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_nick_green ([info]_nick_green) wrote in [info]omega_reality,
@ 2011-11-26 09:18:00

Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Entry tags:*complete, 2011 11, character: g callen, character: sam hanna, dead: nick green

RP: Nick/[open]
Who: Nick/[open]
Where: Obstacle Course
When: Saturday 11-26-11 (after shopping)
Summary: Nick plays trains.




Nick liked the "work" week. It was hard but a lot of fun. The Old Man thought he was an idiot, which was so not true. Not knowing something because he hadn't learned it yet didn't make him an idiot. Dude, he'd barely started his junior year, and who the hell actually learned anything education-wise in high school? And he'd spent four years working solo, where he actively planned and executed missions on his own. This team thing was totally new, so he asked and was going to keep asking a lot of questions, wanting to know the whys behind the hows.

Nick opened the black trash bag he'd carted from the house to the Team Center and unpacked the rag dummies he'd made with thrift store clothes stuffed with newspaper. He used a bunch of pencils to act as bones in the necks. A big box of unused pencils remained in the bag. Nick began to set them up around the obstacle course. It was one thing to train in hand-to-hand with the others, but he wasn't supposed to kill them.

Once everything was set, Nick turned on the music top volume from his cell phone and re-buttoned the army jacket pocket. He was wearing his normal street clothes. At the imaginary starting line, Nick counted down from five and took off running through the course. When he reached his dummmies, he swiftly and efficiently snapped their pencil-necks. The near familiar sound of breaking bones was satisfying.

After finishing the course, Nick's head bobbed to the music as he reloaded pencils into the dummies' necks. This time, he'd pretend they were shooting at him. He had his firearm, but he'd wait until later to start shooting back.


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[info]g_callen
2011-11-26 05:00 pm UTC (link)
"Impressive," G commented drily from his position by the door, detached laser sight painting the arget on Green's back. "But, if I was the enemy you'd be dead."

While the group was out shopping, he'd taken the opportunity to hit the range. Too much handgun practice lately, needed some time with the big toys. Hearing someone in the testing facility on his way past after, he'd stopped to investigate. It wasn't a bad display for a kid, not that the dummies were any real good considering they couldn't fight back. But, then, who expected the Department of Education to know anything about training operatives?

Returning the sight to the duffel on his shoulder, G crossed his arms and leaned on shoulder against the door frame. "With that many opponents," he continued, slipping easily into the same sort of coaching he'd have given Kensi sparring with Sam in the office at home, "you have to make better use of your cover. If they're any kind of a decent shot, firing at you from cover while you run around, you'll be hit before you get close enough to half of them to get a hand on them. Vary your attack style, stop telegraphing before you move for their necks, and get the music out of your ears so you'll hear me the next time I come up behind you to kill you at twenty paces out."

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[info]_nick_green
2011-11-26 05:49 pm UTC (link)
Nick shut the music off with a grin and brushed his damp hair out of his face. "I didn't expect to see anyone today. Thanks for the advice. It's actually easier to react when they're alive and moving, but my imagination had to substitute." He went over to the bag to get more pencils. "Not long before I arrived here, I went up against five gun runners. First two were simple because of the surprise factor, which was the major advantage I had in nearly all my missions. After that it was a lot of using the area and things in it to get close enough for the kill, without getting shot. The dude with the machine gun was a pain in the ass."

Nick went to the closest dummy and stuck the pencils in place. "Will you show me how I'm telegraphing?"

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[info]g_callen
2011-11-26 07:20 pm UTC (link)
"Always expect that something could happen at any given moment," G said, putting his bag down by the door and coming further into the room. "It's that constant awareness of your surroundings at all times that's going to keep you alive. And that's why we spar against each other instead of dummies. The dummy can't fight back or challenge you the way a moving, thinking, unpredictable target can."

He snorted at the kid's tale, which was little more than a routine day at the office for his team. "Surprise is always a bonus. But once that card is played, you need to have a full deck at your disposal or it's useless. And if there's a dude with a machine gun, unless you're right there and unarmed, don't waste time on hand to hand. Shoot him.

"Put the pencils away," he directed. "Come at me instead. Easier to learn when you're getting smacked down literally for the mistakes," he added with a smirk.

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[info]_nick_green
2011-11-26 08:39 pm UTC (link)
"Always expect, got it." Nick did let his guard down a lot, he knew. His long term cover was his life - he was a student. "How do you not react to everything, though? I mean, if I weren't to relax when I was at school, I'd have been jumping everyone. It'd mean less time with my head in the toilet, granted, but still," he said.

