TAMED

Trial By Fire

Ares woke up with sleep still in the corners of his eyes. His head was aching, and he felt more groggy than usual. The sun was just barely casting a glow below the horizon, and when he peeked in the bed next to his, he saw that his handler was still sound asleep.

With a well-placed stretch and a wide yawn that brought tears to his eyes, he made his way into the bathroom. What would be on the list today? Somehow he felt more anxious than usual. He shivered as he brushed his teeth and put on a fresh set of clothes. He didn't feel like taking a shower or brushing his wild wavy hair, he figured Levi would give him an earful about it later, as usual, but for now it didn't matter to him.

He made his way out into the small kitchenette and nervously looked at the cabinets. Levi had told him he was free to grab something to eat when he felt like it, but it still felt weird to act on his own too much. Then again, he did know where there was a bag of M&M's. He snuck over to Levi's dresser drawer and reached in silently, stealing the sweet treat that the man had put in there as a special reward for when he did good. He figured he'd done well enough the day before, ya know, by not slaughtering anyone, so he would help himself.

Very suddenly an alarm went off on the base property. Ares tilted his head and listened, it wasn't typical for a military base to do this without letting them know ahead of time, was it? He looked out the window and witnessed as a plethora of men and women, some dressed in uniform and some in their sleep clothes, running in the same direction.

Ares was confused, what was everyone doing? In that moment Levi rushed out of the room, half asleep, and looked out the window too.

"Thats not a drill." He muttered, somewhat out of breath. "Stay here, I need to go see what's going on."

"But-"

"Stay." Levi said more firmly and pointed his index finger to the Hound. Ares watched as the men slipped into his shoes and dashed out the front door, unintentionally slamming it behind him.

Levi had been in such a hurry that he hadn't said anything about the candy Ares had swiped, the Hound popped a few into his mouth and then set them down on the dining table. As he paced, wondering what he should do, he began to hear gunfire. The sound sent a shiver through his bones and an uneasy queasiness through his gut. Something was wrong, he just knew it. It didn't take a Hound to sense that much.

A low growl rumbled in his throat as he slipped into his shoes. Shouting and gunshots? That didn't make any sense. What kind of insane person would attack a military base? Did this person want to die?

Curiosity eventually crumbled his obedience down to nothing. Exhilaration and adrenalin pumped through his veins as he finally sprinted out the door after Levi.

Once outside, he saw the crowd off next to the main building staring terrified at a group of men, each with visible bombs attached to their bodies and each holding a hostage. They were shouting something but Ares couldn't make it out, definitely in Spanish. Why hadn't the guards shot them yet? Were they worried about the bombs going off if they killed them? Or were they wanting to find out who they were first? None of this made sense.

Ares trembled with excitement, though he choked it down the best he could.

Wait, where was Levi?

Then he noticed it.

Levi was at the front of the crowd, speaking the same language that the infiltrators were. Was he trying to calm them? To negotiate?

What the hell was happening?

Oh, this was a test, wasn't it? Ares tilted his head again, much like a shepherd dog, and sighed. There was no way anyone was stupid enough to actually try to bomb a place like this, especially not in person. Ares smiled, that meant he got to have a little fun right? As long as he stayed in control and didn't hurt anyo-