A/N: Just in cased you missed it, this week was a double update for Firebreak, so make sure you read chapter 11 before this one!
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A couple days passed for Jo in a complete blur of training, more training, a bit of sleep, and a few meals with her new "team." She wasn't sure what the people in charge were trying to do to her, but they seemed to want her to run on very little sleep. Sometimes Diego would let her take a nap, and once, when she fell asleep in the gym, he didn't wake her up until the intercom crackled to life. That was nice of him. But Malachi might've forced him into it.
"They're going to have to let her sleep more," the team medic was grumbling at Diego. They were all sitting at their table in the cafeteria. Jo had her arms crossed on top of the table, her chin on her folded arms. Her eyes were half-lidded as Cal bumped a tray into her elbow.
"She can't keep going like this," Malachi said.
"I can," Jo mumbled. Reaching out, she pushed the tray away and frowned at Cal. "I can take whatever they dish out."
"Including death by exhaustion, apparently," Cal said, "And you can't starve yourself, fireball." He bumped her with the tray again. "Eat."
Jo wasn't hungry at all. She just wanted to crash on the table but to get Cal to shut up, she pulled the tray over and picked up the spoon. Poking at the roast beef stew, she ignored the bread and the mashed potatoes and tried to make it look like she was eating.
"Jo, if you go ahead and cry or something, they'll probably stop," Cal said, his tone falsely casual. "Not that you have to. But they're trying to break you, so the faster it looks like you're broke, the better."
"Cal," Diego said under his breath. "Not here."
Jo glanced across the table at Diego, her eyebrows lifted. Was that actual concern in his eyes? Nahhh, no way. He was just biding his time before he dragged her back to the gym.
"It'd work, though," Cal said, shrugging. "Just saying."
Wes flicked a bit of mashed potato at Cal. "Silence, child."
Cal dipped his fingers into his glass of water and scattered it at Wes. "You're the one acting like a little kid."
"Knock it off," Diego said, his expression long-suffering. He popped a hunk of roast beef into his mouth.
"I'm going to start coming to your training sessions," Malachi said. Jo could feel his eyes on her. "Just to keep an eye on things."
"Because tired fire people are bad," Cal said. He smirked at Jo. "That's you."
Jo resisted the urge to jab her elbow into his side. Being this tired was making it hard to keep up the connection block on Ryker. She could also feel him pressing against it, like he was trying to break down her defenses. Normally he would never try to do that, not forcefully, but he was probably freaking out. Which made her feel shitty.
Sighing, she shoved the tray away again.
Diego eyed her. "If you're done, I supposed we can go ahead and get to training," he said with that deceptively mild tone that she was coming to loathe.
"Diego!" Malachi said sharply, obviously not pleased with his taskmaster personality.
Diego shrugged as he chewed on some potato. "You all are the ones saying the sooner she breaks the better." He glanced at Jo. "Let's see what causes you to break."
Jo was highly tempted to smack her tray over his head.
"I'm drinking my water," Jo said stubbornly, snatching the cup toward her. "Gotta stay hydrated if I'm sweating it out 24 hours a day."
"Why are we sweating out water?" Wes asked, sitting down next to Malachi.
"As if you even have to sweat much," Cal said, rolling his eyes.
"Hey, I did my time," Wes said cheerfully. "Not my fault my ability requires me to sit in front of computers most of the time." He looked at Cal. "You could hang out in the office with me if you wanted."
Cal held up his hands and quickly shook his head. "No way, no thanks. Your ability is boring as shit."
"But probably the most useful," Wes said. "I mean, after all, I–" he cut himself off with a bite of food, causing Jo to look at him curiously. If she had more energy she'd be poking and prodding, trying to find out whatever secret the team seemed to be hiding, as they'd done this mid-conversation topic change a few times now, but it was hard to care right now. Maybe tomorrow.
"Yeah, yeah, you'll still be the suckiest team member in the apocalypse," Cal retorted, easily falling into their usual banter.
"Just because it's the apocalypse doesn't mean there's no electricity. There's lots of options."
"Yeah, well–"
The scrape of Diego's chair as he stood up interrupted them. "Jo, looks like you're done drinking your water, let's go."
Dang it, Jo had forgotten to keep up her ruse. Glowering at the cruel and sadistic overlord of her torture, she shoved herself out of her chair. Malachi pushed himself up as well, and she blinked at him in surprise until she remembered he'd wanted to attend her training session to be safe.
Well, at least someone on this team was nice.
Jo quietly trailed Diego and Malachi to the training gym, spacing out rather than listen to Malachi continue to argue with Diego in a hushed voice ahead of her. Cal was walked with them, apparently in his own world as well while he whistled some vague tune. All she could think of was Ryker–eating pizza with him, sitting in front of the fire with him, curled up on their bed together...bed, she loved bed. She loved Ryker. Ryker and bed were the best.
