I've had this idea floating around for a while now, and I finally sat down and wrote it out, and I'm so in love with how it came out. I looove coming up with backstories :). Part 2 (of 2) is already written and will be up Wednesday, 2/15. Super kudos go to Kaycie, my amazing and supportive beta! And yea. Reviews make me so happy you guys, I'll love you forever if you pop by and lemme know what you think! Hope you like it! :)
IN THE LINE OF DUTY
Lieutenant Alicia Washington was pulled from sleep by the sound of muted footsteps and quiet voices. The soldier was instantly awake, her hand going to the gun lying next to her. She sat up, gripping it tightly, before realizing what was going on. She had overslept. Fuck. A quick glance at her watch confirmed it.
The woman was instantly out of her creaky little cot, shoving her feet into her boots and lacing them up expertly. She quickly ran a her fingers through her hair, and then pulled it back into a tight ponytail. Her eyes scanned the makeshift room. She spotted her gun and holster and grabbed them, wrapping the strap around her thigh. She had grown accustomed to wearing it that way, as it was less bulky than when it was attatched to her hip.
The whole time the woman muttered curses under her breath; she couldn't believe she had overslept. As a soldier, she held herself to a very high standard - higher, even, than the men and women who she served with. Even though she knew that her commanding officer, Taylor, would at most only give her a reprimand, she was still kicking herself for sleeping through her alarm.
A quick adjustment of her rebreather and she was ready to go. She stepped out of her tent, glancing up at the sky. She shoved her hands in her pockets. Lieutenant Washington's unit had been in Somalia for months, and while she was mostly used to the heat and humidity, there was just something about August that made the climate particularly unbearable. She would never show it, but being out in the heat was something that she really disliked.
She scanned the clearing, attempting to figure out what everybody was doing. Everybody seemed to be going about their business, trying to get to where they needed to be. Good on them, but she couldn't tell what was happening. The woman glanced down at her watch; she had just missed breakfast. The tent that served as the makeshift mess hall was where the units met up and organized, and so that was where she would go.
Only a few moments of walking and she saw her commander walking in the opposite direction, a focused and determined look on his face. Washington stopped, and as he passed her she fell behind him, walking at his right side. She glanced at him once, before focusing ahead.
Commander Taylor noticed her almost immediately. Without looking over at her, he spoke. "There you are. I didn't know if I should be worried or not."
Washington watched the people they were passing as they walked. "It won't happen again, sir."
Taylor nodded. He was thinking about something. "There was unregistered movement near our westmost barrier. Heat signatures too. Human."
Wash nodded, glancing West. Her tent was in that part of camp, and she remembered hearing noises the last night. She had thought it was drunk soldiers or something, that the enemy wouldn't have been so careless and obvious, but she could very well have been wrong.
"Did you have breakfast?"
She glanced over at her commander before returning her eyes forward. Wash shook her head slightly. Only Taylor seemed to be able to do that, to surprise her. "No sir."
He tossed an energy bar at her, which she caught deftly. "Eat it. We're doing a patrol, and I don't want your stomach getting us blown up."
Her face remained neutral, but Washington's eyes were smiling as she bit into the food. Even in a place as dangerous as this one, he was still putting others before himself, even if he didn't want to admit it.
"Dad! Wait!"
Taylor stopped and so did Washington, and they bothed turned around to see a young Lucas Taylor running towards his father, followed by the commander's smiling wife, Ayani.
Wash shoved her hands into her pockets in an effort to hide how instantly uncomfortable she was. She took a step closer to her commander. "I'll go get the men, sir." She waited for Taylor to nod, and then held up a handand nodded in greeting before quickly retreating. She knew that Taylor liked to be alone with his family, and she didn't particularly like being around them herself. The amount of love in that family just reinforced the fact that she wasn't supposed to be with Taylor, that she was just meant to be his friend. Wash had accepted it a long time ago, but that didn't mean she didn't like to be reminded of it.
