Adventures of Scott and Ezra

Keith grabbed the rope and began to pull his way up. It all happened in a flash. The memory was so quick he might have missed it. But he hadn't. "Toby, I bet you can't catch me!" a girl had said, maybe a year or two older than him. She then climbed up a tree, making it look as effortless as breathing. He tried to mimic her movements, but when he made it to the branch, he had made the wrong move and went tumbling to the ground. The memory ended much to soon. It almost didn't even make sense. He wished he could indulge in more memories. He wished he could have them all. But one voice cut deep and ruined it all. "Get a move on, Longwood!" General Hancock snapped. He forced his way up the rope. He wasn't going to lose his footing. He wasn't going to lose his footing. He wasn't going to...the bell rang, and Keith had a moment of triumphant....until he lost his footing and fell.

Scott has been waiting at the bottom for Keith. He really want to help him as much as he could, and leaving him wasn't going to help at all. He looked up when he heard a bell, and he was about to congratulate him for making it up there, but then he saw it. He must have lost his grip or something. He quickly caught him, but not without falling over himself and to the ground. The wid was knocked out of him, and he looked over at her, trying to tone down coughing. "Let's go before he harasses is any more," he said, and he follow in to her closet, and he sighed to himself. Well at least he made it up there. "I'm proud of you anyway," he said with a smile.

Keith grunted from the fall and rubbed his shoulder. Falling on top Scott was probably ten times better than the ground, but Scott definitely wasn't soft. "Er, that didn't go so well," he said with a long sigh. Why couldn't he be more like Scott? How was he going to get anywhere. He rubbed the remaining ache from his shoulder and glanced to Scott. "Thanks...I think," he continued, sighing. Why was he even trying? What was the actual purpose? Maybe he was really meant to be dead. But he did have a purpose. He made a deal with Scott. And Gosh Darnit, he was going to keep it.

Scott got up after a few moments, and he smiled lightly. "All I can say is I'm glad you don't weigh that much," he said, and he brushed off the dirt. He looked over at the next obstacle, and he sighed to himself. They seemed to go on endlessly. This one was sort of like the walls before, but it was a group of them. They were progressively higher, and he looked over at Keith. I think we have mastered the walls. These shouldn't be that hard," he said, and he started to go over them, the first one being a simple jump, and the second one he had to step on and over. He glanced back at Keith, just making sure that he was doing okay.

Keith chuckled and shook his head at his comment. "I guess that can be considered an advantage," he agreed. He groaned, this time aloud, when he noticed the next obstacle. Was this never ending? It sure didn't feel like it was going to end. He followed after Scott and willed himself to keep going. He was going to have to stay alive if he was going to help Scott, and get his memories back. It was taking him a bit more time to get over each wall, but he was managing. "This isn't...too bad," he said breathlessly.

Scott want actually panting at the work. It happened sometimes during football, but he usually had water at his disposal when it happened. He soon came to one of the biggest walls, and he smiled. "This is the last one Keith! Come on!" he said, and he quickly went to the next wall, rushing to get over to it. He stopped for a moment waiting on Keith to get over. As log as he made it over this next one, they would be home free. Well, after laps they would, but that didn't count. His find drifted a bit, and he sighed to himself. All he could think about was Tatum. He was antsy to get a letter back from her, but just only sent it am hour ago. He was going to have to wait a few days.

Keith huffed and rubbed a hand across his forehead. "If I don't become like General Hancock after this, I will be completely disappointed," he muttered through long breaths. His eyes widened after he noticed the last wall. "Please tell me this is only a one time thing," he groaned under his breath before he made his way up. It took him about three times before his fingertips made contact with the top, and he was able to pull himself up. "I feel like...a spaghetti noodle," he said breathlessly.

Scott couldn't help but laugh as he heard him. "I felt that way when I tarted sports at first," he said, and he jumped off of the wall before rushing over to General Hancock with Keith. "Okay, we are done," he said, panting. He was going to have to find some water somewhere or else he was going to die of dehydration. He was breathing rather heavily, but he was just glad that they were done with the obstacle course. It was going to be a long few months.

Keith had followed after Scott, but at a slower speed. His muscles were aching, and all he wanted to do was curl up into a ball and sleep forever. If they were given a break, it wouldn't be long however. They had laps to do, which he wasn't looking forward to. General Hancock looked up when Scott came over and checked his time. "Not too bad. You would have been quicker if you hadn't waited up...," he began, but paused. "But the teamwork is what I am more impressed with. You didn't leave a man behind," he continued, sighing. "Go get some water, and be back here in half an hour. You aren't getting out of laps."

Scott was a bit surprised when he heard him. "Thank you, sir," he said, and he looked back at Keith with a smile. He walked over to the water, and he poured a cup effort handing it to Keith. He poured himself one and finished it off and seconds. He poured himself another, and he closed his eyes. "I never thought I would love water so much," he said, and he smiled to himself. He just wanted to sit and drink more water in an air conditioned place before he had to go back to do whatever training General Hancock had planned next.

Keith plopped down beside Scott and took the water gratefully. It felt good to just relax his aching muscles. He wasn't sure what he preferred more, a dark cell or training most of the day and going to sleep on a hard bed. He gulped down the water and then poured more water for himself after a moment or two. "You seem to talk about Tatum and Ezra a lot," he said after a moment, throwing a glance over at Scott. "You miss them...a lot?" he inquired.

Scott smiled as he drank some more water, and he looked down at Keith when he spoke. "Yeah, I miss them a lot. I don't know how I am going to make it however long a stay. I am hoping that I can video call them soon. My dad is probably worried sick. He wanted to take my place, but they wouldn't let him," he said with a small sigh, and he closed his eyes. "Letters are all I have right now, but at least they are something," he said. He looked down at him and offered him a small smile. "Let's get inside. We don't have long for a break," he said, and he ruffled his hair, much like he would do with Ezra.

