"What took you so long man?"
McG couldn't keep the impatience or concern out of his voice when Amir finally arrived back at the gas station. The smaller man had barely dismounted the bike and pulled off his helmet when the team was up and moving from where they had been "patiently" waiting for his return.
The rest of them had been back from Urzua's mansion for a good 20 minutes. Amir had been the first to leave on the bike, after showing his face, and then peeling away when Booth arrived in the driveway. It was disconcerting that he hadn't been waiting for them when they arrived back. There had been time to pack up their equipment, to load the vehicle, and then just enough time to start worrying before they finally heard the telltale rumble of his motorcycle.
"Thought I was being followed. Had to take a detour"
Amir's response was short, brusque, and left no room for follow up questions. His back was already turned to McG as he headed into the safehouse to grab his gear.
The medic met Preach's confused gaze across the van, confirming he was not the only one feeling like something was off. The former CIA operative was still very much a mystery to them, but for the first time McG had the distinct impression that they had just been lied to.
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"Ya seriously man, we thought you were going to get smoked"
It was satisfying to pull one over on Amir, but after they let him flounder for a moment, unsure how to respond McG threw him a bone.
"He's messing with you"
Amir relaxed, and they all laughed before returning to packing up the plane. Preach climbed up the ladder and Jaz tossed him one of the bags to stow onboard. Job done, she parked herself on the wheel well to oversee their work.
McG grabbed one of his bags and turned and tossed it, expecting Preach to be ready for it, but the man was still reaching into the interior of the plane. The gear bag bounced off of the side of the ladder and fell to the ground, rolling across the ground and into Amir's left leg.
The man lept like he had been stung, grimacing in pain and stumbling on an awkward landing. He bounced on one leg, unable or unwilling to put weight back down onto his left leg. Amir sucked in a breath, biting his lip and then carefully lowered the leg down, testing some weight on it and taking a few limping steps.
McG muttered an exasperated expletive under his breath and was at his side in an instant, slipping under his shoulder and wrapping an arm around his back to support the man's off balance steps.
"Jaz, scoot" he commanded, holding the man upright while the sniper slipped off the wheel. She stood a few feet away with her arms crossed, watching Amir with a strange expression. If McG didn't know better he would say there was a hint of concern in her eyes as she watched her newest teammate struggle to walk.
He steered Amir's halting steps over to the wheel and settled him in her vacated place, ignoring the muttered protests from the former spy. He put no stock in the words "I'm fine" coming out of any of his teammates lips.
He bent down to roll up the man's pant leg, pulling the fabric up gently but still causing Amir to hiss.
Amir's delayed arrival, his suspiciously vague answer, the scrapes on the side of the bike, the dirt on his pant leg, all suddenly made much more sense. The spy's ankle and calf were badly bruised, colours already visible around the swelling that had settled around the joint. A few abrasions rak the length of his calf, several of which were bleeding sluggishly again after the pant fabric pulled away some of the dried blood.
McG sighed, looking up at his teammate "I thought you said you knew how to ride that thing?"
"I do." Amir replied peevishly, gritting his teeth against McG's exam. The medic was slowly testing the range of motion, rotating the ankle to see if anything was broken.
"So what? was this one just too much horsepower to handle then...?" He stopped manipulating the joint and moved on to examining the scrapes. "Maybe for the future leave the big boy toys to the big boys"
His attempt at a joke caused Jaz to snort and Preach to smile, but it fell flat on it's intended recipient. If anything Amir's expression went bleaker.
"I just, I lost control of the bike ok….. Something happened. It wasn't ...avoidable" He hesitated, choosing his words carefully and refusing to make eye contact or participate in the jokes with his teammates. His halted speech was slightly alarming and made the medic consider checking for a head injury next.
Jaz, on the other hand, had a different theory for the man's odd behavior. She stared at him a little longer mulling over his words and watching his face suspiciously "something huh?... What aren't you telling us?"
