Disclaimer: I own nothing.
This is my first Black Hawk Down fic. I'm sorry if some things are not historically accurate. I did try my best.
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Someone important once told me "it's what you do right now that makes a difference." It made sense at the time. But did we really make a difference? Was it justified for us to fight another's war? Was it fair for us to sacrifice what we hold most dear in life for another's cause? Many people would ask, "Hey Gabby, why do you do it man? What, you some kinda war junkie? Why didn't you get out of there when you had the chance?" You know what? I never said a goddamn thing. Why? They wouldn't understand why we do it. They wouldn't understand that it's about the man next to you and that's it, all of it. They wouldn't understand what words we took heart. The words we lived by. The words we died by. Leave no man behind.
"Hello" I answered my phone.
"Staff Sergeant Gabriella Epps?" A commanding voice asked.
Oh Shit I thought.
"Yes, this is she" I responded in a strong voice.
"This is Captain Steele of the U.S. Rangers" the voice said.
I gulped, "yes sir."
" The rest of your leave is canceled. We will need you to report to Port Paris in New York on July 17 at 1700 hours. You and rest of the 75th Ranger Regiment will be shipped off to Somalia. We will need you and your team of M-50 snipers there to assist us. The rest of your information will be mailed to you. Do you understand, Sergeant?" Captain Steele commanded.
"Yes sir," I responded with a deep breath.
"Very well then, see ya when you get here, Sergeant." The captain said as he finished off in his strong southern accent.
"Goodbye sir."
I hung up the phone as I closed my eyes. So it is true. We will be fighting or at least be shipping off. At least I'll get to see the guys again.
"Who was that?" My best friend Eva asked me as she took her eyes off the T.V.
"My captain" I said in a whisper.
"What do you mean your captain?" Eva asked again.
"I leave in two weeks" I said softly.
"What?! Where are they sending you this time? Iraq? Afghanistan?" She asked sternly.
"Somalia" I answered.
"Oh hell no! It's a war zone over there." Eva yelled as she rose from my couch.
"Hence why they're sending us," I said with raised eyebrows.
"But it's not your war, not our war!" She stated as she collapsed her head down on the counter where I was sitting.
"Have you seen what's going on there? It isn't war that is taking place. It's genocide! If we don't do something, who will?"
"How are you like this?" She asked as she lifted her head.
"Like what?" I asked back confusingly.
"Courageous, selfless, hard-headed, and don't forget, stubborn" Eva said with a smirk.
"Traits inherited from my father." I said in a funny manner. God I miss him.
Catching my sudden grief, Eva rose up and wrapped her arms around me in a friendly manner.
"He would proud of you, you know?" She told me with sympathizing eyes.
"Yeah, thanks" I whispered.
"Come on , let's blow this place and get wasted." Eva suggested with a smile.
"Hell yeah!" I responded.
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"So when do you leave?" My friend Jess asked.
"Two weeks," I answered as I took a gulp of my beer.
"Damn!" She said.
"Well, I guess you're going to have to have as much fun over this next week, huh?" Jess smiled.
I looked at her with raised eyebrows.
"I mean you have to party your ass off to make up for the time you're going to be gone with all those good looking young men, right?" Eva joked.
"Good looking young men?" I asked with humor in my voice.
"Men in uniform are so hot, Gabby. And you get to spend months with them." Jess added.
"I just see it as six months in hell with a whole bunch of brothers I have to watch out for." I said seriously. I shouldn't try to explain it to them. They wouldn't get it. They wouldn't understand our code, the ranger code. They wouldn't comprehend that I would die for each one of my comrades. As cheesy as that sounds.
"Is your sexy cousin going?" Jess asked.
My cousin Mike was a pilot in the 160th SOAR. Jess first met him at a family barbeque three years ago. She's been asking about him at every chance she gets.
"He's married Jess," I laughed.
"Oh that's too bad" Jess responded.
I just shook my head with laughter.
"I need another beer," I told the girls.
"Well, don't let us stop you." Eva laughed.
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The next two weeks passed by quickly. I was busy getting everything settled before I had to ship off. There was a never-ending list of things to do: pick someone to watch over my apartment, get a physical, make sure my pets were taken care of, make sure my plane ticket to New York was valid, etc. Plus my family wanted to spend every possible moment with me before I left. It was sweet but annoying.
