Chapter 34
"There's no way I'll make it." A young sergeant said as he attempted to traverse a four foot wide by three foot deep trench with a ten foot high wall four miles into the run and obstacle course set up by Beachhead.
"Sure, you will, Sergeant." Kerry came up behind the young man. She cursed silently as she truly took in him in. He was tall, well-built, about her age, with wavy blondish-brown hair and laughing yet tired blue eyes that reminded her a bit of Duke's and even that hard taskmaster of a Shakespeare-spouting Warrant Officer, Flint.[1] He was just the sort of man she'd fall for. Sighing, she realized it was not to be, and it was just her luck. She was a second lieutenant and just embarking on her career, he a sergeant.
"I don't know about that ma'am."
"You made it through Ranger school, right?" When he nodded, she said, "Then you can make it through this." Kerry told the young sergeant.
"This is nothing like Ranger school, ma'am."
"No, its not. But you can do this. You wouldn't be here if they hadn't thought you could do it." Kerry stopped and looked at the sergeant. "Look, we're going to do this together. We're going to finish." It wasn't just a statement, it was an order.
"Yes, ma'am." The young sergeant, whose name Kerry didn't know responded.
"Besides if the Colonel can do it, so can you." She nodded to her mother who passed them. "Let's go." With that, Kerry worked with the young sergeant.
Duke watched the scene from atop the hill overlooking the obstacle course. He felt rather than heard his commander walk up behind him.
"How are they doing?"
"Surprisingly well, sir." Duke replied simply.
"Excuse me?" Hawk raised a single eyebrow.
"Sorry, sir, but with your daughter's attitude when she first arrived. I'm constantly amazed at how she's changing."
"She has changed, hasn't she?:"
"Yes, sir. I think she's going to be one helluva leader, sir." Duke said. "She's been doing a great job with getting the younger enlisted to finish. She's a great motivator. Must run in the family." Duke smiled as he raised the binoculars again.
"Flattery will get you nowhere with me, Sergeant." Hawk laughed.
"Actually, I was referring to your wife, sir." Duke replied, straight-faced and never dropping the binoculars. His commander roared as he continued to watch the recruits run through the obstacle course. "Your wife is doing better than I expected, as well."
"Why do you say that?"
"Between her age and her recent injuries, I didn't expect her to do this well." Duke replied. "Injuries mostly, though."
"Carrie's always been active. But, that crash, that put a crimp into her lifestyle. Something she's not used to. She can't hande being sidelined.: Hawk sighed. "Oh well, I am going to make a romantic dinner for Carrie tonight."
"Sir, I'm pretty sure burnt hamburgers do not qualify as a romantic meal." Duke responded dryly.
"You're full of them today, aren't you, Sergeant.?" Hawk said just as dryly.
"I try, sir."
"Well, I'll have you know, I can cook more than just hamburgers."
"Of course, but I'm not sure hot dogs will go over either, Sir."
"Very funny, Private Hauser." Hawk walked away leaving Duke both laughing and dumbfounded. Although, he was mostly joking with his commander, he was also serious. The one time the General had cooked on bivouac, he had incinerated the hamburgers the team had brought as a treat. Whenever they went in the field, the general insisted everyone take turns to cook, including him. Well, except for Gung-Ho, no one wanted his gumbo. But, then after that one disastrous time the General had cooked, they banned him from taking a turn as well. It hadn't been easy to convince the man not to cook, but, after Duke had presented him with a petition signed by everyone on the team, even green shirts, he'd finally relented and never cooked for the team again.
From behind him, Duke heard the General's hearty laugh. At least the man had a good sense of humor, Duke thought as he smiled.
"Come on, Sergeant, let's go." Kerry pushed the young sergeant.
"Let's go Sprout." Beachhead's voice boomed from behind them. "Your time is slipping."
"Yes, sergeant." Kerry replied with a sigh.
"Sprout, ma'am?" The young sergeant asked.
"Yeah, my codename." She replied
"How do you have a codename already, ma'am."
"It's because of my dad." She smiled and then sighed again.
"I don't understand, ma'am." The young sergeant was said perched from atop the wall. "I thought we had to pass this course to earn a code-name, ma'am."
