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 Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 1:36 pm
 
"Why not?! I do it all the time! He was annoying me and it's your fault anyways!"
"My fault?!"
"Damn right, you left me with him. You could have taken him back But nooo, you had to walk out, trying to be a badass. Should have taken the brat, would have looked better." There was a venom falling from Reyes' voice as he and Morrison.
They had been fighting for a good ten or twenty minutes now. It had started nearly the moment they had gotten back to the checkpoint, which was really nothing more than a glorified tunnel system with a rock cluster on top of it with a tree growing on it. Still, they had made sure that their precious strike commander had his own little section for those super special private meetings.
Mikree had been left in the care of the two Blackwatch agents that had walked on either side of him on the way back and currently they were positioned right outside, waiting for the pair to finish their quarrel. Both of them seemed nervous now compared to their stoic appearances while just in the presence of Reyes. It could be a lot of things, but chances are it was because they knew Reyes would be a fouler mood than he had already been in once this was all said and done.
The room grew quiet for one minute, five minutes..more, until the dark commander's voice echoed out through the tunnel system. "WHAT? Absolutely not, no. I refuse."
"You can't. It's an order."
"Like hell it is. Let him pick. I bet he'll pick the first choice."
It was easy to hear Morrison sigh. Blue eyes looked passed red as he glanced to the doorway, "Let him in."
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 1:43 pm
Somewhere along the way back Mikree had been taken into the care of two of the other lions that were walking with them. He didn't care so much since he was exhausted now and really just wanted to stop, but he knew doing so would be a death sentence. As much as he didn't like getting shuffled around, he liked living a lot more.
Finally they reached their destination. The dark lion disappeared underground and Mikree flopped down on the warm ground to rest. His stomach growled but his body demanded a nap before anything else.
Time passed quickly for the young lion as he dozed, and finally he woke up to the nudging of one of his guards. He blinked sleepily before rolling to his feet, letting the other lion nudge him in the direction of the strange, long den. Mikree padded in warily, unsure of what awaited him inside, and found those light and dark lions he had seen earlier standing there in the darkness.
"What?" he asked, realizing they were staring at him. "You lookin' to go another round?" he added, addressing the pale lion who still had blood in his fur from his little attack earlier.
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 1:54 pm
Creases appeared on Morrison's forehead as he listened to this kid try and rile him up. It was a nice try, but when you deal with Reyes every day, it takes a lot more than that to get his fur in a bunch. It had been a lucky shot and Morrison vowed that it wouldn't happen again.
"I hear that your name is Mikree. You're awfully young to be part of a gang," he passed a worried glance to Reyes who only responded with a sort of air nudge. 'Get on with it, was the expression his face read. "As far as I can see son, you have two options. First one is jail time and as it stands, you'll be an old man before you get out." There was a pause, a moment to let the idea of that sink in before he spoke again. "Or you join Blackwatch. Permanently." It was a way to keep him out jail, out of gangs, out of trouble (for the most part anyways), though he knew Reyes was having a fit inside right now despite how silent he was.
Damn right he was upset. There was no ********' way he was letting Morrison drop this kid on him. He had too much to worry about already. There were prisoners that needed to be 'interrogated', political powers that needed to be silenced and large trade groups that needed to be blackmailed into continuing their funding of Blackwatch. He didn't have time to train another, especially not a kid who he'd first have to whip into shape well enough to actually be able to reliably follow orders.
No one saw it but Reyes' jaw was tight, teeth clenched against eachother as he watched this kid, this Mikree, with a fair amount of interest.
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 2:05 pm
Mikree rolled his eyes slightly as the bait wasn't taken. Fine. He'd listen to this guy and see what they wanted to do with him. Granted, he really didn't have much of a choice if they decided they didn't want him around. He hadn't seen any other lions his age and, while being the youngest didn't bother him, he knew others would see him as a burden. He could pull his own weight, though!
The offer made him stare at the pale lion in surprise. He had a choice? It wasn't much of a choice, of course, and Mikree wasn't ever going to jail of any kind. He had made that promise to himself once he had found out what jail was. He needed to be free, to roam, to explore.
Looking between the two males the young lion thought over his options quickly. "What's Blackwatch?" he asked, unsure if that was just a worse form of jail.
