"You brats are no good! You let them escape again! You all have been under the Commandant's wing for a year and you have not accomplished one thing!" Commander Trey shouted scoldingly at the Strike Squad.
Alpha, Tango, X-Ray, Bravo, and Kilo looked away from the commander, embarrassed by their uselessness. As Trey went on and on with his lecture though a fire began to burn deep inside Tango. It was a fire sparked by many years of boiling hatred stemmed from this man.
"Has she been spoiling you brats? Has being her pets really softened you all up?"
That comment struck a nerve in Tango. The Japanese girl's head snapped up with shock as if doing a double take. She stood straighter with her shoulders back. Her glaring large, almond brown eyes bore into the Commander's matching smaller pair.
"You should know about being a pet more than us sir since you are Commandant Charlemagne's personal lap dog," Tango huffed.
Trey stared at her in pure shock, his mouth partially opened as if to say something. The other Strike Squad members looked stunned as well. Their female teammate was usually quiet and reserved. An outburst like this had never been heard before.
Trey's exasperated cough broke the awkward silence. "Everyone is dismissed except for Tango. Please go back to your quarters till dinner." The teens hindered which caused Trey to scowl. "I said go! Do you have rocks in your pants? Get a move on!"
After X-Ray closed the door Trey turned his attention to Tango. "I do not know what has gotten into you, but you better stop or I'll convince the Commandant to send you home. Are we clear?"
"Yes sir," grumbled Tango.
"I don't think we are, Naomi," growled the commander using the girl's birth name. "I WILL send you back to Tokyo if this happens again. Are we clear?"
"Crystal," sighed Tango in feigned defeat. As much as she wanted to get under Trey's skin she couldn't risk being sent back to her homeland before accomplishing her task.
"Good, now get out of my sight. I don't want to see your face for the rest of the day," Trey grumbled.
Tango gave a small, respective bow and left the room. To her surprise X-Ray was waiting for her.
"Brandon," gasped Tango in such surprise that she used his real name. ", what are you doing here?"
X-Ray blushed. "I was…um…well you see…I've never heard you snap like that and I wanted to know if everything was ok."
Tango gave a small smile. "Everything will be fine. I just have a lot on my mind right now. In a few days I'm sure I'll be back to full function."
"Function? You aren't a robot, Naomi, you're a human." Brandon grinned playfully. "I think you mean 'back to normal'."
Tango's face flushed slightly at his use of her real name. "Well…it is the same thing. I am still not quiet used to speaking your language."
"I know. Hey, you need to talk to me about your problems? I know we don't have a lot of girl elites and the only other woman here is Charlemagne so it must be hard to let things out to us guys. If not I'm sure Chris would like some 'girl' talk."
Tango sighed. "Thank you for the offer but I'm refusing at this time. It's too personal. Also I do not see reason in Chris discussing girls when he has currently revealed his homosexual tendencies."
Chris, or Kilo as he was usually referred to as, recently came out of the closet. The male members of the Strike Squad tried to get past it and see him as any other, but it still hit a little heavy since the guy could lift a car without sweating. Kilo acted like any other guy, he just liked guys as well.
"No, I do not wish to drag Kilo into this. I can handle this myself." Tango lowered her eyes, not wanting to betray her inner torment.
X-Ray caught on, but decided to just drop it. Tango could get pretty nasty when angered. "Alright, but if you need anything you can always talk to-," He was cut off by the pounding off feet on the tiled floors as Alpha rushed up to them.
"Wow Tango!" the red head shouted. "I didn't know you had it in you. Way to put the commander in his rightful place!"
Tango did not acknowledge her team leader. Her head was swimming. Pain throbbed behind her eyes indicating a migraine was approaching. She wobbled, her legs giving out.
"Woa!" X-Ray caught and supported her. Alpha glared at X-Ray out of slight jealousy, but the boy with glasses didn't notice. "Are you ok?"
Tango shoved him back suddenly. "Yes! Please just leave me alone and let me get some rest!" She bolted to her quarters, slamming the door shut. She sat on her bed, buried her hands in her face and sobbed in agony.