"This is going to be awful."
Harry caught Piper's eye in the rear view mirror and furrowed his brow, confused by her reaction. So far, she'd been putting on a show for One Direction, pretending that she was excited about the paintball tournament. She'd practiced a lot with both Liam and Harry in the armoury (although bringing Harry to the armoury turned out to be counterproductive — they'd done very little actual shooting that day) and she'd been reviewing strategy techniques with colleagues from O branch. For all intents and purposes, she should have been stoked.
She was petrified.
Not only was she completely not ready for this but she was absolutely confident that she was going to embarrass herself out there on the field. Sure, she had One Direction playing alongside her but teams were supposed to have ten members. They were going to be outnumbered and she already knew that she was going to be the weakest link, the embarrassment of the team.
On top of that, she'd had a fucking awful morning. When Harry had arrived at her flat to pick her up, she'd been fighting with Curtis about the lease again. He wouldn't budge and she was starting to get more and more frightened to be staying in the flat. She had most definitely heard some sort of meeting taking place in Clive's flat a few days before. She'd tried to eavesdrop a bit but she was too scared to actually go up there and press her ear to the door and she couldn't think of any other way. Instead, she'd stayed downstairs in her bed with her standard issue Glock on the pillow beside her, ready for any danger that might come her way. To be honest though, she was scared out of her mind and she was barely sleeping these days with the added stress.
Harry was trying to get her to move into HQ and leave the flat behind but while the idea sounded nice, she couldn't afford it. And she wouldn't take handouts.
"It's going to be amazing," Niall countered excitedly as he turned in his seat, hovering over it so he could smile widely in her direction. He was about ten times more thrilled about this than she was. When Harry pulled into a parking spot in the lot a moment later, Niall leapt out of the car before it had fully stopped and whipped open her backseat door as he asked, "why would you think it would be awful?"
"Ugh, I'm just in such a shitty mood," Piper grumbled as she reached over to undo her seatbelt lethargically. Niall held a hand out to help her from the car and she placed her hand in his.
"Well, buck up buttercup. We've got some arse kicking to do!"
Once she was standing on her own two feet beside the car, Niall whooped and ran off in the direction of the entrance to the field. Honestly, he was like a toddler sometimes, unable to exert any degree of self-control over his own enthusiasm.
Harry had crossed around the back of the Range Rover with two helmets swinging from one of his hands, protective goggles tucked inside. He put his arm around her shoulders and yanked her toward him as they made the trek toward the field entrance together. "You're going to do fine, petal."
Trust Harry to see right past all of her whining to the real source of the problem. She was worried she wasn't going to live up to expectations. She was absolutely convinced that they were going to lose and that, in the end, it was going to be her fault. "I just don't want to fuck this up."
"Just do your best," Harry coached, giving her shoulder a squeeze where his hand had been resting gently. "You've got a good team at your back."
"Half a team," she grumbled. She was confused when a smirk spread over Harry's face and then followed his gaze across the field they'd just entered.
There was a big wide open space right inside the door that acted as the midline of the field. Milling about on one side were a bunch of agents she didn't know but that she'd seen before around MI6 — Samson's team. Closer to the entrance were Niall, Louis, Liam and Zayn, talking with four other familiar faces. Piper grinned up at Harry. "You got 5SOS to come?"
"They volunteered," Harry said with a proud smile. "They wanted to help you win this thing."
Her attitude about the match as a whole was beginning to turn around. Maybe this wouldn't turn out quite as badly as she had thought. Now the teams were even — and she had nine highly trained black ops members on her team.
"Go say hello," Harry said as he slid his arm from around her shoulder, patting her back gently before letting her go. "I'm going to tell the overseer that we're all here."
He separated from Piper, heading over to the official standing off to the side with three other supervisors who would be refereeing the game. She watched him go for a moment and then turned her focus back to her team. She jogged over to where they were crowded together.
"Hi guys!" she greeted brightly. Before she could say another word, Luke had squeezed her into an impossibly tight hold.
"Hey Red! Ready to kick some ass?"
"Let me go," she grumbled, her face smashed against his chest uncomfortably. She managed to shimmy out of his hold, shoving him away from her. "Don't smother me before we can even get the game started."
"Feeling better?" Calum asked as he stepped forward to give her a much gentler hug.
"I'm doing alright," she answered as she received a hug from Michael as well. Ashton, who she'd spoken to numerous times since they'd last seen each other, just gave her a wink. "Still on the mend but I'm ready for action."
There was a snort from behind her and then hands clasped down on her shoulders. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Louis's smiling face. He leaned forward to give her a peck on the cheek as his greeting. "Pips has been practicing her little heart out for this," he joked, dodging out of the way just in time to avoid the elbow Piper had thrown in the direction of his stomach. "Obviously she's gotten herself into the right violent mindset."
"Only for you, Louis dear," Piper sneered at him before brushing past him to say hello to Liam and Zayn. Zayn kissed her cheek sweetly and asked after her. She told him the same thing she'd told the 5SOS boys — that she was fine and that she was ready to go. Zayn looked skeptical. He always knew when she was lying.
It was Liam who drew her to the side, his hands resting gently on her shoulders as he leaned in close to make the conversation more private. "You're ready for this, Piper. I promise."
She smiled weakly as she nodded, letting her eyes drift to the ground. Liam's knuckles were gentle but firm under her chin, drawing her face back up. "Listen to me, okay? You've been training really hard and you've been doing so well. You're going to be fine. Don't let the environment intimidate you."
She blew out a shaky breath and nodded with more confidence this time around. "Yeah, alright."
"There you go," Liam said supportively as he straightened. Piper watched as his previously relaxed pose tensed up, his shoulders tightening as his face morphed from a smile into a stony stare. She felt a chill right up her spine and glanced over her shoulder.
