Deunan had barely slept that night, and when dawn greeted her she rolled over onto her back with a groan. Looking up she saw a picture of her and Briareos taken when she was twelve; Dahlia had taken it when they had all gone with a group of off duty SWAT members for the fourth of July. Then there was the one from Christine's wedding, with Briareos in a suit and her in the lavender bridesmaids' dress, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. Those were the only two pictures in her photo collage with him in them, and she had treasured them, looking up at his smile when she would wake up in the morning would make her want to smile, too. On that morning though, the morning after Briareos had let Deunan drive his bike for the first time, she looked up at the pictures and scowled at them. When she'd lain down with hopes of sleep the night before she hadn't been angry with him, not really, but as the night wore on her mind began to compound all her annoyances with him. And so, in the morning light she was practically fuming. She reached up and peeled both the pictures off the ceiling, and seriously contemplated tearing the offending images up, but then thought better of it, and after she'd gotten down off the bunk she shoved them into the farthest corner of her trunk, slamming the lid shut.
"Pissed much?" Jill asked with an amused, sleepy voice as she sat up in her bunk, looking down at her younger friend with amusement.
"No," Deunan almost growled. "Just got tired of looking at some of those pictures."
Jill chuckled. "Wouldn't happen to be pictures of a certain Greek lieutenant we know?" she teased.
Deunan sat on top of the trunk with a huff. She nodded as her mind turned over the events of the last night. Technically, he'd done nothing wrong; aside, of course, from being the perfect gentleman.
"So, what exactly happened?" Jill asked as she climbed down from her bunk and began to get dressed.
"Nothing," Deunan said darkly. "A whole lot of it, too."
Jill sighed. She could understand where both of them were coming from. On one hand, Deunan was completely infatuated with Briareos and she could knew could certainly appreciate her weakness for the stoic officer. On the other hand though, she could see where Briareos would be a bit reluctant to return her sentiments; after all, he was nine years older than Deunan and had practically watched the girl grow up.
A few moments of silence passed as Deunan dug around in her trunk for a clean change of clothes for PT. "You think jealousy would really work?" she asked as she slipped into a pair of running pants.
"It may," Jill answered with a conniving glimmer in her eyes, "but you'll have to wear something a bit sexier than that."
Briareos resisted a facepalm when Deunan and Jill joined rank that morning. Standing to the side of the team, he and Verund exchanged looks of mild exasperation. Deunan had borrowed some of Jill's clothes, a pair of cutoff sweatpants and sports bra. True enough that on hot mornings a few of the female team members wore things like that, but seeing it on the Commander's daughter was a little bit more than shocking. From the corners of their eyes, many of the guys began to "appreciate" the girl in ways that both of the officers found entirely inappropriate.
Briareos was torn between wanting to avoid calling any additional attention to her wardrobe and the overwhelming desire to wrap her up in the nearest available piece of cloth he could find, all the while scolding her for being so stupid. Normally in the mornings, she'd greet him, even if it was only with a sleepy 'hey' or a wave, but this particular morning, she didn't even make eye contact with him as she fell into line. Damn it all, he grumbled in his mind, she may be pissed off that he'd treated her like a kid, but he'd be damned if he let her put herself out like a common whore to prove her point. "Knute!" He growled loudly, marching out to stand in front of her. "You lost your clothes on the way out here!?"
A few of the team members snickered, but he ignored them. Her eyes looked through him, refusing to meet his gaze, but only the slightest hint of a blush crept up onto her cheeks.
"That was a question, Knute!" he barked.
"Permission to speak freely, Sir?" she asked adding extra venom to the last word.
He restrained an aggravated sigh, and said, "Granted."
"I was unaware I was naked, Sir," she said seriously. Jill bit back a cackle. A few other team members did the same.
'Damn it all to hell,' Briareos thought. "Drop!" he ordered. "Push-ups and don't you even think of stopping till I give the order.
Deunan scowled, looking him in the eyes for the first time that morning. Although his gaze didn't soften it tore at his heart to see the anger and pain in her eyes. As much as she hated what he was doing, she knew he was justified in it; she knew better than to have given him lip.
