Of Perspiration and Gun-Powder
4~ Extra Training

AN: Hi guys! First of all I'd like to apologize for the insane amount of time it took me to produce this chapter. I've had a very busy two weeks. Not long ago it was my birthday and it took me a while to get back into the swing of things after organizing my party x). The next day I went for a four our trip to stay with my family in the countryside. It's a super pretty place when you're driving there. It has big big green hills and cutesy little cottages. There are tiny bunnies running around everywhere and huge bearded dragons. Plenty of inspiration! Just no reception… Plus I was meant to be hanging around family while I was up there. As much as I would've loved to just lounge around and write fanfiction for you guys, apparently that's being a bad houseguest or something ;)… Ha-ha I don't know… it seems a bit weird if you ask me *nod, nod*. Nevertheless I'll go through with my usual thank-you's and then you'll be on your way to enjoying chapter four (hopefully!). Thank you for putting up with me!

Thanks to: Minzul, AngelofAme, Marbletai, MissChubbyHippoPlushie and lifeaftermidnight for faves.
Thanks to: Zypher-Kat, with-the-captain, Swedishgirl1, SoRinnigan, mustikas, merryhouse, mbrattoo, Maxiem, Chersti, Izabel_Forester, AphraelFT and MellyGleek for alerts. (If I've already mentioned you or missed you I'm so so sorry. I'm losing track of who I've mentioned and who I haven't. Please don't hate me.)
Review responses:

littlelostsheep: He won't. I hope. XD I don't know if he'd be able to get away with it irl but no one deserves to witness Blaine without his flopsy curls. He wouldn't be himself without them :3. And no not really. I've written some outside of fanfiction but never got around to posting them. I wrote one once that was Klaine… it was sort of Boy in the Striped Pajamas-esque where Blaine was a Jewish boy I think and Kurt was on the other side of the fence.. Gosh that was ages ago…

Wimblaft: Haha I didn't think many people would at first. Hopefully he'll grow on you. Bobby's sense of humour is of the acquired sort. I'm sure it'd be funny in real life… that is, if it wasn't happening to you. But as usual I really appreciate your review x. And Kurt's appearance will be soon… I think it might surprise a few of you.

perchance_to_wake: Thank you! I'm so glad you think it's original. I was really excited when the idea came to me. It sort of started out as a doodle and then I decided to extend the idea. I wrote in with the first line to me that came to mind and that is the "no he doesn't have what it takes. Not at all" line from chapter one. Thanks again

Poppy: Puh-lease. You want to talk about flawless? Go find yourself a mirror.

stolen94: asdjkhsjkfghsafdg I always love hearing from you. I love that people like Maria. It makes me all warm inside x). Yes. I think I'm just as excited for the Kurt/Blaine meeting as all of you are. Which is sad. I'm such a fangirl. I really shouldn't write fanfiction. Thank you though, seriously. I always smile reading your stuff. Hopefully you'll find out if you were right about why Blaine joined soon…
I sort of got carried away here. I'm so sorry for this gigantore AN. Don't hate me aha xD. Love you guys beyond love.
xx Vi.