Samson was standing there smugly, his big gorilla arms crossed arrogantly across his chest. Flanking him were nine other agents who were just as big and beefy as he was, all of them wearing those same smarmy expressions. Piper felt a pit of dread settle into her stomach. It was hard to let the words Liam had said to bolster her confidence sink in when all she could think about was the way Samson had treated her nearly a month ago, the last time they saw each other. She remembered the feel of his breath on her face, his hands tight around her wrists, his groin pushed to her stomach. She felt sick at the memories.
At least someone had taught him a lesson recently. His nose looked fucked, like someone had punched him not too long ago. She hoped whoever had done it was big and beefy and had clocked him cold. He deserved it.
"Well, well," Samson said, his voice sending chills down her spine. She hadn't heard his voice in ages and she'd forgotten just how creepy it was. She was surprised by the way her whole body shuddered hearing it. She hadn't realized that Samson affected her quite that violently. "If it isn't Agent Stone."
"Samson," she said back, trying to put some power behind his voice to show him she wasn't intimidated even though her hands had started shaking. It helped having Liam right at her back, acting as her second.
"I see you've found yourself a team," he said as he eyed Liam in a challenging manner before shifting his gaze to the other men crowded just behind them. "How many of them are you fucking, Stoner?"
She was embarrassed by the way her chest ached with shame and how her eyes began to burn holding back tears. Why was she letting Samson affect her like this? Why couldn't she just use her voice and tell him right where he could shove it?
She should have known she didn't have to. There was always one person that would come to her defence, no question, and he appeared from behind her, brushing past so he could step up to Samson.
"Just one," Harry said sternly to Samson's question as he placed one hand on Samson's sternum and shoved him backward, making the other man stumble backward. "And I'd watch your fucking mouth if you want to keep it, got it?"
Usually Piper would have found it hard to take a man with his hair in a bun seriously but with his curls pushed back, Harry's tight jawline was clear and the vicious anger on his face was unmistakable. Samson was obviously getting the same vibe because his eyes were wide as he stared up at Harry. "Agent Styles," he mumbled as his gaze flicked over to Piper briefly before he was staring up at Harry once more. "I didn't —"
"Gentlemen!" The overseer was walking over flanked by his assistants and he seemed annoyed that they were fighting already. "Save it for the game. Let's get the rules sorted and then you can have your fun."
Harry gave Samson one last hard look, the threat clear in his expression, before turning and walking calmly back to where Piper was standing. He came to stand right at her side, crossing his arms aggressively over his chest in the pose Samson had been attempting when he first confronted them. On Harry, it was ten times sexier. And ten times more lethal looking.
"So here are the rules... there are no rules." The overseer looked first at one group and then the other, his face stern. "All maneuvers and tactics are fair game. There are three exceptions. One — the flag must be visible, not hidden. That means it cannot be buried or sheltered. Two — no unauthorized weapons may be used, including props on the field. That means no knives, blades of any kind, chains, shivs, whips, brass knuckles, or any implement that can be used to cause blunt force trauma." Piper gulped as she saw disappointed expressions on members of Samson's team. What the fuck had they been planning? "Third — if you are shot in the vest or helmet, you are disqualified from play. You are not permitted to take any further action and must remove yourself from the field. Violating these rules will result in forfeit for the team found in misconduct. Are these rules understood?"
There were a chorus of voices that called back "Yes Sir!" simultaneously. Piper mumbled along and elbowed Liam when he snickered beside her.
"Team Samson has the north of the field, Team Stone the south. You will have ten minutes to coordinate your team and to place your flag. Play begins when the buzzer sounds." The overseer studied both groups and then sighed almost imperceptibly, as if he could tell this was going to be a disaster. "Dismissed, agents."
"Good luck," Samson called as he began walking backward, his team circling around him as they headed for their end of the field. "You'll need it."
"Go fuck yourself!" Piper yelled after him, raising her middle finger in his direction. His eyes narrowed and he actually looked a bit embarrassed when the majority of One Direction and 5SOS howled with laughter. With one last threatening look, he spun around and stormed off after his team.
"Come along petal," Harry said amused as he turned. He held his arm open and she walked the rest of the way to meet up with him, letting him curve his arm across her shoulders. Together they walked to where the others had gathered by a sawed off tree stump far enough into their territory that they didn't have to worry about being overheard.
Once they were all in a circle, looking between each other, Piper asked, "so what's the plan?"
"That's on you petal," Harry told her as nine curious faces trained on her.
"What?" she squeaked as she pointed back at herself. "Me?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, do you see another person who specializes in operations?" Louis said as he rolled his eyes, crossing his arms with a huff as if he was impatient with her.
"Um, hello," Ashton interrupted before Piper could stutter out a response, "I'm here too. I also happen to be a specialist in operations. That being said," he added as he smiled in Piper's direction, "this one's all yours."
"But... I don't know what I'm doing," she said in a panic as she frantically looked between all of them. "I can barely get myself dressed in the morning. If you put me in charge, we're going to lose for sure."
"Piper," Harry said firmly as he placed his hand on her shoulder. She zipped her lips as she looked over at him, expecting him to be frustrated with her, or annoyed. Instead he was smiling one of those fond smiles and there was a brightness in his eyes that made her feel a little less out of control. "Calm down. You can do this. Just take a breath and think it through, alright?"
She nodded, swallowing hard past the embarrassed tightness in her throat. She wasn't so happy about the fact that everyone had just witnessed her mini freakout. She hated feeling inferior to them but it was hard not to when she was surrounded by nine highly trained, completely capable men and she felt like a clumsy, uncoordinated mess in comparison.
She did what Harry said, took a deep breath in and slowly let it out, and tried to think. She had gone through plenty of training in the last couple of weeks. She knew strategy inside and out. She just had to figure out the best way to apply it. She raced through modules in her head, through schematics she had been tested on and maps of old plans she had studied. She was trying desperately to think of something that would work.
