Hey everyone! Just a short something that occurred to me while having a snowball fight with some of my friends. Isn't the snow great? Two snow days in a row! That's a first in my few years. It's starting to clear now, but should hopefully be back on Friday...

Anyway, back on track. Standard disclaimer applies: I do not own any of the characters/creations you may recognise. Big thanks go to Elledreamer for being the wonderful beta that she is, and please enjoy the story :)

War Games

Alex heaved a sigh as he rounded the tree and leant on it from the other side. This had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now his muscles and bones ached and protested with every move. He closed his eyes for a second and tried to forget the sight before him, the stench of failure and the grin of glee on his gloating enemies' faces.

Maybe if he squeezed his eyes tight enough, it would all go away. He'd wake up to find that they were still by his side, untouched and fighting for all their worth. Better still, he'd wake and find himself back at the lodge in his nice, warm cosy bed, having been overruled by the vote to stay in rather than go out. He'd been hoping to get somewhere, not end up... losing... failing...

He opened his eyes and the reality was all too clear. Wet drops splattered the white snow on the ground, just metres from his feet.

He'd tried to save them. Honestly, he had. He'd seen the gun aimed at Li, yelled and jumped in front of her. Li protested and had knocked him out of the way, insisting that she could fight her own battles...

Obviously not this one. The shot had hit her right in the middle of the chest.

In saving Li, Alex had left Amber unguarded and turned as a shot and a piercing scream came from her direction. Oh, God... it was all going wrong. Amber was lying on the ground, a pool of red, like Li, spreading from her chest. Alex had been torn between staying with her for a moment and running himself. It would do no good for him to get hit too – that would mean complete failure.

So he ran. The enemy was advancing; he'd seen them hiding behind a nearby bush, and he needed as much time as possible to get away. Where to? There was a large clump of trees a short distance to his left, which would provide an excellent hiding place, but that would mean running out in the open for a while before he reached the safety of their cover. To his right were the bodies of his fallen comrades, and he didn't want to have to pass them, to see them again...

Left it was. Alex put the gun in its holster and judged the distance between him and the trees. About fifty yards, possibly seventy-five. He turned and scanned the bush where he'd last seen the enemy. He wasn't sure if they knew where he was. After they'd shot the girls, they'd disappeared, maybe to get more ammunition... Alex didn't know. But then he saw the bush move a bit closer than they'd last been. It wasn't a windy day – in fact it was cold, and eerily still – so that must have been them. Sure enough, a moment later he heard a loud whisper and some laughing. Laughing.

Alex felt sick. How dare they? They didn't have a clue what they'd done to him. They'd taken down two of his best friends, just like that, they'd made him fail, and they were laughing. Alex gritted his teeth and growled low in his throat. He'd teach them to laugh, he'd...

He bolted for the trees while the enemy was distracted. A moment later he heard a war cry and they were following, shooting wildly and hoping desperately for a hit. A pellet landed a foot in front of him and Alex raced over it. He pulled out his own gun and shot right back, not looking where he was aiming, but grunted in satisfaction when he heard the British one cry out in surprise. He risked a glace over and saw the splatter on the right thigh of the one he'd hit – good, that would slow him down.

He'd reached the trees, but he wasn't safe yet. The enemies were advancing, and he needed to think fast. Trees. Climb.

The first one in sight was relatively easy to climb. He grabbed hold of a lower branch and hauled himself up, gun between his teeth. He stood, and reached for the next branch and then stopped to check his enemies' progress. Not high enough, but it would have to do. Preferably, he'd have climbed another couple of metres, but even here he had an advantage.

Thank God. He leant against the broad trunk, panting for a moment and closing his eyes, when he realised he had the perfect opportunity. His enemies were still out in the open, and he was undercover. Without missing a beat, he spun his arm round, aimed, and hit them both in two shots, the British one right in the gut and the Argentinean in the chest.

Right where they'd gotten Amber and Li.

Alex whooped for joy and jumped down from the tree. He hadn't failed after all! Granted, he'd lost two teammates, but he'd won! He danced over to Hex and Paulo, lying on the ground, and wished he'd brought a camera.

Hex was sitting up and trying to wipe the worst of the green paint from his face, and Paulo had his arms crossed and was frowning up at Alex.

"You're not allowed to climb trees. It's against the rules."

"No? Oh, I'm sorry. I'll remember that when I'm out in real combat against real criminals." Alex grinned and held out a hand to help Paulo up. Paulo grabbed it, aimed his gun at Alex' s chest, and fired.

"Hey!" Alex rubbed at the yellow paint and smeared it across Paulo's face, laughing.

"Aw, he looks like a big banana," came a voice from behind, and Alex turned to see the girls coming back from the dead. Li bounded up to Paulo and spread the yellow all around his face and down onto his neck.

"Yeah? Well, Amber kind of resembles a giant cherry right now," Hex joined in, nodding towards the red on Amber's chest.

Never without a comeback, Amber shot back, "Well, if we're insisting on a fruit club, you could always join as a pea, Hex..."

"A pea's a vegetable, you moron."

"Whatever. A green apple, then."

The five tired teenagers headed slowly back towards the centre. The battle had lasted three or four hours, and they were all hungry and cold. The sun was lowering in the sky and the temperature had dropped another few degrees.

"Sheesh, what took you guys so long to attack anyway?" Li bounced in front of Paulo and looked questioningly at him and Hex.

Hex gave her a flat look. "Our plans were interrupted when you decided to take my palmtop hostage..."

"Hey, this has nothing to do with your palmtop," Paulo interrupted, "If you hadn't decided to go running in after it to try and rescue it..."

"How was I supposed to know they'd take me hostage?"

"Aw, poor Hex just couldn't stand the thought of his dearly beloved being in our evil clutches," Amber teased.

"What were your original plans?" Alex asked, turning to the other two boys. Paulo gave him a surprised glance, shared a look with Hex and then shrugged.

"Sneak in, shoot you all and then have tea."

Alex narrowed his eyes. "You didn't even have a plan."

Hex shrugged nonchalantly. "Ah, well. It worked. Near enough."

"In the real world..."

"Oh, Alex, we were playing a game. I'm sure Hex and I will plan better if we're faced with real criminals," Paulo grinned.

"No, just hear me out. Seriously, guys, you can't rush into things like that in the real world. Real criminals won't get distracted by bunnies – " Alex shot a glance at Li, " – and let their hostages get away like that. You shouldn't run into an enemy's base just to get a computer. They'll just shoot you. We were just being kind when we took you hostage..." Alex trailed off when he found himself looking down the barrels of four guns and into four pairs of mischievously glinting eyes. "Ah, guys, come on..."

Four guns popped, and Alex was pelted with bright colours.

An hour later found the five friends seated around a round table in a warm café, with mugs of soup in their cold hands.

"Mmm, good stuff," Li murmured, and licked her spoon, "Who shot me, by the way?"

"Me. Paulo couldn't bring himself to do it," Hex grinned, and Alex couldn't help the smirk that threatened to form on his face. Hex was one to talk...

"Hey, that's not fair. I had to shoot Amber for you, too."

Hex's face let nothing away, but Amber turned bright pink. She coughed lightly and dropped her spoon. "Oops..." She bent down out of sight to pick it up, and Alex shared a grin with Li and Paulo.

"Oops indeed," Li muttered softly and Paulo laughed out loud.

Alex sighed contentedly and leaned back. It had been a good day, and, in theory, they'd learnt quite a lot in the world of fighting crime. And who knew paintball could be so fun?

So... what did you think? Please review!

Spinky :D