Keith nodded slowly as he let that sink in. He felt a hint of jealousy. At least Scott had people to miss; or frankly, remembered the people he missed. He shook his head and finished off the cup of water. "My parents probably don't care," he said with a shrug. His parents didn't know he was alive to care. He stole a glance at General Hancock. At his comment, he nodded in agreement and rolled his eyes when he messed with his hair. "Yeah, it's too hot out here," he stated as he headed inside after him.

Scott gave him a small smile, and he hugged him tightly. "Your folks may not care, but I sure do," he said, an he smiled down at him before walking on in to the building. "So when do you think we will get to go back home?" He really did want to go home soon, but it was going to be months before he got there, and he had only been there for a couple of days. He had already started counting the number of days that he has been gone. He wouldn't be surprised if Tatum and Ezra were doing the same thing.

Keith returned the hug and shrugged lightly as he walked in. The would have never thought that he would be so excited for cold air. He glanced over at Scott and hesitated at his question. "Well, considering this is just boot camp and not the actual war yet...," he trailed and sighed. "It probably just depends. It will be a few months," he answered, shaking his head. He glanced down at his cuff and sighed to himself. "If only it were quicker."

Scott smiled as he walked inside. He couldn't tell how much he wanted to take a long nap, but he knew that they couldn't. They only had thirty minutes. He sat down in ine of the chairs he found, and he ran a hand through his sweaty hair. He wished that he could go home, and he sighed. "Is it okay if I make a video call really quick?" he asked Keith. He wanted to talk to Tatum, even if it was only for five minutes. Every little bit counted.

Keith had been staring at the floor, thinking about how he would fool Caroline. She was probably waiting for him to do her dirty work. But he knew he couldn't bring himself to do it. Not now. Not when he knew some of the truth. He glanced up when Scott spoke and managed a small, weak smile. "Uh, yeah. Go ahead. I am probably just going to wait out here until we have to head back," he said with a shrug.

Scott smiled, and he gave him a small nod. "Thanks," he said, and he quickly pulled out his computer. He opened it and drank some of the water that he had left. He started a video call with Tatum, and he waited impatiently for her to answer. She just had to answer! If she didn't, he didn't know what he would do. He knew that it was probably the middle of the night for her, but maybe she was still up. He could only come. "Come on baby," he whispered to himself.

Tatum had been about to go to sleep. For the past few weeks, she had been keeping herself busy. She had never realized how much her friends meant to her before. But with Scott gone, she had been bonding more with Sage and Ezra. She had actually just finished talking on the phone with Ez, and he had obviously badgered her about if she had heard from Scott, which she hadn't. But if she hadn't been up so late, she might have missed his call. But, lucky for her, she hadn't. When she heard the Skype message pull up, she grabbed her computer and answered it. "Scott!"

Scott smiled brightly when he saw her answering. "Tater Tot! It's so great to hear your voice again. I miss you so much!" he said, and she smiled. He wanted to kiss her and hug her, but he wasn't sure if he would be able to soon. He couldn't wait until he saw her again. "How have you and Ezra been doing? Has he been accepted into any collages yet?" he asked, and he looked over at Keith. He hoped he didn't annoy him.

Tatum smiled when Scott popped up and leaned back against the wall. She missed him so much, and she couldn't even begin to describe how life was without him around. "I miss you too," she said with a small smile. She wished she could hug him, but all she could hear was his voice and see his face. For now, it would just have to be enough. "Uh, we are doing okay, I guess. I mean, for the most part Ez is taking it well," she said with a sheepish shrug. Although she had been trying to keep up a happy front, Tatum wasn't taking it very well herself. "I don't think he's...sent anything in," she continued when he mentioned college.

Scott smiled lightly as he listened to Tatum speak. He looked in to her eyes, and he sighed to himself. He knew that she was faking it. "Tell him I said to send something in. I'll try to talk to him soon. I sent letters today. They should be in soon," he said. He ran a hand through his hair. "So, I know that I had this in the letter, but I might as well tell you. Your dad is sort of...my general," he said. He bit his lip nervously. "He doesn't seem to hate me too much," he said.

Tatum nodded and cracked a weak smile at Scott through the screen. "I tried. I will try again. Let's see how that goes," she said with a long sigh. She didn't want to admit it, but she didn't want Ezra to send anything in. If Scott were gone for a long time and Ezra left for college, she would almost be all alone. She listened to what he had to say next and rose her brows in surprise. "Your...general?" she repeated, but before she could ask another question, another face momentarily popped into the screen. "And mine," Keith said before he moved back to get out of the message once more. Tatum furrowed her brows and asked, "Hey, who is that? He looks oddly familiar. Did we go to school with him or something?" Keith stood at that. "Uh, I'm gonna head on back," he said before he quickly headed off before Tatum could ask more questions.

Scott gave her the best smile that he could, and looked at her. He wanted to hold her hand and kiss her, but that would have to wait. He chuckled when Keith came in, and he rolled his eyes. He waved when he said that he was going to head off. "Alright! I'll try not tone late!" he called, and he shook his head at her question. "Nah. His name is Keith," he said. He personally thought he looked a little bit about Toby, but he didn't want to tell her about it. It was still a hard topic to bring up.

Tatum frowned as she thought about it. She couldn't place why, but Keith looked too familiar. "Really?" she asked, frowning slightly. Why couldn't she place why he looked so familiar? Something was throwing it all off. She shook her head and refocused on Scott. "How is training going?" she asked, biting down on her lower lip. She hoped her father wasn't working them too hard; but then again, this was about keeping people on their side alive. She just wanted Scott to come home. The quicker the better.