Chap 9

I know, it's late getting uploaded, so I made this a DOUBLE-LENGTH chapter! Yep! You'll get breakfast, and well into the morning, including the beginning of the big parachute jump! Courtney finally finds out some of Beach's backstory.. there's just a LOT going on! Keep your eyes open!

*At the real Ranger Rendezvous, they actually have one thousand Rangers parachute from planes in a mass jump in full combat gear. It's one of 'those sights' that you'd have to experience to get the full impact, I'm sure!

Thank you all for reviewing and for all the comments! I appreciate the feedback so very much!


Beach was less sulky when he was dressed and after they got a table at the local diner up the street. Their waiter was unusually chipper for working a restaurant over-run with hungry Army soldiers. "Best breakfast in town."

CoverGirl slid over to give Lydia more room in the bench seat. "Big breakfast before the big jump? I hope you don't get airsick, Ranger man. That'd be embarrassing." She plucked up the menu to peruse it slowly. Getting up so early might have been worth the sight she'd seen, but it was still much earlier than she wanted to be awake on a 'vacation'. She should have known going on vacation with BeachHead would mean no sleeping in. "If you puke on the plane, I'm pretty sure your buds won't let you live it down."

"Ain't likely." Beach pointed at the menu, more interested in ordering food than responding to her teasing.. "Can I get steak and eggs and a side stack of pancakes."

The waiter nodded. "No problem.. just to let you know, later in the week, you'll be hard pressed to get steak here, we'll run out. You ma'am?"

Courtney tilted her head. "It's Corporal actually.. " He murmured an apology. "I would love a stack of blueberry pancakes and orange juice. Oh! A side of bacon with that."

He nodded and turned to Lydia, only to have Beach pipe up suddenly. "Can I get bacon with mine too?"

Scribbling on the notepad, he nodded. "Certainly." He opened his mouth to ask Lydia for her order, stopped and leaned to look up and down her arms. "Ma'am? Or are you out of uniform?"

Lydia smiled at him, while Stalker and Courtney broke up laughing. One smart slap to Stalker's arm and Lydia looked up at their waiter. "No, I'm civilian. French toast with fresh fruit."

Beach perked up. "Fruit?"

The waiter looked at him for a second. "Adding fruit to your order." He turned to Stalker and waited patiently until Lydia, Courtney and Stalker all got done laughing at the look of consternation on Beach's face. "Sergeant?"

"Sausage and eggs with toast." Stalker turned to Beach. "And I think you can guess from the alert expression on Beach's face there.."

The waiter nodded as he wrote. "Sausage added on to his, thank you Sergeant. It'll all be out in just a little bit... we're pretty busy, so be patient for us, okay?" They all assured him they were fine, as long as he brought more coffee.

By the time they were finishing the food, BeachHead had managed to snag one of Courtney's blueberry pancakes, although she'd stolen one of his biscuits. "What? You were gonna leave it on the plate, Barbiedoll, so shut it."

She elbowed him and leveled a finger at him. "The polite thing to do is to ask, not just pluck it off my plate."

He snorted derisively. "Yeah, I was just as danged polite as you are when I got fries you wanna steal." She stuck a tongue out at him and he smirked at her. "Is that an offer?" Her eyebrows disappeared into her hairline and he struggled to look smug and not blush.

Sergeant Green appeared out of the crowd to tap Beach's shoulder. "BeachHead... they want you jumpers formed up early. Just figured I'd let you know.." He waited while Beach swallowed the last bite of food and got to his feet. "Also... Warrant officer Amore has been lurking around, been asking a few subtle questions about you, where you've been, stuff."

Beach looked irritable. "What's he doin' around the jump field anyway? Ain't there pencils fer him to be sharpenin'?" He picked up his gear bag to sling over a shoulder.

Daniel motioned him towards the door. "He's volunteered to be part of the chute packers, been inspecting parachutes and sticking his nose into everything. I just overheard him trying to ask Jock Richter if he knew where you were stationed currently."

Now the Sergeant major looked worried. "Well, I gotta go have a bit of a chat with his boss then. Can't have that crap goin' on." Courtney cleared her throat loudly. Beach stopped and turned to look at her. She tilted her head to where Stalker was kissing his wife goodbye. The Alabama native snorted loudly. "Lonzo, get it in gear.. she can watch ya jump then ya'll can go back to all that kissy stuff again."

