It was hot. For being in a desert, Rory couldn't state the fact enough. She had already written it in her notes three times. She was allowed to be in minimal gear, but the men standing in front of her were covered from head to toe with thirty to fifty pounds of gear on and she had no idea how they were still functioning. After watching the routine practice, Tristan was supposed to pick her up and take her to her next station for more interviews. She was packing up her bag when she heard a whistle from one of the men. Assuming that it was for her, she glanced up, but was surprised when everyone was looking over her shoulder. She followed everyone's gaze and couldn't hide the smile that covered her face as Tristan strode towards her in a uniform that was covered in a fresh new medal.

"Got some new hardware DuGray?" One of the men walked up to him and shined the star on his chest for him.

"Looking good Sarge." Another teased.

"Are you ready to go?" Tristan asked her with a smile, clearly trying to ignore the men around him.

"Yeah." Rory said, still watching the interaction between the men intensely.

"Sorry boys, I've got to escort the lady to her next post. Have fun in drills." He said as he moved his sunglasses down the bridge of his nose and winked. The groans that emanated from the crowd made Rory chuckle.

"So what's the story behind the new look?" Rory asked.

"They wanted to give me a medal for my service, and these things are usually done in uniform and since you made me pack one in case of emergencies, I put one on for old time's sake."

"You're welcome." She said with a smile. She hadn't seen him in uniform yet, but she had to admit, there was just something about the confidence in his smile and the way that he strutted around the rest of the day that turned her on. It was like the missing piece of the puzzle that unlocked the whole Tristan. As the day finally ended, Tristan was bringing Rory back to her room. She watched as he walked in ahead of her to check out the room and she locked the door behind them.

"I had a really good time today." She said.

"Good." Tristan smiled as she walked past him and let her hand trail across his abs briefly.

"I don't know what it is about seeing you in your natural environment, being in control, all the while looking smoking hot in that uniform, but I am dying for you to come over here and be my G.I. Joe." Rory said. Tristan just raised an eyebrow at her suggestive behavior.

"What has gotten into you?" He asked. She shrugged coyly as she started unbuttoning her shirt slowly.

"I have no idea, but I'm hot." Tristan watched as another button was unfastened slowly, revealing her skin, which was covered in a thin layer of sheen from sweat "and bothered." There went another button. Tristan was suddenly finding it hard to breathe. "And I'm not leaving this bed until I'm completely satisfied." She said, removing the shirt completely. Tristan knew how determined she was when she wanted something, so he didn't bother questioning her statement. He just helped her undress by pulling her pants off of her long legs. He stripped down to his wife beater as quickly as possible and pushed her onto the cot, their sticky bodies from the desert heat now gliding easily against each other.

"Jesus." He said as he felt her wet heat.

"Do you see what you do to me, soldier?" She asked, wrapping her arms around his neck. He devoured her with a hot kiss and she moaned out her response. She spread her legs, silently begging for him to enter her. He granted her request. She moaned in satisfaction at finally feeling him within her.

"Open your eyes." He commanded. He wanted to watch her while he eased her sexual frustration. Her eyes fluttered open and she was surprised at his face. He was staring at her with such intensity that she didn't know how to handle it, but she locked eyes with him anyway, forcing herself to fight the urge to simply die in pleasure. From the way that he looked, she would have thought that he were doing push-ups in basic training. There was something so masculine and in control about him that it made Rory go weak in the knees, figuratively speaking of course. As her abdomen tightened, she allowed herself to close her eyes and explode through her orgasm. Tristan finally let go and allowed himself the same pleasure. As they came down from their high, Tristan fell onto his stomach next to her, and Rory giggled.

"Do you know how torturous it was seeing you like this all day and not being able to touch you?" She asked, her hand trailing up and down his back. He stared into her eyes.

"It's how I feel about ninety percent of the time." She smiled at the compliment, but didn't believe him for an instant.

"You're keeping the uniform, right?"

"I am now." He said with a tired smirk.

"Good, you are an entirely different person with it on." Her statement took him by surprise.

"What do you mean?" He asked, still trying to catch his breath.

"I mean that you are confident, comfortable, like you could take on anything and anyone. You look like you've got the whole world under control." She said. "It was like the final piece of the puzzle to your personality. I guess I hadn't realized how different you seemed without one. What I'm wondering, is whether it was just a lack of confidence post accident, or if you are really having that hard of a time adjusting back in Boston."

"You got all of that from watching me walk in a uniform for a couple of hours."

"It was a big change, Tristan." She said, not taking the subject lightly at all. He fell silent, not sure how to deal with her judgment against him.

"I am happy in Boston. I want you to know that." He said.

"I know you are." She said, rubbing her hand over his bare shoulder.

OOOO

"Last day in the desert, what's the plan?" Tristan asked at breakfast the next morning.

"I've got some interviews I have got to get before I leave. Havens is going to go with me. What about you?"

"I don't know yet. I thought I might tag along with you. Get to see you in action." Rory smiled, not wanting to admit what she was doing that day.

"You don't want to do that. It's so boring; you can't listen to the interviews anyway because they're confidential. You would just be standing around with Havens outside of the door. You should do something semi-fun on your last day here. Talk to your friends, hang out with your guys." Tristan got the notion that she didn't want him around so he nodded.

"Okay." He said, noticing that she wasn't looking him in the eye. He pushed his food around his plate with his fork a little before being interrupted by Havens.

"You ready?" Rory nodded.

"Yeah." She turned to Tristan. "If I kissed you goodbye right now, would everyone notice?" She asked.

"Probably." He said with a smile as she nodded.

"I'll see you later." She said. "Have some fun today." She requested.

"Bye." Tristan waved her off.

