**Chantaje, Shakira w/ Maluma**
Kat glared at Colin from the driver's seat as she jerked the behemouth she was driving forward ten feet and then slammed on the brakes and skidded to a stop with a satisfying peal of gravel. Behind her, the two passengers squealed as their packs were dumped off the seat onto the floor of the gigantic boat of a car Lieutenant Mejia had produced for driving lessons. Ever since Gator had shown up with it after PT this morning and instructed Rob to "Take the rest of the kids older than 15 down to that big lot by the island park and teach everyone to drive. Make sure the whole crew knows the rules of the road, can make a turn, park, and backup before you go out on any real roads." Ray and Colin had been lording it over the rest of them that they already knew how to drive. So far she'd managed everything but parallel parking. Lee had dragged over two big aluminum trash cans to mark the space. Brie and Dylan had each taken two tries but eventually they had managed to cut neatly and cleanly into the space. She on the other hand was on her seventh try, and based on the tinny crash she'd just heard, she was about to make an eighth. She couldn't see over the long trunk so she really had no idea.
A baby blue AMC Eagle with hideous wood paneling and rust spotted chrome pulled up close beside the land yacht she was driving, essentially trapping them between the overturned garbage cans. She saw Ray's shoulder pumping as he cranked down the window of pretty much the ugliest car she'd ever seen. Then for a moment she was transfixed by the image of his dark hair, shining in the sun, and the brightness of his teeth against his skin. He set one tan arm over the windowsill and she saw the muscles of his forearm flex as he leaned forward. Damn he was a good looking boy. Too bad he was such an ass. "Que Bola Colin? Wanna race back?"
She was pretty sure Colin was about to agree when Rob called out from the open window in the back seat of Ray's car, "No! We're here to learn to drive. Besides, Nolan hasn't passed Mejia's requirements for driving on the roads yet."
Colin shot her a dirty look over his shoulder before swiveling back to address him. "Come on Rob! We're starving over here and no one wants to wait around while she makes ten more tries."
"Oh come on, I've never done this before Colin!" In her head she hadn't sounded so much like a sullen middle-schooler. It was bad enough that she sucked at this. Even worse was the fact that Ray and his cronies were all witness to her whining about it.
Rob nodded. So far he'd basically done whatever Ray or Colin suggested. Kat wished Mejia had sent Miller or O'Connor. They would have known how to take charge. Even Lee would have been better. "Yeah, let's go eat. Green wanted us back by noon anyway."
"I can drive us back." She fumbled around the steering wheel for the shift lever. "I can do everything except park."
"No!" The girls in the backseat sounded alarmed. "Take a rest Kat." Brie leaned forward and patted her on the shoulder. "You know I'd already done driver's ed so I kind of had a leg up on this."
"Yeah, Colin's been getting us to drive him around all morning. Let him do it." She heard a note of pleading in Dylan's voice and felt her temper rising. But then she glanced in the rear view mirror, about to defend her abilities. The concerned looks on their faces only made her cringe a little inside. "Come on. It can be our turn to critique him."
"Is it that bad?" She hung her head. If she could drive, surely Kara would give her better jobs than helping her with paperwork or helping the kids with cleaning. She could do deliveries or give rides or something, anything, for a bit of freedom.
"Well..." Brie hedged.
"You just need more practice to get it smooth." Dylan finished. "We don't need to go 0 to 60 every time."
"Fine, Fine." She tried to put the car in park but the lever was awkward to maneuver and the car began to roll back as she struggled with it.
"Here." Colin slid across the bench squishing her next to the door as he reached over and shoved it into place. "Well what are you waiting for, get out and let me drive us to lunch."
The door gave a loud creek as she opened it and she had to lean so far to reach the handle that she ended up stumbling to get her feet under her while Colin slammed the door behind her. "Ha ha, see you at lunch suckers!' Gravel spit out from the tires in a rush as Colin sped away, sending one of the trash cans spinning in his wake. Brie and Dylan's peals of laughter stung her pride.
With a resigned sigh she turned to see Ray grinning lazily at her. "I suppose this means you want us to give you a ride now." She grit her teeth and nodded. He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Dale! You know I'm from Miami and I can't handle this cold weather."
