"Copy that. Be there soon, Sergeant," he spoke looking into my eyes. "This will continue when we get back. Let's go take care of business first." I started pulling on my BDU's and gear while he left my room. My heart was thumping a million miles an hour in my chest. What in the hell was going on? Were we just flirting? I pulled my helmet down over my head and buckled the straps. Is drinking around him without the other guys such a good idea? This was what I wanted and now I was recalling of the bad things if this was to continue. Did he feel the same way or was he testing me? What did all of this mean? I grabbed my gun from beside my doorway and took off running to the garage. Eldridge and Sanborn blasted past me at full speed.

"You two gonna be alright on a mission?" Sanborn yelled as he ran between two units.

"We're fine, Sanborn, just get ready," I yelled back. James was already at the garage when I got there. He was fiddling with his straps. He was angry about something. I could tell by the set of his jaw, the color of his face and his lack of conversation. "Are you okay?" I asked, taking the straps out of his hands to clip them together.

"I'm alright," he answered looking me in the eyes. "Just a little disappointed, I'll get over it."

"Disappointed?"

"It's nothing," he warned.

"Ready, sir," Eldridge said hopping into the Humvee. I climbed in as James and Sanborn did.

Streets are busy during the day, but it's the complete opposite at night. It was almost 2300. We pulled up on a roadblock at the Alpha Post. There were 5 privates standing around, looking worried. "Stop here," James ordered. We climbed out of the cab and walked up to the soldiers. "Where's your Sergeant?"

"Over there," one of the privates answered, pointing to Sergeant Mays who was talking to a translator in a hushed, hurried tone.

"You three stay here," he pointed to us and walked over to Sergeant Mays.

"What do you think is going on?" Eldridge asked through a whisper. I shook my head and kept my eyes on James to see if I could get any information on how this was going to go. James started shaking his head and rubbing his eyes. He looked over at me in disbelief, then nodded his head. We gathered ourselves and watched him walk back over.

"There's a large bomb in the basement of this apartment building. There are some 'suicide bombers' holding it hostage. There are also men in the building keeping people inside on the top floor. I am going to need a lot of help. I am going to need all of you to trust me." Sanborn looked up at the sky and nodded solemnly. "I wouldn't ask you unless it was absolutely necessary. I just need the men killed and a perimeter set up to make sure no other fool tries to mess with me. We don't know if they can communicate or not."

"Why would they go through all of this just to blow up a building?" I asked calmly. "Why not do it already?"

"They're hoping we'll storm the place so they can take out as many of us as possible," Sanborn answered.

"I got the ones in the basement," I blurted, pulling off my gun and grabbing a large utility knife from the Humvee. I helped zip James up in the bomb suit with Sanborn. I looked in James' eyes as I put his helmet over his head. He gave me a sly wink as I pulled his collar up which was almost to send me into a full-fledged smile, but I refrained and smirked instead. The alcohol was still coursing through my veins. I could feel it. I was little slow on my reactions, but I had enough muscle and mind left to kill a few mother fuckers.

"It's probably safer if I go down and clear it out, then you send everyone in. Just in case the building does go or they find out what's happening," I said mulling over my options. I checked the ammo in my 9mm and looked up.

"I'm not going to send you in there on a suicide mission," James said sternly looking me in the face.

"I'd much rather one person die than the entire squad. I think it makes a lot more sense to do it this way."

"You're probably right." He called the men over and told them the plan. I was going to go into the basement and clean it out. Then James would come down with Sanborn to disarm the bomb. Eldridge was going to guard the entry to the basement. The unit of privates would go in after we were done to clear out the building.

I had to sneak into the doorway in a way that wouldn't obvious if insurgents were watching from the windows. I walked across the street and snuck along the building under the overhang where they wouldn't be able to see me. I wielded the knife and descended down the steps into the basement. I felt like a big jingle ball walking down the stairs with my gear on. I held a few of my clips in my hands as I made my way down the second set of stairs. I could hear a man shuffling just around the corner. I gathered my breath and slowly released. Now or never. I reached around the corner quickly and grabbed the man's mouth. I turned him around quickly to pull the knife across his throat. He turned into dead weight immediately. It took every ounce of muscle in my body to lay him gently on the ground. Footsteps came from the top of the stairwell and I ducked behind the corner. I wiped the blood off onto my BDU's and tipped a small mirror up at eye level to see who was coming. It was another insurgent. I pulled the knife back down to my side and felt my adrenaline surge through me. His foot hit the last step. I swung the blade into his throat and caught him before laying him on the ground beside the other man.

