Chapter Text
Benton sank into the chair at Captain Yates’ desk, groaning. It was Thursday, and right now his mantra was ‘just one more day’. The Brigadier was currently in Genevia for a meeting with all the UNIT branches, and Captain Yates was called away for a two-week conference where he was representing the UK branch of UNIT. That left the newly transferred Captain Jones in charge as the acting commander. Benton liked Captain Jones well enough, he seemed like a polite and respectable young man. That just made it all the harder that when Captain Yates returned, Benton would have to tell him that Captain Jones needed some mentorship.
Benton had always wanted to be a Sergeant, even when he was a little boy. That’s what his father was, and he always did want to make the man proud. After he joined the military and worked his way up through the ranks, he found the job wasn’t exactly what he had expected. Enlisted Soldier’s have a reputation of being the ones getting their hands dirty, of following orders while the Officers just gave them. Yet as he climbed up the ranks, Benton learned that hadn’t been the case at all. As a Corporal and even more so as a Sergeant, he found himself leading teams and Soldiers, having the give direction a lot more than just act on them. What he didn’t have to do was the politics piece. Recently he had been made the Senior Enlisted Advisor of the organization, putting him directly in contact with both the Brig and Captain Yates on a regular basis, and when he watched them in meetings and dealing with other organizations, he learned many aspects of being an officer that he hadn’t known before. Aspects he was quite happy to be left out of although Captain Yates seemed to take to it like a fish to water.
Captain Jones on the other hand, had not. He seemed to have low self-confidence, which in and of itself wasn’t the worst thing but it made him second guess everything he was doing and instead of just making a decision he was leaning heavily on Benton to make the decisions for him. He may have made a better officer in the regular Army, but here in UNIT he was flagging behind. Benton had stepped up of course, as was expected of him, but it was taking a toll on him now as well. Earlier mornings, late nights, missed meals and few rests, it was making him rely on the one common drug to all service members. Caffeine. If you asked Benton, he would say he usually preferred tea, but while at work coffee was one of his best friends. The canteen rarely ran out of coffee, making it available even when they were closed for meal services. At the moment, it was the only thing Benton ingested today. He was already getting headaches and the slightly nauseous feeling he got when he had too much coffee and not enough food.
Today was going to be another long day. It was already late and there was still far too much to do. He had to finish reviewing the guard roster for the following month, finish reviewing the bills for the building and the equipment UNIT used, had to review the range and exercise requests, and the dispatch of all the common use vehicles for next month still needed to be done. He would put some of it off until tomorrow but tomorrow had its own deadlines. Benton was also rather sure he would be a lot further along had he not had so many other senior members of UNIT coming to complain about Captain Jones. Unfortunately, it seemed the young Captain would likely be transferred back to the Army when this was all said and done. UNIT wasn’t for everyone after all.
Benton hadn’t meant to doze off, but a soft knock at the door had him jerking in his seat, glancing around to see what happened. Captain Yates stood in the doorway, the shit eating grin spread across his face, knuckles still braced against the door where he announced his presence. Benton leapt to his feet to render honors before frowning, his brain catching up. “I thought you weren’t coming back until Monday, Sir.” he said. Captain Yates strolled in and Benton went to move aside to relinquish the officer’s desk to its rightful owner. However, Captain Yates just gave a small dismissive wave before sitting in the chair where guests usually sat. Unsure, Benton sat back down in.
“You look like crap.” Captain Yates ignored his question and showed absolutely no tact. It was part of the reason Benton admired the man, he liked that Captain Yates was more relaxed and laid back compared to some. When a superior officer or a guest was around, Captain Yates was very proper and polite, but when it was UNIT’s organic members he was much more honest.
“It’s been busy Sir.” Benton evaded. He didn’t feel like right now was the right time to be giving a full detailed report, not when his head was pounding and he really didn’t have the patience for many other distractions. Captain Yates hummed, picking up one of the papers from the desk, the bill pile, and looking it over.
“I’ll bet. Corporal Bell called me, told me there was some problems and since we were finished with the conference I decided to come back a little early.” He said, still scanning the paper. Ah, Carol. That explained it. Carol Bell had been in UNIT since its creation, being the Brig’s personal assistant. Benton had started to talk to her more after his promotion to Sergeant, and by now they were friends. Since Captain Yates was the Executive Officer, the two of them had also formed a type of friendship. Benton wasn't overly sure if he had been allowed to just leave the conference or if it was truly at an end early, but knowing the good captain he likely just made a decision on his own and would beg for forgiveness later from the Brig if it had been wrong. Beg wasn't the right word, more like ask for forgiveness. Captain Yates then put the paper back on the stack, standing up. “You did good, I heard from a few people on my way in about how much you stepped up while everyone was out.” The officer said. Benton felt a sense of validation at that.
“Thank you, Sir.” Benton said, because he didn’t know what else to say. Captain Yates moved around the desk and Benton took that as his cue to stand up.
“I already spoke to the Brig, he approved a three-day pass for you this weekend.” Captain Yates went on. Benton blinked at that. “So why don’t you go get something to eat and head back to your barracks room and I’ll see you on Monday?” Captain Yates continued. Benton frowned now.
“Sir, I appreciate it but…” he started. Captain Yates easy smile vanished into a stern expression; one he used when he was in ‘captain mode’.
“Sergeant Benton, you’re practically dead on your feet. You’re exhausted and honestly, I have no use for you when you’re like that. You did good, now it’s time to go rest and recover so you can help me next week while the Brig is still out.” The officer said. Benton knew there was logic to that, that he couldn’t do much if he was falling asleep in the chair, but there was still so much to do. He gestured to the desk almost helplessly to help prove his point. The captain glanced at the desk then laughed. “I can handle the paperwork, and I can make Captain Jones take on his responsibilities too. Now go.” Benton had no argument for that, so with a quick salute to his superior officer, he turned and left the office.
Benton really wanted to go get some rest, but he headed toward the canteen first to get something to eat. After all, coffee really wasn’t a food group, and he could do with some real food. It would also be nice to have some time tomorrow. He could sleep late, call his sister, and maybe go out and have a nice meal at a restaurant or pub as he tended to do after particularly hard duties.