She hustled over to the passenger door. As she reached out her hand he let the car roll forward a few feet. The passengers erupted into laughter. "Not funny Ray." She spit out. The blond beside him burst out in a peal of giggles.
"Ok. Ok. No more games. Get in." But when she reached for the handle again, he did it again.
She stomped her foot. "Goddammit Ray! I'm not in the mood for your juvenile games." She tried to emulate a look her mother used to give her when she was holding her temper rather than giving Kat a well deserved tongue lashing.
Lee leaned forward and swatted the back of Ray's head, although he was grinning too, jerk. Well, she supposed that was better than letting Ray go on until he tired of the game. She opened the door and looked into the back seat. To her dismay, the two bucket seats already had two passengers. "Ah, I guess you'll have to ride on someone's lap." Lee's cheeks colored and he ducked his head.
Beside him, Rob patted his thighs. "I won't mind."
Ray rolled his eyes and grumbled. "Well wherever you're going to sit, do it soon. I'm starving too."
Given a choice, she decided to perch on the other guy's knees. She didn't really know him although she knew his name was Rob and he was in the same training group with Ray and Lee. He had on midshipmans' uniforms, but Ray had said the other day that he must have been in a pretty lax ROTC program because he didn't know much. Lee on the other hand had been introduced by her father as the son of old friends so she thought she ought to be slightly suspicious of him too. Her dad's "old friends" tended to have a certain mystery about them. "I'm sorry you have to be squished like this." She offered him a half smile. "Blame it on Ray and his silly games."
Ray started them off with a bit of a tear out, all the while smirking at her in the mirror. Emma Slattery, who was sitting next to him, complete with expertly teased blond curls and full makeup, giggled. "Slow down Tiger." Kat rolled her eyes. Emma was a flirt but she should know better than to encourage him.
Rather than reply to Kat's apology for squishing him, Rob reminded Ray, "Don't be too worried about rolling when you shift your foot from the brake to the gas. Unless we're on a hill, it doesn't have to be an urgent movement."
She had a moment of satisfaction when Ray muttered. "Vale! It's just not as easy as it sounds."
They pulled out of the park and into a quiet neighborhood. This one had been cleaned up a bit so the streets themselves weren't littered, but piles of garbage awaited pickup at the intersections. It would take 10 minutes or so to get back to the cafeteria so she decided it was as good a time as any to get to know the other passengers. She shifted to sit sideways and offered her hand to the guy she was balancing on. He took it with a questioning look. "Hi, I know you're Rob. I've seen you round but we haven't actually met. I'm Kat." She raised her brow, expecting him to introduce himself.
"You would probably have an easier time driving this car. Those old cars had terrible ergonomics." Rob said. She noticed he didn't meet her eyes. OK then. Guess he was the nerdy anti-social type then.
"Hi Kat. My name is Rob." Lee gave the other guy a pointed look.
"Ah, Hi, hi Kat, my name is R, R, Rob." He repeated, while rolling his eyes back at Lee.
Emma tossed her curls over her shoulder and leaned over the console between the front seats with a conspiratorial grin. "Hey Kat. Never mind these guys. They have been trying to show off to each other all morning. Was it like that in the other car?"
"Ah, not really. Dylan and Brie have both driven so they went through all the skills pretty quickly. Mostly Colin just ranked on me for the last hour and a half."
Emma winced in sympathy. "Sorry. If it makes you feel any better, my sister's husband taught me to drive a few months ago and I crashed a truck into a pole my first time out." Kat's eyes bugged but Emma shrugged like it was really no big deal. Emma's motion caused her soft sweater to gape and the hint of a lacy bra cup peaked over the vee neck. Kat noticed that Rob's eyes were glued to the other girl's cleavage and even Lee looked like he was checking her out. She cut her eyes back to the front and squealed. "Brakes Ray!"
The car lurched to a stop. Rob made a grab for her waist but only managed to grab a fistful of her old jacket as she slammed into the back of Ray's headrest. The dog that she had just barely noticed in time ambled across the road in front of them, apparently blissfully unaware that it had almost become a pancake. "Sorry, Sorry." Ray apologized. "I don't know how I didn't see it. Are you OK Emma?" He waited while the pretty blond straightened into her seat.
