Sands had just finished up changing for debrief when he heard the door open and close quickly.

"Sands!" Crystal reprimanded, as she caught sight of his face after entering his room.

Sands had removed all the bandages from his face and they were strewn on his bed in a haphazard manner.

Crystal knew she should be strict and demand that the bandages go back on at once, but she felt a twinge of sympathy for the officer before her, and decided to let it go as she saw the look of warning on Sands’ face. She knew she’d have a hell of a time trying to get the damn things back on now anyway, and they weren’t really even necessary anymore. The bleeding had stopped a couple weeks ago.

"You shouldn’t have removed your bandages Sands," Crystal said, without much conviction in her voice.

"I’ll be damned if I’m going to my debrief looking like King Tut… although, the King part does have a nice ring to it." Sands’ tone indicated the decision was over and done with and he wasn’t going to budge.

She sighed in resignation; Sands was the type of man that needed to feel that he had control, even now. Or perhaps especially now. Crystal couldn’t help but notice as she looked at him, without the bandages bound around his face, how darkly attractive he was. With the dark sunglasses in place, one would never know the damage that lay beneath them. Of course she hadn’t actually seen it herself, but one of the nurses that saw his wounds when he’d first come in had told her about it… and that had been enough for her.

"You ready to go, Cowboy?" she teased as he lifted his head a bit higher, satisfied that he’d won the little game.

"Ready when you are, sugar-butt."

---

Crystal led Sands into one of the debrief rooms at OOS. He’d been here many times in the past so although he couldn’t see the room now, he knew how it was set up and what it looked like… exactly.

Sands had become very well acquainted with them, not only during his own debriefs, but during his days as a rookie when he was an Interrogations Officer, doing an occasional debrief here and there when his days were slow. Of course, both jobs had been a perfect fit, considering his knack for messing with people’s minds.

Listening to the sounds of the room, Sands was able to establish that the light was on, because he could hear the faint hum of electricity emanating from it as he sat in one of the chairs, Crystal still by his side.

On most occasions, only one officer would debrief another. However Sands suspected he might get two officers because he was always such a pain in the ass during debriefings. It had happened before; with the way Sands talked during debrief it often took two people just to follow what he was saying.

The Debrief Officer wasn’t always armed, and whether or not he or she was or wasn't depended on the individual.

When Sands had done his debriefs and interrogations, he’d always been armed.

Normally Sands would hand in a report at this time as well, with detailed intelligence and information on his clandestine operations. The report would also include the names of officers and agents who had worked along side him, blow back reports, outcome, casualty tally and, in this case, reasons why the operation eventually rolled up and the events leading to his injury.

However, Sands had been unable to make such a report while in OMS so he assumed that they’d cover all that in debrief and substitute the tape-recorded conversation for his report.

Sands leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest, fully aware that it was body language for being closed off, as he heard another person enter the room.

"I’m sorry Miss Powers, you’ll have to leave now. You can wait outside in the lobby and we’ll come for you after we’ve finished with debrief," the man said to Crystal, who was still standing beside Sands.

Sands cocked his head slightly to the side as he thought.

This revelation made Sands extremely happy. He didn’t hear Crystal reply to Mike and figured that she must have nodded her head, because after a brief moment of silence she patted him lightly on the arm in a show of support, before leaving him alone with his old partner.

"Hiya, Mikey! Long time, no see eh?" Sands drolly remarked after Crystal left the room, feeling the tension in the air rise at his ironic comment. Sands knew full well Mike had been briefed on his condition.

"Sands." He greeted him stiffly, obviously uncomfortable. Sands didn’t break the tension, but remained quiet, gaining strength from Mike’s discomfort. "This is just a debrief, so let’s not make it more difficult than it already is."

Sands cocked an eyebrow, but still remained silent.

Mike shifted his weight uncomfortably. He’d never liked nor trusted Sands. When they had worked together, his old partner had always loved making sure Mike knew his place in the duo. Mike was to shut up and be quiet, while Sands "worked his magic", as Sands himself once put it. Mike did have to admit that Sands was awesome at mind games, but Sands also knew he was awesome, and that ate at Mike every time he saw Sands. Even now, blind and completely at the mercy of the Company, Sands sat before him clad all in black appearing as bad ass as ever and just as cocky and sure of himself to boot.

