Title: Monkey Business
Chapter: 1
Why : because they wanted me to !!!
Spoilers: The marionettes
Disclaimer: its all Ron's fault, he asked for this. But I had fun writing it as well. Guilty pleasure. Oh, and thanks to IA and the actors, for the inspiration.

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" You can't make me!"

" Oh come on, be reasonable, what are the chances that the gorilla will still be there, I'm sure they got rid of it, afterall it almost wrecked the place, last time," said Steve, trying to reason with the recalcitrant woman.

" That's fine for you to say, you didn't get handled by the smelly beast, I did, and I'm not in a hurry to repeat the experience,"

" She has a point Steve, why not let Val look after the radio this time, we can manage," Mark reasoned.

" No, Betty can't walk far on that ankle, so she has the job of manning the radio, Fitzhugh and Barry aren't back from the outpost, and Dan isn't due back until tomorrow. We need Valerie to help carry the supplies back," Steve said angrily, glaring at the stubborn girl.

" I won't go, I don't care, we can't need that stuff that urgently, what happened to the powder we got last time ?"

" We've used it all up, and we only got a fraction of the explosives available, because you all got captured...remember ?" Steve responded, his arms folded across his chest, his expression implacable.

" Valerie, we'll take every care, if there's any sign of that gorilla we'll leave....won't we Steve ?" Mark asked, gesturing to Steve to at least try and compromise. Valerie was looking at Steve as well, her eyes filled with apprehension.

" If there's the slightest chance of running into Bobo or any other apes, I promise we'll leave," Steve replied, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. His reward was a sunny smile from the pretty redhead standing next to Mark.

" Okay, I guess I can go along with that, but I'll hold you to that promise Steve," said Valerie," now, when do we leave?"

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Steve, Mark and Valerie reached the outskirts of the circus as night was drawing in, casting long shadows around the tents and caravans parked in the clearing. Steve signalled for the others to wait while he did a sortie to check the layout. Mark and Valerie waited by the striped tent wall as Steve slipped around the corner and disappeared.

" I still don't like this, what if the cannonball act isn't with the troop this year ?"

" There's still the magician, he uses explosives, it's just easier to get to the black powder in the other tent," Mark explained, keeping an eye on the gap between the tents where they crouched.

" I wonder if the puppet performer is here, we could go visit them, see how they've been doing with the new puppets ?"

" I thought you didn't want to come, now you want to go wandering off and go 'visiting' ?" Mark asked, disbelief clear in his voice.

" Well you don't have to be like that, I just thought...." Valerie tailed off as Steve came round the corner and skidded to a halt in front of them.

" The cannonball tent is here, not far, come on," he panted, grabbing the extra sacks he'd left behind. Valerie and Mark got up and followed him back to the corner of the tent. Steve paused to check the way was clear then took off at a run, Mark and Valerie close behind him.

They crossed the trampled grass and dodged under a wagon, stopping to catch their breath behind one of the wheels. Steve pointed to a tent with blue and yellow stripes and a garish poster tacked to a pole. It depicted a brawny man standing in front of a huge cannon.

" There's the tent, I'll go first, then you follow with Valerie, don't stop, for anything," Steve instructed, his body tensing as he prepared to run.

Mark and Valerie watched as he sprinted across the open space, his heels kicking up the dirt. He reached the tent wall and quickly turned to wave the others to join him.

" Ready Val ?" Mark asked, giving the girl next to him an encouraging look.

" As I'll ever be," Valerie replied, taking a deep breath. They rose together and started to run across to where Steve waited. Halfway there Valerie stumbled, Mark quickly snaked an arm round her waist and helped her get her balance. With Mark helping her, they continued their run, reaching Steve without further incident.

" Thanks, I must have caught my heel," Valerie gasped, rubbing her calf.

" You're welcome, is your leg okay?" Mark asked, reaching for her foot and gently massaging it, much to Valerie's relief.

" When you too have finally finished, we have a job to do," Steve remarked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Mark looked up, startled at his companions' tone. Steve had often been out of patience with his fellow castaways, but never rude. Something must be biting his butt to cause this level of upset. Valerie just looked at Steve with a mutinous expression.

" Thank you Mark, we'd better get going, wouldn't want to hold up the gallant Captain," she said, giving Mark a grateful smile, while ignoring Steve's glare.

Steve just huffed and turned to lift up the edge of the canvas, holding it as the others crawled under, Mark holding it for him, on the other side . They stood just inside and surveyed the gloomy interior. They could see the huge cannon in the centre of the tent. Beside it were stacked crates that held the powder and wadding needed for the explosive charge. They checked for any giants but found the tent empty. With a firm grip on the bags they carried, Steve led them over to investigate the boxes. It was pretty dark in the tent but Steve had brought a flashlight which he used to check the labels.

" Here it is, Mark can you pass the crowbar ?" Steve asked, holding out a hand.

Mark unslung his backpack and took out the crowbar, plus a claw hammer, taking them both over to where Steve waited.

" You attack this section, I'll go on top and see if there's an easier way in," Steve instructed, handing his empty bags to Valerie.

