Chapter 37 #2
Castiel came back around the house with both arms loaded with water balloons, and Shaun barely had time to register the paint swirling inside them before the first one flew. It caught Saxon square in the chest and exploded across his shirt in a blast of bright-blue paint and gold glitter.
“Oh, fuck yes.” Castiel ducked behind the grill as Saxon snatched another balloon and fired it straight back at him.
“Motherfucker.” Saxon missed Castiel completely and nailed Roman instead, the balloon bursting against his neck and sending red paint across his shoulder while glitter sprayed through his hair. “Shit.”
Roman tackled him before he could get another shot off, and the two of them went down fighting while Reese made the spectacularly fucking stupid decision to grab three balloons and run.
Shaun jumped sideways when one sailed past his head and exploded against the side of the house, splattering pink paint and silver glitter across the wall.
“Hey, assholes, I fucking live here.”
Another balloon burst over his boots, green paint running across the leather, and Shaun looked up to find Reese standing ten feet away with an empty hand and absolutely no fucking remorse on his face.
“You have three seconds to start running.”
“Worth it.” Reese turned and bolted across the yard, laughing as Shaun went after him.
Shaun only made it a few strides before something cold exploded between his shoulder blades and drenched the back of his shirt. He spun around, paint dripping from his shirt as Zenko backed away with a shit-eating grin.
“Oh, babe, you did not fucking do that.” Shaun pointed at Zenko and immediately lunged for the nearest balloon.
“Welcome to the real Red Squadron, babe.” Zenko threw the second balloon and missed when Shaun ducked, hitting Castiel instead.
Castiel looked down at the paint dripping from his shirt before grabbing another balloon, and Shaun barely had time to register the grin spreading across his face before the entire backyard erupted again. “Glitter wars is part of the package.”
Shaun came up off the grass with glitter stuck to his forearms and grabbed one of the abandoned balloons. He looked at the rainbow of paint already covering the yard, then at Zenko.
“Now I know why you fuckers are called Red Squadron. I always thought it was military shit. Turns out you’re all just obsessed with fucking colors.” He threw the balloon hard enough to catch Reese between the shoulder blades, purple paint exploding across his back.
“Cheap shot, Shaw.” Reese spun around, grabbed a balloon from Roman, and hurled it at Shaun. Shaun ducked, and the balloon exploded against Zenko’s chest instead, covering him in bright orange paint.
Zenko looked down at his shirt before slowly raising his eyes toward Reese. “You’re fucking dead.”
Reese pointed at Zenko and laughed. “That one was a fucking bonus.”
Zenko wiped orange paint from his face and stared at the glitter coating his palm.
“You. Are. Dead.” He lunged for the container beside the grill, but Castiel kicked it across the grass, sending balloons rolling in every direction. Zenko scooped up two and held one toward Shaun. “Babe, catch.”
“Don’t you fucking dare.” Shaun barely finished the warning before Zenko tossed the balloon toward him. He caught it against his chest, stared at the blue paint and glitter sloshing inside, then looked at Zenko with a grin. “Oh, you beautiful bastard.”
“Less flirting, more killing.” Zenko pointed past Shaun, and Saxon came charging toward them with a balloon raised over his head.
Shaun fired first, catching Saxon across the stomach as Zenko’s balloon hit his shoulder. Blue and yellow paint exploded across Saxon’s shirt, leaving him standing there covered in glitter.
“Holy fuck, we got him.”
Roman didn’t get the chance to enjoy the hit. Zenko wheeled around, caught him around the waist, and drove him into the grass while Roman laughed hard enough to make defending himself fucking impossible.
“Head shot, asshole? You know the fucking rules.” Zenko kept Roman pinned for a second before letting him roll free, his grin making it obvious the bastard wasn’t actually pissed.
“What rules?” Shaun ducked behind the table as another balloon flew toward him, then grabbed one from the grass. “Nobody told me there were fucking rules.”
“There aren’t.” Castiel nailed Reese in the thigh with yellow paint before snatching another balloon off the ground. “Zen makes them up whenever it suits him.”
“Fuck you, Cas.” Zenko released Roman and took a balloon square across the back from Saxon, blue paint bursting over his shirt. He turned toward Saxon with glitter sliding from his shoulder. “You really want to do this again?”
“Pretty sure we already are.” Saxon scooped up two more balloons and tossed one toward Roman before grabbing another for himself. “Come on, Marks. You started this shit. Try to keep up.”
Shaun had just managed to get his hands on another balloon when Noble’s voice cut across the backyard.
“Red Squadron… fall in!”
Every man around him dropped what he was doing and snapped into formation.
Zenko dropped the balloon in his hand and moved instantly, Roman, Reese, Castiel, and Saxon snapping into formation around him while Shaun stayed where he was.
Noble and Max stood near the gate, both of them somehow still clean, and Shaun barely had time to register the sight before Noble’s gaze moved down the line of glitter-covered operators.
Shaun opened his mouth to answer when something shot out from behind him. The balloon hit Noble square in the face and exploded, covering his head and upper body in purple paint and silver glitter.
Nobody fucking moved. Shaun could barely breathe as he stared at Noble, purple paint dripping from his face while silver glitter sparkled across his hair and shirt.
Noble slowly wiped his hand down, stared at the paint and glitter coating his palm, then raised his head.