Something was...off today. For West, this wasn't all that unusual. The day he committed Danyell to treatment was the day he became the constant source of gossip and side eyes, if not outright judgement to his face. But for once, the slight tension wasn't merely Danyell's loathing of him.
West didn't know One well, but he did have the impression she was naturally competitive. So when Washington ordered several laps around the gym (which earned a groan from Raymond), West figured One would challenge Danyell's Holo-Echo to a race or at least quip about her Burst Step some more. Instead, the blue youth was strangely quiet this morning, especially compared to her enthusiastic energy earlier.
Despite what Danyell would deny, he was still a father, and so it was paternal instinct encouraging him to match One's pace.
"Agent One. Your performance is a bit off today."
"Apologizes sir. I'll do better during the actual practice. Warm-up is a bit dull, y'know?"
"Did something else happen between you and Da-East?"
"Negative. Last I spoke to her was yesterday afternoon. Why, did she say something?"
"No, I...nevermind. Just know if something's bothering you, you can talk to me. I may command you, but I'm also your ally."
"Yes sir," but her response was mechanical in a way that made him frown. Shatter Squad should feel they can rely on him for more than battle. Sure he sounded gruff and had a track record of questionable decisions, but he wasn't callous no matter what Danyell and Zero said.
With a weary sigh, he slowed down to match up with Axel. If anyone knew One, it was him. Besides, Axel was one of the only soldiers from the GLASS days of the AOD who didn't think he was despicable. Axel tried his best to increase West's reputation with the other soldiers back in the day, and he could certainly use some of that genuine nice guy wisdom now.
"Axel."
"West."
"Agent One is quiet today. Is she not a morning person?"
Axel lightly snorted at the thought, "Jamie hates sleeping, calls it a waste of time. I swear she races to wake up the fastest even in her dreams."
"So what do you make of her recent behavior?"
Axel shook his head, but West noticed he nervously flexed his fingers a few times. Finally he deflected with, "I saw you talking to her, what did she say?"
"Merely that warm-up bores her."
"Then I'm sure that's all it is."
West let out a hmm in disbelief. It wasn't like Axe to lie to him. He wanted to press the issue more, but unfortunately they finished their last lap at that moment.
Aside from Agent Raymond's panting, the recruits lined up quietly in front of the Freelancers once more.
"Good work squad. Now for your next activity…" Agent Washington trailed off awkwardly.
Agent Carolina was quick to finish the sentence as if that was the plan all along, "...We were thinking, after yesterday's hand-to-hand, the five of you need to brush up on your shooting skills. But first, Agents Axel and West, mind showing the others how teamwork on targets is done?
A procedure routine enough Axel and West could pull it off without speaking, which for once was a tad annoying. Not one to disobey orders though, the two flicked on the normal guard and turret simulation. Even covering each other seamlessly, there wasn't exactly an opportunity to suddenly accuse one of your oldest friends of lying. Besides, he was acting selfish again. If they didn't want him butting into their family situation, could he blame them? He sure as hell wasn't winning any father of the year awards.
Once the two finished, Washington asked for One and Danyell to reattempt the course, this time with Raymond's assistance. As the three motioned to swap positions with Axel and himself, West figured he might as well see how many people could shoot him down verbally in a single day.
"Good luck sweetie."
"Fuck you."
Yup, a solid 3/3. Maybe by the end of the day he could hit a record 6/6.
Raymond hoped when he joined the army all he'd have to do was follow a handful of orders, prove his tech skills to his commanding officer, and hide in the back so as not to die. Shoot a rocket launcher as a sneak attack, that sounded cool. Then his clearly foolproof plan would end in celebration and popularity.
This was the opposite of all that. These were turrets and robotic enemies, and if he let off a few panicked shots that missed, could anyone blame him? No orders, an example demonstration far more impressive than helpful, and two teammates who stuck to their own little bubble.
Needless to say, the others weren't impressed. As if expecting such a poor showing (rude), Carolina was already fiddling with the simulation controls, "It's clear you three need a more convincing practice session. Luckily, I know just the solution."
Raymond and the others backed up a bit as the floor setup changed. This new area was a tad mazelike, with plenty of walls. He didn't see any turrets or guards this time, but there were two new tables on the outside offering special training guns and ammo. Ray didn't recognize it, but Washington let out a groan.
