Excerpt from Chapter 3.

“This is so fucking boring!”

Whining the statement out for the third time in ten minutes, Kaiden groaned and paused the television before flopping backwards on the couch he was sitting on. Thanks to his injury Trenton had put him on leave from fighting and training. All he was allowed to do was walking on the treadmill and watching fight tapes while the rest of the group got to go about their normal training regime.

 

“I don’t need my arm to practice my kicks or to run! Just sitting here is driving me crazy!”

 

“Kai, seriously? It’s been 2 hours.” Akai could not help but laugh at his friends antics. The other man was seriously not good at sitting still and had to much energy to be confined to the private training room at the back of the Cage.

“Two hours that I’m going to be repeating six hours a day for a week!”

“Two weeks if you keep it up, shit head. Now get back to watching those videos,” they heard Trenton yell from the next room over where the (fight levels) held their training and workout sessions.

 

Kaiden and Akai silently looked at each other. Akai tipped his head towards the direction his adoptive fathers voice had come from and arched one brow up in askance. Kaiden immediately nodded and held up his hand, fingers curled into a fist. Steadily he flicked one finger after the other up and when he held three up both boys yelled out, “Yes dad!”

The expected curse and threats of bodily damage if they ever called him that came flying through loud enough it was hard to believe their was a wall separating them from the man. This, of course, caused both boys to erupt into laughter as Akai joined Kaiden on the couch and they obediently turned the video back on so they could study them.

The silent study of the fighters on the film lasted for an impressive ten minutes before Kaiden started fidgeting again. “Stupid fucking Jeremy and his stupid fucking knife.” A pout formed on his lips as he scratched lightly at the bandage surrounding his upper arm and shoulder.

One of the good things about the twist the fight had taken was that Jeremy had been suspended from the Cage for a month and threatened with a permanent bad if he ever tried anything like that again, no matter who his sponsor was. Yes, they might be underground fighters and yes they might enjoy the occasional blood fest when a fight spiraled out of control but to deliberately walk into the ring with the intention of stabbing someone was not only frowned upon but reason to be dismissed from their position and stripped of their right to fight there. After all, the fighters knew their were risks when fighting underground but the Cage was supposed to be a safer place for them to do so then some back alley or poorly lit shack.

“Hopefully the Handler gets tired of cleaning up his messes and cuts him loose. Without him, Jeremy has no footing to stand on and Trenton can toss his ass out.”

“One can only hope.”

 Just then the door to the lounge opened and they both looked behind them to see Liam walking in. “Yo!” Kaiden tossed towards the man and he raised his hand in a wave of a greeting as he tossed his gym bag on to the floor behind the couch. “How’s the arm?”

Shrugging a little he waved at it in exasperation, “Aching but nothing I can’t handle.”

“Sorry, bro,” the sandy haired man said with a guilt laced voice, “If I had known what he was up to I wouldn’t have tried to pull Chris and D off of him.”

Shaking his head he sent the other a beaming smile, “Don’t worry about it. You didn’t know. Jeremy can be a sneaky little shit but he’s never done anything like this before. No one could have known. Chris and D just wanted a chance to land some blows on him, that’s why they jumped in.”

Feeling a bit of his guilt ease up he motioned to the tv with a questioning look and Akai snickered as he pat his friends leg in a very patronizing way. “Since little Raptor is laid up Trenton has him studying videos from underground fights and mixed martial arts fights.”

Sucking in a sympathetic breath he shook his head and muttered, “Better you then me,” before grabbing his bag again and heading towards the locker room in the back.

“Okay, I’m so over this. Wanna go grab some lunch? We can call up Av and see if she wants to join us?”

“And by join,” Akai started as he stretched his hands over his head to loosen his muscles, “you mean pay, I assume?”

Opening his mouth in feigned shock Kaiden shook his head and placed his hand over his heart, “You dare assume I would take advantage of the fact that our darling friend has more money then she could spend in three lifetimes? I am appalled!” Then he grinned and delivered a kick to the back of his friends leg. “Now go change while I call her and figure out how to sneak out of here without Trenton seeing.”

“Good look with that. He has ‘daddy vision’ when it comes to us.”

With that he trailed after Liam to the locker room, pausing only a second to laugh loudly when he heard Trenton screaming, “I fucking heard that!” from the next room.

———

Remember, it is camp so the errors in this are many! 

A Tidbit from Chapter Two just for you!

It was a boring chapter but here is a little from it. I need a name for Fox and Sarah’s baby! Any suggestions?

———-

“Marcus? Want to run drills in the maze?”

 

The question came from Robert, leader of the Beta Strike Team, and Marcus nodded with a wide grin. “Sure. It’s been a while since we wiped the floor with you guys.” A cry of mock rage flew up from the members of Roberts team and cheers from his own and he laughed merrily before clapping the other man on the shoulder and heading towards his men to suit up.

 

The maze was one of the best investments that Marcus had convinced the syndicate to allow them to have. During the remodeling of the basement to convert it to an extra training room, they had discovered a tunnel that led to an underground maze of tunnels and rooms. When it had first been discovered, Marcus took a team to explore it and they were amazed at the amount of room down there. It ran for several miles in all directions and it did not take long at all to seal it off from any other access point. Once that was done, the boys and girls of the Strikers had their very own battle field.

 

One they put to use all the time to build team communications and run drills for raids and strikes. Armed with laser guns and special vests to monitor their vitals and calculate the effects of being ‘shot’ they were able to very accurately simulate actual battles. The first team in would be the home team, fighting to defend their base, while the second team played the strike force, trying to take the base over. Not only was it effective training that had helped prep their younger members or new team members without the risk of actual battle, but Marcus would be the first to admit it was a lot of fun.

 

Alex handed him a vest as he approached and he as he strapped it on he glanced around at his team, his brows knitting together when he only counted 9 people. “Where’s Fox?” The rest of the guys shrugged and he immediately pulled out his phone to call the missing man. Fox was one of members who had been with them the longest. He had been running with the Gunmen doing security detail for the black market and joined Marcus and Alex when they started training to apply for the Elites. When Marcus had made it to the rank of Commander and was told to form his Alpha Strike Team, Fox was right up there with Alex in the ranks of people he knew he absolutely wanted.

 

The phone rang twice in his hand before it was picked up and he received a quick, “Sarah’s in labor. I’ll call later,” Before he was listening to a dial tone. His grin grew even wider and he turned to see the rest of his men watching him expectantly. “Sarah’s in labor!”

 

Cheers went through the whole team at the news and talk immediately flared up about getting their hands on cigars and whiskey. An immediate vote was put forth to cancel the drill and it passed with no opposing votes. They might take their training seriously but a new life was something they all treasured and they knew exactly how important to Fox and Sarah this was. After 3 miscarriages this baby was a miracle in and of itself and the members of the A.S.T wanted to be there to celebrate this moment with their brother in arms.

 

“Alex and I will stop and grab the cigars and whiskey. You guys get down to the hospital before Fox stresses himself out and collapses.” Marcus ordered with a laugh as he pulled off the vest he had just pulled on.