Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer rights apply.

Warning:Updates will most definitely be slow. Sorry, guys.
This contains SLASH, in other words: same sex couples. It also contains drug use, violence, sexual situations, and MAY contain a(n OC) death. This story is marked for mature readers only, please treat it as such.

Pairings: Will be sporadic, and a surprise. I'm not ruining the story by telling you end pairings.

Beta'd By: Sarah2437

Getting Back Together Again

The Past V: Speed or How Spot Became Humble(ish)

Bam: Age 12
Sean: Age 13
Slingshot: Age 14
Stealth: Age 15
Hunter: Age 17

"What's the name?" Hunter asked as he hovered over the document in front of him. "I can't very well put 'Spot' on an acceptance letter."

"Sean Conlon," Spot answered from his spot on the couch.

"Wait," Bam said, standing up from his place across the table from Hunter. He pointed towards his boss with wide eyes. "You're the one going?"

Spot just shrugged.

Slingshot shook his head from his place beside his boss. "How is that a good idea? You're just going to end up beating everyone up on your first day. You don't have an ounce of diplomacy in your body."

"And what about school? Can you even read?" Bam asked.

Spot glared at Bam before leaning forward. "Shut up, you idiots," he snapped. "I can read and control my fucking temper. You think I'd trust something this important to one of you morons?"

"What makes you think you can do everything? Just because you can fight doesn't mean that you have any finesse," Slingshot argued. "And, for the record, you don't. Have any. At all."

"Do you want me to punch you?" Spot threatened, clenching his fists and snarling at his second-in-command.

Slingshot squeezed the bridge of his nose. "Case in point," he muttered before looking at Spot. "Don't you think this job is more my style? Or at least fit for someone who doesn't immediately try to solve all his problems with violence?"

"I can't trust any of you morons with it," Spot replied, glaring at both of them as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Slingshot exchanged a look with Bam before speaking up. "You can't trust either of us with this but you can trust yourself? How is that smart?" he asked "Name someone with less diplomacy than you."

"I don't know what the fuck that word means," Spot answered, still glaring as he took a hit of his cigarette.

Bam massaged his forehead. "I wouldn't have assumed you did, since you never use it ever," he muttered loud enough for just Slingshot to hear.

"I don't think anyone in the room is surprised by that, Spot," Slingshot replied for both he and Bam as he rolled his eyes.

Spot glanced between the two of them, his eyes narrowing as he took another hit off his cigarette. "If you two morons are making fun of me I'm going to break both your arms."

"King should go," Stealth spoke up from the corner of the room where he was sitting cross-legged on the floor.

Everyone but Spot jumped slightly in the seats, not even realizing he had been in the room.

"Holy fuck, you're creepy," Hunter said, clutching at his chest. He turned to Spot as soon as his heart had settled back down. "And you, there a reason you have so many god damn names? You tryna confuse everybody and their mother?"

"Stop yammering and enroll Spot," Slingshot snapped. Bam shot him an annoyed look that he dutifully ignored.

"'Sean', 'Spot', 'King'," Hunter muttered as he picked up his felt tipped pen (he had finally obtained it after Bam's fourth attempt, the stupid little shit) and started studying his document. "Nobody needs that many god damn names."

Sean nodded at Stealth in thanks. There was something to be said for not talking much; when you did people almost always listened to you. He'd have to remember that trick. He could implement it just as good as Stealth, if not better.

"Also," Hunter added as he put the finishing touches on the document, "those two morons were definitely making fun of you."

"No we weren't!" Bam and Slingshot both said immediately, their eyes wide as they looked towards their boss.

Spot just rolled his eyes as he looked towards Hunter and took another hit off his cigarette. "Don't be a fucking tattle tale, you pussy ass bitch," he commanded.

"I take it back," Bam said, trying his best to stifle his laughter. "I think it's wonderful you're going to school. It'll do wonders for your reputation."

"Do you want to die? Just because I'm in this stupid thing doesn't mean I can't kick your ass," Spot snapped. He raised his arms as he looked at his outfit: shiny brown penny loafers with too-high white socks, grey shorts that came right above the knee with a matching jacket, and a pressed white shirt buttoned all the way to his neck. He was supposed to have a bow tie as well, but he couldn't figure out how to put the damn thing on. "And if anyone says anything about this I will rip out your spleen and shove it into your kidneys," he growled.

Bam hid his grin behind his hand. "For some reason, I'm having a really hard time taking any of your threats seriously. No clue why."

"You're the one who insisted on being the one to go," Slingshot interrupted before Spot could try to back up his threat. He resolutely kept his face neutral as he picked the bowtie up from their kitchen table and wrapped it around Spot's neck. "I'll be surprised if you actually make it on campus. Catholic school? Honestly?" he shook his head as he tied Spot's bow tie. "... Of all the things."

"What the fuck's that supposed to mean?" Spot snapped, tilting his chin up so Slingshot had more room to work.

"It means if you made a deal with the devil to get your fighting abilities like everybody's been saying you're gonna burst into flames as soon as you get there," Bam explained with a smirk. "That is, if you don't get beat up along the way." He put a hand on his hip and looked Spot up and down. "There's no way you're making it through Brooklyn without getting jumped at least once."

Spot immediately smirked. "Good, I'd love to kill something right now," he answered as his eyes narrowed. The shorts didn't give much in the way of flexibility, but he figured he could manage it.

"Don't you dare!" Slingshot yelled, smacking Spot in the back of his head as soon as he finished tying the bowtie. "I know that look," he accused, pointing at Spot. "You are not, under any circumstances, going to get into a fight while you're wearing this uniform. It took forever to come up with enough cash for it. Not to mention all the fucking skipped meals this piece of shit cost us."

Spot crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "Right, no blood. Got it."

"No fighting, Spot," Slingshot corrected, glaring at his boss. "No rips, no tears, no dirt, no blood, no fucking creases, you got it? The school's stupidly strict on cleaned and pressed uniforms, do you understand? And we can't afford to run out and buy another one of these overly expensive bullshit uniforms."

