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Chapter Text

Under the pink and orange tinges of the newly breaking dawn, The Captain fiddled with his tie, straightening it to within a millimetre and almost throttling himself in the process. Through the condensation-soaked glass of the windows, birds could be heard chirping, starting their day with a chorus of ignorance in a time of sheer terror for the residents of Button House, the country, the world.
Clearing his throat and catching his forlorn expression in the ornate mirror, The Captain shook himself from his troubled daze, plastering on the façade of neutrality that best suited his spotless uniform. The floorboards creaked in his lonely office as he made his way to the door, stopping abruptly in his path as a harsh knock echoed around him from the other side. Swiftly dragging his foot to meet the other, he adopted the ‘chin up, chest out, shoulders back, stomach in’ posture he has taught himself as a child all those years ago.
“Come.”
His voice sounded smaller than he had hoped. The door swung open and before The Captain could even register it, the blurry sweep of a young man entered taking up the same rigid stance as The Captain and raising his hand to his, visibly worry-stricken, forehead. The man stood handsomely, sporting a long woollen trench coat that dwarfed him, making it look as if he had somehow stolen it from his father or a much higher-ranking officer than himself. His kit bag was lazily slung over his right shoulder and the small amount of scruffiness in his appearance displeased-and intrigued-The Captain somewhat.
“At ease,” The Captain finally allowed the slender man to relax after silently scrutinising him extremely closely. “You must be the new lieutenant they’ve been promising me.”
“Indeed, sir. Lieutenant Havers.” The man stretched his hand out to shake The Captain’s, a gesture that took him by surprise at the brazen attitude Havers appeared to have already.
The Captain reluctantly took the lieutenant’s cold hand, instantly aware of how rapidly his icy fingers warmed with an invisible spark, causing The Captain to swallow the ever-building lump that sat in his throat. He inhaled sharply and pulled his hand away with a cough.
“Well, Havers, welcome to Button House. I’m sure you’ll find yourself to be quite at home here. Your quarters are next door if you’d like to take the morning to get yourself settled in. I shall see you this afternoon for our briefing. The men are quite looking forward to meeting you.” The Captain was aware that everything he had just said came out of his mouth at break-neck speed and Havers had to take a few seconds process the blurt of information.
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” Havers’s voice was soft and delicate and The Captain was aware that his eyes followed the same theme. He never once took his eyes off of The Captain as he both spoke and listened intently; his deep hazel stare boring into him. The door closed abruptly behind Havers, leaving The Captain alone once again. He was suddenly aware of the damp smell that washed over him and the wallpaper that was peeling away from the corner of the room. He took a deep breath in through his nose and fixated his eyes back on the mirror. Flushed, his expression had changed significantly. Panic coursed through his veins as he was acutely aware of how he must’ve looked when talking to Havers. Not up to standard, he thought to himself before letting out a badly-surprised sigh.

Chapter Text

The communal quarters of Button House were rarely occupied, its residents being extremely busy; or at least, The Captain made sure they always had something to do. Padding around the dilapidated corridors, The Captain’s steel-toe-capped boots clonked more loudly than he would’ve liked. There was no hiding his entrance with such obnoxious-sounding footsteps. The door to the communal living area was wide open, something which made The Captain furrow his brows and crinkle his nose, standards were slipping and every military man knew that in a place of such secret operations, doors were never to be left ajar so all and sundry could hear vital, and potentially classified, information.
“Have we forgotten the most important rule of a secret operation?” The Captain had more anger in his voice than he had anticipated and it took the soldier stood at the sink by surprise. Turning on his heel, the soldier whipped his rabbit-in-the-headlights eyes around to The Captain's.
"Lieutenant Havers-" The Captain began to say, leaving his mouth hanging open, unsure of what to follow up with.
"Sir." Havers pulled his body up straighter and clasped his hands behind his back, stumbling as he shifted his feet together with such barbarity.
"At ease, Havers." A well-timed cough distracted the Captain from Havers's subtle smile as he looked to the ground to hide it form his superior. "I should tell you Havers, we have standards here at Button House, and I have worked hard to make them extremely high. I can't have my second-in-command being personally responsible for those standards slipping."
"Of course, Sir." Havers wore a schoolboy expression, one who had just been scolded for the most ridiculous of reasons but still had to hold a sort of demure. His lips parted as he went to speak, perhaps to challenge the Captain's strict dominion, but he thought better of it, deciding to focus his attention on the frosting glass that now dripped with condensation. Havers felt it send a chill down his spine, the goosebumps slowly forming under his uniform; then he realised his eyes were back on his Captain.

***

"I must say, the men are absolutely wonderful here!" Havers seemed to have forgotten his formalities as he strolled into the Captain's office without knocking. It had been over a month since Havers had joined the operation at Button House and he and the Captain had grown extremely close, professionally of course.
"There is nothing more important than the trust of your men," The Captain agreed, standing up from his desk and abandoning the mountain of paperwork he had been huddled over all afternoon. Stretching, The Captain made his way to the looming Georgian window to survey the position of the sun and whether it was time to turn the lights on for the night.
"They must have an excellent C.O." Havers's voice lowered, almost to a whisper as The Captain felt his presence just inches behind him. Unsure of what to do with himself, The Captain cleared his throat and slowly closed his eyes, breathing in the air which occupied himself and Havers so comfortably, as if this was where they belonged.
Swiftly turning around, The Captain realised that Havers was not as close to him as he had imagined and even considered turning to face the outside again so he could pretend that he were.
"A good leader is only as good as his team. You are an asset to this operation, Havers."
The young man couldn't supress the smile that spread across his face, blushing a little as he looked down and exhaled softly.
There was a thick silence that surrounded the men as they were telepathically willing one another to speak. Havers swallowed the lump in his throat, fearing that he was about to speak out of turn.
"You're always so formal." His eyes bore into the Captain as if trying to learn everything that needed to be learnt about him through his just eyes alone. The Captain darted his eyes away, focusing squarely on the door handle- an escape route.
"You'd do well to learn," The Captain realised how cruel he'd sounded when he saw Havers frown and drag his gaze down to his shoes so added a soft chuckle to let the other know he wasn't so serious. "If that's all, Havers."
The Captain didn't want to dismiss Havers from his office, but he had run out of things to say and allowing Havers to leave seemed the only logical route to take.
"Actually sir," his heart sank. "I was rather wondering..."

He stopped.

"Yes, Havers?" The Captain willed, eyes wide.
The dimples in Havers's cheeks were gone, his brows were furrowed and he looked puzzled by the oak floorboards behind the Captain's shuffling feet. His mouth froze and no sound came out even though The Captain urged them with all his might.
"N-nothing, sir."
The Captain recoiled and nodded once, lifting his head up and pasting on a small, fake, smile. Neither man spoke as Havers reluctantly looked up to The Captain, pain in his eyes, and turned to leave the room as quickly as he had entered it.
The Captain focussed on the sound of Havers's footsteps as they faded down the corridor.