"Maybe," she said warily as an idea started to formulate in her head, "we could put the flag at the top of the base structure and then defend it heavily. They'll be expecting it there but we could have a force of shooters protecting it —"
She knew before she even finished the thought that the guys weren't going for it. They were all looking between each other with stoic expressions, as if they all knew how bad of a plan it was but they didn't want to say it out loud. She huffed out a breath and raised her hands to her cheeks instinctively to block them all from seeing the embarrassed flush there. "No, that won't work."
"Not enough offence," Michael said, feeling comfortable voicing concerns since she'd already admitted it herself.
"Bad area for defence too," Zayn added.
"We leave ourselves open to losing too many players at once," Liam rounded out.
"I get it! It was a shit idea." Harry's hand resting on her shoulder tightened and she sighed. "Sorry. I'm sorry."
"Try again, Piper," Ashton said as he looked on supportively. "It's somewhere up in that head of yours. Give it a chance to come out."
She covered her face with her hands, blocking out the sights around her so she could focus completely. She concentrated on diagrams and schematics, flicking through her memory banks looking for something, anything. "This needs to be about the flag," she grumbled. "We need to figure out the flag. What will make it hard to find? What makes a target hard to find?"
"If it's moving."
Piper's thoughts came to a halt and she let her hands drop from over her eyes to rest on her cheeks as she stared at Michael. He looked between his friends and then shrugged as if it was no big deal. "I always find it hardest to hit a moving target."
"That's — that's it!" It began unfolding in Piper's head, a perfect plan laying out for her. "We have one of us carrying the flag."
"We can't hide it," Louis pointed out. "It's against the rules."
"We don't need to. We can have it attached to a belt loop or something. That way, the only way to get the flag is if they disqualify the player carrying it. So we give that player a guard to protect him and have him moving constantly."
"I think that will work," Ashton seconded. Seeing as he specialized in operations as well, it was pretty much a done deal that this was going to go through.
"We need to give the flag to someone who's good at being invisible, who can move around mostly undetected, and who is a good enough shot that they can protect themselves."
Every single person turned to Zayn without hesitation. He looked over at Piper and then gave her an approving nod. "Alright, I'll do it."
"Two guards enough?" Liam asked, looking at Michael who was the best shot of all the 5SOS boys, being their weapons specialist.
"No, you two won't be guarding." Piper shook her head, covering her eyes once more so she could imagine the field and put all the key players in place on her mind map. "You two need to be actively taking out as many of the opposition as you can. Since you're both best at target shooting, we should get you spreading out in the opposition end of the field to do the most damage."
"I can cover Zayn," Calum volunteered. When Piper looked between her fingers at him, he was already tossing his paintball-loaded assault rifle over one shoulder.
"Yeah, me too," Louis seconded. When Liam barked out a laugh, Louis narrowed his eyes at him from across the circle. "Got a problem with that Liam?"
"I do," Liam confirmed. "You're just about the worst shot of all of us. No way can you be trusted to have Zayn's back."
"Now, that is just offensive," Louis said as he cocked his rifle, trying to show off. Piper wasn't sure what happened but there was a crack and then a smack as a paintball shot across the small circle and hit Harry in the thigh, a little too close to an area that Piper thought was of high importance.
"Fuck, Lou," Harry hissed as he pressed his palm over the splat of red paint to ease the sting. "Watch what you're fucking doing!"
"So we can all agree that Louis is not going with Zayn," Piper muttered, looking at the other possibilities.
"Take Niall," Liam said as he eyed his blond friend unhappily. "He's a shit shot too but he's better than Louis and whatever he lacks in skill, he makes up for in enthusiasm."
Niall opened his mouth to argue, contradict, something, but then realized Liam was pretty much right and nodded along. "Yeah, Cal and I can cover Zayn."
"What else, petal?" Harry asked. She glanced at him for a moment and then looked around at who was left.
"A decoy."
"A what?" Louis clarified.
"A decoy. You all thought the base idea was shit because it was too obvious. Well, what if we made them think we were going for the obvious method to try and throw them off by setting up a decoy at the base which would distract them into a false sense of security and make them pull more of their defence off their side of the field. Then we would have a better chance of looking around on their side."
"I don't know if I followed that," Luke admitted with a shrug.
"I did," Zayn said and he nodded. "It's a good idea."
"Stick Louis and Luke there since they're both useless with a gun anyways," Harry snapped, still angry about Louis shooting him.
"So we're supposed to make them think we're guarding the flag when we're just guarding an empty tower?" Louis asked.
"Exactly."
"Okay, I'm with you here."
"That leaves me, Piper and Harry looking for the flag on their side," Ashton confirmed, receiving a nod from Piper. He thought about it for a moment and Piper waited anxiously — he was going to be the deciding vote. If he thought her strategy was shit, they'd have to start over. "This is a good plan," he said finally with a wide grin in her direction. "This is going to work."
"Okay, we have —" Liam checked the watch on his wrist " — three minutes until the start buzzer sounds. Let's get everything set up."
"Wait a second." Everyone stopped moving as Louis began rifling in the pockets of his paintball uniform, searching for something. He came out with a handful of earpieces. "Everyone take one. They're all on the same frequency as Harry's transmitter so we'll be able to communicate with each other without being overheard."
"I'm pretty sure this is against the rules," Zayn said even as he reached for one of them. All of them followed suit except Harry who already had the equivalent implanted.
"No one said we weren't allowed to do it," Louis countered as he put the remaining earpiece into his own ear, "and I'll bet that Samson's band of idiots have found a way to communicate as well. If they haven't, well that's their loss."
As everyone dispersed to do their jobs, Piper took a moment to put in the earpiece. She fidgeted with it, struggling to get it sitting right. It shouldn't be that complicated. Maybe it was because the nerves were setting in once more and her hand was shaking so badly she could barely hold the thing straight enough to get it in her ear.
