Sammy hummed as she looked around the place of habitation of the boys and girl that had recovered her. She nodded approvingly, then stated bluntly, "This place is even more barren than I expected, but I guess I can see it. No personal effects and everything," as she set her kit aside. She grinned, looked at the gang with her arms crossed and stating, "Good thing ya girl is here to back you up with that!"
Vic sighed deeply, then snorted as he looked to the team. Paul seemed his usual calm self, bearing a smile as he and the others watched Samantha unpack her kit. Beside him, Jim was already paling as he wondered what he was supposed to do about the fact his one crush from KFOR just dropped in. Victor was partially sorry for Lita, should she ever drop in, if Jim actually managed to get Sammy. Then again...
Then, there was Hassan, who looked like he was considering a multitude of ways to get out of this so he can go read the military operations manuals he had on his phone. Saila remained the same ol' "Head Empty, Gib Sauna" girl, but she was smiling at seeing Sammy. Like any sane member of the Misfits, she was glad to see their CO. The gang was just watching.
Sammy turned around to face them and said, "So, what's the sleep sitch?"
"Uh..." Vic paused and looked around. He explained it to her, which caused her to frown for a moment. Vic sighed deeply as he watched her pull out a stack of blank paper, a pencil and writing out a plan on one of said papers. Before long, Vic was handed the plan and he read it out-loud, "... I get to keep my Room, but I gotta share it with Paul. Hassan shares his room with Jim... And you and Saila share a room..."
"And thus, we have a bedroom open for whomsoever else will join," Sammy spoke, putting the cap on her pen and sliding it into her backpack. Just as she did so, however, there was a moment of pause, a moment where the world seemed to freeze twice over. The entire gang paused as they all suddenly felt a freezing chill shoot up their spines at the same times.
Reality seemed to fold, collapse and refold, before a screaming male voice boomed in the middle of the living room, "-UCK YOU!" only to be followed by a thundering thump against the floor. The entire group turned to see a man stand to his feet, swearing like a sailor pertaining to the mothers of a certain group of enemies as he hefted up his IAR-27 assault rifle and kit, rubbing his face. "Fucking hell..." he murmured and spat to the side, "Where the hell am I? I swear to God, if I got fucking shafted by an RPG-23 just to be sent to some random hell-" He turned around and blinked.
Everyone ahead of him had also frozen, before Sammy grinned, crossed her arms to her chest and said, "Well, well, well, if it isn't our favorite Marine..."
"Dushman!" Paul yelled, then laughed heartily as the Marine dropped his kit. A wide smile played on the Texan's face as he dropped his kit, rushed forward and gave the lads and ladies a hug. All of them laughed as they saw him do that, before patting him on the back, with Paul adding, "It's damn good to see ya, man..." as he looked to Victor. He smirked and Vic shook his head, grinning back.
"Fuck, it's good to see you guys..." Dushman himself said, his voice low. He took a step back, crossed his arms to his chest and held that grin, stating, "As for how I'm doing? Just fine. Wiped out a bunch of Black League retards before I got wiped by them just now. RPG-23 to the MRAP I was in had me cooked alive with the rest of the Marines... Hurt like a fucking bitch, too, but I'm here."
"Yeah, we heard you swearing on your way down, man," Hassan quipped.
Dushman snorted, then crossed his arms to his chest and replied, "Hey, Malay Boy. See you got a fuckin' XM5 and an IVAS, eh?" getting a nod out of the more upstanding member of the team. He looked to Jim and smirked, stating, "I'll be fucked, Jimmy, you got an XM5, too? God damn, I forgot you're a Ranger as well for a mo'..." turned to Paul and grinned, "Paul, you fuck, why are you in a Frog outfit?" and then looked to see Vic, "And, of course, our resident gunner. Fuck have you been up to, you little shit? We couldn't get into contact with you or your unit."
"Been dead for a while, Dush," Vic smirked, a hint of melancholy behind his steely gaze.
