Hello loves! Just another Five Shot that's been bugging me for a couple days now O.o Hope you all enjoy it! :D
I own nothing, I'm just playing with them ;_;
OOOOO (1. Asleep)
Jensen was staring. Actually, more than staring, he was watching (at least that's what he liked to call it; it made him sound less like a creeper). The silent Sniper was leaning against the wall, his hat pulled low over his eyes and obscuring them from view. His gun was resting against his shoulder and his knees were pulled up to his chest, keeping him small and unnoticeable in the shadows along the side of the building.
Jensen had been watching him for nearly ten minutes now, trying to determine if he was asleep or not. He didn't want to say anything to the older man; honestly, he didn't know that much about Cougar (as the others called him) and no matter what Clay told him, he wasn't entirely sure he wouldn't shoot him just to do it. He'd only been with the team for a little over two months and this was the longest he'd spent with any one member of the team. Well, any member of the team that could and probably would shoot him. He'd been spending most of his time around either Clay or Pooch because they were safer than Roque and Cougar. Jensen had legitimate reason to fear Roque, being held against the wall at knife point on more than one occasion was usually grounds for a fear to develop. And Cougar...well, once again, Jensen didn't know that much about Cougar. All he really knew was that the Sniper could hit a spec of dust from the top of the Empire State Building and he hardly ever spoke. He wouldn't even brag about shooting said spec of dust.
Jensen shifted, balancing on the balls of his feet and rocking back and forth. God, this was boring. They were posted on a roof, waiting for Clay to give them the signal to move while he and Roque scoped the place out from below. They'd been here for three hours, sitting hudled against the edge of the building and trying to go unnoticed. And it was boring!
The computer tech rocked a bit more, nearly knocking himself over, and keeping his eyes trained on the man a few feet away from him. He wondered about the hat; correction: The Hat, it was capitalized at all times. Another thing he knew about Cougar was that The Hat never came off. Hell, he probably took showers with it on. He wondered where it came from, who had given it to him, if Cougar had bought it for himself, why he decided on a cowboy hat instead of something like a Fedora, and anything else he could think of at the time. He needed something to do, ADHD was a bitch and a half and it was driving him crazy to just sit still. Clay told him he needed to learn to not be so antsy all the time and he wondered if that's why he made him tag along with Cougar tonight. Though he said nothing as always, the older man made a slight face that made it look like he'd just swallowed battery acid. A bit disheartening to be honest.
Jensen was staring again. The Sniper's shoulders were moving up and down slowly with each breath he took and his head was tilted down so it nearly touched his knees. He had to be asleep. Jensen had just settled on that conclusion when his radio went off against his hip. "Alright, soldiers. Time to move." Clay's voice cut through static, startling him out of his reverie.
Jensen picked up his radio. "Gotcha boss." He said simply, sliding it back onto the waist band of his pants and looking over at Cougar once more. He still hadn't moved. Dammit, he needed to wake him up without getting shot but how?
He inched closer, his knees dragging across the gravel on the roof, before he reached out hesitantly and gently touched the brim of the hat. He lifted it just enough to see beneath the dark fabric and nearly fell over in surprise. Cougar was staring at him, dark eyes sharp and alert, from beneath the brim of the hat. It was like something out of a horror movie.
"Jesus, man!" Jensen gasped, falling back a little, still reeling from the shock. "I thought you were asleep!"
Cougar sat up a bit more, his eyes never leaving the younger man's face. "You thought wrong." He said simply, hoisting his gun onto his shoulder and standing.
"How long have you been awake?" Jensen asked, watching the other man stand and look over to the other building.
"As long as you've been staring at me." Cougar mumbled softly and Jensen felt his face flush. "Its impolite to stare." It was the most Cougar had ever said to him and Jensen was entirely convinced a bullet was about to lodge itself somewhere in his skull. When Cougar turned to face him fully, he cringed a bit, waiting for the gun shot, but was slightly surprised when the older man offered him a hand instead. "Come on, we need to move."
Jensen took the offered hand cautiously and accepted the help as Cougar jerked him to his feet. The Sniper turned on his heel and made his way to the fire escape, leaving the stunned blond behind him.
Okay, new thing learned about Cougar: never assume he's sleeping again.
OOOOO (2. Hat)
Another thing Jensen learned very quickly after the roof incident was that no one ever touches The Hat unless they want to die a very quick and very painful death. Okay, so that wasn't the fate that met him but the point made its way across just as effectively.
