Author's note: I wonder if this will bite me in the ass or not. I will be working on dual projects, HOTD: Semper Fidelis and now this. This will feature strictly the cause of the outbreak in Japan and etc. Cpl. James Sullivan and Cpl. Johnny Beckett will play a pivotal role in this, along with some actual HOTD characters like Rika Minami, Tajima, and other important figures of HOTD's actual realm. Think of this as a prequel to HOTD: Semper Fidelis, in chapters of Semper Fidelis there will be hints of Sullivan's involvement in the outbreak but it won't be heavily covered in that installment. So why not do dual projects? I'm so goddamn moto right now, I have to try it. Your reviews and responses will either make or break this effort. This is for all of you! Enjoy!

P.S. There might be some slightly offensive dialogue in this as it retains the realism of American troops and when faced with conflicts like International Relations, like the chapter's title. Do not think any less of this and try to enjoy. Like I said crossing lines and breaking out of fields will make or break this story, so please do not hesitate.

Chapter I: International Relations

"You motherfucking punk ass bitch! You did it now Sullivan, this is my hood, my piece of the pie, you city slicker fuck!" Yelled the man with the Alabama southern drawl accent that almost barely heard in the background with all the death metal in the background. The other man just grunted in response as he twisted his body from underneath the burly southerner and kicked him off, the southerner landed on the deck of the recreation room with a thud as the other stood up and rubbed the blood from his lip and stuck his tongue at him.

"Heh, gonna have to try harder than that Beckett. Just show me how big that piece of pie I took from you really is." Corporal James Sullivan said in a metaphorical sense as the other Marine known as Corporal Johnny Beckett glared at his equal and rushed him down, throwing his fist towards the other's face. With the agility and prowl of a serpent, James swooped right under his arm and was now right behind him.

The second Beckett turned around; James's fist had already collided against Beckett's cheek, who jerked back from the force in that punch. James was already going for a second hit, with a left hook towards his temple but that was quickly intercepted by Beckett who launched a straight left at James's face. Now the fight was on.

Getting hit by his straight, James would stagger back a bit leaving Beckett room to try and punch his lights out. Like a boxer and how Marines trained in the mixed martial arts of MCMAP, well the boxing part of their mixed martial arts, Beckett swooped in on James's backed up stature getting in real close on him. The southerner attempted to start launching some quick blows to his gut, in succession he'd repeatedly punch out James's stomach. Grunting he'd take that pain but that adrenaline from all of those hits had fueled him to just swing his left arm around his head and use his right to throw some punches down at his direction, all going to that blond head of his. After three punches, James would just pick him up all together with both arms, swinging him to the wall, with a big slam.

The crowd went wild for that one. The crowd in this situation was their fellow Marines. Marines of MARSOC, more specifically 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion, Bravo Company decided to pass their time of waiting for some important operation that called them out of their duty station; Camp Lejeune in North Carolina all the way to Camp Butler in Okinawa, Japan. They decided the way to pass time was to have their own Marines fight each other. They didn't hate each other, in fact Beckett and Sullivan have been friends since boot camp, and it's just the way grunts operate. They may be sparring but in fact, it goes deeper than that.

They all dressed similar with their desert MARPAT cammies, their sleeves rolled up all the way to their biceps. The only difference was that Sullivan and Beckett was that they didn't had their cammies blouse on because of their fighting, they just had their now sweaty and bloody skin tight olive green skivvy shirts. The only way you can tell who they are if you didn't know them was the name tapes on their butts. Same pattern that's on their cammies blouse. On the right cheek it says their last name and on the left cheek, it says U.S. MARINES.

With Beckett stunned from the blows to the head and the slam, James would use this time to mount him against the wall and just wail on him. Using his left forearm to hold his neck and choke him a bit he'd use his other to punch him out, over and over again. Gagging and grunting, Beckett was defenseless to James's assault. Picking up his head, James attempted to turn him around would slam his head against the wall. But Beckett wasn't going to go down that easy, right when James had his head and was going to force it against the wall he put his palms against the bulkhead and held himself up.

"Wh-what!" James grunted in shock, Beckett used this to his advantage and grabbed his wrist, twisting it in his grip and watched his fellow Devil Dog grind his teeth in pain never allowing himself to give Beckett the pleasure of making him scream. A pleased smirk would curl on Beckett's lips as he slammed his fist into James's face three times, making the last one the hardest. Fighting out of Beckett's grip he stumbled about and held his mouth and cheek, grunting loudly.