"Fucking hell..." Dushman sighed, then said, "Good to see you alive, though. Ey, El-Tee, good to see you, too."
Sammy chuckled, "Likewise, Dushman. I see your crazy streak's still showing from the old days..." and that got a laugh out of the man. The rest of the gang simply laughed as they welcomed Dushman into the fold, allowing him to stow his kit in the empty room they'd left specifically for such an occasion. The man walked out as soon as he had finished stowing his kit, then sat his ass down square at the dinner table, breathing a sigh of relief and wiping his face down.
"How'd you go, dude?" Asked Jim.
"Like I said, RPG-23 hit my fucking truck, vaporized me and a bunch of other dudes inside while we were firing back at a bunch of Black League retards. It's why you heard me swearing at the fucks," Dushman replied absentmindedly, looking at the rest of the crew. They were still missing a couple people, but pretty much 90% of the Dudes of Misfit Brigade were present and accounted-for.
"Christ, man..." Sammy murmured, then smirked, "Guessing that's a fitting way to go for the fieriest lunatic of the brigade, eh, Dush?"
Dushman grinned and gave a thumbs up, all while their comrades let out a few laughs. He looked around at the house now, let out a high-pitched whistle and seemed definitely impressed. He looked back toward the living room and dormitories and asked, "Where am I bunking, then?" as he hefted his kit. Sammy pointed to the empty room, which Dushman immediately moved to occupy.
Vic hummed, checked his wristwatch and said, "I think it's time for a patrol. Paul, Jim, y'wanna head out with me?" to which the two boys picked up their equipment, although Jim took a moment to look toward Sammy, worried. He sighed. Packing the kit, they saw Saila also grabbing her rifle and vest. She grinned, gave a thumbs up, then showed them to lead the way. Waving to the rest of the gang, the four-man team departed.
Sammy sighed deeply, rubbed her eyes, then stretched and yawned. She looked to Hassan and said, "You and Dushman hold down the fort. I'll go catch at least a wink of sleep before going out on my own shift for patrol... And remind me when I wake up to set our shifts up..." to which the Asian-American gave the Chinese officer a salute. She saluted back and marched up the stairs just as Dushman walked out.
"Take it she's gonna take a nap?" Quentin inquired, jabbing a thumb back toward her. Hassan gave a nod as he took apart his rifle and started cleaning it. Dushman hummed, crossed his arms to his chest and noted, "Gotcha... God damn, by the way, what is this place? Can you gimme a quick rundown? Cuz I know absolute jack and fucking shit about it."
"I'll tell you what Victor and Paul told me and Jim," Hass replied, setting the firing pin of the weapon aside after cleaning it. Dushman sat himself down...
Meanwhile, Victor, Paul and Jim marched through Beacon's courtyard, laughing about the past and the fact that Dushman was present. They were talking about their crazy Marine compatriot, of course, and all the escapades he'd gotten them through. Victor was first to quip, a half-smile on his face, "You fuckers remember when Dushman planted a fire-cracker in the porta-john just before the Captain went in?"
Jim snorted, "Oh, yeah. Cap's ass was covered by shit for the rest of the day."
"How the fuck we got outta that one without being found out," Paul laughed, "I'll never know... Dushman has a silver tongue." And gazed around at the students. The other two laughed, too, before pausing. The trio of men noticed two fairly familiar faces approaching. Yang waved in greeting, grinning, while Blake simply seemed to be holding her book close.
Yang raised a hand, still grinning, then stated, "Hey, fellas!"
"Hey, Yang, Blake." Vic greeted back, "What're you all doing out so early?"
"Well, it's the weekend and we figured we'd come visit y'all. Recover anyone else interesting out there, or is Saila the last person ya picked up?" She asked, crossing her arms to her chest with a grin. Vic and Paul looked to one-another and Yang suddenly felt like she did a dumb by asking that. The boys both raised two fingers adn Yang and Blake both blanked out for a moment. The blonde shook her head fast to clear the confusion and asked, "You found two more of your folks?!"