Courtney suddenly got up and walked over to take Beach by his ears and pull him down to face level. "Be careful you big dense doofus. Now kiss me, so I'll let go instead of pulling one of your big dumb ears off." He kissed her lips and she turned loose while Stalker chuckled at him. "Better. Have fun jumping out of the plane." She went back to the table to sit and finish her coffee with Lydia.

Beach rubbed at his ears. "Dang woman.. ain't gotta go draggin' on my ear." He lifted his voice. "Try to stay outa trouble." He turned to Stalker as they exited. "I don't see yer danged woman yanking on yer ears."

"That because I told her goodbye before she had to come chase me down for her goodbye kiss, Beach. You're just a slow learner." Stalker seemed too amused over the incident.

"Whutever. Yer just whipped. Yer wife says jump and yer half in the air a'fore she can finish the word." Beach glanced over at his fellow Joe and realized he was treading on dangerous ground. He switched topics slightly. "She gonna watch the jump?"

"No. She says she knows about enough of the dangerous stuff I do, she doesn't want to watch me falling through the air and have to wonder if my chute will open or not." Stalker shrugged. "It's okay. She'll go to the Benning museum and check out the new World War II exhibit."

Benny came rushing up to nod at Sarge. "Sarge, they're calling our group early, Amore told them to change the order for call up." He motioned at Beach. "Come on.. we gotta run to gear up now." Pointing at Stalker, he raised eyebrows. "You in the same group?"

"Noo. I'm in a different one." Stalker looked concerned anyway.

Benny held up his hands as he backed away, already breaking into a jog. "Better check when you hit the hanger bays. No telling what else he's screwed up." He shoved at Beach's back. "Come on, you snot monkey... you want to miss the jump?"

"Shut up Benny.." Beach cursed softly as he broke into a run. "That damned Warrant officer ain't gonna shut me outa the Ranger jump, not no how."


Out in the landing fields, Courtney wasn't sure where to look first. The open field was mobbed with people, mostly uniformed Army or Rangers, but a great deal of civilians as well. She'd hoped that Beach would come to see them before the Rangers had to load up for the jump, now she didn't see how he'd even be able to find them in the press afterwards.

"Courtney!" The shout made her turn and scan the people warily. The voice was female and wasn't Lydia. She immediately smoothed her hand across her belly, feeling the small blade tucked under her belt. Her Ranger had begun to infect her with a touch of paranoia now. "COURTNEY! Here!" The blond scanned the clump of people again and her gaze suddenly fixed on a short older lady who was waving at her frantically.

"Beth?" Courtney hurried through the people and was hugged around the neck by the matron. "Umm.. hi."

Aunt Beth turned loose of the tank jockey and patted her face lightly. "It's so very good to see you dear! I just knew it was you when I saw you. I just got here, so pleased I didn't miss it!" She smiled widely.

"Okaaay..." Courtney looked around and then back. "I didn't realize you were coming.. or I'd have arranged to meet you somewhere." She was motioned to the side by a bored looking Private with a safety vest on. "Oh, we have to move back.. must be close to time.."

Aunt Beth hurried back behind an invisible line that satisfied the solders arranging the field. Courtney followed and began to scan the fields for familiar faces. Aunt Beth patted her arm. "I'm so glad I found you, it's such a madhouse! Do you know when they'll be doing the jump? I know Wayne was so excited over this trip. I was pleased to hear you'd be able to go with him."

Courtney nodded. "It's been crazy! All these Rangers come into town and mob everything, and they harass and prank each other, and bang on doors in the middle of the night.. really nuts. Like a giant frat party.. with more explosives and weapons." Beth laughed. "I know the jump should be before noon, but I don't know how close to noon." She suddenly spotted a large familiar figure limping across part of the field. "That's Daniel! HEY SARGE!" About fourteen people turned to look at her and she blushed. "Sorry! SERGEANT GREEN! HEY DANIEL!" Jumping up and down, she waved her arms as he looked in her direction for a couple minutes. She tried jumping higher and finally he shook his head and walked over. "Hey Daniel! I thought you were gonna walk off!"

"You realize..." He grinned slyly. "I saw you right away.. I just wanted to watch you jumping up and down.. it's.. distracting. I can see why Sneeden is so smitten by you." His grin was full of humor instead of leering and she sighed. Somehow it wasn't quite as offensive as when Clutch said the same sort of thing.