"I'm not a fucking idiot," Spot grumbled, no longer smirking as he tried to stretch his collar out. "I'm not going to fucking ruin anything."

"Yeah?" Bam spoke up from the couch, his face buried in a magazine. "You sure? That's kind of your forte, isn't it? You certainly ruined my life well enough," he grumbled.

"You were a bum selling your body for crack," Spot snapped, now pulling at his cuffs so his wrists could breath. "Talk about fucking sad and boring," he muttered. "At least your life has some excitement in it now."

Bam glared, dropping his magazine a little in order to look over the top of it. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention that, you insensitive jerk. I was in a bad spot. In fact, I'm still in a bad spot. Maybe even worse depending on what specific excitement you decide you want to start for the week."

Slingshot looked over at Bam before bringing his attention back to Spot, interrupting the two before they could start a fight with each other. "And as wonderful as you are at causing mischief and mayhem we're going for the exact opposite this time around, right?" he asked with a pointed look. "Slip in and slip out. The less people that notice you exist the better. No anarchy, got me?"

Spot frowned before going back to pulling at his collar. "You really know how to suck all the fun out of everything, don't you?"

Spot tugged at his collar again as he stood facing the gates to the school. He breathed out, trying to force himself to be calm. So far it had only resulted in getting him more pissed off.

Bam put a hand on his shoulder. "Stop thinking about being calm, moron," he demanded with a roll of his eyes. "In fact, stop thinking altogether; it's never been your strong suit."

Spot turned to glare at him, but was stopped from saying anything by Slingshot.

"Don't tell him that!" he snapped from Spot's other side, reaching over to smack Bam in the back of the head. "You want this plan to go belly up, you idiot?"

"Oh, please," Bam scoffed, taking his hand off Spot's shoulder so he could rub the back of his head. "You worry too damn much. Spot'll be fine; he knows what he's doing."

"He never knows what he's doing!" Slingshot argued.

"I'll be fine, Mom and Dad," Spot said, finally walking through the gates in front of him. "Just get back home and help Stealth keep an eye on Hunter until I can get back."

"Yes, sir," Slingshot and Bam both answered, Bam even giving a salute.

Spot sighed and rolled his eyes as he left them both behind. Honestly, this was a pretty stupid plan. He didn't know how to convince people to do things. He definitely wasn't eloquent. And he had no idea what to offer a rich kid. He had wanted to do this himself (it was his gang, after all), but he was already regretting not giving the job to Slingshot.

"This is fucking useless," Spot muttered to himself as he pushed through the crowds of students in the hall. "And fucking boring," he griped. He looked around him. "And where the fuck is the office? Everything looks the god damn same."

"The office is over on your right," a boy said with a smile. "You must be new here. I'm-"

"I don't give a fuck," Spot snapped before turning and walking through the door that had been directly to the right of him. Why couldn't they fucking just label things? And he probably could have fucking been nicer to that kid. Damn, he was already fucking this all up. He was too angry to deal with people.

He couldn't help it. There was something about the uniform or school or fucking something that was really pissing him the fuck off. The faster he got this fucking job done the better. Maybe he'd just skip all his fucking classes and devote all his time into finding this fucking kid. He might be able to get out of here with him today. That'd be fucking nice.

Fuck, he didn't even know what to say to the piece of shit when he did find him.

'Hey, how would you like to abandon everyone you know so you can drive me around?'

'Work for me or I'll bash your head into a wall.'

'You bored? Because I can make shit way more exciting for you. You like running from cops?'

'Wanna stick it to your parents? I can make you into a criminal.'

Fuck, Sling and Bam were right, he was fucking terrible at this shit.

Seth flicked the ash off the end of his cigarette as he looked out into the parking lot. The kids here had way too much fucking money; you could tell from the cars their parents let them drive. Lamborghinis, Bentleys, Vipers, Feraris, Jaguars, Porsches, BMWs, the list went on and on. It was too bad Seth couldn't conduct business at school; he was standing on a fucking goldmine. Rich fucks didn't know how good they had it.

"Still upset you don't have a car yet?" a voice said from behind him.

Seth turned around, forcing a smile when he recognized his roommate. Tom, who was basically the opposite of him in every way. Rich when he was poor, chubby when he was skinny, blonde hair when he had brown, loud and demanding when he was quiet and kept to himself. The only thing they had in common was their tall height. "Hey, Tom," Seth greeted before going back to looking at the parking lot. "Just being envious. There's no way my parents are going to buy me a car with grades like mine."

He was lying; his parents didn't have shit for money, and if they did they certainly wouldn't be handing it over to him. In fact, he was paying for school by himself from the cars he lifted and sold. But having no money didn't sit well with the people here, and he had to maintain his cover. No one would believe a rich kid from a private boarding school would be hijacking cars.

"Not like there's a whole lot of places to drive to anyway," Tom said, coming to stand by him and frowning down at his cigarette. "I thought you said you were going to quit. They can expel you for that, you know."

Seth frowned, realizing it for the threat it was. Tom was another rich fuck. He was one of the richest, in fact. His father was the fucking principal, for Christ's sake. At first, Seth had hated his luck when he realized who his roommate was, but it turned out Tom liked him for some fucked up reason, which was his ticket to not getting caught going off campus.

Still, he owed Tom a lot of favors for looking the other way, which was a fact the douchebag was never going to let him forget.

So far, Seth had played nice, but he couldn't help but grate his teeth at some of the things Tom took for granted. Like the Aston Martin One the little fuck drove around like it was a god damn Prius. And, yeah, Seth could admit that jealousy definitely had something to do with his intense dislike of his roommate. But anyone who was forced to see a fucking sixteen-year-old kid drive around in a car worth over a million dollars would be pretty fucking jealous too.

And the fact that Tom drove around in it like it was fucking nothing was enough to make Seth want to rip his god damn throat out.

"Seth? You okay, buddy?"

