"Rite of Passage"

by HonestlyCynical

Pairings: Baird/OC, Marcus/Dom, Other pairings may apply.

Set: Post Gears of War 2, up to Gears of War 3

Warning(s): M/M YAOI, LEMONS, SPOILERS, Blood, horror, Oral, Maledom, D/s, Character Death, and other warnings apply.

A/N: Hopefully these chapters will get longer. I am still currently in the midst of expanding the story.

Disclaimer(s):I do not own Gears of War. This is fanfiction. Simply put, the only thing I own is the ideas I place here. I do not preside over the existing characters that are implied in this story, nor the GoW elements and it's franchise. Any detail, titles, names that may be similar to that of other fiction or fanfiction, (unless cited) is strictly coincidental.

Chapter 2: Flee

Rex finished the training for the day. According to Dom, it had been exactly 7 hours since they started. Shit. the kid thought. It had taken his toll on him, and his body was proof of that. He remained as silent as he could, while he took in deep breaths. His hair had become damp with sweat, and clung to his face.

Dom turned his head to see the rookie they were training. 'Damn. This kid has incredible aim with the Longshot. Even our best shots look like chumps compared to him. He did it all while his hair obscured his vision. We'll need his sniping skills.' The Gear thought to himself. THWACK! A loud clang rang in Dom's ear. Marcus somehow managed to sneak behind Rex, and smacked the rookie on the back of his armor.

"Son of a bitch!" Rex cried out in pain. He could feel his back stinging from the impact, despite the armor being the one that was smacked. "Shit! Can't you control your damn strength?" he yelled at Marcus, his crimson eyes meeting the glare the Sergeant gave him.

Marcus scowled when Rex looked at him. "Why don't you shut the fuck up before I really hit you?" he replied. He could see then, how drained the kid was. On that note, Dom had looked a little tired as well. Hell, they've been running non-stop for nearly three hours. Sergeant Fenix noticed an odor in the air. "All right rook. Time to hit the showers. You're stinking up the damn place." he said, wiping the sweat from his face. Rex scowled at the statement by his commanding officer. He already didn't like this guy. Sure, he was scared of him, but he also disliked him.

Reluctantly, Rex followed Marcus and Dom back to the COG base. There, he met his best friend Brandice Bodie. Her hair was covering one of her eyes, similar to Rex's. Her skin was dark brown, and she was wearing her glasses. Ever since they were kids, Brandice would pick on Rex. Not that he minded though, if anything, it was how he knew she was his friend. When they grew older, she wanted to be called Snow. So now, whenever he saw her, he would always make a comment on her. "Why is there so much Snow here?" the blond gear asked. She would gaze at him and pucker her lips. "Oh haha. Very funny, Señor Little Dick." she replied sarcastically. Everyone around them roared into laughter. Marcus and Dom both couldn't help but laugh at the kid's expense.

"Yeah, right. You weren't saying that at all the other night, honey." the blond replied. Snow was going to hug Rex, but then she caught his smell. "Holy shit you stink! Go shower, then come talk to me. Where the fuck were you anyway? Swimming through the sewers, I bet." she said frankly. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." was all Rex said, brushing her off. "I'll catch you later Snow." he said, moving towards the locker rooms. He had a smile on his face. If anyone could make him feel better, it was Snow.

At the locker rooms, the Gears stripped down. Rex quietly put a towel over himself. Of course, Marcus and Dom just headed to the showers without putting their towels over their waists. Rex brushed ahead of the two men. Along the way, he saw another one of his friends preparing to enter the showers. "Oi, Harper!" the blond called out. Joseph Harper was another of Rex's childhood friends. He was different from Snow though.

Joseph hated being called Joseph or Joe, so people called him Harper. He had hazel eyes, medium length black hair, and he wasn't too muscular like the other Gears. He was closer to Rex's build. He had muscles, but he wasn't built like a tank like Marcus. Also, he had a clear dislike for mainstream society. There was only a few people that he bothered to like. However, in the love department, he was too shy to even begin to express his feelings. It was just a man thing. Most men hated speaking about feelings. Harper was no different. He, Snow, and Harper were close friends. All three of them were always seen joking around in the Mess Hall.

