Interlude

Quebec

"Are you ready for this?" Joshua asked seriously, holding a stopwatch in his hand. He looked to Jason, who wore the DSI's combat uniform. The main bulk of the uniform was completely black, made of a custom Kevlar invented by their scientists that prevented serious injury from gunshots. A full black mask wrapped around Jason's head, complete with a pair of silver goggles and a hood that was pulled over to his forehead. He carried a heavy rucksack on his back, filled with the supplies he would be carrying if this was a real scenario.

Jason flexed his fingers and nodded to Joshua. It was too stifling in the mask to reply. In fact one of the first lessons Jason learned in his six months of training was not to talk unless you had to talk. The DSI's Combat Division would only use body language otherwise.

"Good," Joshua looked to the side of the track, where four people were standing, clad in the same uniform as Jason. There were two males and two females, each with their own identifying characteristics and code-names. Rhino lived up to his moniker, standing at nearly seven foot tall and twice as wide as any of the team. Wasp was the smallest, standing up to Rhino's elbow. She had stitched custom yellow stripes across her arms to represent her namesake and her goggles were tinted yellow as well. Berlin was the only one who wore a pin at his breast pocket, designed to look like a reticule. Riccio finished up the quartet, her curly black hair cascading out of her hood. "Keeping watch?"

Berlin tapped a finger to each eye and nodded.

"Nice." Joshua looked back to Jason. "Quebec, on you marks… and GO!" Joshua clicked on the stop watch and at the same time Jason – code-named Quebec – shot forward.

The first obstacle came quick but the low wall was hardly difficult for Jason. Using his right hand he pushed himself up and vaulted over the brick wall, hardly losing a step as he continued forward. The trees rushed past as he sprinted, pushing off the hard mud to reach the second obstacle, a series of five stepping stones ordered haphazardly. Jason hopped them with relative ease, landing on the other side with barely a scuffle.

As he ran, the four soldiers followed at the same pace – Rhino and Wasp to one side and Berlin and Riccio to the other. The next obstacle was one Jason had had trouble with before – the 'Rubble' section. A series of low walls that he had to vault and low bars he had to duck under. He vaulted the first wall, forcing himself to slow down so he could duck under the first bar. The first time he had done this he had gone fall speed into the bar and nearly knocked himself unconscious. Making it under the bar he continued over the second pair and third pair with little problem, save for a slight stumble on the third wall. Nevertheless he continued, picking up his pace as he curved around the dirt track.

For a moment the track seemed to end in a dead-end, a large dirt hill rising out of the mud. But a small white hole indicated otherwise. Jason adjusted his speed and moved into a crouch, heading into the tunnel that was nearly too small for him. His shoulders brushed against the sides as he crawled through, keeping his eyesight focused on the pinhole of white ahead that indicated the exit.

Bursting out into the open air again, Jason immediately spotted the concrete walls rising up ahead with big red arrows painted on them. He followed the arrows directions, zig-zagging around the walls. He took it a little bit slower than usual so as not to get too dizzy. Coming out on the other side Jason saw the ground suddenly disappear into a large trench. He didn't stop running as a large green frame was erected in front of the trench with a trio of ropes attached. He tried not to think about what could happen if he fell as he leaped up to grab a rope and swing across the trench. He glanced downwards and caught sight of Rhino and Wasp at the bottom of the trench, waiting just in case he fell or the rope snapped.

But luck was with Jason today. He swung across and landed smoothly, pushing into a run to jump a smaller ditch ahead. A mock-up of a ravaged building appeared next, nothing more than a wall with a series of windows. This eighth obstacle trained keeping out of sight and Jason fell to his belly and used his arms and legs to crawl through the mud under the window frames. He popped back up to his feet and headed for the ninth obstacle.

The course had gone as well as Jason had hoped but as he saw the wooden frame rising out of the mud he felt a faint flutter in his stomach. The balancing bridge stood around ten meters into the air, ending in a couple of single poles jutting out to jump to at the end. Jason started climbing the ramp upwards, keeping one foot in front of the other as he balanced. As he ascended, he could feel the balancing frame shaking and waving. The flutter became panic as Jason looked down, seeing the frame bend underneath him.

