SURPRISE! Here is the second ending to the story. If you don't like it, just stick with the first. The idea that has been alluded to, subtly mind you, is that when you die in one place you are reborn or continue to exist in another. This actually goes along with the Nordic idea of "heaven" and cycles of life; hence the reason I've included it as a "second" ending. Also, I went through previous chapters and edited/added in new information/took out some information I didn't think fit this ending/and in general I hope I made it better. Thanks so much for your readership, your support, your praise and critiques, and for the fun. Don't forget, the story regarding Cha'risa is also up and running and soon enough a story centered around Alyse will be up…when I get around to it. And in this chapter, see if you can guess who has been reborn as who…Cheers!
She tapped her glass against the wooden bar, alerting the bartender to its empty nature, and earned a nod of acknowledgement in return. She'd already had three bourbons but she wasn't too worried about having a fourth. It wasn't the quantity that was a problem, she could handle her alcohol, but it was the lack of quality company that had Jaq sighing deeply as she twirled the empty glass in front of her, waiting for a refill. It seemed that everyone else on her team had already made celebratory plans, in case they'd won the war game. Equally they'd all made "wallow in self-pity" plans, should they lose the game, and she'd also been left to sit alone to lick her wounded pride, since they had—in fact—lost the war game.
"So is this for winning or losing?" the bartender, a short, bearded man who always liked to weave elaborate braids through his longer than average grey/white hair making him look both like a wise grandfather as well as a badass motorcycle driver, asked as he brought out the bottle of her preferred whiskey.
Jaq smirked, "Does it matter when you're alone in both cases?"
"I suppose not," the bartender glanced over Jaq's shoulder and when he looked back to her his smile had turned mischievous, "but then again I don't think you're as alone as you think."
Turning away from the bartender, Jaq inwardly groaned when she caught sight of none other than Captain Caelin Walsh sauntering towards her. She faced forward again, willing the inevitable encounter away with her mind, but she continued to watch Walsh's movements through the mirror over the rows of drinks in front of her. He stopped by a table behind her and a wide grin was on his face as he spoke animatedly with the occupants. It was Taylor and Edwin.
Jaq sighed and shook her head. She'd very nearly demoted Private Edwin Suarez when she'd found out about his romantic relationship with Private Taylor Green. With Green as a member of Captain Walsh's team, Jaq saw the relationship as detrimental to their mission and had requested permission from her newly assigned commander, Colonel Thurstan Little, to reassign Suarez until after the war games. The battle-roughened Colonel, much more to him than met the eyes when they took in his short and a bit stout stature, had laughed in the face of her request and said instead of reassigning him Jaq should put Suarez on point and lay as much responsibility for the success of the mission on his shoulders. That would teach him to mix business with pleasure if they lost; they'd lost.
From the looks of it, in the reflection before her, it seemed Walsh enjoyed gloating as much with Jaq's team members as he would with her. Turkey, Bulldog, and Razor were all playing pool in the room adjacent to this one and so may have escaped Walsh's annoying mirth; but it would appear she and Edwin were not to be so lucky. Jaq frowned at the reflection when she saw Walsh resume his route towards her. Downing the last of her whiskey in one go, she winced. Looking past the approaching Walsh, Jaq saw Taylor reach across the table and take hold of Edwin's hands. The pair of them were back to smiling and whispering sweet-nothings to each other within seconds of Walsh's departure. Lovely for them.
"Hey Odhran! Great to see you." Walsh, of course, chose to lean against the bar much too close to Jaq's barstool, causing his scent to wash over her and mixing with the smells of bourbon already wafting around her. A mixture of camp smoke, earth, leather, and a spicy scent, like pepper. Jaq deepened her frown. He smelled damn good. "Is Bob around? Haven't seen him round here in some time."
Odhran grunted and shook his head, "Nah, Bob's off with Delroy to fetch Norman from school. Seems the idiot get himself into trouble with some upperclassmen."
"Oh really?" Walsh leaned further into Jaq's space and she only barely resisted growling at him and his intentional carelessness.
