Don't Look Back by Stormchilde03
Chapter 2 – Forever Blue
Language warning, they have potty mouths and aren't afraid to use them.
Thanks to the Abilene Texas Police Department for the use of the obstacle course.
Thank you to Elenna of Polished Quill for the excellent beta work. If there are any errors – it's my fault for overlooking her corrections.
Thank you to evilkittin and PernDragonrider. I hope I'm keeping you entertained, thank you for your encouragement.
By six-thirty the next morning, the team was ready and assembled in the briefing room. Hondo was already there when they arrived, and he looked very unhappy.
"We'll be running the entire course this morning, straight through and no break. Firing range after." he informed them.
"The entire course?" Deke was incredulous. "I'm going to strangle him with my bare hands."
"It won't do you any good," Hondo answered, glaring at Deke, "because I get to kill him first. The only bright spot in this is that the scores will be totaled, so we get an average." He looked pointedly at Chris. "The better the individual score, the better the team score.
"We're running thirty-two stations, people. This is a timed run, so be quick, but for God's sake try not to fall off anything. In case you aren't aware of the rules, anything painted yellow must be touched either with hands or with feet during the course. Anything painted red you had better not touch, or I will make sure you remember not to the next time. We get a penalty of fifteen seconds for any missed yellow and twenty-five for all reds touched. For most stations, it's easy to see the run; for the others, I'll walk you through before we take them."
The first two were easy: a timed climb up a twenty-five foot rope and a simple under-and-over of horizontal poles didn't take much time to complete.
"Now listen up," Hondo announced. "Station three. Walk up the pole, cross the platform to the cable, hang onto the top line, and walk on the bottom one to the rope. There isn't a guide on the rope, so you'll have to maintain your balance. When you get to the end, drop and crawl under the crossbar. Got it?"
Nodding almost collectively, the team moved through the station; the next three were also easy and quickly completed.
"Here we have the most difficult station on the whole damn course, affectionately know as 'Wipe your Ass.' Stand on the bottom pole and jump to the second level; from there to the third, then to the ground."
"Sounds easy," Deke offered by way of consolation, but Boxer shook his head, well aware of the catch.
"It would be if the poles didn't spin. I hate this station."
"Just like the toilet paper on the roll holder, huh?"
"Wow," Chris laughed. "A guy who knows how toilet paper goes on the holder. Your wife must be very proud of you."
Deke stuck his tongue out at her, and she returned the gesture as Hondo cleared his throat.
"That's why the posts are painted white instead of yellow on this station. One at a time and try not to kill yourself --I'm not kidding. People have gotten hurt on some of the others, but this is the only station to have killed someone. Cadets aren't allowed here—not since one died two years ago from a fractured skull falling off the second pole."
"Oh, joy," Luca commented sarcastically, and his boss had to grin.
"Who wants to go first?"
Boxer stepped up. "I might as well get it over with."
"Try not to make it look too easy—you'll get the kids all fired up, and then they'll get hurt," Hondo teased.
Luca rolled his eyes. "Right."
Boxer jumped easily, only stumbling a bit on the upper roll; They had a good laugh at Street's expense when he leapt from the center roll to the top and ended up clinging upside-down to the roll for a couple of minutes before he dropped.
Deke was reluctant to go after the show Street had put on. "I'm not exactly cat agile, you know," he explained. "I'm more the strong, manly type."
"We know," Chris teased. "We've seen the manliness."
Deke made it to the top without any problems, his dismount and landing were a little abrupt and ungraceful, and he was still spitting sand when Luca landed beside him.
"Come on, big guy; Chris will land on top of us if you don't get a move on."
Indeed, she almost did, rolling as she hit the ground between them.
Hondo led them to the next station. "Relatively easy station—group effort: under the platform, up through the attic opening, across the platform, and down the wall. Come on; everybody up."
The opening in the platform was ten feet off the ground, Deacon had no trouble jumping up and pulling himself onto the high platform, and neither did Boxer.
Street bent, cupped his hands, and boosted Chris up, where Deke caught her hands and pulled her up. Then Street turned to Luca.
"Need a boost, too, short stuff?"
Luca glared but stepped into the other man's cupped hands, yelping in surprise when Street tossed him up and glaring when the other man emerged onto the platform.
"What?" he asked, feigning innocence.
With a roll of her eyes, Chris shook her head, "Boys. Don't make me tell the teacher you're fighting."
"Here is the rundown on the next stations. Pay attention, 'cause I'm only going to say this once. Station nine is called the Big Easy. Walk up the post, climb the railroad ties, and rappel down the back wall. For ten, jump for the bottom of the ladder and don't touch the red parts of the support posts. Climb to the top and crawl over the support beam, jump to the pole, and slide down. Eleven—up the ladder and down the opposite side; easy enough, but it's a forty-foot ladder, and the rungs are spaced four feet apart.
"After that is Island Hoppers. You have to jump post to post, no skipping any, and you can't touch the ground. The posts are set at different heights and spacing, and they aren't all the same width—seven are also angled. The next station is my personal favorite, the balance poles: one hundred feet of rocking, rolling wood in twenty-five foot sections at angles.
"Station Fourteen is the missile tubes. The first one is big enough to crouch and walk through, but the second one is on your belly, using knees and elbows. I want Luca and Sanchez through first, you slower guys last."
"Hey!" Deke exclaimed. "Who are you calling slow?"
