Chapter 6

A/N: Hey everybody surprise chapter coming at yah. And it's not Friday or the weekend. Lucky you. Okay okay the real deal was I finished my work early and decided to do something more exciting than write about myself and read about American Literature. Anyway enough of me talking onward with the story.

A/N: Will be a few flashbacks from earlier weeks in different characters POVs will be noted at the beginning hope it's not too confusing, but I wanted to get certain characters prospects on their training experience thus far. Flashbacks will be in bold and will be italicized.

Time Skip- Five Weeks After Last Chapter

Week 6 Day 7 June 9, 2013

It was Sunday a day of rest and reflection. Sundays were different at boot camp. Everyone would wake up at the same ungodly hour of 0445, though all of them were used to it by now. Then they'd all do morning PT together, and then there were the different religious services that they could go to if they so wished. Sunday was the only day they didn't have classes or intense physical training and conditioning. SHIELD wasn't completely heartless. It was Sunday evening after dinner. Everyone had decided to go to the recreational facility to relax and reflect on the past six weeks. Some like Simon, Tammy, Tori and Remy went to the infernal pool to have a late night swim. Drew honestly couldn't see the appeal anymore of the water that had once brought him so much joy and peace. He used to love swimming after he learned how that was, though that was short lived. After what happened to him, five years ago, he'd never go near the water again. Tori had tried numerous times to get the other man to go in outside of being forced to by the instructors, but he'd stand stock still at the edge and plant his feet firmly on the ground and stare at it. He'd cross his arms like a petulant child and tell her 'no' every time. She just didn't understand. Nobody did really.

All of the recruits had something to reflect on over these past six weeks. They'd made it half way they were over the hump of their training. Just six more weeks to go and then they'd be field agents with badges and weapons and this training would be behind them. But for right now they still had work they needed to do, tests they needed to pass. The thing they all had in common was they all wanted to be here, they all wanted to do good, it didn't matter for who or why, but they were united. There was a common goal the twelve of them were all trying to work towards.

Maxie and Delilah were conversing over by one of the tables used for cards games over in the corner of the rec room. "Is there anything Carson can't do" asked Maxie aloud wondering what other skills and talents the tall, black haired, stoic faced man had.

"I know right the guys' got to be superhuman" Tammy says walking up to the two younger women sitting down, her hair still wet from the shower she'd just taken. Tammy was competitive and wanted to see if she could beat Carsons' time in the pool she had yet to beat it. But she was determined.

His skills on the firing range were uncanny than again so were Instructor Bartons'. He never missed a single shot, not only did he not miss, but his speed in assembly and disassembly was nothing if not perfect. Maxie remembered a little side conversation she'd had with Carson while they were cleaning their weapons on the range.

Maxies' POV

"Okay I have to ask Carson how are you so good, at this". Drew turned to look at the young woman and shrugged. "Oh come on you have to answer me man please". Drew stayed silent as he continued to clean his weapon seemingly ignoring me. 'Well that's rude' I thought to myself. Just as I'd resigned myself to him not answering he speaks up.

"When I was younger, my dad taught me how to shoot he taught my two older brothers' and sister too, I was nine when he first showed me how to that was with a pistol, when I was eleven I shot with my first rifle hunting with dad". He paused for breath as if what he was going to say next physically pained him. "A year later both he and my mom died in a plane crash, shooting was the only bonding activity we did together he was always busy with work, and I'd just lost that, I also have a photographic memory" he says offhandedly. Like he hadn't just spilled his guts about his dead parents.

I stare at him with a mixed look of sadness and shock. That's the most I think anyone has heard him talk since he got here. And he basically just spilled his guts about a very private part of his life. To me of all people I don't know why really. Maybe because I asked. Maybe because this was just a test of some sort to see if I would talk to any of the others about what he'd told me? I wouldn't by the way. I wasn't that kind of person.

"I'm sorry to hear that" I say lamely. I mean what else, could you really say to that. I mean that had to be like everyones' default answer. Right. I turn back to cleaning my weapon, and realized I had no idea where I'd left on cleaning what. I sigh and start from the top again. I had a totally different view of the man stood just a few feet away from me now. And it was a bad view either.

Drew too was thinking about the third week of training and what had transpired at the firing range, but not between himself and White, but what happened between himself and Barton. It was towards the end of firearms training that day, when Barton pulled Drew aside. He'd let everyone else go a little early.

Drews' POV

I'd just again received my blue dummy training weapon from the range master. I was just about to head out the door with everyone else when Barton pulled me aside. "Carson can you stay behind a minute, I want to talk to you" the older man asks. I inwardly groan thinking about what the hell I could have done wrong. I know I hadn't done anything wrong, so I was curious as to see what he wanted from me. He gets right to the point. "How do you know" asks Barton not so subtly putting his hearing aids in. He takes them out for shooting and often when he exercises he says it's so he can focus better.