The lazy man waited for Rex to hurry over before picking his spot. "Hey Rexxy boy." Harper replied, once the blond was closer. Harper always called Rex stupid names. It was one of the things that bothered the male. "Will you not call me that, Harper?" the blond asked. Harper gave him a mock salute. "Sir yes sir." the male replied sarcastically. The men turned on their respective shower heads and began to scrub themselves with soap. "So, Rexxy boy, where the hell have you been? I've been looking all over for you, and people said you sort of disappeared. I swear, you always loved to tinker with shit. I guess you never changed a bit, Mr. Engineer." he joked. At that time, Marcus and Dom entered the showers. 'What timing...' the blond thought.

Marcus looked towards Harper. "Who the hell is Mr. Engineer." he asked, his voice low. He fixed his icy glare on Harper. Rex scowled at the sight of the man. Harper shifted uncomfortably. He hated being stared at. When Fenix moved closer to him, he gulped. Something about the way Fenix looked at him had made him shudder. "Well?" the man said. He gave Harper a 'tell-me-who-the-fuck-that-is-or-else' look.

Harper wanted to run away at that point. But what kind of man would he be if he did run? Rex glared daggers at Fenix. He hated it when someone intimidated his friends. Rex's hair fell over his eyes and stuck to his face, making his scowl seem silly. This was all a faςade though. Rex's heart was beating a mile a minute. Harper got his focus back and glared at Marcus. "If you must know, Mr. Engineer is Rexxy boy." the male responded. Marcus raised a brow at Harper. "What the hell do you mean, Rex is an engineer?" he asked. Dom had moved to his own shower head, and was watching the events unfold.

Harper glared the sergeant in the eyes. He knew who he was. That rough demeanor made it clear. "He was - no, he is the best engineer I've seen yet." the male said. Rex looked at his friend and shook his head. 'Dammit Harper, why don't you tell them about my past too...' the blond thought. Marcus looked at Dom and saw he was thinking the same thing. 'Keep the kid away from Baird.' It was a well known fact that Baird wanted to be an engineer. In fact, he never stopped bitching about it. So here was some kid, who happened to be what the sarcastic fuck known as Baird all ways wanted to be. Fenix turned to Rex, getting a good look of the kid. The armor had made him seem so skinny, and even frail. However, he was more or less like the other Gears. He had the muscles, but he wasn't as muscled as Dom or himself. He refrained from glancing any lower because the kid was only just a kid, after all. Sure, Rex was practically turning 20 soon, but Marcus would be damned if he was staring at another man in the shower. "Got any more secrets you're hiding from us?" the man asked finally.

Rex looked at Fenix. He could see all of the soldier's scars. There was so much, it was like he purposely injured himself to get more. The more he looked at the Gear's body, the angrier he got until he had it with Fenix. Here he was trying to pry into his life. Well fuck that. He grinned before answering the larger male.

"Well sir, if you must know, I might be. However, that's kind of personal. Frankly, you don't need to know my life story. All you need to know is that I'm here because Hoffman ordered my ass to stick with your squad. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to continue to shower in peace!" the blond said, scowling at his commanding officer. Rex felt that he didn't need to have the Sergeant knowing about him anymore than he had to. He had a mission to do, and he would do it as he knew how. Other than that, he had nothing to say to Marcus.

The sergeant was severely pissed at the kid's outburst. A large hand found itself pinning Rex to the wall. The water had begun to run down Marcus' body. He could feel Rex's heartbeat pick up instantly. "Listen kid, don't piss me off. I don't know what your problem is, but I'll be damned if I let you talk to me like that." Fenix yelled.

