Author's note: Sorry about the delay. I planned on posting last night, but it was SciFi Friday. I'm sure you understand.
Disclaimer: The only thing I own is the boxed sets. And not the rights to them, just the sets. I had to pay for them.
"So, I've been talking with some of the guys, and rumor has it that it's paintball tonight," Reynolds informed the gathered group conspiratorially.
"Paintball at night?" Elliot asked skeptically.
"Smith is one tough son-of-a," Franklin paused, looking at Olivia, "mother. This is exactly the kinda thing he'd do."
Elliot and Olivia looked at each other, appearing to have a silent conversation.
"Guess we shouldn't change, then," Elliot said, indicating the black ¾ sleeved shirt and dark jeans that Olivia was wearing.
One of the other detectives was also looking at her attire and said, "I wasn't gonna suggest it anyway."
Liv merely rolled her eyes at the comment, the likes of which she had long gotten used to. She could tolerate the occasional off-handed comment as long as the person respected her.
After all, she had let Elliot get away with calling her "Honey."
The group disbanded and went to their rooms to relax before their nighttime war game.
As it turned out, the rumors of paintball were true.
"Here are the ground rules," Smith barked. "A direct hit on the chest or back is a kill. Anywhere else is a superficial wound, but will make you more visible, as we will be using phosphorescent paintballs. Intentional head shots are prohibited." He looked around to make sure everyone was paying attention. "Okay, let's everyone line up and grab a set of goggles, a protective vest, and a gun."
They grabbed the equipment and began putting on the vests. Elliot turned his hat backwards so that he could wear the protective goggles.
"You'll find the paint cartridges over here. Make sure every pair has the same color."
Liv and Elliot went up to the table. "Orange or green?" Elliot asked. She looked him up and down. He looked at her. "What?" he said.
"I'm just trying to picture what color would look good on you," she answered, picking up two orange magazines.
"You think orange would look good on me?" Elliot asked incredulously.
She handed one of the cartridges to him. "No."
He narrowed his eyes and followed her to where the other pairs on the orange team were gathering.
"Alright, the object of the game tonight is kinda like capture the flag. Each team will infiltrate enemy territory—the split indicated by the phosphorescent chalk line—and try to retrieve their colored flag."
Everyone started to move towards their areas.
"Oh, and one more thing," Smith called out. Once he had everyone's eyes, he held up a gun already loaded with a cartridge of glowing blue pellets, "I'll be picking off stragglers."
Olivia let her breath out in a whoosh. Elliot glanced over at her, then whispered, "Don't worry, Liv. I've got your back."
She met his gaze. "It's my front I'm worried about."
She started to walk towards where the orange team was congregating. He watched her for a moment before calling out, "I've got that, too," and following her.
"Okay, I just did a quick count of people who've been eliminated," Elliot whispered. "There are only four people left on our team, including us."
Olivia, who hadn't looked away from the when he came back to their hiding place, asked, "How many on their team?"
"Three," he answered. He then looked at her and said, "You didn't even look when I came up behind you. What if I'd been an enemy team member?"
"Please, Elliot," she finally glanced up at him, "after eight years, I think I'd recognize your footsteps."
"But I was being quiet."
"Was, being the operative word. Now hush!" she admonished.
They heard a pop nearby, and Elliot yanked Olivia towards him. She rolled off of him and they lay next to each other, Liv rubbing her arm where she had just been pelted.
"Dammit, it's Smith," Elliot said, noting the blue paint spattered on her black shirt.
"Where is he?" Olivia fumed, angry at herself for not spotting him.
"Ten o'clock," Elliot answered, risking a glance over the rocks they were hiding behind, assessing their position.
"Okay," he said, "I'm gonna run to that outcropping. Cover me."
"Elliot!" she hissed. He was already gone. She aimed her gun where Elliot had spotted Smith, just in case, but nobody opened fire on him. He made it to his destination and gestured for her to join him. He readied his weapon to offer cover fire.
She stayed low to the ground and made it to her partner's side without being shot at again. They caught movement near their team's flag, and saw that a green team member was going for it.
Olivia took careful aim and fired. She managed a kill shot to the back.
"Congratulations, Detective Benson; looks like they're down to two," Elliot said in an undertone.
Suddenly they saw a member of their team make a dash for cover, only to have a sudden splash of green blossom across his chest.
They were getting closer to the enemy's flag. They moved from one large object to the next, finding cover. Occasionally one of them would suffer a graze. Usually, the other would return fire and at least glance their target.
A series of pops and splats directed their attention to a standoff between a green and an orange team member. They eliminated each other.
While this distraction was occurring, the two detectives made a dash for the next large object: a plywood barricade. But Olivia's foot got caught in a tree root and she went down hard about five feet away from safety.
Two guns began firing on their location. Glowing green and blue pellets exploded dangerously close. She felt one nail her leg and she gritted her teeth against the sting. Elliot crouched down and reached his partner, flipping her onto her back and dragging her behind the wall, then returning fire once she was safe.
When he turned back, he expected her to be rubbing her leg where she'd been directly hit by a green pellet. Instead, she was nursing the ankle she hurt the day before. She had gotten that one caught in the tree root.
"Are you okay?" Elliot whispered, putting his hand on the ankle, brushing hers aside so he could feel.
"I'm fine," she answered unconvincingly. Pellets exploded against the outside of the wall they were hiding behind. Elliot whipped his gun around the partition and fired blindly. He yanked his hand back—covered in blue paint—and shook it as it smarted.
"Looks like Smith is no longer nonpartisan," Olivia said, swiping at the blue paint and dabbing it on Elliot's nose.
"Hey!" he quietly exclaimed. He retaliated by rubbing his hand across her cheek, leaving an azure smudge.
They both laughed softly at that, but then quickly sobered when another barrage of paintballs peppered the wall.
Elliot helped Olivia stand up. One of their attackers, meanwhile, had moved nearer to their barricade. He fired, and Elliot pushed Olivia against the wall, hissing as he received a pellet in his side.
Olivia, sandwiched between the wall and her partner, blindly returned fire.
They made a break for it, running full-out. They reached the next cover and paused to catch their breaths while the wall they crouched behind was bombarded.
"The flag is right there," Olivia said, peering out across the open space. "If we both make a dash for it, there's a good chance at least one of us will make it."
"Smith's gonna be aiming for you," Elliot said.
Olivia nodded. "I know."
"So how about I stay on the outside? We'll both go out guns blazing," Elliot said. "But you've got to promise that if I go down, you don't stop. Deal?" He held out his hand.
She grasped it and they shook on it, then broke free of cover, immediately pointing their weapons towards their unseen assailants and opening fire.
They were hailed with capsules on their arms and legs. Movement caught Elliot's eye in the direction away from the onslaught. He saw Smith take careful aim at his partner. Elliot jumped in front of the line of fire, at the same time opening up on Smith and catching him square in the chest. The force of the pellets knocked the wind out of Elliot, but he managed to choke out, "Go!" to his partner. She made it the last few steps to the enemy flag and picked it up, waving it triumphantly.
Then she was caught by a latent shell in the back from the last remaining green team member.
Elliot ran over to her and picked her up victoriously. The rest of the green team rushed to the pair to congratulate them.
Elliot put her down, and she stood on tiptoes to murmer in his ear, "Thanks for saving my life."
He pulled back and offered a wink and an easy, "Any time."
They could just make out Smith walking away sulkily.
To be continued…
Again, sorry about the delay. Please read and review.