I quickly snuck through another corridor. How many more were there? The blade was bloody again. I wiped it across my BDU again and reminded myself to wipe it off on the next victim. Sure, my BDU's were already ruined, but I couldn't justify getting myself drenched in blood. I crouched down beside the next corner and tilted the mirror around it again just right to get a good view. The next guy was a good foot or two away from the corner. There was no way I could flash around the corner to get him in enough time. I pulled a pen out of my pocket and decided there was no other way than to distract him. I took a deep, long breath and dropped the pen to the ground. It sounded like a bomb going off. I got up to my knees as the footsteps drew closer. I swung my body around behind the man and stuck my knife into the middle of his throat and pulled as far as I could. He made a slight gagging noise, but it wasn't loud enough to cause alarm. I laid him down quietly and took another second to catch my breath. I was anxious, nervous, and scared out of my mind. I had never taken on men with guns before without a gun. I was deathly afraid that a gun would cause mass panic and they would blow the bomb up with me still inside. I didn't want to die today. I couldn't. I wasn't going to let it happen.

I wiped the knife off on the dead man below me then tip-toed down another corridor. I neared another corner and put my mirror once again. There were two of them guarding the entrance to the bomb. I could see it just behind them on the table. I cursed breathlessly. One wasn't an issue, but two with AK-47's was definitely going to pose an issue. I wasn't going to slowly climb up the stairs defeated. I needed another plan. I held my knife free hand against my head and thought. The pen thing worked. If I made another distraction, maybe only one would come down the hallway. I could slice him up and shoot the other one directly in the head. Surely, shooting at a range of 5 feet, directly in the head wouldn't cause any disturbance to the bomb. I pondered different situations, each one coming out as bad as the next one.

I couldn't let my team down. They were counting on me. I wasn't going to let any soldier out there die today. I pulled a coin out of my pocket and dropped it on the ground. Both of them started walking down the hallway. Just my fucking luck. I shut my eyes and thought for a second. I heard them drawing closer. I clutched my knife tightly in my hand before kicking the man on the left in the throat. I pulled out my 9mm and shot the man to my right straight against the temple. I was praying it hadn't been loud enough for the people in the apartment to hear. The man I kicked in the throat had dropped his gun to pull out his own knife. He grinned wickedly at me. I didn't know why I always had to fight the fucked up mother fuckers. I gripped my knife even tighter as he backed up, trying to inch closer to the bomb. I leapt at him and tried kicking the knife out of his hands. I failed miserably. He drew the knife down my right leg. I felt my skin pull apart. It wasn't deep, nothing more than a cat scratch. I had my BDU's to thank for that. I pulled my elbow back to beat him in the face. He dropped the knife to grab at his face as I stabbed the knife into the side of his neck. He fell to the ground lifelessly with a loud thud.

Judging by the lack of footsteps storming the stairways, no one had heard me shoot the man with my gun. I wiped my knife off on the man's shirt and searched the room where the bomb was to make sure that there weren't any more corridors or hiding spots. It was all clear. I made my way up the steps. I walked along the overhang guarded by shadows, so I wouldn't draw any attention to myself, in case they were watching from the windows to detonate. James stared at me with wide eyes. His face turned a pale color. I limped a little, but only because the scratch had become irritated. I gave him a small wave of my hand. Eldridge looked like I had just woken up from my death. Sanborn pulled out the med kit. Another unit had arrived behind us to help out. I walked out along the side walk as if I just joined the group and sat on the gate of the Humvee. Sanborn, Eldridge, and James rushed to where I sat and hovered me.

"Where are you hit?" Sanborn asked hurriedly, pulling out gauze, scissors, tape, and a bunch of disinfectant.

"I'm not hit, fool. It's their blood. I have a small scratch on my leg, now that I cleared that mess out for you, will you just get the fuck inside?" James smiled.

"Will do, Sergeant," he told me before disappearing into the basement with Sanborn and Eldridge. I was more nervous than I was for myself. I got down off of the Humvee and stood up. Without even thinking twice I grabbed my assault rifle and ran down the stairs. I couldn't sit out there and do nothing while my team was inside. I just couldn't wait around and not help solve the problem.

"Where are you going?" Eldridge asked as I zoomed past him.

"Going to be an extra set of eyes." I hurried down the steps. "It's just Rakton," I said in a normal tone to make sure Sanborn didn't shoot me or do anything drastic when I came around the corner.

"What are you doing, Rakton?" Sanborn asked in an irritated tone.

"It's good to see you too, Sanborn," I joked coming around the corner. James was huddled over the bomb, working fast. I watched as he separated wires from wires and clipped one or two, before sorting through them again.

