Disclaimer: I do not own Flashpoint at all. I hope you enjoy!
"Ready?" Sarge asked softly. He got positive affirmations from the rest of his team. Turning to look at Wheels, his temporary team leader, he nodded. "3…2…1…move in, Team Five. Go."
He and Wheels went in, back to back, shooting at the targets that came up against them, watching each other's backs. He didn't have to ask to know that Red and Ninja were doing the same, as well as Whiz and Sharp. They had all taken different entrances as they raced towards their goal, taking down whatever came up in their path. Finally, they made it to their objective, looking at the stuffed bear sitting on the chair. Wheels raised an eyebrow and shook his head.
Ninja noticed the expression as he took off the safety goggles. "What?"
"Nothing," Wheels replied, copying the younger boy's movements. "I just didn't figure you guys for stuffed bears, that's all."
Ninja rolled his eyes. "Oh, really? And what did you figure us for?"
Wheels grinned wickedly. "Real ones," he shot back.
Ninja stared at him before allowing a tiny smirk to appear, and Wheels grinned even wider. Point to me. "Shall we look at the results?" he asked, and everyone nodded, lowering their paintball guns.
"I still can't believe we've never seen this part of your house," Red breathed to Ninja, who just shrugged.
"Mary and Dave wanted somewhere they could keep up with their awesome CIA skills, and so asked to have this installed before we moved here. This way, no questions would be raised if people ever saw them at the gun range. They could just practice in here."
"Doesn't it get loud?" Whiz questioned.
But Ninja was shaking his head. "Sound proof," he answered. "They normally liked to practice when we were sleeping or away, because they like being around us when we were there and awake. So it's soundproof. And," he answered the next question before it could be asked, "they had monitors placed so they could see what was going on downstairs in case people were coming that were…unfriendly."
Team Five had nothing to say to that, so they just looked around the room. They had originally thought that the attic was used to store…whatever, but it was far from true. The space was actually pretty open, with targets and space to shoot from, like an actual gun range. Ninja had asked his teammates to help him set up the room so that there were targets in different places, hidden until you came around the corner from all the barricades he had placed around the room. It kind of reminded them of the gun course that the SRU had.
They eventually located all the targets and checked them. Many were splattered with paint, though not always in the center. But that was okay, because most of the targets were colorful while everything else was it's proper white. A far cry from when they first tried this exercise.
A week had passed since their decision to rescue Snips and Sam without the approval of the rest of the SRU, and they had been practicing as often as they could get together. It was quite simple to get together, since they were basically around each other all the time anyway, and it didn't raise many suspicions.
They varied with their exercises, sometimes this one, sometimes hand-to-hand with varying groups. Sometimes it would be one-on-one, sometimes three to one or more. Each person varied as the attacker or defender. Sometimes they would practice the art of camouflage, blending in to the background, staying still and pretty much invisible as others on the team tried to track them. Sometimes they would work on negotiations, with Sarge leading and pointing out tips. Living with one of the best negotiators in the world really helped.
The result was an even more tightly knit group than before, almost to the point that they could read each others' minds, and they knew that it would be even better when Snips was back with them.
But for now, they just focused on getting her back.
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"You stupid little—"
Sam didn't let him have the chance of finishing the sentence before he rammed a hand forward and up, crushing Mr. Happy straight in the nose, feeling the bone break under impact. That's gotta hurt.
He turned and easily blocked the blow that was coming towards his unprotected back, ducking and shifting his weight to his left foot to turn mid-duck. His right foot lashed out at the back of the unsuspecting knee, wincing as it made impact, but bringing himself to land, balanced on the front of his feet, ready and waiting. He glanced back at Snips, once, before having to duck as another fist was swung towards his head. He let himself delve further into his head, to the point where it was almost like he was watching from outside of his body as he ducked and weaved, turned and attacked. His training from JTF2 was coming back in full force. Once a soldier, always a soldier.
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"Sarge, can I talk to you?"
Sergeant Parker looked up from his stack of papers and at the concerned face of his second negotiator. "What is it, Jules?"
She took a seat next to him. "I think the kids are planning something," she said abruptly.
Parker now looked straight at her. "What do you mean?"
Jules shrugged as she tried to put her suspicions into words. "Red's been acting strange," she began slowly. "We used to be able to talk about pretty much everything, but she's become drawn, like she's keeping something from me."
"She could just be missing Sam," Parker pointed out mildly.
Jules nodded in semi-agreement. "And I think that's part of it. But add it to the fact that Team Five has been spending more and more time together, and less time here, I just can't help but think that they're planning something."
"Well, we did tell them to take some time off from here and focus more on school and exams coming up."
"I know, Boss, but…call it a gut feeling. They're planning something."
