maratonista: (Default)
maratonista ([personal profile] maratonista) wrote2010-08-06 07:43 pm

Two pair

Two pair
R
Jensen/Cougar implied
Before they were Losers, they were two pairs waiting for someone to bridge the gap. Or, Clay and Roque silently try not to kill each other, while Jensen and Cougar silently try not to kill everyone else.



Back before they first started, God, six years ago, it had just been Clay and Roque.

They had been part of a seven-man team in Operation Kushner. The op got blown to Hell, and their team with it.

He and Roque hadn’t really liked each other at all, but when it was just the two of you against the world, the little things you hated about each other tended to get lost among the big things you had in common.




Neither Cougar or Jensen came through the ranks traditionally.

Cougar got himself ripped from sniper school at twenty and thrown into the jungle to kill drug lords.

Most of the time he was on his own. Most of the time, he didn’t even know who was giving the orders.

Jensen was sixteen when they met. A recent graduate from MIT and quickly welcomed into a sidebranch of the NSA before he could get bored – or smart - and turn against them. He’d lasted three weeks before he was dragged into a van at gunpoint.

Last Cougar had heard, the NSA stopped hiring children to do their dirty work, but it was still five months before his and Jensen’s paths crossed.

After that, it just became practical to make sure Jensen had someone around to watch his back. According to his file, Jensen was a member of the US Army. In reality, he still belonged to the NSA. Despite everything Cougar taught him, Jensen never went to Basic, had never stood on parade, and still didn’t understand why guns were so fucking awesome.

The few times anyone has dared separate them, Cougar was forced to not-so-gently nudge them in the right direction. He didn’t have to remind anyone just how dangerous the two of them really were. Jensen just blinked his blue eyes and smiled sweetly, and that tended to cause far more concern than Cougar’s snarling.




Clay and Roque had literally stumbled on them in Honduras.

Cougar had six bullets in him, and it was Jensen’s twentieth birthday.

The kid convinced them to help – even though Clay liked to think they would have anyway, it was really fucking hard to say no to Jensen when he pleaded with you – and they saved Cougar’s life in the middle of the godforsaken jungle.

Jensen waited until Cougar was stable, stole Clay’s radio, Rogue’s rifle and a handful of rations before the two of them slipped away into the forest.

In hindsight, they should probably have introduced themselves.




When they arrived back home, and Clay had managed to calm Roque’s temper, they set about trying to find the elusive pair.

Six months later, and they still drew blanks.




In the end, they stumbled on Cougar first, drinking in a bar in Fayetteville. He clearly didn’t recognize either of them. Clay wasn’t surprised. The guy was hallucinating when they met.

They watched and waited until Jensen took a seat beside him, two beers and a fake ID in his hands.

If a man was going to bleed and die for his country, Clay had no fucking issue with him drinking, legal age be fucked.




Roque insisted they follow the pair.

In a dark street, Cougar took him down with a blow to the throat. Clay had enough time to land a blow to Jensen before his head was spinning and the last words he was ever going to hear was a liturgy of Spanish insults.

“Carlos, parada!”

As second first meetings went, it was fairly fitting for all four of them.




Jake Jensen and Carlos ‘Cougar’ Alvarez.

Where one went, the other followed.




Jensen, Clay didn’t understand.

Cougar… well, any guy who could take down Roque (and him) Clay didn’t need to understand. He just needed.




They were both fucking babies, really: twenty-five and twenty. Clay wanted to give them ten bucks for candy and tell them to always use a condom.

Instead he gave them guns and a laptop that weighed almost as much as Jensen did, then dragged them into the middle of a warzone.




Pooch was a welcome addition.

Jensen and Cougar couldn’t be separated with a fucking crowbar, and they tended to suffer from temporary deafness: when it came to the other’s safety, they knew best, and Clay could go fuck himself.

Cougar was especially bad, and it wasn’t as if he could intimidate Jensen into anything when the sniper was around.

They had each other, and to hell with anyone else.

Which left Clay and Roque to edge towards killing each other.

Pooch drew them out of their little cliques. He made two pairs into a team.
ext_59624: (Default)

[identity profile] marvinetta.livejournal.com 2010-08-06 06:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Oooooooooooo. Very interesting. I'm still in love with your style.
ext_6657: She solders!  With glasses! (cougar is freakin hot)

[identity profile] katemonkey.livejournal.com 2010-08-06 07:29 pm (UTC)(link)
I love that it's not the usual "Jensen's the baby, he shows up last" sort of thing. I love the way you write, and I love how Jensen's NSA's baby and everything.

And this: Pooch drew them out of their little cliques. He made two pairs into a team. ♥! ♥! ♥! Oh Pooch!

[identity profile] alesca-munroe.livejournal.com 2010-08-06 08:01 pm (UTC)(link)
XD This is kind of awesome. I like how Pooch comes in at the very end and makes them a team.
ext_461575: (Default)

[identity profile] oh-la-fraise.livejournal.com 2010-08-06 08:11 pm (UTC)(link)
This was awesome! So different from the usual how-they-met fic. And oh, Pooch, to be stuck between two pairs while his better half is so far away.

