A/N: Thank you to the reviewers, you guys are awesome!
And thank you to Greg for beta-ing.
XXXVII.
The idea of being in battle without Jimmy certainly wasn't appealing to Ben in any way, but there was definitely something freeing about racing at a breakneck pace through the streets with Rick running astride him. Their movements were near synchronous, it was almost as though they'd choreographed and rehearsed the journey for weeks prior to taking it. They paused simultaneously at the sound of enemy, ducked for cover in the same fluid motion, attacked with the same silent precision and cool mercilessness, and then took up their run again without a single word or glance to one another.
Getting out of the community center and its surrounding neighborhood proved challenging. Just as the scouts had reported, the 2nd Mass was surrounded on all sides. Enemy troops were thick in parts, and it was clear a greater force was preparing for assault. Ben and Rick didn't exchange comment or concern on the matter, slinking through the streets and cutting through the bramble of undeveloped landscapes as often as possible in their jaunt.
Being able to hear better and move swifter than any human, both boys were adept at stealth when the enemy was human. But it was far more difficult to be stealthy against an enemy that could hear as well and move as swiftly, if not more so, than themselves. They knew without a shadow of a doubt that if they could hear Skitters, then the Skitters could and probably did hear them.
Ben and Rick relied on the enemy being distracted by the 2nd Mass's actions, determining to call as little attention to themselves as possible while on the move. They tried to avoid fights, going the long way around when possible to avoid Skitters, and opting for knives over guns when necessary. They didn't approach Mechs at all, taking down a Mech required explosives, the detonation of which would bring every enemy troop for miles around down on them.
It took them far longer than Ben liked to reach the downtown city district where the alien mass was located, and they paused on its fringe to check themselves for any severe injuries and assess the area, getting an enemy count and trying to figure out their next route. Despite the troops gathering around the 2nd Mass, there were still a massive number of enemy units on the alien structure. From the sounds of things, a flock of Skitters had already noted Ben and Rick's approach and were already on their way to intercept the boys.
The signal was stronger than it had been last time Ben was there. He exchanged a look with Rick, and from the other boy's eyes could tell that he noticed the signal's growing strength as well.
Ben readied his knife at his side and prepped to move, but Rick grabbed hold of his arm and jerked his head back the way they'd come. Ben turned, scoured the horizon, tilted his head to the side and focused on the sounds farthest in the distance but they were too far from the 2nd Mass for him to hear anything back at camp, and he couldn't hear anything out of the ordinary as far as he could hear. Rick, however, clearly took note of something, his head cocked to one side and expression grim. When he noticed Ben's confusion, he used one of the hand signals that 2nd Mass fighters used in battle, Ben wasn't aware Rick knew any, tapping two fingers of his right hand against the top of his left forearm: attack.
Ben's heart staggered to a dead standstill, as he gaped into the distance, mildly aware that Rick had moved to face off against three Skitters that had bounded upon them. The signal was used to inform other fighters to start attacking, but Rick meant the 2nd Mass was under attack. They'd been gone only about an hour, the full force of Skitters couldn't have decided to attack in that short an amount of time, what's more, at the fortuitous moment when the two so-called "super soldiers" were finally too far away from the camp to be able to return and be of any help during the fight.
Another Skitter entered the scene and Ben shook from his stun, running into the fray. Together, they barely slaughtered the four Skitters, and then took off running down one of the streets. They darted into an alley, nearly running headlong into another cluster of Skitters. Rick sprinted at the six-legged beasts, screaming an impromptu battle cry, jumped and used the brick wall of one building side for leverage, bounced off the edge of a dumpster that went spiraling across the alley at the force of his kick, and flew through the air, latching onto the first overhang of one building's fire escape, easily tugging himself onto its ledge with his one handed grip.
Ben baulked at the maneuver, Weaver was seriously worried about Rick's lack of experience in battle? A few of the Skitters broke off from the group to scramble right up the wall in hot pursuit. The rest spun on Ben. He swallowed hard, taking a few steps back, squatting down to remove the other knife from his boot, and flick its blade out, it clicked and locked into place, so that he now held a knife in each hand. He let his breath out slow, eyeing the seven or eight Skitters now barreling towards him and braced for their impact.
…
Ben and Rick had been gone nearly half an hour when Jimmy spotted the four unharnessed teens heading for the edge of camp, armed each with a rifle and extra clip apiece. He didn't want to know where they'd gotten the armaments from, Dai was manning the weapons truck at that moment and he never would have gifted those four with the seventy-five round clips. Jimmy himself had barely been able to talk Dai into giving him one of the ninety round clips and a pack of five Mech-piercing bullets, and he was arguably one of the best shots in the 2nd Mass, apparently there was debate about whether he should be on the frontlines in the impeding battle.