"I bet I can guess how that happened." Kat muttered, half under her breath. She wasn't as quiet as she thought though because Lee chuckled and Ray shot her a narrow eyed look in the rear view mirror. Flustered, he jammed the shifter into first gear and attempted to start again, only to stall out with another jerk sending Kat into the back of the driver's seat again.
Kat fumed as she tried to right herself on Rob's lap. He was trying to help her but he ended up grabbing her rather high under her ribs and then dropping his hands suddenly when he realized what he was gripping. "Sorry." He muttered, turning beet red.
"Take a breath man! Unless you want me to drive back." The hint of a smile in the corner's of Lee's lips broadened into a goading grin. Served Ray right, she thought, for teasing her earlier. She decided she should get to know Lee better after all. Maybe she'd try to sit with him in the mess later.
"I'll get it. I gotta learn sometime." Ray restarted the car and this time they took off with a smooth acceleration. She noticed that Rob's hands were firmly gripped around her midsection, but now precisely at her waistline, and they tightened every time they went around a corner, just in case. That would be fine except he kept flexing and wiggling them anytime she swayed or moved. She was sure he didn't mean to be invasive, but she just wasn't used to being in contact with members of the opposite sex and she didn't like it. She held herself stiffly, leaning away from his body. He was probably a nice guy but she didn't know him. Actually, what she did know about him wasn't exactly complimentary since it came second hand from Ray ranting about him taking Lee out drinking. By the time they neared the courthouse district, she was hugging the back of Ray's headrest to hold herself at the edge of Rob's knees.
"Would you quit pulling my hair Kathleen." He muttered softly.
She hadn't realized that she had the silky strands of his hair under her fingers until then. She shifted her hands to the edges of the headrest. "Sorry."
Rob ran a hand over his own buzzed cut. "Better enjoy that hair now Ray, because when you get to join up, away it goes." The guys and Emma discussed the oddities of Navy regulations the rest of the drive back. Kat mostly tuned out but at one point, she caught Ray's eye in the rear view and was surprised to see him scowling at Rob. Stupid rooster, she thought to herself. You can't have all the girls.
Once they parked in the hotel garage they began to pile out of the car. It was a little tricky untangling her ankles from Midshipman Rob's but she managed. Without any help from Ray either. He was too busy helping pretty Emma Slattery get out of a perfectly normal front seat as if she was a helpless butterfly. Kat bit her lip to keep from making a sarcastic remark. She had to do it again when all three young men lunged for the door of the hotel in order to hold it for Emma. By the time they reached the lunch line she'd had enough. She saw Brie and Dylan already halfway through their meals and lost her appetite. They had laughed when Colin took off after all. "Rob, Lee, so nice to meet you. Catch you later." She attempted to split off from the group.
She couldn't believe it when Ray fussed. "Hey, where are you going? You have to come report back to Green with us!" He was so annoying. Just because he was used to bossing all those kids from the summer camp around didn't mean he got to boss her around too.
Tossing her head, she told him as much. "Shove it Ray. You're not the boss here, Rob is. You three guys might have to report, but I'm not in training so I'm done here." She noticed that his cheeks darkened to a dusky blush. Ha, see how he liked being called out in front of everyone.
Rob pulled a folded sheet of paper from his shirt pocket. "She's right Ray. It says here that recruits are supposed to report back to Green when we are done. It doesn't say anything about the other kids." As much as Rob gave her a weird vibe, she was happy that he stuck up for her too. She guessed she wasn't the only one Ray rubbed the wrong way.
She knew she shouldn't do it, but Kat shot Ray a self satisfied smirk herself too. And, she did feel a bit of schadenfreude when he glowered back from under the curl of hair she had mussed. She had to admit, he totally had the sullen rebel teen look down pat. Grabbing a slightly speckled apple from a basket on the hostess stand, she strode away, happy at the prospect of some quiet time to herself for a while. She needed some time to think about her morning, and her father, and what the heck she was going to do with herself when he inevitably went back to working internationally.
"I like the way you think!" Emma grabbed an apple too and began polishing it with the hem of her sweater. All three young men stared at the sliver of bare midrif that appeared.
