Disclaimer: The Rat Patrol is not my property. They come out to play sometimes, then I send them home.

Oh What a Tangled Web We Weave…

By Suzie2b

Captain Boggs had put the Rat Patrol in charge of security for a visiting general.

It had been another long day of checking things over and making arrangements ahead of the general's arrival. Tully was glad to finally be home. He took the steps two at a time as he headed up to the apartment and as he walked through the door, he noticed the bathroom was open. Tully peeked inside, but the room was empty. He shrugged and turned to go down the hallway when Charley came out of their apartment in her bare feet, robe tied loosely, and her pistol in her hand. She marched straight up to him and Tully asked with raised eyebrows, "What's going on?"

The frown on Charley's face didn't hide the fear in her eyes. "Thank goodness you're home!"

Concerned, Tully asked, "What happened?"

Charley handed him the gun and pointed to the bathroom. "Big spider!"

Tully smiled as he took the weapon and made sure the safety was on before he tucked it into his belt. "Tarantula?"

Charley shook her head. "I nearly stepped on it when I was getting into the shower!" She took the pistol from his belt and put it in his hand. "Kill it!"

"If it's not a tarantula, what is it?"

"Don't know … don't care! Just get rid of it!"

Tully put the gun back in his belt and went into the bathroom. Two seconds later he came out and said, "It's a camel spider."

Charley was close to tears, clutching her robe around her as she stared into the bathroom. "I'm not taking a shower with that … that thing in there!"

Tully took her face in his hands so she would look at him. "Calm down. I'll take care of it."

He took Charley by the hand led her to the apartment as she asked, "What are you going do?"

"Well, I'm not gonna shoot it." Tully left her at the door and got the broom out of the closet. As he passed her on the way back out, he said, "Stay here."

Tully disappeared into the bathroom. Fifteen seconds later he came out holding the broom out in front of him with the six-inch camel spider hanging from the straw end. Tully moved outside and hung the broom over the banister. With a couple of hard shakes the spider dropped to the ground and Tully watched it scurry away.

When he went back inside Tully saw Charley peeking around the doorway of their apartment. "He's headin' for the hills."

Charley didn't move. "You sure?"

Tully held up the broom and twirled it to prove it was sans spider. "Positive." Charley stepped out the door as he walked toward her. When he got to her, Tully gave his wife a kiss and a smile. "If you want I'll join you … just to make sure it's safe."

Charley finally smiled. "Please."

###############################

A few days later, Troy had given Tully permission to have lunch with Charley when they were given a break. He was waiting for her outside headquarters when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned and suddenly a pair of arms were around his neck with lips pressing hard against his.

Tully knew immediately it wasn't his wife and quickly pushed the woman back and held her at arm's length. "What the heck…"

The woman grinned at him. "Miss me?"

Tully's mouth fell open. "Irene?"

Charley had just walked outside and saw the woman rush up to her husband from behind, tap him on the shoulder, and basically assault him. She smiled impishly as she watched Tully disentangle himself and push the woman away while she sauntered over to join them. "I take it you two know each other?"

Tully quickly let go of Irene's shoulders and took a step back. He looked at Charley with big round eyes, then back at Irene, then stammered, "Umm … er … Irene…" He again looked at his wife. "This is Charley … my wife."

Irene blinked at Tully as the smile faded from her face. Then she slowly turned to look at Charley. "Your wife?"

Charley continued to smile and stepped forward with her hand out. "Pleased to meet you Irene."

She took Charley's hand and shook it rather limply. "The pleasure is all yours."

"Always nice to meet Tully's friends. Apparently, you two haven't seen each other in a while."

"Not since I was transferred." Irene looked at Tully. "Guess you've been busy since I left." She eyed Charley critically. "A little on the plump side. You used to prefer an hourglass figure as I remember."

Irene was obviously referring to herself, but Charley didn't take the bait. She simply chuckled and said, "Touché."

Irene turned back to Tully. "I'm only going to be here until the end of the week. I hear you and your cronies are in charge of General Adams' security. Maybe we can have a drink sometime. Catch up on old times."

Tully sighed. "Yeah … maybe…"

Then Irene turned and walked briskly away.

Tully faced his wife. "Sorry about that."

Charley dug a handkerchief out of her satchel and handed it to him. "You've got some shmutz on your mouth." Tully took it and quickly began to wipe the bright red lipstick off his mouth as she continued, "You have nothing to be sorry about, love. An old girlfriend shows up and doesn't know you're married…"

Tully handed the handkerchief back and said quietly, "We were engaged."

Charley's eyebrows shot up. "Engaged? That's a new wrinkle." She saw a certain sadness in his eyes. "How 'bout some lunch? We can talk about it if you want."

The lunch crowd was sparse in the mess hall that day. Charley and Tully sat at a table on the far side of the room, away from everyone. They ate in silence for a bit with Tully mostly picking at his food.