-xx-

"Late getting up again?" Maria observed as she spotted the curly-haired teenager approaching her. "What's up with you lately, Blaine?"
"Training," His answer was muffled by the dining table he unceremoniously planted his face into. "So… much… training."
"You can't be that exhausted!" Maria beamed, shaking her head hopelessly at her friend. "We all do the same amount."
"Not Blaine Anderson," Bobby Rossi cut in, pulling the chair out beside Blaine and plonking down onto it. "He likes to get up nice and early… about one A.M. to be exact."
"What do you want, Bobby?" Blaine groaned, lifting his forehead from the table and revealing a red splotch where the pressure had been placed from the surface.
"I thought we were chummy now?" Bobby answered sarcastically, but his electric blue eyes flashed him a look that seemed to prompt him to 'remember the food'.
Instead of responding to the gigantean blonde, Blaine turned to Maria. "Remember a while ago I told you I had to go to all these extra lessons?"
"Yeah," Maria paused. "I still don't get that."
"Well I didn't either," Blaine responded. "But I've been meeting up with Major Lucas every few-"
"The Major Lucas?" Maria's eyes widened. "He's the one in the Colonel's division right? I heard that he's one of the most trusted in that position."
"The one and only," Blaine said drily.
"Why so glum?" Maria tilted her head.
"Well," Blaine continued. "I've been meeting up with him every night for the past week and a half since we moved in here. It's really getting to me. It turns out he's trying to prove my dedication to the force… He's making me learn the entire six weeks of work in two. So that means I've only got about three days left…"
"I don't get it," Maria scowled. "Is that even fair?"
Bobby, who had been trying to appear as though he was completely occupied with his rations, suddenly dropped his charade and blinked at Blaine, "Hold on… my dad's a sergeant and I've been with the military my entire life. I'm pretty sure that's not legal."
"Nothing about this place is legal," Blaine said darkly.
"But why?" Maria sulked. "Does that mean you'll be moving onto the next phase ahead of us? That sucks! The only reason I look forward to drills is because you're always making jokes about Sergeant Rossi's chinos!"
"His chinos?" Bobby demanded through a mouthful of grain. "Really Blaine? I'll tell my dad that you said that-"
"Well the waist-line is pretty high…" Blaine said bashfully.
"That's not the point!" Maria exclaimed. "I don't want Blaine to go away."
Blaine laughed, "I doubt they'll just make me a soldier. I still have an extra phase to learn. I guess I'll still be doing extra lessons… Hopefully I get to keep my dorm. I'm not ready to live in the barracks with a bunch of strangers."
"Plus you'll miss me too much," Bobby said absently. "Blaine needs three to four comfort hugs per night. Helps him sleep."
"I really don't think I'll miss you."
"Don't make me clobber you."
"I… won't."
"Ugh… stupid big-guns taking my Blaine away."
"Your Blaine?" Bobby's eyes widened. "Blaine are you… y'know?"
"What?" Maria squeaked. "I'm a girl! Where the hell did you find him, Blaine?"
"I didn't find him… I don't think he meant-"
"No I did… I'm confused now."
"Her name's Maria for crying out loud…"
"Well… I don't know. I thought she might just be a feminine guy. Can't tell the difference these days with all the hairstyles."
"Bobby you are beyond unbelievable…"
"Blaine… can I please punch him? Please."
"Go ahead. But don't expect me to take up additional services with you…"

-xx-

"Concentrate, Blaine. I need you to do better."
Major Lucas was built similarly to Bobby. He might as well be a walking house. That was sort of how Blaine saw him. He had biceps that could crush someone's skull and abnormally large hands that could probably bend iron. He had a deep voice and he yelled profusely. However he tended to keep adopt a gentler tone when it came to Blaine. He wasn't sure why. Perhaps it was because he was so young. Lately though, the major seemed to be on edge. Blaine assumed it was because the deadline was almost up and the teenager had become a zombie.