"There's a lot of switches in this bad boy. They were ready for anything," James mumbled. Since there were no other corridors to the room I knew they would be safe with Sanborn at the entryway.

"I'll head back up and guard the stairs with Eldridge." I made my way up the stairs and expected to find Eldridge standing there, nervously fiddling with his gun. He wasn't. My heart sank through the floor. I raised my gun when I heard a scuffle from down the hallway. I threw my gun onto my shoulder, pulled my knife out again and jumped around the corner like a cat. I grabbed the insurgent that had Eldridge and pulled my knife along his neck from ear to ear. Eldridge looked up at me, his eyes as wide as saucers.

"Thank you, sir," he stuttered.

"Anytime," I replied. I held my hand out to him and yanked him up off the floor with ease. We stood back by the door when I heard a couple of footsteps descend from the area we had just left. "Get ready," I whispered. James walked up behind me just as the insurgents came out from around the corner. I opened fire on both of them and blocked James and Sanborn from walking out. I didn't have to worry about a bomb exploding and could use my gun as much as I wanted. After the men were dead I walked with them out to the group of soldiers that had rallied outside. I helped James take his helmet off as we walked to our Humvee. A squad of 5 to 7 soldiers rushed into the building to finish flushing it out, while two men went down to retrieve the bomb.

"That was excellent work, Sergeant Rakton," James breathed. I handed him a bottle of water and helped pull off his chest piece.

"Thank you. Same to you." He was drenched in sweat.

We returned to base in an hour. It was almost one thirty in the morning. I helped toss some gear around with Eldridge when I knew I definitely needed to go lay down. I slumped back to my room and took a quick shower. I had pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a work out shirt to sleep in. Surely James wouldn't be back down with it being this late and the night we just had. I whipped my hair into it's bun, turned my radio on, and laid down. I didn't read too much into it. It was late and we had just had a hell of a night.

When I woke up I was thanking God it was Sunday. No training. No patrolling. I pulled myself out of bed and shoved a pair of tennis shoes on. I had no idea what time it was. I stumbled out of my bunker and made my way to the mess hall. It was almost 1000. I grabbed a muffin, water, and an orange. There was a bit more of a sting in my right leg when I walked. I shrugged it off and sat down on the steps outside of my room to eat my muffin and orange. I loved to eat oranges, but hated the god awful smell when it stuck around your room for days.

"Morning, Sergeant," James said approaching me from the main hall. He had on his BDU pants, boots, shirt, and hat. Even on his day off.

"Morning," I replied lazily.

"How's that leg?" I moved it around a little to show him it was still functioning.

"Just a little sore today."

"Have you been to the med bay yet?" I shook my head and took a swig of water.

"We need to get it checked out. Come on, I'll go with you." I rose from the steps and followed him back into the main hall. The med bay was at the back of the main hall. There were two other in the bay waiting for attention. One with a bloody scratch down his arm he got in the middle of a training exercise, the other was complaining of his stomach hurting. The medic called me back behind a curtain and instructed to me to get on the bed.

"Any fever?" he asked holding his stethoscope on my back.

"No."

"Any swelling around the wound?"

"No."

"Does it hurt to walk?"

"A little, but that's just because of where it is on my leg."

"I'll need you to remove your pants. Sergeant James, you'll need to step back behind the curtain, please." James went around the curtain while I dropped my pants and laid back down on the bed. The medic put on gloves and looked over my wound. It was a long scratch from the middle of my thigh down to almost the middle of my calf. "It's not deep enough for stitches fortunately." I breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll give you some bacitracin and a few rolls of gauze to put over it. Just some cautionary measures to make sure it doesn't get infected. I'll also give you a bottle of inflammatory medication to deal with the sting when you walk."

"Thank you."

"No problem," he said rubbing some bacitracin onto my scratch. He rolled my leg in fresh, white gauze and instructed me to put my pants back on. He handed me a bottle of Ibuprofen and sent me on my way.

"No war wounds for you yet," James teased as we walked through the main hall.

"Damn, I was really hoping I'd have a big ass scar down my leg for life," I cursed while snapping my fingers. He laughed. "What are you doing today?" I asked as we walked back to my room.

"Well, I was hoping to get a rain check on last night, but if you're not feeling up to it, I understand."

"Sure, you want to meet later this evening? Say 2000?"

"Sounds good. Have you called your daughter yet?" I shook my head. It was late out in Illinois. No need to wake Adriana up. "I want you to do that today, Rakton."

"I know, sir."

"I'll see you at 2000," he said walking away casually.