"Take a look at that last tube, Luca and Sanchez are both small enough that that won't be a problem for them. You, however," Hondo informed him, clapping his hands on Deke's upper arms, "may wedge in there like a cork in a bottle, my friend. That is why you'll be last."
"You know, I would be offended," said Luca, "if that weren't true."
"That is what makes this the best SWAT team in the state. We have members for every situation," Hondo said proudly.
Sanchez and Luca set a new speed record for the station; so did Deke—theirs was for the fastest time, his the slowest. As Hondo predicted, Deacon's broad shoulders made it slow going for him in the final tube.
When they made it to station fifteen, Deke whooped like a little kid, and Hondo had to grab him to keep him from starting before the observers were ready.
"This one is called the Tarzan Swing for obvious reasons. Walk up the rope line to the platform, grab the rope, swing to the next one-- no skipping a rope --and don't drop to the ground."
"Me first," said Deke, grinning. "I love this one."
He finished quickly and wound up waiting impatiently for the others, shooting Hondo repeated glances.
"No," his boss laughed, answering his unspoken question. "You can't do it again. If you behave, maybe they will let you come back and play later.
"Station sixteen," he continued. "Ascend a fifty-foot vertical wall using a quarter-inch pipe and rappel down the back side. Seventeen: three six-foot chain link fences any way you can except going around."
Noticing Luca and Street's competition and the toll it was beginning to take on the equipment, he added, "This is a team exercise, not a two-man competition. Leave the chest pounding for your day off. Station eighteen is a ladder crossing; you have to walk on top, and the first two are easy, but the third is only anchored in the center, so balance is key on that one.
Nineteen's an easy station, over the yellow and under the red; twenty: cargo net; easy up, over, and down the other side; twenty-one: over the poles and don't touch the sides.
"You'll love this one," Hondo grinned. "Twenty-two is your basic railroad tie hurdles, but watch number thirteen: it's not the same height as the others."
When they reached the twenty-third station, Hondo had to laugh, commenting, "Boxer, as I recall, this is one of your favorites. We call this one the dog and pony show; all you have to do is jump through the 'windows,' roll across the sand, and jump over the hurdles.
"Station twenty-three is a low crawl over the railroad tie, under the draped chain link fence to the center tie, and then over it and under the second section of fence. Small hill for twenty-four: climb up and over. Twenty-five's a six-foot wall: up and over, cross the platform, and back down. Station twenty-six—free climb up the rope, cross the beams, jump down to the next level, and then jump to the ground."
"Why does this one look so easy?" Street wondered aloud.
"It is easy," Hondo answered. "This is the Irish table, and all you have to do is cross the bar without touching the supports. Station twenty-eight: more balance, just cross the cables—twenty-five foot sections rising from three feet to ten. Station twenty-nine: eight-foot vertical wall, and no touching the sides.
"And for the grand finale of this lovely morning walk, we have station thirty-two, the crocodile cross. Stand on the yellow pole, jump for the rope, and swing to the yellow pole on the other side. Don't touch the water or the side supports."
This station, too, was a fun one for Deke, and after the others had crossed and the observers had gone, he was back on it.
After ten minutes, Hondo had to drag him off. "Come on, Tarzan—the rest of us would like to get lunch sometime today."
The shooting range was the next stop. Word had gotten around, and quite a few people had gathered to witness what promised to be an interesting contest between Jim and Dominic. Both men were quick on their feet, but accuracy was the most important skill on this test, and it didn't take them long to complete the course and for the scores to be tallied. Dominic had beat Street's score by eight, five of those in long range.
"Spanked!" Deke exclaimed, earning himself a glare from Street.
After lunch, they met in the lobby of the abandoned civic center for the tactical scenario.
"You know the drill," Hondo instructed. "We have sixteen drug dealers, all armed and some with hostages. There are innocent civilians living in the building. It's a timed run, and there are penalties for shooting unarmed civilians. Go!"
Hondo followed them through the building, along with the observation team. When Deke missed a target, Hondo shook his head, and after an armed dealer popped up behind Street, he cursed softly.
Hondo met them in the lobby. "You did better than the last group to take on this scenario, but I want better from you. Deke, you're going to spend more time on the target range; Luca, I'm gonna tie a bell around your neck if you don't stop racing ahead of the group. Street, you better start paying attention, 'cause I'm gonna be popping up and nailing you with a water gun every chance I get."
"Right now, a water gun sounds like a great idea," Street groaned.
The heat was getting oppressive, and the officers started stripping off their tactical gear and dropping it in a pile on the floor.
"Let's go outside and get some fresh air," Chris suggested.
Luca took a deep breath, commenting, "The air smells weird."
"What do you know about California air, snowbird?" Street asked with a raised brow.
"Kiss my ass, beach boy."
"Bend over and mark off a spot," Street dared.
"Why don't you start here," Luca gestured.
"Break it up kids." Hondo stepped between them. "Since you two have enough energy to fight, you get to gather up the gear and pack it out."
Street and Luca both protested loudly, but the sergeant silenced them with an angry glare. "Do it. Now."
Muttering, Street shoved Luca back into the building as the others headed for the trucks.
"Cut it out," Luca complained.
"Or what?" Street shot back. "You gonna make me?"
Luca stopped in the foyer, turning to face Street. "What the fuck is your problem, man?" he asked angrily. "I just met you; what the hell did I ever do to you?"
"You're breathing my air; that's enough for now."
"Well, fuck you!"
He shoved Street backwards, knocking him to the floor. Then there was a rumbling, and the ground shook as dirt and plaster cascaded down on them, followed by chunks of concrete.