For Paris, with love :-)

Hopefully it is not too obvious that the only thing I know about capture the flag is what I read in Percy Jackson.

This time, it was Bobby that was reciting the rules, at the edge of the woods where all the campers and counselors had gathered.

"The rules are simple," he started. "Two teams, two flags. Each team will hide their flag within their territory, and the other team has to infiltrate and, well, capture the flag. If you get tagged, though, you have to sit out. So, speed is key. Any questions?"

"A comment," Jessica added with a raised hand, coming up to the front when Bobby nodded in reply. "You only need to tag a person, don't purposely injure them." She gave a pointed look in Johnny's direction.

"What?" Johnny replied. "Accidents happen--Jess, quit looking at me like that--alright, I'll go easy on gimpy over here, if that'll make you happy." He shrugged half-heartedly in Daniel's direction.

Jessica merely raised an eyebrow at what Daniel thought was a derogatory term, but she nodded. "It would, thank you."

"Jess, you can't keep Mother Henning me--" Daniel started, before turning to Johnny with flushed cheeks. "And you can't keep underestimating me. Out there, with how fast I am, and how dark it is, you won't even see me until you've already lost--"

"Would you two knock it off?" Jessica snapped in a whisper. "At least keep your battle monologues to a minimum in front of the kids?"

"Kick his ass, counselor Daniel!" one of Johnny's (apparently disloyal) campers, Eli, chimed in right then. Johnny turned and glared at him, but nothing came of it.

"Language, Eli," Jessica reprimanded, though there was no real power behind it, only exasperation. "Alright, campers! The teams are as follows: Mr. Daniel's, Mr. Tommy's, Ms. Ali's, and Ms. Susan's campers over here. You will be the blue team, and Ms. Ali has the blue flag to hide." Jessica pointed to her right, and the forty or so campers began to group there. "Mr. Bobby's, Mr. Johnny's, and my campers, over here." She pointed to her left. "We will be the red team, and I have the flag to hide. Well, we aren't hiding the flag so much...it does have to be visible, but it can be hard to obtain. Refer to your counselors for ideas on where to hide it. I'm starting a timer," Jessica pressed some buttons on her wristwatch. "In five minutes, the games will begin. Hide your flags!"

With that, Ali pulled Daniel into the huddle with their campers, whispering about a great towering tree that was easy to climb, so they could put the flag far out of reach. They all started to head into the woods, Daniel sparing Johnny one last look over his shoulder. Daniel wasn't sure if he should have been surprised or not when he locked eyes with him, Johnny already watching him curiously. Daniel sneered at him, as if silently telling him off for looking at him, even if Daniel was the one that glanced his way. Johnny sneered back and flipped him the bird.

Apparently, Susan was the best climber out of their group, so she took the flag to the top, where it hung proudly. There was a glow stick taped to the flag, and each of the players had glow sticks they were required to wear so they could be seen. Daniel admired their work for a moment, trying to keep his mind off of the anxiety coiling in his stomach. Johnny wasn't really going to hurt him, Daniel was sure, though he had a feeling Johnny would be more focused on catching him than any flag in these woods.

"Three, two, one, begin!" Jessica's voice rang out from a distance, and the kids scattered. The newcomers, like Miguel, seemed disorganized and simply decided to stay and play defense. One of Ali's girls, Tory, immediately dashed into danger, as agile and deadly as a mountain lion despite her small form.

Daniel wanted to stay and play defense with Miguel. He could just tag Johnny out when he came his way, right? But even so, the part of him that always got him in trouble, the charming loudmouth aspect of his personality always urging for fun, urged for something different. He found himself starting forward until a small, slightly cool hand grabbed his arm. It was Ali.

"Daniel," she said, her voice cautious, that same tone she used when trying to stop fights in the past. But then, she smiled slightly at him, basked in a thin blue glow. "Don't cause too much trouble, alright? And don't worry, Johnny's bark's probably worse than his bite at this point." With that, she let go of his arm.

