Chap 10

Hello! Sorry again for last chapter's shortness. Just to mention, BeachHead(like Snake Eyes) will be a lot more chatty in the unfamiliar family style setting. He's getting a chance to talk to people who he's not training, who won't have the chance to get killed next week by Cobra, who seem to be trying to like him and be friendly, for no reason other than they are nice normal people. Normally he's only got a handful of people to talk to, without risking his status as "Sgt Hardass" who everyone hates for his killer PT sessions. And even THOSE people risk getting killed on a regular basis, even Lifeline runs into firefights as part of his job. But will he LIKE meeting these people and being around them?

Insert normal disclaimer here of not having ownership, not making money, and not scratching my butt while typing the story.. wait.. I think I was gonna leave that last one off.. oh well!

As always, thank YOU for reading my humble stories! And huge thanks to those that give me such awesome reviews, and discussions of characters in PMs, it's really great to find so many die-hard Joe fans!

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BeachHead slept fitfully. He'd done his normal sit-ups and push-ups, and went to bed in his shorts, enjoying soft nice smelling covers, although the mattress was overly soft. He'd placed his handgun on the stand, but then moved it to under the pillows on the wall side of the bed, worried about kids coming in. Seth came in to go to bed on the other side of the room and reawakened him. The lighted clock told him it was after one in the morning at that point, and he'd closed his eyes again, dropping off to sleep immediately. Another hour passed when he'd woken up again at Scarlett's voice as she passed by in the hallway, talking to Snakes it sounded like. He'd rolled over and tucked himself into the blankets and pillow, stifling the noise in the house enough that he stopped waking up. His ability to sleep through anything was stymied by his body insisting that there could be a threat in the noises and waking back up if anyone walked by the door, or there were any louder noises.

Finally morning and he awoke. His eyes blinked open suddenly and for a second he was confused about his surroundings. Then he shifted under the blankets and took a deep breath. A slight noise made him roll over to come face to face with two small faces at edge of the bed, inches from his nose.

"HOLY..!!" He jumped upright, and the two kids scrambled out of the room at high speed. Panting, he shook his head. The door was cracked open after the tiny spies had disappeared through it, and he rubbed one hand over his hair for a minute, trying to boot his brain into working. He stretched, feeling his back snapping into place. Seth was just a indistinct lump under his covers, a light snore sounding on occasion.

The first hints of daylight were creeping in around the curtains, and he sighed, listening, he didn't hear a sound from the rest of the house. As late as they'd all stayed up, he was surprised even the kids had been awake.

Drawing on a set of lightweight camo pants, he sat to tie his boots. Plucking up his worn green shirt that still had 'Ranger' across the chest in faded letters and his holster and harness with the handgun, he trotted down the stairs quietly, and stood for a moment at the front door. It was locked and he didn't want to leave it open while he went on a run. Checking the backdoor in the kitchen showed it was left unlocked so he left via that door and drew his shirt on as he stepped into the yard. Push-ups and sit-ups took only a few minutes and then he was standing at the road, looking each direction to decide which way to run. He tossed the chest strap over his head and settled the sidearm into place against his upper ribs.

"What are you doing?" The little voice made him twist around in surprise. A small tousled head poked over a shrub, peeping at him. As he looked over the bush, he found three of the kids were hiding and watching him.

"I'm going out for a run. What are you kids doing out here?" They all looked at each other.

A little piping voice made him whirl around. "We're gonna go too!" June beamed up at him and hugged his leg before he could get away from her.

"Ahhh.. no.. no you kids are going back inside.." He shook his leg. "June.. you can't go with me.. you guys are too little." She scowled at him and he distinctly felt a tiny brief flash of fear because she looked so much like Scarlett with that expression.. and he knew how stubborn she was. "You can't keep up with me, and you'll get tired."

All three of the older kids looked at him and insisted that they wouldn't get tired. June simply hung onto his leg. He finally sighed and threw his hands up. "I'm going.. you just need to stay here." He bent and looked at June. "Let go of my leg." She turned loose and gave him a frown. He turned and decided on the road lined with houses, rather than towards the main road. He glanced back and sighed, as all four kids trotted behind him gamely. Briefly considering speeding up to outrun them, he sighed. As he thought, after about a mile of jogging, the three stopped and suddenly became interested in the local playground he passed. When he glanced back however, June was still determinedly on his heels however. He stopped.

"June.. go back to the playground." She was breathing hard but stubbornly stood there. "Go on.. go with your friends." He tried a shooing motion. "Go on.."

"No. I'm gonna go with you!" He took a very deep breath. "You can't MAKE me stay!"

He rocked back and forth, looking at the playground a few hundred yards behind them. "Don't you want to play? Running is really boring."

She looked up at him. "Why do you run then?" He opened his mouth and then closed it again.

Holding up his hand in consternation, he finally answered. "I like to go for runs, it's usually quiet and it's very good exercise." She kept looking at him. "Are you going to go back to the playground?" She shook her head. "I'm not going to stop and bring you back when you get tired!" She stared at him and he gave up and turned to head out. Settling into easy trot, he let his body relax into the rhythm. He listened to the girl following him doggedly, panting as she kept up.