"Oh shit! Not the face nigga, you know Sullivan is a pretty boy like us! C'mon, you can't do that to someone who's in the Pretty boy swag!" yelled Private First Class Brandon "Drizzy" Taylor, he got his name from looking similar to Drake and being from Houston or what people from there like to call it thanks to Drake 'Houstalantavegas'. He also referred to the 'pretty boy swag' being that Sullivan, Beckett, and two other Marines from 1st Recon Battalion are 'pretty boys'.

"Who knows, maybe he wants the spotlight to himself. People from Alabama are like that, what do you expect Drizzy?" Said Lance Corporal Daniel "Archer" Suarez with a ghost of a chuckle. Archer earned his callsign from his superb skills with a rifle. More specifically: a sniper rifle, hailing from 1st Force Recon Company (1st FORECON) as a Scout Sniper for Force Recon before MARSOC was created. He has history with Beckett and Sullivan being in their unit when Force Recon was out there.

Beckett pushed his spiky blond stands back and blew Drizzy a kiss before charging at James in an attempt to haymaker him in the face to call it a night. But the unthinkable happened; James amazingly intercepted it and swung behind him, holding him in place. Beckett stumbled about in James's grip, using the hold to his advantage he'd start throwing bombs in the form of elbows towards the back of his head, over and over and over again! The crowd of Marines actually cheered on for each and every blow that James inflicted upon Beckett's cranium. Upon the last blow he shoved Beckett off of him into the table that actually was pushed back with him. Sullivan backed up all the way to the opposite side of the room waiting for Beckett to get back up.

In the meantime, the last two Marines in the room had grabbed the table and lifted it together to move it out of the way of the brawl. One of them shook his head and sighed, "Why the hell did I let you talk me into this?" asked Sergeant George Harrington as he looked up at his superior enlisted Staff non-commissioned officer (SNCO) who was almost as immature as these junior Marines when he's not serious. That perpetrator of being immature half of the time was Gunnery Sergeant Adam Mayweather who held the other end of the table helping Harrington move it, the Gunny laughed in response.

"C'mon! You have to agree with me here, having Sullivan and Beckett duke it out is the greatest idea. Plus we make money on the side. You know how many Marines and Sailors who aren't in the dorms right now betting on this shit?" replied the Gunny as he sat the table down and sat on it, Harrington shook his head knowing the facts that at least a good two hundred was on the fight.

"Yeah I know, but what if Lieutenant Miller comes in? Does he know about this?" He said crossing his arms and glaring at his old high school friend.

Mayweather nodded and put his finger in the air as if he was making a point. "Yeah he actually does. I told him that the Corporals wanted to practice their MCMAP to improve the effectiveness of our unit in the arts of close-quarters-combat and we're going to have a little sparring session while we wait it out for our XO to come through. Even out el-tee Miller put some money down on the pot, he bet on Sully and so did I. Basically as long as we don't get too crazy with the sparring we're good."

The Sergeant shook his head and pointed at Beckett and James bleeding and bruised up. "You call that not getting too crazy?"

Mayweather waved his hand dismissively. "Nope, come on you know it's a good idea? C'mon! Give me some love Georgi man!"

Hearing his old nickname he laughed and shook his head and didn't say a word as he watched the fight, inwardly enjoying it.

"Come on, Beckett. Come on!" James beckoned, feeling the rush of the fight flowing through his veins. His raw nature kicked in, the same determination not to give up, just like his father didn't do in Fallujah, Iraq. Plus he always did want to spar with his brother in arms and see just who the better Marine is.

Beckett got back up and rushed over to him like a raging bull! James stayed there calm and ready and when the time came when Beckett got too close, James sidestepped grabbing his shoulder and swinging his leg into the back of Beckett's shin and slammed him onto the floor, face first! James immediately got back up and walked around the southerner's fallen body, the towering Marine growled in frustration and pounded the floor before staggering himself back up.