"Give it to me." Piper looked up and smiled sheepishly as Harry stepped up in front of her. She didn't bother arguing, just handed it over and tilted her head to allow Harry to slide the earpiece smoothly into place. "How's that?" he asked as she straightened her head. "Nice and snug?"
"Good," she answered, a little bit thrown off by the echo of Harry's voice sounding different in one ear versus the other now that the earpiece was in place. "Thanks."
"My pleasure, petal. Now let's get you ready." He had been carrying her helmet and he placed it gently on her head now, fastening the buckle under her chin and tightening it to hold the whole thing in place.
Helmets were not a usual accessory in paintball matches but SIS agents tended to go a little overboard when it came to competitions and it wasn't uncommon for a couple of them to throw themselves off of structures or dive headfirst into trenches in order to stay in the game. For this reason, they'd made helmets regulation years ago. Piper didn't mind. With the helmets and the safety goggles — which Harry slid on next, letting them rest on her forehead for the time being — they all sort of looked the same and it became hard to tell who was who. Helmets were the great equalizer and it made her feel a little more like one of the group and less like the token woman.
"Don't be nervous," Harry said quietly as he adjusted her helmet once more, making sure it was secure. "You know you have the skills, you just need to stay focused and use them, okay?"
"Okay." She swallowed hard around the nervous lump in her throat. "You've got my back?"
"Always petal." He took a moment to put his own helmet on, sliding the goggles on top so they were resting on the front of his helmet just like hers. He wasn't covering up those gorgeous green eyes just yet. He bent to pick up one of the assault rifles he'd brought over. "I know you know how to use both of these," he said as he lifted the strap of the rifle and hung it over her shoulders so the gun was pressed to her back. He put the pistol directly in her hand. "Stick with this, alright? It's your best bet."
"That's what Liam always says," Piper mumbled as she took the gun in her shaky hands. Her aim was going to be shit.
"Well, Liam's right. This is your specialty so use it." He tucked his own pistol into a holster at his back and handled the rifle comfortably. Obviously his specialty lay elsewhere. "Now, I want you to take a couple of deep breaths, get your head in the right space, and come and join us when you're ready, okay?"
She nodded, chewing on her lip nervously. Harry leaned in to replace her teeth with his own, tugging at her top lip before kissing her properly. When she was nearly out of breath, he pulled back and gave her one more cheeky grin before turning and walking over to where Ashton was suited up, most likely to talk strategy.
Piper took a moment to survey her team. Luke and Louis had their heads bent together, discussing their own strategy for how they were going to act as a decoy. Niall was tying the flag onto the back of Zayn's belt while Calum explained their path as he'd mapped it out in the dirt. Liam and Michael were loading extra supplies of paintballs to reload when they ran out. Harry and Ashton were laughing about something instead of actually talking strategy because why would they? Harry was like a fucking superhero. He was just going to be brilliant on the field with no prior planning necessary.
She couldn't believe that she could count herself among this group of elite spies. She wouldn't say she fit in because she certainly didn't. She couldn't shoot very well — but then neither could Louis. She wasn't stealthy — but then neither was Niall. She wasn't smooth or suave or any of those things. But she was a good strategist. That's what she was meant to do and she was doing it well. Maybe she didn't have to feel so out of place and insecure. When she focused on the benefits she could bring, she didn't seem like such an outsider.
The buzzer sounded to start the game, much louder than Piper had been anticipating, and she jumped about a foot in the air. Her grip on her pistol slackened and before she knew it, she'd managed to shoot herself in the foot.
"Ow, fuck," she cursed as she stumbled sideways, the stinging pain radiating across the top of her foot, the close range of the shot radiating right through her boot. She glared up at Louis and Niall who were both laughing so loudly it was echoing through the clearing of the field they were all standing in. "Oh, shut up!"
"See?" Liam said defensively, waving in Piper's direction as he looked at Ashton. "It isn't just me. People do shoot themselves in the foot."
"Is everyone done shooting each other?" Harry barked as he hitched his rifle up onto his shoulder. "Can we just start this bloody game?"
Everyone grumbled their agreement and began moving in opposite directions. Piper watched them all trudged off and then took a few timid steps forward toward Harry and Ashton, shaking out her sore foot a couple of times. Ashton was trying really hard not to laugh at her; Harry just looked exasperated.
"Sorry," she mumbled as she caught up with them.
"Don't apologize. It was an accident. Let's —" Harry let out a heavy sigh, reaching up to pull his goggles down over his eyes. "— Let's just get going. We've got a tough job ahead of us."
He gave her a smile but it wasn't really a smile. His cheeks stayed flat and, though she struggled to see his eyes, they weren't bright like they usually were when he smiled. She'd already blown it and the game hadn't even started yet. With a nod to her and Ashton, Harry set off, keeping his eyes on the midline and the trees around it. Always vigilant.
Ashton nodded her forward and she fell into step beside him, trying to ignore the throbbing pain on the top of her foot.
So far, this had gotten off to a fairly bad start. She hoped it would pick up from here.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
She'd actually managed to shoot someone which was a miracle in and of itself. It was a head shot that eliminated the player from the game which made it even better. The kicker was that he'd been about to shoot an unsuspecting Harry so she'd saved his life. Well, not his life but his 'life' in the game. When Harry realized what she'd done, the look he'd given her was smoldering. She had no doubt that he was going to find a way to thank her properly later on tonight.
They'd lost a couple of players. Niall, in his enthusiasm for the game, had shot an unsuspecting Calum by accident, thinking he was a member of the other team. Luke and Louis had been eliminated together when Samson's group attacked the decoy at the base tower. Michael had sacrificed himself acting as a distraction so Piper, Harry and Ashton could slip behind enemy lines. Piper might have been more disappointed by that if Samson's team hadn't lost five members already as well.
