Learning to Breathe

A/N: Several of you have sent me some very interesting torture methods for Beach Head (apparently, his torture is more popular than I thought). I will reveal his punishment in a moment, but first we must see just how our favorite Cobra team is holding up.

Chapter Forty-six: Crime and Punishment

I didn't know I was in pain until I made it back to the transport ship. My left shoulder hurt no matter how I positioned myself, and since I couldn't feel the entry wound very well, I could do nothing to stop its bleeding either. The hole in my right leg, however, was another story. By the amount and color of the red stuff leaking out, I wagered that round grazed by some artery. I managed to stop that one from leaking too terribly much by the time we made it to the base. Immediately after we arrived, two doctors laid me face side down on a stretcher and started trying to remove the bullets. The one in my leg came out without much trouble, but the one wedged into my shoulder apparently squished itself between my scapula and what I thought to be a rib. The doctors didn't like me watching them operate on me, though.

I no sooner got to my bed in the medbay than my teammates rushed in to meet me.

"You're alive!" Vincent exclaimed, grabbing me in a hug of some form.

"Let go you loon! You're killing my shoulder!" I shouted. He backed away instantly and muttered several quick apologies.

"We didn't know what happened to you." Bryan said, sitting on my left side. "Reg said you were shot and we thought the worst."

"It's gonna take more than some crack shot to do me in." I said, slurring my word slightly. Great, they must have used something stronger than aspirin (which makes me shaky anyway). Possibly Paracetamol (the ER doctors back in Texas used the stuff when they gave me stitches). That stuff always makes me whack. "You have about five minutes to talk before I turn into a zombie." I said.

"Do you know which idiot shot you?" Kris asked.

"One wearing a ski mask." I slurred yet again. Then I noticed I wasn't the only one injured. "Neal, how'd you hurt your arm?"

He blushed. "I forgot to let go of something very heavy before I tried to run. I was too caught up in the moment to realize what was going on."

I tried to tell him not to be embarrassed, but I don't think they understood me. My speech, by now, sounded like gibberish, despite my best efforts. Damn medication reactions. Why am I the only one stuck with this kind of luck?

"You shot her?" General Hawk shouted to Beach Head over the video link. News of Cobra's attack and Beach Head's conduct during the fight spread from Hawaii to the pit in a matter of minutes. "Why couldn't you just tackle her like a normal person? You have about a hundred pounds and over a decade's worth of experience on that girl! There is no reason to resort to drastic measures.

"She was a threat!" The ski-mask wearing officer protested.

"Did she have a gun or a knife? Was she threatening to kill you in any way? Did she attack with deadly force?" Hawk asked, though knowing the answer.

"She knocked us back with her powers!" The Army Ranger defended.

"She threw us into a jeep with a stream of water." Duke, who had contacted the general in the first place, corrected.

"So she wasn't trying to drown you?" Hawk asked.

"No, but she..." The masked man started before the general interrupted.

"So you had no logical reason to shoot her, did you?"

"Why are you so upset? I just sidelined one of Zartan's newest weapons!"

"Because she's a fourteen year old girl, not a bomb!" Duke shouted.

"You said yourself that she killed someone!" Beach Head countered.

"Yeah, and she said if she'd wanted to kill us, she'd have done it!" Duke bellowed. "Besides, I get the feeling that after S.H.I.E.L.D. put her out, she had nowhere to go."

"Duke is right." Hawk said. "This isn't about killing snakes! This is about trying to find a way to reach those kids."

"Which you literally just shot in the back." Duke said. "What are you going to do if she dies and her team comes after you?"

"WE can take those snakes." Beach Head snarled.

"Then what about her father?" Hawk asked. "He's a wanted killer. Likes mauling people just to watch them suffer. He's also the result of the Weapon X project. Do you really want to start that kind of war?"

"We can kill him to!" Beach Head shouted. "She's a threat to everything sacred!"

"No, but its time you looked at what is." Hawk said. "As your punishment, you will spend two months as Shipwreck's personal housekeeper. You will look after the Triplets, the baby, and Althea until he finishes his duties."

"No!" he pleaded. "Please! I'll do two years of KP! I'll sweep out the hangers! I'll even clean toilets with a toothbrush, just don't throw me in with those maniacs!"

"You've made your bed, and now you must lie in it." Hawk smiled. "Have fun. Oh, and you may want to bring a gas mask."

Beach Head gets what he paid for, but what about those stolen files? Find out next chapter!