Close, But No Cigar

Mr. Solomon had posted a note to the mirror. Class will meet outside for the lesson today.

"This can't be good," Cammie groaned as she and Bex turned around to head for the main doors. "What could we possibly be doing now?"

"I hope it's a practical lesson," Zach said, he appearing by Cammie's side and Grant appearing by Bex's. "So we can finally show those new boys how it's done."

Cammie suddenly felt annoyed by Zach's hatred of these new boys. "They've already shown us how it's done, Zach. Or do you not remember New York?"

Zach felt like he'd been slapped in the face. "Of course I do. But that was one time."

"Then how 'bout Jeopardy!?" she retorted and took a few big steps so that she'd be ahead of him. She hated losing just as much as Zach did, but she also knew that losing had been her own fault, not the boys'. She'd been the one that hadn't been good enough. And, yes, she wanted to beat them, but she wanted to at least lose with grace and dignity at the times that she did lose.

Bex caught up with her. "You okay?"

"I don't like the way he talks about them," she replied. "I understand that he's mad that he lost, but he needs to stop acting like he's four years old and-"

Suddenly, Bex and Cammie halted, and so did Zach and Grant, who were still a few steps behind them. They had almost collided with Michael and Scotty, who had reached the doors at the same time that they had.

"Sorry," Michael said and smiled at them as he pulled the door open and gestured for them to go out first. "Go ahead."

After a beat, Cammie shyly smiled back at him. "Thank you." And she went out.

Bex muttered her thanks as she followed Cammie.

Grant went out next, but of course Zach couldn't go out without making some kind of comment. It was directed at Scotty. "Finally got the cast off?"

Scotty, who was still recovering from the painkillers that the doctors in the infirmary had insisted on giving him, responded in a cold voice. "It hasn't been on all that long."

Zach shrugged and smiled cockily. "I just hope it doesn't affect your abilities today."

"I took the flash drive from your pocket with the cast on," Scotty responded, his expression completely neutral. "Just imagine how much better I'll be with it off."

At the mention of his previous failure, Zach stalked out the door, angry.

Michael sighed. "Would it kill you to try to make friends?"

"Yes," Scotty responded, totally serious. "For example, I tried to talk to one of the Blackthorne guys yesterday, and I swear, I could feel my throat closing up."

Michael rolled his eyes and bit back a smile as they walked out the door. "That's tragic."

"Very," Scotty agreed and shot a quick smile at Michael. "But you can be their friend, if you want."

"I've got this strange sense that those guys don't want me as their friend." They stopped walking a few feet away from the large group of Gallagher and Blackthorne students. He lowered his voice to a whisper so soft that only Scotty could hear it and he even spoke in Gaelic, which he knew that few (if any) of the other students would know. "And you're not the one that got the flash drive from Zach's pocket. I am."

Scotty simply smiled. "I know you are. But I got plenty of flash drives with my broken arm. And my injured leg, not that I'm trying to get bonus points or anything. Besides, it wouldn't have made him near as mad if I hadn't actually been the one to take his flash drive."

"You weren't," Michael reminded him.

"He doesn't know that!"

Suddenly, a few white vans came driving up to the group, the Gallagher crest on the sides.

"Looks like we're going into town," someone said.

"Going into town," Scotty scoffed. "What kind of training is this?"

Michael had to agree, actually. "Just this once, I'll agree with you."

"I thought you also agreed with me about the whole Niko thing."

"I used to," Michael said as he and Scotty climbed into one of the crowded vans. "But then, he beat you, so…"

"He did not beat me!" Scotty exclaimed as the van took off. "Not really, anyway. It was a tie."

"What's the difference in a tie and losing?" Michael asked with a teasing grin at his friend. "Either way, you don't win."

Scotty, who knew that Michael was only doing this to make him angry, looked over at the guy sitting beside him, who looked away as soon as Scotty's head turned. "Grant, right?"

The guy looked over at him. "Uh, yeah."

"You think there's a difference between a tie and losing?"

Grant seemed at a loss for words. He looked over Scotty's head and at Michael.

Michael laughed. "Scotty, leave the poor guy alone."

"No! I want this settled." Scotty narrowed his eyes at Grant. "Do you?"

Before Grant could answer, Mr. Solomon spoke up from the driver's seat. "I have to agree with Michael on this one. Scotty, would you grab the box of comms from the middle console and pass them out?"

Scotty did as he was told and passed a comms out to Grant, Michael, Cammie, Bex, Zach, and then himself.

"Today, ladies and gentlemen, we will be playing tag and learning how to communicate in a field."

"But Roseville isn't exactly a busy town," Zach argued.

Scotty, who had read up on Roseville as soon as he'd found out where they were being sent and who wanted so badly to outdo Zach, said, "Except for today. There's a festival."

"Exactly right, Scotty," Mr. Solomon said as he wondered why he'd never learned the boys' last names. He decided that he would make it a priority to find out. But, then again, they probably weren't in the system.

"Bex," Cammie began.

"No partners, Ms. Morgan," Mr. Solomon told her. "You'll not always have someone walking right beside you in the field."

Cammie and Bex's faces fell, but Zach looked more determined than ever.

"Scotty," Mr. Solomon said. "I know that injuries are nothing to mess around with and the doctors talked to me and said that you probably shouldn't be doing training exercises for the next week."

Scotty's chin rose in the type of defiance that Michael had seen dozens of times before. "With all due respect to you, sir, and the doctors, they don't know my body. I do. I'll be fine."

Mr. Solomon had expected this and he simply nodded. "Very well. If you change your mind, you can come and find me and just observe."

"Thank you," Scotty said, but there was no chance that he would be doing that.

"Your classmates in the other van have been given similar instructions by the other chaperones," Mr. Solomon said. "Everyone should be clear on what to do. Michael, Scotty, I need your codenames."

"Scotty is Houdini," Michael informed him.

"And Michael is –" here, Scotty said some strange word that no one else in the van had ever heard before.

Even Mr. Solomon. "What does that mean?"

"We're all given names," Scotty informed everyone. "Mine is Houdini because I always seem to be disappearing from where I'm supposed to be. That word that I just said is from the language of the natives that live near us. It means 'invincible'."

Mr. Solomon repeated the word and then radioed the other vans to let the other students know about Michael and Scotty's radio names. Then, he filled in Michael and Scotty about the others' names.

"Remember, everyone, no partners."

Michael and Scotty exchanged a grin. They were brothers, and they had a way of being each other's partner without meaning to.

All of them hit the ground running when they got to the festival.

"Duchess has the quarter," Mr. Solomon informed everyone. "Zach, go and take it from her. Chameleon, how many windows from the west supply an adequate sniper threat?"

Cammie didn't miss a beat. "Four."

Zach had the quarter and he felt good about it. Until Scotty came out of nowhere and took it.

"Hey!" Zach protested.

Scotty turned and gave Zach a cocky grin that rivaled his own. "Take better care of your merchandise, Blackthorne. Didn't you hear Mr. Solomon's instructions that Michael and I are the enemy?"

Zach actually hadn't been paying attention. He'd been too happy that his brush pass reception had gone off without a hitch. He'd felt victorious.

"Give it back," Zach growled as he pushed past Scotty.

At the same time, unbeknownst to Zach, Michael came from the other side and snatched the quarter from Scotty's hand.

Zach was angry when he saw that he had somehow missed the quarter.

Scotty held up both of his hands to show that he didn't have the quarter. "Close, Zach. But no cigar." And then, he blended into the crowd.