"Normally, yes." She said simply. "But, my dad made sure I had a code-name already." She sighed again, suddenly hating her code-name.
"I still don't get it, ma'am."
"You don't know who my dad is?" It was more question than statement.
"No, ma'am." He dropped to the ground.
"Well, let's just leave it at, he's the reason for my code-name, Sergeant."
"Lieutenant Abernathy." Beachhead yelled once more
"We're going, sergeant." Kerry yelled back. "The young sergeant needs help/ And I'm going to help him, is that clear, sergeant?" Kerry stalked up to the overbearing drill sergeant.
"You're still on probation, Lieutenant." Beachhead stood with his hands on hips, daring the young woman to disobey him.
"That may be true, Sergeant, but, it was my understanding this was a team. Which means we help each other out."
"That is true, but, you're all also being graded on your time and personal performance."
"Well, don't you think part of that grade is how well we can work together?" Kerry stood nose to nose with the sergeant, hands on hips mirroring the sergeant.
"Yes, but, you still save to finish the course."
"And we will, Sergeant." Kerry responded. "Together."
"Fine." Beachhead backed down. The look on the young woman's face told him she meant business. He almost laughed. He didn't know who was more frightening, the General when he was mad, the General's wife when in full doctor mode or his daughter, now that she was finding her way around her way around being an officer. Hell, even when his own wife was mad. That made him smile and shake his head. Both at the thought that Sprout was going to be a force to be reckoned with one of these days and the fact that he was married himself. He never figured himself for being married.
"Fine!" Beachhead said simply and walked away.
Hawk was putting the finishing touches on the meal when Caroline literally trudged through the door barely looking up to find her husband standing in the doorway in a white button down shirt and navy blue khakis holding two dozen mixed roses ranging in color from dark red to red to lavender and even orange and yellow.
"What's this, Clay?"
"Thought I'd surprise you with a romantic dinner, flowers and just some quiet time, just you and I."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "What did you do wrong? And please tell me Roadblock cooked dinner."
"I didn't do anything. Today is the twenty-fifth anniversary of our first date and I can cook you know." He replied.
"Yes, dear, you can. But I don't think burnt hamburgers is very romantic." She patted his face.
"Why does everyone keep saying that?" He replied indignantly. "I'll have you know, I had Roadblock teach me how to cook. Now, I thought you'd want like these. But, instead, it seems like you'd rather make fun of my cooking."
"They're beautiful. I love them. But, why all the colors? You only give me one pink rose, normally.[2]"
"Well, its all symbolism. Twenty four roses for the number of hours I think of you. The red is for love, dark red for deep passion, yellow because you're my best friend. Lavender is for the love I felt at first sight and the orange is for how fascinated I am by you." He explained. "Caroline, I love you so much and I wanted to show you." He shook his head. "Is that so hard to believe?"
"No, sweetheart, it isn't. I already know how much you love me. And you know I love you. For crying out loud, why else would I be putting myself through this hell you call training?" She laughed. "The flowers are love and I am starving. Dinner smells divine." She kissed him lightly on the cheek and walked over to the table to find a candlelit setting, a simple white table cloth, fine china covered and three covered dishes.
As he pulled the covers off, he explained each dish. "For my lovely lady, we have a bourbon maple glazed ham with bourbon candied carrots, roasted garlic and herb mashed potatoes, dinner rolls and a side of simple asparagus, my lady's favorite vegetable. That one was hard to get, Roadblock thought I was nuts since he knows I hate it." Hawk laughed. "And for dessert, a brandied cherry cheesecake."
"My god, I think I just gained fifty pounds. Did you really cook this?"
"Yes, I did." He smiled. "Well, most of it. Roadblock had to make the cheesecake. Mine flopped." He laughed.
[1] In the cartoon, Flint had brown hair and brown hair. In the comics, he had black hair and blue eyes….I prefer the comic version of him, in looks. In personality, I prefer the cartoon version. So, my Flint is a combination of the two. I kept the cartoon personality, comic looks.
[2] This is an ode to my dad who always gave my mom a single pink rose on my birthday. He also used to give her a single yellow rose on their anniversary. He always called her his yellow rose of texas.