Deunan was still doing push-up when PT ended, her arms shaking a bit, but she kept a steady pace, not wanting to give Briareos the satisfaction of thinking he'd gotten the better of her. Everyone had headed to the mess hall when he crouched down besides her. Even with his close proximity she didn't falter in her exercises.
"Deunan," he said, his voice a bit softer than it was before. "You can stop now, kid, but I need to talk to you."
"What do you want?" she asked with a scowl, as she sat down on the cool cement.
"I want you to check the goddamned attitude!" he growled. "What the hell were you thinking coming out here dressed like a hooker!?"
"The other women dress like this sometimes!" she growled back, pulling her knees up to her chest.
"The other women aren't sixteen years old. Damn it, Deunan, you want these guys to see you think you're a whore?" He angrily rubbed his temple. He only thought he'd had problems keeping the guys off her before, now it would be practically impossible.
"I want these guys to see that I'm not a little kid!" she growled, hoping that that was blunt enough for him to get the point.
"You're still are a kid!" he countered.
That was it; she couldn't take anymore of this condescending crap! Deunan pointed to her breasts. "I'm not a fucking kid!" she shouted. "And if you weren't such a goddamned faggot you'd see that!"
"You are sixteen," Briareos growled, furious. "Legally, you are still a kid. Now get your ass in those barracks and put on some clothes!"
"You may be an officer here," she hissed, "but as you may have noticed, I'm not a recruit yet. I don't have to take your fucking orders!" And with that she stood up and started angrily to the mess hall. She left him sitting there, fuming and more than a little confused by the overnight change in her. She was so pissed off, she was supposed to make him jealous, not have him accuse her of being a child prostitute.
When she walked into the hall, Carl took one look at her and dragged Deunan out by her arm. "What the hell?" he demanded. "You decide to give up being a cop and take up hooking?"
Deunan let out an exasperated growl. "Damn it, what is with you people this morning!? It's almost a hundred degrees outside, Dad," she said almost stumbling over the seldom-used title, and wondering why he even bothering to act like a parent this time.
"And yet, everyone else is still fully dressed. Damn it, Deunan, you're my kid, what you do reflects on me. You can't act like an idiot without me falling on you like a ton of bricks." He shook his head. As confusing as Deunan had been when she was younger, this new, hormone-charged teenager was more of a challenge than he felt up to.
Without another word Deunan turned and stormed off to the barracks. Once she was out of the mess hall she muttered angry curses under her breath. None of the other women got called out when they dressed like that! Hell, Jill had worn that very outfit two days last week! Inside the barracks she continued to grumble as she dressed quickly into a pair of jeans and a baggy t-shirt; so much for seduction.
Back in the mess hall she grabbed a plate of food and plopped herself ungracefully besides Jill. "Well, that was a horrible failure," she mumbled as she poked at her scrambled eggs venomously.
Jill nodded in solidarity. "Wasn't expecting that," she agreed. "You looked good, Deunan. And hey, it definitely got his attention!"
Deunan snorted. "You ever heard the expression, 'The wrong kind of attention?' He practically accused me of being a whore!" she whispered. She looked around the hall and noticed for the first time that a lot of the guys were looking at her. "I think I may have gotten more than just his attention," she mumbled, as she looked down, blushing violently.
Jill grinned. "Well, whatever works," she said cheerfully, digging into her breakfast. "Give it time, girl. He'll come around."
Deunan smiled a little at that, stealing a glance at Briareos, who was looking decidedly angry as he talked with Verund and Carl. She winced; and doubted seriously that he was going to come around any time soon.
Jill finished eating before she had, and hurried off to the briefing room, since she was on duty that day. Deunan felt more awkward than she ever had before in the company of the SWAT team.
A few minutes after Jill left, the new blonde haired recruit, whose name she'd learned was Baker, walked behind her and bent down to whisper in her ear, "I loved the view this morning." She blushed brightly and froze as her heart beat wildly. Before she could think of any reply, though, or even move, he had walked out to join Jill with the rest of the active team. She sat for a few moments in stunned silence, a faint smile playing on her lips. 'Whatever works,' she heard over again in her head.