Daniel smiled back at her, nodding. "Do me a favor and take Jess out, alright?" he asked, and he plunged into the woods before seeing her reaction.

The darkness and the towering, ceaselessly branching trees would be intimidating if not for the noise in the background; all around, there was shouting in the distance, the occasional line of lights of all different colors zipping past, letting him know he was not alone. Daniel powered forward, into the red team territory, skin tingling with excitement at the thought of yet another Larusso victory.

He sped up as he dodged red team campers, distinguishing certain voices as he passed. Somewhere to his left, Tommy had been tagged out by Bobby, and now Bobby was headed towards him, slowly, as if mesmerized by his light. Hesitant.

"Sorry, man," Bobby lunged forward, as if prepared to run, and Daniel felt his heart jump as he mentally prepared a quick getaway. Just then, there was a hand that loosely patted Bobby's shoulder, and Johnny emerged.

"Don't worry about this one, Bobby," Johnny said, voice low and smooth, as if already writing out his victory speech. As if already writing out Daniel's eulogy after his 'accidental' demise. Daniel's eyes flickered between the pair, the second and first strongest of what was once the most elite and brutal dojo of the Valley, how their distinguishing glowsticks provided an appropriate red glow.

"Larusso's mine."

Daniel's eyes widened as he licked his lips quickly, already turning to run. Just like that, he was off.

He knew that where Johnny was brawnier than he, he was also slower. Daniel could outrun anyone, it came useful in gym class races or outrunning bullies. But Daniel wasn't scared this time; he could feel Johnny close on his heels, and he knew what would happen. Either Johnny would catch him and gloat about it for god-knows how long, which Daniel could not have. Or Daniel would exhaust him, would make Johnny curse at him before leaving to catch someone else. Then, Daniel could go after the flag himself.

Larusso, 1; Lawrence, 0. Easy as that.

Still, the chase was exciting, feeling Johnny closing in, just before speeding ahead once more with some unknown burst of energy.

They were coming up on a spot in the woods Daniel had never been to before, with unknown scenery. There was a nearby clump of boulders, the trees thicker here, the area clearly secluded as the voices and lights were almost too far away to hear. Daniel hadn't meant to lead them here, away from everyone, but here they were. To be fair, Jessica had said to minimize their fighting in front of the kids.

Daniel's legs ached and burned, his lungs protesting with every breath as if breathing fire, his adrenaline stirred up his blood as he could hear Johnny behind him. He didn't want to stop, he wanted to wipe away at that leftover cockiness that Johnny seemed to bring with him from Cobra Kai, but he didn't know how long he could keep on.

Just as he slowed down for a fraction of a second, Johnny sped up and grabbed his arm. Dread, exhaustion, excitement and adrenaline all raced in Daniel's heart, flushing his cheeks as he halted abruptly.

"Finally got you, you slick little bastard!" Johnny seems unable to help but laugh, and it sounds a little crazy and breathless as he pins Daniel to the nearby tree. His hands pin Daniel's hands up against the tree by his wrists, a leg slipping between Daniel's, because that's just the position they ended up in within all the commotion. That, or Johnny's ensuring he's captured Daniel with the utmost security.

Daniel's breathing heavy, and Johnny looks worried for a moment, as if he's scared Daniel. Daniel's alright, though. Probably. His blood rushes, and suddenly against Johnny's grip he feels like he has an entirely different problem than losing some game. Daniel's eyes are lit up in the blue and red hue of their glowsticks, and he's gripping Johnny's shirt, lips slightly parted.

"Y-Yeah, man," he says, eyes glazed over and blush rising in his cheeks. He's suddenly hyper-aware that Johnny's blush is matching his own. "You got me..."

Daniel Larusso was hard against Johnny Lawrence's leg.

Lawrence, 1; Larusso, 0.

i have the next chapter of this mostly done but i think imma just let this, like...marinate for a hot minute lmao, i'm not sorry