OOOOO

Rory glanced around the small village that she had promised she would stay out of. It wasn't her fault that the guys who were stationed here today happened to be the men that she needed to talk to. The Colonial had given her full permission, but still, Tristan had asked her not to come here. He didn't have to know. He kept things from her all the time. This time, it was her turn to keep a secret or two.

"We can't go down that road." Havens said.

"Why not?" Rory asked.

"It's off limits."

"I thought that the Colonial told me that it was okay for us to be here…"

"It wasn't orders from the Colonial." From the look on Havens face, he clearly didn't want to talk about it.

"Tristan's giving you orders now? He's not even in command anymore!" Rory said, frustrated that Havens would listen to his old commander.

"Look, Tristan didn't say anything to me, but I know for a fact that he doesn't want you going down that road. It's where his accident happened." Rory was overcome with a sense of curiosity that she couldn't contain.

"I want to see it." She said, sounding pretty demanding for someone who had no power whatsoever.

"No." Havens shook his head, unable to grant her request.

"It's just around the corner."

"No. Do you know what they would do to me if they found out that you were off the track?"

"Please? I have to know. I can't help him until I fully understand what he went through." Havens looked at her and felt his resolve begin to crumble. Her eyes were big and her lips were shaking. He did want to help Tristan, but if he ever found out what they had done…well, he couldn't find out.

"On one condition." He said.

"Anything."

"No one finds out about this. Not Tristan, not anyone at the paper, not anyone on base, not anyone in this town, do you understand me?" She nodded her head. Havens looked around as if someone were watching and he headed down the street. Rory followed close behind. As she came up to the rubbled remains of the building, she let out a small sigh. She snapped a quick photo. It was exactly as she had pictured it in her imagination, and yet, she couldn't help but tear up at the unexpected sight of reality. He had been in there, trapped under it, unable to call for help. She finally glanced away, unable to look at it any longer.

"Okay, let's go." Havens said, turning quickly around and escorting her back to their truck. He was clearly uncomfortable with the situation, both from breaking the rules and watching her cry. She sniffed, fighting back the tears.

"Thank you." She said, trying to put him at ease. He helped her into the back of the truck before letting the canvas drop behind him. The ride was silent for a few minutes until the driver of the truck shouted something to Havens.

"Get down!" He said, grabbing her arm and pushing her to the floor of the vehicle. She covered her head with her arms as the sounds of gunfire filled the air. She couldn't tell where it was coming from or where it was going. Lost in the chaos of the moment, she was surprised when it stopped as quickly as it started. Havens returned from the window, quiet and white as a sheet. "You can get up." He told her. "They won't be bothering us again." From the way that he said it, Rory knew that he had taken care of the problem. She opened her mouth to say something, but knew that there was nothing to say.

OOOOO

"DuGray." Havens had finally tracked him down, the guilt from the day not allowing him to rest until he did so.

"Yeah." He said, slowing his pace to stop and talk to his friend and current guardian over his girlfriend.

"We need to talk."

"About Rory?" Tristan asked, knowing from the intonation of his voice that the subject was serious. Havens just nodded. "Why? What happened?"

"She had a pretty emotional day today. There was a sight that she wanted to see, that was, shall we say, off the beaten path." Tristan knew that meant 'all but restricted'. "When we got back on the truck, we had an incident." Tristan felt every muscle in his body tense at the word.

"What do you mean, back on the truck?" Tristan asked. Havens didn't answer. "You went into town today?"

"She's fine. She's in her room right now, but you should probably go check up on her."

"Havens." Tristan needed more information. "Did you go into town today?"

"She had an interview and we happened to walk by the building." He said. Tristan stopped listening and walked directly past his friend. He barely made out the phrase "only time to get it" that was yelled after him. He didn't bother stopping until he had barged into her room, scaring her half to death.

"Jesus!" She said, landing on the bed again after jumping two feet into the air. She clutched her heart and stared at him. "You scared me." She said. This nearly sent Tristan over the edge. He had scared her? Was she serious? Rory saw how upset Tristan was, but she didn't know why. "What's wrong?"

"Are you okay?" He asked her quickly. She eyed him cautiously, unsure of what he knew. "Are you hurt physically or, or, or, emotionally for that matter?" She shook her head.

"Okay." He nodded, confirming that she was okay. "Now let me ask you this, are you out of your fucking mind?!" He had never raised his voice to her, ever and it scared her. "You made Havens drive you into town, after you were specifically told…"

"They told me it was okay." She defended herself.

"Okay?! Do you have any idea what could have happened to you?!" She knew that his anger was only out of concern for her, but she had to get his emotions under control. She got up slowly and stood in front of him, forcing him to stop pacing.

"Tristan, look at me." She said, putting her arms out for him to examine. "It was just a scare. I'm here. I'm safe." He just kept staring at her, his anger refusing to subside.

"You went there. After I asked you not to! What if something had happened to you?" He asked, clutching her face in his hands. "Do you have any idea what that would have done to me? The guilt that I would have felt?" She suddenly remembered the conversation that had taken place in her dining room between Tristan, Josh, and Drew. He had come along to protect her. She realized that Tristan would have blamed himself for anything that happened to her on this trip. Rory swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat. Shame was pumping through her veins. She had dragged him along on this trip, against his will, promised him that she would be safe and then had just thrown the entire thing in his face. His biggest fear, the reason he almost died, the reason that he laid in that hospital bed for all of those months. She realized how selfish she had been.

"I'm sorry." She said, not knowing what else to say. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Well, you did." He said, opening the door. He couldn't stand to look at her right now. He knew that if he did, he would lose his anger and immediately feel sympathetic at the sight of her crying.

"Tris, wait, let's talk about this. Tristan!" Her request fell quietly against the sound of the slamming door.