"Where the hell do you guys think you're going?" Jimmy demanded in a rough hiss, stalking up to the four and darting quick looks over his shoulder in search of a higher ranking fighter that he could call attention to, but they were conveniently tucked out of sight from the community center behind one of the larger vans in the parking lot.
"Where do you think we're going?" Roman returned with a self-satisfied smirk at Jimmy, and as each of the four looked at Jimmy with expectant eagerness a sudden realization dawned on him. They'd made it awfully easy for him to spot them crossing the camp, yet somehow remained unseen by anyone else.
"No," Jimmy said firmly, shaking his head, "No way. Not happening. Turn around, all of you; we're heading back to camp right now."
"Oh, come on, Jimmy, they're not going to put us to any use here," Douglas cried, "They've already shafted us to the civilian guard detail inside of the community center. We aren't going to see any action in there…"
"They did that for a reason," Jimmy seethed, "None of you are prepared for this battle. You can't make a single headshot, Dougie, you're lucky if you get a body shot on a Skitter."
"I hit plenty of Skitters during that attack," Doug returned indignantly.
"So did I," Gia piped up, hugging her rifle to herself.
"What about you?" Roman pointed out, "You can more than make a single headshot, brat, at least that's what everyone says, right? And where did they place you for this upcoming battle royale?"
"That's not important," Jimmy said shortly. It was obvious they already knew he'd been assigned to civilian babysitting, why give them the gratification of hearing him say it himself.
"They stuck you inside, too, didn't they?" Roman laughed cruelly, then narrowing his eyes on the younger boy and gritting out, "This is bullshit. We are just as capable as those two razorbacks, and more trustworthy, but Weaver sends them out there? Puts the fate of our entire group in their hands? They're probably out there selling us out to the aliens as we speak."
"Shut up," Jimmy growled, "Real danger is barreling down on us, Ben and Rick are out there in a world of danger you couldn't even imagine risking their lives to save the 2nd Mass, and you want to have a pissing contest right now? You four are idiots. Take those clips back to Dai so he can hand them out to real fighters and get inside the community center like your superior ordered you to."
"We know more about danger than you realize," Kelsey spoke up, her voice clear and fine edged. She stood with her chin jutted out, her shimmering eyes boring a hole into Jimmy, "And we intend to go to that alien structure, whether you join us or not."
Jimmy opened his mouth to protest, closed it when he couldn't find the right argument, glared at Kelsey and said earnestly, "You're all going to get yourselves killed."
"Not if you come with us," Gia noted, "You took care of us in the shopping complex..."
"We all almost died in that grocery store," Jimmy retorted, shaking his head at them emphatically, "I'm not going. I can't stop any of you, obviously, but…you guys are making a big mistake."
"Suit yourself," Kelsey remarked, leading the way to a red pickup. They all began climbing inside and Jimmy gaped at them, when a Mech cry cut through the air.
"Fuck," Jimmy spun round, rifle ready, and caught sight of a stream of Skitters racing towards the center, most of them falling as a slew of bullets ripped through them from the frontline.
Several Skitters burst out nearby, racing towards Jimmy and the four clambering into the truck. In their current location, they were too exposed, out in the open and cut off from the rest of the 2nd Mass. There was no way Jimmy or any of them could get back to the community center and behind the barricade the group had spent the day erecting before a Mech or a flock of Skitters ran them down. Running being pointless, Jimmy opened fire, taking down a few, though more sprang up to take their place. One leapt over the truck, and Jimmy tossed himself to the ground out of the way, scrambling to move out of reach from the raking grasp of another, he felt the pierce of yet another Skitter's claws bite into his ankle, and spun round to put a bullet in its head.
"Jimmy, dammit, get in the truck," Douglas yelled, he and Gia opening fire on the Skitters and actually managing to take a few down. It was easier said than done, there were three Skitters on him, more on the way, and he was scrambling to get his rifle into position for a good shot while still attempting to defend himself from the reaching claws and kicking legs.