Disgusted with herself for the pang of jealousy that stabbed through her own midsection, Kat grabbed Emma's arm, linking it through hers and effectively cutting off their view. "Come on. Let's leave these Neanderthals to their meat and potatoes."
Ray watched their retreating backs, and backsides. Just what he needed, he thought, Kat turning all the girls against him. It was so unfair that she was just about the most breathtaking manguanita he'd ever seen. And calling him out in front of the guys! It was probably just as well she hadn't come to talk to Green. Although now he was going to be the only loser who wasn't ready to do tomorrow's job. Well, as his old principal would always tell him when he was dragging his feet at calling his mother to tell her he'd landed in detention again, better to face the music now and get it over with, than dread it for days. Ray swept his eyes over the large ballroom that was being used as the general mess. Spying Green in the dishwashing dropoff line, he snagged Lee's elbow. "Come on."
As they wove in and out of the lunch tables Rob asked "Is she always like that?"
Ray glanced his way. "I don't know, I just met her a few days ago. But if I were you, I'd leave Emma Slattery alone. The commander has just barely gotten over the news about Riley and Sergeant Simpson-Slattery and I don't think it would be good for your career to put the moves on her. Besides, Colin has already decided she's the girl for him."
Rob laughed. "I meant Kat, not Emma. But don't worry, you can have Emma if you want her. She's way above my league."
Ha, Ray thought, if Emma's out of your league then Kat's in a whole different ballgame. But he knew enough to keep his mouth shut. Since Rob was headed for a commission, in a few months he'd be an ensign while Ray would be a lowly Seaman. Best not to ruffle his feathers before they were even officially on the job.
They waved to Green who headed their way. "Do you know if she's seeing anyone?"
"Jeez! You just showed up in town. You might want to get to know a few people before you start collecting girlfriends!" Ray wasn't quite sure why the idea of Rob making moves on Kat annoyed him so much, but he really wished Mejia had sent Miller or O'Connor out with the them instead.
"Oh? I didn't realize that you two were an item." Lee winked at Rob and the two of them shared a laugh at Ray's expense.
"Who's an item?" Lieutenant Green looked over the younger men with a critical eye. Ray stood taller and clamped his jaw before he said something rude to Rob in front of Green. Next to Chandler, Green was the person he idolized the most. He didn't want to look bad in front of him.
"Ray and Kat sir. And they are both crappy drivers too." Rob supplied.
"No one Sir. I don't have time for a girl. I have 14 people to feed and clothe and shelter." Ray cringed when he realized he was speaking over Rob. It was bad enough that he'd forgotten that technically Rob had been put in charge this morning and therefore he'd interrupted his own commanding officer, but on top of that, Lee was making fun of him to Green too! Rob raised a brow at him and he felt his own brows merge into a pinched line over his nose.
"Ha, good one." Green responded, thankfully without correcting Ray for his overstep. "But I already know those two are like oil and water. Kat does work for my wife you know." Green smiled as he mentioned his wife and Ray noticed his eyes were trained on her all the way across the room where she was sitting with several other officers. It seemed like Green had everything, a great career, the respect of command, a wife that was both hot and kickass, and a baby on the way. "I guess it wasn't too bad since everyone made it back alive. Was there any trouble following Lt. Mejia's directions?"
Rob looked blank for a moment but this time Ray hesitated to jump in. Instead Lee replied "Everyone is road ready except Kathleen Sir. She really taught those trashcans who's boss today Sir."
Green nodded. "Good to hear, but this is Rob's report to make Lee." Green gently instructed, much to Ray's delight. "I was able to scrounge up six trucks, but four are manual and practically no one in the crew can drive them. Please tell me that you got enough of your people ready to handle them?" So apparently now Ray's own people were part of Rob's team? By now he was holding himself so stiffly that his shoulders were starting to hurt. "I've got assignments for your team for the rest of the week. We're going to start tagging and then moving all the stuff in the dorms at the University down to some warehouses that Slattery set up. We've got to have places for all the people streaming into the city to sleep ASAP. I thought you could practice some leadership skills and direct the teens on it Rob."