"Very funny!" Courtney restrained herself from giving him a punch to his arm. He was likable enough that she wanted to treat him like any of her fellow Joe teammates, but had to remind herself he was still a virtual stranger. A stranger that if he took offense, might very well know up to a dozen ways to kill her with a spork. She indicated the elder lady beside her. "This is Beth O'Hara.."

The older woman nodded politely to the large Ranger. "Aunt Beth, dear.. everyone calls me that." She reached to take the craggy sergeant's hand in both of hers. "So nice to meet you, Sergeant Green, is it?"

Completely nonplussed over this strange civilian, Danial nodded and swallowed. "Yes ma'am. Daniel is fine." He turned his head to check over the dozen soldiers working the crowd lines. "They got me supervising the security here, but in about ten minutes, I'll be free to chat." He extracted his hand from hers. "I'll be back.." His eyes fastened on Courtney's face. "I'd like time to talk to you." His tone made it clear that he intended to have that talk whether she 'liked' the idea or not. She nodded at him. "So I'll see you two ladies in a few minutes." He limped off along the line, pointing along the straggling front edge. "GET THOSE FOLKS BACK! Get your damned butts in gear, or I'll wring you all out like wet laundry!" His shouting made CoverGirl smile, it sounding all too familiar.

"He's a Ranger also?" Aunt Beth's query made her startle and nod.

"Yes, there's a couple Rangers that Beach served with when he first became a Ranger, and both of them are on base here. I don't see Benny right now, but he's jumping with Beach. He's the funniest guy, you can tell he's a real friend to both Daniel and Beach." Courtney pointed. "I think that's where the planes will come from.. over that direction. The wind is coming from the south today."

Aunt Beth dutifully looked in that direction. "It's terribly exciting. I've never seen parachutists in groups before. Is Wayne's friend Stalker going to be jumping also?"

"Yes, he's in the third group though, so not in the same group as Beach. Of course, they're team shooting tomorrow in the competitions. Will you be staying for that? It's going to be really awesome, with obstacles to shoot over and such." Courtney nudged a sizable young man back away from her side. "Personal space buddy, respect it." He stepped away and she turned back to Aunt Beth. "Stalker's wife Lydia is around somewhere, but she said she's seen enough jumps. I think it makes her nervous to see her man jumping out of a plane."

Aunt Beth's eyebrow quirked upwards. "And it doesn't bother you at all?"

"Nope." Courtney glanced away slightly. "Well.. maybe only a little, but only because this real jerk how doesn't like Beach was here earlier.. I'm not worried about the jump. But this officer really seems to hate Beach over something from a long time ago. But No One wants to tell me what it was about." She fumed for a moment. "But Benny says to ignore him, and that he doesn't matter. It's hard though, I'd much rather put both hands around his skinny pencil neck and squeeeeeeze..."

"Now dear..." Aunt Beth's voice managed to sound disapproving and amused at the same time. "Violence is not the answer in every situation."

"Nooo, but it's soo satisfying." She took a deep breath. "He just snipes at Beach at every opportunity, and Beach can't respond without the jerkwad pulling rank on him. It's like he's just baiting him, trying to get him to do something that he can write him up for. What a jerk!" She growled loudly.

Aunt Beth's gaze had gone rather steely. "Sounds rather like he's enjoying bullying Wayne. If he does it around me, I'll give him a piece of my mind. I despise bullies. And since I have no rank to speak of, there's not much he can do to threaten me."

Courtney smiled and almost purred. "Good. I hope he shows up. I'd love to see you emasculate him with a few choice words."

Sergeant Green reappeared, limping alongside a private who was listening intently to his instructions before darting off at a run. "Hello again ladies." He let his lips curl upwards just a little bit. "Are you enjoying the day? It's going to rain Ranger men soon."

Aunt Beth nodded. "Oh yes. I've never seen anything like this, so I'm quite excited." She nodded towards CoverGirl. "I think I'll let you two talk, I need to take a walk myself."

Sergeant Green nodded at her. "The jump will be about another twenty minutes." He watched her walk away and turned to CoverGirl who fidgeted. "Alright.. look." His expression turned hard and serious. "What are you after with Sneeden? Whatever it is, I'll get it for you. You're just going to let him go."

Courtney looked up at him. "No, I'm not. All I want is for him to be happy. I'm not interested in you.. or Benny, or any other guy that's trying to get into my pants. Just Beach."