Taking the time for Beckett to stagger get back up, James crouched down and waited, and waited. Archer looked at what he was doing, just what was he doing? The second Beckett brought his head back up, James whipped his body like a corkscrew falling unto the floor but while doing so he chop blocked Beckett's shin causing him to fall right back down to the floor on the back of his head. Archer's eyes widened at this and really were getting more hyped up than usual for a fight. This was amazing, how was James pulling off all these moves? Was this some kind of rivalry, between Beckett pulling those counters and now James? This was just purely the best fight he had ever seen yet. James got back up and walked around his downed body with a big smirk on his face.

"Come on, ugly! Get back up so I can knock you down again!" James yelled out tauntingly as he waited for him to get back up. Beckett immediately got back up and James got ready assuming the same crouching stance again, Beckett threw in a haymaker for James to intercept again but that was Beckett's plan for him to that because when he did that Beckett used his immense strength to drag him towards him which would knock James off of his balance and leave him open, with this Beckett started punching up at James's gut three times then slithered his arm out of his grip to use it to punch his back.

James staggered back holding his back and grunting, Beckett with this had tried to give him a right hook clean across his face but it missed with James sweeping under his arm, dodging to the side. Beckett with that miss tried to go for a left hook which James did the same method for dodging, and once more for Beckett's right straight jab. James standing up from that little wave of dodging would taunt him more.

"Come on, let's get it!" James yelled with his fist up in the air for more. Beckett getting more frustrated would continue in the left and right hooks but James would keep dodging right and left, side to side. Sweeping himself under those heavy hands from his assault, getting back up from his dodges he'd taunt him some more.

"Come on, Johnny! Come on! Come on!" The one blow that he didn't dodge hit him in his stomach but James took it, in fact he grabbed the arm and Beckett himself and picked him up with one adrenaline filled grab and tossed the blond over to the wall, Beckett grunting he'd hold his back only for James to shoulder thrust him right back onto the bulkhead's surface then give him a solid right hook across the face putting Beckett down to the ground. The Marines went wild and James backed up and turned around walking over to the other side trying to catch his breath thinking that it was over.

"You are a fucking idiot…never turn your back on your enemy! YOU HEAR ME JAMES?" Beckett yelled over to James who heard that, he turned around too late only to see Beckett to get back up immediately and tackle him down to the floor from behind. It was like getting hit by a car! The two went down to the floor hard and Beckett picked him up getting him in a reverse bear hug where James's back was against the blonde's chest. James yelled loudly in agonizing pain as he felt the pressure that Beckett was using in those large arms of his to try and break him in two. When Marines spar, they don't play around, it's for keeps.

He could slowly feel the adrenaline and fuel stem down from this but then it came back to him, with his mind deciding it wasn't over till the fat lady sang. And she wasn't singing tonight, not for James! The only swan song to be heard would be from Beckett as he threw three elbows towards his face as he was in the hold. The bear hug was loosening up and that's where James made him move, breaking out of his grip he whipped himself behind Beckett and grabbed him in the same hold, not getting him in a bear hug but actually picking him up in a reverse belly to back slam yelling as he slammed him against the ground! This wasn't a fight anymore, this was a war! The Marines went even wilder, jumping onto tables and chairs and jumping around being more animated as the fight escalated.

"Hey! Calm yourselves down, Marines!" Sergeant Harrington yelled, and they all complied and stood back on the deck watching the fight. Still screaming loudly in pure entertainment.

James got up and quickly backed up assuming his hands up to his face, Beckett did the same and they rushed each other head on at the same time. James launched a right straight and Beckett launched a left. They winded grabbing each other's fists and grappling in the most intense duel ever. They locked eyes with each other the entire time, observing each other with their blue and jade colored eyes. They saw how bloody their lips were, their bruises and what not. They were equal, they stared each other trying to overpower the other.

Archer watched this but he had a funny feeling, tapping Drizzy he'd get his attention. "Hey PFC, go check the hallways for a sec."

Drizzy quickly obliged and ran outside to see if anyone was on their way, covering his mouth he'd notice on his 12 'o clock was Colonel Edward M. Jeffries Jr who was the XO of 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion, along with 1st Lieutenant Nathaniel Miller who was their CO, and an unknown group of Asian soldiers accompanying them. Running back inside, Drizzy pushed the hatches open and slapped on the hinges.

