"Saw you and Shaw during the extraction exercise today.” Too casual.
Hudson’s stomach lurched. "It's called close-quarters training."
"Sure.” Briggs let the words sit there. “Looked like more than that to me."
"Then you were looking too hard."
Briggs stopped walking. Hudson made himself stop too, hands clenched so hard his nails bit into his palms. For a second—just a second—he genuinely wanted to punchBriggs in his smug fucking face. But that would only prove whatever point Briggs was trying to make.
"It would be a real shame," Briggs said, "if word got out. End your little hero complex real quick."
The words landed like a fist to the sternum. Hudson held Briggs's gaze for one beat, two, long enough that it didn't look like running.
"Back off, Briggs.”
Briggs smiled.“Just saying. Watch your six, Hale.”
They didn't speak again for the rest of the shift. Four hours of frozen silence that Hudson spent working through every scenario he could think of: what Briggs actually knew versus what he was guessing, whether Reed would report them, what Shaw was doing right now, whether "we're done" was something Hudson had actually meant or just something he’d said in panic.
He didn’t land on any answers. Did get colder though.
By the time their shift ended, Hudson's entire body ached with tension. His jaw throbbed. His hands hurt from being clenched into fists for four hours straight. If Briggs had said one more thing, Hudson would have shut him up. Period.
But for now, none of that mattered. He needed to find Reed first. Fix that. Then figure out the rest.
One crisis at a time.
The next morning,Hudson sat in his bunk, dressed and ready to ambush Reed the second he opened his eyes.
When he’d gotten back last night, everyone had been sleeping. He had whispered Reed's name, but nothing but snores came from his bunk.
Reed opened his eyes and jerked when he saw Hudsonstaring at him. “Jesus Christ, Hale. You scared the shit out of me.”
“Can we talk? Please.”
Reed probably saw the desperation on Hudson’s face, because he got up quickly, pulled on his clothes and gestured for Hudson to follow.
Outside, the cold cut against his face. Reed led them away from the buildings, toward the far edge of the training grounds where no one else ventured. When they were far enough away that no one could overhear, Reed stopped and turned to face him.
"What the hell, man?"
Hudson had been desperate to get Reed alone, but now that they were, he had no idea what to say. His brain supplied exactly zero useful words. He'd spent most of the night awake, and the only thing he'd figured out was that he didn't care about the risk—he cared what Reed thought of him."I don't—I can't?—"
"How long has this been going on?"
Hudson swallowed. "Since the survival exercise."
“Since the survival exercise.” Reed nodded slowly, processing. "And Shaw. You're... what? Together?"
"What. God, no. It's not—" Hudson ran a hand through his hair. "It's not like that."
"Then what's it like?"
"I don't know." The words came out a little desperate. "I don't fucking know, okay? We're just?—"
"Hooking up," Reed supplied.
"Well… Yeah."