Crack!

The pole hoisting up the beam he was on suddenly snapped in two and Jason nearly lost his balance as it swayed left towards a heavy tree rising up out of the bushes. However before he completely lost his balance Rhino was there, using his near inhuman strength to push against the pole, stopping it from falling. At the same time Riccio and Wasp appeared, ready to catch Jason in case he fell…

But Jason wasn't having any of that. His six months of hell was nearly over and damned if he was gonna let Death have his way today. Feeling the muscles in his leg cramp slightly, Jason pushed and leaped off the broken beam, hitting the tree with both arms. It didn't stop his momentum completely but he was able to slow himself down as his gloves pulled pieces of bark from the tree. His feet hit the floor and Jason was off again, catching an approving nod from Berlin. It wasn't the way the Balancing Bridge was supposed to be taken but when Death is constantly trying to screw you over…

Jason barely had time to think about it as the tenth obstacle came into view. It was another ruined window frame, but this time Jason had to vault through it instead of sneaking underneath. He jumped – pulling his legs up and hunching his shoulders down, making it through the window with space to spare. Landing with a stumble, Jason quickly corrected himself to make it to the penultimate obstacle: the Apex Ladder, a stairway of logs that rose up into the air and descended back down, to train balancing and confidence at a height.

Jason took it at a medium pace, knowing that if he went too fast his boots would likely slip and he'd be introduced to an uncomfortable – and probably fatal – fall down. He reached the top and nearly cursed as his boot slipped on a patch of moss. He wasn't careful enough! Immediately he threw both legs forward and landed with a painful impact on his rear, deciding to just slide down the other side instead of risking getting his leg trapped. It was a bumpy ride down but a controlled one, his rucksack uncomfortably bouncing into the base of his neck. What a screw up… Joshua wouldn't be happy.

Not allowing himself to dwell on the error, Jason pushed towards the final obstacle, the 'Terrace'. His legs and back were protesting at the constant movement but Jason was determined. Back when he was in his hometown of Beloeil, Quebec, Canada – in what seeming like a lifetime ago – Jason had gone to the gym a fair amount so his body was in okay shape. The gym had helped him keep his mind off of what had happened with Maylene, after all. Then Epsilon had happened and screwed him up all over again. The last six months of effort had honed his body, though, and had given him a lean appearance, the loose body fat all but gone. Sure, the hardcore diet wasn't great nor was the eight-mile runs in the morning but it was certainly proving the effort now.

The 'Terrace' was a series of large drops heading down back to where Joshua was waiting. Jason remembered a mistake when he first practised this obstacle at the gym. He had leaped off of the top terrace and went far too far, missing the two steps and would likely have broken his neck had Rhino not used his own body as a cushion. Learning from that mistake, Jason came to a near stop and dropped safely down the terraces. It may not have been fast but it would prevent any embarrassing accidents.

Reaching the bottom safely, Jason took the last segment at a sprint, a part of his mind wanting to carve off a few seconds. The six months had given him somewhat of a competitive streak and he also knew what his four cohorts had done in this same course. Rhino was the slowest of the four, coming in at nearly twelve minutes. Though, to be fair, five of those minutes was him getting stuck in the tunnel and nearly tearing the skin from his shoulders as he came out. Riccio came next in at a respectable five minutes. Berlin came in a close second at four minutes and Wasp made it in three minutes and thirty seconds, a record among the DSI Combat Division. Jason was confident that he had beaten Rhino but otherwise was unsure if he had breached Riccio's. He wanted to beat her and beating Berlin would also be a nice bragging right.

"DONE!" Joshua yelled out as Jason shot past. Hearing Joshua's voice Jason skidded to a halt, his boots pushing the mud aside and nearly making him fall over. He turned to see Joshua's proud grin. "Congratulations, Quebec."

Jason put his thumbs up as he panted, his breath hot against his mask. The four soldiers came up behind him. Rhino gave him a heavy thud on the shoulder that nearly knocked him head over heels, Wasp gave him a friendly hug and Berlin patted his shoulder, evidently proud. Riccio, as always, remained to herself. She was never one for non-hostile physical contact.