"Officers on deck!" he yelled. Instantaneously everyone had to get squared away and disciplined as possible. Beckett and James stopped fighting and stood straight in attention, their lips and forehead's bleeding out and their cheeks red. Despite the pain they felt from each other's wounds, they stood in attention as straight as an arrow. All the other Marines ran around trying to make the room look as squared away as possible, they turned off the music, fixed the table, and hid the empty beer bottles. When their make-shift field day was finished they all stood in a line with Mayweather and Harrington in front of them waiting for the officers to come in.

And there they were, 1st Lt. Nathaniel Miller and Col. Edward M. Jeffries Jr were the first ones in the room. Once they stepped in, the enlisted Marines saluted the two officers in their presence. The two officers returned the salute, with the Colonel chuckling under his breath. "At ease, Marines."

At his command, they stood at parade rest and stared straight-ahead. Colonel Jeffries Jr's chuckling stopped once he noticed the major differences Beckett and Sullivan had from the other men. The other men didn't look like they've been through hell and back, plus they were missing their blouses that held their rank and name. Clearing his throat, the Colonel tapped Miller.

"Um, Lieutenant Miller? Why are your men not wearing their blouses? Do they think they are hot shit or something because they are Special Operators? Plus why do they look like they've been beaten to a bloody pulp? You runnin' some fight club or something?" The Colonel asked as he put his hands on his hips and stared down at the young officer, Miller glanced at Mayweather and Harrington before returning his sights on the full-blown head of 1st MSOB to answer him.

"I don't have the answer to why they don't have their blouses on, perhaps they wanted to be able to fully be able to perform their CQC exercises without the blouse hindering their abilities. My Marines were practicing their MCMAP techniques in sparring sessions, between Cpl. Sullivan and Cpl. Beckett these two has known each other for years so I can say that the spar must have gotten pretty intense." Miller's words made James and Beckett smirk inwardly as he continued on. "They wanted to remain fully able to say they are prepared for anything. From shooting to hand-to-hand combat. And from the looks of it, Bravo Company is ready." the Lieutenant says with his words as smooth as velvet departing from his lips able to soothe the Colonel into submission. A nod and a wave of his hands as he walked over to the hatch and leaned against it.

"Very well, in any case before I tell you all the reason that you're here tonight I should probably introduce you people to the other members of your team." The Colonel said as he poked his head out the door and waved a group of people to come inside.

All the enlisted Marines whispered amongst each other in confusion. This was Bravo Company's platoon, the one that does practically everything. This was the team. Why would they need new members of the team, and who are they? James felt obliged to try and find out before they come in. "Sir, permission to speak freely?"

The Colonel while whispering to the unknown people in Japanese; Miller. Beckett, and James was the one Marines who spoke Japanese fluently besides the Colonel, with the exception of Beckett since he only knows so little. "Granted, what do you need son?"

"Why do we need more people on our team? We're MARSOC, sir. We are more than capable of handling anything you need us to."

"Not in this country you are. Well…not without help, Corporal Sullivan." The Colonel said as the members that he was talking about had finally walked in.

It was like time froze as the MARSOC Marines watched three Japanese soldiers walk into the room and stood at parade rest right in front of them, mirroring them. The one who stood out the most was the tan purple haired woman, since she was the only woman in the room as well. James figured if these were people that were going in this operation, that woman would be accompanying them too. This was a big thing since women aren't even allowed in combat arms in the United States Armed Forces; don't even get the government started with women in Special Forces billets. So this was taboo, but a nice taboo, because the tan woman was actually beautiful.

Beckett observed the only woman as the group as she stood there wearing the same black fatigues as they are. Sporting a Kevlar vest and ballistic clear sunglasses she stood there staring down the Marines, it was as if she was analyzing every little detail about them, just like the Marines are doing. The other members of that stood at parade rest beside her were just as interesting. The one who stood at the right hand of the purple haired woman had a white baseball cap on and a scar on his left eye. The one who stood on the woman's left hand had long hair that was tied in samurai styled ponytail, back in any military hair like that would be definitely out of the question. Unless you were Special Forces, for example, Army Green Berets usually rocked long beards and untamed hair that they were allowed to grow so they can blend in easier with the Middle Eastern people. They just called SF 'the men with beards' at times.

Could these guys be Japanese Special Forces? Must be if they were going to work with them. The Marines questions were answered as the Colonel kicked himself off of the wall and got between the two teams.

