Danny sighed as the plane landed and ran an awkward hand through what was left of his hair, the reality of his situation sinking in even more deeply. He stood and stretched his arms out feeling his Alphas strain against the stretch and pulled his arms down and then straightened his blouse out of muscle memory. "Excuse me Sir, I was told to bring you to HQ when you landed." said a young lance corporal in his cammies a shoulder holster with a nine mill dangling loosely as he walked Danny McCoy out of Reagan National Airport. "They tell you why I'm here?" Danny asked as the lance pointed out the light brown ford pick up truck that was his ride. "No sir, all they said was to bring you to the Guard Shack." Lcpl Jones said as he got into the drivers seat and buckled himself in. The ride was short and soon First Lieutenant McCoy stood inside of the Guard Shack at Marine Barracks Washington DC looking wearily at all of the Marines standing. "Look guys Sit, take it easy alright." Lt. McCoy said as he waved his hand dismissively. "Excuse me Sir" Corporal Kellan said as he stood from behind his desk in his deltas. "Captain Jordan told me to have you stay here... anyways we haven't got much but there's a chair and a tv so please feel free." The Cpl said as he pointed to a black leather desk chair. "Thanks Cpl, anything on?" Danny said as he sat in the chair unbuttoning his Alpha blouse. "Anything good on?" He asked. "Hell Sir, I've finally got the guys hooked on Smallville and we've got season three on." Cpl Kellan said as he sat behind an old oak desk with a tiny white paper sheet that said Sergeant of the Guard on the front. "This is a good show I used to watch it with my buddies on the first push into Iraq." Danny said as he looked at Cpl Kellan and then noticed the badge he wore. "I haven't seen that badge before, what is it?" Danny asked the Cpl. "It's a PSB Sir all of the Marines here will wear one." Cpl Kellan said as he realized he was still in his Delta's. "PSB?" Danny asked. "Presidential Support Badge, Sir. All of the Marines here are on Yankee Delta duty, these young men will be the force that protects the President." Cpl Kellan said proudly as he looked fondly at the Marines in the Guard Shack. "I thought that was the Secret Service's job" Danny said as looked at the young men in the Guard Shack. "Yeah it is...but we're always there, in the background." Cpl Kellan said with a smile. "Yeah ok" Danny said with a smirk. "Trust me" Cpl Kellan said with a knowing smirk walking over to his locker and changing out of his Delta's. "You know Cpl I think there has been a total of maybe seven times I've put my Delta's on, and one of them was Recruiters Assistance." Danny said smiling slightly as Cpl Kellan changed out of his Delta's and put on his cammies and snapped the gunbelt on to his waist. "Trust me Sir, keep it that way" Cpl Kellan said as he sat himself back down behind the SOG desk. "You know I haven't heard of many Cpl's making SOG's. Danny said as looked at the Cpl. "Yeah, I know Sir, but after my tour at Camp they told me I didn't have enough time to deploy and so they sent me back to this hell hole." The Corporal said with a little bit of hesitation. "I got SOG because I've stood every post here...Literally" Cpl Kellan said as he gazed at the Marines that loitered around in the Guard Shack.
Lt McCoy stood and stretched his tired back feeling all of the muscles sing they're song and took in the sight of the Marines still moving alertly around if not a little bit slower for the time of night that it was. "How long have I been out?" Danny McCoy asked the auburned haired Cpl as he took in his surroundings. "Well we started field day about a half hour ago. So I had the boy's put you in my rack." Cpl Kellan said he too stood and stretched out his tired muscles. "How long have you been on duty?" Danny asked as he looked hard at the tired Cpl. "Oh...not that long, Look sir it's three in the morning and no ones going to arrive till at least 0700 so you should go back to bed, trust me the only thing we have to worry about is drunk under age Marines so please rest." The Cpl said with an air finality that even the Lieutenant felt even though he outranked the Marine. Lt. McCoy laid back down on the hard bed and closed his eyes but sleep still eluded him and he listened quietly as the Marines finished cleaning the Guard Shack and heard the sounds of the television again Smallville, once again reigning the Guard Shack only being marred by the sounds of spilling liquids as the waxing of the decks began.
Bright daylight woke First Lieutenant Danny McCoy up violently his eyes quickly adjusting to the light. "What time is it?" Lt. McCoy asked as he swung his feet off of the hard bed. "0650 Sir" Sgt Anderson said as he swiveled around and looked at the tired Officer. "Where's Cpl Kellan?" Danny asked as he stood and straightened his uniform. "Runaway? He's in the Platoon Sergeants office doing monthly counsellings." Sgt Anderson said as he turned back to his computer and started typing again.
Cpl Michael Kellan sometimes known as "Runaway" finished filling out the paper work on Lcpl Smith and quickly penned his signature on the last sheet of paper before he finally looked up to the narrow bland white ceiling and sighed. "How is common sense so hard to find?!" he muttered to himself. "Sometimes it's the hardest trait to find." Lt McCoy said as he walked through the doorless entry to the Plt Sgt office. "it's usually disguised as wisdom." Danny said as he took in the sight of the tired Cpl sitting behind an old weathered desk. "Sometimes Wisdom is used as an excuse to take the easier path." Cpl Kellan said as he laid back in his chair. "Maybe your right." Lt. McCoy said.Capt. Jordan stood behind his desk and looked wearily on the reports from the past night. Twice the Colonels aides had called about civilians parking in his reserved parking space. "You know when I accepted this position nobody told me I would be a valet." The Capt said wearily as he looked at the young Lt in front of him. "Customer service is never easy" Danny said knowingly. "I suppose not. But thats not why your here is it." Capt Johnson said as he looked at Lt McCoy knowingly. "No I suppose it isn't. To be honest I don't really know why I'm here." Danny said "Well I suppose we won't keep you waiting any longer than necessary, Major Springfield called and wants me to send you to him." Danny turned and followed the Cpt out of his office. "Oh Sir I finished the Counsellings they're on your desk." Cpl Kellan said as the Guard Officer walked the young lieutenant out of the Guard Shack. "Thanks Kellan I appreciate it" Capt Jordan said "You've got a good Marine there" Danny said as he followed. "I know" Capt Jordan said.
The Majors office was like most Officers, pictures lining the walls of buddies, graduations, and promotions. On top of a side table laid a tray of challenge coins, 17 in all, and Danny knew that the Major had seen quite a bit. The Major stood up and his frame was solid if not weathered, the strains of stress showing in the lines on his face. His hair closely cropped and completely gray. "Lt McCoy I'm glad to see you didn't waste any time in getting here." The Major said. "Now let's get down to business. I am putting together a task force. The mission involves some of your more special talents, and no, it doesn't concern all of your military training but more...Vegas." Danny looked at the Major a little bit confusedly "I'm not sure what your talking about Sir." "Well son, to be perfectly honest new intel has been uncovered and apparently Eddie Mahjub the son of Jacob Mahjub a known member of Al Quiada has a certain taste for poker, texas hold'em." Major Springfield said as he looked at the young Lieutenant in front of him. "I'm an ok player Sir and yes I've won a few hands but I am by no means some poker stud." Danny said as he looked at the Major. "I realize that Lieutenant, but I have that already taken care of, all I need is for you to assist him into getting into the game." Major Springfield said, " Just one thing, the game is in Baghdad." "As in Baghdad, Iraq?!" Danny said surprisingly.