Author's Note: This is a co-fic between myself and Lisa L. This fic came about due to some discussion on the Boulderhill MASK mailing list regarding the true nature of the relationship between Brad Turner and Vanessa Warfield. The rest of the inspiration came from the newly created MASK RPG, where Lisa and I decided that our two characters would DEFINITELY hate each other's guts. :) This is the story of how that came about. It's a slight crossover with the 1987-1988 TV Series High Mountain Rangers, more of which will be seen if I ever manage to write a sequel.

Disclaimer: I own Annie Turner, Lisa owns Roxanne Trakker. Neither of us own MASK or High Mountain Rangers, they are copyrighted by their respective owners. The lyrics to "Fast Movin' Train" by Restless Heart, and "The Dance" by Garth Brooks are copyrighted by them and the respective songwriters. In other words, don't sue me! :)

Rating is PG-13 for language and violence...in other words, all the good stuff!

Happy Reading, and please review. Do note that all flames will be put out with Gator's Ice Cannon and the offender subjected to the "Electronic Ouch".

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War Fields: Chapter 1


With the feel of the windng past, and the rumble of Condor's motorcycle engines below him, Brad Turner wished that, for once in his life, a few weeks could go by without any undue excitement. Uh huh, said the young rock-n-roller that still lived inside him. And since when have you *NOT* craved excitement? Ever since I had the responsibility of raising a child, responded the older, more mature, and now more dominant part of himself. A child, his daughter to be exact. "His daughter", Annie, currently rode behind him on Condor. He could feel her slim arms around his waist, and judging from the way her head rested in the middle of his back, Annie had fallen asleep on the bike. Brad always did his best to keep their rides smooth, but after his realization, he tried harder.

His daughter. The words rolled around in his mind and repeated themselves. His daughter...but not just his, came the voice of logic. That would be genetically impossible. No, somewhere out in the great wide world, his daughter had a mother. His mind's eye brought her picture into full focus...deep aquamarine eyes, and fiery red hair with dark streaks abounding. God, Vanessa... Brad thought. Vanessa, Vanessa Warfield...his first love, his only love...and a member of the most wanted terrorist organization in the world.



She had a long line of lovers, mostly the gambling kind.
I didn't want to be like the others, and get left behind.
I knew about her bad reputation, and how she had a heart of stone.
How she'd give a man a moment of pleasure, to get what she wants.

I had a weakness for her kind of woman, I could never deny.
I knew I would never see it coming, till I was lost in her eyes.
The more I tried to keep her at a distance, the more I became aware
She was breaking down my resistance, till I no longer cared

Tonight I saw a red, red rose in a yellow moon.
Shining on a sillohuette lying in the shadows of my bedroom.
I knew it when we made love and I couldn't quit calling her name
That I'd been hit by another Fast Movin' Train



Fast Movin' Train didn't even begin to describe it. A rocket, a whirlwind, a hurricane, or a tornado may have been even closer. Either way, she reeled him in hard and sucked him in even deeper. He knew, he KNEW she was all wrong, but before he knew what hit him, he'd proposed and she, for whatever reason, had accepted. And even after Andy Trakker's death, even after she turned away from him to join the newly created Viscious Evil Network of Mayhem (VENOM), even after Matt Trakker had practically accused him of knowing something that could have stopped his brother's death, Brad loved her. He STILL loved her.



I wondered, as I lay there and held her
Why can't this be real?
And why the fear wouldn't let me tell her
How good she made me feel.

I doubted if she would even be around
When the morning comes
I waited till she fell asleep to whisper
"Baby look what you've done..."

Tonight I saw a red,red rose in a yellow moon
Shining on a sillohuette lying in the shadows of my bedroom.
I knew it when we made love and I couldn't quit calling her name
That I'd been hit by another Fast Movin' Train

I'd been hit by another Fast Movin' Train.



How long had it lasted? A year, two years? Brad still wasn't really sure. Enough time for her to reappear on his doorstep one day, with divorce papers and a small bundle. Her only words to him that day were, "Here's your divorce papers and your child. Take care of them both." God, Vanessa... he thought again.

Thank God for willing parents, who agreed to raise Annie in the midst of his recent divorce, blossoming music career, and appointment to the Mobile Armored Strike Kommand (MASK), the task force raised to battle VENOM and hence Vanessa. When his parents expressed concern about taking care of an active teenager in their advanced years, Brad did his best to accommodate. Thank God, again, for Buddy's extended family in the Lake Tahoe region of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Buddy's distant cousin Jesse Hawkes founded the High Mountain Rangers to promote safety in the mountains, and oldest son Matt followed in his father's footsteps as Ranger Commander. Newly retired Jesse didn't mind taking care of Annie on Brad's frequent 'business trips', and it helped that Matt's younger brother Cody was Annie's age. Cody knew the mountains almost as well as his father, so the kids kept themselves occupied most of the time, so Jesse said. Sometimes Matt and the other Rangers would let the kids hang out at the Ranger station or tag along on some of the more routine requests. Robin, the team's only female Ranger, provided a good female influence, as did Jesse's wife Jackie, who seemed to be something of a surrogate mother to Annie, or so he'd been told. In fact, he had just picked her up from one of her sojourns into the mountains, and it must have been an active one at that, or she would have been talking his ear off rather than sleeping. All in all, he could be proud that he managed to maintain such a strong father/daughter bond in the face of everything that's happened.

Let's face it though, Turner, piped in his older voice of experience again, sixteen years ago, your life turned itself upside down and backwards. In fact, it changed your tune from hard rock to one of those sappy old country music songs that everyone makes fun of. The ones where if you play it backwards, you get all your stuff back. And that's why thinking of *HER* has you quoting Restless Heart lyrics in your head.

And he wouldn't have traded it for anything. How did that one line of that one song go? Oh yeah...



My life is better left to chance...
I could have missed the pain
But I've had to miss
The Dance



From Restless Heart to Garth Brooks? You've cracked, Turner, said that faint younger voice. You've finally cracked.

Brad shook his head to clear it as he pulled up to their destination. Slowing Condor down, he pulled easily into the open space between the orange of the Jeep Gator, and the orange pickup Firecracker. He removed his helmet and adjusted his trademark dark shades, allowing himself a small stretch before nudging the figure behind him into wakefulness.

"Mmmmf..." came the sleepy reply.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," he called cheerfully. "We're here."

Annie lifted her head from his shoulder and untangled her arms from his waist. He turned to see her slowly remove her helmet and blink sleepy green eyes at him. Her long red hair hung in a single braid down her back, the darkened tip of the braid the only obvious sign of her dubious parentage. She had a slim build and reached to an average height of about 5' 7". Julio had surmised that at 16, she had probably pretty much attained her full growth. Every time he looked at her, Brad couldn't help but see some features that reminded him of Vanessa. So different, and yet so alike...