"All right Jules," Parker finally said. "I'll keep an eye on them."
FPFPFPFPFPFPFP
The four boys froze at the minute scratching coming from the window. Not even a second later, before they could even think of moving, it slid quietly open to reveal someone they knew well, dressed in movie-ready black, missing only a hat to cover up his brown hair.
"Kyle?" Nick asked quietly, knowing instinctively that the older boy didn't want the Wordsworths coming upstairs and finding him here, especially since he had been over earlier already. "What's going on?"
Kyle took a breath. "Team Five is going on a trip for a bit."
"Team One doesn't know, do they?" Ben asked.
Kyle shook his head. "No. No one in the SRU does."
"You found Lucia? And Sam?" John asked hopefully. Justin perked up at this.
Their brother only shrugged, face cautious. "We might've," he replied. "It's a long shot, but it's the only shot we have."
The four younger boys nodded, deciding not to ask where. It they did and didn't like the answer, they would be spending the next however many days worrying about not only Lucia, but Kyle as well. It had happened before, and the worry just wasn't worth it. Both their older siblings had come home safe before, and they would come home safe again.
Besides, this time it wasn't just Kyle looking for Lucia. This time, he had the whole Team Five to watch his back.
"Be careful, Kyle, okay?" Justin finally spoke. "Promise?"
Kyle smiled softly and reached over to wrap his little brother in a hug. "I promise, buddy. I'll be extra careful, and I'll have Sarge and Wheels and Red and Whiz and Sharp to watch my back. We'll all be careful."
"Good," Justin said with all the seriousness of a nine-year-old. "They won't let you do something stupid."
Kyle and the triplets stared at him for a moment before they began to laugh, keeping it quiet. Ben finally stopped and reached over to clasp Kyle's arm, his affection running through the gesture. "When are you leaving?"
"Tomorrow morning, really early. Probably so early it could count as tonight," he muttered the last part. "We want to get a good night's sleep before we head out. I'll try and keep you guys updated, but it might get hard. I just wanted you guys to know I'm not disappearing on you. I'm coming back, and I'm bring Lucia home with me."
After he said goodbye to each of his brothers, Kyle slipped out the window with a determined expression on his face. He would bring back Lucia.
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"Mom, dad, I'm heading over to Kyle's," Whiz said as he walked towards his parents, giving his mom a hug.
"All right. Be careful on the way over, Sean, okay? We'll see you tomorrow," his mother replied as she returned the hug.
Whiz felt more than a little guilt about not telling his parents what was going on, but he knew that they would try and stop him, and he had to do this. "Well, we all planned to go to the graduation together tomorrow, so it wouldn't be till after that." There. That wasn't technically a lie, seeing as how they had planned to go to graduation together before Snips got taken. And it would be after graduation he would see his parents. So not a lie at all.
On impulse, he hugged his father as well, even though they rarely hugged. His dad wasn't huge on touchy-feely things, but he had to. His father merely smiled and held his son close, probably assuming he was excited because he was about to graduate. Great.
With one more backwards look, he headed out the door.
FPFPFPFPFPFPFP
"See you dad," Sarge said as Wheels followed, echoing the same to his dad.
"Hang on, son," Sergeant Parker called to the two boys leaving the house. He waited until they turned to look at him. "Is there something going on?"
Sarge and Wheels exchanged confused looks, something they had been practicing because they knew somehow that this moment would come. The moment they would see if they had what it took to fool their fathers. They each admitted in their own minds that the other boy's slightly bewildered look was perfect. "Going on?" Sarge echoed. "Well, we are going to Ninja's house…"
"We meant other than that," Ed interrupted. "You guys have just been quiet lately, and gone a lot. We just wanted to make sure everything was okay."
By this time his wife had joined them at the doorway, wondering why they were gone so long, and raised an eyebrow. Wheels raised one in turn and shrugged. "Well, you did tell us that we shouldn't be around the SRU right now and focusing more on school."
"And you've been focusing on school?"
Wheels resisted the urge to scowl. "Yeah, actually," Sarge interrupted. "We always have study groups when we get together." He turned to his dad. "Nothing's going on, dad, I promise. We just have been planning this for a long time, and with Snips…with her not here right now, I don't think Kyle can take being at home by himself right now." He had intentionally used Ninja's real name, hoping to evoke sympathy from the older man. And it must've worked, because his dad looked at Ed and shrugged, sending a soft smile to the two boys. "Tell him hi from us, okay?"
The two teens nodded and left, not quickly per se, but quickly enough that their parents wouldn't change their minds.
FPFPFPFPFPFPFP
"Jules, I'm heading over to Kyle's," Red said as she walked into the spare bedroom where her guardian was covered in more paint than the walls.