They were camped out in a run down apartment complex in a rough part of town while they gathered information on their newest target. Jensen had been hacking away furiously for three days and had come up with very little in the way of useful information but Clay was putting whatever he found to some kind of use. Currently, he and Roque were out doing...something. He never really questioned what Clay and Roque did but the body count was probably on the rise wherever they went. Pooch was outside on the phone, talking to his wife. Jensen hadn't met Jolene yet but from everything Pooch said about her, she sounded like an amazing person
Cougar was leaning against the wall again (seriously, did the guy ever sit in a chair?), hat low and staring out the window. He looked like he was watching for something or someone, that or he was miles away in his own world, seeing things none of the others could see. Jensen knew he probably had some kind of rough past that made him who he was but never brought it up. It wasn't his place or his business and that fear of getting shot still rang through his head every time Cougar was involved.
Jensen walked into the living room, a file folder tucked under one arm, and managed to make it all the way to the Sniper's side without him realizing. It was odd to say the least, Cougar was always alert and aware of his surroundings at all times, the fact that the blond was standing right next to him and he hadn't even blinked was a little off putting. "I think I found some more information on our guy." Jensen said, surprised at how loud his voice seemed in the silence of the room.
Cougar never moved, never even blinked in acknowledgment. Jensen blinked in surprise; whatever Cougar was thinking about, he was neck deep in it. "Hey..." He began, reaching out slowly and gently touching the brim of the Sniper's hat. He drummed his fingers lightly, just enough to rouse the older man back to reality. "I got more infor-" He started but never got a chance to finish as a strong hand wrapped around his wrist and twisted suddenly, knocking him off balance.
Jensen fell to the ground with a startled yelp, landing heavily on the filthy carpet with Cougar hovering over him. For just a second, there was no regocnition in Cougar's eyes, nothing but dark emotions that Jensen didn't have a name for. He looked like a caged animal, furious and terrified, and he was standing over Jensen like he wanted to gut him with something dull and painful. Suddenly, the look shifted and Cougar blinked down at him, surprise replacing the darkness that had been there only seconds before. He let go of Jensen's wrist and took a step backwards at the younger man sat up. "Sorry..." He muttered, watching as Jensen rolled his wrist with a wince.
"Its cool man, I shouldn't have snuck up on you. I'm sorry." Jensen smiled, hoping it would hide the shakiness in his voice. Nothing was broken but his wrist was definitely twisted, the rolling motion causing the joint to throb and protest with each rotation.
Cougar looked like he wanted to say something else but couldn't find the words. Instead, he mumbled another apology and walked quickly out of the room, leaving Jensen still half-sprawled on the floor. Jensen waited for a second before he tried to stand again. He got to his feet and reclaimed the folder, dropping it on the coffee table for Clay whenever they got back. As he walked into the kitchen to get some ice for his wrist, he made a mental note to never touch The Hat again unless he wanted to end up in several pieces on the floor.
OOOOO (3. Warm)
It was cold outside and even colder inside. The steady patter of the sleet and snow against the tent had woken him up earlier and he found it hard to go back to sleep when a fidgety hacker was shifting around relentlessly behind him. The scritch and scratch of the nylon sleeping bags was like nails scraping over a chalkboard after a while. Cougar vaguely considered knocking the younger man out just so he could fall back asleep.
The others were asleep still, at least it looked and sounded like they were asleep, their breathing coming in slow, even waves. The only one who was awake was Jensen. And him of course. The hacker was moving again, sliding around inside his sleeping bag like an eel. It was getting really fucking annoying too.
Cougar closed his eyes again, fully intent on drowning out the younger man's shuffling. He didn't know what his problem was and honestly, he didn't really care. All he knew was that if Jensen didn't stop moving and settle down, he wasn't going to be held responsible for what he did next.
There was a strange noise behind him, a clicking sound and he had to concentrate for a minute to figure out that Jensen's teeth were chattering. He wasn't really surprised, it was well below 30 degrees outside and the air inside the tent didn't feel much better. Still, if he just laid still, his body heat would warm the inside of the sleeping bag and the chill from the snow outside wouldn't seem so intense.
Jensen shifted again, curling tightly into a ball. The sleeping bag was drawn up to his chin and he was bundled so tightly it was a wonder he could move at all. Cougar felt a bit sorry for him, he hated being cold as much as the next person, but he also knew that staying still in a situation like this was the best thing he could do. He knew that wouldn't work for Jensen; Hell, Jensen probably couldn't be still even if he was unconscious.
The shuffling continued and Cougar kept his back to him, trying to force himself to ignore the noise and go back to sleep. He heard Jensen let out a frustrated sigh and the shuffling stopped momentarily. There was a brief noise, like he was shifting closer, and Cougar felt something press hesitantly to his back. He froze, holding his breath as the hacker wiggled a bit closer, desperately trying to gain some warmth that he was lacking. Cougar couldn't move; actually, that was a lie, he could move well enough to turn around and shove Jensen back onto his side of the tent, but he didn't. Instead, he remained absolutely still, the muscles in his neck and back tense from how rigid he was keeping himself.