Seth jerked out of his thoughts as he heard his name. He gave Tom another smile when he realized he'd been glaring at the parking lot. What the hell had Tom been talking about? Fucking cigarettes or something? "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just stressed out," he said, flicking his cigarette out into the parking lot. "Just because I know I should quit those stupid things doesn't make it any easier, you know it?"

Tom nodded his head. "Yeah, I can imagine. Must be hard, huh?"

I'll give you something hard right up your ass if you ruin another cigarette for me, you fucking cunt.

God, if only Seth could actually say it. Instead, he smiled, nodding his head back. "I'll get there eventually. I've got to. Can't waste my education on a habit that's going to kill me, can I?"

"Not to mention," Tom said in a quiet voice, looking around as he scrunched up his nose, "it makes you look kind of poor, dude. No offense."

Seth had to resist the urge to cram his lighter so far up Tom's nose it caused brain damage. "God forbid people think I don't have a trust fund."

Tom nodded his head, and Seth found himself once again grateful that Tom did not seem to register sarcasm at all.

"Yo, you two douchebags," a short, scrawny kid called out before coming over to them.

Tom cocked his head, evidently trying to place him. Seth didn't need to bother; there was no one at this school that acted like that.

"I'm sorry, were you talking to us?" Tom asked, crossing his arms and puffing out his chest. Seth could tell the 'My Daddy Is The Principal Speech' was quickly approaching.

"You see any other douchebags around? Jesus, does Catholic school just automatically make people fucking stupid?" The kid said, squaring up to Tom and seeming unintimidated at the fact that he was almost a head shorter.

Tom immediately narrowed his eyes, and Seth settled in to watch the show. He didn't like Tom in the slightest, but he disliked pompous assholes even more. And Tom did make a good show of pushing his weight around.

Tom leaned down so he was eye level with the kid. "I think you should watch your fucking mouth," he said with a smirk. "You have no idea who you're dealing with."

"I could say the same thing about you," the boy growled out. "You're pissing me off."

Seth couldn't help but widen his eyes at that. He had already figured the kid was new, but Tom's face was plastered on every wall of school, right beside his father. There was no way the idiot didn't know who he was talking to. On the other hand, rich kids were pretty stupid; maybe he thought his family was more powerful than Tom's?

"You need to learn some fucking manners, halfpint," Tom said. "I'd happily be the one to teach them to you," he offered with a smirk. "Who's your family?"

The boy took a step back, his snarling face quickly changing to one of confusion. "I'm about to smash your face into the concrete and you're asking me who the fuck my family is? What the fuck does that matter?"

Tom took a step back as well, quickly matching the other boy's confused stance. He forced out a laugh. "You're kidding, right?"

The boy cocked his head at him. "Why the fuck would I be kidding? What the fuck is wrong with this god damn place?"

"Tom's father is the principal around here," Seth interrupted, deciding against his better judgement to take pity on the boy.

That just made the boy round his glare onto him. "And what the fuck does that matter?"

"It means I can have you expelled, you idiot," Tom snarled as he got his metaphorical footing back. "My father's the law around here. I can make your life hell, or double your tuition, or make your family wish they had never even heard of New York City."

The kid turned to Seth while jerking his thumb at Tom. "Is he fucking serious with this fucking shit?"

Seth nodded. "It's not a joke. I'm surprised you didn't already know. I'd just be glad he doesn't know your name yet. Apologize now and cut your loses. He might forgive you." Tom wouldn't, of course, on general principal, but maybe Seth could talk to him; make him go easy on the ignorant kid.

The kid turned back to Tom. "My name's Sean Conlon," he said calmly, drawing up his leg and kicking Tom directly in the thigh. He snarled as Tom landed hard on the ground, hands clenched around his leg. "And I hate little shits who depend on their daddies to get what they want." He leaned over Tom as he thrashed on the ground. "Think Daddy can fix a broken leg for you, you little bitch?"

"What the fuck is he thinking?" Slingshot asked angrily, throwing down the binoculars he was using to spy on the school. He turned towards Stealth who was on the roof with him. "He hasn't even been there a fucking day and he's already hurt someone! How is this undercover? He's fucking everything up!" he ranted.

Stealth picked up the binoculars, but instead of looking through them he just looked at them.

Slingshot began to pace. "Jesus fuck, what do you think they'll do now? At the very least he'll be suspended, which'll delay our schedule for who knows how long." He grabbed his head as he abruptly stopped his pacing. "And it's been fucking hours! Even if they settle on just a suspension he's just going to go back in there and do the exact same thing!"

Slingshot looked over at Stealth, waiting for him to speak, but Stealth just stared back.

"Of course, you're right," Slingshot replied to nothing. "That guy he just fucking kicked was big time; the dean's son or principal's son or some shit. There's no way this is going over lightly. So, we're probably looking at expulsion. Within hours of Spot getting into the school. After we worked for weeks entering him into the system and getting him his stupid fucking uniform. Jesus Fucking Christ, the little bastard can't do anything right, can he?"

"He could probably beat you up alright," Stealth answered quietly, staring at the school. Slingshot didn't hear him.

"I should've went in the first place. Now we have to do all that work all over again to get me in the system." Slingshot massaged his forehead. "And it's not like I can fit into the uniform we bought for Spot. Oh, fuck, all that money, though! It's going to take us weeks to be able to afford another one!"

When Slingshot looked back at Stealth he was pointing at the school building. He walked over and took the binoculars from him, his eyes becoming wide when he saw the cruisers entering through the main gates. "Cops? They called the fucking cops? What the fuck? Now I have to worry about fucking bail money, too?"

Stealth shook his head before jumping onto the next roof, heading towards the school.

"No fucking way, dude. Absolutely not," Slingshot objected even as he followed behind him. "I am not about to take on some fucking cops so Spot doesn't have to spend a few hours in jail. This shit is way above my pay grade!"

But Stealth kept moving towards the school and Slingshot kept following him.

