Ok I know it's been forever since I've updated and I'm sorry! But I have a good excuse. Between high school (senior year) and having to go to pt (physical training) I have to do for the Marine corps. (I enlisted last August and I leave for boot camp in July and I have to make sure I'm ready for it, so I pt with my recruiter and other people who've joined and haven't left yet and other recruiters in the station/office) I've been way too busy to right and of course writer's block never helps. Then there was boyfriend issues and it was just a mess. But I have came through for you guys! So hopefully you forgive me and enjoy the new chapter. :)


pov Emma

A week went by and Ash was finally able to work again. We were in the mess hall on a normal day, eating with Candy. Candy was doing a little better, but she was still hurting. She put on a good front though. She would crack sex jokes and wink and flirt, but then you could see the hurt and sadness in her eyes. Despite how different she was, we bonded a lot since she lost Royce. Ashton tried to help her and talk about it, and sometimes she would talk about it and it would work. But Ashton told me that most of the time she would just give her a sad smile and walk away.

Ashton became more confident and Ghost didn't seem to hate her so much anymore. He actually talked to her during training today, which is definitely a huge change. She seemed determined and actually excited, another huge change since she hates training. I couldn't help but wonder what was with the sudden change. Everything seemed as ok as things could be during a war. There was just one problem. Captain MacTavish.

We haven't spoken since that night in the gym, he won't even look at me anymore. Right when I think I've earned his trust and start to really get along with him, I turn around and fuck it up. What the hell was I thinking? I back talked my Captain. I never forget my place like that. I always take orders with grace and I never follow guys when they stagger off alone in the night, especially when we're both drunk. I have the tendency to do things I normally wouldn't do when I'm around that guy.

"He's staring at you." Nora whispered. I looked up to see her amused expression.

"What?" I asked.

"He's staring at you again." My heart stopped.

"Who?"

"That Army guy that grabbed your arm last week." I frowned. That wasn't the answer I wanted. Of course. He wasn't here right now. He hasn't showed up yet.

"What a creep." Ashton said as she rolled her eyes.

"I know." Nora agreed. I sighed and got up to throw away my trash. Then I walked towards the doors.

"Hey, wait!" a voice called as a hand grabbed my arm. I turned around to see the Army guy that was starring at me. I frowned. Everybody was quiet as the watched to see what was going on. I shifted uncomfortably and looked around. Ashton looked ready to jump into action. Ghost got up slowly and left. I moved my arm away from his hand.

"What do you want?" I asked coldly.

"Just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Private Emerson."

"Sergeant Miller. Is that all?" I asked as I turned away.

"No, wait. Hang on there, doll face." He said as he cut in front of me, blocking my path to the door.

"Excuse me?" I snapped.

"Come on, don't be like that. I think me and you could have some fun. What do you think, doll face?" His friends at the table began to snicker. Everybody was watching, waiting to see what would happen.

"I don't think so, Private. Don't call me 'doll face', I'm your superior, know your place." I said as I narrowed my eyes. He glared back.

"Bet you let MacTavish call you whatever he wants." he sneered. My heart stopped. I felt the blood drain from my face.

"What did you just say?" I whispered, too shocked to do or say anything else. He smirked.

"I said," he replied loudly, so everyone could hear. He wanted an audience. "That I bet you let Captain MacTavish call you anything he wants. I may not be on the Task Force, but at least I don't sleep with my superiors to get what I want. I bet you do it all the time. You know what? I bet you even do it in his office-"

"That's enough, Private!" a voice called from the door. I realized then why Ghost left. He went to get Captain MacTavish. And he looked livid.

"I don't have time for this." I said. I walked around Private Emerson.

"Well, at least I don't let my fellow squad members die." he called. I stopped. Captain MacTavish's eyes widened in shock. I turned around to Private Emerson smirking.

"Private! That's enough!" MacTavish snapped.

"Not only are you a whore who sleeps around with her own Captain, but you're a sorry excuse for a Marine. You let your squad die and wouldn't even help Stadd Sergeant What's-his-face when he needed it. You don't deserve-"

I punched him in the face before he could finish saying what I knew he was going to say. The next thing I knew, I was on top of him, beating his face in.

"Emma!" Ghost called. I didn't care. All I cared about was knocking the fuck out of the guy beneath me. Strong arms encircled my waist and pulled me away from him. I struggled at first, but then stopped. Captain MacTavish turned me away from Private Emerson and Ghost was there shielding me from him. Captain MacTavish turned back to the Private.

"What were you thinking? When I say 'enough', I mean it! You have no right disrespecting any of my team members, Private. General Shepherd will be hearing about this."

Private Emerson moved towards Captain MacTavish, but Ghost got in his way and held him back.

"How is she, MacTavish? She's a cold-hearted bitch, but her body is nice. Guess that's all that matters, huh?"

"You son of a bitch!" I yelled. I lunged, trying to reach around MacTavish so I could claw his eyes out. Ashton got in my way and restrained me.