Oh God, she was losing it. This wasn't good.
Once they were in the gym, Diego motioned for her and Cal to stand over by the far wall. "Don't move."
"Sir, yes, sir," Cal teased, throwing a fake salute in Diego's direction.
Jo leaned against the wall and tried not to close her eyes or slump to the ground. She did love Ryker and she did love her bed, and she missed both of them almost equally by this point. Her eyes watered, but she wasn't sure if it was because she was sad or just that tired, to the point her eyes were exhausted.
"Nice," she heard Cal mutter. Jo lifted her head and noticed that Diego had a dozen things flying around the room. Boxes and crates and platforms. A few thick plastic walls. He was setting them up around the room, creating a maze or something. Malachi mostly seemed to be watching, standing near Diego with his arms crossed across his chest. Whatever Diego was setting up, Jo didn't like it.
"What's he doing?" she mumbled, not bothering to look over at Cal.
"Looks like he's building a paintball course," Cal said, sounding excited. "We haven't played paintball in a long time."
"Why would you play paintball?"
"It's good practice for..." He glanced at her and then shrugged, cutting himself off abruptly. "For things."
"I'm not shooting a gun," she said, "Not at people with powers just because they have them."
"You don't have to," Cal said, holding up his hands, "You have fire powers, remember?"
That didn't make her feel any better. Shifting uncomfortably, she actually met Cal's eyes this time. "Can you explain exactly what everyone's expecting out of me? Because I don't want it. I don't want to help out with this whole thing."
"No one's asking you to," Cal said, "They're forcing you to. Like all of us. Well, most of us." He flopped back against the wall beside her. "Okay. I'll break it down. The government isn't okay with people having superpowers. Messes up the balance of things. If you use your powers in any kind of noticeable way, the government sends a team from PsyOps to take care of it. We bring people in, give the useful ones the option of joining a team, and everyone else gets sent away."
"And you have to force them to come in?"
"Yeah, well, we all did something dangerous," Cal said, "With me, I copied my dad's power. He could create giant plasma beams, so it caught a lot of attention when I set them off in the motel we were staying at. It was an accident."
Jo wondered where Cal's dad was now. Had they caught him too? Cal must've noticed the look on her face because he shook his head. "He died. Back when that team came to get us." His expression darkened and he looked more serious than she had ever seen him before. "I was fourteen."
"You've been here that long?" she asked, her eyes wide.
"Pretty much," he said, "They didn't start letting me go out with a team until last year, but I've been training with Diego's team since I got here." He suddenly looked proud of himself. "I'm good at what I do."
Jo didn't want to take down that pride, if that's all he'd been able to hold on to since he was fourteen and lost the ability to be with his family. So she tried tactfully approaching it from another direction. "Are you okay with being here now? Or do you miss your family?"
Cal scratched his neck, glancing around as he did so. She wondered if he was looking for a camera or something. "Yeah but...I see them sometimes." He shrugged. "Things could be worse." He seemed slightly uncomfortable, so Jo guessed either the topic was taboo or people weren't supposed to see family.
It was nice to know it was a possibility.
Maybe...
But his family didn't have other abilities like Ryker.
A pang twisted in her chest for a moment, and she bit her lip and looked away. "I guess," Jo said with a sigh. "Not much worse though." She stood up as Diego finally beckoned them over.
"Okay," Diego said, crossing his arms in a way that mimicked Malachi's stance. "Wes is on his way here with the paintball gear."
"I knew you knew how to have fun," Cal said, grinning.
"You know this is a training exercise," Diego said, rolling his eyes. But there was a small smile on his face.
Jo didn't trust it.
This would probably be the paintball game from hell.
"You know, tech guy doesn't mean logistics guy too!" Wes called as he entered the gym. "In what word does it make sense for the nerdy twig-like guy to be the muscle who carries all the equipment?"
"In a world where we provide carts for you to push it all in," Malachi said with a snort before grabbing a gun out of what could only be described as a giant shopping cart full of paintball gear. He grabbed a vest next. "You know how to play, right?" he asked Jo.
Jo shrugged. "Aim for somewhere on the vest, definitely not good if you hit the face?"
"Exactly," Diego said, handing her some gear. "You'll be on a team of three with Cal and Wes since you're new."
"Powers or no powers?" Wes asked.
"Powers," Diego confirmed. "Jo needs to practice."
"That doesn't help me much," Wes grumbled.
"Like you can't tell the weapons to discharge," Malachi said, arching an eyebrow at him.
"Okay you two, you've played it before, you know it evens out if Wes is on the team with firepower." He put his own vest on and then pointed at the red paintballs. "You all take red, we'll take blue and start on the side closest to the door. Don't forget the flag, the goal is for one of your team members to physically make it all the way to our flag."
Seemed simple enough. She figured the physical part meant she couldn't just burn up their flag.