"Okay, okay, so here's your time." Joshua looked to his stopwatch. "And remember, you passing this trial is on my discretion. Your time is only a bit of trivia, so to speak. I know you had a near-miss with the Balancing Bridge so good job protecting him, guys," Joshua nodded to the soldiers.

That was the entire reason Rhino, Wasp, Riccio and Berlin were with Jason twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. They were his 'personal protection', as Joshua put it. When Jason had been told he could hardly believe it. What was he to deserve four of the best soldiers the DSI had to offer?

Certainly, Jason and Joshua had discovered the hard way that Death wasn't done with Jason. Joshua had told Jason all about Ruby and Sabrina and the construction site and for a while they had believed Jason was saved as well. That had changed when he was nearly decapitated by a loose helicopter blade that Joshua had managed to pull Jason away from at the last second. Lisa Valentine had decided that they couldn't keep Jason cooped up but they also couldn't lose sight of him. So she had assigned the four soldiers to Jason.

In the six months Jason always had them by his side – even at night. They would sleep in shifts so at any one time two of them were awake in case of emergency. The one time Lisa had come down in the six months to check on his progress, Jason had asked her why there was this much effort to keep him alive. Lisa had simply said that he was too valuable, whatever that meant. She had also said that he would learn more if he passed his physical training so Jason supposed he had that to look forward to.

"Right…" Joshua said. "It goes without saying that you beat Rhino's time." Joshua said, grinning as Rhino waved his hand, obviously expecting this turn of events. "…And you'll be happy to hear, you also beat Riccio's time of five minutes."

Jason was glad Riccio couldn't see the smile under his mask, otherwise she was sure to give him a sharp punch. She crossed her arms in apparent irritation. Jason had a sudden desire to want to know what her expression was like under that mask.

"…So the question is, did you beat Berlin's time?" Joshua said, glancing to Berlin, who simply stood straight with his hands clasped behind his back. Joshua let the tension rise for a moment and Jason started to get antsy. How great would it be if he could claim to have beaten Berlin's time? The man was the First Tier of the DSI's Combat Division, meaning he was the best of the best. It meant he was proficient at not only combat, but surveillance, intelligence, and other such activities. Riccio was Second Tier and Wasp and Rhino were both Third Tier. The Combat Division was made up of Five Tiers. There were no ranks like Corporal and Sergeant, Jason had been surprised to learn. The Combat Division were made of teams and these teams worked together. In dispute, the higher tiers did get the final say but that was only after everything had been talked through.

"You came in at…" Joshua seemed to enjoy extending the tension and watching Jason squirm. "Four minutes and fourty-seven seconds. No such luck on Berlin's time, Quebec. But still a great time." Joshua's smile turned a little bit more serious – at least for him. "So the question is now whether you passed? You had a couple of stumbles but nothing too bad… I won't count the balancing bridge as that was something outside our control. You had two screw-ups though, Quebec. The first of which being the 'Rope Swing'. You didn't even pause to look at the tops of the ropes, did you?"

Jason shook his head honestly.

"Because if you did, you would have noticed that two of the three ropes were frayed and would have sent you into the comfortable arms of Rhino. It was pure luck you chose the right rope. The second screw-up was on the 'Apex Ladder'. You need to make sure you keep an eye on where your feet are. But… You recovered well. Instead of trying to regain balance with your legs and risk a fracture or a broken bone, you slid down. So good recovery." Joshua looked to Jason and seemed to stare at him for a moment. "Quebec… Or should I say Jason Ryan." Joshua's grin grew wide. "Congratulations on passing the physical training! You have officially made it into the DSI's Combat Division and will join Berlin's team permanently."

Considering they were still in uniform, the team still remained quiet but their joy was obvious. Rhino actually clasped Jason under the arms and lifted him as if he were a small child. Riccio kept her distance but her body posture seemed to indicate she was at least happy Jason had passed. As they quietly celebrated, Jason caught a movement in the corner of his eye and looked to see none other than Maylene standing by a large tree. Jason realised with a jolt that this was the first time he had seen her since the training had started. She was wearing an expression of pride and mouthed something that by all rights Jason shouldn't have heard but the words came clear as day to his mind.

"Congratulations, Jason."