I don't even both feigning innocence. "Simple I lived with my deaf uncle since I was twelve, he reads lips whenever he doesn't put his aids in".

"Your uncles' deaf I didn't know that, your file just says you lived with him after your parents died" Barton says.

"Yeah IED went off to close to him, lost his hearing he's got a service dog Duke, helps him out of lot"

"What branch" asks Barton simply?

"Marines just like me, dad and my grandfather"

"Family tradition?"

"Something like that" I answer. I turn the questioning back on him. "You read my file, Coulson told you things I assume"

"He did, and for what its' worth it's not your fault Carson shit happens". Something inside me snaps and I just loose it on the older man.

"How would you know, you're just a carnie turned mercenary turned hired government assassin" I yell at him. He winces probably at the volume of my voice. He looks slightly hurt, but honestly at this point in time I don't care. Unwanted memories resurfacing I quickly walk past Barton trying to hold the tears back as I exit the range.

Yeah not one of my best moments Drew thinks to himself as he's conversing with Simon what branch of the military is better. Barton had whipped his ass in sparring the following week, eye for an eye and all that. Drew had taken the 'sparring session' like a man. All the other recruits were there after all. They were shocked that Drew had lost. He brushed it off as being unfocused.

Simon noticed that, he'd noticed a lot of things about the other recruits in the six weeks he'd been around them. Simon was talking with Carson about prior military service and somehow they got out the topic of Special Forces. Which led to the Special Forces week of training they'd just finished. If you'd have asked Simon Bries what he liked best about training so far it was Wednesday when they got to parachute out of a quinjet.

Simons' POV

I honestly couldn't believe this was part of SHIELD training. I sure was glad it was though. I'd finally get to do it. Jump out of a perfectly good aircraft that was. If SHIELD hadn't pulled me out when they did I could be doing this for a living. I wanted to be a paratrooper in the Army. SHIELD had come and offered me something better.

I was seated in between Carson and Remy on the bench seat. Carson, was on my left and Remy on my right. She looked excited. "This'll be so cool" I her say to Tammy who's seated next to her on her right.

I look to my left Carson has his head between his knees and is breathing in and out heavily. "You okay Carson" I ask.

He looks up at me and smiles. "Yeah I'm totally fine, I mean if we were meant to fly we'd grow wings and do it right" he says sarcastically.

"Ignore him Simon he gets irritable and twitchy when he's off the ground too long" says Callaghan who is on the left of Carson.

"Am not" he says like a child.

"Are too" she says and shoves him slightly.

"You two sure have gotten comfortable with one another over these six weeks" I say observing their almost sibling like behavior. Maybe they were related somehow. Drew huffs a sigh.

"Well yeah" Tori snorts finally not able to take the secret anymore. "We are related, we're cousins" she says. SHIELD has a certain rule about immediate family working together. Since they're cousins though and not siblings they get around that particular rule. I see Maxie smiling smugly at her friend Delilah. They must have bet on if they were related or not.

"Thank god I don't think I could handle living with you full time" Carson says with a hint of smirk on his face. I can see his words have no real bite to them. He doesn't really mean it. If he did, well I had seen how ferocious Callaghan could be in sparring and Carson wouldn't still be seated on the bench right now if he meant what he'd said.

"Like I'd want to live with you living with Jack for 17 years was bad enough" she says. I wonder who Jack was briefly a brother possibly. The green light above the cargo door beeps silencing any retort Carson may have had. As with everything we do, we do it in alphabetical order. Which means Adkins goes first. I watch as Zach jumps out of the quinjet with a Geronimo, and then I go. I take a running start at the ramp and then jump. This feels amazing exhilarating even. I'm in free fall for all of 45 seconds and then I pull my chute. And as I do I can see two parachutes in the distance. Carson and Callaghan I think. I don't see Zachs' chute, but I'm sure he makes it too.

We all land on the drop zone our parachutes billowing out behind us in the wind. Everyone has one reached consensus, that what they just did was awesome. Even Carson thinks it was. He was somehow the first one to land. I didn't realize it until Instructor May walks up to me her own parachute tucked under her arm. She had jumped too. But that's not what I realize. I realize that she's scarier than some of my Drill Sergeants in the Army were. She gets up in my face and says as calmly as ever. "You don't repeat what you heard Callaghan say on the plane, none of you are supposed to know that" she says. I just nod my head. She nods curtly to me and I follow her along with everyone else and walk back over to where we packed our chutes originally.

"Let's do that again" Remy says coming off her adrenaline high.

