Stupid. Fucking idiot rookie. He should have been prepared for that but how could he be prepared to see someone who is listed as dead in any file Wash has cared to look at since before the Project was disbanded?

There's a moment when his chest tightens, the years of crap he's been ignoring welling up, demanding attention. Lucky he's had a lot of practice at ignoring them then.

No, stick to the plan.

He takes aim, deliberately off the mark but close enough that it might be dismissed as just a clumsy shot, inexperienced. Close enough to unnerve. And whichever side ends up getting here first, it's easy enough to blame it on the other.