Sarge's jaw clenched. "Girl... I'm not going to let you toy with him and then drop kick him. I dragged his sorry ass all over the place, kept him alive through firefights that should have killed all of us, threw him into Ranger school... and I'm not going to let another two-bit hussy destroy him."

Hey hackles went up. "Hussy? Look.. you may be his old sergeant, but I'm not going to stand for..." She stopped and her gaze narrowed. "What do you mean by 'another hussy'?" He shook his head and she crossed her arms stubbornly. "No, I'm getting very sick of all the veiled hints of something that happened long ago, and if you're expecting me to drop the man I love for no reason, then you're going to be sorely disappointed."

Green's scowl deepened. "I shouldn't have to tell you anything, but if you're going to be this asinine over it... he's gone through it before. It was ugly and I ain't about to let you do the same thing."

Courtney stepped up to right under his face. "You look. I love him, I'm risking everything to pursue him, I've dealt with more crap than you can imagine while pursuing him. If he doesn't want me, he'll have to tell me himself. I don't know what happened before, but I don't have any hidden agenda or plans. I don't know why he keeps backing off, I don't know why you keep sniping at me, and I don't know that I care, except I don't want to hurt him by me not knowing. SO... either tell me what the hell happened.. or shut up and let us work it out on our own." She glared hard. "If you want to stop me, you better use one of your nifty Ranger tricks to kill me right here and now. Because that's how you'll stop me from going after the only man I've ever loved."

Daniel shifted his gaze away, conceding to her. "It's not my place..."

She exploded. "STOP IT! For god's sake! Just tell me already! Half a dozen people here know! Just tell me!"

Breathing in deep, Daniel made the decision inside himself. "Well.. hell." Motioning to the side he encouraged her to walk with him. His limp meant they walked slowly, but she didn't care if she'd finally find out what part of Beach's past was haunting him.

"You'll have to understand, we weren't around when it all actually happened. We all found out after the fact. So I can tell you what we were there for." She nodded patiently while he gathered his thoughts. "Sneeden was a young dumb idealistic grunt private right out of Basic. He was a up-and-coming cadre assistant too, because he was fair and fresh-minded and ready to take on the whole world for the Army. I'm guessing because he didn't have much else to depend on, he was all about doing right by the military and especially for his sergeants. But some female recruit led him on and slept with him, then turned around and tried to blackmail her way into a position by saying he raped her, used his position with the cadre to force her to have sex with him." Daniel waited for Courtney to finish cursing. "Yeah.. well, he was just a kid. Everything he'd worked his butt off for, every achievement he'd won, all went down the tubes. Her side wanted him drummed out on a dishonorable discharge... but he lucked out and his sergeant went to bat for him hardcore. So he was stripped of any awards, and sent off to New York to a new base, supposedly to a new start."

"That... that BITCH! Tell me I can get a hold of her now.. I'll strangle her slowly..." CoverGirl snarled and kicked at the grass.

Sarge almost smiled at her anger. "Settle down.. I'm getting to the parts you'll want to hear.." He waited for her to calm. "The new station wasn't supposed to know about anything with Sneeden. Just that he was a new guy stationed there, no real reason. But.. of course, scuttlebutt gets around, in this case, helped by the girl's supporters. So next thing our guy knows, he's getting his butt kicked for raping a recruit under his authority. His unit took it upon themselves, with full unofficial blessing of the officers, to 'teach' Sneeden to respect women."

"Oh hell.. why do I have the feeling I'm going to add some more people on my list of 'people to kill in a messy manner'?" CoverGirl stepped a bit closer to hear his low voice.

"You'd be right. Most of his time was spent on guard duty, standing a post somewhere. If a female, Army or civilian, even looked at him, much less asked him for directions or ordered him to help with something, Sneeden caught it from the guys when his shift was over. They beat him at least a few times a week. He was there almost a year before our Captain came through, looking for guys he could poach from other units to fill out our combat roster. He spotted Sneeden and for some reason, decided he'd do just fine. Went to the officer in charge and said 'I want that guy' and got him reassigned to our combat unit, mainly because his officer figured he'd get killed the first firefight he walked into."

"So you were part of the combat unit then.. you and Benny." Courtney was trying to digest all this new information.

