Chapter Text
"God fucking damn it Four!" he yelled into the walkie talkie. "How many times we gotta save your ass?". Four rolled his eyes and panted out "I-" ugh "would prefer every time I need you to, but whatever works for you mate." That little shit. Even when he's in trouble he's talking back. Fueled by fear and anger One ran at full speed trying desperately to catch up to the car that his friend? acquaintance? associate? was being held in. He of course didn't reach the car but kept running anyway but stopped when he heard another car approaching behind him. He waved the car over and to his delight not only stopped for him but he also knew the driver.
"Step on it Two we gotta catch up to that car." "Why? Can't we just blow it up?" One shook his head. "No, they took Four." Two cursed in French and pushed the pedal as far down as it went.
Once they caught up to the car they also caught gunfire. Two handed One a handgun "Here. I know you're not a good shot but do your best." One shook his head "I am not touching that." Two pushed the side of the gun to One's chest "Do it!"
One scoffed but did as told. It took 5 bullets but One finally shot the driver, there was a loud bang as the car flipped multiple times and then an eerie silence after it finally came to a stop.
Two pulled alongside the wrecked car and exited with gun in hand as Four ran over to wrench open one of the doors. The assassin opened the shotgun door and came face to face with the man they'd been tracking. He was an African warlord and had been hiding out in the middle east for a while. With practiced precision Two put two bullets through his skull and closed the door as One dragged Four out of the car. Two put her finger to her earpiece "Target has been terminated. You can come down Seven."
"Copy that. Is Four good?"
"Alive for now but not for long." Two tried masking her smirk from her leader.
One put Four's left arm over his shoulders and half-dragged half-guided the blonde man away from the wreckage. "What were you thinking jumping onto the car!? You're not some kind of action hero." Four shrugged. "I could be, I definitely have the looks for it." One shook his head.
The group recognized Five's car as it pulled up. One faced Four "You need to take this shit seriously, you could've died."
One set him down with a huff from the man currently on the desert floor. Five emerged from the passenger's side and rushed over to Four with her bag in hand. "Alright that's it Four, you need to learn how to fight." One began to pace. "We've been looking for this guy for months and you almost blew the whole operation. All that would've been work for nothing."
Four scoffed and then groaned in pain as Five put alcohol on his wounds. "It's not like I haven't tried but Miss Ice Queen over there almost broke my arm." Two wore a smug look on her face and crossed her arms. "Well you should have never let me get that far." Then as an afterthought added "You're lucky I was feeling generous that day and didn't snap it in two."
Four didn't answer in part because he knew she was telling the truth and because he knew if he said something that angered her she'd take back that generosity.
One reared his head at Four "You pull another stunt like that you're off the team."
"Calm down man, he's just a kid."
One whipped around. "Stay out of this Three, if you guys would've listened and stayed back none of this would've happened." Three's expression was blank indicating he was pissed but he listened to One.
Four sighed "I promise I'll listen, just don't kick me to the curb. I'll even let Camille teach me again."
One stood there thoughtfully "No, she'll end up killing you. I know a guy."
Somewhere in Denver:
One whistled a tune as he walked across the parking lot to a building he hadn't realized he missed until that moment. He looked up and locked eyes with a semi familiar face. Wow, she'd gotten so big.
He heard her mutter "Oh shit" as she ran up to the gate. One understood what she was doing and ran to wedge himself halfway inside before she could close the gate on him. He let out a "Well it's good to see you too" as he shimmied his way in.
"What do you want Adam?" She begrudgingly asked as she walked away from him.
"I got a team going and I need your uncle to train one of them." She suddenly stopped in her tracks and looked at him. "You haven't heard you, have you?"
"Damn. So that old bat finally kicked the bucket." Daya nodded "Yeah but he didn't suffer for very long, it could've been worse. Could've been cancer or Alzheimer's. Don't think I could've handled seeing someone I love like that. Not again."
One shook his head empathetically but didn't say anything. No words could bring her uncle back and truth be told he didn't know what to say to comfort her. So they stood in (surprisingly comfortable) silence for a while, each one sifting through their own thoughts.
Daya let out a shaky breath "So that means you gotta find someone else to train your guy. Sorry I couldn't do more for you, but it is good to see you." Daya pat One on the back and slowly headed towards her office.