Spot slipped out of the principal's office as soon as everyone was properly distracted by the sirens. The cops? They called the fucking cops? What the fuck? Over one fucking broken bone? Who the fuck were these people? It was one fucking broken leg, It wasn't even illegal.

It wasn't illegal, was it? Spot paused at the thought before shrugging and rounding the corner. It didn't really matter if it was or not; he had no plans on being caught. It did, however, put a damper on primary plans. How the fuck was he supposed to find a student here if he wasn't fucking allowed on grounds?

Slingshot should have definitely been the one to come. He hadn't even finished out his first day, for Christ's sake, and now he was running around avoiding cops. He didn't even get a chance to fucking ask around for Speed. He couldn't believe he just completely and utterly fucked everything up. Fuck. Fuck.

Spot was halted in his tracks as he rounded a corner and ran into a body. He quickly jumped back, fists raised as he readied himself to smash his way through some piece of shit cops.

Instead, the other boy raised his hands up in surrender, his eyes wide. "You're that guy from earlier, yeah? You smashed Tom's leg up good, man. He just left in an ambulance."

"If he wasn't such a pussy he coulda walked it off," Spot replied, narrowing his eyes at the other boy. "Now get the fuck out of my way."

"The cops got called, did you know that? Did they already let you go, or-" The boy's eyes widened as realization hit him. He leaned in close but did nothing to quiet his voice. "Are you running from the police, dude?"

"Shut the fuck up, and get the hell out of my way," Spot snapped, shoving the kid against the wall as he continued on his way, now getting stares as people talked loudly about who he was and what he was doing. "Jesus fucking Christ," he growled as he reached forward and punched the boy who was unfortunate enough to be close to him. "Do you fucking idiots even know the meaning of shutting up and minding your own business?"

Spot continued moving, shoving anyone within reach out of his way as he headed for the front door, cursing the entire time. Seth followed close behind him.

"You're really going straight out the front door?" Seth asked. "You do know that's where they parked the police cruiser, don't you?"

Spot whirled around to face the annoying kid, a snarl on his face. "Yes, I'm heading directly to the fucking cop car so I can turn myself in," he said, clenching his fist. "Are you a fucking idiot? I don't know where anything in this fucking school is."

The boy held up his hands again, the second time within a minute. "Hey, I didn't know. Maybe you were going outside to set the car on fire or something."

Spot turned back around to look towards the front door. He did have a lighter. And it'd certainly provide an adequate distraction in order for him to get away. And he'd have one less cop car to worry about in the grand scheme of things, and there was never anything wrong with that.

Seth's eyes widened as he realized what the other boy was thinking. He grabbed his arm and started pulling him away from the door. "I'll show you the back way. Almost no one uses it," he said. "You're a maniac, you know that? I never thought I'd ever see anyone standing up to Tom, let alone break his leg." He looked over his shoulder. "The name's Seth, by the way."

Spot scowled before jerking out of the guy's hold. "Why the fuck do I give a fuck what your name is? Or what the fuck you think of me? Shut the fuck up and show me how to get out of here."

Seth paused before nodding and continuing on his way. He had seen what this guy could do when he was annoyed; he certainly didn't want to get in between him and jail. "Anyway, it's just up ahead here, past the locker room in the gym. People use it to get to the football field, but you just need to walk around the field to get to the back parking lot. I was there a few minutes ago and no one was out there, but I can check again before you go out."

"Jesus fuck," Spot muttered. "Do you ever shut the fuck up? I need to leave the school, not diffuse a fucking bomb. Fuck, you're annoying."

Slingshot had just finished ripping the communication radio out of the police cruiser when the door behind him opened. He tried to spin around but he wasn't fast enough, and soon found himself pressed up against the hood of the cruiser. He immediately went limp, having been in police custody enough to know that resistance was futile.

"You're a fucking idiot giving your back to the door like that," came Spot's gruff voice.

"You're a fucking idiot for getting into a fight on your first day of school," Slingshot answered back, halfheartedly taking a swing at his boss as soon as he was let go.

Spot shrugged and dodged simultaneously in a way that only Spot could. "He annoyed me."

"You're always annoyed," Slingshot snapped back. "And what the fuck are we supposed to do now? I take it you were expelled if they went as far as calling the police."

"You don't know that the police are for me," Spot argued, crossing his arms.

Slingshot frowned at him, but opted not to say anything. The door suddenly swung open again and he crouched down, making sure he was ready to take down the threat this time around.

A boy came out, his shirt ruffled and blood oozing from a cut on top of his head.

Slingshot relaxed his stance to glare at Spot. "Another one?"

"He annoyed me," Spot replied, shrugging again.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"I wasn't annoying you," the boy snapped. "I was helping you not get caught by the cops, and then you ran my head through a locker for absolutely no reason."

"Because you were talking too much," Spot reasoned. He frowned at the boy before turning his attention to Slingshot and glaring. "I'm not even sure why the fuck you're here in the first place. Didn't I tell you to watch Hunter?"

"Yeah, and I made sure someone was on it before I came here to save your ass," Slingshot replied. "You should be happy I did; the cops would be all over this place if I hadn't intervened."

Spot gave a silent snort. "Yeah, you came here all by yourself to save me. More like you followed Stealth here, you idiot," he muttered, just loud enough for Slingshot to hear before speaking in a louder voice. "Exactly who is it that's supposed to be watching Hunter?"

"Bam," Slingshot said, crossing his arm and tilting his chin up. "He'll be fine with Hunter for a few hours. He should be able to control his temper until we get back."

Spot narrowed his eyes before jerking his head towards something behind Slingshot. "You better mean a different Bam," he growled, "because the only Bam I know just decked a teacher and is decidedly not in the presence of Hunter."

Slingshot spun around, his eyes widening as he saw Bam coming towards them, an adult face down on the ground just behind him.

"Hiya, boss," Bam greeted with a smile and a wave. "Man, you sure know how to have a good time, huh? Jesus, should've taken bets on how fast you'd fuck it up. Bet I coulda made an assload."

