Fearless Leader (Juxtapose City) by Tricia Owens

smirking.
    Bee stopped chewing.
    Haney screwed up his face again. "An empath? As in--"
    "Psypath," Jake said, enjoying this more than he'd expected to. He could feel Black glaring at him but he didn't give a shit. "As in fucked in the head and hooked on Bliss." He kicked back his chair to balance on its hind legs. "You shoulda see him last night all strung out and dressed like some street whore. Dickerson--"
    "Shut. Your. Mouth."
    Jake let his chair fall forward with a dull thunk, his grin fading beneath the look Black leveled at him. Bee and Haney sat frozen.
    "Starr is an official member of JC2. If I hear you slandering him again you're facing disciplinary action." Black's steel voice cut through the silence of the kitchen. "If you have a problem with the new members, Sergeant Cole, deal with it. If you can't I'll recommend your transfer to another unit."
    Sergeant Cole. Jake mentally shivered. Black was definitely pissed to be addressing him so formally. And he'd never before threatened Jake with transfer. Never.
    "It won't happen again, sir," he said somberly.
    Black's eyes shuttered, flashing with something that could have been frustration. Jake instantly regretted his big mouth. Black had told him last night how difficult this was. Now here Jake was being a jerk about it.
    "Starr and Sola will be contributing members of this team," Black told them as he stood up, his plate untouched. "I expect you all to assist them in integrating. If you can’t do that send your transfer requests to my PRU."
    The three men watched in silence as Black left the building to return to the Clubhouse. After a moment, a piece of toast struck Jake between the eyes.
    "Hey!"
    "You sure as hell know how to piss him off!" Haney snapped at him. "What's your problem, anyway?"
    Jake shoved his plate away angrily. "You have no idea. Both of these new guys are nothing but trouble. Black's already had a run-in with the freak and Sola is just a loose cannon waiting to explode somewhere. We gotta watch out for each other on this, guys."
    "Jake, are you a deliberate dumb-fuck or just an accidental one?" Bee sighed. "Didn't you hear our fearless leader? Integration, Jake. That means working together. Us three and the new guys."
    "You don't understand," Jake mumbled, running a hand through his hair in agitation. Something bad is going down and even Black knows it. But he couldn't articulate why he felt this way so he sat at their breakfast table and fumed. "Just keep an eye on Black, okay?"
    "Thought that was your job," Haney said cautiously.
    Jake gave him a bitter smile. "Not anymore, kid. Not anymore."
     
~~~~~
     
    Three hours later Black stood on the steps of the Clubhouse waiting for the arrival of Sola's electro-craft. He'd spent the time between breakfast and now going over Sola's previous evaluations, looking for something to jump out at him and give him justification for the slight unease he felt over the man.
    When every opinion he'd received on Sola had been a negative one Black knew it was time to take notice. Last night, when informed he was being transferred, the agent had been nothing but professional, thanking Black for the opportunity. But faces could lie, words could deceive, thus the check through old files. But after a thorough investigation into the man's history with the department nothing had caught Black's eye. If anything, his initial opinion that Sola was an excellent agent was reiterated in the man's files.
    Just a bad personality, Black decided, rubbing his hands slightly to warm them. He could deal with that. Black needed the man's police skills, not his ability to make friends. It might make the team's transition that much harder but he trusted the others to do what they should. He thought briefly of Jake. Most of them, anyway.
    Black sighed, not wanting to dwell on the older man but finding his thoughts drawn there as though to a sink hole. He should never have gotten involved in a physical relationship with his teammate.