She was doing better than she thought she would on the unfamiliar course but she was still clumsy, uncoordinated Piper in the end. She'd fallen a number of times, tripping over roots or stumbling over her own feet while her eyes were focused on the trees, looking for a flag. It wasn't a huge surprise when she caught her foot in a dip in the path and tumbled down. The first couple of times Harry had rushed back to make sure she was alright but now he just sent a cursory glance over his shoulder. "Alright petal?"
"I'm okay," she said as she bounced back up, crouched over as she tried to get her balance. That's when she noticed the beige shadow in amongst the trees and bushes. It took her seeing the barrel of the gun before she fully put it all together and then she was flat on her stomach again. "Get down guys!"
Harry tucked and rolled to the left on command, narrowly missing a shot that would have hit him straight in the chest and disqualified him. He was on his knees in an instant, using a tree as a shelter and angling his body around it to return the fire. Like her, Ashton had gotten down on the ground as quickly as he could, his body shielded by a low plant, through which he could take a couple shots at the four agents on the other team who were attacking.
As usual, it was her who was out of place, lying there like a sitting duck in the middle of the clearing. She looked around frantically, trying to figure out what to do. Should she help return fire? Make a run for it?
"Go Piper!" Harry was barking in her ear. When she glanced over at him behind his tree, he sent her a couple of quick glances, nodding off toward the forested area beside the clearing they were in. "Go! Find the flag! We'll hold these guys off."
She didn't waste a second following her orders. She got onto her elbows and knees and began sliding her way toward the trees, ducking down when she heard the sound of paintballs whizzing over her head. When she was finally protected by the tree cover, she got up onto her knees and crawled until she thought she was safe from the attack.
It wasn't until she was leaning back against a tree trunk that she realized just how fast her heart was racing, the blood rushing so loudly that she could barely hear the sound of the attack over her own heartbeat in her ears. She panted for breath, looking around wildly, annoyed by how she lost peripheral vision with the goggles. Annoyed and feeling impulsive because of the rush of adrenaline, she tore them off, tossing them aside in the trees.
She had to focus. She had to push on. Samson's team had obviously caught on to the decoy and they were back in their own territory now. They had to be more careful about searching for the flag and finding it as soon as possible. With one long breath to try and get her heaving chest under control, Piper pushed herself up to her feet and walked in the opposite direction of the attack.
She searched her pockets and the holster for her pistol and realized it had been in her hand when she fell. She must have dropped it back there. "Oh well," she muttered to herself as she took the rifle slung across her back from over her shoulders, holding it the way Liam had taught her. "Guess we'll have to make do."
She felt a lot less comfortable walking through the forest with a gun she only sort of knew how to use, alone instead of flanked by two senior agents. Harry and Ashton had been her security blankets. She had nothing to protect her now except for herself.
She wasn't sure how Harry did this all the time. She was sweating buckets at the thought of getting hit with a paintball. When he did this, it wasn't pretend. It was real bullets.
The trees began to thin again and Piper knew she was getting close to the base tower on Samson's side of the field. They'd been sweeping the field up until now so it seemed like the only place the flag could be was the tower. It seemed too easy, too obvious. There was no way that Samson's team had decided to do what she had first suggested and keep the flag in the tower because too many agents had been farther into the field. There wouldn't be enough to protect the base. So where the hell had they put it?
She stepped out of the tree line and immediately ducked back into it when a gun was fired, three paintballs exploding with loud splats against the trunks surrounding her. She pressed her back to a tree, trying to catch her breath after having it catch in her throat when she had been startled. Okay, focus Stone. Agent training has taught you how to deal with this. What would Liam say to do?
Scope out the enemy, look for weak spots in his defence, and plan an attack.
She stuck her head out to catch a glimpse of who was attacking and cursed. Of course. Fucking Samson. Standing there like an arrogant son of a bitch, his gun held in an incorrect stance which was why he missed again as he fired off two more shots, Piper easily ducking out of the way.
"Still in the game, Stoner?" Samson called across the field to her, his voice haughty. She wished she could punch him in the throat, or at least shoot him in the balls. From here, behind her tree, she couldn't do much of anything except listen.
"You might be surprised what I'm capable of," Piper called back distractedly as she tried to think. She could hear Samson rambling on about something or other but he didn't sound like he was getting any closer. She had a bit of time to figure things out.
Based on the number of shots, he was using the pistol. Maybe he didn't have the rifle on him anymore? She could work that to her advantage. She just needed to get him out of ammo. These pistols had eight rounds. He'd already used five at least. She just needed him to exhaust his shots.
With a deep breath to steel herself up, Piper whipped her body out from behind the tree to another one nearby and heard two shots off, hitting the space where she'd been just a moment before. Either he was out or he had one more round. Whatever the case, she needed to make her move.
"Come on out, princess," Samson said in that slimy voice of his that made her cringe. It felt all wrong, making her stomach clench and her lungs work harder to breathe. She hated that he made her feel like this. "We can have a little bit of fun, you and I. I'd make you forget all about your precious Styles."
"Don't talk about him!" Piper yelled back at Samson, feeling her blood boil. She knew he was trying to get a reaction out of her and it was working. It always worked. She needed a better hold on her temper. "This is between you and me, and whoever wins this match."
She peeked her head around the trunk so she could see him. The gun was raised but he didn't fire, choosing instead to watch her with that stupid smug expression. "You're fooling yourself, princess. You think you can find our flag?"
"I think I already found it." She hoped he took the bait.
Sure enough, Samson's eyes flicked over looking right past the base tower and focusing on a tall tree. Piper scanned it quickly. There — at the top, tied to a branch, was a bright blue square of fabric waving in the breeze. She knew where the flag was. Now she had to make her move.