After another mile, he glanced back to see June falling behind badly, but still struggling. He slowed to a stop, sighing heavily. She came up and sat on the grass, looking up at him. "I told you to stay behind." She just looked at him, and he tried to feel like a hardass and not care that she was little and tired. It wasn't as if he could leave a five-year-old on the side of the road. Snakes would murder him out of hand if he did... besides.. she had kept up for two miles, which for someone with legs as little as hers was more like his normal ten. He groaned and squatted down. "Alright alright.. climb on." She clambered onto his back and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Hang on. I can't believe I have to carry you.. I told you that you couldn't keep up."

She didn't answer, just held on and he settled into a ground-eating lope for the rest of his run. The extra weight was not an issue, she couldn't weigh much more than forty pounds or so. Since he ran with his full field pack of ninety pounds on occasion just to push himself, a small child wasn't much of a burden. It would be preferable if she'd not strangle his neck, but then, kids didn't come with shoulder straps.

He reached what he would judge to be about five miles and turned around to head back.

Her voice piped up. "Aren't you tired?"

He grunted. "No."

"You're all sweaty though."

He puffed out a breath. "Yeah." When he approached the playground again, he reacquired his other three followers.

"BeachHead!!" "Look he's back!" They fell in behind him and around him, running along and chattering as they ran with him back to the house. Buster ran out to bark at them loudly and the kids chased the shepard back into the yard. When he approached the front and turned in the gate, he saw Scarlett standing on the porch with Paddy in his wheelchair.

Paddy grinned widely. "You can take the boy out of the Army.. but you sure can't take the Army outa the boy, can you now?" Scarlett shook her head. "Good morning! A little early to be up and about, isn't it?"

He reached up to take June's wrists and peeled her off his back to place her on her feet on the ground. "Naw.. I'm usually up before now.. the time difference has me a little confused is all." He indicated the kids who had run off around to the backyard. "Sorry.. I told them not to follow me.. but they don't listen. They stopped at the playground."

Paddy shrugged. "They usually end up down there anyway. June.. did you go for a pony ride?" She reached up to hug the older man tightly.

"No! I went for a run with Beachhead!" She reached for Scarlett to pick her up and hugged her too.

BeachHead grunted and stretched his back. "You went for a 'carry' not a 'run'. She petered out about two miles in."

Scarlett sighed at him. "She's five years old.. she's not a runner."

The sergeant gave her a look. "Yes, that's why I told her to stay here."

Scarlett gave up. "Whatever. I'll go wake up Snake Eyes and Sallah. If we're going to shop today, I'd rather get out early. And before you groan and make faces, yes, you do still have to come shopping." She disappeared inside, and Paddy laughed at his eye rolling.

BeachHead stretched his arms and walked a circle cooling off. "Why couldn't you raise nice pliable daughters? Instead you did such a great job making them strong and independent and bullheaded." Paddy wiped his eyes. "Seriously.. Scar... ahh.. Shana is a great woman. I hope you're proud of her. She's the toughest gal I know. A good sight tougher than a lotta men I've met." BeachHead took a seat on the edge of the ramp up to the porch, looking over his shoulder at the older man.

Paddy leaned down a little to put a hand on his back. "I know.. trust me. I've been proud of her since she could walk. We might not have been all that pleased that she chose the Army, but she's definitely never given us reason to not be proud of her." He sighed. "It took a while for me to understand why she would choose someone who has to keep his face hidden. But.. she won't be parted from the man."

BeachHead rocked back slightly. "I can't say that I really ever approved of anyone in service having relationships.. against the rules.. but.." He looked at the house and lowered his voice. "Don't tell them, but those two.. they belong together. They make each other stronger, and well.. I'd hate the be the person trying to separate them."

Paddy nodded, and turned to see June coming out carrying two large mugs carefully. She handed him one and brought the other one over to BeachHead who accepted it from her with a smile.

He sipped at the coffee and gave her a little poke to her stomach. "Thank you. Now see Paddy? A gal that'll bring me coffee in the mornings.. that's much better than one that kicks me in the head." June beamed at him and hugged his neck. BeachHead smiled before he could catch himself. He really couldn't bring himself to mind getting hugged by a cute kid all that much. Besides, June wasn't just any kid, she was a tough little thing, running behind him that far. Someone inside called her name and she went to see.

Paddy chuckled at him and he quickly wiped the smile off his face. The older man wasn't fooled and shook his head. "June kinda grows on you, you'll want to take her back to base with you before you leave."

BeachHead cleared his throat. "No. I just.. you know, I don't wanna be mean to the kid, right? If I'm mean to one of these bothersome kids, Snakes will come kick me in the head." Paddy just chuckled again. "I hope I'm not being a pain, you know.. being here. It was really last minute, I had no idea what was up until they came and got me on sunday, and we were on the road the same day."

