Present Day... California, Earth, 2046.
Six hours ago I was enjoying the start of leave when I got a call on my emergency phone. Just like that I was flown cross country and I was ready for a mission. That was life in the RRTS. More times than not, you were called off of leave for an emergency mission. Walking into the building was simple enough, finding one Gunnery Sargent Asher Mahonin was even simpler, after all he was the one bitching about me.
"What do you mean I need to take a female in? I need a medic damn it, one who can shoot! I don't need a distraction on this! My men haven't had leave in six months, and you want to throw them this!" The Gunny shouted back, his voice booming down the corridors. I paused mid step and took a deep breath preparing myself for the onslaught I was about to face. Luckily the men he was talking about where loud enough that they didn't hear his shouting. It sounded like they were restless, joking around by the odd laughter I heard.
"Listen Sarge you asked for someone who was a medic and knew their way around Olduvai. She's the only one we could find with such short notice. You're choice is her or Reaper." The male voice replied as I walked down the corridor towards the Gunny's office.
"But a woman? Does she even have combat training? Can she handle a weapon?" The Gunny demanded in a frustrated sigh. I reached his office and saw a pair of broad shoulders with the words Semper Fi tattooed across his back. He was clearly muscular, with caramel coloured skin and short dark brown hair. I could tell he was tall too, which I had learnt most Marines were.
"Yes sir, I can." I spoke up making him turn to me, slightly thrown off balance from my presence. His eyes were wide for all of three seconds while he took in my frame, stance and general appearance. I had my hair tied up into a bun on the back of my head, I was in the standard grey-green RRTS t-shirt with my units insignia on the right hand breast bone area, and black combat trousers with my combat boots. Nothing on his face gave away what he thought about me and I was ok with that. Marines were always tough cookies to read.
"Look Sarge, she's all we've got. We don't have time to argue. Take her and get the mission done, over." The male voice barked, making Sarge turn back to the console.
"Understood. Over." Sarge sighed before grabbing a t-shirt and slipped it on. He stood and I was right, he was a big guy. "So your Dani McKenzie?" Sarge asked walking over to me and trying the usual macho bull of trying to intimidate me with his size. I wasn't the tallest person in the world sure, but I was like a bulldog; once I got my teeth in, I never backed down.
"Yes sir, you can call me Bones. You must be Gunnery Sargent Mahonin?" I confidently asked extending my hand for him to shake. Sarge looked surprised for a second by my action, but took it in his stride.
"You can call me Sarge." He replied with a firm handshake. Sarge put a little squeeze in, testing my pain levels or just to prove a point. Either way the aggression was in the action.
"Sarge it is." I agreed refusing to let his little flex of strength knock my game. "May I speak freely Sarge?" I asked letting my hand fall to the side of me. Part of me wanted to flex my hand from the squeeze, but I knew I had to keep up the hard ass attitude I was trying to project.
"Sure." Sarge mused cocking an eyebrow with interest. I wasn't sure if Sarge was used to people speaking their mind or was just surprised that someone who just met him wanted to speak openly to him. Either way I think I might have made an instant impression.
"I passed basic in the top two percentile, I excelled at both hand to hand combat and weapons training. I am a damn good solider. I have been head hunted by RRTS team alpha and turned it down to remain a field doctor. I am the best field medic sir and one of the damn best soldiers you'll see." I stated plainly holding my confidence. A smirk crossed Sarge's lips as he nodded a little, hopefully impressed.
"I read your file McKenzie, I've seen your record and I agree you're a good solider on paper." Sarge admitted pausing for a second as his hard brown eyes locked on mine. I took a breath, I wasn't expecting him to cave so easy. "Saying that, these men haven't seen a woman in six months, they've been cooped up. They're expecting shore leave that ain't going to happen now. The last thing I need on this mission is some skirt distracting them when I need them sharp." And just like the fight I had expected started. I let out a small chuckle to myself before looking straight back into Sarge's eyes. In response Sarge cocked an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed with my chuckle.
"I'm sorry Sarge, but do you see a skirt?" I protested looking at my legs that were covered in combat trousers and boots. "I don't. Hell all I see when I look in the mirror is a field medic. Now I know you and your men might not like the fact I have boobs but I can handle my own. From the briefing I've had, you need me. Not the other way round. You need someone who knows Olduvai, and you need a medic. I'm both." I grunted folding my arms over my chest. For the best part of ten years I had fought to be where I was, and I put up with way more sexist pigs so I wasn't going to let Sarge better me.
"I have someone who does both." Sarge stated, the smallest of smirks on his lips. I got the feeling he liked me standing up to him.