"Yeah something to do with him singing to her during the finals to cheer her up, or some such nonsense. While she appreciated it, her boyfriend did not, if you know what I mean." Odhran waited until Walsh's laughter died away before he asked, "What'll you have Caelin?"
"Same as her." For the first time, he acknowledged Jaq directly. "And another for her as well. On me."
Before Jaq could protest, Odhran disappeared to get a new bottle—as she'd finished off the last one—and left Jaq at the bar alone with Caelin. The bar wasn't overly filled with customers, mostly men and women from base who had participated in the war games of the week and had been given the next two days off, so it made no sense that Caelin would continue to stand so close when he had a whole bar to sprawl on. The leave applied to winners and losers alike; Colonel Little was wise enough to know that losers would want to drown their sorrows as much as winners would like the liquid confidence to gloat.
Jaq hated losing war games. She'd lost once before, though not to Walsh, but it was because she'd lost to Walsh that this defeat stung even more. She had grudging respect for Walsh, when he wasn't an ass, for he had as much if not more battle experience as she and had come up the ranks in a similar fashion as she as well. Similarly, he'd purposefully set aside promotions in favor of staying more directly involved with the men and their training. It wasn't rocket science, seeing how they actually had a lot in common with one another. But it always wasn't rocket science to see how Walsh got off on annoying the hell out of her and how she'd like nothing more than to stick her boot up his ass.
Her side was exposed to the air-conditioned air of the bar momentarily, as Walsh retrieved a barstool, but then his warmth and scent were back when he sat down—too close—and angled his body to face her slightly. Jaq didn't look at him but kept her gaze on her empty glass; she felt him studying her intently and felt for certain that he was judging her—as per usual. She was wearing civilian clothing, a simple white blouse and dark jeans with some ankle boots, nothing ornate or flashy—that wasn't her style. The only accessory she had on that she didn't normally wear was the pendant her grandmother had given her as a child. She wore it only when she wore civilian clothing. It was silver and gold, the metals mixed together, and it looked like a starburst in clouds.
"You know," Walsh's voice was of a deep timbre that further worked to irk Jaq—she'd always preferred men with deep voices, "if you weren't such a hardass I'd almost be tempted to ask you out for a drink."
Jaq refused to look at him, still finding the droplets in her glass more fascinating than his face, "Really? And what do you call buying my next drink?"
"I didn't ask you out here. It's different."
Jaq shrugged, "Splitting hairs is something you're very good at isn't it, Walsh?"
"Caelin." He leaned closer and despite herself Jaq felt her pulse pick up its pace. "We're out of uniform and off base. I think we can do away with the habits of our profession and call each other by our given names."
Jaq finally looked at him, raising a singular eyebrow, "Do you even know mine? You seem to have many adjectives to attach to my surname and rank, but I don't think I've ever heard you say my name before."
Walsh, Caelin, let out a laugh and leaned back on the barstool just long enough to accept the drinks from Odhran. He handed one of the drinks to Jaq and she nibbled her lower lip when in direct response to their fingers grazing each other she felt her pulse increase again. This was ridiculous. Lesson learned: three, no four, bourbons was not a good number to mix with the presence of Captain Caelin Walsh. It made her feel stupid things.
"To the beginning of a beautiful friendship." Caelin smirked over his glass at Jaq before he tipped it up and gulped it down.
Jaq stared at him as if he were crazy for a moment before she shrugged, figuring maybe he'd had too much already as well, and also drank down the contents of her glass. Five bourbons. Caelin resumed his unnecessary lean and Jaq closed her eyes. Definitely five too many.
As if sensing her reluctance to stay near him, or growing awareness of her discomfort with him, Caelin spoke up, "You know Jaq, see I know your name," he gave her an expression as if he wanted a cookie, "I attach all those 'adjectives' as you describe them because I know you can handle the crap I dish out. You know I don't say anything to you that I wouldn't expect to be said to me, if I pulled the same dumb moves as you've pulled from time to time." Jaq turned in her barstool and faced him fully but he hurried on before she could let him have it. "And you have given me what for, remember? You dressed me down pretty good in front of General Washington over the mix-up with paperwork last year. The colonel barely waited until we were alone before he chewed me a new one too. I don't think I had an ass to sit on for a few weeks after that, he chewed so well." The mental image had Jaq chuckling. Caelin's face seemed to soften a bit at the sound. "I don't see why we can't be more like them?" He jerked his thumb over his shoulder and together they turned in their barstools to look towards Taylor and Edwin.
