A/N: Oh my god, my brain is soooo fried! Had some busy, busy work days and it's late and I'm tired, but since I didn't get this out to you guys yesterday, I was a-feared (yes, a-feared) of what you would do to me if I didn't get it out by tonight. Some of you kids are scary, scary people! Violent little ones! ...Of course, you are fans of The Losers, so I shouldn't really be surprised...Anyway, I hope this one is exciting enough for you guys that it makes up for, ya know, my real life responsibilities getting in the way of my story updates. ;)
The moaning, bloody form of the Beta team leader is centered within the scope of a gun's sights. Slowly, the view pans through the foliage and falls on a team of five soldiers stealthily making their ways towards him. As they approach, the leader of this unit ducks down, signaling the others to fan out. Keeping low, they move through the trees, scanning the surrounding area as they go.
Cougar smiles from behind the scope, virtually invisible from his position in the trees. Exhaling just a whisper of a breath, he takes a shot. His next one comes within a second of the first. He doesn't get a chance to take a third.
The leaves directly in front of his face suddenly explode into nothing. He narrowly avoids a direct hit from a second shot as he swings his body around to the other side of the tree.
"Shit," he mutters as bark explodes around him.
"Talk to me, Cougar," Clay says over the comm.
"Cover's blown," Cougar responds, twisting his body to avoid another shot.
"We're on our way."
Clay rushes through the trees, speaking on his comm. as he runs. "Plans have changed, guys, he's a sitting duck. Get to him fast, take out any threats along the way. And watch your backs. It won't do him any good if we all die before we get there."
Jensen's voice comes through on the other end. "Nice pep talk, there, Captain Obvious."
Clay ignores him as he slams his back against the nearest tree. Peering around it, he sees two soldiers stepping through the bushes several feet in front of him. Pulling out a second gun, he quickly steps out and takes both of them down, their faces frozen in a look of shock as they hit the ground.
Pooch stands up, inspecting his knot work. His hostage is now bound tightly to a tree, arms twisted awkwardly behind the trunk.
"And Jensen thought he was uncomfortable," he muses, putting a gag in the soldier's mouth. The man tries to shout through it.
"Awe, don't worry, dude, I'll be back for ya," he says, smiling, then turns to go aid in the rescue.
Aisha crawls slowly from one bush to another, sitting up with her guns tucked against her body as three men pass by behind her. One of them stops, looking over in her direction.
"This is one game of hide-and-seek you do not want to win," she says under her breath.
The man raises his gun and begins moving towards her. As he approaches, she slides one of her guns into its holster and pulls out her knife. When he gets above her, she springs up, jamming it into his neck. As the other men aim their guns at her, she shoves the bleeding soldier into one and opens fire on the other. She takes him down and spins around in time to catch the first one recuperating from the sudden weight of the now-dead knife victim.
"I warned you," she says coolly before firing a round into his head.
"Hang on, Cougar, I'm almost there," Jensen huffs as he sprints through the trees.
He skids to a stop, diving down behind a fallen tree just short of the four men firing up at the sniper.
"Hey, Cougar," he whispers, "you want me to distract them, or just shoot them?"
"Shoot!" Cougar responds through the gunfire.
"Okay, okay, I was just asking, sheesh." Jensen raises his gun up over the tree, accidentally scratching his wrist on a jagged piece of bark.
"Ow," he says, annoyed, then a second later he repeats the "ow" more seriously, with a puzzled look on his face. "Ow, shit!" he hisses, ducking back down as he inspects the bleeding, but not very deep cut on his wrist.
"Jensen!" Cougar's voice blasts in his ear.
Arms shaking, Jensen speaks through gritted teeth. "I'm having a bit of a problem, here, Cou – GODDAMMIT!"
The soldiers spin around instantly, pointing their guns at the tree Jensen is hiding behind. Cougar takes that second to go on the offensive, taking a quick shot at one of them and jumping down to a further branch before they return fire. Two of the soldiers continue the gunfight with him, the third rushing up on Jensen. He dives over the fallen tree and rolls up into a squatting position, pointing his gun at the hacker. Jensen, now flat on his back, cursing as he holds his arm tightly, doesn't even seem to notice that the man is there.
"Package acquired," the soldier says. "I got him, so let's get the fuck out-"
A shot goes off and the man falls forward, leaving Clay standing with his gun still raised behind him. He jumps over the body to Jensen's side.
"Oh god, it burns!" Jensen moans.
"Where are you hit?" Clay asks, searching for a bullet wound.
Jensen shakes his head. "Not," he spits out. "Another fucking fit." He gasps in pain before waving Clay off. "Help Cougar."
Clay hesitates for a second, then pats Jensen on the shoulder. "Hang in there. We'll be back for you."
He hops over the tree, taking down one of the remaining men, thus giving Cougar the chance to take down the other. Before they even get to speak, they can hear more gunfire a short distance away. Cougar jumps down from the branches, blood trickling from several cuts caused by the constant showering of bark chips. He gives Clay a questioning look.
"I'll go," Clay says. "Stay with him."
Cougar nods, watching Clay dart off to help finish the fight.
Then he hears Jensen scream.
Everything goes silent. Clay stops, turning back to look in the direction the scream came from, then looking back towards the way he was headed.