"Gentlemen, you are now in the presence of the SAT. Japan's Special Assault Team will be working hand-in-hand with us. For the next four days, you will live, train, eat, and work together. America and Japan agreed to this joint operation and was so willing to lend us their Operator's as a liaison. Now," He paused as he used his hand as an indicator to who he refers to as.

"This is Assistant Inspector Nagato Yagami, he is the Team Captain of Special Forces Company." Nagato bowed his head for the Marines out of formality, upon raising himself back up he had a look of disgust as he stared at them. Drizzy caught onto this and narrowed his eyes and returned the same look right back.

"Next, is Sergeant Itachi Tajima." Tajima also bowed down to the Marines, except that when he rose up he didn't had a look of disgust but a smile on his features.

"And last but certainly not least, is the lovely Sergeant Rika Minami. Don't underestimate her now, she ranks 1st in the top 5 shooting competition in Japan. So handle with care or you might wind up without a head." She bowed down and raised her head with a smirk on those lips of hers, something Beckett finding very attractive. A rose with thorns, in Beckett's mind she was perfect. James could see this from the corner of his eye but he decided to ignore it and let Beckett be Beckett.

"Heh, looks like you got competition Arch." James muttered to Archer who smirked in response. The Colonel grinned and pointed at all the Marines in the room.

"Not just LCpl. Suarez you have competition with. Any Marine who was Force Recon before joining MARSOC is competition, not only every Marine is a rifleman, but if a recruit wishes to become Recon as a job rather than just Infantry. You have to shoot expert in the rifle range and must complete other tasks, and in boot camp 500 yards is the farthest you shoot. And that's just boot camp, imagine once they get farther in their career. But our Marine, LCpl. Suarez here…he's Bravo Company's sniper. So yes, we do have a little rivalry I'm cooking up." He laughed with the other Japanese Operators looking at him, the Colonel brushed it off. "Just food for thought though." He said while turning to his Marines and pumped his fist. "Go America…you better represent our Corps if you do go against her in friendly competition." He mouthed the words to his Marines, more so focusing on Archer, who silently nodded.

The Colonel after this cleared his throat, "Well, it's about time for me to head out. I have to meet with their XO right about now." He looked at his watch and back at everyone in the room. "Be sure to be in the briefing room tomorrow at 0900hrs. That means all of you. Now if you choose to stay in the barracks, lights out is at 2200hrs. Miller, Harrington, and Mayweather I need you to come with me so we can discuss things for tomorrow. We'll leave our two banged up NCO's to watch over things." The three Marines nodded and walked beside the officer.

Beckett and James looked at each other for a second and smiled at each other, being able to be left alone to not only lick their wounds but be able to converse with the new Japanese troops. But for some reason, the two Corporals can tell that the tension in the room was so thin you can cut it with a butter knife. James eyed the way Drizzy looked at Yagami, it was a look of pure hatred. The way Archer looked at Rika, it wasn't anything of hostility but more so of a challenge, and the feeling was mutual.

"So I'll leave you guys to…get to know each other. Now play nice, Devil Dogs. Oorah?"

"Oorah!" The Marines roared as the Colonel and company left the room and shutting it behind them, leaving the troops all by themselves.

There was a brief silence in the room as the two factions stared at each other, reading each other; it was surreal and ironic at the same time. James didn't know if he was the only one who thought about this. But their Marine ancestors fought their Japanese ancestors back in the Pacific Campaign in WWII, and now Marines and Japanese troops were working together. Oh how the world has changed, James thought as he looked at them. He clapped his hands and was about to say something to break the awkward silence, till he watched Rika and Tajima talk amongst each other in Japanese.

"So what do you think about these guys, eh Tajima-san?" asked Rika in her native tongue, Tajima whispered back in Japanese. He did notice that James was looking at them funny, as if he was reading their lips and trying to understand them. As if he also somewhat knew what they were saying.

"Ehh, I don't know. They look pretty dependable, although you can tell how awkward this looks right? Nobody saying a single word…" Tajima paused and took a look at their Team Captain who was in a glaring duel between the Marine known as Archer. "And Yagami-sama is not liking this one bit…"

Right before Rika was going to respond back, Archer's voice boomed throughout the Japanese operators.