Roman leapt into the fight, shooting one of the Skitters at point blank and driving another off using his rifle like a club, which Jimmy finished with a clean head shot. Roman grabbed hold of Jimmy by the collar, dragging him onto his feet and towards the truck and together they jumped into the bed. Kelsey, behind the wheel, set the truck careening out onto the street and they all opened fire, taking out any enemy they passed along the way, and using the truck like a ram to bust through the units.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Jimmy spat out when they were finally out of sight of the attacking enemy, bracing himself against the truck bed and examining his leg. The Skitter claw had torn into his lower calf and made tiny puncture holes at the top of his ankle, and it was bleeding profusely. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to put much weight on it. Gia tossed him the knapsack the four apparently had the good sense to pack for their trip, and he dug out some first aid materials, cleaning and wrapping the injury best he could.
"Looks like you're coming with us after all, brat," Roman grinned and Jimmy offered him the darkest, most scathing glare he could manage against the searing pain of his leg.
"Turn this fucking truck around," Jimmy roared, though his voice was muted by the whip of wind lashing around them, "The 2nd Mass is under attack, they need us there!"
"They sure as fuck didn't seem to think so," Roman bellowed back.
"They didn't stick us inside the community center because they don't need us," Jimmy argued, "They put us where we would be the most help. Our being there could make the difference between lives lost and lives saved…"
"You really expect us to believe that shit," Douglas shouted, darting an apologetic look at a raging Gia, "They put us in the center to keep us out of the way, so that the 'real' fighters didn't have to worry about babysitting us during the battle."
"That's bull," Jimmy retorted, though he didn't even sound convinced, his heart sputtering pathetically against his chest.
Weaver hadn't put him on any planned attacks since the warehouse, and there had been plenty arranged, but after the shopping center Weaver had treated Jimmy like an invalid, giving him the next day off, pushing him onto Anthony and Dai after the ambush the night before, and then proclaiming in front of every 2nd Mass fighter that morning that he wouldn't put Jimmy in battle, as though Jimmy were some worthless child – well, wasn't that exactly what he was? – And then Ben had to go and agree. Ben's words echoed in Jimmy's mind: I don't want him out there with me...
Fuck, why didn't Ben just plunge a knife into Jimmy's gut, it would've hurt a hell of a lot less.
Jimmy crawled to the front of the truck bed and tapped the rear view window, gesturing at Kelsey in the truck to pull over. She shook her head at him and he pounded his fist against the glass, insistent. She skidded the truck over to the side, gravel and rock kicking up out from under its tires.
Jimmy jumped from the truck bed, motioning for the others to follow, tapping the driver side window in passing as he stalked up the road. The others exchanged confused looks then reluctantly leapt from the bed in line, Kelsey kicking the driver door open, hopping out, and they all hurried to follow after.
"Brat, what the hell are you doing?" Roman called, as they quickly caught up.
"We drive that truck into the city, we might as well announce our arrival through a bullhorn," Jimmy grumbled, "The Skitters'll be on us in a heartbeat, and we'll be dead in another. We walk the rest of the way."
"Getting there will take forever," Douglas complained.
"You guys wanted me to come, well I'm coming, but here's the deal, I'm senior, you do as I say," Jimmy continued, "I say we ditch the truck, then we ditch the truck. It won't take us forever, more like twenty minutes, more if you drag your feet, less if you pick up the fucking pace. We're only a mile and a half away."
For several minutes, Jimmy trekked in silence as the four whispered amongst one another at his back. The guilt weighing heavy inside of Jimmy at having left the 2nd Mass during a battle was nothing compared to the knowledge that he was willfully walking away from a direct order, to stand guard in the community center, from the captain.
Part of Jimmy had been alright with his assignment for the assault, especially after his conversation with Ben in the tent the night before about Matt being alone during that first attack. Maybe being shafted to civilian babysitting meant he'd lost all of the captain's respect as a fighter, but at least he could be with Matt, provide some sort of protection for the youngest Mason while Hal was on the frontline and Ben was on a guerilla op.
Jimmy glanced over his shoulder at the four trailing behind him and sighed. He'd been regretting his agreement to train those four from the very beginning, but never more so than he did in that exact moment. He expected to teach them to shoot, a few battle formations, hand signals, and then send them on their merry way to run high-end ops with their fellow super soldier, Ben, but never once had he suspected that this would be the turn of events, him leading them half-trained to crash Ben's high-end op with fellow, far more impressive, yet incredibly unwilling super soldier Rick.
"Why are you all so desperate to go to that alien structure?" Jimmy wondered and received silence in response. He glanced over his shoulder at the four. They were exchanging looks. He faltered, turned to glare at them warily, "Why are we going to that structure?"
"Notoriety," Kelsey spoke up, blanking her expression, "Grand gesture to earn acceptance amongst the group."
