Chapter 11

"You have a beautiful body," she complimented me.

"So do you Jeanne Ellen."

"I can help if you ever need it," she referred to my failed shower self-love moment.

"Thanks, but we shouldn't do that again," I said honestly.

She seemed a bit sad. "Did I do something wrong?" she asked.

"No you didn't do anything wrong. I enjoyed everything you did to me. I liked touching and sucking your breasts and putting my fingers inside you," I was being honest.

"But you didn't enjoy putting your mouth down there," she finished for me.

"No I didn't. I'm sorry," I confessed.

"Steph sweetie, I understand. You needed the physical connection at the time and I was willing to give myself to you. Don't feel so guilty," she said as she gently stroked my face.

"I love you as mi hermana Jeanne Ellen," I said and ran my fingers through her silky hair.

"I love you too Steph. You're mi hermana," she readily agreed. "We can't cross that line again."

"No we can't. Carlos and I are back together and I won't cheat on Carlos."

She passed me some clothes so I could quickly dress to get to our appointments on time. Our first trip was to a Newark hair salon where we were getting our hair cut. Jeanne Ellen had them cut her hair to shoulder length. My hair was maybe three inches long all over. With my curly hair, it would poof out clown style if it was shoulder length like Jeanne's hair.

I grabbed Jeanne Ellen's hand and led her to the food court. We grabbed some lunch and were about to leave when I noticed Joseph Morelli and Terri Grizolli a few tables away. Jeanne Ellen noticed where I was looking before she passed me a small case and eye drops from her purse. She could sense my anxiety. I opened the case and found brown tinted contacts. "Just put them in. Trust me. Follow my lead."

Jeanne held the mirror as I inserted the contacts into my eyes. She kept an eye on them to make they didn't recognize me. I doubt they would, but Jeanne wasn't as convinced. After a few quick drops, Jeanne Ellen put the mirror away. It was fortunate everyone called me Fannie on base.

I held Jeanne's hand as though we were lovers. It was completely natural for us. We were known to hold hands while on our leave from base. It sent a message of unavailability. Joe watched as we walked past his table towards the exit. He quickly followed us. It took all my inner strength not to cringe when he grabbed my shoulder. Spinning me around he said, "Stephanie, where have you been?"

Using a higher pitched voice and a fake accent, I answered, "I'm sorry, but I don't know who she is or who you are."

"Fannie, do you know this man?" Jeanne Ellen asked purposely lacing her question with jealousy.

"No." I stared into Joe's eyes. He took in the colour of my eyes and his face turned apologetic.

"I'm sorry. I thought you were a girl I knew from back home. Your eyes are brown. Stephanie's eyes are a mesmerizing shade of blue," he apologized. He seemed a bit confused as though his mind and knowledge of my mannerisms were at war with each other.

"Have you been looking for her?" I was curious to know if he was actively searching for me so I could notify Ace.

"Kind of. She's been missing for over two years. Nobody has seen her since July 2001. I've been worried about her and wondering if she was safe," Joe answered. I couldn't believe my rapist was suddenly worried about my wellbeing. The nerve of that bastard.

"I hope you find her soon. I'm sorry we couldn't help you today," I sweetly said. "Come on love, we're late for our appointment," I said to Jeanne Ellen.

"Thanks ladies. Stay safe out there. The world is full of creeps," he advised. Huh... maybe he's changed. Nah... it's not possible. Joe was probably pretending to be a concerned friend.

When we closed the car door behind us, Jeanne Ellen asked, "Is it possible he was sincerely worried about you?"

I gave her a 'what the fuck' look before answering, "He was one of my rapists. I seriously doubt he was genuinely concerned. He is right, the world is full of creeps and he currently holds the number one position." When I told Jeanne the story, I never described the men who raped me, but she knew their names.

"I'm sorry Fannie. I should have recognized your expression." It was the same one she wore when we 'bumped' into her rapist during our first week in basic. He was moved to a different battalion and Uncle Alex ordered his troop to never train with ours. If this man put one toe out of line, he would be dishonourably discharged.

"Would you be upset if we return to base earlier? A chopper leaves at 1800 tonight." I wanted to go home. Facing my rapist was more difficult than I thought was possible.