Jaq was fairly certain Caelin hadn't been aware of the fact that at the time of his comparison they'd find Taylor and Edwin with their faces smashed together, tongues in each other's mouths, and hands beginning to roam into territories best explored behind closed doors. She wouldn't be surprised if Odhran threw them out in a few minutes, as they were continuing to get hot and heavy right there at the table. Jaq thought she even heard a moan come from Taylor's throat when one of Edwin's hands reached her rear and jerked her out of her chair and into his lap. Jaq choked at the sight and looked from the make-out lovebirds over to Caelin. He looked as surprised as she, his hand still hovering in the air. When he felt her eyes on him he looked back to her, and her look of, "do go on," and after a moment he gave her a suave smile.
"While that's not quite what I meant initially," Jaq rolled her eyes and was about to look away when suddenly Caelin's face was close to hers and she froze, "I'm very much not opposed to it either."
Jaq's eyes widened and her mouth went dry, "What?" For the life of her she'd never before detected a hint of attraction from him, at least not directed towards her. She'd seen him make passes at members of her team before, when she'd had female members, and she'd seen him coming into the office with hickeys on his neck before too, evidence that he had much more action than she. But she seriously couldn't think of a time that he'd ever shown an interest in her.
Her confusion and shock was apparent on her face and Caelin responded by reaching out and tucking some of her wayward hair behind her ears with both of his hands, "Oh Jaq. You really are out of practice aren't you?" Jaq opened and closed her mouth silently, not sure she had the ability to talk yet. "Didn't you ever get chased around the playground by boys calling you cupcake or sweetheart, all of them trying to steal a kiss from you one minute while in the next they were pulling your hair when you didn't kiss them?"
"Are you," Jaq finally found her voice, "comparing yourself to an elementary school kid?"
Caelin chuckled, still not removing himself from being dangerously close to her face, his breath warming her cheeks when he spoke, "Age doesn't make much of a difference in some ways, my dear Jaq. Boys will be boys and girls will be girls." He glanced back to the table, where Taylor and Edwin were now—thankfully—collecting their things in order to leave. "It seems to me that you don't pick up much on the subtlety of attraction and seduction very well."
"Insulting me, berating me, undermining me, annoying me," Jaq narrowed her eyes at him, "these are your ways of seducing me?"
Caelin's smile turned predatory, "And if they were, what would you say?"
"I'd say you've wanted to fuck my brains out ever since you first saw me because you've been a pain in my ass since just about that moment."
Caelin near fell off his chair laughing, giving Jaq a moment to take in much need air and space. This man, and perhaps the alcohol, were working well to confuse the hell out of her. But at the same time, she found the exchange they were having—whatever it was—to be much more pleasant than she ever could have imagined. It may be the added influence of five bourbons, but Jaq was starting to see their previous encounters in a new light now that Caelin had admitted to her what he had. She could see, now, a sexual tension radiating from him. A desire to get a rise out of her in order to get her attention, to keep her attention. It very much was like a schoolboy tugging on a girl's pigtail to get her attention in order to steal a kiss from her. Jaq kept the frown on her face once Caelin uprighted himself enough to look at her again. She wasn't sure she liked that sort of logic or behavior. Seemed fairly inefficient.
"Oh Jaq!" Caelin wiped away a tear that had leaked out of his right eye in his laughter. "You really are to the point aren't you."