"I agree with you there that was exhilarating" I say.

Everyone is still pretty hyped up when we get back to the barracks. So to expel some of that excess energy May makes us run laps. Not around the track, but around the barracks building. Which is ten times worse because she also makes us run up and down the stairs and do two burpees at the end of it. We're all dog tried by the end of our little workout session, we don't even complain at the earlier than usual bed time of 2000 hours. Yeah that was still probably one of my best days here I think as I drift off to sleep in my bunk.

"What was your favorite part of this week Carson" asks Simon arms folded up on the table they're both seated at.

"Yesterday parkour course hands down" he says with an air of emotion and excitement that Simon had never heard before in the other man. It's almost like he was child reciting a favorite memory.

"You were a beast on that course" exclaims Zach coming up to both men and plopping down in one seat.

"Nah I wasn't all that good" Drew says modestly.

"You so were you looked really at home on that course" Zach says pushing Carsons' arm a bit playfully. "You don't remember Barton almost had a coronary at how fast you were on that course, said you almost beat his time". Zach sits back in his chair hands interlocked behind his head thinking back to what they did just yesterday. And what it meant for his life going forward what he'd be doing if he did graduate boot camp in the coming six weeks.

May had led us back to the track and field building. I honestly didn't feel like running anymore. That wouldn't be very Special Forces anyway. This whole week had been about Special Forces training. But May led us not onto the track, but to the area in the middle of it. Both Instructor Barton and Coulson who we learned was Bartons' and Instructor Romanoffs' handler in the field were there as if they were waiting for us. Turns out they were.

"Alright recruits today we're going to do something a little less physically intensive seeing all we put you through these past five days" May starts.

"Oh let'em have it May, let'em have fun for once" says Barton walking up beside her. "You'll each get a turn on the course, just so we can gauge how well you run it, then you'll all race me and see if you can out run me, but I don't think you'll be able to do it, I've made this course my bitch, I own this course" Barton says smirking looking at Tammy, Drew and a few others challengingly.

"Yes that is essentially what you'll be doing" May says plainly. Drew actually smiles at bit happy for once that his last name starts with the third letter of the alphabet. He'd be number three after Adkins, and Bries. "But" May says holding out. "we don't want to get you too use to things, predictability can be bad in the field, it's like telegraphing your moves when you spar just worse, so we'll be switching it up we'll be going in alphabetical order, but backwards, so that means, Trainee White your up first" May instructs. Of course May has to take something supposedly fun and turn it into a training exercise. Upon further inspection of the course it's not a real parkour course it's more of an advanced version of the combat obstacle course they ran last week, that had twenty obstacles though this only has twelve.

Maxie steps up to the start of the course. When May blows the whistle she starts off. She doesn't do too badly. All the female trainees in our group of have really got great muscle tone in their arms now because of all the push-ups May had been making us do. It goes on like that everyone having a chance on the course.

We all cheer each other on to see if we can beat each other's time. Finally it's down the last three myself, Simon and Carson. Callaghan had just smoked the course after Xavier had run it. He had done pretty well. But the one to watch was Carson. He had been so good at everything else so far, I was curious to see how he would do. May blows the whistle and he's off like a torpedo out of a cannon. He makes easy work of the low wall, he falters a bit on the stepping stones, but manages to make it through alright. 'Man what everyone says about him being a machine or superhuman has got to be right he's just flying through this course like it's nothing' I think to myself as he's now on the 7th obstacle. The ditch, which is really just two blocks placed far apart to represent a large ditch. It looks like he almost slides down the balancing bridge. He leaps on the one step completely skipping the last step of the bridge. He vaults through the window with ease. Coming up in a nice tuck and roll after hitting the ground. He speeds up the apex ladder and runs the last few feet up the ramped block and does an impressive front flip dismount off the block. Everyone claps for him even May, Barton is looking on stupidly his mouth open like a fish. Gaping at wha t he'd just seen, and exchanges a wad of bills with Coulson.

It's my turn finally and both Simon and I don't do as nearly as well Carson, but Simon did pretty well. Turns out he lives in Colorado and he climbs a lot so the little climbing and running wasn't that bad for him. Overall it was something fun for us to do together as a group. Then after I'm sitting on the grass guzzling my water May comes up to us and tells us what each of those obstacles was training us for. Jumping through windows, jumping ravines climbing and scaling walls. You know just normal average everyday things you do. It was a good day I had fun, we all had fun, and I learned that I had muscles I didn't even know existed after that course. I was in the Navy we never did anything like this before. It was a great experience though, and it challenged me.

May comes into the rec room and tells the recruits it's all time to hit the rack and they do go off without a complaint. Waiting and wondering what tomorrow would bring.