"Is that right," Jimmy drawled sardonic, folding his arms over his chest and surveying the four, "Because it hasn't worked for Ben once, and you four might be idiots, but you're not stupid. You know this won't gain you acceptance amongst the group…"
"Maybe we just want Weaver's acceptance," Roman cut in, "Ever think of that, brat? Why would we care what the everyday layman thinks? We want the fighters to respect us, to want us on the battlefield…"
"Instead of Ben," Jimmy finished for him, looking at them each uncertainly, "What you said, about him being responsible for all of your being harnessed, what did you mean by that?"
"We didn't say he was responsible," Gia protested.
"He was," Roman bit out.
"Rome," Kelsey spat warning.
"The brat wants to know the truth about his razorback," Roman growled, "It's time he knew the truth."
"Whatever happened, he was harnessed at the time, he can't be held responsible for what they made him do," Jimmy said, raising his brow at the other boy, "Same as I'm sure you don't want to be held responsible for what they made you do."
"He wasn't wearing a harness when our people found him," Roman muttered.
"It isn't fair that you…wait what?" Jimmy furrowed his brow and darted looks at all of the unharnessed teens.
"Our people found him wandering in the woods, without a harness, crying that he was lost, claiming that he escaped from an alien harnessing facility," Roman seethed, "So our people took him in, fed him, and cleaned him up."
"That doesn't make sense," Jimmy murmured.
"But in the night he snuck up on our guards, slit their throats. He killed most of our people in their sleep even before the aliens came and raided us…"
"You're wrong," Jimmy argued.
"Rome, stop, he doesn't need to know," Douglas whispered.
"I woke up and saw him," Roman seethed, "I watched him jab his knife through a sleeping woman's throat just as the Skitters were arriving."
"Roman, that's enough," Gia hissed.
"You're lying," Jimmy said, gaping at the older boy, "Why would he…he wouldn't…why…"
"You wanted to know why I hated him, brat? Well now you know," Roman spat out, "Because he's a two-faced, murdering bastard. You can't trust him."
"The aliens were controlling him another way," Jimmy shot back, "Even if he didn't have a harness on, you have to know that they were controlling him some other way. Ben would never…"
"And using that logic, how do I know they're not still controlling him. How do you?" Roman returned sharply.
"How do I know that they're not controlling you?" Jimmy countered.
"That's a good question," Roman suddenly smirked.
Jimmy faltered, catching his breath. He looked at the four standing across from him, staring him down, shouldering the rifles in their hands, and it struck him then, he had no reason to trust any of them, Roman had already attacked him once, and Ben, who he did trust or professed to trusting anyway, had insisted that they couldn't be trusted, yet somehow he'd ended up alone on the side of the road with them, after being lured away from camp by them during an enemy strike.
Jimmy tightened his grip on his rifle, painfully forcing air in and out of his lungs, as a tiny Ben-like voice whispered in his head: told you so.
.
.
.
A/N: Glad to see everyone amped up by Rick's appearance. Now Jimmy's in a bit of a pickle.
Gosh, I'm hungry. Thank you for reading, let me know what you think please!
Reviewers: Typhoonboom08, I was so excited for your review, for like a day I didn't feel like I needed any others, because I knew the chapter was good if you were dropping a line. Yeah, Rick's a bit of a softie. He'll be showing up from time to time throughout the story, semi-important role, you know. Honestly, I think all their fights have been grey area, but that's just me. Aw...yeah, Jimmy is the love of his life. SassySavanna190, your name was giving me trouble to type. LOL, another satisfied Rick fan I see. It's difficult to tell who to trust, and yes, Roman certainly had ulterior motives throwing that line in about "only if Jimmy comes". He's not always clear on what cards he's actually holding but he's very intent on playing that royal flush. And now I have to wonder if you know anything about poker and have any clue what that metaphors about...oh well, I'll assume you do. And yes, Hal is definitely motivated by the need to protect his brother, that might change soon, probably around the time Tom reappears, we'll see. Caswiee, I'm glad you think so. I'm not actually all that helpful with the writing, and beyond me, I'm not sure how many people read the reviews either, but yeah, I'll reiterate: ATTENTION READERS - Anyone interested in beta-ing a fanfic, its an unofficial sequel to my Christmas alternate reality story "Falling Snow"? If so, please contact Caswiee through her site account for more information! Thank you for your time, now back to your regular programming. Cookie97, that's the best kind of way to love a chapter, maybe, to just feel all warm and fuzzy about it without any reason why. That's true love. I think. I don't know what I'm talking about. I'm glad you loved it though!
That's all folks. See you guys next Sunday. I'm off to eat brunch and drink some champagne.