At 1900 I decided I'd go call my daughter. It would be at least 1100 there and I knew Adriana would be up. I grabbed the minutes card and went to the main hall. Inside a small room were 5 payphones with small stools. "Hello?" my mom answered. She sounded out of breath.

"Hey mom," I said feeling the overwhelming joy wash over me. I missed her and Adriana like crazy.

"Oh my god!" she yelled into the phone. "Gia!" I laughed.

"Yes, mom."

"Hold on, I'll get Adriana. ADRIANA! It's Mommy!" my mom yelled.

"MOMMY?" she screamed. I heard them both laugh hysterically. I couldn't stop myself from smiling. "Oh my god, mommy. How were you able to call us?"

"Mommy's CO gave her a minutes card to call home today."

"Is your CO that hunk you've been sending us pictures of?" my mom asked coyly. My face became a poster for pure embarrassment.

"Yes," I answered.

"He's so hot, Gia! And he sounds like a keeper from what you've written in your letters. Have you kissed him yet?"

"Mom… you know that's not going to happen. It's not allowed to happen. It's completely unacceptable."

"Sometimes you can't fight fate, honey." I shook my head and rolled my eyes. "And there's always time to get friendly during leave." I could tell what she meant by friendly in her tone. "You told me he doesn't have any family right?"

"No."

"That's so horrible. Tell him he has to come visit on leave."

"I will, mom."

"I'm serious," she warned in her mommy voice.

"Yes, ma'am. Now someone better tell me about what's been going on the last 24 hours," I ordered.

"We went out for ice cream last night and picked up my Halloween costume," Adriana chirped. That's right, Halloween… it was in a week. "I'm going to be a soldier like you, mommy."

"Again?" I asked with a grin. She had been a soldier the last 3 years. She spent the whole day in her outfit walking around calling everyone sir, saluting everyone, it was too damn cute.

"Yes!"

"No fairy or princess for you, sweetie."

"Yuck, no, mommy. They aren't cool." I shook my head. My little tomboy.

"No crushes on any boys at school, yet?"

"No."

"Yes," my mom interrupted. "There's a boy that just moved in next door named Benjamin. Adriana has become quite…"

"Mamaw!" yelled Adriana. "Not now, I wrote it to mommy in a letter," she warned.

"Well, I'm sorry, dear. I won't say any more about it then. Are you getting our letters and pictures okay?"

"Yes, mom."

"Missions, okay? No wounds still?"

"Actually…" I trailed off and filled her in on our situation last night. Adriana and my mom were both deadly silent as I talked about what happened. I made sure to leave out the killing part. I just told them the men 'went to sleep.' We talked more about what was happening on that side of the world when I peered up at the clock. I only had a few more minutes left. "Well, I love you both, but my time is coming to end."

"No," Adriana whined.

"I'm sorry, baby. I could only talk for 30 minutes."

"Mommy, I miss you." My eyes filled with tears. "I miss you a lot."

"I miss you, too. I miss you and Mamaw like crazy. Take care of Mamaw for me, I love you."

"I love you, mommy."

"Gia, please take care of yourself. I love you so much, sweetheart. Thank you for all you do. You don't get enough recognition."

"I love you, too, mom. I'll try to call again soon." I hung up the phone and covered my face with my hands. I tried to stifle my crying by clearing my throat a few times, but I was unsuccessful. My body shuddered as the tears fell. What kind of mother was I to leave my daughter alone? I knew I was out here keeping her safe, but what damage would this do to her later? Did she know that I loved her? I couldn't stop myself from signing up for tours. I loved doing this, too. The pay helped take care of her. She would understand one day. I just wanted to hold her, tell her I was trying to make the world a better place. I didn't want her to live in a world of fear. I wiped my eyes and breathed in deeply a few times. I made my walk back to my room, keeping my head low to avoid eye contact with anyone. James was waiting outside of my room when I got back. He was sitting on the steps smoking a cigarette.

"You okay?" he asked as I stared at the ground, trying to avoid his eyes.

"I'm fine," I answered in a muffled voice.

"Did you call your daughter?" I nodded, feeling the tears sink back in. "Let's get you inside." He opened the door while looking around to make sure no one had been walking by to notice my crying. I walked in and sat in a chair in the corner. "I'm sorry if that was a bad idea." He closed the door and sat on the chair at the desk.

"It wasn't a bad idea. I just miss them," I sobbed. I wiped away the falling tears and continued to hold my head down.

"Hey, look at me, Rakton…" he ordered in a soothing voice. I shook my head. "Gia, please, look at me." That was the first time he had spoken my first name since I had arrived. I raised my head to look into his eyes. "I'll get you back home to your little girl safe. I promise."

"Thank you."