"And yeah, shoot first. I did that, too. I preferred it, in fact. I was told that you don't just go around shooting people, though, because of laws and rules and things. Completely different parameters. It's weird."

Nick shoved the all pencils in his hand haphazardly in the dummy. He wouldn't pass up a chance to learn more. His eagerness was probably palpable. "I'm stuck on how to practice without breaking people. I mean, you guys are really, really good and all, but I still feel like I'm pulling back. Do you pull back? That first week I was here, I fought around with Eliot when I was free in the morning and he let me get pretty rough, but he was a hitter and that's what he did for a living so if I hurt him he wouldn't care." Nick went on the offensive then, right at the tail end of his speech. He didn't mind getting knocked down if it made him better.

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[info]g_callen
2011-11-27 07:45 pm UTC (link)
"Self control," G answered simply. "Situational awareness, being alert to your surroundings, ready for anything to happen doesn't mean you react to everything. You shouldn't react at all, but act. Reacting means they're in control. Choose your actions to suit the result you want. If you want to avoid a bully coming down the hall intent on stuffing you into a locker without tipping your hand about your real training, you don't turn and fight them. You stop to chat casually with a nearby faculty member or ask the student body president about your bio assignment."

G shook his head. "No, you don't just go around shooting people. That's not what I said. You only shoot when your life or an innocent's life depends on it. We're not murderers, Green. We might kill people as part of the job, to defend ourselves and others, but never needlessly. Understood?"

Smirking, G moved still further into the room and away from the protection of the wall. "Self control. That's how you stop before 'breaking' people you're sparring with. Did your agency not have you train with others?"

G let him get in a couple solid hits, hits that were good in general, and continued to coach as he moved, staying defensive to give Green a chance to really feel his own attacks for the moment. "Your style and methods have to change with your opponent." He dodged, countered, and moved. "Notice the way I move, the way I position my weight to take yours." He blocked and held before breaking back. "Against you my size is an advantage it wouldn't be against someone built like Sam or even Morgan. I can bring more weight to bear." Sidestep, sidestep, hit. "Against a larger opponent, you use their size and weight against them, keeping moving, get into a rhythm without falling into a pattern. There." G blocked one last time and held Green's arm in place. "That's your telegraph. Your form is textbook, trained but you spend too much time finding your stance before you strike. Any fighter worth their salt can read the intent in the way you stand."

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[info]_nick_green
2011-11-27 08:11 pm UTC (link)
Nick took in what G said. "Like when I'd plan a mission. I'd chose when and how it was to be executed. That gave me the upper hand." He gave a chuckle. "Though sometimes I think high school was more dangerous than anything I did."

Nick hmm'd at the part about killing people. "How do you know when to shoot someone then? Aside from when they're shooting at you. That's a no brainer. What makes someone an 'innocent' person? What others am I defending? Like, the partner and unit thing?" He really didn't understand this part. Seemed kinda dumb. What did he care if people he didn't know died?

"I had a regular trainer. He wore a lot of body armor. And we had monitored training dummies to practice kill shots. After a while, the movements became natural." Nick listened as they fought. Or rather, he got mostly beaten up. "Read the way I stand, got it. Probably why I always had the most trouble going up against other agent-assassins."

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[info]g_callen
2011-11-28 06:36 am UTC (link)
"Take it from someone who's been doing this longer than you've been alive, when you start to think you have the upper hand, that's when you lose it. Nothing ever goes exactly as planned. Always have a Plan B...C, D, and E, too." G huffed in amusement. "And high school is nothing. Once you get out and see what's really out there, you might wish you could go back."

Shaking his head, hands on his hips as there wasn't a convenient wall in the center of the room, he regarded the kid silently for a moment. "You shoot when it's clear they're going to kill you otherwise. And, yes, your partner and your unit are people you're defending, just as they will defend you. Innocents are anyone not an enemy, bystanders, people caught in the crossfire, the victims of the murders Major Crimes investigates," he explained. "Tell me something, why did you become a covert operative? You can't tell chicks or use it to get cool points at school. You're not using the skills and confidence that should come with the training to make your life better if you're still getting bullied. So, why do it?"