"Hey, hey, hey now! If we're gonna be workin' together…you can't be talkin' all that good shit. We gotta be able to understand each other and communicate y'know?" Said Archer who approached them and sat down on the table, staring them down as they just watched him, their features was as cold as ice. The two said nothing in return to the American.

Archer didn't like this one bit, "Are you serious? Tch, you see this bullshit guys?" He said jabbing his thumb at them and looking over his shoulders at his fellow Marines. "They think they're better than us just because they're Chinese on some real shit! They are forgetting who won World War II eh? Fuckin' gooks…"

"They are Japanese, Archer. Not Chinese." Beckett said whilst rubbing his temples and shaking his head at the racism that was just expected from his fellow Marine. It was bound to happen from either side.

"I know they're fuckin' Japs! I just wanted to call 'em Chinese. I've been dying to call them gooks and shit since they walked in."

Beckett narrowed his eyes and planted his face into his palm, sighing heavily. "Wow dude, really? You're so racist. And I'm from the fucking south and I'm not as racist as you are. Do you see how that looks?"

"Yeah really, can you chill out with that shit?" James said taking Beckett's side as he reached into the mini fridge and grabbed two packs of ice, one for Beckett and one for himself. "Yo, Johnny boy!" He said as he tossed him one which Beckett caught and planted it on his cheek while James put his on his forehead.

Archer rolled his eyes and got up from the table, shrugging his shoulders he'd cross his arms while grilling the Team Captain of SAT, who in return gave the same look to him. "I'm just being honest, fuck me man…shit."

"Well I think we should introduce ourselves to them!" Drizzy said as he walked up to them, Archer laughed and shook his head.

"Carful Drizzy, they look like intellectuals to me!"

It was Drizzy's turn to laugh now as he jabbed his finger at him, "Says the Marine who called them Chinese just a couple of seconds ago."

The response from that was just priceless; Archer was grinding his teeth while the other Devil Dogs were laughing at his expense. Drizzy have a responsibility to project a friendly attitude since he's not only the boot of Bravo Company, but one of the only black people in this unit, compared to the only other minority would be Archer's Spanish self. But with that act he did, he didn't do a good job representing his Latin brethren. Drizzy approached the three and got a good look at them from head to toe, especially Rika.

"Ah, shut up and go back to Young Money! I think Lil Wayne is waitin' for ya!" Archer said in protest as he walked over to the nearest seat and dropped himself right down and watched as he attempted to make peace.

James shook his head and jabbed Beckett in the shoulder to get his attention. "I don't like the looks of this. I have a feeling that Drizzy is gonna do something stupid." Beckett nodded in agreement and watched on.

"Hello Allies, my name is Private First Class Taylor and I'd like to say welcome to Camp Butler! Do you understand what I am saying?" He was talking to them as if they were retarded. Using emphasis and slowing down his speech to match it too. All three Japanese operators must have felt the retardation spewing out of his mouth; they looked at him as if he was stupid then looked at each other. Suddenly the mood changed and James noticed this quickly as he saw Rika step up and clasped her hands together and bowed down to him.

"Thank you Mistah Taylor, you the big shot around here?" Rika said in the most broken down stereotypical Japanese accent ever, Archer laughed so hard he fell out of his seat while Sullivan slammed his palm into his face. James couldn't believe that Drizzy was buying this and being turned on by this too. Drizzy nodded and got closer to her with the biggest smirk on his face.

"Oh yeah baby, I am. Don't mind these clowns, they don't know shit. You know…maybe we can come back to my barracks dorm room and get to know each other a little bit better." Rika opened her mouth gasping loudly.

"Oh my…you want fucky fucky?" Drizzy nodded. "Me so horny, me so horny. Me love you long time! I the best fucky you evar will have. I will give you ev'ryting!"

Drizzy gently grabbed her arms and looked down into those eyes of hers. "Everything?"

"Ev'ryting…you want sucky sucky too?"

"Oh hell yeah…"

"You not too beaucoup right?" She said as she held her hands up to compare how big a penis should be, Drizzy shook his head and licked his lips.

"Nah baby, I got a natural 10 inch New York black cock for you baby. I'm sure it ain't too beaucoup for you…"

Still facepalmed, James would shake his head. "Please dude, for godsake please don't represent New York. For me Drizzy? Please? Ughhhh…" He said since he's from New York too, he doesn't want them to think that only blockheaded idiots like him come from New York.

