All of his CIA training had never prepared Bryce Larkin for his current predicament. He was literally backed into a corner behind the remnants of a wall pinned down by at least ten enemy agents. Even as fit as he was, he still found himself breathing heavily.
The sounds of heavy fire were all around him and he saw a flash of blonde hair ducking and running towards him. She practically somersaulted behind the wall and crumpled beside him.
"Sarah? Are you hit?"
The blonde agent beside him wiped the sweat off her brow and shook her head. "No, I'm fine. But they are killing us out there."
Bryce body checked her, making sure she wasn't hit for sure. She was definitely out of breath. "You're sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, but the big guy took out Harris and Jameson like he was swatting flies. He barely missed me. I felt something whiz right by my head."
Bryce sighed and leaned in to the wall. He could hear more firing and shouting on the other side and he watched Sarah as she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and checked her weapon. Maybe it was a product of the job, but he thought she was even more beautiful in the heat of battle.
"He almost got me too. Bartlett played human shield though. That guy is a nutcase. Too bad he's not on our side, huh?"
"Well, we can't stay behind this wall all day, can we? And we can't give ourselves up..."
"Never surrender. Right, Walker?"
"If we have to go out, let's go out with a bang…"
Bryce grinned widely, his face lighting up at the thought. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"
Sarah smiled in response and nodded. "Taipei?"
He leaned into her and gave her a kiss. It was a quick one, but full of meaning. "I'll wait for your go."
She reached into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out a small compact before sliding over to the very edge of the wall. It flipped open with ease and she made sure to hold it so the sun wouldn't bounce off and give away their position. Tilting it side to side, she took survey of what was happening on the battlefield. It was not looking good for their side.
"Looks like they have three groups of three left, the big guy is somewhere behind the northeast wall. Most of our team is down."
She looked back at Bryce who was crouched and ready to go but she held a hand out to make him pause. "Hold on…"
Sarah slid her gun to the edge of the wall and quickly took out the three enemy agents closest to them. The others saw them fall and began firing a barrage of ammo at the wall protecting them.
"Okay… on my count. One, two, three…"
She darted out from behind the wall, firing rapidly at anyone in her sight and dodging every shot thrown at her. The other side was brutal but she was fast and agile. While she distracted them and pulled all their fire towards her, Bryce stood up, propped his weapon on the wall and began firing. He took out four enemies in less than a minute and then ran like hell to get to another section of wall.
He quickly found Sarah and grinned with pride that she was currently distracting the remaining agents with some rather impressive dodge techniques. That's when he realized that he and Sarah were the last two agents left standing on their side.
Sarah fell back bringing the remaining agents into his line of vision. She caught his gaze and gave him a hand signal. The big guy, the enemy leader, was nowhere in his sight but Sarah knew where he was.
Bryce took out the agents chasing after Sarah with a few quick shots and then rolled to the other end of the wall. With one swift move, he kicked the legs out from underneath the hulking man beast that had been leading the other side. Bryce jumped to his feet and shot him square in the chest. A stain of red spread quickly across his heart and the bigger man growled at him.
"You sonofabitch…"
"Gotcha, Casey…"
Sarah came running over to join him, slinging her weapon over shoulder and taking in deep breaths. "Nice work, Bryce."
"You too."
Bryce signaled to the people on the sidelines that the game was over as Casey stared at the paint stain on the chest of his body armor.
"I'm going to get you for this someday, Larkin. Don't you ever forget that."
Bryce laughed and threw his hands up in mock surrender. "Oh, I'm terrified Casey. Really terrified."
Casey snarled and grunted at him as Bryce and Sarah walked off the field towards General Beckman and Director Graham. It was a little weird seeing them in track pants and sweats, but that was what the Annual Inter-Agency Paintball Tournament was for. The CIA and NSA got to take out their frustrations on each other, and for the first time in 5 years, the CIA had taken this one home.
Graham stepped forward and shook the hands of both Bryce and Sarah proudly. "Congratulations Agent Larkin and Agent Walker. You've made the CIA very proud."
Bryce and Sarah thanked him and headed off towards the equipment shed, but they could hear Graham turn to Beckman and say, "Better luck next year, General."
"So, last two standing? What does that mean for the bet?"
Bryce paused in mid-step and tapped his hand on the back of her jacket. "Not so fast, Walker."
Sarah looked over her shoulder and frowned at the large spot of blue paint on her back. "Crap. That must have happened right at the end."
"That makes me the last one standing. You owe me 50 bucks.
"Oh no…"
"You sacrificed your life for the greater good. For me. For your agency. For your country. You should be very proud, Agent Walker."
Sarah glared at him for a moment but eventually conceded. "Welllllll… It was kinda worth it just to see the look on John Casey's face."
Bryce looked behind her for a second and then grabbed her hand. "Follow me. I have an idea."
He led her by the hand until they were hidden by one of the walls they had used as a stronghold earlier. She leaned up against the wall breathlessly as Bryce put his lips on hers and began pulling her jacket off. She broke off the kiss and looked at him with a curious smile.
"Right now? Are you serious?"
"Everyone else is getting cleaned up and heading to the barbecue. We have time."
Her jacket fell to the ground as Bryce began working at the straps on her protective vest. His lips were at her neck drawing a line of tiny kisses.
"What brought this on all of a sudden?"
Bryce nibbled at her earlobe and then lifted his head to look her in the eyes. "War is hell, Agent Walker. I'm just living in the moment."
*
Misura's prompt was: I'd love to read some pre-series Bryce/Sarah... Prompt: undercover at a gaming convention OR the annual inter-agencies paintball tournament. (Wouldn't say 'no' to a cameo by a certain Agent Casey if you pick that second one.)
So I picked the second one. :)