"Yeah.. I was a sergeant even then.. Benny was a buck private, all full of himself but a damned good soldier. We were both experienced in combat though, while Sneeden was the fresh meat... never fired a gun at a person ever." Shaking his head, Daniel sighed. "The captain told us the story, said it was a load of bull puckey on a cracker, and if Captain said it, that was IT. Captain told us the poor kid hadn't wandered more than twenty feet from his side the entire rest of the recruiting trip. Good lord but he was a skinny bundle of bones. He could shoot, he could run.. but he just hadn't a damned clue about real fighting. We tried to bring him up to speed, but it was hard. Spending a year getting beaten for everything he did had just about whipped him. The captain said he wasn't broken though, so we dragged him along and he turned into a trooper in no time. Couldn't fault him for not trying, that's for sure. Benny wasn't kidding about him being like a puppy in that regard." Daniel sobered. "He never quite forgot that whole thing though. He'd twitch if a woman tried to approach him. Half the guys teased him about it, saying he was shy. But Captain knew.. that conditioning took hard. He might have stopped twitching, but he's never trusted a woman showing interest in him since then."

She stopped walking and ran a hand through her hair a few times. "I can see why not.. but.. I'm not that way. He just won't let me in. I know he wants it, Daniel.. I do. He just can't bring himself to step up for it." She sighed heavily. "I just can't imagine Beach ever getting beaten up by a bunch of... bullies."

Daniel looked across the field for his men, checking to see everyone was doing their job. "Yeah well.. he might be a big side of beef now, but then he was just a half-grown kid, underweight and half-trained. Besides, I don't care what kind of badass you are, if you put enough live bodies on the other side, you'll go down. Sneeden wasn't any kind of bad ass either.. he just wanted to do as he was told, like he'd been taught."

"Well, he's certainly impressive enough now. I guess it explains why he's such a social misfit. No one is very friendly to him.. just a few people he can't manage to drive off." She folded her arms. "It's a lot of work, liking Beachhead... much less loving Wayne."

"Well, that isn't all him.. that's partly that he's a drill instructor. Drills are universally hated and loved by their troops. That's normal. Just.. he doesn't want anyone getting under his skin again to hurt him. We took a lot of care with him, building him up into what he was meant to be.. and if you're playing him, some angle you're getting at.." He leveled a scary glare at her. "Lady or not, there's folks that can make you disappear. Either officially or not."

She stared back up into his hard eyes. "First, I only want to make him happy. Second, I won't disappear so easily. I might not be a Ranger, but I'm no dainty flower from the secretarial pool either."

His tolerant smile made her hackles rise a little bit. "I bet you aren't. But.. if you hurt him... I'll see to things myself if I have to. Rangers take care of our own. I want to think you'll be a good thing for him.. he seems awfully attached to you. Courtney.. Benny and me.. we're the only guys left out of our unit. Everyone else is dead now. Either combat related or after we were reassigned after the conflicts were done.. stupid accidents, illness and just plain bad luck. It's not real fair.. seeing your buddies dying. Sneeden dropped off our radar and I just about assumed he was lost in some hush-hush military mission. Then here he arrives at Rendezvous, dragging along a gorgeous woman who seems to be trying to be his girlfriend. I hope he's doing well and things in life are going well for at least one of us."

"He's pretty respected where he is, he seems happy with the work and well...we're working on the whole dating thing. He's coming around to the idea. He can be a real slow learner but he's trying to keep up his side of the relationship.. in his own way." Daniel's questioning upward quirk of an eyebrow made her smile. "Oh.. he does odd things for me.. like he shines my bullets. He bought me a radiator for my project car.. for a Christmas present. God help him, he even got me a cactus plant, because I told him I don't care for flowers and he thought a cactus would be good. Made me feel a little bad about hitting him in the head with it."

Daniel stepped back looking appalled. "You did what?"

She bristled a little defensively. "Well.. he said he got me a cactus because it was prickly just like me! And that I probably wouldn't neglect and kill it, because it was tough and could withstand my 'lack of nurturing ability'! I mean.. geez!"

He tried not to laugh but failed. After a moment, he reached out to wrap an arm around her shoulders and give a squeeze. "Ahhh Courtney.. you do bring out the romantic in Sneeden, don't you?"

She couldn't stay angry and rolled her eyes. "I guess so.. why couldn't you guys teach him a little about how to date instead of how to field strip a M16 in ten seconds flat?"