She shrugged, "Well that's better than wasting time acting like a bastard to someone when in reality you'd rather-"
Interrupting her sentence with movement, he was back in her space so quickly she had to tip her head up in order to see him. Then his arm came around her lower back and his other hand cupped the back of her neck. He bent back her across his arm and kissed her. Jaq couldn't move, couldn't breathe, and most assuredly couldn't think. Her eyes, willing themselves to stay open, drifted shut. The kiss was soft at first, a mere pressing of lips against lips, but when she didn't push him away and instead she heard herself sigh, then it swiftly grew in intensity, making her cling to him as the only solid thing in a dizzy, swaying, bourbon-filled world. His now insistent mouth parted her lips and his tongue slipped inside, gentle in spite of the demanding hold his arms had about her shoulders. His touch, his tongue, sent wild tremors along her nerves, evoking from her sensations she had never known she was capable of feeling. And then suddenly she understood why people described kissing as melting because every square inch of her body dissolved into his and if it weren't for his arms continuing to hold her, Jaq would've fallen to the floor.
"Oi. Get a room." Odhran's growl had Jaq jerking in Caelin's arms.
Disoriented, she could only blink at Caelin's face a moment before it dawned on here a)where she was, b)why she was there, c)who she was with, d)what they had been doing. The why of the last one seemed to continue to elude her, however, and so she began to loosen the hold she had on Caelin's shoulders. Caelin wasn't as quick to disengage himself from her, and instead loosened up just enough to trace the fingers of one hand down her cheek and to her neck. She shivered as his fingers traveled up and down the length of her neck, the touch slow and deliberate.
"I promise I won't waste anymore of your time, Jaq." Caelin was whispering as his fingers traced along her collar bone then back to the sensitive skin of her neck. "Any more of our time."
Jaq swallowed, "What do you mean, Walsh?"
"Caelin."
"Caelin." Jaq parroted back and watched as the muscles in Caelin's jaw tensed and released as a direct result of her saying his name. Fascinating.
He inched forward again so that he could speak softly, near tenderly to her, in spite of their surroundings, "This isn't a one-night thing for me. You were right, in a fashion, when you said that I've wanted to 'fuck your brains out' since I first saw you. I wouldn't say that it was just sex that I wanted from you, though that was most of it at first." At her confused look he gave her what looked to be a sad smile, "You don't know how gorgeous you are do you? Your confidence and capabilities as a woman and as a soldier, it's a damn fine mixture to a man like me. But also, you're strong, your healthy, and you've got an amazing ass and long legs I'd very much like to measure with my tongue." Jaq snorted and Caelin continued with a smile, "In any case, you intrigue me Captain Jaquelin Adriana Da Cunha, you attract me, and you drive me crazy all at the same time. And I'd like to see where that could lead us."
Jaq continued to blink at him for a moment before she spoke, "But I don't get it. Where does all this come from? I didn't see it at all."
"That's because you didn't want to see it or just assumed that what you saw was something else," Caelin chuckled, "Colonel Little told me I'd better win or else he would assume I'd thrown the war game because I wanted to woo you, or something like that."
"He said that?" Jaq's eyes widened. "To you?" She shook her head, "About me?"
"Yes, darling. My interest is obvious to everyone but you, it seems. But since I now know you've the same understanding of subtlety in this area as a flea let me put it plainly: I would very much like to date you Jaq. Should that involve intercourse, I'm all the happier. But if, for now, it merely involves hand holding and a stolen kiss in between the times you want to thrash me, I'll happily take that as well."
"This isn't some kind of joke? How much did you drink before you came to talk to me?"
Caelin growled and leaned close as if he were about to kiss her again, "Dammit Jaq, do I have to wish on a star or something to get you to understand that I'm in earnest here?"
Jaq studied his eyes, the lines around his mouth, and the tension in his body. Nothing about him spoke of subterfuge. Nothing about him gave her any indication that he trying to pull a fast one on her. It was a lot to take in, and so quickly, but as his words began to take root in her mind, she found herself willing to believe. More so than that, willing to reciprocate. And she didn't think it was ONLY the five bourbons doing the thinking for her. Jaq reached out and laid her palm against Caelin's cheek and gave him a small smile.
"No wishing necessary." She pressed her lips against his and smiled inwardly when his arms came around her in an embrace that felt like home.
