Michael was pretty sure he was in the middle of the most peaceful dream he’d had in weeks when he was suddenly pinned to the bed. He tried to sit up as quickly as he could, his fists already clenched and ready to strike when he realized that his hands had been tied, his eyes blindfolded, and his mouth gagged. He hadn’t even opened his eyes yet!

Michael struggled against his bonds and tried to fight back when he heard a deep voice whisper, “Look, we don’t want to sedate you, but we will if we have to. So, do us all a favour and stop struggling. You’ll understand everything soon.”

Michael’s mind raced as he tried to decide what to do. The voice hadn’t sounded threatening. And the base was so secure no unauthorized people would be able to enter. So it made sense that the people who were currently kidnapping him from his nice warm bed were soldiers and didn’t mean him harm. Slowly, Michael nodded and he was cautiously and quietly escorted out of the building.

Feeling the wet grass beneath his feet, Michael was starting to question his decision to trust his attackers when he was shoved into the back of a van. As soon as the doors slammed shut the vehicle began to move. That’s when Michael really started to kick himself. Why did he trust a voice he didn’t know? 

He began to fight his restraints, growling against the gag in his mouth, when he heard a familiar voice.

“Don’t bother,” Kit whispered. “From what I can tell they used some heavy duty handcuffs. There’s no way we can get out.”

Michael twisted towards Kit’s voice, trying to speak against the cloth in his mouth.

“Sorry, I don’t understand gag. If you actually want to talk to me, you’ll have to figure out a way to remove that rag like I did.” 

Michael swore he could hear Kit smirk and felt his ire rise. For months, Kit had been alternating between ignoring him and challenging him whenever he could. It was starting to get on Michael’s nerves. He’s always been a patient person, but everyone has their limits.

Turning away, he spent several minutes wiggling and contorting his body until he was able to sweep his hands under his legs, and they were in front of him. Michael yelled triumphantly against his gag, when he heard Kit mutter, “Good idea idiot. Let them all know you’re trying to escape.”

Blushing with embarrassment, Michael quickly removed his gag and blindfold. He turned to look at Kit and found the Beta inspecting the inside of the van. He looked towards the driver’s seats and saw that there was a panel dividing the van. So they had some privacy. For now.

“Where do you think we are?” Michael whispered.

“We’ve been driving along for at least fifteen minutes so we’re definitely not on the base anymore,” Kit replied, his voice low as he continued to look around.

“What are you doing?” Michael asked.

Kit froze, then slowly turned to Michael, “Did you grow up so privileged you lost your survival instinct? This is obviously a test, and we have to find a way to get out of here and back to the base. So, what I’m doing here, since you haven’t figured it out or have any of those dominant instincts you Alphas are so proud of, is looking for anything we can use to escape, open our cuffs, or fight back. Does your Alpha brain understand all that?”

Michael’s face flushed with anger, “You know what? I’m sick and tired of your attitude. You may be better than me when it comes to a lot of this military stuff, but I’m still learning. And I’m trying. And right now we’re stuck together and my guess is Warner or Carter paired us up so we can get past our differences and become a team. Because we can be a bad-ass pair, if you’d just get over yourself and try talking to me like I’m a person! Or does your superior and holier than thou ass not get that?”

Kit stared at Michael for a few seconds and he seriously began to doubt he could ever break through to the stubborn Beta when he finally nodded. “You’re right. We have to work together to get out of here. And if that means being civil to each other for a while then I can do it.”

Michael deflated and nodded back. “OK then. What do we have so far?”

“There’s a rope, some tape, believe it or not a crow bar, and some plastic bags.”

“Not much,” Michael muttered.

“Yeah, but could be enough,” Kit said, smiling mischievously and Michael’s heart began to pound.

Twenty minutes later the van finally stopped.

“Ready?” Kit whispered, his voice tense.

Michael tightened his hand on the crow bar. “Ready.”

They sat there in the van, waiting for several minutes before Kit ventured towards the door and turned the handle. The door silently swung open. They looked at each other nonplussed as a cold breeze swept into the interior of the van.

“Was that open the whole time?” Michael rasped.

“Let’s pretend it wasn’t,” Kit said and they both nodded.

Cautiously, they stepped out of the van and surveyed the area. They were clearly in the woods and based on the lack of concrete, and the fact that the only tire tracks were from their van, they weren’t on any designated paths.

“Looks like they left. Guess it’s a survival test rather than a kidnapping situation,” Kit observed.

“For what it’s worth, I think your plan would have worked. The plastic bag idea was genius.”

Kit started and he looked at Michael, his face flushing slightly, “Thanks.”

Michael was shocked by how much his compliment affected Kit. Was the prickly man that unused to praise? He definitely wasn’t used to people much. While he did talk to Joe and Henry, his responses were always brief, his interactions minimal. But Michael could change that. After all, he always did like a challenge, and making friends.