That night a group of the guys her talking about Deunan's little escapade. "I didn't even realize she had boobs," one said. "Yeah, man I've never seen her in that kinda get up," another stated. They were keeping it rather tamed, though, for fear of Briareos' wrath. Said Greek marksman was laying in his bed attempting to read and ignore the topic of conversation, all the while keeping one ear open to it to make sure it didn't get out of hand.
Baker, however, hadn't had experience in the area of Briareos' wrath at men who dared make advances towards Deunan, and so said rather loudly, "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna try my damnedest to get a piece of that ass! I mean, fuck, you saw her with the push-ups. Damn, bet that girl could go all night!" The other guys looked a bit nervous, not giving any committal replies to his statement, and quickly finding some other thing to occupy their time.
Across the room Briareos had definitely heard that statement. His eyes narrowed only slightly, although inside he was seething. Carefully marking the page in his book and setting it down he calmly got out of bed and walked over to the new recruit. "I'm sorry, what was that about wanting to fuck the Commander's minor daughter? I didn't hear you," he said, his voice low and menacing.
Hey, man!" Baker said taking a step back, but laughing. "You know you want a piece of that. Hell, the fact the Commander's her old man only makes it a challenge. And a minor? Fuck, there isn't much minor about that. Am I right guys?" None of the guys said anything, though, all waiting tensely to see what Briareos would do.
Briareos' eyes and posture were so cold he might as well have been a glacier. "I don't find that funny," he said in a growl. "Back off, Baker."
"What the hell, man? She you're girl or something?" he laughed again, although it was a bit more nervous this time.
Briareos didn't flinch. "She's nobody's girl. She's sixteen. If I, or, god forbid, Carl, catch ANY of you touching her, you will be lucky to wake up in the ICU! Am I clear?"
"As glass," Baker muttered, sitting down on his bunk. "Hell, what the fuck do I want her for now anyways? If I remember right, there's plenty of cunt in this town to keep me occupied till her two years are up."
"You're an asshole," Briareos grumbled. Of course of all the jerks in the barracks, this had to be the one who took a serious interest in Deunan. Goddamned perverted narcissist!
Baker just shrugged at the statement and watched with assumed disinterest as Briareos went back to his own bed and picked his book back up. Only after the book once had gone up in front of his face, did Baker allow himself a smug grin. What did it matter if one of the officers was looking out for her; it just made the whole thing a bit more interesting.
Deunan arrived a bit early for PT the next morning, this time wearing Capri length jogging pants and a t-shirt this time. She sat down on the cement stretching out her muscles as she waited for the rest of the team to get out to the yard.
"Hey," Briareos greeted as he joined her, having been hoping he could catch her early. He crouched down besides her as he had the day before and locked eyes with her. "Look, Baker's a real asshole who just wants a piece... stay away from him, okay?"
"Good morning to you too," she grumbled. "What I do in my spare time is my business, by the way." She looked away from him, pretending to be completely focused on stretching out the muscles in her shoulders.
"Just take my word on this one." Briareos sighed. "I'm sorry I pissed you off yesterday, but you didn't want the attention you were getting."
Deunan looked up at him and gave him a sarcastic smile. "How the hell would you know what kind of attention I want? What if I just want a fuck buddy?" It wasn't true, but she hoped that it hit a nerve.
Briareos visibly flinched at that. "Well, then, you'll be happy to know that there was an hours-long conversation about your physical attributes last night in the barracks, led primarily by Baker, who loudly declared that he'll try his damnedest to get a piece of your ass. Not you, Deunan, just your body. If that's what you wanted, then congratulations, you achieved your goal." He glared off into the distance, furious to be in this position at all.
"Good, then we're all squared away, Sir," she said, with a mock cheerful tone as the other team members began to fill in. "Thanks for your congratulations, I'm sure I'll have a great time." She smirked a little. 'Take that you condescending jerk,' she thought.
Briareos turned his head to glance at her, sadness in his eyes. Before standing to address the assembled group, he softly whispered, "Don't do anything stupid."