"That so? Then why was my leave revoked and why was I flown here?" I questioned cocking my head to the side. The Sarge lost his smile as his eyes narrowed on me. It was a scary ass glare he was giving me and I had to muster all my self control not to flinch as his stare weighed down on me. Before I caved under that weight I spoke, my voice coming out surprisingly strong. "Thought so. Now, don't we have a mission to complete, sir?" I requested standing straight. My heart raced as Sarge stood there for a few minutes still glaring at me. I wasn't sure if I had pushed it too far but I stood my ground. Finally his glared finished and the smile returned to his face.
"See you don't take no shit McKenzie." Sarge smirked as his stance relaxed. I felt a wave of relief wash over me. Sarge was one scary mother-fucker, someone I did not want to get on the wrong side of.
"No sir." I replied relaxing myself, my arms going to behind my back. As my hand went round my back, I flexed my hand, the muscles screaming at the pressure Sarge had put on it during the handshake.
"Good, you're going to need that attitude on RRTS Six." Sarge stated watching me carefully. He was still weighing me up, the way he put up some kind of guard was telling me that he wasn't sure I was going to last the mission.
"So I passed?" I asked smirking slightly. The tension in the room had all dissipated and I felt like I could actually breath again.
"Welcome to the team Bones." Sarge nodded to me, slapping my arm. I stumbled forward a little with the force in his slap making Sarge smirk a little wider.
I fallowed Sarge to the barracks, down a set of metal stairs where the men were waiting restlessly for their leave. You could hear them long before you got to the stairs, they were all excited for leave from what I could tell. It took me a matter of seconds to take them all in as I stood behind Sarge and slightly to the side so I could get a better view of them all.
The nearest to me was a tall African American man, dark skin, shaven head, muscles on muscles. He had just slid a baseball bat into a bag as he turned to us. His expression gave nothing away. He looked like the bruiser type though, the muscles of the team.
The next guy I spotted was another African American man, slightly smaller and his skin was slightly lighter, he was stood watching us from the side of his cot. He clearly checked me out and liked what he saw as he gave me a quick smile before his eyes darted to Sarge. As soon as his eyes landed on Sarge he was all business.
The next man I spotted made a shiver run through my spine. He looked like a creep. He was wearing a horrible blue Hawaiian shirt and white shoes, his hair was thinning and he had a smile that made my skin crawl. I quickly glanced away from the creep.
I repressed the shiver as I looked behind him and saw an Asian American man watch me, he was taller than the creep, probably the same height as the smaller African American guy. He had short spiky hair and another poker face. I was getting a theme from the guys in this unit, they were all business.
There was a man with his back to me, a pale green shirt, it looked like he was working on something at the table. It was like he didn't even acknowledge our presence. I paused on him for a moment, wondering why he didn't want to turn around and pay attention. I pondered if he was the black sheep of the team.
In front of him was a taller, thin man, but not creepy like the dude in the Hawaiian shirt. He was about the creeps same age but completely different demeanour. This guy was holding a bible and had short spiky mousey brown hair. He gave me a small nod as our eyes met.
Then on the cot nearest us was a bit of a kid. He really did have a baby face, wide eyes and almost curly short hair. He was keen to hear what was about to happen and why Sarge was there waiting for it all to be told.
I could see in all their eyes that they hadn't seen a woman in a while but only the creep actually made me uncomfortable. I noticed Sarge glance at me, I knew he was testing my reaction so I kept up my poker face, standing with my arms behind my back as relaxed as best I could with all those eyes on me.
"Listen up men." Sarge announced, making the guy at the back turn to face us. I caught his eye straight away and tried not to smile at him. John was surprised to see me, and because he was at the back, he let it show on his face. His hazel eyes were so wide. It had been years since I caused that reaction in those eyes. I got a little kick from making him react like that. We moved further into the room, down the stairs. I felt like a prize being shown off rather than a new, if temporary member of RRTS- Six.
"Sarge, did you bring us a parting gift?" The creep in the Hawaiian shirt sneered licking his lips as he looked at me. The glint in his eyes had me moving for my knife, but I had left it with my gear when I reached the base. "A stripper?" He speculated hopefully. I noticed John tighten his grip on his chair, clearly disapproving of the sleaze making comments about me, but before he could speak someone else did.
"Portman!" The man with the bible growled at the creep, Portman. From the sigh Portman gave, it was clear he was used to being chastised for his behaviour towards women, something I wasn't surprised about in the slightest.
"What?" Portman drawled dragging the word out longer than he needed to as his eyes raked over me. I gave the smallest glance to Sarge who in turn gave me a small nod. I faked a small girly laugh and walked over to Portman, making sure I swung my hips a little. I felt sick with the way his eyes lit up as I moved over to him. I stopped just short of the creep and smirked. I knew everyone was watching me because I could feel their eyes on me.