"Yup. Our Lieutenant, Samantha Lee, and Dushman, the resident Marine lunatic," Paul replied calmly. He looked over toward Blake and caught her staring at him. The young black-haired girl hid her face behind her book. Vic and Yang both noticed this, looked to Blake, then looked to Paul with grins on their faces. The confused Hungolian took a moment to register it and shrugged, "What?"
"Oh, nothing," Yang snorted.
"Dense as a fucking brick," Vic commented. Yang looked to him and hummed, grinning, before tilting her head, as if to show him something. He followed along with a nod, well aware of what miss Xiao-Long was trying to do, all while Blake seemed to be freaking out and Paul seemed confused. Vic raised his hand and said, "I'll see y'all later. Jim, go back to the house. Tell the others the patrol's splitting for a mo'."
Jim, who was in his own world, snapped out of it and said, "Oh, aight. See ya, fellas," before waving and running back to the house in full kit. Vic waved to Paul, then walked with Yang as the Hungarian grinned. He noticed Yang's strut had changed when Vic had joined her. He then looked to Blake and shrugged, showing her to follow along. She followed behind him awkwardly, like a teenager in love.
Vic and Yang, meanwhile, found a calm spot, stopped and both burst into laughter at their friends' expense. Vic heaved through the laughter, covered his mouth and said, "Holy fuck, I didn't think he'd be that fucking dense still..." before turning to Yang and asking, "Is Blake usually that shy?" to which she got a shrug. Vic hummed, then said, "Right, you folks haven't been around each-other for long."
"Yeah, few months," Yang nodded, "When we met you, we were doing a team bonding activity thingy."
"That makes sense. Let's go, I still got a patrol to run." He shrugged, then showed her to follow as he went down his usual patrol path. Yang hummed and followed along, looking Vic over once more, for her own benefit. The guy was definitely well-built and cute and he clearly had a thing for blondes, considering that cutie he befriended in KFOR. She wondered if he still thought about her.
She looked at him, from a side profile, to see the man wore a hint of a smile, unlike when they first found him when he was all frowns and angry. He winced, however, then sighed and removed his helmet by undoing the strap, revealing the jet-black hair underneath. The full profile view of the young man's face made Yang's heart skip a beat. This was unusual for her, honestly. Crushes didn't happen this fast, nor this weirdly, but-...
She saw him turn toward her and, then, he offered her a calm smile. For but a moment, all the war weariness she saw on the boy's face seemed to vanish, all the muck and grime momentarily disappearing to reveal a fine guy with a few scars that somehow managed to make him hotter than he was already. Maybe it was her teenage mind playing tricks on her, or maybe it was really him getting better courtesy of both his friends and her team helping him, but he looked like the average hot young guy you'd see in movies. Yang was usually not that vain to go for the type, but uh, well, something had occurred with the young Blonde.
The girl turned away and started fanning herself with her hand, before quickening her pace. Victor kept up with her and asked, "Everything alright, Yang? You're looking redder than Ruby's cape..." and all he got was a few mumbled words of affirmation as the girl kept walking. He hummed and moved with Yang, considering the fact she was still on the patrol route, all while keeping his eyes peeled. He clipped his helmet to his vest for safekeeping. Strap was irritating his chin.
A few whistles took both the girl's attention and his toward a group of young women, all of them grinning ear to ear. Some of them blushed and waved at Victor, though the man seemed none-the-wiser, simply waving back at them. A couple squealed, most chuckled and Yang was pretty sure she was about to quietly blow a gasket. For what, she didn't know. Jealousy? Stupid. But maybe?
"Well, that was weird..." Vic murmured next to Yang. The blonde looked at him, eyes wide, then blinked. He gazed right back at her and she yelped, turning her head about ninety degrees to look straightforward again. Confusion and curiosity got the better of Victor as he asked, "Yang? You sure you're alright?" and placed a hand on her shoulder. The girl yelped audibly this time. Vic took a step back, hands raised in defense, and said, "Gotcha, sorry."
