Page 58 of Zorro

Leite didn’t look away from them. “You have big smart asses on your team as well, my friend?”

Joker rubbed a gloved hand down his face and muttered, “Like I’ve said before, I herd big fucking cats for a living.”

Leite’s mouth twitched.

Inside, D-Day came out of the next breach laughing. “Blitz screamed like a kicked chihuahua.”

“Did not.”

“Did too.”

“It was a tactical yell, you illiterate ogre.”

Buck appeared last, brushing plaster from his shoulder. “You keep saying things like that, I’m gonna kiss you square on the mouth. Swear to God.”

“That a threat or a promise?” Blitz asked sweetly.

“You find out, you better be gentle. I’m delicate before noon,” Buck fired back.

“Reset!” Joker snapped from the hallway.

Zorro leaned back against the wall, chest heaving. Migs stepped up beside him, watching the madness like it was a strange and fascinating storm.

“You people talk this much during training?” he asked.

Zorro grinned, dragging a hand down his face. “That’s how we keep from killing each other.”

Behind them, D-Day was already stacking for the next entry, this time with Blitz at his shoulder.

Joker barked, “Low profile. Don’t silhouette the goddamn frame!”

“Copy that,” D-Day called. “Blame Blitz’s fat ass. It overlaps.”

Blitz hissed through his teeth. “Hey, I have low blood sugar.”

Migs coughed a laugh into his fist, then looked up at Captain Leite, who was eyeing the team like he wasn’t sure if they needed deployment or detention.

“These guys…they’re effective,” Migs said quietly. “But insane.”

Leite folded his arms tighter. “If they were Brazilian, we’d have to start another unit just to contain the fallout.”

Zorro caught the tail end of that and tilted his head. “What’s Portuguese for ‘beautiful disaster’?” Everly hadn’t asked for saving. Just silence. So he gave her that. But it didn’t stop him from hoping she was on the other side of that door…thinking about him, too.

Migs deadpanned, “Americano.”

The heat inside the hallway ratcheted with every rep. The runs got faster, tight as hell, Ferocious. Sweat pooled in boot arches. Hands slipped. Zorro clocked one of the BOPE trainees trying to get fancy on a slice-the-pie corner and nearly caught a sim round to the chest.

He stepped in post-clear and snapped, “Your ass is not a fucking lighthouse. Stop broadcasting it.” The kid nodded, wide-eyed, and Zorro slapped a hand on his shoulder before moving on. “Keep your corners tight, your ego tighter.”

Buck jogged past, grinning. “Write that on a T-shirt.”

“Shut up,” Zorro said, “before I make yours say ‘I came, I saw, I kissed Blitz.’”

Captain Leite finally stepped in beside Joker, watching the SEALs rotate again with feral energy and no sign of slowing.

“They enjoy this?” he asked, disbelief edging into respect.

“They live for it,” Joker said flatly. “If they die, it’ll probably be with a one-liner.”