Somalia, 2137
"Report" Taylor said, as Alicia jumped out of the Rhino 4 hours later.
"It's a good cache but not enough to fight anything more than a minor skirmish though it's better than nothing" Alicia said as she moved to the back and opened it up to show what they had procured. "Boylan and Durwin are 10 minutes behind us with more." she said.
"Ok" Taylor said feeling a weight lift off him as his lieutenant had pulled through for him. He had a hard time convincing the other commanders that they should pull their soldiers back so they could set up some traps on the perimeter. It wasn't like the armies were storming them yet. In fact that was the eerie part. the enemy forces hadn't made an appearance at all. Something that had Taylor concerned.
"Oh and Sir?" Alicia garnering his attention.
"Yes" he said.
"We got you a early Birthday present" Alicia said, she reached into the plastic crates on the floor of the rhino looking for something.
"How do you know when my Birthday is?" Taylor asked as he wondered what she was trying to find. She obviously found what she was looking for as she pulled out a cotton drawstring bag.
"Your wife, Sir and here" Alicia said, she held out the bag to him. He took it from her hands and opened it, he carefully reached in and pulled out what looked to be a Tanker chest holster. He smiled in appreciation as he slipped it on, he was about to adjust the straps when Alicia brushed away his hands.
"Allow me" she said with a smile pleased with her success. She adjusted the straps and he tried to ignore her close proximity as he wasn't entirely immune to her touch as her fingers accidently skimmed the side of his neck as her hand slipped from the soft leather. With her behind him his mind liked to play tricks and tell him it was Ayani. It had been too long since he'd last held his wife but if they managed to survive the next few months General Philbrick said that he would allow families of the soldiers to join them in Somalia. Something he was looking forward to as he wanted to spend more time with his wife and son before he son strived for his own independance.
"There we go, feel good?" Alicia asked as she moved around to stand in front of him. Taylor moved his shoulders testing the feel of the holster strapped to his chest. He gave a nod.
"Yes, it's just a shame it won't go over the kevlar" he said as he unclipped the strap across the butt of a gun.
"With respect Sir it's not a requirement for birthday presents to be practical" Guzman said with a smile.
"Well thank you" Taylor said to them.
"You're welcome." Alicia said.
"Ok, Guzman, get this unpacked. Lieutenant; a word" he said gesturing for her to walk with him. Alicia followed him until they were out of ear shot before he stopped and turned to her.
"Wash, I want you to be aware that Lt Commander Royce has demanded you be re-stationed to the M*A*S*H* unit." Taylor said, he watched annoyance flair in her eyes before she shook her head.
"Sir, I don't know why he would do so" she said.
"Don't you?" he asked "Because I do, it's one of the reasons why fraternisation is frowned upon" he added, he watched as Alicia's cheeks tinged pink with embarrassment. It only confirmed his suspicions as he assumed she had sexual partners over the last year but he had vainly hoped she had shopped outside of military and the fact she chose Royce burned him as well as disappointed him as she was an excellent soldier yet here she was neck deep in one of the military's biggest no-no's. He just wondered how long the two had been together and why Ayani hadn't told him.
"Sir-" he didn't want her excuses so he cut her off.
"I'm coming to you about this privately as I respect you but let me make myself clear; I don't appreciate your personal relationships interfering in my time and openly questioning my command choices" he told her, keeping his tone even and his expression neutral even though he wanted to shake some sense into the woman. He wanted to shout at her that she do better than Royce as he knew the man only wanted to have Alicia because she was a General's daughter and beautiful. She would just be his arm candy which in Taylor's opinion was a waste for a woman her intelligence and expertise. In his mind he could see her becoming a Commander and being documented as one of the greatest leaders in the 22nd Century. But right now she needed to get her personal life together and Royce out of her life.
"Sir-" she started again but he cut her off once again as he was hopefully going to gently nudge her in the right direction.
"No excuses Wash. I'll turn a blind eye this time as I'm sure you didn't expect him to be here but I expect you two to conduct yourselves appropriately. Am I understood?" he asked.
"Yes Sir" Wash gritted through clenched teeth. It was truly a tossup on who she angrier with Taylor and his patronising speech or Royce trying to interfere with her career by pissing off Taylor. Taylor could see he had angered her and a part of him was happy he could get under her skin. He took a deep breath and looked away for a moment composing himself as he knew reacting to her visible anger wouldn't help them in the long term.
"Wash, you are one of my best soldiers. I can see you beating my record of becoming the youngest Commander but you have to be smart. Ally yourself with good people and keep your romantic entanglements outside the military. You've worked hard to get this far don't mess it up with one indiscretion" he advised her. He just hoped she heard him.
After Taylor dismissed Alicia from their 'private chat' she went straight to the Hospital and with every step she took the more Taylor's words swished around in her head. The more she thought on it the angrier she got as she and Royce had been able to keep their relationship underwraps for years and here he was screwing up her relationship with Taylor. He was disappointed in her and she knew disappointed eroded respect. Respect she had worked hard to gain. By the time she stepped into Hospital's ER she was ready to slug Royce.
The man in question sat behind the front desk next to a chem. light and he must of sensed her as he looked up from the desk where he had been reading paperwork. He gave her a polite smile.
"Lieutenant Washington. What can we do for you?" he asked.
"Sir, I'd like a private word with you. That is if you have a moment to spare?" she asked.
"Of course, follow me to my office" he said, he moved out from behind the desk and picked up the chem. light latern before he motioned her to follow him down the dark hallway with nothing but the chem. light latern in his hand to guide the way. After a few moments he stopped at an empty office where the slide doors had been partially pried open. "After you" he gestured.