"Because we figure the M16 would be better for him than a woman would. Heck... Benny bought him a hooker in country once. Does that count?" He took the punch to his bicep in stride. "I'm guessing no?"

"I think you guys taught him more of his dating skills than I thought." She sighed. "So.. will I need to hire a food taster, or am I approved to date your old cohort?"

"I think you'll do, mechanic girl. We'll be keeping an eye out though.. as much good as that does, with him under the radar like he is." Daniel nodded his head over at the slowly approaching Aunt Beth. "Who is the goody-two-shoes, by the way? What's her angle?"

Courtney smiled and waved at her, reassuring her that the private talk was over by inviting her over. "Aunt Beth is just what she appears. She's actually a relative of one of our teammates and she adores Beach. But you better watch it, she's got wicked spoon skills, whack you in the head before you can duck."

"I'll keep that in mind." Daniel nodded to her as she walked up. "Ma'am. Thank you for giving me a few minutes to speak to the corporal here. I do appreciate it."

"Of course dear." She looked off to search for the planes. "I worry about poor Wayne, jumping out of a plane like this."

Both of the Army people laughed at that. Daniel was the one that answered her concern. "Don't worry about Sneeden, he likes jumping out of planes and all that fun stuff." He sighed heavily and his voice got softer. "I sure wish I could be up there with them."

Aunt Beth's gentle hand rested on his arm. "Sometimes there is another plan for us, something different than what we had in mind. But there's always a reason for it."

He looked down at the small older woman and Courtney actually saw her honest charm win him over. "Yes ma'am... I expect that's true. The Army put me where they figured I could be useful still." He jerked his chin at the horizon. "Besides, Benny is right there with our boy. I suspect the list was tweaked a bit on Benny's behalf to get him on the same roster as Sneeden. Not that any of us Rangers would stoop to bribery or using any inside influence to change roster lists... of course."

Aunt Beth didn't show the slightest amusement. "Of course not. Rangers would never consider such." She suddenly put her hand to her mouth. "Oh! Is that the planes now?"

"Yep.. that'd be the planes with our Rangers." Daniel tilted his head up and judged the winds. "They'll drop just to the south and land over in this open field in front of us."

Courtney watched the approaching planes and felt just a little bit of a thrill even though she tried to be casual about it. She watched the front plane, waiting for the Rangers to begin jumping out.


Beach finished fastening his harnessing that held his parachute pack on, then adjusted for the Alice pack as well. He was weighted down with over seventy pounds of equipment. Each Ranger was decked out in full gear for the jump. Each strap was checked, tightened, tugged, re-checked and finally he bent his legs in a deep squat. Straightening up again, he twisted to each side. Someone bumped and jostled him from behind and he turned, only to need to turn the opposite direction to 'catch' the person shoving at him.

Benny looked at him. "What? You ready?"

"Yeah.. you wanna check my straps?" Beach stood still while the smaller man tugged at his various straps and buckles. "Good?"

Benny nodded and waited while Beach returned the favor. "Yeah, you still remember how to tie your shoes too? I'm amazed. I guess we taught you pretty well if you still remember all the lessons. When's the last time you jumped out of a plane anyway?"

Beach tilted his head. "Ain't been very long, can't talk about it. You know how it is." He suddenly brightened. "Ain't been that long since I jumped over Benning in fact. Trainin' run." He suddenly frowned. "Course, that didn't go as planned... found out the danged medical staff here ain't lost none of their edge fer trappin' patients what don't want to stay."

Benny looked startled. "That was.. you? I didn't pay too much attention at the time, and never looked into it. Just that some guy parachuted into a closed area without permission, saved some female recruit..." He turned and stared. "That was Courtney? Damn man.. if I had known you were on base, holed up in the hospital, I'd have come visited."

"Yeah well..." Beach turned at the shouting. "Time to load up. Come on Benny.. 'bout time I got to jump with one of the old unit. No one I'd rather have by me."

Benny looked a little sad for a moment then brightened up. "Yeah, there's not many of us left, but I'm right here with you, BeachHead!" He clapped the larger Ranger on the shoulder and watched his mouth quirk upwards in something that might actually have been a smile. "Ahhh don't get all sappy now, just get in the plane so we can kick your fat butt out of it at altitude!"