The description of his training had G appalled. He was surprised the kid had lasted this long in the field if the only real opponents he ever faced were targets. "Mm, probably, yes." G snorted. He wasn't sure what bothered him more, the automatic association of agent and assassin, or the implications that he had problems fighting anyone trained vs. the untrained. "Well, here we train against each other, we push each other and make each other better. Starting with self-control. That's what truly separates us from the bad guys. It doesn't matter how fast you are, or how deadly. When you're no longer in control of yourself, when you endanger the lives of others because you can't stop yourself, then you become no better than the people we bring to justice."

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[info]_nick_green
2011-11-28 10:53 pm UTC (link)
Nick decided he liked G, like he liked SEAL Sam. They both had a lot more experience than Nick and were sharing it instead of brushing him aside. He was good at what he did, but he was smart enough to know that surprise was his greatest asset in the field. In this dimension, surprise wasn't going to be much of an option.

"High school is a prison for minors." Nick grinned. "From what I've heard around here, college is the place you don't want to leave."

Nick should really get out some paper and write down the list G gave regarding who not to shoot. It was pretty long. He was glad he was given targets back home - much easier to know who to kill. "Why join D.E.P.P.? The recruited me, tested me, said I would do good in the program, and it sounded like fun," he said. "Turned out I am pretty good at it and it is kinda fun. It's murder on the grades, though."

Nick took note again of G's words. "Self-control. Is that a separate course or is it part of the training now?" He smiled widely, even while getting smacked around. "Being trained by a real SEAL is sick. I'm working my ass off to get ripped like Sam. He's so cool." And yeah, he didn't sound at all like a kid saying that - not.

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[info]g_callen
2011-11-29 03:11 am UTC (link)
"I suppose that depends on who you talk to. How many of those who've said they never wanted to leave college have actually graduated? Or are they the ones who weren't able to finish because they ended up here?" G pointed out, taking the opportunity to drop in another subtle lesson in observation. He didn't feel any great desire to discuss his own teens and twenties, though.

Listening to his reasons for becoming an agent, G tried to remind himself the kid had supposedly been thirteen at the time. But, he couldn't imagine being that age, doing the work that long, and still sounding so cavalier about it. Sure, G often joked about being shot at and needing to kill terrorists, but it was dark humor to mask a lifetime of things no sixteen year old should have seen. "Is that still why you do it? Or did you find other reasons to stay on? You plan on sticking with it as an adult? Make a full career out of it?"

Snorting, G shook his head. "Self-Control training is every minute you're awake. Try forcing yourself to pause and think for a slow count of three before you speak for the rest of the day. See if you notice a change in the way you respond to things." It was difficult, but G managed not to bust out laughing at the sudden gushing over Sam. Still, it was a near thing and his partner was definitely hearing about this when G got back to the apartment. "Badass. A SEAL is a badass, not just cool. And being trained by one like Sam is a responsibility. You have to really consider the mindset that makes a man do the work to get to where he is. If he's explaining something, it's important, so listen and work your brain as hard as you work on the physical exercises."

So, he wasn't above using the kid's obvious heroworship to get him to really pay attention and learn something from Sam?

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[info]_nick_green
2011-11-29 09:44 pm UTC (link)
"Huh." Nick thought about it. "I can say that those here who were in college were really enjoying it." His school gears kicked in. English class FTW. "That's not the same as not wanting to leave." He remembered overhearing Troy say he wanted to be a sports broadcaster after college. Probably why people kept asking Nick wanted to do with regard to college.

The trouble was, Nick never really thought about it. He shrugged at G's question. "I haven't thought that far ahead, if I wanted to make a career of it. I'm more of a one mission at a time guy," he said. "I like doing it still because, well, I like doing it. The planning and the execution, successfully taking out targets. It's definitely not boring."

Nick gave G a look. "Think before I speak. You do realize I'm a teenager, right? It's a statistical fact that our ability to do that borders on impossibility." He slipped into an easy grin. "I'll try it, though, but it's gonna take a lot of practice." He nodded about Sam. "Definitely baddass. I'll listen hard."

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[info]sam_hanna
2011-11-29 03:24 am UTC (link)
On a Saturday morning, the center was usually almost dead, with the usual suspects there. Hetty, Vance, Nell possibly, and G. Sam would be doing his own training, but today he was more interested i makig sure that G wasn't overdoing it.

When he got there,, he was surprised to hear voices. He stayed closed to the entrance, not wanting them to see him as he listened and watched. Assassin or not, the kid had plenty to learn, which was even more obvious when he opened his mouth. There were things that he could put up with and others he couldn't even tolerate. "Killing is never fun. It's a necessity or a responsibility, but never fun."