"Was that Jensen?" Pooch asks through the comm.
"Yeah...What's your situation?" Clay asks.
The gunfire starts up again.
This time it's Aisha that cuts in. "We can handle it, Clay."
Several more gunshots are fired. "Are you sure?" Clay asks, looking back and forth from the sounds of the shooting to the sounds of Jensen's cries.
Pooch's voice comes through again. "Dammit, Clay, if the woman said we can handle it, we can handle it. Go help someone that needs it."
"Those better not be famous last words," Clay orders, turning to head back the way he had come.
Jensen rolls onto his side, breathing heavily into the leaves as he fights against the pain. Cougar gently pushes on his shoulder, rolling him onto his back again. "Bite this," he says, pressing a stick with a piece of cloth wrapped around it into Jensen's mouth. Squeezing his eyes shut, Jensen clamps his jaw around the stick, allowing himself to scream into it. A moment later, Clay is suddenly at his side.
"What can I do?" he asks.
Cougar shakes his head. "Nothing. Except to hope whatever this is passes…or he passes out."
Clay frowns. "Is he injured?"
"Just a scratch, as far as I can tell, but he won't let me touch it."
"Then that's where the problem is," Clay says, reaching out to take Jensen's arm. He pauses, raising his eyes up at Cougar. "Hold him down."
Pooch peeks around the tree he's hiding behind, then looks over at Aisha who is parallel to him, hiding behind her own tree.
"There is one more, right?" he asks. "'Cause I took out two, you got one-"
"I took out two," she corrects him.
"I clearly shot that man before you did. Your view is obstructed."
"You shot him, but I killed him. That counts as mine," she states.
"He would have died just fine without your help," Pooch argues, raising his voice a little. He leans a little too far out and is barely missed by a bullet whizzing past. He throws himself back behind the tree.
"Guess there is one more," Aisha smiles.
"Just kill the damn bastard. Then we can call it even."
"No, then I'll be way ahead."
Pooch gives her a what-the-fuck? look, shakes his head in frustration, then says, "Okay, fine, I'll kill him. Then I can be 'way ahead' of you."
They look at each other for just a second before both spin out from behind their trees, ducking and rolling through the foliage around them for cover as the last of the enemy fires at them. At the exact same time, they spring up on either side of him, shooting him simultaneously. They make eye contact for a moment before Pooch speaks.
"That was a draw."
"Yep, definitely a draw."
They share an awkward silence while putting away their guns.
"…So, that means I won, right?" Pooch inquires.
"Pooch-" Aisha starts, annoyed, when Jensen's yell cuts through the trees.
"FUCKING SON-OF-A-BITCH!" he screams.
Aisha and Pooch take off running.
Jensen struggles against Cougar's weight on his shoulders, desperately trying to pull his arm back from Clay's grip.
"Easy, Jensen, I just need to look," Clay soothes, but it has no effect on the frantic hacker. He continues to try to break free, looking more panicked by the second. Clay flips over his arm, inspecting the cut on his wrist.
"Come on, buddy, you've had way worse than this," he says, really more to himself than to Jensen. He pulls a flask out of one of his pants pockets, flipping open the lid with his thumb as he keeps a firm grip on Jensen's arm with his other hand. As he brings the flask up over the wound, Jensen's whole body suddenly goes very still. He glares at Clay.
"I swear to fucking God, you cocky prick," he says, his voice low and steady, "if one drop of that hits my skin, I will tear your fucking eyes out and force them down your throat until you choke to death."
"Sounds like a horrible way to die," Clay states, then pours the alcohol onto Jensen's wound. To his surprise, Jensen doesn't struggle at all. He just lays back, his face twisting in shock and pain. He sucks in a couple short, shallow breaths, then releases a scream so loud that it echoes clearly through the forest. At the end of it, his eyes stare blankly at the forest ceiling for a few seconds before they flutter closed.
Clay and Cougar breathe the tension out of their bodies, glancing up at Pooch and Aisha as they approach.
"Is he...?" Pooch asks tentatively.
Clay shakes his head. "He's alive, but he's getting worse. We've gotta find out what's causing this."
Pooch smiles. "You've got questions, and I just happen to have a guy tied to a tree that might have some answers."
"You think he's ready to talk?"
Aisha answers for Pooch. "Between the things he saw me do to his superior, the body count out here, and Jensen's screaming, I think anyone would talk."
"All right, then," Clay says, standing. He leans down and grabs Jensen, slinging him over his shoulder. "Let's go play us a game of twenty question."
A/N: Wow, there's more words in this chapter than any of the others, but it certainly reads a lot faster, lol. :)
Oh, wanted to mention something before I forget. A couple people mentioned in the last chapter that Jensen's ability to climb the tree so quickly must have spawned from the "infection," as well. That wasn't really planned that way. I intended this fic to fall somewhere between the comic and movie world, so I just pulled some of his athletic ability from what we saw him do in the movie. He had no problems keeping pace with Cougar jumping across the roof tops and scaling the electrical pole thingie. His only snag was the barbed-wire fence. So, yeah, I just envisioned that when I wrote that particular tree "scene." Jensen is a nerdy hacker geek, yes, but also a Chris Evans-fit nerdy hacker geek, lol.