She walked to the gate and was surprised to find that several soldiers from her unit were already there. She spoke to them briefly, confirming that Taylor had chosen them for the patrol. Well that had been easy. Now all that was left was for her commander to get to the gate, and they could go.
The Lieutenant looked over to where she had just come from, where the family was, and instantly wished she hadn't. The adults had briefly taken their rebreathers off, and were kissing. Her hands went back into her pockets, and she looked down at the ground, shifting her weight from foot to foot. It was awful having feelings for somebody who was already happy. Someone who would never feel the same way about her. It was even worse for her to see them together. But at the same time, at least it was nice to know that Commander Taylor was happy.
Wash glanced up again and then immediately directed her attention to the trees on the other side of the gate. Still kissing. She reached up with one hand and adjusted her rebreather, and then turned her attention to the strap that held her gun holster to her thigh. It was fine, but in an effort to look busy she reached down and tightened it.
She glanced back at the family again, blinking in a hidden relief as she saw Taylor walking towards the gate, rebreather back on. In the background Lucas waved goodbye for a moment, before Ayani ushered him away, back to their own larger tent.
Washington glanced behind herself at her men. They had all seen that Taylor was coming, and were ready to leave. She turned back to Taylor just as he reached her, and clasped her hands behind her back.
"We're ready to go, sir."
Taylor nodded and continued walking, and Washington fell into her usual spot at his right. The other soldiers fell into formation, following the two of them. The gate opened as the group approached it, and then they were out in the Somalian landscape.
The group spread out, and headed West, towards the area of the previous night's disturbance. Wash saw Taylor draw his gun, and quickly followed suit (and she heard the quiet sound of the others doing the same).
They had chosen the location for their camp based on a dense layer of vegetation surrounding almost all of the perimeter. It was beneficial from a defensive point of view, but it made patrols very dangerous; there were many places for enemies to hide.
There was a definite feeling of tension and concentration throughout the group. At several points one of the soldiers would stop and point their gun into the undergrowth, causing the other three to stop and do the same. Wash and Taylor had more of a skill for tracking, and never stopped, knowing each time the others froze that it was wildlife or the wind.
As they reached area in question, the whole group slowed down, guns at the ready. But, as hard as they all looked, nothing was there. Within minutes, they had cleared the area, and continued on their circle around the camp.
Wash couldn't shake the feeling that they had missed something, that something was out there. A quick glance at Taylor showed he felt the same. She kept her gun at the ready, every one of her senses strained to detect anything out of the ordinary.
They had almost made a full circle back to the front gate when a muffled voice came from Washington's watch. They all froze as she brought it up to her mouth.
"This is patrol. Did not copy last transmission, over."
There was silence, and then Wash heard something drop behind her. She quickly turned around, just in time to see an old-fashioned grenade roll to a stop just a few feet away from her.
She was instantly in motion, pushing Taylor roughly out of harm's way. She needed to get the grenade away from camp, but before she could even think about moving, it exploded. A bright flash of white, extreme pain, and she was flying backwards. After what felt like forever in the air, she felt a sharp impact as she was slammed into a tree.
Suddenly there were bullets flying. Washington looked down at herself. A lot of blood. From what she could tell, still being dazed from the impact of the blast, there were several pieces of shrapnel embedded in her torso and one leg, as well as cuts going down her front. Her rebreather had cracked, and the woman tore it off, smelling the difference in air quality instantly.
Wash could see that she was the only one wounded - everyone else was fighting with people that were familiar to her. She thought for a moment, and then decided that they were Somalians. Taylor and the other soldiers seemed to have drawn their attention for the time being, so she could focus on herself.
The woman looked back down at her wounds. Adrenaline was pumping through her veins at this point, and her years of serving as a combat medic, as well as her training as a soldier were both kicking in. She stared at herself for a moment, and then decided that her stomach and thigh were the most critical. Her eyes scanned the area around herself, but there was nothing that she could use to apply pressure with. She'd just have to settle for her hands. Bracing herself for the pain, she pressed down as hard as she could with her palms.