"Gods, paint training, really? They weren't that bad Carolina."
"Hey, it's not a punishment if you don't get hit."
"Still not real advice."
Were they about to play...paintball? He'd heard paintball bruised, but they were in military grade armor, how bad could it be?
"I'm thinking you and me vs the kids. West, Axel; you can switch off with us in a few rounds."
Maybe it was nerves talking, but something about this didn't seem fair, and he didn't mean the fact they had an extra player. If One and East also sensed their team was about to get their ass horribly kicked, they didn't show it. In fact One was...confident?
"Bring it on old-timers."
Carolina didn't even hesitate, "Tell ya what, if you manage to hit me, you can take the rest of the day off."
Yup, they were fucked.
They started heading towards the table, but the three of them halted and looked back when they heard a sharp, "Hold on".
"Leave all your weapons in the spectator booth. I don't want to see any live fire or explosions while we're out there," Carolina sounded more stern than usual. Washington nodded along morosely. Did they have a bad experience before or something?
"Pssh, c'mon grandma. We're not cheaters. Well, not all of us anyway."
Before East could make a comeback, Carolina let out a harsh, "Now, Agent One. That's an order". As they dropped off their weapons, Ray swore he could hear a light snicker from East as One huffed in annoyance.
Now cleared to grab the paint guns, Raymond whispered to his team, "So like, what's the plan?"
For once it was East who spoke up instead of One, "Shoot them."
"Yeah but like, how do we not get shot?"
"Move."
Uh-huh. Maybe it wasn't too late to radio Tiny and get an out.
No, he couldn't abandon them. Not if he wanted them to finally respect him. Reluctantly, he joined his team at the arena entrance. Carolina and Washington stood on the opposing side. Here goes nothing.
As the starting alarm sounded, One and East rushed ahead, which seemed foolish. As Ray ducked behind a wall, the sound of paintfire and some surprised yelps was less than comforting. Maybe he could just stay here forever? He looked up at Axel and West in the booth, who were talking. Discussing their performance? Well, he really should give them something satisfactory to mention.
Raymond courageously leapt out from the wall…
...Only to get immediately pegged by sticky pink paint. Why did it sting so bad? God it felt like dodgeball with rocks.
He looked up at the Freelancers whose armor still shined triumphantly, "That's point one for us."
...Several rounds of failure later, and he was pretty sure their team was getting worse instead of better. After the latest attempt where East crashed into the three of them with her burst step and left them a painted pink pile, Ray was sore all over and thoroughly frustrated. As the Freelancers switched off with the other half of Shatter Squad, he gave a pitiful look through his visor, hoping they would psychically read it and go easy on them. As Axel approached him instead of joining West, he wondered if his telepathic plea was heard.
"Hey Raymond, I noticed you were a bit jittery out there, and not just from adrenaline. It's difficult in the heat of the moment, but try to calm yourself. Focus on your reason for fighting. The more confident you are, the better your shot will be."
"You make it sound so easy."
"I know it's not," he patted his shoulder reassuringly before heading to his starting line.
Raymond took a deep breath. Calm, right. The buzzer sounded once again. East immediately dashed towards West, making no secret of her target. Raymond was a bit surprised One didn't run after her, instead lurking along with him.
"Tired out?"
"Nah. Just thinking."
Raymond nearly quipped about not realizing she thought anything out before recognizing that would definitely get him a face full of friendly fire. He peaked around the corner instead, watching East ready her aim. West made no motion to raise his gun, and for a second he thought they might succeed for once before Axel unceremoniously got her side. The two started heading in their direction, and ah fuck, what did Axe say? Focus on why he was here? But what if his reason was sort of shitty and selfish? Then what?
"Hey One?"
"We're kinda in the middle of something Raymond."
"I know but, why are you here?"
"Because I'm number One, now shut it with the philosophy and move!"
With that, One rolled out-of-the-way of incoming paint. Raymond barely turned a corner in time and tried hard to steady his breathing. Don't panic, where are they? He could hear footsteps nearby and paint smacking stone.
With one last shaky breath he swung into the open, aimed, and... hit someone? Holy fuck.
He didn't exactly have time to feel bad at using Axel's advice against him as the sting from West's shot got him. But who cares, he succeeded at something!
"Did you see that shit East?"
A grunt from the paint covering her helmet indicated she probably didn't.
