Disclaimer: The Rat Patrol is not my property. They come out to play sometimes, then I send them home.

Author's note: A sequel to "The Return". Thank you, Tullyfan. Not that I'm complaining, but you've done it again.

Aftermath

By Suzie2b

After about six hours of sleep, Tully had insisted Charley get something to eat and go home. She knew he right, but didn't want to leave.

Hitch was there, sitting next to the bunk, and said, "How 'bout I go with you to the mess hall and then escort you home. I'll even stick around if you don't want to be alone."

Tully said, "You'll start feeling better after some food, a shower, and some clean clothes."

Charley looked from her husband to Hitch and said, "You'll stay around? Pinky swear?"

Hitch smiled and put his hand out and Charley hooked her little finger around his as he said, "I swear I won't leave until you tell me to."

Charley sighed. "Okay. I'll go, but I'll be back in a while."

Tully pulled her into a kiss and smiled. "I know you will, but take your time. I'm not going anywhere." He looked at Hitch. "Thanks."

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Charley and Hitch sat down in the mess hall with their trays. Charley was a little self-conscious when she notice people staring at her. She said quietly as she tried to smooth her hair with her hands, "I must look a sight."

Hitch smiled. "Ignore them. You look fine."

Charley managed to return the smile. "Yeah … right. You're a lousy liar." She took a few bites of her meat and potatoes, then said, "You know … it's hard to think that at one time I thought I loved Scott. When we first started dating in high school, he was wonderful. Attentive, loving, all that stuff. But he changed as time went on … and I didn't see it until he tried to force himself on me."

Hitch nearly dropped his fork. "He tried to … does Tully know about that?"

"Yeah. In fact, he was the first person I ever told about what really happened that night. I never even told my dad or Aunt Emily."

Charley thought back to that time. Her senior class had just graduated and the next evening was the "graduates dance" that the town threw every year. Scott had picked her up in his family's 1936 Ford looking quite dapper in his suit. He had complimented Charley on her dress and hair. He gave her a beautiful white corsage and held the car door for her as she got in. She was happy and had actually thought Scott might propose soon.

However, everything came crashing down when Scott pulled off the road on the way home after the dance. Charley remembered asking him what he was doing. His reply was, "Out of gas."

It was a very dark night with no moon showing through the wet clouds. Scott suddenly grabbed Charley's arm and pulled her across the seat against him. His lips pressed possessively against hers and for the first time she felt afraid of him. Charley remembered pushing away from Scott and demanding an explanation. He gave none. He grabbed her again, and this time he started pulling at her dress, tearing it at the shoulder. That's when he said, "You know you want to do it. Why wait?"

Charley had said no countless times, but Scott wouldn't stop. During the struggle she managed to hit him hard square in the nose. Scott stopped then and put his hand up to his nose as blood began to flow. He called her a bitch, reached passed her, opened the door, and pushed her out onto the muddy shoulder.

Charley said to Hitch, "After we fought and he pushed me out of the car, I walked to a house that was about a mile away and called dad. I don't know if he believed my explanation of how my dress came to be a muddy ruin, but he never asked about it again. Aunt Em was another story. She pushed and prodded for the complete story, but I wouldn't tell her, and finally dad told her to drop it. It was never mentioned again and I didn't see Scott again until he showed up here that first time."

Hitch asked cautiously, "Why didn't you tell your dad what really happened? You could've called the police and had Campbell arrested."

"I felt the whole incident was somehow my own fault. I know now it wasn't. I was embarrassed. And besides, it would've been my word against Scott's. A torn, muddy dress doesn't prove he tried to rape me. It just proves we had a fight and broke up."

After they'd finished eating, Hitch walked Charley home and sat at the top of the stairs while she showered and dressed.

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Tully was sitting up in his bunk. He had been brought some soup, but didn't feel much like eating yet. He was thinking back to when he was with Charley as Scott Campbell drove through Ras Tanura. Tully remembered when that convoy drove by and Charley suddenly tensed, her hand squeezing his. As he looked at her the color drained from her face and she began to tremble.

Tully thought, "I remember thinking she was going to pass out and carried her to where we could sit down. It took some coaxing, but Charley finally told me about Campbell and her past with him. When she told me he tried to rape her I knew I wanted to have a 'talk' with him, but she warned me not to. Charley wouldn't even go talk to Captain Boggs. She was afraid it would get back to her father."