"Benny.. shut up or I'll sit on you." Beach stepped into line and then turned to be confronted with an annoyed looking Warrant officer. "Mr Amore... so good to see ya again, always such a pleasure to see yer cheerful face." He smirked at Amore as his face darkened. "Gotta go join the rest a the Raaangers on the plane..." His emphasis on the term made Amore scowl even harder.

Benny managed to jostle the taller Army officer with his shoulder. "Huh? Oh sorry about that, Warrant officer Amore.." He turned and nearly knocked him down with the big parachute pack. "Ooops... my bad, sir.. just a little clumsy of me.."

Amore sputtered angrily and stumbled over Beach's slightly outstretched leg to tumble to the grass. "Damn it!"

Beach peered down at him. "Sorry.. didn't ya see me standin' here? Ah'll try to be more noticeable next time." Benny reached to help Amore up and banged his elbow into the man's shoulder instead, knocking him sideways off his feet again. "Benny! Be more careful dang it! Amore is delicate.. ya might injure him!" Beach reached with a meaty hand to grab Amore by the back of his jacket and hauled him to his feet like a child, setting him upright and giving him a brush-off before patting him in the chest hard enough to stagger him backwards. "There ya go. Sorry 'bout that, sir, we Rangers just get a bit over-excited a'fore jumpin' outa planes.. ya know how it is.. err..." He tilted his head apologetically. "Well, naw.. I guess ya don't.. bein' ground-poundin' Army.. anyway.. gotta load up!"

Benny ducked his head slightly as he passed the angry Army officer. "Sorry sir, I'll be more careful around you next time. Promise!" He climbed into the plane behind Beach and began chuckling softly. "That was classic.. he's gonna have apoplexy out there."

Beach snorted in amusement. "We can only hope. Back up." He nudged Benny against the wall and shrugged his shoulders to resettle the straps into place better. "It's good to see ya, Benny.. real good."

"Yeah Sneeden... just.." Benny paused. "Never mind.. it's good you came to Rendezvous."

They relaxed standing in place awaiting their arrival at the drop zone. The planes all took off one after another, the rattling and sudden jerking around of the planes making the Rangers sway in place slightly. It took them a while to get in position and finally they were lining up to snap their chute lines on. Standing and waiting for the door light to switch to green from red, Beach tightened his helmet's chin strap slightly. There was another jostle from behind, and he twisted to look down at Benny. "Stop crowdin' me Benny, dang, you'll get to jump too."

"Hard not to bump into you when you take up so much room." Benny jabbed at Beach's arm. "Hey.. " He suddenly seemed very serious. "You always were a good man to fight beside, no one I would rather make this jump with."

Beach nodded. "You and Sarge both.. good men." There was a loud beep and the light began to flash. "Ready up.." He waited impatiently as the line began to shift. The door was swung open and he couldn't help the grin that appeared on his face. "RANGERS LEAD THE WAY!" His shout was taken up by the rest and the light finally turned solid green and the jump master began shouting and motioning each man to the door and out. Beach turned at the last second as he stepped up to the open doorway, the wind rushing past him. "See ya onna ground, Benny!"

He saw the much smaller man nod at him then he was catapulting himself out the door into open sky, waiting the long ten-count before the chute line yanked the pack open, his parachute rippling out and suddenly flipping open with a massive wrench. The thrill that ran through him suddenly chilled with the popping noise above his head. "Awww... crap..." Peering up, he saw the lines parting, the left hand edge of the parachute beginning to flutter and loose it's shape. Several more lines began to snap and he reached up to his straps to tug hard, trying to control the tearing futilely. The failure on the edge made the parachute begin to spin and he felt his descent beginning to increase to a dangerous speed.

Despite gathering the support straps in both hands to try to reshape the chute, Beach couldn't get it under control, a check on his altimeter showed he was too low to attempt to drop the damaged chute and release his reserve. He'd have to hope that the speed he landed at would be slow enough for him to survive. As he dropped towards the earth at a frighteningly increasing speed he struggled to keep his bearings.

Suddenly the grass was right there, and he tried to wrench his body around to land properly to be able to absorb the impact in a roll. The landing still drove all of the air from his lungs, a leg folded painfully underneath him and he was barely conscious long enough to try to roll onto his side before passing out into a dark oblivion.


END Chapter

Yes, I'm aware I'm evil. It's a cliffhanger. I couldn't give you a Double-sized chapter without making some twist, doncha know! I can assure you, Beach isn't dead. Thank you for reading!