This wasn't the Marines, this wasn't the army, this was ATLAS. ATLAS would pay you more and had equipment so advanced it was almost scary. You tried to pay attention to you guide. What was his name again? but you were taken in by everything you were seeing. You had no idea what you signed up for, but you had a feeling you would love it. At the end of your tour, whatever his name was said something about meeting up with some guys named Gideon and Mitchell. "Ok, thanks." You say quietly...nervously as you are dropped off at the barracks. Not many women here, you think to yourself. Room 141 (you giggle at the irony). You unlock the door and are greeted by a glare from a woman with a simple ponytail and dark eyes. "Hi, I'm [Your Name]." You say nervously. "Ilona," she says, not a friendly tone to be found, but you did catch a hint of an accent...Russian, maybe? "Do you know where I can find Gideon or Mitchell?" you ask timidly. "Probably at the range", she answers. "Well, uh, how do I get there?" Ilona sighs, exasperated "Follow the signs." We leave the room at the same time, but she heads in another direction.

You follow the signs directing you to the range. Two huge metal doors slide open and you see two men conversing, one taller than the other. As you get closer you realize the shorter one with the beanie has an accent bringing back memories of you Task Force days. The taller one notices you first and clears his throat, the other man turns around. You look up at the taller man and you realize right away you shouldn't have. The most intense blue eyes you have ever seen bore into your soul and for a second you forget where you are. "Um..I-I'm [Your name]," you say barely above a whisper. The blue-eyed beauty holds out his hand, "I'm Jack Mitchell, but everyone just calls me Mitchell." You shake his hand, avoiding eye contact "Mitchell, ok...hi." You groan inwardly. Hi? You fucking idiot! The other man looks you up and down and says "Gideon, but everyone calls me...Gideon." You smile and nod, immediately taken in by his accent. There's an awkward silence and you finally say "So, do I need to do some target practice or...?" "Oh, we have an eager one here," Gideon says. "Let's see what you've got," Mitchell says. You walk over to the wall holding the SMGs and you pick up the KF5. Gideon looks skeptical, "You sure you're ready for that?" You look up at him, "I can handle it." Mitchell snickers and Gideon raises his hands in silent defeat. You walk over to the platform and activate the training. You can feel Mitchell and Gideon watching you and you hope that you don't make an ass of yourself. The training begins and you're hitting targets with ease. It gets harder and harder, but you keep doing your best.

By the end of target practice, you're breathing heavily and beads of sweat are forming on your face. You turn around to see Mitchell and Gideon staring at you with a look of disbelief. You lower your head and quietly walk over to put your gun away. You turn around, lift your head and notice that both men are still staring at you. "That was pretty fucking impressive," Gideon says. "It was," Mitchell agrees. You hope that you aren't blushing as you thank them and ask them what you have to do next. "You need to be fitted for your Exosuit," Mitchell says. Gideon nods and says "follow me." You follow, but not too closely, you don't want to seem too eager. Mitchell looks back at you and notices that you are looking around, trying to process everything. He slows down and falls in beside you. "It's a lot to take in, huh?" he asks. "Yeah, it is," you answer, once again getting caught up in his beautiful blue stare. "It may seem overwhelming now, but you'll know it like the back of your hand in no time." You smile and continue to follow Gideon. Mitchell points at Gideon, "He's one of the best, never met a more helpful guy." "Stop getting sappy," Gideon turns his head and says. You and Mitchell laugh and you THINK you see a small smile play on Gideon's lips. Your laughter stops when you spot something odd about Mitchell's arm. You notice you're staring and look away quickly. "It's okay," he says "Check it out." He holds his arm out so you can get a better look. "Lost it in Korea after..." his words trail off and you look at him. He doesn't make eye contact, but you can see how sad he is. You put your hand on his shoulder, he looks at you and smiles. You guys realize you've stopped following Gideon when you hear him say "Hello! This way!" and then "Fuck me" under his breath. "I have a few drills to run with some other guys, but I'll talk to you later," Mitchell says. "Oh, okay sounds good." You smile at him and he nods and walks away.