Mark started to prise the wood away while Steve climbed the crate to check out the top surface. He was back shortly, having found nothing useful up there. He started to attack the same plank that Mark was whittling away, the hole getting big enough to allow them to reach the lining. Steve then took out a hacksaw and cut the plastic liner to reach the powder stored inside. Once the hole was big enough and the black powder started to pour out they filled the bags one at a time.
They filled five bags in all, two each for the men, and one for Valerie to manage. They couldn't re-close the hole so they left it to pour out, hoping the owner would just think it was rats or something. After securing the bags on their backs they made their way back to the tent wall and stopped to listen. They could hear a commotion outside, voices shouting and feet running everywhere.

" What's going on ?" Valerie asked," I can't make out what their shouting about."

" Neither can I, stay here, I'll check it out," said Steve. He pulled up the canvas and crawled under, leaving his bags with Mark.

Outside, everything was in chaos, Giants were running around everywhere, dodging down between the tents, some of the women screaming. Steve couldn't see what was causing the mayhem, so he turned to lift up the flap as a shadow suddenly blotted out the light. Steve twisted around to see what it was and fell back in alarm. A hairy arm reached down and a leathery hand closed over the air where Steve had been laying. Steve had rolled and managed to avoid Bobo's first attempt, but he didn't fancy his chances of avoiding the Gorilla for very long. Mark must have heard something because he lifted up the edge of the canvas and Steve made a dive for the gap, skidding on his stomach as Bobo made another grab for him. Mark let the canvas drop, hiding them from the Gorilla's sight.

" Quick, we have to find somewhere to hide," Steve gasped, grabbing the bags as Valerie stared at him wide eyed.

" What was it, what's out there ?" she asked, panic creeping into her voice.

Before Steve could answer they saw the gorillas hairy digits come under the tent edge. Valerie screamed and started to back away, the two men also backing away, Steve scanning their surroundings for a hiding place. He grabbed Marks arm to get his attention and pointed to a canvas cover for the cannon, lying in a heap a bit further along the tent wall. Mark nodded his understanding and grabbed Valerie's hand, yanking her along behind him as they raced to reach the folded canvas.

Bobo had lifted up the edge of the canvas, but must have been distracted by his pursuers as he dropped the material and took off, intent on escaping his keepers. He scampered around the back of the big tent and found an opening. Without pausing he pushed his way in and, seeing the cannon, jumped onto the barrel.

Mark and Steve reached the folded sheet and pushed Valerie under a sizeable fold, which created a mini tent to hide the Little People.
Valerie was having a mild panic attack and opened her mouth to scream again. Mark quickly put his hand over her mouth to stifle the sound, his expression apologetic as Valerie's panic stricken eyes locked with his over his hand.

" Shhhhh we have to keep quiet," Mark whispered, Valerie nodded and he took his hand away. Steve was at the opening of the fold, keeping an eye on the gorilla sitting on the cannon.

" What are we going to do ?" Valerie moaned quietly, her lip quivering in remembered fear of her last encounter with Bobo. Steve crawled back and joined them.

" We'll have to wait until they capture him, there's nothing else we can do," he said, hitting his fist against the ground in frustration.

Valerie had calmed a bit, and sat on the sandy ground, nursing her bag.

" I'm sorry I lost it back there, I'm just so scared," she said, pushing her hair out of her face.

" You have every reason to be scared, don't worry about it," Mark soothed, hoping Steve wouldn't make a harsh comment. Steve just turned back to the opening, his back and shoulders stiff and uncompromising.

They waited under the canvas for what seemed an eternity, Steve reporting that Bobo was just sitting on the cannon, doing nothing more exciting than grooming himself. They would have to wait until the keepers did a thorough search of the circus and found him. After about thirty minutes, a commotion at the entrance of the tent drew Steve and Mark back to the opening to see three Giants surrounding the cannon, trying to coax the Gorilla down from his perch. Bobo was not co-operating, jumping up and down, roaring his insults at his Giant keepers and making the cannon rock alarmingly. As Steve and Mark watched in horror, two of the keepers approached their hiding place, preparing to use the canvas cover like a net to trap the Gorilla. They only had time to shout a warning to Valerie before the cover was pulled off and they all went tumbling, head over heels, as the material caught them up and sent them flying. Mark and Steve, being near the edge were thrown clear, fetching up against the wall of the tent. Valerie wasn't so fortunate, getting caught up in the fold and finding herself flying through the air as the men pulled the fabric along the ground and started to spread it out. She was dragged along the ground until the canvas started to go over the raised edge of the ring surrounding the cannon, then she was pitched high in the air and landed, clear of the canvas, but was now exposed on the sandy floor. She landed hard and had the wind knocked out of her lungs. From Valerie's perspective, the world went black for a while and she swore later that she saw stars as well. The Giants continued to pull the canvas cover towards the cannon, oblivious of their recent passenger, but Bobo had sharper eye's and had seen the girl tumble out of the material. Whether he recognised Valerie from their previous encounter was moot, he saw the doll like figure and decided he wanted it. Mark and Steve, untangling themselves from the bags, watched helplessly as Bobo drove back the Giant keepers and jumped down from the cannon, sweeping up the figure of Valerie in one hairy hand, as he bounded out of tent and escaped. The keepers just shouted and ran after him, chaos resuming outside once the Gorilla appeared, the ensuring screams indicating his passage through the camp.

Mark and Steve sat there, stunned by the suddenness of the disaster. This time it was Mark who thumped his fist into one of the bags in frustration. Steve was trying to formulate a plan but his brain remained distressingly blank. He'd promised Valerie she'd be okay, and now she was right where she'd feared ending up.

Captive once more of Bobo.