"Bam," Slingshot grit out when Spot gave him a pointed look. "You're supposed to be home with Hunter. Where the fuck is Hunter?"

"Who? Oh, um … " Bam put a finger to his lips as he looked around. He perked up immediately as soon as he found him, pointing a finger in his direction. "There he is! Looks like that cop's got him!"

Slingshot smacked himself on the forehead. "I work with complete fucking idiots," he muttered. He looked towards Spot to apologize, only to see him sprinting towards Hunter. "Oh, Jesus fuck, Spot! We can't all go to jail!" he shouted before taking off after him.

"Hiya!" Bam said, waving again, this time to the kid he didn't know. "You in on this action, then? I'm Bam," he greeted, extending his hand.

"Er … I'm Seth. And I'm not really sure what type of action it is I'm getting into," Seth said, hesitantly shaking Bam's hand.

"No one ever knows what type of action they're getting into with Spot," Bam explained. "But it's usually fun." He frowned. "Pretty life threatening most of the time, but it certainly beats babysitting good for nothing pieces of shit."

Seth just blinked at him. "Who are you guys?" He stared a bit longer before looking down at his hand that had yet to be released from Bam's hold.

Bam rolled his eyes. "You deaf? I just told you: I'm Bam," he said before turning and pulling Seth with him thanks to their still-interlocked hands. "C'mon, Spot ran over here."

Seth's eyes widened as he was pulled along in the direction of Spot and a handful of police officers. This place had provided him with the low profile he needed for years, and now, within the span of one hour, these strangers were going to completely ruin everything he had worked so hard for.

"I don't understand why you're getting mad at me," some kid was yelling as Spot kept most of the officers busy. "I'm the god damn hostage! He's the one who brought me here. The little bastard even gave me a black eye when I told him he was being an idiot," he said, pointing to his right eye that did indeed look bruised.

Slingshot immediately swung to give his attention to Bam. "I don't even know what the fuck I'm going to do with you. What the fuck were you even thinking?"

"He annoyed me," Bam replied with a shrug.

Spot ignored him, addressing Slingshot instead. "What the fuck were you thinking?" he asked, his voice coming out even despite all the running and dodging he was doing. "You shouldn't have left the house in the first place, you idiot. Does it look like I need babysat?"

Slingshot watched as his boss ducked to avoid a police baton before shooting back up and punching the officer in the side of the head, sending him to the ground. "You do realize that you're the reason the cops are here, right?"

"Miscalculation," Spot grunted as he got tased. He quickly whirled around to face him. He kicked out with his foot, connecting with the officer's stomach and sending him to the ground as well. "And as far as I can tell I'm doing a pretty good job of fixing it."

"Yeah, this is an ideal situation," Slingshot replied. "Everything's going according to plan, right? Though I'd appreciate next time if you told me that the plan was for you to go to jail."

"Can you morons shut the hell up so we can get out of here?" Hunter snapped. "One of the things my job calls for is to be anonymous, which you two bozos are fucking up royally."

"No one asked you to come," Bam snapped, still holding onto the boy he had dragged with him.

"You were supposed to be watching him," Slingshot snapped right back. "You better be fucking glad he came and didn't run off somewhere."

"You better be fucking glad he came and didn't run off somewhere," Spot said, glaring at his second in command as he smoothed the wrinkles in his uniform now that all the officers were down.

Slingshot frowned at all the tears and blood the uniform had managed to acquire in a matter of minutes, but decided to stay quiet about it for the moment. Now wasn't exactly the ideal time to be arguing with Spot.

"And who the fuck is that?" Spot asked, looking at Bam before jerking his head towards Seth.

"I'm the one that helped you find the back door, you asshole," Seth snapped, largely being ignored.

Bam smiled as he looked between Spot and the boy whose hand he was still holding. "I made a friend!"

"Well, you can't keep him," Spot answered. "He's useless." He glanced around before seeing Stealth waiting for them on the roof of the school's indoor garage. He didn't offer any of them a second glance as he started heading in that direction.

Bam stood frowning. "Why can't I keep him?"

"Not right now, Bam," Slingshot ordered, squeezing his shoulder before following after his boss.

"Jesus Christ, about time we got out of this piece of shit place," Hunter grumbled before running after them.

Bam turned his frown on Seth, finally releasing his hand so he could pat him on the back. "I don't think you're useless."

It was all Seth could do not to flinch at the unexpected contact.

"This is all useless," Spot grunted out as he threw another plate at the wall. "I need to get back in there! I didn't even get a chance to track the little bastard down."

"You need to get back in there?" Slingshot answered, shooting up from his chair and gesturing wildly at his boss. "How long do you think you're going to last this time around? Three hours instead of two? Not to mention you're expelled! They'll just end up calling the cops on you. Again."

"I think Slingshot should go," Bam spoke quietly from the couch. He shot a look over to Stealth, knowing that if anyone could convince Spot of anything it'd be him. "Don't you think so?"

Stealth just stared at him.

"Slingshot isn't going anywhere," Spot demanded. "He's not even competent enough to watch pissant over there," he said, jerking his head in Hunter's direction.

Hunter immediately raised up one of his hands from his seat at the table. "For the record, I prefer hostage over pissant. Speaking of the whole hostage thing-"

"Shut the fuck up already," Bam commanded loudly, glaring at Hunter. "You're annoying as fuck and you aren't helping with anything!"

"The both of you shut the fuck up," Slingshot interrupted, his voice louder than Bam's. "You're both acting like children! And I've about had it with the two of you."

"Everyone shut the fuck up!" Spot screamed, hurling their last plate at the wall. "You stupid fucking shits are pissing me the fuck off. Just shut the fuck up so I can think," he commanded, rubbing at his forehead as he started pacing.

