If there was one mission Matt was thankful not to have been a part of, it had been one involved cartoon ponies. He’d seen some strange happenings in Atlantis since he’d been here, but agents turning into ponies? That was a new level of crazy that had was glad not to have personally experienced. He could just hear the remarks and quips his former ARC teammates if something like that had happened at home. He never would have heard the end of it just like he never would have let Becker hear the end of it if it had happened to him.
Neither man had to deal with it, though, and now that the mission was over, Matt was glad to see things around the base somewhat getting back to normal. As normal as any day in Atlantis could be. Countless people had been showing up over the last couple of weeks, but he purposely hadn’t been hoping for anyone specific since he knew it was not likely to happen. As much as people travelled in and out of time portals or anomalies in his and Becker’s world, more of their people hadn’t made it here so far. Only time would tell if they ever would.
For now, though, they had taken a break from their desk jobs and were down in the gym having a spar. As a field commander, Matt didn’t have regular workouts with specific team members, but he still wanted to keep training on a regular basis. Becker was a good partner for that.
“Have there been any leads on intel gained from the last mission?” He asked, holding up punching mitts and steadying himself for Becker’s next move.
It was good to get away from paperwork. Becker knew his job was important but he really missed the field. Here he was all paperwork, meetings and deciding if and when they should go places. Which teams would be ideal, how to split them up, who wouldn’t be a pain in his arse.
He’d never admit it but the teams under Matt were the ones he worried about the least, it was purely because he’d worked under Matt for a while and knew his style and knew how he managed things.
Shrugging in answer he punched a few times before answering. “Earth in the future is where we’re headed next.” He told Matt, he didn’t tell just anyone that kind of thing. “Octavia’s home.” He grimaced, he didn’t like the way her home sounded, or what it did to people. He also got the impression he’d want to punch almost every single who was here from it if he’d known them there.
It was a good thing Matt was used to staying alert because otherwise Becker’s words might have initially caught him off guard. Earth in the future. Great. His home world and time or not, Matt wasn’t looking forward to going into anyone’s future. He let the other man get a few additional punches in before he dropped his hands and took a step back.
He’d always known that Octavia was from another time, but it didn’t really sink in until that moment. It was kind of fitting all things considered. “Don’t sound so thrilled,” he said dryly. Matt didn’t know anything about that version of the future, but apparently it didn’t sound inviting.
“From the look of it, she’s not excited about it either?” He asked and stretched out his arms and hands, raising them up again. “Any idea what to expect?”
Becker only rolled his eyes, he wasn’t thrilled, he didn’t think the world sounded like one anyone should go into, not to mention he wasn’t sure how Octavia was going to handle it and that worried him more, not that he’d admit it.
“We’re not sure what time in its history we are going to go yet, and from the intel so far it looks like it’ll be before she and some others landed on earth.” He hadn’t told anyone other than Sharon that, and the people who had been following up on it. “I can’t decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but there are a lot of hostile influences, it’s dystopian, you’re familiar,” Becker said sadly.
“I’m hoping it’s a quick mission.”
A dystopian future with hostile influences. Yes, Matt was all too familiar with that sort of world. He imagined it was still different from his own, but he could relate to it all the same. Even though Becker hadn’t grown up or spent a significant amount of time in that sort of future, he’d still seen it himself and knew what it could be like.
“All things considered, that may be a good thing - going in before they landed on earth. As long as it’s not significantly earlier. We can at least be prepared and know what to expect rather than going in later where it may be more unstable.” There were also some unknowns to going in earlier and the group not technically having been established with the other hostiles, but Matt wasn’t going to bring that up yet.
“Do you want me to go in with one of the groups?” He asked seriously. “You know I have the experience, and I can keep an eye out.”
Becker nodded. “Good news, we’ll have an idea of what we’re going into, bad news, I’m not sure exactly how much earlier it’ll be and what kind of effect that’ll have on the people from that world.” Becker would have prefered not to all those from it to go, but he’d been overruled on it. Rightfully so but he didn’t want anything to mess up their timeline either. There were a lot of different things to consider.
Smirking, he nodded. “Phil and Octavia are going to lead the mission.” He wasn’t used to sending someone he was seeing into that kind of battle. “But there are a few spots on teams undecided, your knowledge of dystopian would be very beneficial.” He wasn’t going to force Matt to go, but he’d feel better if he was out there.
“It’ll be strange and probably unnerving for them, most likely,” Matt agreed with a nod. It had been for him when their group went into the future. “Keeping them focused on the mission and what needs to be done is key. It’ll help with other distractions.” Matt’s future had been all about survival and avoiding the predators, but it was hard to know what the realities would be on this different version of earth. He’d be interested in hearing more once they had mission updates soon.
“I’ll look into the open spots.” Sure, his knowledge on dystopian futures would be beneficial, but he also knew Becker. They were a lot like in some ways, and he knew he’d not be entirely comfortable if their roles had been reversed. Matt would also have appreciated Becker going if he wasn’t in a position to go himself. “With not knowing what they might come up against, it couldn’t hurt to have one or two EMDs on hand, right?” He offered with a slight smirk.
He wasn’t going to say it, but that was what worried him the most about this situation, any of them getting distracted. Becker knew they knew better and there would be a briefing about it but also wasn’t going to push it either. Instead of speaking he just nodded.
“They’re on the list,” Becker smirked. “Can’t go anywhere without a good pea shooter.” He said dryly although it was a joke, sort of. Those things he had come to like them, although he still liked the real guns a little bit better.
“Now, come on, you’re arms are looking weak.”
Matt shook his head with a slight smirk. Pea shooters. He remembered how well Becker had taken to the weapons when he’d first seen them. Yes, he remembered that moment fondly. He hadn’t had the chance to use them much yet since arriving in Atlantis, but Matt definitely kept the EMDs on hand just in case they were needed.
“Is that right?” He asked, a hint of a challenge in his voice. “Alright then.” He started taking off the punching mitts for Becker to throw punches and instead picked up two pair of boxing gloves. He tossed a pair to Becker while putting on the second pair. “Let’s make this a proper spar.”