Jules flashed a smile at her, but Red knew that Jules knew there was something going on. "All right," Jules said, standing up easily. "So you're spending the night, right?"
Red nodded. "Yeah, and then we were all going to head over to the school together." Not a lie, she told herself. That was what they had planned to do before Snips had been taken.
"Dani," Jules began seriously, "is there something going on? You know you can talk to me."
"What do you mean?"
Jules reached out and toyed with a bit of the younger girl's hair. "You've just been acting kind of strange lately, that's all. What's going on?"
And Red knew she was in trouble. Jules was starting out soft, but she had watched her begin like this with subjects before twisting everything so they were spilling their guts to her and surrendering. She had to get out of here fast. So she tried a new tactic, one that wasn't completely a lie.
She cast her eyes to the side and chewed on her bottom lip, a nervous habit she had never been able to break when she wanted to keep something private. She was glad of it now, as she knew Jules knew about it. "I guess…I don't know."
"What?" Jules quietly encouraged.
"It's just…I've been getting some bad dreams," Red confessed quietly, really meaning it. "I hadn't wanted to say anything to you, because I know you're already worried about Sam, and I didn't want you to worry about me too because I didn't want to be a bother, but they're really scary and he's always hurt and I always wake up and—and it's horrible!" Some tears had come to her eyes as she said it, and she knew now that if she wanted to get someone off her case, it was better to have a secret she was willing to share to make them forget about the other one.
"Ah, sweetheart," Jules said, pulling her close. Red relaxed in her arms, taking in the hug for all it was worth. "You would never be a bother to me, you know that, right? I always want to know how you're doing or what's going on, even if it's scary."
"I'm sorry," Red whispered. "I just didn't want you to worry about me too."
"Don't worry about that," Jules grinned. Then she looked serious. "If you have another dream tonight, I want you to call me, okay? I don't care what time it is, I want to know and I want to help you. So promise me, okay?"
Red nodded solemnly. "I promise," she swore.
"Good. Get out of here, all right? I'll see you tomorrow."
Red walked out the door, looking back to smile once more at Jules before heading to her boyfriend's house. That was too close.
FPFPFPFPFPFPFP
"I'm heading to Kyle's," Sharp called over his shoulder as he headed towards the door. He wasn't up for another argument, not today.
"Ryan, honey wait."
Ryan bit back a sigh and turned to face his mother. She held out his cap and gown to him, and he took them, smiling sheepishly. He had forgotten about those. "Thanks, mom, that wouldn't have been fun to forget."
She kissed his cheeks as his father came to say goodbye as well. "Ryan," his father started, then stopped again.
Sharp looked at him quizzically. That wasn't the tone he was used to hearing, the one right before they had an argument. This one was different, softer and more…apologetic? "Dad?" he asked softly, wanting to know.
"I just…I'm proud of you, son," his father said.
Sharp looked at him, astounded. Not now not now not now—"What?"
"We found out about your scholarship, the one you've been trying to tell us about, and…we should've listened to you. Ry, you've gone from someone who hated school and hated people to someone who gets straight A's most of the time, the other times B's, and you found a new group of friends. You've become strong and confident, happier, and sure of yourself. You no longer are, well, arrogant, either. But you know what you're capable of and you fit in well with your friends. So I just…I just wanted to say how proud of you I am. And know that I'm glad you wouldn't let us take you out of this program. It's become a part of you that I don't think you could ever let go of even if you tried. I am so proud of you, and I know that I'll be proud of whatever path you choose to follow."
Sharp stood there, mouth gaping at his dad, who seemed embarrassed but happy at the same time. "I…thanks, dad," he finally said.
His father gave him a hug before turning to head back to the dining room table where he had set up the bills. His mom gave him the same and a quiet smile before he left.
He thought about what they said, and he was happy, but also, he couldn't help but think: They had to pick today.
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When Ninja got back and looked at the rest of his team, he raised an eyebrow. "I guess I'm not the only one who's feeling guilty about not telling Team One about our little adventure."
Mute heads shook all around him before Wheels finally took charge. "We should probably get to sleep as quickly as possible," he pointed out. "Does everyone have everything?"
Everyone looked around them to double check that they had their armor, cool pants, and highly advanced paintball guns before nodding. "Good. Let's get some sleep, then. We have to get up nice and early."
"I'm pretty sure waking up at 1 in the morning constitutes towards night," Whiz pointed out. "So…we'll be getting up nice and late."
"Well, when you put it that way," Sharp muttered, "I feel so much better."
"Anyway," Sarge overruled, "get to bed. We've got a busy day tomorrow. Tomorrow, we're bring home two of our own. And we need to be as ready and able as we possibly can."
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