Disclaimer: I do not hold any stock in Disney and therefore do not own even the slightest portion of PR:SPD. I do not own the carnival rides either.

Author's Note: This takes place pre-canon, when Syd and Bridge were first promoted to B squad. Sky had already been a B level cadet for a year.

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Yield

He and Sydney were the first people in line for the next revolution of the Scrambler, so as soon as the attendant opened the gate, the petite blonde surged forward, running for a car in the back and pulling him along by the hand. She seemed awfully enthusiastic about a rickety old carnival ride that looked like it should have been retired years ago. All of these rides looked like they were breaking some sort of safety regulation, actually. He was surprised traveling carnivals like this one had managed to survive for so long, and were still popular as ever, apparently, judging from the size of the attending crowd.

Sydney and Bridge, the newly minted B squad members assigned under his wing, had dragged him out here on a Saturday like two hyperactive children just released from school, and though he generally liked his new teammates, the only reason he let himself be bullied into this outing was because the commander had subtly hinted that he wanted the three of them to do a bit of bonding as a team. He had had team-building exercises in mind, but the vote for the carnival ended up two to one, so now he was just going to have to suffer through a day of silly rides, squalling revelers, and really bad food.

They forced him onto the carousel first thing, despite the fact that even the biggest horse on there just wasn't enough for someone of his stature. Sydney found a bejeweled number with a pink mane on which to relive her childhood memories, and Bridge selected himself a reindeer. Sky would have been content to sit in the sled on the outer edge and put his feet up for the ten or so revolutions the ride went through, but Sydney was adamant he sit on one of the horses. Heaven forbid he try to put his feet in the stirrups lest he give himself a black eye with his own knees.

After a tame start on the carousel, being the adrenaline junkies they were, they went on a few rides with a little more zing: the Ring of Fire, the Kamikaze, and the Gravitron. The Ring of Fire had an alarmingly decrepit construction; the most exciting thing about the Kamikaze was its name; and the Gravitron gave him a slight headache, not that he would ever tell.

After all that, Bridge needed his fix of butter, carb, sugar, or any combination of the three, and went in search of appropriate snacks. Sydney wanted to go on the Scrambler while the line was relatively short, so she pulled him in that direction while Bridge promised to bring back food for them.

Now he and Sydney sat in their car, waiting for the ride to start. She was bouncing with excitement beside him while he wondered why he'd yielded to their pestering. He didn't like carnivals. He didn't like crowds. He liked order and calm. He liked whatever he was doing with his time to be meaningful.

He tried to remind himself this excursion wasn't completely without purpose. It was a chance to get to know his new teammates better, even if in an unofficial capacity. Sydney and Bridge probably already considered him a friend, but he guarded the term a little more carefully, as it was a rare individual that truly understood him and his ambitions. It was too early to tell, but he thought that maybe Sydney and Bridge could be among those individuals. They could make a pretty good team yet.

The ride started to move, and Sydney looked over at him with a smile of pure jubilance. She was pretty, he found himself thinking, and then reproached himself for the thought. Of course she was pretty. She was a former model, pop singer, and had walked in circles of celebrity glamour before coming to SPD. Looks and image would be a way of life for her.

The ride began picking up speed, and the centrifugal force slid Sydney over in the seat and pressed her against his side. She did nothing to remedy this, and instead flung her arms up in the air with childlike glee. He wasn't nearly that frivolous, but…he couldn't say he didn't like having her sit that close to him either.

Hmm. Therein lay her persuasive power, didn't it? What guy could say no to a girl who was cute and aggressive and didn't take no for an answer anyway? He had a sneaking feeling this carnival wouldn't be the last thing he'd be talked into by the effervescent Ms. Drew.