𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐑𝐘, 𝖢𝖮𝖣:𝖬𝖶𝟤 ✔︎

𝐼．𝑆𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑅𝑖𝑐𝑜

_

[Y/Name] 'Rico' [L/Name] was a morning person through and through. The early riser had a knack for making the most of their day and that required being up extra early to do what they could within the short number of hours that make it up.

As far as they knew, no one else within the Vaqueros was awake nearly as early as them. Alejandro and Rudy were up and about roughly two hours after [Y/Name]. And the rest of the Vaqueros followed in bursts as the morning continued.

So, they were rather surprised to see their Colonel standing outside the gym with his second in command; Rudy. Especially considering they had been on an assignment late last night, a courtesy to Laswell from Alejandro. The pair were stood just beside the doors, chatting quietly amongst themselves. And the young Sergeant took notice of the butterfly bandage on Rudy's forehead. Probably from whatever that previously mentioned mission was that they had taken last night.

With them being the only one up currently —aside from Alejandro and Rudy— the hallway was empty, so the quiet air made their presence all the more prominent. And Alejandro looked up from his conversation at the sense he felt at their presence and spotted them. "Rico! Buenos dias!"

"Morning Colonel, you alright Rudy?" They responded in a level voice with a respectful nod of their head as they closed in on the pair. The question for Rudy's well-being flowed out of their mouth easily in following.

The Sergeant Major smiled at their care and nodded his head, "I'll be fine Rico."

[Y/Name] returned his friendly grin and nodded back, then turned to face Alejandro when he cleared his throat. "Venga a mi oficina, there's something we wish to discuss with you."

He inclined his head slightly with a gesture of his hand. They exhaled through their nose, only wishing to get started on their daily routine. But Alejandro was their Colonel, their leader.. and what's more is they respected him more than anything. Not to mention he was their superior officer and it looked like whatever it was he needed to tell them was important. The stern and hardened look on his face indicator enough.

So they obeyed, nodding as a tell to him they understood before following swiftly behind him as he led them to his office. Rudy walking beside them. When they had finally made it, [Y/Name] sat in the chair in front of his desk as Alejandro occupied the one opposite of it. Rudy stood behind them with his arms crossed after closing and locking the door.. and only them did they realize how tight the air felt— tense and uncomfortable.

"What is it Colonel?"

"There's no one around Rico, drop it."

Despite the teasing in his tone the remark was anything but playful. It wasn't demanding either.. just tense and tight in his throat. Like he was trying to feign to them that everything was fine.. they knew better. Confused, they just looked at him with a hardened stare and tightened jaw. "Sir... what's this about?"

Alejandro sighed at their observing nature, he should've known he couldn't be able to hide just how dire the situation was from them. "Rudy and I were on a mission last night, Laswell had contacted us and asked us to poke around for a terrorist that had come to hide with the cartel."

"What?!" They all but shouted, they didn't intentionally interrupt their Colonel's debriefing but they couldn't hold their tongue at the news. They and both Ale and Rudy had their hands full with El Sin Nombre and the cartel activity slowly increasing as the days went by. And now tacked on to their already incredibly hard job, was a terrorist. A terrorist that was being protected by the cartel.

"His name is Hassan Zyani, Laswell was in contact with another team that just raided a group of houses two days ago searching for him."

"Then they weren't able to nab him," they concluded on their own. Obviously they hadn't succeeded otherwise he wouldn't be here causing more problems then Alejandro needs.