Tully put his head back and closed his eyes. He remembered how Campbell had looked at him with contempt when he arrived at Charley's side that morning in the motor pool. That trip to Benghazi with the convoy had been nerve-wracking at best. Oh, not because of any German activity. It was a pretty quiet trip. It had been Campbell constantly watching both of them that had put Tully on edge. He'd been glad that Carl Jensen had been there to help keep an eye on things. Luckily, Campbell didn't try anything, at least not until the convoy had gotten to Benghazi.

Tully's thoughts went back to the day they'd arrived in Benghazi. "After dropping her delivery with Colonel Jackson, we found out that Campbell had disappeared. I remember going to dinner with Hitch, leaving Charley with Troy and Moffitt. We were heading back to the rooms when there was a shot and Hitch went down. I tried to help him, but Campbell put a gun to my head and forced me to go with him."

Turned out that Hitch had been hit in the arm and was able to follow Scott and Tully to a building where they went down into a cellar. Campbell had said almost absently, "I like to hide under everyone's noses. That way they don't see me."

Hitch waited a few minutes to make sure they were going to stay put, then went to get Troy and Moffitt.

Tully remembered Campbell's silence as he tied him to a chair. He remembered the next words Campbell spoke, "All I have to do is get rid of you, Pettigrew. Then I can take back what rightfully belongs to me."

Tully thought, "I told him that Charley wasn't an object to be owned and she's capable of making her own decisions. That seemed to just agitate him more. I remember telling him that he needed help. That's when Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch busted in. And then I heard Charley's voice and begged them not to let her in."

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Charley was in the shower, lukewarm water cascading over her, soaking the bandages on her wrists and making them sting. Her thoughts went back to when she had followed Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch to where Scott had taken Tully. She had run into that room and saw Tully tied to a chair. "I remember asking Scott why he was doing this and he said that I belonged to him. He gave me an ultimatum. I had to choose between him and Tully. It obviously hurt Scott very much, but I had to tell him the truth."

That's when Charley watched in horror as Scott raised the gun to his own temple and a shot rang out. But it wasn't Scott's gun that fired, it was Troy's. He had shot Scott in the shoulder to stop him from killing himself.

Charley sighed as she turned the water off and grabbed a towel. "We thought it was over then, but I guess it is for sure now."

She dressed, brushed out her wet hair, and rewrapped her wrists. When she opened the bathroom door Charley saw Hitch still sitting on the stairs. She smiled and said, "Tired of me yet?"

Hitch chuckled as he stood up. "Not hardly. Feeling better?"

"Much, thanks. I know I have a report to write. Let me drop these things in the hamper and we can go to headquarters so I can use a typewriter."

Charley typed up her report for Captain Nelson and tucked it into an envelope to take with her. She looked at Hitch as he thumbed through a magazine across the room. "Does Tully have to write up a report too?"

Hitch dropped the magazine on a desk. "Captain Nelson wants a report from all of us."

"I guess I'd better help Tully with his. Do you need any help, Hitch?"

He smiled. "Nah, mine's done. I got Sally to help me while you two were sleeping."

Charley laughed as she gathered a pen and a pad of paper.

Hitch went with Charley to the hospital and checked up on Tully before he said, "Do you want me to wait around, Charley?"

She shook her head and smiled. "Ya know, I've done some thinking and I believe I'm good. It's over and I know it's going to stay that way this time. But I'm real glad you were there for me today."

Tully said, "Yeah, Hitch. Thanks for helping her through the day."

Hitch grinned. "No problem. I'll see you both tomorrow."

After their friend left, Tully took Charley's hand and pulled her into a kiss. "You've been doing some thinking, huh?"

Charley sat up and said, "Yes I have and I've come to terms with what's happened to me … and to us."

Tully smiled. "I'm glad to hear that. I've been doing a bit of thinking myself and have decided the same thing." He noticed the pad on her lap and asked, "What's that for?"

"Captain Nelson wants reports from everyone involved." Charley handed the pad and a pen to him. "You write it up, I'll type it and add it to mine. I'll drop them with the captain after I'm done."

Tully chewed his bottom lip and stared at the pad and pen. "Umm … with me being wounded and all maybe I could just tell you what happened and you can write it down."

"You hate reports that much?"

Tully put his hand over the bandaged wound on the right side of his chest and groaned dramatically. "Hurts to hold a pen right now."

Charley giggled and sat back, getting ready to write. "All right, you big baby. Tell me what happened in detail."