"Alright, alright!" A frustrated blonde growled to his dark friend, pacing down the halls of a newly built hotel Delta Squad was staying at. "You win, Cole."
"Damn right I win" Cole laughed, giving his buddy a powerful pat on the back. "You gonna tell that lady how you feel. Right, Baird?"
"Yeah, yeah, I will. Let me just… Just give me time to-"
"No. Today."
"C-cole!" Baird exclaimed, glancing around, spotting Clay Carmine walking by. "Carmine! Help me out buddy!"
"Uh, Baird? For one, I have no idea what you are talking about. That and, when did you ever consider me a buddy?" The man laughed behind his helmet.
"Cole wants me to tell Sam how I feel. But he is uh… He said I have to do it today." Baird explained, scratching the back of his head. Carmine just laughed and started off again.
"Sorry, Baird! Can't help you. But I won't say anything to her. I have to talk to her, but I'll leave that to you." He called, disappearing. Cole just smiled and walked back to his room. Baird was left standing there alone, pondering what he was going to tell Sam.
"Aw man…" The blonde mumbled, finally setting off to Sam's room.
"Oh that man." Sam growled as she paced about the room. For months now she had tried to connect with Baird and show him how she felt. Every time though she got ignored . She was sick of it. "I swear, if he ignores me next time…" She trailed of at the sound of approaching foot steps. Angrily, she walked over and threw open the door, assuming it was Baird. However, it wasn't the blonde, it was Carmine.
"Uhhh, Sam?" He asked, a little worried that she seemed so angry. However, he relaxed when a smile crossed her face.
"Carmine. Sorry, I was expecting someone else. What do you need?" She said motioning for him to come in. The burly man walked in standing and waiting for her to listen. She pushed the door half-closed and turned toward him, an idea popping into her head as she did. Jealousy was always a good way to get someone to listen. Perhaps Carmine could help her with this. So, instead of listening to what Clayton had to say, she walked over and started undoing his armor.
"Whoa! What are you doing, Sam?" The panicked Gear said, jumping away into a wall. Sam didn't answer, just came at him again. When she reached for him again though, he grabbed her by the wrists and pinned her to the wall behind him. "Sam, listen. Baird is-" He started, however, a voice at the door cut him off.
"Hey, uh, Sam?" Baird said as he pushed the door open. His jaw dropped when he saw Carmine and Sam, rage filling his eyes. Without another word, he stormed off, leaving a very scared Clay and a very confused Sam alone once more.
"Shit… I am so dead." Clay said, rushing off to try and explain the situation to Baird. Sam just stood there, staring at the open, empty door. She had never seen Baird so angry before, nor did she even really understand what triggered that kind of response. Was it jealousy? No, he was far to angry for it to have been simple jealousy. Whatever it was, she had to ask. So, she left the room, heading the same direction she saw Baird and Carmine go.
"Baird! I swear its not what you think." Clay said as he caught up to the angry Corporal. The blonde whirled around, getting right in the other man's face.
"Don't bullshit me, Carmine! It was pretty damn obvious what was going on in there! What, did you think you would just get you some before I told her? You back-stabbing motherfucker!" Baird shouted, shoving Carmine away and continuing off. Carmine stood there until the blonde disappeared, looking at he ground and cursing. It didn't take long for Cole, Jace and Anya to show up.
"Carmine? I thought I heard Baird out here yelling at you about something. What happened?" Anya asked as she approached.
"Man he sounded pissed too. Marcus went to find him and ask about it." Jace said, propping himself up against the wall near Cole.
"Well, I don't know what happened really… I just know Sam is acting weird and it got me in trouble with Baird…" Carmine said with a sigh. About that time, Marcus approached, looking rather irritated.
"Can't find him. Looks like Baird's flow the coop." He stated.
"I'll go look for him." Carmine said. "If I get killed, tell mom and dad that I died a hero." The others started to say something, but they were all cut short by Sam walking up and speaking.
"No, Carmine. I'LL go look for him. This whole mess is my fault anyway." No one said anything or argued as she walked on by, only watched, still completely clueless as to what was going on.
Sam searched what she thought was everywhere, all to no avail. It seemed that her angry, blonde-headed Corporal really had just vanished. She was just about to give up when she just happened to spot some familiar feet dangling off the roof of the hotel. The woman smiled and took off to the top of the building. When she got there, she spotted Baird sitting at the edge of the roof with his head in his hands. She approached quietly, stopping a few feet behind him before speaking. "You aren't an easy man to find, Damon." She said calmly as she went to sit down beside him. He jumped a little and looked over at her, putting a sad smile on his face.
"I uh, I'm sorry Sam. I just had to come up here before I killed Clayton." He answered, looking back out over the landscape. "I don't want to, but I knew if I stayed around him like that I would have."
"Damon, might I ask you why you got so angry? Nothing was going to happen, Carmine was simple trying to stop me from doing something I'd later regret." She noticed that when she asked, he looked down, a very subtle blush crossing his face.
"Well, uh… You see, I…" He tried to explain, but found himself tongue-tied yet again. This always happened when he tried to talk to her, that's why he tried to ignore her most of the time. Finally he just sighed and looked up at the sky. "I lost my bet with Cole and the deal was that if I lost, I had to uh… tell you how I felt. Well, Clay walked by and I told him. He said he wouldn't say anything to you but he had to talk to you about something. So when I saw him… ya know. I just lost it." Sam was truly shocked. All this time, she thought Baird was ignoring her and her feelings because he was a heartless ass. Now she was learning that he was ignoring her because he was hiding his own feelings. Suddenly she just started laughing. Baird looked at her, confused. "Um, what's so funny, Sam?"
"All this time, I've been trying to convey to you that you mean more to me than just a comrade. I took you ignoring me as you just being a heartless ass." She said after she finally controlled her laughter. "Why didn't you just tell me?"
"Uh, I don't know. I guess I was just worried." He said. It didn't actually click in his mind what she was saying until she leaned over to put her head on his shoulder. A smile crossed his face as he put his arm around her, looking at the beautiful Gear.
"So what now, Damon?" She asked, looking out at the now setting sun. "Don't you think you should Thank Cole and apologize to Carmine?" The two chuckled as Baird pulled her closer.
"Maybe later. I'm a little busy right now." He answered. Sam shook her head, but didn't make a move to get away from him. The two sat there the rest of the day, watching the sun as it dropped from the sky, in a long, content silence.