fh_alumni | Various places, various times [Fandom time September and October]

	"Jack?"
	The hesitant voice drew Jack's attention away from the group of Agents and Agents-in-training, and the rather enjoyable, if mostly unacknowledged, game of Who Gets Jack Tonight.
	Jason was standing off to the side, one hand raised in tentative greeting, looking more uncertain with every second that passed.
	"Jason, right?" Jack remembered him, but saw no reason to draw attention to the fact.
	"Yes. We met on my first day?" He let his hand fall, standing uncomfortable in his not quite right clothes, wishing he'd never said anything.
	There was a whispered conversation behind him, and a muffled laugh which he knew was at Jason's expense, and it irritated him. "Jason! Of course I remember you," he said, walking over to clap him on the back. "How's the Agency been treating you?"
	Jason grinned, very relieved. "Good. It's been really good! Everything is so much fun!"
	The boyish enthusiasm made Jack grin, because it was something he just didn't see very often. The second whisper followed by a laugh that came from the group prompted him to say, "Great to hear. What do you say, let's grab a drink or two and you can tell me all about it? My treat." The dumbfounded silence from his little coterie was worth it, and Jason's huge smile an added bonus and Jack drew him off through the crowd. It actually ended up being a surprisingly good evening, even if he did spend the night alone.

* * *

	The second time, Jack found Jason. It wasn't at a party, though. Jack was there to raid the depot, looking for a bit of equipment Kane insisted they had to have. He'd learned to give Kane what he wanted, as fast as possible, in order to have an easy life. He was wending his way through the bloody maze of this station and he just about tripped over him, rounding a corner to find him sitting on the floor, long legs stretched out in front of him. "What the hell?"
	Jason looked up at him, eyes sad, and said, "Hey, Jack."
	"Jason?" It didn't look much like Jason, all the puppy like enthusiasm missing as if it had been drained away. He glanced down the hall, then checked his watch. He could spare a minute. Maybe. "What's up?" he asked as he crouched in front of him.
	"I killed my whole team today," he replied tonelessly.
	Jack blinked in surprise. "What?"
	"I killed them. Made the wrong choice and they all ended up dead."
	He would have heard about that. He and Kane may make their own path, well apart from regular Agency business, but they would have heard about that. "In the sim?" he ventured.
	Jason nodded. "But it doesn't matter. They were my responsibility and I killed them."
	Jack scrubbed a hand over his face. He really didn't have time for this. "Okay, one, they're not really dead. Two, you're in training, look, how long has it been now? Personal time, not linear."
	"Six months."
	"Six months of training and you're nowhere even close to done. Third, this is why they have the damn sims in the first place. So you can screw up without having people actually die. Will you make that mistake again? In real life, when it counts?"
	Jason went pale. "No," he said sounding sick. "Never."
	"Right. Fourth and last?" Jack grinned and smacked him lightly on the side of the head. "You're being a dope. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and go and let your team tease the life out of you. Make them buy the drinks, 'cause the Agency's death benefit goes a long way on a bar tab."
	Jason stared at him, shocked, then a smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. "Yeah?"
	"Yeah." Jack stood and offered him a hand up. "Stop moping. Or, if you want a very specific twenty first century Earth term, stop emoing. You need a roof to do it properly, in any case."
	Jason was smiling ruefully as Jack hauled him to his feet. "Okay. No emoing, let them tease me, make them buy the drinks."
	"Exactly." Jack dropped his hand and started to walk away. "You're going to be all right, Jason. I know you are. Just have a little faith in yourself."
	Jason watched him go, feeling a million times better than he had before. Jack was right, but then Jack almost always was.