Lils POV
I was sat in the back of a Chinook, with around 30 of my soldiers. The atmosphere was far too tense, so I did what I was known best for: started making jokes.
"What do you call a hen staring at a pile of lettuce?" I started. A couple of men looked up. "A chicken sees a salad." I laughed as they groaned.
"Rest in peace to boiling water. You will be mist." Bailey piped up from beside me.
"Come on, Corporal, you can do better than that." I teased. "How about this one. I got my daughter a fridge for her birthday. I can't wait to see her face light up when she opens it." This one was met with moans of despair.
"What's the difference between hungry and horny? Where you stick the cucumber." This one came from Sprules. I groaned.
"Why was King Tut so irresistible? It was his pharaohmones." Eagleton added, grinning at the stupidity of the joke.
"We all know where the Big Apple is, but do we know where the Minneapolis?" Hunter added, as the Chinook began to descend. It touched down and the hatch opened; we all filed out into the bright sunlight and sticky heat.
"Right, let's find the barracks!" I yelled above the screaming blades of the helicopter, jogging off towards some buildings.
It was quite a small base, so we settled in pretty quickly. I was unpacking my bergens once more, already sweating in the heat. It was so tempting to just let a little bit of my vampire out, just so it wasn't so bloody unbearable. Why not? In a flash, the heat was no longer noticeable and I felt lighter, as if I was walking on air. The feeling didn't last long, as I realized that I had to collect the training plans for being in Belize. I strode across to the offices, finding the papers. With them in hand, I strode over to the barracks, calling a time for parade to all the soldiers.
I was striding back to my mess when Private Yates jogged over. He stopped and saluted with a strange expression on his face.
"Good evening, Private. At ease." I told him.
"Good evening ma'am. There is a man at the gate asking for you. He won't say who he is, but apparently requires your presence urgently." He said stiffly. I was confused; who would be all the way out here, and how did they get here so fast? A million more questions swirled around my mind.
"Thank you Private. Please notify the Sergeant Major that I am otherwise occupied, so he will have to take parade. There are timetables and other useful documents in the office." I ordered.
"Yes ma'am." He replied, striding away. I marched down to the gate, trying to calm my raging questions. A familiar scent wafted through the air and I almost groaned, stepping into the guardhouse and officially leaving the camp. Immediately, I was face to face with Caius, a familiar smirk on his lips.
"You look ravishing in uniform." He purred, reaching out a hand, which I smacked away defiantly.
"Don't touch me, or I will personally see to it that your balls are nailed to a wall." I growled. He didn't have the grace to look ashamed, or the sense to look worried, instead sneering at me like I was a dog.
"Well, have it your way then." He spat. "The war is soon, and we wish for you to return to train." Something about his tone made me uneasy, so, trying to ignore my humanity, I looked inside his head. The thoughts were jumbled, and a little hard to decipher, but when I found what I was looking for, I took a step back, eyes wide.
"There never was a war." I breathed, staring straight at him. Caius looked startled, mouth opening and closing like a fish. "Fuck you, you lying manipulative bastards." I said, voice cool and emotionless. I turned on my heel, leaving him there flabbergasted. There is no war. Just trust me, there is no war. I called down the link, unmindful of the silence that followed; they were probably asleep.
It was 6:40 in the morning, and after a grueling session of PT, it was time for me to get in the air. The majority of the soldiers were doing a tactical exercise, so I was not needed, instead able to fly the MV-22 Osprey, which I specialized in. I suited up and went out to the airfield, climbing into the pilot's seat. Bailey arrived mere seconds later, as he was replacing Perrio as co-pilot. The mission today was to act as the enemy for the men on the ground, and although no actual rounds would be fired, it was going to be a blast. We ascended vertically into the air and began to skim just above the treeline, pinpointing the soldiers' locations easily. I was so engrossed in the task that I almost missed a quiet whistling down the bond, an all too familiar tune: Guns 'n' Roses 'November Rain'. My heart jolted to my mouth.
Paul had told me once that 'November Rain' was the song playing when Rachel died, and that he didn't want to hear it again unless he knew someone was going to die. Hearing it made my blood run cold. I kept silent on the link, in case Aro was using his powers.
"Bailey," I rasped, forgetting formalities, "I need to land her, something doesn't sound right." I lied, carefully manipulating the engines with my powers. Seconds later, an alert flashed up on the dashboard, but I was already landing. We jumped out of the helicopter, Bailey running to find some engineers whilst I debated what to do.
I needed to go, but to run off straight away would cost me my job. That didn't matter, not when someone's life was on the line. In a flash, I morphed into my vampire form, making sure to keep my presence hidden from my mates. I began to move through the world, almost folding the land beneath me allowing me to arrive just outside of the Rez mere minutes later. It was time.