Slingshot watched his boss pace for a minute or two before finally speaking up. "I don't understand why you're so insistent on doing this alone. There is such a thing as getting help, you know. You're talking about breaking into the school just to hunt some ghost. We have no idea how to get to Speed. Let alone who-"

"Speed?" Hunter interrupted, leaning forward in his chair as his eyes widened. "You guys are trying to recruit Speed? Are you shitting me? That guy isn't going to sign up with you idiots; he's making way too much money on his own."

"We could offer him protection, give him some type of insurance," Slingshot suggested. "A place to hide his cars out for a bit before he finds a suitable buyer maybe."

"You're an idiot," Spot snapped before walking over to Hunter. He braced his hands on the table and leaned towards him as he glared. "Where can I find him? Who the fuck is he?"

"What the fuck do you mean 'who the fuck is he'?" Hunter asked, leaning back to create some distance between them. "You went to that school to get him, didn't you? And you found him before we left. Mission accomplished, right?"

Spot grabbed Hunter by his shirt and jerked him forward, so they were nose to nose. "I don't know what the fuck you're talking about," he growled, "but you better start fucking explaining it to me,"

"Explaining what?" Hunter asked, his eyes wide. "There's nothing to explain! Speed was with you! Or you were with Speed! I don't know! But he was there."

"Seth is Speed?" Bam asked, connecting the dots and leaning forward on the couch as he regarded Hunter. "No way!" He exclaimed, jumping from the couch and pumping a fist in the air. "You shoulda let me keep him! I knew he was important!"

"Who the fuck are you talking about?" Spot snapped, letting go of Hunter in order to advance on Bam.

"Seth!" Bam replied, standing his ground even as Spot stalked towards him. "You remember that guy you told me was useless?"

Spot stopped walking and frowned, trying to remember anyone being there he hadn't known apart from cops. He was drawing a blank.

Slingshot, meanwhile, rolled his eyes before getting up and walking over to the two of them. "You called him useless?" he asked, his arms crossed. "Great first impression, Boss."

Spot crossed his arms right back. "He was being useless," he argued, despite still not remembering the boy. "Just because he can drive and steal cars doesn't mean he's good at anything else."

"That doesn't matter! You can't just go around telling people they're useless!" Slingshot argued. "You think that inspires confidence? You think it inspires loyalty? Stop acting like you're better than everyone else!"

"Shut the fuck up," Spot commanded. "You think you're my fucking mother or something? You don't get a say in how I live my life. Fuck you."

"If I don't who the fuck will?" Slingshot asked. "In case you haven't noticed you're completely out of control! We'll never get anything accomplished if all you ever do is run around beating people up! I refuse to be a part of your anarchy!"

"No one fucking asked you to," Spot snapped. "If you have a problem with how I run things then you can-"

"King," Stealth said, his voice loud and forceful enough to cut through his boss's words. He didn't wait for a reply before he turned around and walked off down the hall.

Spot glared at his back before turning and looking over at his second in command. "This isn't fucking over," he snapped before following Stealth.

Slingshot let out a sigh as soon as Spot had left the room. "This has turned into such a fucking mess. Spot's never going to let this go, and it's just going to get worse and worse until everything comes to a head. Which'll probably be Spot's death or imprisonment."

Bam interlaced his fingers behind his head. "You're really pessimistic, huh? You don't think Spot can do it?"

"I don't think Spot can do half of the things he thinks he can do," Slingshot answered. "I also think he's a proud, pompous ass who is never going to ask for help, despite the fact that he sucks at recruiting people and talking to people and being subtle. We're never going to be able to accomplish anything if this is the way he's going to be."

"Yeah? So what're you going to do about it?" Hunter asked, leaning forward in his chair with a glint in his eye. "Mutiny? Bow out?"

"You wanna mutiny?" Bam asked, his eyes wide as he looked toward Slingshot.

"No! I have not ever and would not ever say that!" Slingshot replied quickly. He looked around the room wildly, as if Spot would suddenly jump out from behind a wall. He pointed to Hunter. "This bastard's just trying to stir shit up. It'd make it a lot easier for him to leave if we were fighting amongst ourselves, wouldn't it?"

Bam looked over to Hunter to see him rolling his eyes. "That's true," he decided, "but beside the point. What's our plan of attack if Spot isn't able to get Speed?"

"Who says we have to do anything?" Slingshot asked with a shrug. "This whole gang thing is a joke as it is. I don't even see the point of recruiting Speed. Spot doesn't care about the guys we already have. He refuses to even meet them, for god's sake."

"But if we leave Spot to do it himself then he'll either get himself killed or go to prison," Bam said. "Then what'll we do?"

"Ah, so that's the plan then," Hunter said, smirking at Slingshot. "Wait until Spot disappears so you can take over. That's pretty genius. Why cause a mutiny when Spot's already ensuring he won't be around much longer?"

"Stop talking about a fucking mutiny!" Slingshot snapped. "There's nothing to even mutiny over, god damn it! There's no fucking territory, no fucking loyal members, no fucking reputation, this whole thing is one gigantic shit show!"

"I'm a loyal member," Bam said, glaring at Slingshot. "And I thought you were, too."

"You wanted to kill Spot less than a month ago!" Slingshot snapped back. "And now suddenly you're willing to follow him? That just makes you crazier than he is!"

"I'm not crazy!" Bam argued back. "I'm loyal! The guy saved my life!"

"He's also the one that put your life in danger, in case you've forgotten!" Slingshot reminded him. "And he's going to put it in danger again and again and again, because he doesn't care about anything other than his absurd dream of owning everyone!"

"If that's how you feel then why are you even here?" Bam asked.

"Fuck if I know," Slingshot grumbled.

Spot continued to glare at Stealth as he listened to the yelling that was going on in his living room. "So I need to calm down," he admitted when the yelling finally quieted and he was no longer able to hear.

"A king needs to inspire loyalty above all else," Stealth said quietly. "You need to allow your followers to contribute, both for them and for yourself."

Spot slid down the wall he had been leaning against in order to sit on the floor. "What if they fuck it up?"

"What if you do?" Stealth asked as he sat down across from his king. "Nothing is set in stone. You need to be able to trust."