Rex looked at the hand that was pinning him to the wall. He was pissed off at that point. He opened his mouth to speak, only to see Dom move over to the commotion and put his hand over the blonde's mouth. He positioned himself in front of Marcus and Rex. It was weird, Dom was standing really close to Marcus, his brown eyes staring his friend in the face. "Cool it, both of you." the male said. He turned to Rex. "Rex, you need to chill the fuck out. There's no need to be hostile here." he said, turning back to Marcus. Dom let his eyes wander on Marcus' body. It was quick, probably about a second before he spoke. "Marcus," his voice became soft. "Calm down. The kid doesn't know you like I, and the others, do. Give him time to adjust, man. It's been a long day. Let's just calm our asses down, okay?" the male asked. Rex didn't move. His heart was still beating a mile a minute.

Marcus turned away and walked to his own shower head. He let out a grunt in response to Dom. 'Fucking kid. If it wasn't for Dom...' the male thought to himself. Dom removed his hand from Rex's mouth. He could tell the kid was scared, because he could feel his heart beating. "Rex. Go finish showering, and get to bed. We have a long day tomorrow." he said, his voice serious. Dom went back to his side of the shower area.

Harper, who had somehow remained silent, spoke to Rex. "Holy shit, Rexxy boy. You just pissed off Marcus Fenix. You've got some balls on you." the male said. Rex grumbled in response. "Whatever Harper. Fuck this shit." was all he said. Rex finished showering and wrapped the towel around his waist. "Goddamn Hoffman for placing me here." he mumbled, walking out of the showers. He went to the lockers and put on clean boxers and his fatigues. Rex pushed his hair to cover one eye like he always did. With that, he left to his quarters.

Back in his room, Rex listened as Harper and Madeline slept. He couldn't sleep at all. He was having a nightmare. It went like it always did. Rex would wake up in his bed, and see something moving around outside. Followed by a loud scream. The house would shake, and a hole would open up outside. "RIIIIISE!" a voice would boom into the night. Rex would always wake up in a cold sweat at that part. He remembered what happened with Fenix, and cursed. He had heard that Fenix would always get payback on those that pissed him off. Rex got up silently and sneaked out of his door. He closed it gently behind him before sneaking off to the locker rooms.

He reached the lockers quickly and found his. Reaching inside, the soldier took his chest plate and put it on. He adjusted it so that it wouldn't make any noise when he moved. The blond walked out of the locker rooms, and looked back. Something told him he'd be in deep shit for what he was doing, but he didn't care. His past was starting to catch up with him, and he needed to get away.

The next morning, at 0800 hours, Dom awoke to a commotion. He walked into the hallway in his fatigues. "What's going on?" the Gear asked a passerby. The other gear looked at him and sighed. "It appears someone has gone missing." she replied. Dom had a sinking feeling in his gut.

Quickly, and barefoot, Dom ran to Rex's room to make sure he was there. He knocked on the door, only for Harper to open up. "Where is Rex?" Dom asked in a worried tone, catching his breath. Harper shrugged and looked into Dom's eyes. "I thought he was with you. After all, you did stop Fenix from attacking him." the male answered.

Around the corner, Snow could be heard. "Get the fuck out of my way!" she screamed, knocking people aside. When she saw Harper, she gasped for air. "Joseph, tell me where the fuck Rex is right now!" she said, her eyes deadly serious.

Dom raced back to his and Marcus' room. "Marcus, get up! Rex is missing!" he shouted. Marcus awoke right then. "Come again?" he said, growling at his friend. Dom sat on the edge of his bed, slipping on socks and his boots. "I said Rex is gone, Marcus. We need to find him. After all, he is part of Delta."

Marcus swore under his breath. Dom was right, whether he liked it or not, the rookie was part of his squad. If there was one thing the legendary Marcus Fenix didn't do, that was never leave a member of his squad behind, or missing. "If only Baird and Cole were back. Son of a bitch!" he yelled.

Marcus put on his fatigues, socks and boots. He put on his undershirt and stood in front of Dom. "Let's go, Dom. We need to find him."

Great... Just fucking great.

TBC...?

A/N: This chapter was actually pretty fun to write. I feel as though Rex is having an effect on both Fenix and Santiago. Although Fenix deals with it the way he knows how. Contain and attack, so to speak. As always, leave feedback for me? I'll love you forever~