"It's fine..." Yang sighed, planting a palm on her face and exhaling rather loudly, "Imma just got to the gym... See ya." And she stepped off rather rapidly. The confused Romanian hummed, put his helmet on and shrugged, before continuing on his patrol route today. Why Yang was acting weird, the young man did not get at all. He sighed and shook his head. Women.
... Much the same, right now, Paul was walking with Blake on his patrol route, which luckily included the Library. The young woman, however, had kept her face buried in her book for the better part of the route. Paul had no idea how to break the ice with the black-haired girl, honestly. She was acting weirder than most of the other people he had met. Most other girls.
Sighing, the man pulled his mask off and pulled out an MRE, his stomach faintly grumbling underneath his kit. Blake looked to him, watching him undo the strap of his helmet and beginning to eat. Blake slowly poked her eyes out from beneath her book and looked right at him, before noting the heavy scarring. It somehow didn't detract from the overall looks of the young man.
And Blake had to say, those looks were freaking something. To still look the way he did, especially with all the injuries, was a blessing by biological means from his family. Blake felt her heartrate skyrocket for a moment as they marched on through Beacon's courtyard. She noted that some other girls, shy bookworms kinda like her, poked their heads out from behind the library's doors, looking at them. All of them were blushing, too.
Oh, great. Competition-WHYDIDSHEJUSTTHINKTHAT!?
She whined and covered her face with her book again...
Now, Blake Belladonna was no stranger to getting crushes, but they were never this freaking bad. Well, no, that was a lie, there was that certain someone that caused her to leave the White Fang. Talk about blind love in that case. Except now, it didn't feel like that. There was something about this man that seemed to resonate with Blake on some deeper level. She didn't know what it was. Or maybe it was just a cru-
"Blake, look out!" He called out. She yelped as she felt herself get jerked to the left. Opening her eyes and peeking out from behind the book. She noticed the giant metal pole she was about to slam into due to her carelessness and hiding behind her book. She blinked, looked toward Paul and... Well, nigh immediately her face turned a deeper shade of red than it should've been humanly possible.
Paul looked straight at her, concern evident behind his gaze. His arm was wrapped around her shoulder, holding her close. Worried and probably clueless toward what he had just done to the poor miss Belladonna whose heart rate now reached critical levels, the young man asked, "Are you okay?" all while Blake got a full feel for how well-built this guy was.
She let out a noise like a teapot at maximum pressure, a long, sharp noise, before nodding and quickly spitting out, "I'mokaythanksIgottagobye!" and rushing away, out of his arms. Paul blinked, confused, then scratched his cheek and shrugged. He continued his patrol, while Blake had vanished into the library, hiding behind the door with the other bookworms in the place and panting. Blake murmured to herself, "What the hell just happened...?"
"So," One of her fellow readers looked at her, curious and blushing, "How was it? The hug?"
... O nyo...
A few hours later, both Blake and Yang were back in the team dorm, both red-faced and both curled up on their beds like a pair of schoolgirls. Ruby and Weiss stared at them, concerned, with Weiss planting a palm on her own face and murmuring, "I swear, if this is about what I think it is about..." before turning on the spot and marching toward the bathroom.
Ruby looked to Weiss and started, "W-Wait! What is it!?" just as the door to the bathroom closed shut. Ruby whined and rubbed her face, "Oh, come on, girls, answer meeeeeee..." as she plopped herself down on a chair. Yang and Blake looked to one-another, then sighed and buried their faces in their knees. It was eerie how both moved nearly the same.
A knock on the door. Ruby went to open it immediately. Yang and Blake both jumped from their respective beds and were ready to stop Ruby, thinking it was the guys probably coming to ask them if they're okay, but it was just Jaune stepping in. He waved, "Hey, girls. Everything alright?" to which Ruby looked back at both Blake and Yang, now standing up, frozen and red in the face.