"Why the hell should I? They've never done anything on their own."

"You've never let them."

Spot frowned at this but didn't say anything. They sat looking at each other for a full minute before Stealth broke the silence.

"You'll never trust anyone if you don't give them a chance."

"I trust you," Spot told him, his voice barely audible in the quiet.

"You've also given me plenty of chances."

Spot sighed before running his hands through his hair. "This is harder than I thought," he grumbled, still quiet. "So what do I do then? I just switch myself out for Slingshot?"

Stealth shrugged. "The choice is yours, my king. Follow your instincts."

"They haven't really been doing me much good today, have they?"

Stealth caught his eye and held it for a few seconds before finally speaking. "No one's going to trust you if you don't trust yourself."

"You sound like a god damn fortune cookie," Spot replied with no malice before sighing and running his hands through his hair again.

"The Chinese are a wise people."

Spot let out a silent snort as he smirked at his friend. He picked himself up off the floor before offering Stealth his hand. "Let's go see about this fucking mutiny then, shall we?"

Stealth nodded before taking his hand and following him back into the living room where silence welcomed them.

"I think Bam should go," Spot said calmly as he crossed the room to sit on the couch.

"It's interesting how much you don't seem to want Slingshot to go," Hunter said from his place at the kitchen table. "One would think that you don't trust him."

"Do you stay up at night thinking of the best ways to annoy me?" Spot asked, eyes narrowed but voice still calm. He looked towards Bam. "You already know this guy, right?"

"'Know' is probably an exaggeration," Bam replied. "I just met him for a few minutes. You're the one he was following around."

Spot smacked himself on the forehead. "Does everyone stay up at night thinking of the best ways to annoy me?" He muttered to himself. "Fuck it, if we're going to talk about things like a bunch of pussies we might as well decide things like them to. Let's vote. All in favor of-"

"You think a democratic-based system is a pussy system? I don't think how the Founding Fathers creating our government can be described as anything relating to pussy, except maybe that they got a lot of it," Hunter interrupted.

Spot leaned over so that he was speaking directly into Hunter's ear. "I will still cut your tongue out," he threatened quietly before straightening back up and addressing the entire room. "All in favor of Bam going?" he asked, raising his hand. He looked around the room, realizing he was the only one in favor of this suggestion. He quirked an eyebrow at Bam. "Don't even want to vote for yourself, huh?"

Bam cocked his head to the side. "That's kind of pompous, don't cha think? I was saving my vote for you."

"Fine," Spot replied, rolling his eyes. "All in favor of me going back?" He asked, looking around to see only Bam's hand in the air. He looked toward Slingshot. "Can I assume you're saving your vote for yourself?"

"Yes, sir," Slingshot replied, nodding his head as he forced himself to maintain eye contact with his boss.

"Anyone else for Slingshot?" Spot asked, looking towards Stealth, who had yet, and was still not raising his hand. Spot arched an eyebrow at him. "You trying to vote for yourself, too, Stealth?" he asked with a smirk.

"Doesn't matter," Hunter replied, waving his hand in the air. "I'm for Slingshot. That makes it one to one to one to two. We win!" He declared, bouncing up from his chair.

"Who's 'we'?" Slingshot asked, scowling at him.

"I'm pretty sure in a democratic system prisoners of war can't vote," Spot snapped, his arms crossed as he watched Hunter bounce around the room.

"He just wants to start trouble, sir," Slingshot said, looking towards Spot. "Please ignore him. You're the leader. I'll respect your decision. If you would like to try to recruit Speed again I will stand by you, or if you'd prefer to send in Bam I'll respect that too, sir."

Spot narrowed his eyes at him. "Nothing like talk of a mutiny to get you to actually do what I want, huh? I'll have to remember that the next time we can't agree on something."

Slingshot's eyes widened, but he forced himself to keep eye contact with Spot. "I would never start a mutiny, sir. That was never-"

"Yeah, yeah," Spot said, rolling his eyes. "Stop being boring and tell me what the fuck you want to do." He frowned at his second in command. "And for the love of god, Sling, nobody likes a suck up. Stop with the 'sir' shit."

"Yes, sir," Slingshot said, immediately putting his hands up as Spot cocked his fist back for a punch. "That was a joke!" he declared with wide eyes and a smile on his face.

Spot rolled his eyes again, matching Slingshot's smile as he finally sat back down. "So, let's hear plans then, if you two are so insistent on being included in things."

"I say Slingshot should go in," Hunter said, catching the glare of everyone else in the room.

"God, you're fucking annoying," Bam muttered before looking between Slingshot and Spot. "It's you guys that've got such a problem with all of this. I don't care who goes, or if we all go, or if we send the Queen of England. Honestly, I just wanna get this the hell over with."

"It wouldn't be a terrible idea to send in a group of us," Slingshot said quietly, looking immediately at Spot for approval. He continued on when his boss did nothing but raise an eyebrow at him. "It's going to be dangerous sending just one person in, especially since I can only assume that the cops'll be watching that place now. There's nothing that says we can't send in multiple people. One to infiltrate the school and two more to watch his back."

Spot shook his head. "Fuck waiting long enough to infiltrate again. If Speed has an intelligent bone in his body then he was thinking about evacuation plans as soon as the cops saw him with us. We've gotta move now. If we wait until everything's set up again for someone there he'll already be gone."

Slingshot rubbed his forehead. "So now we're talking about breaking into the school? That definitely calls for more than just one person. We waiting for night?"

Spot shook his head. "No, we already know he smokes, so we know if we're patient we can catch him outside alone."

"You really think you can be patient?" Slingshot asked him. "That's not necessarily your strong suit, you know?"

"You, Bam, and Stealth are going. I'm staying here with douche-weasel," Spot said, jerking his thumb in Hunter's direction. "You want us to trust each other?" He asked, looking at all three of them before fixing his gaze on Stealth. "Prove to me you're worth the headache."