She spun out from behind the tree, ducking in time for the shot Samson sent her way to go right over her head. She pulled her rifle up, cradling it comfortably in her arms. Samson, not understanding that he was up shit creek without a paddle, smirked arrogantly and aimed his pistol at her. "Goodbye princess."
The shot clicked but nothing happened. Like Piper had calculated, he was empty. His smirk switched from an ugly sneer into something a little less confident and a little more frightened. She saw his eyes widen as he realized what had happened and immediately his hand was scrambling on his belt for a reload. She wasn't going to give him long enough to do it.
"I'll show you princess," she snapped at him as she stood properly, rifle in hand, and began to shoot.
She wasn't as good with her aim on a rifle but that didn't matter because Samson was a sitting duck and she was firing off eight rounds per second. Four shots splat open on his chest, painting his vest red. Another hit his helmet and yet another hit him right in the groin. He bent forward, hands to his balls, and let out a loud groan.
Piper tried not to look too self-satisfied but it was pretty hard not to. She felt like the queen of the world. Finally, she'd taken down one of her bullies in the best way possible. When the buzzer came on, the voice announcing disqualification for Team Samson, Piper whooped, hopping excitedly as she thrust her arm in the air.
"You little bitch," Samson hissed as he straightened as best as he could. He stormed halfway across the distance between them, murder in his eyes. "I'm going to —"
"Agent Samson." The booming voice echoed over the clearing from a nearby watch tower and both of them looked up to see one of the referees standing at the window, watching the two of them. "You have been disqualified and must remove yourself from the pitch. Refusal to do so will result in automatic forfeit of the game."
Samson looked like he was weighing out whether it would be worth it to come after her anyways and sacrifice the game. It seemed that he made the wiser choice, taking a step back from Piper. "Watch yourself, Stoner. This isn't done."
He stalked off in the direction of the trees on the south end of the clearing, toward where the midline was. She watched him go for a moment, just to make sure her wasn't coming back and then she took off at a jog toward the tree that held the flag. She kept an eye on the trees for the enemy but also for Harry because she felt a lot more confident when he was around and she was hoping he would join her.
She arrived at the tree alone and realized that she had more on her plate than she'd first thought. The tree was easily the tallest on the course and the flag was at the very top but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that the tree had no branches on the trunk for about 25 feet up and the bark was quite smooth, no hand holds or foot holds. Obviously when they had been setting up the flag, Samson's team had done something to get a person up there, maybe boosted them or made a pyramid. She was, unfortunately, by herself.
"Um, Harry?" Piper said quietly, hoping the earpiece picked it up, as she eyed the large tree in front of her.
"What is it, petal? Are you okay?" His voice was haggard and he sounded distracted. If she concentrated, she could separate the sounds of gunfire coming from his transmitter.
"I found the flag."
"You did?"
"Guys, did you hear that?" Niall chimed in on the group transmission, his voice sounding exuberant and excited. "Pips found the flag!"
There was a round of cheers and good for yous and well dones from everyone who was listening in on the earpieces. Piper, standing at the base of the tree, looking up at just how high in the tree the flag was, could not get as excited about this news as her friends were. "I, um, don't know if I can get it. I think I need help."
"You know I would be there," Harry said, sounding disappointed that she was finally asking for help and he couldn't provide it, "but me and Ashton are really struggling here. Is anyone else close?"
"Where are you, Piper?" Liam asked.
"About twenty metres from the base tower."
"We're back on our end," Zayn said, Niall grunting in agreement. Calum, Luke, Louis and Michael were all out of the game at this point. The only one out there who could help was Liam and his heavy sigh didn't sound very positive.
"It would take me time to get over to you, Piper, and by that time something could come up. Is there any way you can get the flag yourself?"
She doubted it but she didn't want to let the guys down. This was her fight after all. She was the one who was supposed to be proving herself against Samson and she wouldn't be proving anything if she let One Direction or 5SOS do all the work for her.
She had no idea how she was going to get up the tree. But she was going to try.
"I'll see what I can do," she told them all as she scanned the tree, looking for something, anything, that would get her to the top.
"Be careful, Piper," Harry said sternly before he cursed under his breath and huffed. It sounded like he was still being shot at. She wanted to tell him to be careful to but she didn't really have to. Harry was always careful. Always.
Piper stood for a long time at the base of the tree, looking up at the flag tied neatly on a branch near the top. The twenty five feet of bare trunk was the real problem here. No footholds, no handholds, not even a wayward branch to climb from. If she had a rope, she could pull herself up from the lowest branch but she didn't have a rope. If there was someone else to give her a boost, she might be able to reach the lowest branch but there wasn't another person. If she had a ladder —
She needed to stop herself because there was no point in coming up with ideas that wouldn't ever work. It was a waste of precious time. She had no idea how long she had before someone from Samson's team came back. She needed to get that flag down as quickly as she could. If only she could think of something that would work.
She juggled her rifle from one hand to the other as she reviewed her memory for anything that might work. She was thinking about books, movies, tv shows that might have shown a scene like this, someone scaling a building or something. Unless she could start producing webs from her wrists, she didn't think that she would realistically get up the tree.
On one of the passes back and forth, the strap of her rifle snagged on her hand and she had to scramble to catch it, the strap hanging off her hands. The idea hit her instantly and she looked up at the tree wide-eyed. Could it work? Maybe. Was it insane? Definitely. Was she actually going to use a Disney movie as a model? It looked like it was her only option.
She walked to the base of the tree and looked up from the new vantage part. The lowest branch looked so high. She couldn't believe she was about to do this. She reached up to tighten the strap on her helmet so it was secure. There was a fairly good chance she was going to fall. She was pretty sure that she would break her back if that happened but at least her skull wouldn't burst open like a watermelon on pavement. It would be an open casket.