You turn to Gideon who is staring at you impatiently. "Sorry," you say shyly. He rolls his eyes and walks into a room off to the left. You follow him in and you see it's not just a room. Men are wearing what you believe to be exosuits, getting shot at, fighting, and some of them even look like they're flying? "Wanna try?" Gideon asks, suddenly close to your ear. It sends a shiver down your spine and you jump. "Hell yeah!" you say a little too quickly. Gideon chuckles and leads you over to an exosuit. "You're a pretty small woman, but I think you can handle this." He looks you up and down, sizing you up..maybe..you think. "Ready?" Gideon asks. "More than ready," you answer with a smile. You love the feeling you get as you become one with the exosuit. You turn your hands and arms over looking at how this machine has become part of you. "Wipe that shit-eating grin off your face and let's train." Gideon says, snapping you out of your reverie. Your smile disappears and you somehow find the courage to say "Are you always such an asshole?" as you brush past him. Gideon may be good-looking, but that attitude of his was rubbing you the wrong way. I want to snatch that damn beanie off his head you think to yourself. "I didn't hurt your feelings, did I princess?" he asks. You glare at him, "Don't call me that." "It's good that you're angry, maybe it'll make you better at this." You roll your eyes and walk to the X in the middle of the floor. Gideon's voice comes from the corner of the room, "Since you're new at this I'll take it easy on you." Take it easy on me...what is he talking about? He steps into the light and you see that he's holding a gun. Your brain goes into panic mode. "What the fuck?!" you shout. "You'll have to learn how to use every perk the exosuit comes with and I'm starting you off with the built-in shield." "Why couldn't we just start with the boost jump or something?!" you ask, still shouting a bit. "Didn't want to," he answers smugly. You look him straight in his eyes and say, "You know what, let's do it. I'm not gonna let you scare me away if that's what you're trying to do!" You realize you've been shouting and you calm yourself down.

"I'm ready," you says as calmly as possible.

Gideon circles around you like a predator stalking it's prey and aims. You lift your left arm and...nothing happens! You look at Gideon with a panicked look on your face and you hear the weapon fire. You duck and roll out of the way, trying to stay calm so that you can figure out how to get this shield to work. You look at your arms and then at your palms...nothing. Your hear more rounds burst from the gun. You growl in frustration as you dodge more bullets. You look at Gideon who is doing some weird movement with his arm. You look at him confused for a minute then you realize he's trying to help you. You bring your arm up, copying his movements and...you hear a mechanical sound as another round of bullets come flying at you. You squeeze your eyes shut and hear the bullets hitting something and you feel weird vibrations on your arm. You find the courage to open your eyes and realize the shield worked! Gideon lowers the gun and you fall to your knees, your legs turning to jelly after the adrenaline rush wears off. Gideon walks over to you and offers you his hand, "That wasn't so bad, was it?" You look at his hand and then up at him. "You're still an asshole," you say as you slap his hand away and get up as gracefully as you can on legs that aren't working very well at the moment. Gideon smirks at you and you glare at him. You notice he has blue eyes, not quite as blue as Mitchell's, but they're still nice enough. You're supposed to hate him right now. Stop checking him out. It's then you realize you've been staring at him like a fool. You feel a blush coming on and you lower your head before your face betrays you. "Ah, don't worry, I treat all the new ones like this, Mitchell will tell you." Gideon says still smirking. "That's nice," you say, avoiding eye contact. You begin to walk out of the room as Gideon says "You won't hate me forever, princess"...you keep walking.