 His resolve renewed, Michael grinned, “Guess we’d better start heading back.”

Kit nodded and he quickly grabbed the rope and put it around his neck. “You never know. We might need it.”

“Good idea. I’ll put the tape in my pocket and hold on to the crow bar.”

“Actually I have a better idea.”

Michael quirked his eyebrow questioningly as Kit grabbed the tape in his bound hands, sat on the edge of the van, and began to tape up his bare feet. Michael couldn’t help chuckling, “You never cease to amaze me. How the hell did you even think of that?”

Kit continued to stare at his feet as he bit the tape to cut it, and began to tape up his other foot. “I used to run away from home a lot and couldn't always take much with me. I learned to use whatever I could find.”

Michael stared, surprised by the honest confession. He wanted to know more about Kit, but was worried if he pried too much he’d shut him out again. Maybe more practical questions would be better. “What was the longest you ever ran away for?”

“One week. I got pretty far and lived on plants I found in the woods and I managed to find a small stream so it wasn’t too bad. The worst was when I ran away for three days and couldn’t find anything to survive. Didn’t take into account that there was a drought for months in the direction I headed. I ate some tree bark and leaves which wasn’t the best idea.”

Kit held out the tape for Michael and they switched positions so he could sit down and tape up his own feet. While his hands worked, Michael’s mind went over all the information Kit just provided. The fact that Kit didn’t get along with his family shouldn't have been a surprise. The way Kit kept everyone at arm’s length, refusing to accept any relationship even as colleagues, indicated he had strong trust issues and was used to fending for himself. Now, Kit confirmed what Michael had suspected for weeks, that the Beta had learned to rely on himself at an early age and trust no one. Michael had thought it might be social pressure, but if Kit couldn’t even trust his own family, no wonder he kept rejecting everyone, including Michael. 

 Was his family so bad he preferred living on tree bark than live with them? Were they abusive? Or just uncaring? Did he even have parents? Michael burned to ask these questions but he knew that if someone tried to pry into his family life he’d deflect their attention. If he wasn’t prepared to share his family and personal life with Kit, he shouldn’t expect Kit to share anything either.

“I never considered running away. Probably wouldn’t have made it on my own anyway,” Michael said softly, his neck tense as he waited for Kit’s response.

“That’s pretty normal. People always think the hell you know is better than the hell you don’t. And it’s not like me running away accomplished much. Except teach me how to be resourceful apparently.”

Michael looked at Kit seriously, “Why’d you assume my family was hell?”

Michael saw Kit’s eyes widen as he gulped uncomfortably, his eyes looking everywhere except at Michael. “I..uh..just..I heard how you came here after rejecting the Wolf team. I assumed that your parents, being an Alpha-Omega family, probably weren’t happy about that.”

Michael continued to gaze at Kit, debating how much he should reveal. But they were finally talking, actually talking, and if he wanted to forge a relationship, he had to break down that wall Kit stubbornly put up, by opening himself up too. “You’re right. They weren’t happy. They still aren’t which is why I don’t talk to them. Were your parents against you joining as well?”

Kit swallowed and finally met Michael’s eyes, his gaze angry and defiant, “Yes.”

Michael nodded at Kit’s simple response and got up, putting the rest of the roll of tape in his pocket. “Well my fellow rebel, shall we?”

With that, the two of them began to walk through the woods, using the stars to help them navigate their way out. They got turned around a few times and, at one point, they heard a wolf howl in the distance and froze until the sound moved further away, exhaling with relief and smiling at their good luck. Hours later, they finally made it out of the woods and found the main road. They followed it for another couple of hours until they reached the city.

“I’d love to hitchhike or catch a cab but I don’t think anyone would take us with these on,” Michael said, holding up his still handcuffed hands.

“Stop being a baby. It’s just another hour.”

“I said I wish, not that I wanted to. Aren’t you tired too?”

Kit looked at Michael out of the corner of his eye then grinned weakly, “Yeah, I am.”

Michael chuckled as they continued to walk through the main streets, ignoring the curious eyes of the people heading to work. “See, no shame in admitting when you're hungry or tired. As long you keep going.”

Kit grinned and the two continued, feeling lighter after confessing their exhaustion. When they reached the gates of the base they found Sergeant Carter and Warner waiting for them.

As soon the Sergeants saw their cadets coming down the road, Warner smiled and held his hand out to Carter. “Pay up. Told you they’d be first.”

Carter huffed and shook her head, “You said they'd become partners. We don’t know if they did or didn’t yet.”

“Are you kidding?” Warner exclaimed, “Look at their relaxed attitude. They’re definitely friends now. And thank god for that. I was getting pretty damn tired mediating between those two. As a team, they’d be unstoppable.”

Carter slowly smiled as she reached into her pocket and slapped ten sars into Warner’s hand, her eyes still on the bright eyed cadets, “You’re right about that.”