Finally, Charley decided to start the conversation. "When did you and Irene meet?"

Tully didn't look at her. "We met not long after I got here. After a couple of months. I really thought I loved her. I gave her a ring and we got engaged. A couple months after that Irene got transferred stateside with General Adams."

Charley took his hand and held it. "That must have hurt."

Tully nodded with a sigh. "She said she didn't want a long distance relationship. She tried to give the ring back … but I told her to keep it." Charley squeezed his hand gently. "A lot of memories just came flooding back when I saw her."

"I can imagine. Do you still have feelings for Irene?"

Tully finally gave Charley a smile that showed in his eyes and brushed a kiss against her lips. "No. Since I met you I've realized that me and her weren't meant for each other."

Charley asked, "Just out of curiosity. How come you've never mentioned her to me?"

"I haven't thought about her in a long time. Figured I'd never see her again. I didn't even think of her when we were told we were heading security for General Adams."

That evening Charley returned after a shower to find Tully home. He was sitting on a chair taking off his boots. "Welcome home. How'd the rest of your day go?"

Tully smiled. "Mostly boring. I don't count following a general around during inspections among my favorite things."

Charley went into the closet and dropped her dirty clothes in the basket. "Did you see Irene?"

"Yeah, but she wouldn't even look at me." Tully watched as Charley went to the mirror and opened her robe. "What are you doing?"

Charley turned sideways as she looked at her reflection. "Do I look fat to you?"

Tully stood up and wrapped his arms around her. "Her comment get to you?"

Charley sighed. "Hate to admit that it did a little."

Tully ran his hands over her flat, taut tummy, then up to caress her breasts. As he nuzzled Charley's neck, Tully said, "You're perfect in every way as far as I'm concerned."

###############################

The next morning Charley and Tully walked hand-in-hand to headquarters. Irene watched from the top of the stairs as Tully kissed her before she went into the office to pick up her deliveries. Then he headed upstairs for a meeting with Captain Boggs, along with Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch, about what the day would entail.

Tully got to the top of the stairs and said, "Good morning, Irene. Everything all right with the general?"

Irene smiled. "I'm waiting for him now. Say, how about that drink this evening?"

Tully rolled the matchstick to the corner of his mouth. "Can't. I'm on duty tonight."

"I see you still chew on matchsticks. Nasty habit. I suppose your wife has tried to break you of it."

Tully took the matchstick out of his mouth and looked at the end. There wasn't a tooth mark on it. Then he put it back in the corner of his mouth and said, "Charley's never mentioned that it bothers her. If you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to get to."

Irene stepped aside and let him pass. She watched Tully walk down the hall and go into Captain Boggs' office. She stared over the banister again until Charley emerged below with her hands and satchel full of deliveries to make.

###############################

Later that day, as part of the inspection, General Adams and Major Gleason sat in the mess hall having lunch. Tully was stationed next to the table along with Moffitt to keep people away. The general looked up at Tully and said, "Private, Irene has talked about you incessantly since she found out we were coming back here. She says you two are engaged to be married."

Tully frowned as he looked down at the general. "We were engaged at one time, sir, but I'm married to someone else."

The general grinned. "Ah yes. The army can be a jealous wife."

Before Tully could reply, Major Gleason said quietly, "He's married to that cute little courier you were ogling this morning."

General Adams' face reddened slightly as Tully looked at him with raised eyebrows. "I see. Well … I apparently miss understood what Irene told me." He then turned to the major and said, "I was not ogling the woman. I was … admiring her … attributes."

Major Gleason leaned back to look up at Tully with a smile. "He was ogling."

Tully simply smiled and gave a nod. He didn't mind when men stared at Charley. They could window shop all they wanted, so long as they didn't touch the merchandise.

Tully did wonder why Irene would tell anyone that they were still engaged. He decided it would be best to have a talk with her.

###############################

Charley knew that Tully was on duty at General Adams' quarters and wouldn't be home until after midnight, so after she showered she put one of his shirts on before she crawled into bed and turned off the light.

When the alarm went off in the morning, Charley expected Tully to reach up and turn it off as he normally did. When the alarm continued to ring she rolled over to find her husband wasn't there. Charley reached up and clicked the irritating noise off with a sigh. She thought, "He must've had to stay on duty. I hope he gets a day or two off after the general leaves."

Charley got out of bed and stretched, then went to the window to open the shudders and let some light in. She got clean underwear out of the dresser and went into the closet to get dressed. After she brushed her hair and pulled her boots on, Charley took her satchel and headed off to have breakfast before she went to work.

After she'd made her deliveries and Captain Boggs told her she was finished for the day, Charley went outside and sat on a bench to wait to see if Tully would maybe show up for lunch. She'd been sitting there for about ten minutes, reading one of her ever-present books, when someone sat down next to her. When she looked up, Charley smiled and said, "Hello Irene."

"Good afternoon Charley."

After several moments of silence, Charley asked, "Is there something I can do for you?"