Rika nodded and licked her lips, "Okay me love you long time den! Can you do me one beau favor?"

Drizzy nodded and with that, Rika leaned up to his ear and whispered to him, but in an audible tune where everyone else can hear her too. On the drop of a coin, to Drizzy's surprise her accent had changed radically into a more civilized manner lacking any relation to having an orient background, as well as her vocabulary.

"Can you take that 10 inch cock of yours and stick it in your ass for me? Also, if you want to keep those fingers I suggest you take your hands off of me." She said in a dark tone as she tapped on Drizzy's hands and stared down into his eyes. James and Beckett laughed at Drizzy in the background, and Archer was just in shock.

"Tch, alright…I deserved that." He said in surrender as he put his hands up in surrender and backed up from her. Her glare stayed on the Drake look alike as Nagato decided to step in.

"And no, we don't think we're better then you. We know we're better then you. Not only we're a little bit more tolerable with race then your significant other…we also speak English, fluently. You can go ask your FBI HRT counterparts. We train with them at least twice a year; wouldn't you think we should have perfected our English for many different reasons? It is a universal language, you ignorant fuckers…" Nagato lifted his finger up and directed it towards Archer and narrowed his eyes. "Especially you…"

Tajima sighed and took his hat off for a second to ruffle his hair and place it back on the top of his head. "Phew, man…ain't this a horrible first impression eh?" he directed that statement towards James since the two practically stayed out of the trouble, James nodded and shrugged.

"What can you do, Itachi? You think we're bad with you guys? You should see how we treat the Army and the Air Force! Brothers or not…ugh…and don't get me started on the Navy. Our own queer ass cab drivers." That earned a laugh out of the Japanese male as he put his hand out.

"By the way, just call me Tajima. I always did like my last name better for some reason, don't ask me why." James nodded and shook his hand, the spark of friendship and camaraderie drew in Rika and Beckett from the arguing crowd of testosterone filled troops.

"Alright then, in that case it's just Sullivan. I like my first name though. Just don't call me Sully, I'll have to cut ya if you do!" Both men engaged in a hearty laughter, Rika clapped her hands and sighed.

"Alright then, Sullivan-san. Sounds good!" James shook his head and pointed at her.

"Nah, you can call me James. Sounds better coming from a woman, only this guy right here and women can call me that." James said pointing to Beckett who waved in acknowledgement. Rika put her hand on her chest and shook her head.

"Haha, whatever you say James-san."

"Oh and by the way, James and I heard what you were guys were saying earlier." Beckett said as he crossed his arms and smiled over at her. Rika tilted her head and tapped her chin.

"You speak Japanese?"

"Hai hai, ma'am…" He said with a wink. James chuckled and watched Beckett, he didn't want to interfere. He obviously had the hard on for her so he didn't want to cockblock his boy. Rika took this as a challenged and smirked.

"Alright, You aren't half-bad, perhaps maybe we can get to know each other better some other time, Marine." She said in the cutest way possible with a slight hint of yearning in her voice and a wink, that caught Beckett off guard since he was bullshitting her. It was really James and the Lt who knew Japanese, he just knew enough to get by.

"Yeah…I had no idea what you just said but it sure as hell sounded hot." Beckett said as he rubbed the back of his head and smiled sheepishly, called out in his game and lost. Rika giggled and pushed a stray bang back.

"I figured as much."

Their little peaceful moment was interrupted as the argument between Archer and Nagato increased. Tensions were rising as the two now stood only inches away from each other.

"Uh-oh…" James whispered as he watched the bout from afar with Beckett and the two Japanese operators.

"You Americans are absolutely despicable! I think you and your idiotic simple-minded fools should just leave Japan! We don't need you ignorance around our honorable lands…you reek dishonor. I feel ashamed just by standing in your presence!" Nagato said as he looked the Marine in his eyes, Archer was stoic as he nodded and pointed at Nagato.

"You shouldn't be talking. Your people don't have that much of a clean slate either…I read how you fucking Tojo fucks would go to Okinawan villages to behead your own people for competition, just for fucking fun. You bastards try to hide your past shame with all your cutesy animes, manga, porn, food, and all that good shit. The ignorant masses fall for it…but nah…I see your true colors! So you go fuck yourself!" Archer yelled that as he closed in on Nagato, getting in his face to the point their noses are practically touching.