"Oh sugar, if you're looking for strippers try Vegas," I teased changing my attitude in an instant, back to the Marine I was. "This is the RRTS. The women here kick your ass for breakfast." I barked as the rest of the men let out a chuckle. Portman glanced at the others, a cocky smirk appearing on his lips. Again clearly Portman was used to women giving him some attitude.
"Well baby, if you wanna kick my ass you're gonna need to lick my balls first." Portman bit back in a heart beat. This stopped the chuckles and I could feel the tension build in the room. I smirked nodding my head, glancing to his trousers before meeting his eyes again. I noticed Portman lick his lips as I glanced, the man was disgusting. I grabbed his balls and crushed them with one hand.
"When you grow some, let me know." I smirked walking away as Portman fell to the floor. The rest of the guys were laughing, apart from John, I noticed him just watch me. He gave me not quiet a disapproving look, but he definitely wasn't smiling like the rest. I reached Sarge's side again and stood smirking as Portman's eyes were watering. Sarge gave me a look of approval. I had passed another test it appeared.
"Portman, get your Hick ass off the floor." The smaller of the two Africa American men laughed as the guy with the bible tipped his head to me. Clearly most of the men approved of the way I handled myself. I knew with Marines, you had to prove yourself from the bat and not shy away. I needed them to trust and work with me, this was the quickest way to prove yourself when you're a woman in the RRTS I found.
"Sarge, that bitch just-" Portman started to whine when Sarge cut him off.
"Get up Portman! Leave has been cancelled." Sarge announced and I felt the mood of the barrack drop like a rock. The guy with the bible went to put his dog tags back on, while the guy who had checked me out and smiled turned his back on us muttering something. "You got a problem with that Duke?" Sarge barked at the man, Duke. Duke turned back to us, putting on his dog tags, his expression as crushed as his eyes locked with Sarge.
"Me Sarge? Hell no, I love my job." Duke replied slightly sarcastically.
"What's up Sarge?" The Asian American guy asked interested in what had cancelled his leave. They all seemed to pause and glance at Sarge, waiting for an answer.
"We got us a game." Sarge smirked and almost like a flick of a switch the mood had changed. Everyone was on high alert, it was clear that this team ran on the adrenaline rush a mission gave them. Sarge turned to the bit of a kid and smirked. "Kid, son you are now in the Rapid Response Tactical Squad. The double R-T-S, and what do we do in the RRTS?" Sarge asked everyone. The response was one I had heard many times from other teams I had worked in.
"Pray for war!" Everyone shouted with passion, a smirk crossed my lips as the men went from deflated to elated in the space of five words.
"Men, this is Sargent Dani McKenzie, she's a field medic doctor. She's joining us on this one, on loan from the double R-T-S-17." Sarge announced. I noticed a few of the guys glanced to John who looked slightly confused. "Fall in!" Sarge barked and the men started to move to the stairs.
"Pleasure meeting you ma'am, I'm Goat." Goat, the man with the bible announced as he walked over to me. I shook his hand and returned the smile. He seemed nice enough and at least he knew how to respect women. I noticed Sarge walk over to John and talk to him softly.
"You can call me Bones." I nodded warmly before he headed up the stairs.
"Ma'am." The Kid said tipping his head to me, fallowing Goat. The Kid was a kid, he had such a baby face and it just looked younger the closer you got to him.
"Nice meeting you Bones, I'm Mac." Mac, the Asian America said with a warm smile.
"Hey Mac." I replied making a mental note to ask about his name later. Portman walked past me, scowling at me. I held back a smirk as he glared at me. The taller African American man cleared his throat behind Portman and made him move up the stairs with a bit of a haste.
"Destroyer." The man boomed with a small nod. Everything about the guy screamed power and strength. He was a machine of a man.
"That a name or an attitude?" I asked smirking a little at how fitting his name seemed to be.
"Both." Destroyer smirked before fallowing Portman up the stairs. Duke walked over to me with a wide grin. Now Duke had been checking me out since I walked in, but unlike Portman, Duke didn't make my skin crawl.
"Damn girl, you sure showed Portman. Would hate to get on the bad side of you, Duke." Duke said offering me his hand. I shook it and smiled, clearly Duke was the mouth of the unit.
"He's not my first. I can handle myself." I replied honestly, shrugging my shoulders slightly.
"I see that. Damn." Duke smirked looking me up and down. "Damn." He muttered again before fallowing Destroyer up the stairs. This left me, John and Sarge in the room. I walked over to them as John was looking straight at Sarge.