After about ten minutes, he heard Jensen's breathing even out enough to assume he'd fallen asleep. Cougar stayed where he was, still unable to move. He wasn't sure how long he stayed that way...20 minutes? An hour? He couldn't be sure. All he knew was that Jensen was pressed against his back, sound asleep, and now Cougar was the one having a hard time falling asleep.
He sighed, letting his shoulders relax a bit. He wasn't used to someone being this close to him, ever, but it was indeed warmer than he had been before. He wasn't enjoying it though, hell no. Especially not with Jensen. With a slight nod and that thought in his head, Cougar closed his eyes and allowed the new found warmth to drag him back into the depths of sleep.
OOOOO (4. Cast)
To be honest, Cougar wasn't sure what woke him up first. It could have been the beeping of the heart monitor above his head or the buzz of the other machines that were surrounding him. It could have been the fact that the pain killers had worn off and he could feel the broken bone in his lower leg and all of its glorious agony. Or it could be the dull scratching of a permanent marker scribbling furiously on the cast that was covering said broken bone. He kept his eyes closed, too tired to really open them, and just listened.
It was Jensen (he wasn't really surprised about that) and he was humming some tuneless little song he'd probably just come up with off the top of his head. He was drawing on Cougar's cast, perfectly content to play around in his own little world, and Cougar didn't have the energy to really stop him either. Instead, he back tracked the events that led him to be laid up in a hospital bed. There was a shoot out and he'd been running down the fire escape to get a better angle when the hinges came loose on the platform he'd been standing on and he far enough for serious injury but far enough to break his ankle and probably his tibia.
He remembered being dragged to the hospital and wheeled into one of the back rooms before everything went hazy. Drugs probably. Good ones at that, too bad they were wearing off.
Jensen was still scribbling and he wondered what kind of scene he was drawing on the stiff plaster. Knowing Jensen, it was probably something like Batman fighting Godzilla or something along those lines. Cougar wasn't sure he really wanted to know. All he did know is that if he had to keep this cast on for any extended length of time, there was one thing he didn't want drawn on the cast.
"You had better not be drawing a penis on my cast." He mumbled, his voice rough and his accent thick from the drugs.
Jensen gasped slightly, he probably hadn't realized Cougar had been awake. There was a brief silence and the marker stopped moving for a minute. Finally, there was a slight sigh followed by the marker scratching something out closer to the foot. "Dammit..." Jensen muttered, blacking out whatever obscene thing he'd drawn on Cougar's cast. There was a brief silence as he continued to scratch it out. "Well, that aside, you have a really cool Batman vs. Godzilla death match going on down here. With jet packs."
Cougar just smirked.
OOOOO (5. Hand)
No one was speaking as they drove away from the wreckage. There was nothing to say. Those kids were dead and it was because of them. Well, not directly because of them but it should have been them in that helicopter, not the kids. They had inadvertently caused their deaths...rescued them just to get them killed. Pooch is driving like he's trying to outrun the memory of the screams and the flames, trying to forget what happened. Clay is in the front seat, staring out the window grimly and Roque is next to him, running to tip of his finger over the edge of his blade hard enough to draw blood. Jensen is pretty sure he doesn't even notice.
Cougar is sitting beside him, his dark eyes staring out at the passing trees blankly. There's a strange look on his face, haunted and lost, like he'd remembering something he's never told them. He's staring at nothing, just staring, and its more than Jensen can bear. He's terrified of that look, its the look someone gets before they go out and do something really, really stupid. He doesn't want that to happen.
He reaches out and grabs Cougar's hand, squeezing it tightly like he's afraid the Sniper may suddenly disappear, slipping through his fingers like sand. Cougar doesn't react at first, in fact, Jensen wonders if he can feel it at all. They're all so numb from what just happened, he wonders if Cougar can feel anything. All he knows is that he's terrified, he knows what this means and he knows the consequences of that chopper crash. To the rest of the world, they were dead. They no longer existed. All they had was each other.
Cougar squeezes back suddenly, the movement so strong its like taking a gasp of air. He intwines his fingers with Jensen's, squeezing so tightly it nearly breaks his fingers. Jensen doesn't say anything, he doesn't wince or move away or anything, he lets Cougar squeeze as hard as he wants. The pain means he's still alive, this isn't a dream, and its really happening.
Cougar doesn't let go, he holds on to Jensen's hand like a lifeline, like its the only thing anchoring him to the van. They needed each other now more than ever. Clay was on a war path and planned to drag Roque with him. Pooch would do whatever he had to to get back home to Jolene. Jensen wants to see his sister and niece again but he can't find a way to do that. He doesn't know what Cougar wants to do. All he does know is that right now, Cougar wouldn't let him go even if there was a firing squad parked in front of him and that's kind of comforting in a way.
Neither man says anything, there was nothing to say. They just held on to one another as the flames smoldered the jungle behind them.
Awww...I love these boys ^.^ Hope you guys liked it! :D