But there wasn't any pain. She was first surprised, then worried. She couldn't feel any of her wounds - only the blood rolling down her skin. Her hands were shaking; this wasn't good. This was really, reallynot good. She knew enough about the human body to know that hers was beginning to shut down to shield her from her injuries.
And then Taylor was at her side. She looked up at him in surprise, not having realized that the fighting and gunshots had ceased.
Wash didn't know what to say. The only thing that would come out was "I'm sorry sir."
Taylor shook his head, scooping her up in his arms. "Put your arm around me, we have to go."
It was all the woman could do to nod; she slowly let go of her thigh, and wrapped her arm around the commander's shoulders. She stared at his clothing, noticing that it was turning red; she was bleeding on it. Washington opened her mouth to appologize again, but then they started moving, Taylor being careful to jostle the Lieutenant as little as possible. She was becoming dizzy and her eyelids were beginning to grow heavy.
It seemed like forever, but then they were finally back inside the camp. Wash automatically moved to get down from Taylor's arms, but he only held on tighter. She looked up at him in a subdued confusion.
He shook his head, jaw clenched. "I'm not letting anything else happen to you."
Commander Taylor carried her through a flurry of soldiers running and yelling with their guns drawn. He kept talking to her to keep her awake. "Corporal Tyler called for a medevac." He paused, and then spoke over her lethargic protests. "Don't argue, soldier, you need help. You saved my life and I'm not letting you die on me."
Just then, the two heard the loud, pounding noise of the medevac helicopter flying towards them. Wash glanced over at Taylor, only to find that he was already looking at her with an expression of worry, so instead she turned her attention to the helicopter, fighting to stay awake and focus on the large shape as it slowly dropped into camp.
When it landed, Commander Taylor started moving again, carrying her quickly to the open side of the helicopter. There was somebody inside waiting with a box of medical supplies. Taylor passed Wash to the man, and she frowned in mild irritation at not being allowed to move herself. The man set her down and quickly opened the box, beginning to apply pressure to her wounds.
Taylor and Washington looked at each other for a moment, and then he spoke. "Get fixed. I expect a full report by the end of the week." He paused. "I'll see you soon, Lieutenant."
Washington nodded wordlessly, fighting to keep her eyes open.
Just then, another voice was heard, yelling for Commander Taylor. Wash tried to sit up to see better, but the medic's hands gently pushed her down.
Taylor turned to the soldier. "What is it?"
The man was visibly perturbed. "The Somalians broke in, sir, but we drove them off."
"Good work," and Taylor turned to face Washington again.
The soldier took a step forward. "That's not all, sir." He paused out of nervousness, finding his words before continuing. "We can't find Ayani or Lucas."
As the soldier hovered there, holding his gun tightly, Taylor turned back to Washington. The woman had heard. They shared a look, before Taylor turned back to the soldier and roughly motioned for him to leave.
Wash tried to sit up again. "I'll go with you, sir." The medic pushed her down again, fitting a new rebreather over her mouth. She glanced up at him in irritation, before looking back to Taylor.
The man was briefly lost in thought. He shook his head, holding his hand up in refusal. "No, soldier. You're going."
Knowing better than to argue but frustrated nonetheless, the woman glanced down at her thigh, and then pulled her gun from its holster. She wordlessly handed it to her commander, worry showing clearly through her lethargy. Her eyes said what words couldn't; Save her.
Taylor looked at Washington, and then down at the gun. He took it, and then turned and motioned to the pilot to go. With a final glance down at his dear friend, Nathaniel was gone, off to save his family.
As the helicopter rose into the air, Washington's mind was racing. One glance at the medic and she wasn't worried about herself anymore - he was hurrying, but not panicking as most combat medics did when their patient was beyond saving. Instead, she was worried about the Commander. Her eyes closed; a worried frown was etched onto her face. Taylor would find his family. Wash just hoped and prayed that they would all come out of it safely.