"You're fucking crazy," she muttered to herself as she unlatched the strap from the hook on the top of the rifle. She reached around the trunk of the tree, pulling the strap with her, and once it was all the way around she clicked the clasp back in place. With the strap wrapped around the tree, she yanked on the rifle to see if the strap would hold on the gun. No matter how hard she pulled, it didn't budge, the hooks and the clasp holding strong.
"You can do this Piper," she told herself as she tested the rifle strap one more time before flicking on the safety so she didn't actually shoot and scare the shit out of herself. She wouldn't be surprised if she did it and then promptly fell out of the tree to her death. Better to be preemptive about these things.
She took a deep breath in and then let it out. When the last bits of air left her lungs, she planted her right foot against the tree trunk. She felt the nervous dread in her stomach but she ignored it. If it wasn't helping, she wasn't paying it any mind. Steeling herself, she pulled on the rifle so the strap tightened around the tree and then lifted her second foot, putting it beside the other on the tree trunk. She leaned her body back so the pull of her body weight on the strap supported her.
She waited with baited breath for the moment when the strap ripped or the rifle broke under the weight. She was surprised when neither thing happened and she stayed suspended two feet off the ground. This was going to work. She couldn't believe it but this was actually going to work.
Feeling like her heart was in her stomach, Piper loosened the strap's hold on the tree, suspending herself in the air for the longest seconds of her life as she shifted the strap up the tree about a foot. She felt like she was in free fall until the strap caught and held fast. When her brain was able to comprehend that she was safe, that she hadn't slipped, her heart began beating so fast that she could hardly breathe. She took a moment to sit with her racing heart, to feel the adrenaline coursing through her veins, and then she walked two steps up the trunk.
And then she did it all over again. And once more. And one more time. And when she looked down at the ground, she was at least six feet up, hanging in the air by her paintball rifle which was holding her weight like a champ. Looking at the ground made her feel like her stomach was dropping right out of her so she trained her gaze on the tree trunk, on the splintered and worn bark that had seen too many paintball assaults, and focused on moving onward and upward.
She knew with each of those two steps she walked up the tree that she was getting farther and farther from the ground. She wasn't afraid of heights, per se, but she was certainly afraid of falling to her death. She found herself frozen about halfway up, wondering if it was too late to go back down. She didn't want to quit but her arms were getting tired of supporting her body weight and her hands were sweaty and she was afraid she was going to slip.
She needed to distract herself so she hummed. Quietly at first, a senseless tune that quickly morphed into a familiar song from her childhood. And that helped her get up the courage to take those two extra steps up. So she hummed louder.
"Pips," Niall's voice said in her ear. "Are you humming that song from Mulan?"
"I might be," she answered, her voice shaky from exertion and also because she'd started crying a bit and she wasn't sure why. She could feel the tears waiting to be shed, pooling in the corners of her eyelids, but she refused to let them fall. Sure, her arms were burning and she wanted to quit. But she wasn't a fucking quitter. She was going to make it to the top of the tree if it killed her.
"Is something wrong, Piper?" Harry asked worriedly, his voice ringing through loud and clear in her ear. Just the reverberation of that low timbre helped solidify something in her that had been shaking. She blew out a long breath and took two more steps.
"Everything about what I am doing... doing right now is wrong," she stammered as she walked two more steps, "but I'm doing it."
She drowned out Harry's frantic questions and began humming once more, slowly walking herself up the rest of the tree. She was getting closer with each step. She was going to make it. She just needed to stay focused.
She nearly started crying as she let go of the strap to swing her arm around the lowest branch. She hung there for a moment, her arms nearly seizing up under the pressure of supporting her and when she thought she could breathe again, she hoisted herself up, scrambling onto the branch. It took her a bit of awkward shuffling but finally she was straddling the branch, safe and sound.
"I made it!" She pumped her fists in the air ecstatically. She probably looked like an idiot but she didn't care. "I made it onto the tree!"
"Tree? What tree?" Harry did not sound pleased. "What the hell are you doing, Piper? Where — for fuck's sake, is that you?"
Piper searched the field for Harry, squinting in the direction she thought she'd last seen him in. Sure enough, he was standing there with one hand on his hip, the other shielding his eyes. His goggles were shoved up onto his helmet so she could see the exact moment when he realized just where she was and the panic set in. She waved down at him. "Look! I'm in the tree!"
"Are you trying to kill yourself?" he barked, his arm waving dramatically. It was strange seeing him so far away but hearing his voice in her ear as if he was right up close. "What are you doing?"
"The flag," she said as she pointed upward to where the bright blue flag was tied around one of the higher branches.
"I'm on my way to you," Harry said as he slung his rifle back over his shoulders and looked around at the trees surrounding him, searching for a path to get to her. "Don't do anything until I get there."
"Don't listen to him," Niall interrupted. In the distance, Piper could see two figures standing together, one of them waving his arms erratically, and she knew it was him. Only Niall would draw so much attention to himself in the middle of a paintball game. "You can do it, Pips. Just keep going."
"Yeah, you've got this," Ashton echoed.
"You're nearly there," Zayn added.
Piper looked up at the flag and at the sturdy branches between it and her. She could do this. Look at how far she had come already. "I'm going for it."
Niall cheered excitedly in her ear and then she heard Harry's resigned sigh, the one she'd heard so many times before. It was that sigh he had when she was dancing on the edge of his patience. "Please, Piper, be careful."
"I will," she said seriously, giving Harry's tiny figure a thumb's up. He threw his hands up in exasperation and turned away from her, heading toward the tree line. He was on his way to her, just in case. He always had her back.
She took a moment to secure her rifle on the branch so it wouldn't fall and then she began scaling the branches, slowly and carefully. She tested her weight on each one before she even thought of stepping onto it. She pulled herself onto the biggest, thickest branches of the bunch even if it meant her path was slower. She wasn't taking any chances.
She refused to look down because she had no idea what would happen if she did. She'd probably scare herself senseless and then she would be stuck there, needing to be rescued. She was tired of needing other people to get her out of trouble spots. She could do this one her own.