I was now in my apartment packing up a few misc. things. I took deep breaths as I put some pictures of my family and friends in my bag. To say I was nervous was an understatement. I always got nervous before I shipped out.
The next morning, my brother Eric drove me to the airport. He didn't speak to me the whole way. We had gotten into a huge argument the night before regarding my job.
"Gabby, why do you this?" Eric asked.
"Do what, Eric?" I asked. I was playing dumb. I knew what he was talking about. I was tired of having this conversation.
"Don't play dumb. You know exactly what I mean, Gab, this whole thing about following in dad's footsteps, playing soldier." Eric yelled.
"Is that why you think I'm doing this? For dad?" I asked enraged.
"Why else would you being doing it? You can't actually like shooting people for living, Gab. This is about dad and you know it. He was a hard ass on us and you could never win his affection." Eric alleged loudly.
"Don't talk about dad. He was a great man." I barked.
"See, you're still trying to gain his affection, even when he's dead. I just think it's really interesting, this sudden obedience you have to Dad. It's like, oh, what would Dad want me to do? Gab, you spent your entire life slugging it out with that man. I mean, hell, you, you picked a fight with him the last time you ever saw him. And now that he's dead, now you want to make it right? Well, I'm sorry Gab, but you can't, it's too little, too late."
"Why are you saying this to me?" I whimpered.
"Because, I want you to be honest with yourself about this. I've dealt with Dad's death! Did you?" Eric yelled.
I just looked at him disbelievingly.
"He can't see you Gab. And now you're going off to die for a dead man." Eric yelled violently.
"Stop, stop it Eric," I whispered with tears in my eyes.
He just looked at me with wide eyes. "You're actually going. Hasn't dad put us through enough trouble? He did when he was alive. Now I can see he's causing just as much dead." He said as he walked away.
We pulled up to the airport. Eric just sat there staring straight forward. I just looked at him, waiting for him to say something, anything. He didn't.
I looked at him one last time, then grabbed my bag, and got out of the car.
I was on my way into the airport when I heard my name being called behind me. I turned around to see Eric running towards me. He stopped right in front of me and held out his hand. I looked into is palm. It held his sacred cross necklace.
"Take it" He ordered.
"Eric, no, I can't take that. Dad gave it to you. It's yours." I said back.
He took my hand and placed the cross in there.
"You need it more than I do right now." He said smiling.
I just smiled back with tears in my eyes.
"Just take care of yourself, kid. Say hi to Mike for me." Eric ordered.
"I will. I love you." I said genuinely.
"Love ya too, Gab."
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"Hey there stranger," I heard voice from the right on me. I looked up to see Matt Eversman.
"Hey" I said with a big smile on face as I got up to give him a friendly hug. Note to self: airplanes aren't the place to give hugs, not enough space.
"What are you doing in California, Ev?" I asked as he sat down.
"I was visiting some friends when I got a call from my mom. She said that there call from base that was directed to me. So I had to take the call from here." He responded lifting his arms up.
"Hah! Lucky you, on vacation when called back." I joked.
"Yup, so what were you up to?" Eversman asked.
"Absolutely nothing" I responded with a laugh.
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"Mom, can I have a cookie?" an eleven year-old Gabby asked.
"After dinner, sweetheart." Rose, Gabriella's mom, answered with a smile.
"Oh, come on mom, just one cookie." Gabby pleaded with big eyes.
"Nope, nice try." Rose responded.
"But" Gabriella started.
"Mom, there are some at the door. They said they wanted to talk to you about dad." Eric rushed in room saying.
Rose's head immediately shot up, her face quickly turning white.
"Stay here, kids." Rose ordered as she made her way to the door quickly.
After their mother left, the children's curiosity level automatically sky-rocketed.
Gabriella crept into the living to where she could see her mother at the door with the two men in uniform. She saw the men hand he mother a piece of paper. Rose unfolded and started to read. Gabriella saw her mother gasp and collapse to her knees. Everything looked like it had happened in slow motion. Gabriella knew what was happening. Her father wasn't coming home.
"Epps" I heard a voice and tried to ignore it.
"Gabby" the voice said a little louder as I felt a hand of my shoulder. I tiredly opened my eyes.
"Hmm?" I asked softly.
"We're here kiddo." Eversman said softly as he was getting his duffel bag from the over head compartment.
"Well then, lets rock n' roll," I said enthusiastically.
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Thank you so much for reading. I am sorry if you find any mistakes.
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