Kerry Stood at the edge of the hill overlooking the complex obstacle course watching the sun set behind the mountains, bathing the desert floor and course in muted purples and oranges. She was surprised at how peaceful and beautiful the course looked in the dying sunlight. Standing there, she felt rather than heard the presence behind her. Scarlett and Snake-eye's training was paying off, at least with that part, she thought as she smiled. Figuring it was her father, her eyes never left the setting sun.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" She said.
"Yes, it is." She whirled around at the voice, the voice that wasn't her father's. It was the young sergeant she'd helped earlier in the day. She noticed he wasn't wearing any form of uniform. Just a t-shirt and pair of tight jeans, no belt adorned the simple denim. He wasn't looking at the sunset. And for some odd reason, the way his eyes were looking her over made her nervous.
"Oh, hi. I didn't expect you." She said as she turned back to the sunset. "What are you doing here?"
"I watched you come out here. I wanted to talk to you."
"How can I help you, sergeant?" She really didn't want to talk to the young man, but she couldn't be rude. Though, as her concern built, she did cross her arms over her chest.
"I wanted to thank you for this morning." He closed the distance between them.
"You're welcome, sergeant." She looked over her shoulder at the young man. She hoped he would get the idea. Granted, the young man seemed nice, and while he was handsome, he was still a sergeant and she, a lieutenant. She hadn't worked this hard to get her bars and her commission to throw it away on a sergeant.
"You didn't have to do it."
"Sure I did. This is a team." Kerry said simply. Hoping that would get the young man to leave. "And it's the job of any good officer to lead and inspire their unit."
"I think you did because you like me." The sergeant moved closer and put his hands on her shoulders.
"Sergeant, please take your hands off me." Kerry spat out. "I am an officer, you are a sergeant. Whatever you think is going to happen, isn't."
"Oh, I think it is." He sneered as he pulled her to him and pressed his lips to hers. He captured her arms between them and she flattened them against his chest. She tried wrestle away from the young man as she turned her head away and attempted to push him away. But, his size and superior training was winning. From the depths of her mind, she remembered something Scarlett had taught her as she stomped on her would-be attackers foot and raised her arms up and out from her body wrenching his hold from her before she grabbed one arm and flipped the larger man over her head planting him face first into the ground, one of his arms bent behind his back and her knee pressed into the small of his back. She leaned down and whispered next to his ear.
"Try that one more time and you will find yourself with not only a broken back, but a courts-martial as well. Are we clear, Sergeant?"
"Yes Ma'am." He ground out. Silently, though, he vowed to get the uppity little lieutenant.
"Lieutenant? Is everything alright?" Kerry stood up as she heard Flint's voice from a few feet away. Her father stood behind him.
"It is now. Isn't it Sergeant?" She stood, letting the sergeant stand.
"Yes, ma'am." He was rubbing his shoulder which was hanging at an unnatural angle.
"What in tarnation is going on here?" Hawk asked his daughter who had walked over to him.
"The sergeant and I had a disagreement, Dad. Nothing else."
Dad? The sergeant stared at the young officer. Her father was the commander of G.I. Joe. Great, just great, no wonder she thought she was better than anyone else.
"Somehow, that forced kiss didn't seem like a disagreement to me." Hawk narrowed his eyes at the young sergeant. "Yes, Sergeant, I know exactly what you did. And I will see you in my office in the next ten minutes, in full dress uniform. I will not have any man under my command who tries to force himself on any woman, my daughter or not." Hawk commanded. "Now, Kerry, I believe you are late for your literature class?"
"Yes, sir." She followed Flint to his quarters.
"Good moves, Lieutenant." Flint complimented.
"Thank you." Flint could tell from the way she said that, with relief that she thought he was going to light into her about being with a sergeant.
"Scarlett teach you that?" Flint asked.
"Yes."
"Well, if I can give you one bit of advice. Once you get your arms out from under the attacker, push your palm into their nose. Then get the hell away." He walked away from her. Kerry just stared after the uptight Warrant Officer.
Twenty minutes later, Hawk stared at the young man standing severely, staunchly at attention in front of him. He just stared.
"Sergeant? Are you aware of the regulations regarding fraternization in the U.S. Army?"
"Yes,sir."
"Please explain them to me?" Hawk asked simply.
"Officers and enlisted cannot date without permission from their commanding officer, sir."
"Very good, now, did you have permission from me to date Lieutenant Abernathy?"
"No sir."
"Now, can you tell me what the fraternization rules are for the U.S. Air Force?"
"No, sir."
"Well, let me. No dating, or any relationship between an officer and enlisted that can be construed as being contrary to the morale of a unit." Hawk explained. "Now, Lieutenant Abernathy is in the U.S. Air Force, so, based on that, do you think she would welcome your advances?"
"Sir, no sir. But, sir, I didn't know the regulations for the Air Force, sir."
"I don't care!" Hawk raised his voice. "That woman told you no and you still attempted to…" He couldn't say what he was thinking, both because he abhorred the idea that a woman could be assaulted like that but mostly because it was his own daughter. "seduce her?"
"Yes sir." The sergeant answered as Lady Jaye walked in with the young man's personnel file. Wordlessly, she placed it on the General's desk, opening it to a page near the back and tapping lightly on the page to draw the General's attention to the information printed there.
"Hmm, interesting. How did you manage to hide the fact that you'd been accused of accosting another female soldier?"
"Sir?" The sergeant questioned, while silently wondering how they were able to find out that information.
"Says here, Sergeant that you were accused of a female private of assaulting her, in fact, it says attempted rape. Now, how did you manage to hide that fact from us?"
"She dropped the charges, sir. It was a misunderstanding."
"Really? Because my personnel clerk here found evidence to the contrary. Seems that according to this information, the young lady left the service soon after this incident. Why is that, sergeant?"
"Don't know, sir."
"Doesn't matter, we'll find out. In the meantime, you're being remanded to the stockade until your courts-martial." Hawk nodded to Mutt and Junkyard, who'd just entered the room. Junkyard snarling at the man. Wordlessly, the sergeant followed Mutt to the stockade. A wry smile was inching its way onto his face. That lieutenant was going to pay for this, he thought.
Author's note: I'm working on a more Kerry-centric story idea and I think this 'nice, young sergeant' will be featured...so, don't worry all. We'll get back to Caroline, the General (not just Hawk) and all the others. :)