Slingshot's mouth dropped open before he quickly closed it again. He jerked upright in his chair so his back was straight before nodding at his boss. "Leave it to me, sir."

Stealth gave Spot a small nod to show he approved, as Bam bounced a little in his seat.

"Finally!" Bam exclaimed with a smile. "This is going to be a blast!"

"So how much longer am I going to be here after those three idiots fuck everything up?" Hunter asked as he paced the length of the living room.

Spot studied his game of solitaire as he sat at the kitchen table, not bothering to look up at his prisoner. "You're going to be here for however long I need you." He played a Jack on a Queen. "And then, when I do let you go, you're going to be grateful that I didn't decide to kill you, despite the fact that you seem to ask for it multiple times a day."

"You call them idiots all the time!" Hunter exclaimed. "How come you can do it and I can't?"

"Because they aren't your idiots," Spot explained before finally looking up. "And you're purposely trying to rock the boat. It won't work," he told him before going back to concentrating on his solitare game.

"This whole place is fucking weird," Slingshot said, crossing his arms as he plopped himself down on the couch with a scowl on his face. "I've never met a gang who's members were so loud about how much they disagreed with how things are run, but refuse to ever leave or mutiny."

"Regular gangs are stupid," Spot commented as he shifted some cards around. "I don't want a regular gang; I want a fucking fantastic gang, and you can't have a fantastic gang with drone followers and a pussy-ass ruler."

Hunter frowned at him. "Do you realize that you're being horribly offensive every time you talk? Or do you not even think about it?"

"I know I don't take advice from pussy-ass douchebags who should've been killed ages ago," Spot replied, not looking up from his card game.

"So you don't even think about it then," Hunter replied, narrowing his eyes at Spot. "You do realize you need me, right? Cause there's no way Speed is going to willingly sign on with you, so you're going to need me to find you someone else. You can't exactly make an enemy out of me."

"I can certainly rip your tongue out of your head," Spot muttered as he put down a card. "Not like I wanna be friends or anything. Threatening you works just fine by me."

"Hey, now, I was joking," Hunter replied, lifting up his hands in front of him in a surrendering gesture. "No reason to start ripping off body parts."

Spot gave a silent snort, still giving his full attention to his card game. After half a minute he jerked up, checking the room wildly before his gaze settled on Hunter. He narrowed his eyes. "I just got a really bad feeling."

"Bam, would you slow down? You're running there just so you can spend more time waiting on a rooftop!"Slingshot shouted as he tried to keep up with the younger boy.

"What if he's smoking right now though?" Bam shouted, shooting a look behind him before turning to look back ahead. "Ah, man, this is so cool! This is my first assignment, you know! I'm gonna kill it!"

Slingshot turned towards Stealth, who was running right beside him. "You hear that? First mission. I would have never guessed," he said while rolling his eyes.

Stealth looked at him for a few seconds before going back to looking in front of him, being sure not to slow his pace.

"You really need to learn to lighten up," Slingshot muttered to himself before yelling out to the boy in front of him. "Oi, Bam, slow the fuck down already! We're close to the school; don't need to get separated."

"How the fuck are you going to lose me?" Bam asked, looking behind him. "I got this shit," he declared before misstepping and suddenly disappearing from the roof.

"Fuck!" Slingshot shouted, picking up his pace as he ran to where Bam had fallen from the roof. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" he muttered as he made his way over and looked down.

"It was only a one-story building," Stealth said quietly from beside him before jumping down onto a dumpster and making his way over to the younger boy.

"Yeah, he can't possibly be hurt if he only fell ten fucking feet onto solid concrete," Slingshot snapped as he fell into step behind Stealth.

"I've seen King fall from worse," Stealth replied calmly, walking over to Bam and poking his motionless body in the side with the toe of his boot.

"Just because the inhuman killing machine can withstand practically anything doesn't mean normal humans can," Slingshot replied with a frown before stooping down and placing two fingers on Bam's neck. "You with us, kiddo?"

" 'M not a kid," Bam muttered back before wincing. " 'M real hurt though."

Slingshot sighed as he shook his head. "This is why you shouldn't run on rooftops. Jesus. Can you move at all? What hurts?"

"Everything," Bam moaned. "I don't know if I can move."

"Just try," Slingshot encouraged him. "Fingers first, okay?"

Stealth didn't wait for the diagnosis, instead striding over and picking Bam up by his armpits and setting him on his feet before starting to climb back onto the rooftop.

"Shit, Stealth! He could've broken his back or something and you would've just paralyzed him!" Slingshot shouted, quickly going over to Bam and trying to support some of his weight.

"We have a schedule to keep," Stealth explained, before going on ahead.

"I'm- I'm okay," Bam said quietly, rubbing at the back of his head as he sniffled.

"No, you aren't," Slingshot replied. "You just fell off a god damn roof."

"We've got a schedule to keep," Bam replied, pulling away from Slingshot and dusting himself off. "Spot'll never forgive me if I mess this up."

Slingshot rolled his eyes. "Spot's already assumed we messed this up," he muttered to himself before looking towards Bam. "Fine," he agreed, "We'll keep on the stupid schedule, but no more roofs for you, got it? You definitely can't afford to take two tumbles in one fucking day."

"Don't tell Spot, okay?" Bam asked in a quiet voice. "I'm sure he already thinks I'm incompetent."

"You are incompetent," Slingshot muttered quiet enough that Bam couldn't hear. He patted him on the shoulder. "Secret's safe with me, kid," he said before taking off towards the school, using the sidewalks this time around.

"And stop calling me 'kid'," Bam demanded, limping behind him. "You're ruining my reputation."

"You don't have a reputation," Slingshot snapped back.

TBC

There's a reason Bam doesn't do combat. Haha.

It's hard to believe that the Brooklyn boys were only created to be fillers; someone for Spot to command around. Now they all have their own personalities and backstories. Their interactions are so fun to write! Three more chapters about Past!Spot and then they'll be done. Hopefully they're helping explain some of the things going on between the original gang and the Brooklyn gang.