"I don't know what's wrong with them as of late," Ruby quipped, then looked up at Jaune, innocent as all hell, "And Weiss won't tell me what she thinks is happening, either."
"Ouch," Jaune winced, "They look a lil' red." And that caused both girls to stumble. He hummed and suggested, "Maybe they're sick? Caught a cold or something," then both watched the two girls sigh in relief. Yang and Blake were both thankful Jaune and Ruby were the same amount of stupidly childish, but froze once more when Weiss strutted out of the bathroom after washing her hands.
"Oh, hello, Jaune. I'm afraid we can't deal with so many issues at once, so please take a number and wait outside for the daily," Weiss said with probably the most nonchalance she'd ever spoken to the boy in the past few months of knowing him. Jaune waved and smiled, before Weiss turned to Blake and Yang, "Now, to solve the issues of you two..." before crossing her arms to her chest. Both young women paled, while Ruby's confusion grew ever-exacerbated by the sheer insanity of her sister and teammates. Jaune, meanwhile, happily dipped back to his dorm to avoid this mess...
Meanwhile, within the Misfits' home, Victor and Paul returned from their little patrol duty, only to find Sammy cooking something. She looked over to them, smiled and gave a thumbs up, with Paul pausing as he saw her clad in a tank top. A faint scarlet in his cheeks appeared, only vanishing when he noticed the longing with which Jim stared at the Chinese Lieutenant.
Vic, meanwhile, gave a nod to Sammy, who also blushed at the sight of him without his helmet. The young man set his kit aside and marched toward the couch where Jim was just as Dushman stepped out of his room. He greeted Paul with a wave, then asked, "The hell we cookin', El-Tee?" as he looked to Sam. She tapped a box of pork neck on the island countertop.
"Making pork," She chuckled.
"What, no cats this time?" Dushman quipped. The entire room laughed at the joke, Sammy included.
"Nah, I left my Cat and Bok Choy at home," Sam shot back, garnering another laugh out of the group. She hummed and said, "Paul, pass me a larger pot. I need to prep the noodles," to which Paul immediately retrieved one of the pots and handed it to her. She nodded in thanks, set it to fill up in the sink and continued stirring the pork being fried in the wok.
Vic sighed and stretched on the couch, then elbowed Jim. The young American turned toward him and Vic pointed at the remote in his hand. Jim smiled, nodded and handed the remote over, before turning back and looking at Sammy. Paul and Dushman joined them in the living area as well, with Vic switching between various channels ranging from cartoons, to local movies, to music shows, to news. Paul sat down next to Vic as Saila came sailing through... Then tripped and fell.
The gang laughed as Dushman stood up to help their lunatic Finn, before Paul looked to Vic and asked, "Hey, Vic... Did Yang act weird next to ya today...?" before getting a nod. Vic tilted his head toward him and Paul replied, "Yup. Blake did, too. Don't know why, honestly..." and Victor shook his head, planting a palm on his face. The rest of the gang yet again let out chuckles, sans for Saila, who was nursing her head injury.
"Man, you both are still dumb as bags of fucking rocks, aren't you?" Dushman quipped, putting a cigarette between his lips and lighting it. Both the Romanian and the Hungarian looked at the Yankee Texan. The man shrugged it off, looked to Jim and asked, "How're you holding up, beaner boy? Everything alright?" to which Jim nodded. Dush had noted how he was still staring.
"Yeah, I'm alright, I guess..." Jim quipped, "Hass's sleeping, by the way."
Sammy sighed, "I'll wake his dog-ass up. Gimme a minute..." And she set aside bowls filled with food. She marched to Hass and Jim's dorm. A door slammed open, there was some screaming in Malaysian and a jumble of English words, as well as Chinese, and out Sammy and Hassan walked out, the latter looking a bit miffed at being startled out of his comfy fucking bed.
"God damn it, Lieutenant..." He sighed, deeply annoyed as he sat down. Sammy smirked.