Too bad. She and Wes grabbed their ammunition and headed over to their side, Wes and Cal eagerly chatting strategy in her ears. Jo felt like she was wading through mud, that was how hard it was to focus through the fatigue, but she did her best for their sake.
Jo leaned against the wall again, staying behind the guys. She had never played paintball before, but she understood the concept. On a different day, in an entirely different place and with different people, she would have loved this. Right now, she would have much rather been back in her cot, sleeping.
"Hey, you good?" Cal asked, stepping up beside her.
Wes made a face at him. "She's not good, you goof. Look at her."
"Wow, thanks," Jo said, giving Wes a dark look.
He winced. "That's not what I meant. You just...you could use some rest."
Cal chuckled. "Dude, go ahead and dig that hole deeper. Keep going."
Wes sighed and readjusted his ammo container. "All right, all right. But Jo, maybe you should stay between us. For extra cover."
"Throwing fireballs from the middle? I don't know."
"Or you could use those as a last resort. I know Diego said you need practice but he exaggerates," Wes said, "Try using the paintball gun first."
"I could use your powers and freak them out," Cal said, "Better than trying to use Wes'." He scowled at the lanky tech. "Worst. Powers. Ever."
"I can't help that you're still miffed about Jax leaving," Wes said, "You're going to have to get over that. Learn to appreciate my abilities."
Cal rolled his eyes and then looked at Jo. "Try not to get hit first thing, okay? I know you're super tired, but beating Diego and Malachi would be great, and I need you since Wes is on our team."
Wes huffed. "I'm starting to feel insulted..."
"Good, maybe you'll start pulling your weight," Cal said with a grin.
Wes glowered. "Look, you little–"
An alarm sounded, and both of the guys instantly shifted into what Jo could only call combat mode. Instead of teasing and antagonizing each other, they lifted their weapons and changed their stances, Cal taking the lead and Wes falling in behind Jo. The fact that even Wes could give off a somewhat menacing aura, his normally chill persona covered by a cool demeanor of business...it was unsettling.
Jo didn't lift her own paintball gun. If she was supposed to be using her powers, holding it would only distract her. Instead, she kept her hands partially open and held out to the side, ready in case they were ambushed. She was sure that Diego and Malachi would play head games with them. It seemed like the most Diego thing Diego could do.
"Jo, this means go right," Cal mumbled as he did some kind of fist raised hand signal. Oh, so now she had to force her sleep deprived brain to learn hand signals? Great. Their team was definitely going to lose.
Their trio turned right, Cal and Wes moving with precision while Jo tried not to stumble. She balanced herself on a wall and shook her head, trying to wake herself up. Maybe she should have asked for an energy drink or a caffeine pill.
Something popped against the wall between her and Wes, and paint splattered across her cheek. Jo scowled and leaned away, resisting the urge to get it off.
"Down," Wes said, and he and Cal both tucked down, creeping forward while making themselves into very small targets. Jo hurled a couple fireballs around out of sheer aggravation and then followed their lead. It didn't seem like her fireballs had done anything. Great.
"Keep it together," Wes said quietly, a steely encouragement in his normally cheerful voice.
Couldn't he tell she was trying? Another paintball popped, this time right at Cal's feet. Yeah, Diego and Malachi were playing with them. Or at least Diego was. He was probably using his telekinesis to direct the paintballs instead of using his paintball gun.
Jo needed a better vantage point. How could she direct fireballs or paintballs at an enemy she couldn't see? Maybe the rest of them could, but that was definitely beyond her capabilities right now.
As Cal and Wes moved forward again, Jo decided to risk popping her head up, just to catch sight of the other tea. It's not like they were allowed to shoot each other's heads anyways, so the worst that could happen was a warning shot.
What she didn't account for–and it was probably due to her fatigue–was the paintballs already enroute. There was a split second where she noticed a blur of red in the air in front of her face. It was like the world stilled for a moment, and she idly noticed the trajectory was heading straight for her head. Both behind and in front of her, she was dimly aware of alarmed shouts.
And then it was too late.
Jo experienced a flare of panic as everything sped up again and she let out a garbled shout, growing out a fireball in some crazy to attempt to, what, melt the paint away?
But the paintball was too close, the fire flashing over it too briefly, and even as she tried to duck, it hit the side of her head, sending her sprawling downward, crashing onto the floor. If only her body had let her slip into unconsciousness–but no, it was determined to beat her up even more and make feel every flare of pain from every body part that hit a hard surface.
As she lay there for a moment, trying to catch her breath while somewhere behind her Cal yelled for Malachi, internally she found herself whimpering, giving into weakness for just a moment. It was too much, and for just one second she wanted to allow herself a small pity party. It was a quiet call, nothing that could actually reach him in North Carolina, but for a moment she could pretend. Ryker, I wish you were here with me.
Jo!? I'm close by, babe, hang in there. I'll be with you soon.
Jo's eyes flew open in horror. No!