[identity profile] killedmedead.livejournal.com 2010-08-06 08:44 pm (UTC)(link)
OoooooOoooh, me like~ :D
Hehe - Jensen and Cougar together from the start, and fuck everyone else. *swoon*
This is my kind of fic, plz write more? *puppy dog eyes a la Jensen style*

[identity profile] choasangel.livejournal.com 2010-08-06 09:04 pm (UTC)(link)
This is just so perfect. Love how Clay and Roque knew each other before the Losers ever formed. Really love the idea that Jensen and Cougar knew each other before the Losers, and how protective they were of each other...also Jensen not being an actual member of the military, but the NSA was all kinds of awesome. So interesting seeing how many times the pairs ran into each other--granted Roque and Clay were looking for Jensen and Cougar. Think I'll stop before I write a novel on this.

Have to second Marvinetta on the love of your style of writing. It's all kinds of wonderful.

[identity profile] snowdarkred.livejournal.com 2010-08-06 10:14 pm (UTC)(link)
So, I'm kind of failing over this, because yes. Of course. XD

Love it. <3

[identity profile] lassroyale.livejournal.com 2010-08-06 10:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Hi! This is my first time commenting on your stories, but I simply can't contain myself any longer. I have to say, I adore the concise writing style you have. You don't mince your words, you just say what needs to be said and nothing more. The impact it has becasue of that, especially when dealing with such stark characters as the Losers, really works.

Besides, I love the way you write all of the, you make them endearing, and Jensen/Cougar is nearest and dearest to my heart right now. Cougar especially, but Jensen, he's got an unusual charm that snags you before you even realize it and then, damn, you're sunk!

Wonderful job, I can't encourage you enough to keep writing!

[identity profile] alocine-89.livejournal.com 2010-08-06 11:18 pm (UTC)(link)
ooooh, this is excellent. A really original take on how the team came together. And I love that it's Pooch who makes them into a real team :)

[identity profile] bloodquartz.livejournal.com 2010-08-07 12:35 am (UTC)(link)
Oh! I love your writing and this is just - just perfect and happy making and such wonderful imagery and insight and relationships and - i'm all squee-ey now ♥_♥

[identity profile] damion_starr.livejournal.com 2010-08-07 01:07 am (UTC)(link)
Your writing style is so much fun to read. It sounds exactly like a narrative, and is somehow more effective than a story with twice the words.

I'd have something more eloquent, but I just got off an 8 hour shift, so lemme just say you're made of awesome! ^_^

[identity profile] parisindy.livejournal.com 2010-08-07 06:53 am (UTC)(link)
awww that was awesome!

[identity profile] spazzer-mctwich.livejournal.com 2010-08-07 10:03 am (UTC)(link)
awww. those two are adorable for being highly trained killing machines....

[identity profile] niccy07.livejournal.com 2010-08-07 02:42 pm (UTC)(link)
This sounds like an interesting idea! Love your verses!

[identity profile] emocezi.livejournal.com 2010-08-07 05:37 pm (UTC)(link)
EEEEEE!!!

I LOVED THIS!!!!

[identity profile] buhhhfaluffalo.livejournal.com 2010-08-08 12:11 am (UTC)(link)
Oh man, this is perfect! What an interesting and awesome back story!

[identity profile] laylabinx.livejournal.com 2010-08-08 12:42 am (UTC)(link)
Cute!! Loved this!! :D

[identity profile] storm-petrel.livejournal.com 2010-08-08 03:56 am (UTC)(link)
You always have the most interesting ideas and details in your stories, and God, I'm in love with your style :)

[identity profile] blinddreamer.livejournal.com 2010-08-08 11:48 pm (UTC)(link)
This is so interesting. I like the originality of Jensen not being the last one to join and being a bad ass before he joined. And of course Cougs will take out Clay and Roque to protect Jensen. Awesome.

[identity profile] kaitlia777.livejournal.com 2010-08-12 11:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Love this version of how the Losers become the Losers!

Jensen just blinked his blue eyes and smiled sweetly, and that tended to cause far more concern than Cougar’s snarling.

This made me giggle

[identity profile] salvadore-hart.livejournal.com 2010-08-15 08:56 pm (UTC)(link)
First I need to address how happy this line made me.
They were both fucking babies, really: twenty-five and twenty. Clay wanted to give them ten bucks for candy and tell them to always use a condom.
I was wide eyed and it probably just made my day.

This a nice original idea for how the Losers came to be. I especially love how important Pooch is. Because he is Pooch.

[identity profile] otherpervert.livejournal.com 2010-08-18 03:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh love. Love love. *smishes* Adored the encounters previous to them becoming a team. And yay Pooch! Pooch makes everything better.

[identity profile] anomi-lala.livejournal.com 2010-08-21 07:26 am (UTC)(link)
Ahh, another one I love. You have so many good lines that are so short but so telling (: I think that's a good writer.