"Yes, let's head back. There's no need sticking around." Without waiting to see if Parker followed, he started making his way back towards the base. He took off his glasses and shoved them in the shirt pocket. He was thankful for the blurry haze that shrouded his vision. Almost immediately, the thoughts begun to slow down and became a dull presence in the back of his mind. The fact that he almost died also seemed to numb the thoughts as well.

Once they were back at base, they turned in their mission report with Sebastien giving as few details as needed to their commander. They had passed their first test, which had served as an initiation into the department officially and as a token, they gave each agent a personal DEA patch that said they were tried and true in combat. Once they had finished the mission report, they turned on their heel to leave.

"Kemp, mind staying in my office for a moment?" Commander Jones said. From his peripheral he could see him standing and Sebastien mentally cursed. 

He pivoted on his heel and turned around, standing at attention as he stared at the wall in front of him, staring just above the commander's head. "Sir."

Jones stared at him for the longest, no doubt gauging Sebastien's expressions. He's been in this business for eleven years now, almost since the beginning of when this crisis had begun. "Your mission report was quite empty for someone who is so calculative," he begun. "In training, your reports were equal to that of a college thesis."

"Is there a problem with that, sir?" Sebastien asked. A cold sweat had broken out on his forehead and he wanted to swat at the trickle of sweat that tickled his temple but refrained from doing so.

He paused for a moment. "Look at me, Kemp."

With a deep breath, Sebastien finally made eye contact with him.

"Did the mission go according to plan as the reports suggest?" Jones asked, his tone growing more serious.

"Yes, sir; the mission was a full success with no setbacks." It was hard to look him in the eye without saying more; he wasn't lying, but he wasn't telling the exact truth, either.

"Did something happen that should be brought to light, agent?"

"No, sir. The reports were-"

"I can tell you are hiding something and you will not be permitted to leave this room until you speak."

He felt backed into a corner and honestly didn't know what to say. This was the biggest worry he thought of when he first walked into this room and had to say something to throw him off from his cowardice for the fear that he would be kicked from the department for not being able to perform his duties accordingly. So he said the first thing that came to mind. "It was just shocking experience, is all. Seeing the blood and the head blown apart...it was something that I had only seen in movies and wasn't prepared to witness for myself. Training hadn't taught us that aspect of the fight, sir."

To his relief, Jones nodded his head as if he believed that story and seemed to relax. "That is to be expected on your first kill. Just remember, though, the first kill is always the most difficult. This is war, and no one ever said that it was pretty."

"Yes, sir."

"It will become a normal occurrence to you soon enough. Just remember, the more blood of theirs that you see means the less blood of your own men. You are dismissed."

"Sir." Sebastien waited until he was outside the building until he released the breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. Sweat had thoroughly soaked into his shirt and he had to pull the leather jacket off to cool himself. God, what would have happened if he'd learned that he completely froze up in combat? Would they have simply kicked him out or would they have done worse? There were stories that circulated about what happened to defected agents and he wasn't bound to find out if any of the rumors were true...