"Sure. I'm ready to go home too. My parents are mad at me anyways," she sadly told me.

"Why? What happened?" It was unlike her to look so sad. I was wondering why she came over a few days early.

"I told them," she whispered. Ah... that explains why she needed to see me earlier than our scheduled time. "They disowned me."

"I'm sorry Jeanne," I empathized. Both of us were discarded by our biological families. "You're my hermana," I said as I grabbed her hand.

"Mi hermana," she agreed and gently squeezed my hand. Jeanne quickly pulled herself together so we could grab my luggage from home.

Mama and Papa were upset to hear I was leaving early, but when Jeanne and I told them what happened, they understood. I used the main floor lavatory to remove the contacts and tossed them into the trash. They weren't the type you could reuse. We promised to talk soon and let Papa give us a ride.

On our way to the airfield I had to ask her an important question, "Why did you have coloured contacts in your purse?"

She laughed before replying, "It's an experiment my instructor is conducting. He gave everyone a pair of coloured contacts and saline solution. If we had to use them during our leave, we had to outline the reason and circumstances. I also have to file a report to say who actually wore them. I'll need your signature."

"Why did you have brown tinted contacts? You're eyes are already brown?"

Jeanne chuckled, "I also have green and blue." She pulled a few more contact cases from her bag. One had the initials BL, the other GR.

I started laughing. "You mean Major Rogers gave you an assignment while you're on leave?" Major Rogers was in charge of the special ops training. He was training some men and Jeanne Ellen to go deep undercover for their next deployment. When our CO made the announcement, Jeanne was the first person to sign up. I wasn't interested in participating. My talents were better suited for the program I'm writing to improve our target tracking intel. If the program works as I hope it will, we could feed information gathered into he database to narrow down our targets. I hit a slight roadblock while writing the algorithm... if only I had Hector to help. Now Ranger training was something I had my eyes set on. If I make it through my sniper deployment, I would be a viable candidate for the Rangers.

"You got it in one. I bet I'm the only one to remember the assignment." She was proud of herself.

We arrived at the airfield and were strapped into the chopper seats. Jeanne waited until we were airborne before pulling a folder and notepad from her messenger bag. I watched her neat writing appear on the page before she passed it to me. "Sign here." Her voice sounded tinny over the bulky headphones. She pointed to the empty line beside her name. I quickly read the page, signed and provided my rank and serial number. "Thank you Wonder Woman," she said with a wink.

The men on the chopper looked between the two of us when they suddenly realized who we are. "Wonder Cat?" the man sitting beside me asked.

"Cat Woman," I said as I pointed to Jeanne Ellen.

"Wonder Woman," she said pointing to me. "When we're together they call us Wonder Cat."

"You guys are total badasses. I heard you're going for sniper training." I currently hold the top position in range accuracy. A man called Ram was second. Jeanne third and Flamin Fred was fourth. On our way to the airfield, I contacted my uncle to accept the assignment. I'll start my training with Ram and Flamin Fred in January.

"I am," I admitted. "Cat Woman isn't. She's taking a... umm... different path." Where Jeanne was going was a secret. I only knew because Uncle Alex asked if I wanted to train with her. It was an interesting assignment, but not one I wanted to do. He trusted me not to tell anyone.

The man next to me looked at my body and stupidly said, "I'll let you handle my weapon any time you want. Just tell me when."

"She's engaged you moron. Fannie may not be wearing the ring, but it's still true." Jeanne Ellen was quick to jump to my defence. "Do you know who she is? She's Fannie Palmer," Jeanne Ellen continued.

"Oh crap," the man said when he heard my name.

I willingly backed her story. "In fact, I'm engaged to her cousin." It was kind of true. We agreed to stay engaged and to wait for each other. I mean... he was patiently waiting for me to get my shit together. "Should I tell him what you said to me?" Both men shook their head no.

Thinking about Carlos made me realize I forgot to tell him I was going home today. I'll have to use my secure satellite phone to call him. Uncle Alex gave me the phone for Christmas. He said to use it for calling family and friends, but not to give the number to anyone. It could literally mean the difference between life and death. We had an alphanumeric emergency code if I was in trouble.