He looked at G. "Badass? Now, I can see that the kid doesn't know better, describing a SEAL as cool, but you? I thought you were in the Navy." He looked at Nick again. "A SEAL is not cool or badass. A SEAL is a SEAL."

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[info]g_callen
2011-11-29 04:21 am UTC (link)
G didn't even blink in surprise at Sam's appearance in the doorway, just adjusted his position where he was standing nearer the center of the room talking to Green so that he could keep both of them and the exits in his line of sight. He was even less surprised to hear Sam's opinion on killing. Had he known his partner was listening, he'd have expected it and it was the same direction G was leading the kid toward anyway, if by a more circuitous path.

"It was either badass or big old softie," he replied, giving Sam his most innocent -- and, useless with Sam, thought it worked on everyone else -- expression. "And I was in the Navy, Big Guy. Not my fault even SEALs don't intimidate me," he added with an unrepentant smirk.

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[info]sam_hanna
2011-11-29 04:35 am UTC (link)
This was bad on so many levels, or more accurately it was about to get bad, because neither of them would back down, and they probably shouldn't have done this in front of the kid, except that it wouldn't stop them.

Sam raised an eyebrow. "You must be as blind as Spencer if you think that there's anything soft here. It's been a while since we've sparred, but I didn't think you needed a good pounding to know just how hard I am."

He looked at Nick. "Don't listen to him. A certain level of intimidation doesn't hurt as long as it's warranted and doesn't stop you from doing your job. Being fearless is not a good thing; winning your fears is."

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[info]g_callen
2011-11-29 04:54 am UTC (link)
Oh, there were so many suggestive comments that came to mind all at once and G couldn't say ninety-nine point nine hundred ninety-nine of them in front of Green. But, he'd have plenty of opportunity later when they didn't have an audience for their usual game of one-upmanship.

"Ah, but since I'm not blind and I don't need an up close and personal demonstration of just how soft you might be, it's good that I chose badass and not big old softie, now isn't it?" There was a certain rhythm to their banter that was always too easy to just fall into. "Besides, we've talked about this. I can't have anything less than a badass for a second-in-command. Wouldn't be fair to anyone else."

Turning to Green, he shook his head. "No, do listen to me. Just not about this. You, you should be intimidated by him." He turned back to Sam. "And, I have fears. I have big fears. Hetty. Hetty is intimidating."

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[info]sam_hanna
2011-11-29 05:10 am UTC (link)
Nice, but not as good as it could have been if they had been alone or even without a kid around. "The idea that you would even suggest it makes me think that you might need some personal time with me. Really, there's nothing wrong with admitting that. I'm sure Nick here agrees that personal training with me is... cool," he said with a tiny smile.

Sam snorted. "You need me to badass, because you need someone to save your ass when you jump into things, because you aren't intimiated by big men with guns."

He laughed when G went on. "That's because Hetty is scary. Vance can be, too. You need to learn to size up your opponents.

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[info]g_callen
2011-11-29 05:37 am UTC (link)
"Is that what this is about?" G asked, eyes wide. "You need me to take that first step and ask for a one-on-one? Why didn't you just say so instead of picking an argument over my choice of compliments?" He smirked softly, privately enjoying the tiny smile that accompanied his partner's words.

"Actually, I think it's you. I mean, fifteen years of Intelligence work and I survived just fine on my own. Then I get partnered with you and suddenly I'm always needing saving? Sounds more like someone's always getting me into trouble. You have a saving people complex, Big Guy." Clapping Sam on the shoulder, G shot him a sympathetic look worthy of one of Morgan's heart-to-hearts.

"It's not the size that counts," he quipped, leaving the quote unfinished. Although, he did feel a stab of conscious as their banter effectively shut Green out.

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[info]sam_hanna
2011-11-29 12:42 pm UTC (link)
"If I wait to take the first step, I'll die of old age or boredom, whatever might happen first," he answered. "Although you need to work on your verbal skills, because that didn't sound like a compliment."

Sam snorted. "That's some sort of miracle, because your mouth is always getting you in trouble. You're a little too good with that tongue of yours, with all those word game, that you don't know when to shut up." He knew that he was pushing it, but this was fun. Of course he didn't forget that Nick was there. "Let this be a lesson. You need to pay attention to what you say or you get in trouble."

He looked at G amused. "That's what people say when they don't have the size."

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[info]_nick_green
2011-11-29 10:00 pm UTC (link)
Nick watched and listened. And wished he was that good at verbal chopsocky. Instead, he just nodded and nodded some more.