"Watch your mouth, Private. You're really asking for it. Get the hell out of my sight." MacTavish snapped. "Walk him out, Ghost."

"Yes, sir." Ghost replied as he grabbed Private Emerson's arm and guided him out of the mess hall. Ashton let go of me as Captain MacTavish turned around.

"Sergeant Miller, I want you to get your hand checked and report to my office. Understood?"

"Yes, sir." I replied. He nodded and walked away. I sighed.

"Come on, Emma. Let's go get your hand checked out." Ashton whispered.

pov Ashton

Emma was sitting on a medical bed, swinging her legs back and forth. She stared at her knees without saying a word. She's been like this for a week, distant and quiet. She completely avoids Captain MacTavish now. I frowned. This was so unlike her.

"Well your knuckles are bruised, but it's nothing serious. You'll be fine." I said as I filled out some paper work. "I guess you're done here." She nodded and hopped off the bed.

"I don't understand how a guy like that would end up on a base like this. Like, seriously?" Emma said, shaking her head.

"No idea. But did you see the look on MacTavish's face when he came into the mess hall? Even I was terrified."

"Really?" Emma asked.

"Yeah he just... I don't know, he just stood there at first. Like he was assessing the situation and figured you could handle it on your own, but I don't think he really heard what he was saying until Private Emerson announced to the mess hall that he believes you and the Captain are sleeping around. He must really hate people disrespecting his team, especially females."

"Or just can't stand being accused of shit he would never do." Emma replied, glaring at the floor. I frowned.

"Did something happen between you and Captain MacTavish?"

"What do you mean?" She asked, looking up at me.

"You guys are avoiding each other like the plague. He called you Sergeant, Emma."

"Yeah, so? That's my rank."

"Yeah but when does Captain MacTavish ever call anyone on his squad by their rank? We have call signs, Emma. So what's going on?" Emma sighed.

"During the party, after the speeches, Captain MacTavish left and he looked... I don't know, troubled I guess. Well, after awhile I went to find him and we got into a fight."

"What about?" I asked, curious. Emma and MacTavish running alone and fighting? Not a good sign. I couldn't help but feel concerned. I didn't want Emma getting into something she'll have a hell of a time getting out of. Especially if it involved hard feelings between the two of them. Emma looked away.

"There were some things we talked about, things in my past. It was the day before the mission. When I saw him leave, I knew that something was up so I followed him to make sure he was ok. He told me to go back to the party and I told him no."

"You told the Captain no? You denied a direct order?" I asked, shocked. Emma winced.

"Yeah, I know. Bad deal. He told went off about orders and I lectured him about how much of a great Captain he is and all that. He got upset about opening up and well after all of that, I left. We haven't spoken to each other since."

"You told him that he was a great Captain?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Oh, nothing. It just seems like there's you two actually do have something going on."

"Oh, God no! Are you kidding me? He's our Captain, Ashton."

"Yeah well, regardless of what's going on between you two, you have to face him eventually. And he does want you in his office as soon as possible, so it looks like you're going to be doing a little sooner than you like, and you have a choice but to talk to him now."

"Thanks for reminding me." Emma muttered.

pov Soap

"General Shepherd will be notified, Private. You disrespected a superior and disobeyed direct orders. What you did is inexcusable." I said to Private Emerson as he stood in my office in parade rest position. I stood I front of my desk with my arms crossed across my chest. Ghost was leaning against the wall to my right. You could feel the anger rolling off of him like waves.

"Yes, sir." Private Emerson said through gritted teeth.

"We warned you, mate," Ghost said with a dangerously calm voice. "Don't mess with our team. We don't stand for this kind of behavior."

"We won't tolerate this. We will discuss-"

There was a knock at the door. I already knew who it was. I suddenly became nervous. We haven't talked to each other in about a week. The mess hall was the first time we really had contact. I could remember the way she felt in my arms when they were wrapped around her waist, almost as if she belonged there. What the bloody hell? I cleared my throat and said "Come in" as I pushed the disturbing thoughts away. Emma walked in and froze. Pure fury crossed her face and I felt a strange feeling of satisfaction, knowing that she hated the man standing in front of me. But just as quickly as it came, it was gone. Her face lacked emotion as she walked up and stood by Private Emerson, and also stood at parade rest.

"Captain, you asked for me." She said.

"Yes, I did. Private Emerson, wait outside for Ghost. You're dismissed."

"Yes, sir." he replied, then he turned around and walked out of the office. I looked at Emma.

"Sergeant, how's your hand?" I asked. Ghost looked at me for a moment then looked away. I didn't think about it, but he obviously noticed that I wasn't calling her by her call sign. Which meant there would be questions I would have to answer later. Damn.

"The knuckles are just bruised, sir."

"Good. I know that what was said was inappropriate and out of hand, however, being a Sergeant in the Marine corps and a part of this team, you should've responded in a less... violent manner."

"Yes, sir. It won't happen again."

"Under the circumstances, it's understandable. Just don't let it get out of control again, Lynx."