You contemplate going to eat dinner, but you tell yourself that you're really not that hungry. A nice shower and getting into bed sounds like a better plan. You get back to your room expecting to see Ilona, but she isn't there. Probably at dinner. You gather your toiletries and head to the showers. You get undressed and let your hair down. You start the shower and almost moan at how good it feels. You stand under the water for awhile before actually washing yourself. You turn the shower off and already miss the feeling. You throw on your ATLAS-issued pajamas and walk back to your room. You sit on your bed and start brushing your hair when there's a knock on your door. You should really ask who it is, but you're so tired and you just don't care so you open the door quickly and Mitchell is standing there. You gasp and run your fingers through your hair quickly like it really matters what you look like. What am I doing?! "Oh..hey Mitchell." You smile up at him shyly and you notice his face is red. You get lost in his eyes once again. He clears his throat and you realize he's holding a tray of food. "I, uh, didn't see you at dinner so I thought I'd bring you something." Mitchell smiles down at you, his face still a little pink. "Oh, that was really nice of you, thanks." There's an awkward silence and then Mitchell asks "How was the rest of training with Gideon?" Your face falls and you say, "I think that Brit hates me and I don't even know what I did wrong." Mitchell let's out a small laugh. "It's nothing personal, Gideon is just...Gideon." You smirk and look up at Mitchell again, losing yourself in his eyes again. Damnit. "Well, I'm gonna head back to my room, I need a shower," Mitchell says, smiling. Your mind flashes to images of Mitchell naked in the shower, hot water cascading down his perfectly toned body. Down his back, down his chest to his...you feel your face getting hot and you shake your head slightly trying to get rid of THOSE images. "Ok, thanks for the food...enjoy your shower," you say suggestively. Shit. Mitchell laughs out loud and says good night, waving as he walks away. You close the door and lean against it, closing your eyes and exhaling heavily. You realize how hungry you actually are when you smell the food Mitchell has brought you. You sit at the desk in your room and start to eat. You finish your food and climb into bed, getting comfortable. You think about your first day and tell yourself that it can only get better. You fall asleep quickly.

*DREAM*

You're back in the room with Gideon aiming his gun at you. He has that same smirk on his face. You go to raise your arm and deploy your shield, but you realize you're not wearing your exosuit. Gideon lowers the gun and walks over to you. "I would never hurt you." He touches your face gently and moves in to kiss you. As strange and unexpected as this is, you kiss back and melt into his touch. He runs his fingers through your hair and pulls your head back, giving him access to your neck. He leaves a hot trail of kisses from your lips down to your collarbone. You moan and pull his head back up so that you can kiss his lips again. Both of his hands are groping your ass now and your entire body is flush against his, there's no getting closer. You slide both of your hands to his waistband and he inhales sharply, looking down eagerly. You slowly slide your hands into his cargo pants and...

You're suddenly being shaken awake gently, but strong enough to bring your back to your senses. It's Ilona. "Are you okay?" she asks. "Yes," you answer quickly, "why?" "You were making strange sounds in your sleep when I walked in, I thought maybe you were having a nightmare." You look at her, glad that the light is too dim for her to see you blushing. "Yeah, a nightmare. I have those a lot." Ilona smiles slightly and shrugs, "We all do." Ilona is gathering a few things and you assume she's going to take a shower. She stops when she sees the empty food tray on the desk. "Did Mitchell bring you this?" she asks. You smile and nod "Yes he did." "I was wondering where he was going when he left in such a hurry. Good guy, huh?" You can only imagine how ridiculous your smile is right now "Yeah, seems like it." She finishes gathering her things and says "I'm off to the showers. You'll probably be asleep by the time I get back so goodnight and if you're having another nightmare I'll just throw a pillow at you." She smiles and you laugh lightly, "Sounds good to me. Goodnight, Ilona." She nods and walks out the door, leaving you alone with your thoughts. You lie back down and close your eyes. Gideon treated me like shit today. Why am I dreaming about kissing him? You cover your eyes with your arm. Why am I even still thinking about it? It was only a dream..."Only a dream" you say out loud to reassure yourself. You yawn and rollover, closing your eyes and falling into a (hopefully) dreamless sleep.