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 2:21 pm
They really were s**t options, but that's what they had to offer. They couldn't just let him go and even if he chose jail over a lifetime in the service, he'd end up in solitary, never allowed visitors, all the works. He knew too much and the question about Blackwatch was a dangerous one.
A worried glance was shared mutually between the pair for a moment, but before Morrison could even open his mouth to speak, Reyes beat him to it. "That's classified." A groan rumbled out of the strike' commander's mouth as he shook his mane, tail twitching angrily. Morrison finally gets a word in and he's sure it's not what the kid wants to hear. "Officially, Blackwatch doesn't exist."
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 4:46 pm
Mikree waited for an answer, and when the dark lion finally spoke up he raised a thick brow at him. The pale lion followed it up with an even more cryptic answer which did nothing to help Mikree figure out what he wanted to do.
"It's not jail though," he said slowly, trying to make his point clear. "I want the option where I'm not sittin' around doin' nothin' all day. If that's Blackwatch, I'll take Blackwatch."
There, simple enough. He put his own wants out on the table and now he could leave it to the other two lions to decide if Blackwatch was the best option or if he'd do more in jail. Honestly, Blackwatch sounded kind of fun. Just the name alone was cool - kind of like Deadlock.
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 6:26 pm
Reyes' brows knit together at an instant, his head snapped to have some stern words with his commanding officer--his friend--his lover, but the look on Morrison bright face caught his tongue. Instead, he swallowed hard, too hard, kept his mouth shut and stared the kid down.
"A wise choice. You'll be able to do some good with Blackwatch. Follow Reyes here," Morrison said calmly, either ignoring or silently appreciating this one time that Reyes hadn't questioned him since he had gotten his promotion. "He'll take you to where Blackwatch stays and set you up for your first combat assessment. You'll also be required to subject yourself to a physical." He glanced to the dark brown with a nod that was only reciprocated with a subtle glare.
"Come on." Reyes didn't even wait to make sure that he was being followed by his new trainee before he stormed out of the 'office'. Blackwatch was an elite squad made up of (mostly) hand-picked members from Overwatch. Not criminals and certainly not kids! This kid would only slow them down, ruin his schedule and cause problems. Still, he had managed to land a blow on the Golden Boy of Overwatch, that counted for something. Not much though.
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 6:51 pm
Mikree tilted his head a bit, his ears forward to catch every word. Some good? With a name like Blackwatch it didn't sound like he'd be doing any good. But hey, he wouldn't judge until he got to see what it was all about. Now that he had agreed to join it he was sure he'd learn more about it, after all.
His eyes flicked back over to the dark male, a grin spreading over his small face. Reyes. He had a name now, ha! With a nod and a bounce, he hopped over to follow Reyes deeper into the system of tunnels.
"So is it classified now that I'm in it?" he asked as they walked before his stomach gave a snarl so loud it echoed a bit in the tunnel. He ducked his head and ears, embarrassed at his body for betraying his hunger. In Deadlock, as the youngest member, he always ate last. He hadn't seen any scrap of food around here and he wasn't about to ask for any. He'd been kicked around pretty badly the last time that had happened and he didn't want to be knocked around by this lion, even if he had challenged him not long ago.
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 7:23 pm
"Take notes, because I'm not in the habit of repeating myself," Reyes spoke firmly without looking down at his new recruit. "You'll call me sir or boss from now on."
Without missing a beat, without giving Mikree a chance to question him, he continued. "We're a black ops subsect of Overwatch. We don't exist, but we do. We're the sword to Overwatch's shield. You're going to be broken down, destroyed and rebuilt to serve it. You will become a killing machine able to take orders and carry them out without aid. If you fail you die. Plain and simple."
His pacing only sped up as he walked, leading him. "I'm not in the habit of wasting my time. You don't waste mine and I won't waste yours and don't expect me to treat you differently because you're a kid. Morrison may have dropped you on me, but I won't have my team weighed down by you. Don't disappoint me, kid."
It didn't take more than a few minutes until they emerged into another dug room in the stone and dirt checkpoint that they were calling home for the time. It was a mess hall of sorts, with the remains of a kill in the corner and a number of soldiers--some Blackwatch, but mostly Overwatch--who sat apart from one another. Of course, the pair received a couple of strange looks, even a few whispers. "Go sit down." The tables were nothing more than flat stones with a few stray pelts to cushion the uncomfortable ground.