Irene let out a sad sigh. "I just wanted to express how sorry I am."

"Sorry about what?"

"About you and Tully." Irene held up her left hand to show off the ring she hadn't been wearing before. "Now that Tully and I are together again I suppose there will have to be a divorce."

Charley calmly marked her place and put the book in her satchel. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm sure you noticed that he didn't return home after his duty shift last night." Charley nodded and Irene continued a little too quickly, "He stayed with me last night."

"I see."

"We had a long … talk … and he told me he still loves me and wants to marry me."

Charley's expression was one of mild amusement. "And where is Tully now?"

Irene shrugged. "With his friends and General Adams I would assume."

"Well, I suppose I'll just have to have a talk with Tully the next time I see him."

Irene had thought Charley would be in tears by now. "I, umm, suppose you will. I'm going to ask the general to transfer Tully stateside so we can be together…"

Charley looked down as Irene droned on and saw a tarantula crawling towards them. However, she didn't panic at the sight of the hairy, eight-legged creature as she normally would. Charley absently nodded at what Irene was saying and reached down to pick the spider up in the same way she'd seen Tully do. When Charley straightened up she had the creature in the palm of her hand.

Irene's speech trailed off into a gasp and she pushed herself away. "What do you think you're doing? Those things are poisonous!"

Charley smiled and stroked the soft hairs on the tarantulas back, remembering what Tully had told her. "As long as you don't irritate it, it won't bite you." She held her hand out to the other woman. "Wanna hold it?"

Irene jumped to her feet and squeaked, "No! Get it away from me!" She started to back away saying, "I'm glad we had this talk. Hope there's no hard feelings."

Charley said, "None at all, Irene."

After Irene walked away, Charley stared at the spider. It had begun to crawl up her arm. She quickly looked around for help and saw Carl Jensen coming out of headquarters. Her voice shook as she called, "Carl! Come here please!"

Carl took a quick detour and went over to Charley with a smile. Then he saw the tarantula moving slowly up her arm. "Charley, there's a…"

She was trying desperately to stay calm. "I know there is. Get it off me please." Carl gently scooped up the spider and Charley jumped up and began to brush herself off as if there might be more on her. "Hate spiders!"

Carl held the tarantula gently in his big hand. He knew about her spider phobia. "Want me to kill it?"

Charley stopped and looked at the spider. She sighed. "No. Just turn it loose somewhere away from me." Charley looked up at the big private with a slight smile. "Thank you, Carl."

He grinned. "Always happy to help out, Charley."

###############################

A few minutes later Tully arrived. Charley smiled when she saw him. He grinned and gave her a kiss. "Sorry about last night. There was a bomb scare and we spent the night searching the building. Have you eaten?"

Charley shook her head. "Not yet. Was hoping you'd show up."

Tully took her hand. "Let's go then."

As they walked towards the mess hall, Charley said, "Had a talk with Irene before you arrived."

"Oh? What did you two talk about?"

"Your upcoming nuptials."

Tully came to a halt. "What the…!"

Charley grinned up at him as she tugged on his hand to get him moving again. "I'll tell you all about it over lunch."

As they sat side-by-side eating, Charley explained everything she and Irene said to each other.

By the end of the story Tully was grinning. "You actually picked up a tarantula?"

Charley smiled proudly. "I did … but I won't do it again believe me. Don't know what I would've done if Carl hadn't showed up."

Tully said, "General Adams was a little confused when he found out I was already married to someone other than Irene. I guess she'd been telling him that we were still engaged." He looked at his watch. "I gotta get back to work. After I get off duty I'm going to go have a talk with Irene … if you don't mind."

Charley smiled. "I don't mind … so long as you come home to me."

"No problem there."

They arrived hand-in-hand to meet Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch with General Adams and Major Gleason. Tully gave Charley a lingering kiss, then joined the others as Charley walked away.

The general smiled. "A little fraternizing, private?"

Tully grinned. "Sorry, sir, couldn't help myself." He looked at Irene, who was standing between the general and major. "If you don't mind, general, I'd like to have a talk with Irene when I get off duty."

"I don't mind at all, but you should probably ask her."

Irene smiled. "My quarters for a little drink?"

Tully shook his head. "A drink might be in order, but it's going to be in a very public setting."

Later that evening Tully walked into the apartment to find Charley on the bed coloring a page in one of the coloring books. She looked up at him, saw that the front of his shirt was wet, and asked, "How'd the talk go?"

Tully sighed. "As well as could be expected I guess." He started to strip off his shirt. "I explained things to her. She threw her drink in my face, gave me the ring, and left. The general's leaving tomorrow, so that'll be the end of it."

As he sat down on the bed to take his boots off, Charley got to her knees behind him and started to knead his bare shoulders. "Are there any other women from your past I should know about?"

Tully turned and took her into his arms. "Well, there is one…" He kissed her passionately. "Her name's Charley."