"Why do we need two field medic's? We expecting some trouble?" John asked firmly, a gun in his hand. It looked like he was in the middle of cleaning it up.
"No John, we're taking this one without you." Sarge replied carefully. John cocked an eyebrow and glanced at me. I kept my face neutral as I looked back into his questioning eyes.
"You're bullshitting me." John replied looking straight back to Sarge when he got no response from me.
"No, I'm not bullshitting. We're going to Olduvai." Sarge replied plainly. I saw the fleeting look of fear cross John's eyes before he turned to me.
"You're going back?" He asked me, there was a hint of accusation in his question. I shifted slightly before answering.
"They need help John. If it wasn't for people like this fifteen years ago, you me and Samantha wouldn't have made it out alive. I owe them." I replied softly as I glanced to the floor. I really did feel like I owed something to the military since they sent in a team very similar to the RRTS to collected survivors. I guess that was partly why I joined up, the other half of the reason was stood opposite me almost glaring at me.
"Bullshit, you don't owe them anything Dani." John replied shaking his head as I looked back up at him. He was scared of Olduvai, it held so many scars for both of us. Scars neither of us had ever really healed from.
"I have to go John. It was either you or me. Let me take this one." I begged softly hoping to get through to him. John just searched my eyes for any reason to trust me, to believe me.
"Take the leave." Sarge butted in making us both turn to him.
"Is that an order?" John asked firmly his attention finally on someone else other than me for a second. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. John could be quiet intimidating when he wanted to be, and over the years he had just become more of a hard ass it seemed.
"It's a recommendation." Sarge grunted. "I'll see you when I get back." Sarge added before glancing at me. "Wheel's up in twenty Bones."
"Sir." I replied watching Sarge run up the stairs. I sighed and turned to John who returned to the table. "How you doing?" I asked softly moving to his side leaning on the edge of the table so I was facing him. John didn't say anything, he just worked on cleaning his gun. I let out a small sigh. "I didn't see you at Jumpers funeral." I remarked softly making John look up at me with hurt in his eyes. Jumper was a friend we had been in training with. He and John had ended up in the 6th while I was shipped to the 17th. John was his best friend, and when Jumper died in the mission, John took full blame on himself. I knew that just by the look in John's eyes.
"Didn't go." He stated plainly before looking back down to his gun. He had all his focus on the weapon in his hands as he cleaned it. I knew John wouldn't be taking Jumpers death well, hell I wasn't sure I had taken it that well.
"I'm sorry, I saw him on my last leave." I sadly offered my condolences as John continued to clean the gun. "We went out for a few drinks..." I fought to say, the lump catching in my throat as I thought about Jumper. Me and Jumper we had a special kind of relationship, I was the only woman during training that he didn't sleep with and it wasn't for the lack of trying. Me, Jumper and John used to hang out all the time and when it came to competing we were always top three. I looked down at my hands while I tried to regain my tough guy outer shell. I didn't need to break down, not when I had Sarge to impress and a new team to convince to trust me. I had to be a tough ass Marine, just like the rest of them. During the silence I felt John look at me. I always knew when John was watching me, no matter if I could see him or not. It was hard to explain, but I just knew. I glanced over my shoulder and he was watching me as if I was a puzzle, he shook his head and went back to cleaning his gun.
"Dani you know what happened up there, and you still wanna go back?" John asked without even looking at me. His focus was on the gun he was cleaning. His tone was as even as it could be, but I knew there was a rage bubbling inside him.
"John, it was an accident." I repeated like a robot. It didn't even sound like I convinced myself, but it was the line that was rammed down our throats. It had all been a terrible accident, one which the UAC promised to learn from; not that it brought my father back, John's parents, the lives of everyone who was crushed to death.
"They all died Dani." John ground out still looking at the gun he was cleaning. There was something in his voice, the undertone was harsh, the anger was still very much within him.
"We didn't." I pointed out softly looking down at the floor. This was the first time we had talked about Olduvai sober, usually these talks involved way too much alcohol and not enough sleep.
"Yeah, lucky us." He scoffed glancing at me. The hurt was clear in his eyes. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly pushing myself away from the edge of the table. I knew John as well as anyone, and I knew when he wasn't going to listen any more.
"I'm going back John. There are people that need my help. Just... take the leave like Sarge said." I begged before turning to walk out of the barracks.
"Be safe Dani." John yelled after to me. I stopped and turned back to see him turned in his chair watching me. The worry was on his face easy to read, but there was fear shining in his hazel green eyes.
"You too John." I echoed with a small smile before walking out of the barracks.