Evan made it all the way to the bar without anyone catching up to him. Which was impressive and not, since the bar was a military bar right outside the gate to the base where the ship would be arriving early tomorrow morning.
Everyone knew it was going to be challenging to combine the forces, but a part of Evan was convinced they knew but didn't understand.
The Republicans believed they'd won against an inhuman enemy and the Federals believed they'd survived an oppressive, cruel regime. Evan wasn't much for politics himself; he'd joined to explore space and get out of a house that wasn't very welcoming despite the fact that he'd been born there.
The stars had always seemed like a distant freedom when he'd been a child. Distant, fascinating, and safe. He'd gone to the closest recruiting station as soon as he was legally allowed, not carrying who it belonged too, and shipped out that day.
He'd left his parents a note, but aside from a few angry and judgmental phone calls, none of them had made much of an attempt to contact him after he'd left. He'd found a new family in the service, one that was far more welcoming.
It had hurt to lose them when the war ended, so even though he'd been forced back after ending up on one of those too dangerous to let disappear lists, he was looking forward to it.
Even if it was going to be a giant pain.
The bar, aptly named the Squad, was packed to the gills when he made it inside and he vaguely recognized faces that he'd give bunk assignments to earlier.
Trust a soldier to drown their sorrows at the closest bar. He even got a few threatening looks as he made his way to the bar.
Joke was on them. The command hadn't been introduced yet and they had no idea Evan outranked them all.
Not that he'd use it against them. He'd ever a spiteful or angry person. It had driven Finley mad sometimes how quickly he was to forgive and forget, but Evan had never seen the point in dwelling on the bad when there were better things to look forward to.
As one of the few people he still knew that had known his family, Finley'd always been amazed he turned out the way he had.
Not that Finley could really talk in the family department.
Of the three of them only Russo had a somewhat normal family life growing up.
"Sunshine!" An arm landed over his shoulders at the same time, nearly shoving Evan over the bar. Billy Wilson had been in the same basic training class as Evan, and they'd run into one another on and off during the war.
It was good to see him alive, less good to have him screaming drunkenly in his ear. Thankfully, the bartender slid Evan his beer and he gently pulled away.
"Hey man, good to see you."
"You too! You coming with us?"
"Yep."
"Awesome. At least that's one of us in the command." He pulled Evan over to a table of faces he couldn't put names to but was certain he'd worked with before.
It was nice to catch up with all of them. Nice to sit around and vent. They were all convinced the entire command was going to be Republicans dedicated to driving them all out and Evan couldn't blame them. He'd thought the same thing when he'd found out about it. It wasn't until he'd been reunited with Finley that he'd learned otherwise.
It probably still was in some way Evan didn't currently see, but it would come out eventually.
Evan would have been content to spend a few hours listening to them share conspiracy theories about the reasoning for this mission, not that anyone knew what the mission was yet, but he caught sighed of Dark and Stormy across the bar.
There was an obvious line down the center of the bar. Empty space that clearly delineated the sides because the owner wasn't willing to lose paying customers by banning one side or the other.
Dark and Stormy was tucked in a corner on the not-Federal side of the bar, but he was close enough to the empty space and Evan had always been stupidly brave, that he got up and wandered over anyway.
He greeted a few people along the way, surprised to see a few faces he thought wouldn't be willing to deal with the drama, and several he would have preferred not to see at all, but eventually he made it.
Dark and Stormy's eyes started tracking him halfway there. Returning to his companions and then darting back to Evan to check his progress, back and forth until Evan was right next to him.
Dark and Stormy raised an eyebrow when he stepped through the empty space and leaned against the wall next to him.
Evan was childishly pleased to note he had a couple inches on Dark and Stormy.
"You're brave." Dark and Stormy's friends didn't look pleased to see Evan, but the man himself didn't move away.
"I try." Evan beamed and tried to keep his smile at a normal level. He'd been warned it could be intimidating when combined with his size.
Dark and Stormy seemed more incredulous than intimidated though. "You know you're on the wrong side of the bar, right?"
"You know there aren't actually sides in a bar, right?"
"Don't know, we're in a whole new era."
"God, you're funny too. I'm in trouble."
Dark and Stormy's eyes went wide, a pink flush crawling across his cheeks and Evan had the horrible, sinking realization that he'd said that out loud.
"Oh god. I'm so sorry."
Dark and Stormy's brow furrowed. "Sorry you said it or sorry its true?"
Evan tried to guess which was he was leaning. "…Both?" Dark and Stormy's face didn't change. "Or just the first one?"
Those beautiful dark eyes rolled. "Right. You're joking." He moved to leave.
"No!" Evan grabbed his arm and then immediately removed his hand when a few of the nearby Republicans started looking like they were about to jump in. "Not a joke, I swear. Just making a fool of myself." As usual, he didn't add out loud. "Sorry, I'm out of practice."
"Your also on the wrong side of the bar." Someone nearby growled.
"There's no sides anymore. Remember?" And maybe that wasn't the right response for the moment because Dark and Stormy's friends looked ready to throw down and Evan's friends, at least the one's he knew for sure would jump in to help, were across the bar.
~ tbc