"Get out of my face you fucking soldier…stand the fuck down."

That crossed the line, even James and Beckett inwardly got mad at the Japanese Team Captain by calling them soldiers. They were Marines, not soldiers. But the difference between the two Marines and Archer and Drizzy, they don't voice their outrage out like this. Drizzy and Archer started to yell in the man's face, and start to push him, which Nagato responded by pushing them back.

"Call me a fucking dogfaced soldier huh? You fucking gook!" Archer yelled as he attempted to throw a punch towards Nagato's face, but Beckett grabbed his wrist and pulled him back. Nagato wanted to take advantage of this but Tajima also pulled back his Captain.

"Calm down! CALM THE FUCK DOWN!"

"That motherfucker!" Archer yelled while being in submission but Beckett shook him up and got his attention.

"Stand the fuck down, Lance Corporal! You wanna get NJP'd or even worse? By doing this you can fuck with our fucking relationship with the Japanese! Do you really want to do that? Whatever hate you got? Stow it, Marine. Stow it." He was right, Beckett was absolutely right. He had to use his rank to get to his head but his words as a fellow Marine and friend helped him calm down.

"He's right, with all due respect Yagami-sama…please calm down. Your honor will not be tainted by working with these guys. They are good guys…well at least some of them are. You have to believe that!" pleaded Tajima, Rika backed him up and stood next to Beckett as he held Archer.

"He's right sir; you should know Tajima-san's good judgment? When has he ever been wrong about anything? So can you please consider this, Yagami-sama?" She said as she clasped her hands and looked into Nagato's eyes. With one heavy breath of air, he slipped out of Tajima's grip and fixed his fatigues and vest. At that signal, Beckett let go of Archer who did the same thing.

Archer sucked his teeth as he offered his hand forward as a sign of truce, a silent truce. They both knew what the handshake meant, so without any words exchanged they shook hands and looked away from each other. Everyone else felt their hearts finally calmed down as an international incident was avoided. Rika decided to take advantage of this.

"Alright! Well I just got an idea. Your XO told us to get to know each other right? Well we got off on the wrong foot obviously. Instead of staying in these barracks, how about we head to my place? I'm in the Tokonosu area. It's not that far away by car and it's only 1730. If we leave now, we can get there and still have enough time to enjoy a good night and catch some Z's for tomorrow. So who's up for it?" James and Beckett both perked up to the sound of this. Sure they didn't mind the barracks since any Marine barracks was their home away from home, but to actually be able to go to her house and relax away from regulations? Sounds like heaven!

"That sounds awesome, trust me guys!" Tajima said as he jabbed his thumb at Rika. "She's an excellent cook! She cooks just like she shoots, fucking always on point!"

Rika rolled her eyes and pushed the frames of her ballistic clear glasses up. "Please, stop kissing my ass already."

"I would love to kiss your ass, but you won't let me!" He said as he crossed his arms over his chest and laugh to himself, Nagato would plant his hand on Tajima's shoulder and sigh.

"After an afternoon like this? I think I need a drink. An evening at Rika's would be a great idea."

"Then it's settled!" Beckett said with a nod of his head, but James was confused.

"Wait a minute; I thought we have to stay here?"

"Tch, you didn't listen to the Colonel? We said if we choose…so yeah! That's more than enough proof to me that he wants us to have a good time! So let's have a good time!" Rika said as she walked towards the door with her SAT operators following behind, she noticed that they didn't follow along.

"Aren't you coming?"

"We gotta change first. Marine Corps regulations say we can't walk outside with our cammies on. We gotta put civis, so give us a sec to pick up some shit alright?" James concluded as he planted his pack of ice on his lip now and walked towards the door with the rest of the Marines following behind. Rika looked at Archer and Drizzy following behind.

"I hope you know…I'm only allowing you two in my home because I can tell that I'll get into an argument with the only two cool Marines I ever met. I'd like to avoid that…so do me a favor and keep your heads down in my place. Alright?"

They nodded and kept to themselves as the last one who was out closed the door to the recreation room. Only God knows what will happen later on tonight, and they have four days together too.

x—Devil May Cry.