Carlos has my other phone number and promised to only call during our scheduled time frame. I told him my phone would only be turned on during those hours. He also has my email address. I gave him the option to email or send post. If he emails me, I would get the message within a day. He really liked that option.

The rest of our ride home was fairly benign, almost boring. Lieutenants Williams and Walters stopped shamelessly flirting with us. It was nice to have the fear of General Palmer's wrath hanging over their head. Even better when they assumed I was his daughter. I wasn't about to correct them. Speaking of the General, he was waiting to drive us back to our barracks. "Hi Daddy... I mean sir," I winked at him.

With his blank face in place, he glanced at the men behind me before answering, "How was your visit with your aunt, my dear daughter?"

"Great. I'm engaged again," I said to continue the story Jeanne Ellen told them. It was technically true, I just didn't have the ring.

"Men, you are dismissed," he barked.

"Sir, yes sir," they replied before leaving us. I waited for our Jeep to pull away before bursting into laughter.

"Oh my God! That was too funny. Thanks for playing along Ace."

"No problem Fannie. The men assume you're my daughter anyways. May as well let them believe it," he said without remorse. "What's this news about your engagement?"

"Well... I'm engaged again, but we decided to take things slow."

"To the same boy as before?" He knew about my relationship with Carlos.

"Yes. We saw each other during my visit. I still have that strong connection to him. I'm not ready to tell him where to find me yet."

"I'm happy for you Fannie. You'll know when the time is right." He didn't have to tell me he was proud of me, because I could see it in his eyes.

Jeanne Ellen and I carried our luggage into our barracks. Our room had ten bunks, but only two were currently in use.

I grabbed my phone to call Carlos. "Hey Batman," I joked. I figured if everyone called me Wonder Woman, then I should call my kind-of-fiancé Batman. Superman probably would have worked too, but he was more mysterious like Batman.

"Babe."

"I'm home. I forgot to tell you I was leaving. My friend and I went shopping at the mall and ran into Morelli." He growled from hearing the name. Carlos knew it was one of the men who raped me.

"I'm going to kill him," he spat out. "I'll ask Hector to help."

"Batman... don't. He isn't worth going to prison for. Morelli didn't know it was me. My friend gave me brown tinted contacts to wear. I pretended I didn't know him. With brown eyes, he thought he was mistaken."

"I like hearing you call me Batman," he sexily said. A minute passed in silence before he added, "How did he recognize you?"

"I'm not entirely sure. It could have been my curly brown hair or my face shape. My body doesn't look the same, so I doubt that was a factor."

"Maybe he noticed how you sway your gorgeous ass while you walk." His voice was getting deeper. I could hear his breaths hitch. It sounded like he was either having sex with someone or masturbating. Only his voice and heavy breathing could be heard over the phone.

"Are you alone?" I still had to ask.

"Yes. Completely alone as I stroke myself from hearing your sexy voice."

"Baby... give it to me really good," I moaned as I teased him. Jeanne Ellen stifled a laugh. "Work it baby. Imagine I'm squeezing you tight with my muscles."

"Are you alone?" he asked. I wasn't, but he didn't need to know that. Jeanne Ellen locked our door to give us some privacy. She started pulling down my pants to assist me.

"No Baby, I'm not alone," I was honest with him. "My girlfriend is with me. I'll ask her to leave." I was getting turned on while I listened to him. There was no way I would be able to relieve the tension with Jeanne Ellen watching.

I waited for Jeanne Ellen to leave the room before reaching into my panties. He told me what to do as I touched myself and moaned through my release when Carlos screamed my name. After a quick 'I love you' Carlos and I ended the call. OMG we literally had phone sex.

Jeanne Ellen returned and reached into her drawer for the vibrator. I used this moment to wash the sticky sweat from my body. She was finished by the time I returned to the bunk.

"I listened to you outside the door," she confessed. "It was really hot and I got so horny. Being around you is starting to confuse me."

"Why is it confusing you?" I had a feeling she was in love with me, but I didn't reciprocate. I was in love with Carlos. Jeanne and I only touched each other that one time, but she must have felt more from it than I did.