"How would you feel about training him?"
Daya picked up her pace without looking at One and responded with a sharp "No no no no no. Don't even think about it."
The man she was scolding caught up to her and stopped her in her tracks. "Please Daya your uncle showed you the ropes. I know you know how to fight."
She pushed past him and into her office. "Forget it Adam. I'm not interested."
"Come on Daya he's a great asset to the team he just keeps getting his ass beat." One said as he absentmindedly rummaged through her bills.
"Hey! Stop touching shit that doesn't belong to you." She yelled as she pushed him to the side and scooped up the paperwork and deposited it on another cluttered desk.
"You're not even listening to me Daya!"
"I'm not listening to you because we're not having this discussion." She walked out of the office and began to pace within the ring. "I'm not my uncle, Adam. As much as I wish I was."
One sighed and leaned on the ropes "You're right. You're not your uncle, you're even better." Daya opened her mouth to begin her protest but he cut her off.
"What if I said that I could help you with all your financial problems?" Daya raised an eyebrow. "Tell me about him." One chuckled to himself.
Two, Three and Five stood next to Three's truck as they waited for the rest of the team. "Do you really think he's going to show up?" asked Camille while having a difficult time hiding the teasing tone that saturated her voice. Five nodded her head. "Of course he will, he's too stubborn and stupid not to." Three's response was cut off by two cars pulling into the lot.
One stepped out of his car as Four walked up to him. "You ready kid?" Four nudged him. "Born ready." The older of the two chuckled "Oh sure, ready for an ass whooping." He moved to get his duffel bag out of his trunk as the last of his team showed up.
"What up?" greeted Seven. The others waived at him as he caught up with them next to Three's truck. One faced the group "I'm gonna head inside and make sure we're still on. Do *not* come in unless I tell you to." He made a point to stare at Four and Seven as he spoke. Seven looked as innocent as possible and said "Who me? I would never-"
"Shut it and behave until I get back." Four chuckled as One walked away, earning him a punch on his shoulder from Seven.
"Daya. You here?" The woman in question popped her head out from under one of the messy desks. "You all set?"
She shook her head nervously. "Yeah for sure, bring 'em in." One whistled and motioned the team to follow him. Three slapped Four's back "You got this guerito." Four nodded his head but was a lot less confident than he looked. Hopefully she's as generous as Camille.
The team walked into an old gym. The windows were dirty and hard to see through, the walls were covered in old boxing posters and everything had a coat of dust on it. Everything except the ring and the punching bags. "God this is so disgusting." Five commented but jumped at the voice beside her "If you don't like it then stay out." Daya said in a clear voice as she closed the door to her office.
Five's eyes widened. "No, I meant it's charming. It has abandoned building/ street vibes. It's great." Daya narrowed her eyes at her. Four interjected "Well I think it's great, got that nice lived-in feel. These walls have seen a lot of glory."
"I'm assuming you're Four." Four perked up like a goddamn teacher's pet. "No one likes a kiss ass" Four's face dropped.
"All of you follow me."
The team exchanged looks but did as they were told. Daya showed the team to the locker rooms and much to Five's surprise, were clean. "I originally planned on only training Four but Adam here-" Daya shot One a heated glare "asked me to assess all of you. You guys do good work and you need to be prepared for the worst."
Four and Seven snapped their heads toward One with equal amounts of shock on them. The entire team was silent for a moment but Three finally spoke up "Your name is Adam?" Daya felt a pang of guilt after she did it but she couldn't help but laugh. "Of course it isn't, my uncle came up with that nickname after he kept telling us to call him One. My uncle was pretty religious and he believed Adam was the first man, so it stuck." Once again Four and Seven wore the exact same expressions but this time it was disappointment.
"Now get dressed. Clothes are hanging up in the locker that corresponds with your number." Again, the group did as Daya asked. Not long after most of the team stood along the walls facing the ring and Daya. "You will all be ranked on your hand to hand combat skills, you may use any style of fighting you wish. Only rules are you cannot break any of your opponent's body parts." Four visibly relaxed at that. "If you knock your opponent out or they tap out you win the match."
"For most of you it will be double loss elimination, winner gets dinner on me." Everyone smiled at that. "First match will be Five and Seven."