Alicia turned sideways and sidestepped into the office. It was a small room with a desk and three chairs. One chair behind the desk and two as guest chairs. There was a large plex screen on the wall which told her this was a consultation room for patients. She turned and watched as Royce came into the room. He smiled as he placed the latern in the desk. He moved toward her in the small space but she stopped him with a hand on his chest.
"Did you go to Taylor and demand that I be restationed here with you?" she asked.
"I said it would-" he started with an explanation which meant he did do the one thing they promised not to do to one another but she needed to hear the admission.
"It's either a yes or no answer. I don't want your reasons" Alicia told him, he stepped back noting her cold disposition as she folded her arms across her chest.
"Yes, you're a doctor-" he started but she cut him off with just a look.
"I'm a soldier first, medic second" she corrected him.
"When the battle starts I want you with me at my side helping the wounded. You'll be safer down here" He said.
"Unbelievable" She said throwing up her hands and turning away from him.
"Alicia" he said imploringly, but it wasn't going to work for her, she turned around to face him and shook her head.
"No, you know my occupation and you go behind my back to my C/O and tell him to switch my duties around? Do you understand the position you put me in?" she asked him.
"Why are you getting so angry about this?" he asked, Alicia tried not drop her jaw in shock as it was obvious he forgotten their pact about not sabotaging their careers.
"I'm the only female officer is Commander Taylor's command. I work my ass off every day training and working hard to earn his respect and every other man's respect. To show them that while I might not have the same physical attributes I can be just as good as them. You coming in and trying mess in my career makes me look weak-"
"It shows that I care and in the long run it doesn't matter how hard you train or work because soon you'll retir-"
"Excuse me?" she said rearing back at his words. Who was he to tell her how her life was going to be, she thought he loved her for who she was and supported her life goals. Granted the past few months had been her darkest but she couldn't help but feel annoyed that he would force her into decisions she wasn't ready to make especially since he didn't talk about their future, he hadn't even brought up the conversation of marriage.
"I've allowed you time to entertain the notion that your career-"
"Lieutenant Washington, you down here" Guzman called out from the hallway, Alicia cursed under her breath and held up a finger to say 'hold that thought' she moved to the door and stuck her head out.
"Guzman, what's up?" she asked looking at the Sergeant, she wondered how much he had overheard.
"Ma'am, we require your assistance in armoury" Guzman told her, his demeanour gave nothing away to what he was thinking. How she wished they had comm. system up and running.
"Ok, you go ahead and I'll be there in 5" She told him.
"Yes, Ma'am" he said, she watched him walk away and turned back to Royce. The man sat in the desk with his arms folded across his chest and his ankles crossed. "We're going to have to finish this stateside" she told him.
"You're telling me what to do?" he asked mockingly. She walked over to him and nodded.
"Yeah because Taylor said won't turn a blind eye on us while we're here and I will not jeopardize my career" she told him in a low voice.
"A career that won't last. As soon as you have kids it will be over" he told her.
"Oh and what makes you so sure? I know of many female commanders who have children and why are we discussing this? It's not like you've given me any indication that you wanted more-" she was about to continue but this time Royce cut her off.
"We've been together for nearly four years. I think that's a pretty clear indication of how I felt for you and if it is then maybe this will clear it up" he snapped as pulled off his tie and unbuttoned the top three buttons of his shirt. He pulled out his tags, on the chain along with his tags was a single solitaire diamond ring. "I asked for you to be restationed not only because you're a brilliant physician but also because I want to keep you safe because I love you and I want to marry you, have children with you and grow old together." he told her.
Alicia was stunned, as it was the last thing she would have expected him to say and she had not expected him to have a diamond ring. She was so stunned it took her a moment to just close her mouth as she had been embarrassingly gaping like a fish at him. He dropped the chain and it fell to his chest as he closed the gap between them and held her by her upper arms.
"I love you and I was going to propose to you before you were shipped out again but you left without telling me" he told her.
"I only knew an hour before I left. There wasn't time" She said feeling dazed.
"Which is why I asked for the transfer. I'm coming to you-" he started but she cut him off.
"In the middle of a war?!" she exclaimed pointing out that it was possibly the worst time to come to her with such a declaration.
"There will always be a fucking war for people to fight" he argued in a harsh tone.
"So aren't you going to ask me the question?" she asked feeling annoyed that he would pick now of all times, here she was covered in dust and sweat in her BDU's. She didn't even want to think about her hair as she always imagined being proposed to in a nice restaurant where she was dressed beautifully and her hair was loose and clean.
"I don't know you don't seem impressed" he said making a face, she couldn't help but give a sardonic laugh.
"It's been a bad two months" she told him. he brought a hand up to cup the side of her face.
"I can see that" he said to her, his thumb stroking her jaw line. She opened her mouth to say something when a throat cleared in a loud and comically manner from the hallway.
"Lieutenant Washington-" Boylan started.
"I'll be there in 5. Go back to ER waiting room" Alicia shouted over her shoulder, she gave Royce an exasperated look as he smiled. They heard the sound of Boylan whistling as he walked away. "We still have a lot to discuss" she told Royce as she laid her hands on his chest.
"We'll have time for that later for now, would you do me the honour of marrying me?" he asked her, a handsome smile playing on his lips. It warmed her inside and out to hear the words.
"Yes" she said nodding, a brilliant smile spread across her lips as sheer happiness spread through her. "Yes" she repeated, he smiled and cupped the sides of her face and kissed her deeply, passionately for a few seconds before Alicia broke the kiss. Their breathing heavy as they laughed from the joy of the moment. "I have to go" she told him.
"What about the ring?" he asked her.
"Keep it safe for me" she told her and with one more kiss she relucantly pulled herself from his arms and left the office. She couldn't wipe the smile from her face no matter how hard she tried.