Not a Participation Game

Lance Prepares for Mission: Not Impossible

Lance landed his lion near the campfire that was set up. When he got out, he saw three Blades, all with their masks on. One stood, watching the fire, one sat on a log next to the fire, and the third was just emerging from the shelter. Lance jogged to them and waved, saying, "Hey guys, what's up?"

The Blade that came out of the tent approached Lance and held his hand out to shake Lance's. "We're grateful that you were able to come on such short notice."

"Oh yeah, no problem,"Lance said, looking up at the Blade, who was at least two feet taller than him.

The Blade brought Lance inside the shelter–what appeared to be a large and sturdy tent–and showed him a table that had a map of the hub they were invading. The other two blades, who were not quite as tall as the first, entered shortly after Lance.

"First things first," the tallest Blade said, "We'll call each other by code names. It's the new protocol to establish complete anonymity during missions. On this mission, we will address each other by colors. You can call me Gray."

"I'm Red," said the shortest Blade, who had been the one standing by the campfire. "I mean, my code name is Red."

"Call me Green," said the last Blade. He had been the one sitting near the fire.

Lance looked between the three of them and nodded slowly to himself. "Alright, then. Gray, Red, and Green. And what color will I be?"

"Blue," piped up Red. Gray looked at Red, then nodded. Lance thought there was something familiar about Red, but shrugged it off.

"Yes," Gray said, turning to Lance, "You will be called Blue from now on."

Gray then went on to describe the mission in three stages.

The first stage was getting in. It was Green's job to shut down security and get them inside while the others took care of the guards. Gray made it very clear to only stun them.

The second stage was getting any information they could and corrupting any data on the Coalition. Here, they would split up and do what they could. Green gave them flash drive-like devices that would do the job.

The third stage was getting out. Optimistically, the four of them would remain unnoticed for the full–Lance guesses–3 hours that they planned for. If any one of them was to be discovered, they would all retreat and do what they could individually to get back to the base without being followed.

After reviewing the plan and going over specifics, Gray announced that they would go after they rested for the night. Lance walked outside with Red and Green. Having nothing to do, the three of them stood by the fire.

They stood in silence, as none of them really knew what to say. After a few minutes, Green decided that he had enough of standing around and said he should go double-check the flash drives. Lance and Red remained by the fire.

"So...Red...what's up with these code names?" Lance asked.

"Oh you know," Red said, "orders from the top, protect our identities, blah blah blah."

It took Lance a moment before he realized where he heard that before. He did a double-take at Red as he remembered the party. Red and the wallflower were the same height, both a little shorter than him. Now that Lance realized it, they both sounded the same.

"You–the party–" Lance started, barely able to keep his thoughts together. Red nodded, and Lance couldn't help but smile.

"I'm glad you accepted the mission," said Red. "If another had shown up, I'd have given them a message for you. But now you're here."

Red kept looking at Lance for a second, then looking away. Lance thought it was cute. He touched Red's hand and Red's head snapped up to meet his eyes.

"Thanks for talking with me at the party, by the way," Lance said in a soft voice.

Red turned his head slightly. "You were the one to approach me," he said. "I was just doing what anyone would have done."

Lance cupped Red's head in his hand. "You did more than that," Lance said, half-whispering as the distance between them shrunk. "You listened."

Red and Lance spent most of the night talking and enjoying each other's company. Eventually they moved from standing to sitting against a log near the fire. Sometime while Lance was explaining his frustration at Shiro and how he was leaving the team for a dangerous mission for practically no reason, Red rested his head on Lance's shoulder. Lance smiled and rested his head on Red's. "Go on," Red said after a few moments of silence, "I'm listening."

Lance couldn't put into words how much he appreciated having Red with him.