"Back then it was just a way to connect us all together," Vic agreed, his mind drifting back to those first few lonely, terrifying months in 2016. "We didn't know who we could trust but we knew we needed to stick together." He shrugged, shaking his head as a wry smile appeared briefly on his face. "Sometimes I think the patch meant more then than it does now. Or maybe just the times have changed and we've been changing with 'em but some of our men haven't changed either. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing, going through 'em all and figuring out if they're gonna be people we can trust to wear it these days."
Before, the patch had been a forever kind of permanent deal. The summer's events had made it clear that wasn't the case. "I do think about that sometimes, about our officers and what we're gonna do. I trust them, but it's hard to forget how many god damned shakeups we had at that table over the last year alone."