"I won't, sir."

"Good."

"Nice right hook." Ghost commented. A smile broke through Emma's mask.

"Thanks, I learned from the best." she replied with a smirk. Ghost chuckled.

"Ghost, Private Emerson is waiting for you, mate."

"Right." Ghost nodded to Emma and left. I leaned back against my desk and waited. She stared at the floor and remained silent.

"Private Emerson will be dealt with." I said finally. She looked up.

"Yes, sir."

"How's work?"

"Good, sir." I nodded.

"How has Nora been?"

"She's... coping, sir. It's hard for her, it will be for awhile. She needs time. Just like the rest of us."

"I'll talk to her, try and help."

"How are you feeling?"

"It's a good idea, sir." she said as she looked away.

"How are you feeling?" she looked back at me, shocked.

"I've been good, sir."

"Really?"

"Yes, sir."

"Didn't seem like you were good when you were using Private Emerson's face as a punching bag." she narrowed her eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"He got under your skin. You're still sensitive about the loss of your squad and we just lost Meat and Royce. There's something bothering you."

"With all due respect, sir, I can handle it myself."

"Just like you did earlier? Listen, I'm your Captain, we can talk about anything. That's one of the reasons I'm here. When something like this happens, you talk to me about it rather than taking into your own hands."

"Yeah, great idea. Run to the very man I'm being accused of sleeping with. How would that look? I appreciate your concern, but it would've looked bad. Besides, he deserved it."

"I understand he deserved it. And honestly, I don't disagree with the way you handled it. It's just we are on a base and we are a special force. We have to restrain ourselves. Believe me, I wanted to kill the guy, but I'm a Captain. I have to conduct myself as such. And I don't care how it looked, Emma. You should've came to me."

"Oh sure, because the first thing I'm going to do is open up to the Captain who has been avoiding me for a week. After that fight, do you really think I would go to you?"

I was quiet. Everything she said was true. It would've looked bad. But then again they didn't know anything that was going on with my squad. Not a fucking clue. But she probably wouldn't have thought to come to me after that fight. It was probably would have been the last thing on her mind.

"Look lass, I understand. I'm sorry about what happened last week, You're right, it would've been the last thing on your mind. And the last thing I want is for Shepherd to think something's going on, but I'm still your Captain and it's what I'm here for. Next time, just let it go or come to me. Can't have you fighting every man on base, eh?"

"Trying to keep me out of trouble, Captain?" she asked with a small smile.

"No, I'm trying to save their faces and keep them out of the hospital." she laughed at first, then she frowned.

"Sir...?"

"Yeah?"

"I want to apologize for not following your orders. I was out of line."

"Don't worry about it, lass. We were both out of line. We weren't thinking clearly."

"Yes, sir."

"Well, I need to make a call to General Shepherd. You're dismissed."

"Yes, sir."

pov Ghost

"Did you see the look on his face?" Roach asked Ozone. "He wasn't expecting Lynx to punch him." We were in the rec room with Nora and Archer, watching TV.

"Serves him right. He deserves it for disrespecting one of our own like that." Ozone replied.

"Did you hear what he accused her of? He said-"

"Oi! Why don't the two of you go to the shooting range and let a few rounds fly?" I said.

"Yes, sir." Roach and Ozone replied. Nora watched as Roach and Ozone left then looked at me with concern.

"Did you hear what he said to her?" she asked quietly so Archer couldn't hear.

"The whole bloody base heard it."

"Did Captain MacTavish hear it?"

"Yeah, he pretty much heard everything. Well, mostly."

"And?"

"He's pissed. I haven't seen him like that in a long time. The stupid git made a huge mistake with making the Captain an enemy."

"Do you think it's true though?" she asked.

"Think what's true? The squad thing?"

"No, the Captain thing. Is there something going on?" I frowned. I remembered the look on MacTavish's face when I told him that there was a problem in the mess hall that involved Emma and the soldier we confronted a week before. I personally thought it was going to be MacTavish punching Emerson in the face instead of Emma. Honestly, he probably would have if Emma hadn't beaten him to it. But then again I was glad it was Emma who did it, because if MacTavish was as mad as I think he was, then he would've killed the guy. I sighed and shook my head.

"I'm not sure, Candy. I know that they're not sleeping around, but I know those two have a weird relationship. It's...complicated. He respects the hell out of her, but I'm not sure if there is 'a thing' going on."

"How is it complicated?"

"Not my place to say. Let's just say that in some ways, they're more alike than they think. Too similar, if you ask me."

"Like?"

"They're pasts."

"Oh. Well everyone is talking about them."

"Tell them to piss off. They don't know what they're talking about."

"Well, we know one thing."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"Don't ever piss that girl off."


FYI: parade rest is a stance used in the military. It's when you stand with your legs spread apart, back straight, and your right hand is folded neatly on the left one, thumbs locked, on your lower back. Soldiers sometimes do this when a commanding officer says "at ease". Just letting you know :)