In a civilian court, the cops couldn't do shit. But this isn't the civilian world. Goodman already told Parker that he punched the guy, and they're honor-bound to fess up if something formal happens."

Sabby nodded, tears threatening. "But... what about mitigating circumstances?"

"Like this National Guard asshole getting drunk and harassing someone?" Brian asked. "Perhaps a certain woman who likes metal music?"

"How much do you know?" Sabby returned, and Brian shrugged.

"Enough to know I can put two and two together, and not enough to risk pissing off your sister by making accusations without proof," Brian said. "Also enough to know that a young woman that I consider myself friendly with might be in a tough situation, and I can't judge her either way on what decision she makes."

Sabby swallowed, and nodded. "Thanks, Brian. Can I ask you something? What would Gina have done?"

"She'd have talked," Brian said immediately, "even if it hurt her or even if it hurt me. She was good like that, and knew that nobody should have to suffer for mistakes that weren't theirs."

The image of Logan standing up for her flashed through Sabby's mind. He'd been her knight that night, and now he might pay a terrible price for it.

"Yeah, thought so."

"Look, it's still in the air." Brian finished off his drink. "There's nothing formal. But if it were me, I'd get ahead of what might happen, at least on your personal level. The rest, I'll keep you informed on. Sounds fair?"

"It does." She twisted a napkin between her fingers, feeling the pressure building behind her eyes.

"Good." Brian stood up. "I know it'll be hard, but have a good night, Sabby. Hopefully I'll be in later this week for just a regular couple of sandwiches or something."

After Brian left, Sabby sat in her chair, scared and torn. On one hand, the old her would have said fuck it. There was no evidence of her involvement. She could shut up, and while Logan might be burned, it wasn't really going to affect Jess that much. Maybe it'd even be good for her, get her sister to stop being such a hardass on duty.

But that was the old her. The one who hadn't lived with her sister, who hadn't been through the life changes she'd experienced. She knew the real Jess, and even if Sabby didn't give two shits about a man who'd protected her from some bullies, she couldn't hurt Jess. Not the Jess who struggled every day to be the woman she authentically was in a world where being authentically Jessica Adams was almost impossibly hard. She couldn't hurt the woman who'd unconditionally loved her and given Sabby a chance to become an actual adult.

How could she do it, though? If she just went to Major Kirk to fall on her sword, that would hurt Jess too, because that would make what was currently informal... formal.

And that made things all the more difficult.

* * *

13

LOGAN

As Logan walked down the sidewalk, one word kept echoing around in his head. Eggshells.

He'd heard the term 'walking on eggshells' for most of his life, but Logan hadn't really understood it before. Perhaps his mind was too literal, but to him, walking on eggshells just meant a bunch of broken eggshells. It was an impossible task.

---