To Ray's annoyance, Rob chose that moment to find his voice again. "Uh, I think Emma, myself, Colin, Dylan, Brie, and of course Lee can handle the manual."
"Damn." Green's eyes swung over to Ray and Ray found he couldn't help but look at his toes. Dammit was right. This was one of his first assignments and he'd already disappointed one of the people he wanted to impress the most. It would probably be back to Master Chief by the end of the day. "Both Michener and Slattery want this done yesterday and it's probably a few weeks worth of work. I've got to take a group on a run out to Fort Leonard Wood for some equipment that we desperately need to have around the new White House so I really need you all to get started with this."
To Ray's surprise, Lee kind of stuck up for them. "Well Kat had actually never driven before. She still needs to work on her parking and going in reverse for sure, so she's not going to be ready for a moving truck soon. But Ray can actually drive, he was just murdering the clutch on that little car."
"Humm." Green eyed Ray. "You have a license already, right?"
Ray reached for his wallet. "Yeah, sure. I can manage it. I almost had the hang of it when people weren't distracting me."
Rob shook his head. "Sure, he can almost drive an ancient car with a clutch that's barely got any teeth left, but he'll chew the transmission off a truck." Ray noted with a scowl that Lee was nodding in agreement with Rob.
Green waved his hand at Ray. "I don't need to see it." To Rob he said "How bad was Kat, seriously?"
"Not really bad at all. If she could see over the steering wheel, she'd probably do a lot better." Ray had to admit that he'd thought so too. She was pretty good considering today was the first time she'd ever been behind the wheel. And the impromptu driver's ed without any adult overseeing the new drivers had been a little rowdy.
Green sighed, shifted his weight, and then sighed again. "Alright, here's what I want you to do. After PT tomorrow Rob will take the group to the dorms and get started. Ray, are you up for an individual assignment?"
"Sure." Like he would ever say no.
"Good. Hold on to the keys to that little Eagle. Go order box lunches. Two for you and six for Rob. Tomorrow you and Kathleen are going to start on the door to door survey of East St. Louis. One of you will either kill that car or you'll both be masters at starting and stopping by the end of the day."
Ray groaned. "Or one of us will kill the other."
Rob's brows took on an amused rise; Lee clenched his jaw to stifle a chuckle; and Green scowled. "You want to show me you belong in the Navy? Suck it up and get the job done."
"Yeah. Ah, yes sir. It's no problem."
Rob winked at Ray over Green's shoulder. "You'll just need some headphones…and maybe a big scary gun to put her in her place."
Green frowned sharply at the young man. "Rob, that's not an appropriate way to discuss a colleague."
As much as Ray liked to hear Rob get put in his place by Green, something about his tone of voice made his hackles rise too. He wondered what Brie and Dylan, or Kat for that matter, would say if he told them to be wary of being alone with the guy. He didn't really have to wonder. Kat would probably sock him and tell him to stop being such a patriarchal prick.
Green pulled out a little notebook and scratched a note to himself. "But, that reminds me that I'm going to authorize everyone over 18 to carry tomorrow."
Lee looked shocked. "Is that really necessary sir?" Ray recalled that Lee had not enjoyed the firearms training they had done earlier in the week at all. He didn't say anything, but Ray was pretty sure he'd been thinking about how his mother had been shot and killed only a few weeks ago.
Green nodded. "I wish we didn't need to, but we don't have nearly as much presence across the river. I'll tell the master-at-arms to expect your two groups at 8 AM sharp."
"Sir, if it's so dangerous on the other side of the river, I could go too." Rob angled his body a little in front of Ray's as he said it. Ray opened his mouth to say he and Kat would do fine on their own and then clamped it shut again. Maybe Rob would deflect some of her bitchiness from him.
"Ray, you worried about going out there on your own? If you're not comfortable you can go to the park to practice and Rob can go with Kat to survey." Well when he put it like that…Hell no!
"I think we'll be fine. I heard that Kat's pretty mean on the business end of a shotgun and I'd believe it."
"Fine, it's settled. Report at 0700 tomorrow."
Ray hustled off to take care of the lunches. And if he happened to let slip to the guy writing it down that Rob was especially fond of Bacon's homemade liverwurst, no one noticed or called him on it.