Reyes parted ways, breaking and tearing a section of the ribs out from the chest cavity of the zebra. There was a sidelong look from him that shut the snickering coming from Morrison's men in a heartbeat before he dropped the ribs down in front of Mikree and taking a seat beside him, taking one of the four ribs he had grabbed for himself. "Eat." The kid was too scrawny. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if his growth was already stunted.
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 7:47 pm
Information was being tossed at him quietly and Mikree did what he could so soak everything up. To him it sounded like another gang, just one that had a cooler name that was a part of a 'good' gang. At least, that was how he had always viewed Overwatch. The terms seemed about the same as Deadlock, but these guys had a cool underground tunnel system, so already it was better!
"Sounds good, boss," he said as he hopped along, following Reyes as he looked around as if he didn't have a care in the world. He wasn't terribly concerned with the 'breaking down' and 'destroying' part since it wasn't happening now. Soon they emerged into a larger room full of other soldiers - adults that were eating and talking. Mikree sat down at the spot Reyes had indicated and looked around at everyone. They all seemed pretty big and strong and way more organized than Deadlock had ever been. Maybe he was moving up in the world!
Suddenly zebra ribs fell from the sky. Mikree jerked back in surprise before staring at the feast before him, his mouth instantly watering. He didn't move, though, as Reyes sat down with his own food. Brown eyes scanned the room, noticing that all the other adults had food as well. He looked back at Reyes, an unsure look on his face.
"But...y'all are eating," he said, the confusion clear in his voice.
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 8:06 pm
"Sir," Reyes reiterated, glancing down at the kid as he licked around his mouth, cleaning up small scraps of fat that clung to his chin. The look on the kid's face was one of pure confusion as if asking permission to eat. It made Reyes roll his eyes. "And yeah, they're eating and you need to too. Eat. There's more where that came from."
Had the kid never eaten before? What the hell were the Deadlock doing with their young recruits these days? Starving them? By how Mikree acted when he had food put in front of him for the first time since the kid had met Overwatch and how he looked at those ribs with such a need, but still held himself back, maybe. Unknowingly to Mikree and the rest of those in the room, this was the first real time Reyes was impressed by him after he joined up--he had self-control that he had to train into some of his men.
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 8:25 pm
Mikree's ears went back as he looked to the ribs once again. Was this some sort of test? He hesitated a few minutes more before leaning in to run his tongue over one of the bones. He jerked back quickly, eyes darting over to Reyes to see if he'd get smacked. When nothing happened he leaned forward again, chewing quickly on some of the meat stuck between the bones. He wolfed down as much as he could as quickly as he could and only paused when he needed to breathe.
Finally he finished, lots of meat still left on the bone, but for a cub of his size and age a surprising amount had been eaten. He licked his muzzle and used his paws to clean himself up a bit, a content look on his face.
"Thanks, sir. That was real good." He was used to having to pick the tendons and other unsavory parts for his dinner. Getting that much meat that was that fresh had been nice.
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2016 8:33 pm
Something about the appetite this kid had was impressive and worrisome at the same time for the Blackwatch commander. He had eaten faster than he had seen some of his own men eat after not seeing any food for three days or more. Given how cautious he had been on top of that, worry had found a way to worm itself into Reyes' head.
"You don't need to eat like you'll never see food again. There will be more tomorrow. Comes with the territory." He commented off-handedly as his teeth gnashed on his rib. It had already been cracked open and marrow extracted, but he still enjoyed the crunch that it gave when he managed to crush it just a little bit more. Finally satisfied that the bone was sufficiently dismantled, he sat back up, straight and proud before looking down at his new student.
"Go clean yourself up. Up top. There a tiny pool of water and I'm pretty sure a couple of the medics who make a habit of being up there may take pity on your ratty coat and groom you." There was a teasing tone held in his voice and a smug grin on his face. "Come find me after you're more presentable." Not giving Mikree a chance, he rose onto his massive paws before turning and leaving the mess hall.
This was Mikree's first test: finding his boss without direction.
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