Blaine spent the training lesson struggling to keep both eyes open and clumsily grasping his training rifle in a way that an enemy could easily lift it from his hands. He was just so tired. He didn't want to make a fool of himself and get kicked out. He'd made it so far already. But he just couldn't muster enough energy to perform properly. There were ten targets laid out across the shooting range. He was told that on his testing day, there would be forty. Blaine kept losing focus, even with just ten, and barely grazed one. "I know this is tiring," Major Lucas muttered at one point. "But if we don't get this right, it could be disastrous. I need you to prove yourself to me."
"Why?" Blaine let the rifle drop from his trembling hands. "No one else has to. What's wrong with me?"
"Nothing is wrong with you," Major Lucas dropped to his knees and gripped Blaine's shoulder firmly. "Look at me now. If you start to doubt yourself here, I will be surprised if you aren't removed from this platoon. That's where the best of us go wrong. You're here because you're special. So special in fact that there are some people who'd like to speed along the process. You're here because there is someone who is testing your adaptability, and your aptitude to learn under intense pressure."
"Who's testing me?"
"… All of us. You're going to be an asset to us, Anderson. Don't give out on me now."
Blaine snapped out of his informal phase. He pulled himself to his knees and saluted his superior officer, "Yessir".
"Better," Lucas commended. "Now pick up that rifle. What are you having trouble with?"
"Focus," Blaine responded after a second. "I can't shoot the targets because I feel like they're in some kind of other world at the moment. Because Blaine Anderson is to?"
"I get it. You're exhausted. You're holding on by a thread, and that is your friends and your goal. Am I right?" Blaine nodded. "Well we've all been there. And you will overcome it. Now listen to me. And preferably bring Mr Anderson back to our realm? I'll treat him to some coffee if he decides to re-join us."
Blaine smiled weakly, "I'm ready."
"Good," Major Lucas said gruffly. He effortlessly hoisted the M-4 into the scrawny boy's hands. "Grip it hard. Pretend that your best friend is underneath the barrel. If you let it drop on their head they won't be happy with you will they?" Unashamedly, Blaine pictured Maria in this situation. If he happened to clonk her over the head with a rifle he imagined she'd happen to clonk him over the head with the pavement. Blaine nodded for the major to continue.
"Next I want you to imagine someone who really annoys you in standing in the place of those targets… Just annoys you though. Killing isn't something we should commend to recruits."
Blaine chuckled quietly and imagined a certain beef head's face in the place of the silhouette. "Now remember everything we've covered on marksmanship. I want you to try again to hit those targets."
"Yes major."

Inhaling deeply, Blaine watched as the first target creaked to life. It's movements were basic. It was just a sculptured piece of wood attached to some sort of conveyor belt. Blaine rested on his knees, watching intently as the target moved horizontally. He was careful to keep the rifle up. Privately, he thought about Maria perched beneath it again, and Bobby's stupid jokes. With that in mind, he fired his first shot jolting backwards from the impact. It blasted forward and slammed cleanly through the shoulder region of the target. Blaine grinned excitedly as the Major bellowed some compliments that were indistinguishable through Blaine's haze of adrenaline. He fired at the second, third and fourth targets as the movements of the targets began to become more intricate. He got them all. He'd only just scraped the fourth though, so he determinedly set his gaze on the fifth. The fifth was jumping around a lot but Blaine managed to shoot a hole through its' neck.
"That's got to hurt," Major Lucas chortled to himself.
Blaine breezed past the sixth, seventh and eighth targets. His grin was becoming wider as each target fell, one after the other. He even managed to shoot the ninth right through the head. It seemed to fall in slow-motion. Blaine inhaled calmly as the tenth bristled to life.
"This is the hardest one here," Major Lucas began to point out directions. "You need complete focus. I need you to imagine someone you'd love to sock. More than anyone. Then just go for it."

Blaine closed his eyes for a minute. His heart was thumping so violently that his pulse seemed to vibrate all the way to his fingertips. The major's instructions ceased and Blaine re-opened his eyes. He saw the tenth target bouncing around the range tauntingly… and he knew exactly who he'd picture. His expression shifted into one of thorough attentiveness… and almost anger. He fired instantly, and the bullet plummeted through the middle of the target's head.
Major Lucas applauded him looking pleased as Blaine blinked out his state and managed a wide grin at his major. His superior showered him in compliments and observations from throughout the drill that ended with, "See that's what I knew you were capable of". Blaine feeling much better about himself at this point.

"I'm glad we finally got through to you," Major Lucas sighed contentedly. "Blaine! That sure was some animosity on your face during that last shot! I've never seen you like that, m'boy. You must've pictured someone who really irritated you. Who did you imagine? Not one of your fellow platoon members I hope?"
"No nothing like that," Blaine paused. He lowered his eyes and decided he'd just come out with it. He met the major's gaze unwaveringly. "I pictured the man who killed my father."