The shout of joy as she touched the flag echoed throughout the field and was closely followed by a buzzer sounding and then the overseers voice on the speakers. "Winner: Team Stone."
The rest of the guys began cheering and chanting her name as she untied the blue fabric, waving it above her head in the air. She started laughing and then she couldn't stop. She didn't care that she was looking out at the field from the highest vantage point available, even though that should have scared her out of her wits. She was so proud of herself, a feeling she hadn't felt in a long time. Finally she'd done something right — and she'd done it on her own.
"You're one almighty force of a girl, petal." Piper searched until she saw Harry standing in another clearing closer to the tree, looking up at her. She waved and smiled hard when he waved back. She could tell by the tone of his voice that he was proud of her too. She had that squirmy feeling in her stomach again — butterflies. "I'll be at the tree in a couple of minutes," he continued. "Take your time coming down."
Right, coming down. Fuck. She hadn't thought about that part.
She made it back to the low branch where her rifle was waiting for her. She couldn't think of another, better way to get down the tree so she went about securing the strap around the trunk. She pulled it taught and then ever so slowly lowered herself to hang from the trunk.
It was a lot harder going down then up. They certainly hadn't shown this part in Mulan. She was going to have to write a very angry letter to someone when she got out of this situation. She stumbled a couple of times, her stomach dropping as she scrambled to catch herself. About halfway down, her foot slid down the tree on a piece of smooth bark and the whole rifle slid down, sending her to the ground with it.
She only had the time to think tuck and roll, her inside voice sounding a hell of a lot like Harry, before her feet touched the ground. Before her shins could snap with the pressure, she threw herself forward, rolling a bit. It was certainly less graceful than the way Harry had taught her to do it but as she lay flat on the ground, winded, she marvelled at the fact that she was still alive and that the flag was miraculously still tucked into her back pocket. Would wonders never cease?
Piper rolled onto her stomach and then pushed herself up. Her ankle did not appreciate it and she swore under her breath, hoping it was just a sprain. She did not have the time or patience to be injured again. Her hip had been bad enough.
Two hands found her shoulder blades and then she was being roughly pushed back to the ground. She yelped as she hit the hard earth face first, feeling a stinging pain in her nose that hinted at bleeding at the very least. Whipping her head around, she tried to see what was going on over her shoulder. "What the fuck are you —"
The words left her in a gasp as she saw just who was standing over her, blocking out the sun. "Samson, what are you doing?"
"Proud of yourself?" he sneered as he shoved his boot into the small of her back, making her arch her body as she cried out. He applied enough pressure that she couldn't fight him off and she was forced down into the ground. "Perfect Piper. Always wins in the end, isn't that right princess?"
"Get off!" she hollered at him, beating her fist on the ground when his foot on her back only pressed harder. "Stop it! You're hurting me."
"You've been a bad girl, princess," he hissed, his voice sending shivers right down her spine, making her whole body shudder. Something was tugging at her memory, something she didn't want to know. A connection she didn't want to make. "I'm going to punish you. I'm going to make it hurt. And then, you'll be nice and quiet for me, princess, just how I like it."
The memory of that night hit her like a freight train, knocking the air right out of her lungs. She felt tears pricking at the corner of her eyes as she finally came to the realization that had been nagging at her for weeks. It was the reason that her attacker's voice had left her so unsettled, had sounded so familiar. It was the reason that Samson was always so fucking angry with her. He'd threatened her with all of these sexual abusive acts at work and then done the very same when he pressed his groin up against her while he held her at gunpoint. His broken nose — she'd done that.
"It was you."
"It was me," Samson gloated, his voice a slimy purr that made Piper fight harder against his hold. "Don't fight me, princess. Your lover isn't here to protect you now."
"You son of a bitch," Piper hissed over her shoulder. "I'm going to kill you."
"Think so?" Samson laughed haughtily before slamming his boot into her back once more. "I'm looking forward to seeing you try princess. This isn't over yet. And just as a little going away present —"
The paintball burst on her back, on her right hip. Exactly where a scar was still healing. Exactly where she'd had a bullet removed nearly a month ago. The pain was excruciating, like tearing apart a wound that had sealed, reopening it to expose the pain once more. She felt the weight on her back disappear, replaced with the agony of the close range paintball sting on her scar, and she tucked her face into her elbow and screamed.
Harry's voice yelling her name echoed through the clearing and she managed to lift her head, to push up onto her forearms and knees. The pain wasn't as bad bent like this, her hip in a better position. Still, it radiated up her back and she felt the tears falling freely on her face, mixing with the blood from her nose.
"Christ, petal, what happened?" A pair of knees dropped into her line of sight and when she dragged her head up, Harry's face loomed in front of hers, foggy through her tears. He gripped her cheeks in his hands, raising her head so he could see her properly. "What did that wanker do to you?"
"Just stay still, Pips." That was Niall's voice and when Piper shifted her eyes she saw him coming up behind Harry and circling around her. He crouched by her side, his hands assessing the damage to her back. She could feel the moment he realized what he was looking at because the quick moment of his hands halted and then he gently pulled up her jacket and shirt so he could clearly see how the paintball splatter on the top matched up with the scar on her back. "Piper —"
"It was Samson." Piper gasped as Niall pressed on the injury site, checking for any damage. "He was the one who shot me."
"I saw," Harry hissed through his teeth, his jaw tight with fury. "And I'm going to kill him with my bare hands."
"No Harry," Piper cried, trying to get him to understand. "He was the one who shot me that night." She watched his face transform from an angry scowl to a horrified expression that she'd never seen on him before. It quickly shifted into unmasked murderous rage.
"What?" he growled dangerously as he cupped his hand under her chin, lifting her face so she could look him straight in the eye. "What did you say?"
"Samson was the one who was trying to kidnap me."