"I mean it. I don't care what it takes. You won't go home as a flag."

"Thank you," I repeated. He held up the bottle, poured us a shot, and carried one over to me. I took it willingly. "You think we're a little twisted for actually liking this job?" I asked as he poured more into my shot glass.

"I think we're both far from twisted. We know what this is doing for the long run. I can't imagine doing anything else. I don't want to be doing anything else. If my saving lives is twisted to people, then I don't know what else to say to make them think differently."

"Alright, I'm done talking about depressing shit." I wiped my face off one more time and turned the music on mp3. I had really had enough of being sad. I didn't have time to be sad and I was beginning to feel like really stupid and weepy. I hated feeling that way. He smiled and sat down across from me. "You've never told me where you're from."

"Iowa."

"Care to elaborate?"

"Cedar Rapids. What about you?"

"Peoria, Illinois."

"Really?"

"Yes, really," I answered.

"That's not too far away from Cedar Rapids."

"No, but speaking of that…" I stopped and smiled as I looked over at Adriana's picture. "They want you to come visit on leave." He smiled back at me before leaning in his chair. "They want to meet you."

"Oh yeah?"

"Oh yeah, they are really adamant about it. And you know what I'm like when I am serious about something."

"Guess I better not let them down then, huh?"

"Guess not," I replied. We finished off the rest of the bottle of Jack and started talking about our home lives. It just seemed natural and it was nice to escape for a while. "Your dad was in the Army?"

"Yeah, he was a Major. My mom stayed at home with me. My dad was gone a lot. He was an alcoholic, so most the things I remember about him being home aren't very pleasant."

"So you moved around a lot, I take it?"

"Yeah, after I was older, when I was 13 or so. My mom and I lived with my grandparents while he toured during Afghanistan, Cambodia, and Vietnam. It was hell when he got back. He just wasn't the same person. He was angry and had a lot of nightmares. I won't ever forget his first night home. He cried almost the entire night. It was awful. The only way he could suppress the feeling was to drink the pain away. He would drink an entire bottle of scotch almost every day. My mom got tired of it, divorced him, and took me with her. I graduated and joined up immediately. I thought that by joining I would connect with my dad somehow. My mom hated me for it and stopped talking to me. She actually died a few years ago and I don't know what happened to my dad."

"I'm sorry." He shrugged and held his hands behind his head. "That sounds rough."

"Made me who I am today. I don't regret it. What about you though, Rakton? What was your life like?"

"My dad died when I was young during a car accident leaving my mom to raise me. We lived in and out of places. When I was 17 I got pregnant with my daughter. I worked and went to school until I had her and was able to graduate. After I graduated I joined the Army. I knew that college wasn't going to be an option and I couldn't see myself living the life my mother did."

"What happened to Adriana's father?"

"Hell if I know. Last I heard he was in prison for drug trafficking. He doesn't even know she exists. Adriana asked me what happened to him and I told her he died."

"No sense in bringing him into her life if he's only going to make it worse." We sat quietly for a minute, taking in our conversation. "What have you told your family about me?" he asked randomly. It almost my eyeballs bulge out of my head.

"Well, I just told my mom that you're an excellent CO and about the things we do on missions."

"What else?"

"I send her pictures of all of us…"

"And?" My cheeks flushed.

"She thinks you're a stud," I answered, covering half of my face. He laughed, causing me to smile. "I think she plans on getting married to you while you're visiting on leave. So just prepare yourself." He laughed harder.

"Being your CO and step-father? That's a hell of a way to introduce myself to people." I laughed along with him imagining Eldridge and Sanborn's faces if we told them James was my step-father, too. "Wouldn't that also make me a grandfather?"

"I think so." He doubled over in laughter as I did. It was too funny imagining what my family would be like if that was the case. "I gotta go to the bathroom." I stood up, still doubled over from laughing.

"I'm gonna grab a smoke real quick," he said pointed to his cigarettes on the desk. We both started walking in the same direction when I bumped into his backside.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry," I stumbled. James reached back to steady me and held onto my arms just inches away from him. "I'm really clumsy after I've been drinking."

"So I've noticed." I could smell him. It was a dizzying smell. If I could have bottled it up I would have. It was pure temptation. There he was. I could smell him. My body ached for a second thinking about how I really felt about him. I breathed in deeply for a minute and looked into his eyes.

"You gonna be alright?" He looked back down at me, his hands still holding onto my arms. I nodded silently and studied his face when my eyes landed on his lips. His head dropped down and he leaned in closer. I stepped forward until our bodies were touching and wrapped my hands around his neck, pulling him down even closer. I felt his arms land around my waist.