Paddy nodded, giving him a sly look. "We knew you were supposed to be coming about a week ago."

Twisting to give him an outraged look, BeachHead sputtered. "Wh-what? What do you mean you knew? How could you know? I didn't know!"

The older man leaned back in his wheelchair looking smug. "Shana called to ask if it would be okay for her to bring a friend, who didn't have anyplace else to go for thanksgiving. Of course we said yes. Ninjas and such aside, Shana has a very good judge of character, and I trust her instincts with people." He grinned at how perturbed the sergeant major appeared to be. "Don't go feeling ornery! They all were worried over you, from the little Shana told me. You should be glad that your friends care enough to trick you into things. Besides, so far nothing earth-shatteringly bad has happened to you yet. And I heard that you won't be washing any dishes come thursday. Nice job of taking down my boys a peg or three, by the way."

BeachHead ducked his head. "Sorry.. he just.. well.. he disparaged the Army."

Paddy raised an eyebrow. "Well, that'd do it, wouldn't it? I'm happy it was a contest, rather than a fistfight. While I can tell with a glance that you'd outlast any of the boys in endurance, and you're undoubtedly stronger, in a fight hand-to-hand, I think Sean or Scott would take you down. Unless of course, you tried dirty tricks they wouldn't expect."

Now the Ranger twisted to give him a serious look. "Sir, I wouldn't get into a fistfight with your boys. I can't risk it. I only know one way to fight, and they'd end up hurt badly before they got more than a punch or two in. I'm trained for combat fighting, and if it something flares up, that's the mode that kicks in. Snakes and Scarlett, they teach hand-to-hand all day, and do a ton of sparring, so they can turn it on or off. Snake Eyes.. he's got so much control, he'd never lose it. But me.. I might be a instructor, but when it comes to getting' jumped, I only have one switch. I keep a tight rein on my temper, all the time. But I'm afraid I'd snap a bone or two before I realized that I shouldn't."

Paddy leaned towards him. "I understand the need. Shana might keep details close about her, about the work she does in the Army, but she comes home with injuries too often for me to believe she's being a desk jockey and just an instructor. I'm pretty certain the scars you carry didn't come from paper cuts. Don't worry though. My boys are too disciplined to start fistfights, or I'll take them down a few notches myself."

BeachHead looked off at the grass and trees. "You know.. I've been all running off at the mouth since I got here. It ain't like me."

"Maybe it's because you needed time to unwind. Folks need time to release the tension they're under, time to just relax and vent and talk things out. Anytime you need to talk, even just to work something out in your head, you feel free to come chat with me, son." The O'Hara patriarch straightened and smiled as he watched the quartet of children go racing down the road again, shouting about something important only to them.

BeachHead sighed to himself, looking into the coffeecup. He was feeling settled and relaxed more than he wanted to. He'd even caught himself thinking about how nice a family like this would be to have, and envying the older boy his place in the world, what with a wife, kids, an extended family. Imagining a life that didn't involve getting sent off to be shot at on a regular basis, or the strict structure of Army days.. he snorted at himself and firmly turned his mind from such things. Fancy civilian life, wasn't anything he needed to think about.

"Well sir.. I'm guessing it's just the good company. Bein' surrounded by raw young recruits all day, it'd drive anyone to talk to a fencepost, much less good intelligent people like you and your family. I might just lose my voice though. I haven't screamed at anyone in way too long. I might forget how to."

Paddy laughed loudly at him. "Well, anytime you forget, you can go out back and yell at the bushes for a while. I imagine they'll listen about as well as those recruits you deal with!"

BeachHead laughed out loud before he could stop himself. "You're probably right, they're probably more obedient too."

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END Chapter:

Before he has an aneurysm, Lil Beachie gets his chance to tell you guys stuff.

Yeah right! Yew danged woman! Putting me under a COFFEECUP! Yew bettah watch it! And yew readahs!! Yew bettah be exercising yer eyeballs, cause Ah'm pushin' this here author to get it in gear! She's lazy and don't get nuthin' done on time! Always with the side stories and always doing some other things, mumblin' 'bout "plot bunnehs" and junk! Ah'll tell yew whut! She'll be writin' til her danged fingers bleed!! YEAH! AND Another thang!! Don't be makin' me all chatty! AH am not chatty! Sure.. they wuz good peoples, and yeah Ah talked to Paddy a lot, he's a tough ole bird... that danged Sioban witchy woman, yew JUS' wait!

Anyway! Ah'm gonna be takin' charge of this here story stuff! She'll fall in line RIGHT QUICK!!!

*scuffling noises*

ALRIGHT!!! NO!! Not the cup!!

AHem.. yes. That's all from Lil Beachie.. for the next few hours, until he manages to lift that cup again. Pushy action figures.. what can you do? Besides, he's so darned cute! I'll distract him with a new group of little greenshirts. Until next chapter!! Thank you for reading! And the reviews are great! I let Lil Beachie read them too, but he's just snarky.