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[info]_nick_green
2011-12-01 04:40 pm UTC (link)
When they came up for air, Nick asked the one question that had been on his mind since Sam said it. "Why can't killing be both fun and a necessity or responsibility? The target is still taken out."

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[info]sam_hanna
2011-12-01 04:46 pm UTC (link)
Sam looked at the boy, the urge to pound some sense into him, very strong, but he knew that it wouldn't exactly make his point. "Killing is never fun, or shouldn't be unless you're crazy. You're taking someone's life, you're playing God. You don't know why that person needs to die, or what brought him to that point, and you're not God."

He remembered how teenagers made everything personal so he changed his approach. "What if they tell me to kill your parents so they don't look for you? They are a valid target; they are risking exposure of a secret government, but they haven't done anything wrong. Should I have fun killing them?"

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[info]_nick_green
2011-12-01 05:28 pm UTC (link)
"Yes? No?" Nick frowned. "I don't know. You don't know them. It might be fun." He looked at G, and remembered about observation, and perhaps he was not listening correctly. "Maybe fun isn't the right word. It's... enjoying the success? Not playing God, because that's like running around killing people for no reason. I took out government sanctioned targets only." And almost Marcus, but then Marcus gave him a reason not to do it.

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[info]sam_hanna
2011-12-01 05:43 pm UTC (link)
Sam snorted. "And what? You think that because the government says it, the people deserve it?" Jesus Christ, but the boy was green. "Sure, I do my job and what the country asks of me, but I know better to think that every target should die."

He shook his head. "Come on, think. You're a target. We're a target. What's our crime? Breathing? No, there's nothing fun or pleasurable about killing. You can be happy that you're coming home alive, sure, but you can't be happy that someone is dead. Never that. The day that you feel happy about that, it's the day that you need to quit, because no life should be taken easily."

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[info]_nick_green
2011-12-01 06:08 pm UTC (link)
Ut-oh. Nick was in trouble, then, and it showed on his face. "Um..." He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Not so much as happy but... don't care?" This was complicated. All of a sudden, there were supposed to be correct feelings about killing people, and probably seeing dead people. He didn't want to disappoint Sam though. He looked at his shoes, rubbing one toe against the other foot. "Is this something that can be learned or... am I in trouble?"

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[info]sam_hanna
2011-12-01 07:55 pm UTC (link)
How could two teenagers have diametrically opposed positions? John cared too much and Green not at all. "I'm not telling you to care, but to remember that those aren't just targets, but people, some of whom might not have done anything wrong. If you remember that, then you'll know that you shoot only when it's necessary."

Sam sighed. "No, you're not in trouble. Someone taught you to do this and it's easier to teach someone not to care, more expedient, more likely that he will do what they want without question, and I understand why. Chain of command, following the rules, it's all important, but you need to have to have a code of honor to make you better than a killer." The problem seemed to be that the kid couldn't really relate to anyone. "Did you have a lot of friends at home?"

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[info]_nick_green
2011-12-01 08:20 pm UTC (link)
"Code of Honor. I thought that was the French Foreign Legion in that video game." Nick spoke before he thought, and yeah, he was going to fail G's test completely. He looked sheepishly at them both. "Sorry. Not the time for jokes. I know you mean like some sort of real cool- er, badass SEAL code of honor, right?"

Nick shook his head at Sam's next question. "Just one, kinda by default." And that didn't make him sound pathetic. "I'm not like a total loser or anything. I talk to lots of people at school. And there's Amanda Miles." A few hearts probably floated over his head for a moment before they popped with a shrug. "I'm just really busy with other things. Was busy."

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[info]sam_hanna
2011-12-01 09:35 pm UTC (link)
Sam raised an eyebrow. "Do I look like I ever have time for jokes?" he said. Not that he didn't, but the jokes had to be a lot smarter than that for Sam to be interested. "Like a moral code, yes. SEALs have one, but it's a little too early for that one. You don't have to finish off all the beer before getting up from a table," he said with only the tiniest of smiles.

"That's not why I asked. Talk to people, learn to make friends. The rest will come. You need to relate to people before you can understand what I mean. You'll learn," Sam assured him. "I'm not one to talk about not training, but maybe you should get out of here and go find people to talk to."

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[info]_nick_green
2011-12-01 11:07 pm UTC (link)
"Okay," Nick agreed readily. He could find people to talk to and make friends. How hard could it be? He scuppered around, collecting his dummmies and packing them back in the trash bag. With a grin, he salute-waved to Sam and G. "See you later!"

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