Sands listened intently, waiting for Mike to say something. Mike was armed, unsurprisingly; he could hear the familiar sound of the gun’s holster against a pair of jeans. ‘Still not good at breaking the ice. Obviously he doesn’t know whether or not he should acknowledge my "condition".’

"My mother once said that some things are better left unsaid," Sands finally said, fake sweetness lacing his tone, as Mike sat across from him. He heard Mike sigh, and Sands wondered if it was a sigh of relief or frustration. Sands smirked before continuing; "Then again, she said it, so I guess she didn't really play by the rules."

At this point Sands imagined that Mike was rolling his eyes.

"Much like you," Mike replied knowingly.

"The nut doesn’t fall far from the tree," Sands said with a smirk. "So, who’s the other lucky Officer who gets the pleasure of debriefing Officer Sands? Anyone that I've had the pleasure of annoying? Don’t tell me you’re going to do it alone?"

"No, I don’t believe he’s had the pleasure of meeting you Sands," Mike told him, using the word pleasure extremely loosely. "Officer Lake will be your second debrief Officer, and he’s a rookie... so try not to kill him or make him go insane."

"Ah, fresh blood." Sands flashed an evil grin, teeth shimmering in the dim light.

Mike narrowed his eyes at his ex-partner, sensing mayhem in Sands’ devious mind. "Be nice."

The door to the debrief room opened again, and Officer Lake stepped inside as Sands replied to Mike, "Now let’s be rational Mikey. In all the years we’ve worked together I’d think you’d know me well enough by now to know that what you’ve just requested is an impossibility."

Mike grunted in reply.

"Oh, you two have worked together?" Lake asked conversationally, as he entered the room and moved to stand next to the table beside Mike, setting down the tape recorder and getting it ready.

Sands turned towards the sound of his voice, "You could say that. Or you could say that we just annoyed the hell out of each other until the Company decided it best to find us both new partners."

Lake chuckled at what he thought was a joke, as he sat down across from Sands, not knowing what he was in for. Mike glanced over at Lake, but the rookie was messing with the tape recorder and not paying attention. He’d warned Lake about Sands’ rather unusual personality and infuriating ways beforehand, but doubted he’d got his message across as strongly as he would have liked. Making himself comfortable in his chair, Mike decided that one had to experience Sands to fully understand… and the rookie was definitely about to get the full Sands experience, whether he wanted it or not. Just looking at Sands Mike could tell that his ex-partner was in one of his more confrontational moods. Then again, he couldn’t really blame Sands after all he’d been through.

Sands just smiled and relaxed further into his chair. ‘I’m going to have fun with this one.’

"Officer Sands, my name is Richard Lake. Mike and I will be debriefing you today."

"Peachy keen."

"I’m sorry to hear about your injuries, but we’re glad to have you back," Lake continued, no real emotion in his voice.

‘He’s definitely come directly from the Farm; those words are straight out of the textbook for debriefing an officer injured on the job.’

"Yes well, the Company couldn’t get rid of me that easily." Sands could hear Lake hitting the record button.

"Could you please state your name, position and operation location for the record?"

"Officer Sheldon Jeffery Sands. Controller in Culiacan, Mexico." Sands could hear Lake suppressing a snicker at hearing his first name, and Mike kicking him roughly under the table to silence him.

Mike knew what kind of wrath Sands could bring down when angry, and already the rookie was baiting him... it didn't bode well for the kid.

‘Amateur hour,’ Sands thought, disgusted, but kept his face an emotionless mask, as Officer Lake stated the date and time for the record.

"Now Officer Sands, I’d like to get this started-" Lake began, only to be immediately interrupted by Sands’ cool voice.

"Oh, by all means. Let’s shoot the breeze."

Lake dutifully ignored the interruption and continued. "Please begin by telling us what intelligence you’ve gained pertaining to the Barillo Cartel, the Assassination attempt on the President of Mexico, your operation's outcome, how you came to be injured and what caused the roll up."

Sands leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table, folding his hands together and completing one last mental ego boost before starting.

Today Officer Sands was going to be extremely economical with the truth.