McG studied him closer, pausing his ministrations and realizing the ninja was right. The man wasn't confused, he was just flustered, maybe even showing a hint of embarrassment. It was a new look on their normally stoic teammate.
The team honed on it like piranhas scenting blood.
"Come on Amir. Confession is good for the soul." Even Preach was in on the action, cajoling the man to spill what he was hiding.
Amir finally gave a little, clearly seeing no way out of the situation.
"Ok fine… something jumped out in front of me and I had to swerve, and the bike went down. That's all. Nothing exciting. No good story"
All three of them were now staring at him. McG had completely abandoned his exam, Jaz had her hands on her hip and eyes narrowed, and Preach was perched on the ladder leaning in with a curious expression.
They all knew there was more to the story, despite Amir's claims to the contrary. But no one was quite sure how exactly to call him on it. They were saved by Dalton's unknowing entrance into the inquisition.
Their leader ducked under the plane crossing to their side from where he had been inspecting the front and conversing with command. Top let out a low whistle when he caught sight of Amir's ankle and the impressive colouring.
"Jeez Amir, what happened buddy?"
Amir, raised his eyes skyward, as if wondering what else could go wrong with his day.
Jaz jumped in oh so helpfully to explain what they had learned so far "Amir tried to play chicken with something on the bike... He lost."
Her casual wording caused the cornered man to tense, he tried to play it off with a sarcastic "Thanks Jaz."
not for nothing though was Jaz the team Sniper. Her keen eye could pick up on the littlest of details that others might miss like the tiny flinch and fleeting expression of panic that crossed Amir's face when she said the word "chicken." Her eyes narrowed further, brain rapidly working as she remembered all the chickens they had seen roaming freely on the sides of the road.
FInally her eyes lit up putting two and two together, her mouth curling into a fiendish smile
"Noooooooo, you didn't".
Amir sighed heavily, recognizing the gig was up. "It came out of nowhere…"
"You wrecked the bike to avoid hitting a chicken., a chicken!" She barely got the words out, practically crowing, before she was doubled over and laughing. There was a pause while the rest of the team processed the ludacris explanation before they too joined in, howling with laughter that carried far into the empty desert around them.
After a few minutes, they finally regained their composure. Dalton headed up into the plane to finish preparations for take off while McG resumed applying antiseptic and bandages to Amir's leg. When he was done he rose and gave Amir a pat on the leg, "Well I don't think you've done anything too serious. If you ice it and take it easy for a few days you should be good to go. No harm...No fowl."
He broke off snickering at his own joke.
Jaz never one to be outdone quickly followed up with "Yah, it's ok Amir. Nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone gets a little cocky on their first few missions".
She reached out to fist bump McG triumphantly on her way to clamber up into the plane.
Amir rolled his eyes and stood up slowly, a low groan escaping his lips. It was unclear if it was from putting weight on his leg or from the second terrible chicken related pun in as many minutes.
Preach patted Amir on the shoulder on the way by as if to commiserate, "Don't get your feathers too ruffled my friend, they are just messing with you."
Amir shot Preach a betrayed look, finally showing a hint of his normal dry humor, "Et tu Preach?"
Preach gave him a shrug and a meaningful smile as he headed up the ladder into the plane, "if you can't beat em, join em"
Dalton, opened the window from the inside the cockpit, leaning out of the plane with a mischievous smirk and yelling down "Let's go! Time to fly the coop!"
Amir shook his head at McG exasperatedly, before yelling back "I hate you all" loud enough for the occupants of the plane to hear and renewed laughter to be heard from the interior.
McG slipped an arm back under Amir's shoulder, "Come on chicken little, lets get you home"
Amir groaned again, "I'm never going to hear the end of this am I"
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Went in a bit of lighter direction with this one just to mix it up. Plus it afforded me the eggcellent opportunity to work in all sorts of chicken puns ;)