Chapter 12
"I'm in love with you Fannie. I have been since we first met. You are a very beautiful and sexy woman. When I helped you the first time the other day, it was to get you out of my system and give you that connection you craved. Hearing you talk sexily to my cousin turned me on. I wanted to touch you and I listened at the door." A tear ran down her beautiful face.
"Jeanne, don't regret what we shared. I enjoyed your loving touch. You will always be my hermana. I love you, but I'm in love with Carlos." I kissed her gently on the lips before moving off my bed.
That night we slept wrapped in each other's arms. It was our way of saying goodbye to the intimacy we once shared. In a few days, I'll be moved to a different barracks for my sniper training. We needed to live close to our training teams. Jeanne Ellen would be staying off base with the men involved in their undercover mission. They needed the time to get to know each other so they'll act more natural in the field.
"I love you hermana," I said after our shower the next morning.
"I love you too Fannie." She gave me a final kiss before leaving the barracks with her bags to load her Jeep.
Neither of us said goodbye, but we did visit Flamin Fred, the base's tattoo artist, to get matching tattoos... almost matching tattoos. My tattoo had WC with a small cat and hermana written in elegant script below. Jeanne had the Wonder Woman symbol in place of the cat. It was our way to acknowledge our close relationship and our sisterhood. Flamin Fred, along with everyone else, assumed we were close like sisters. One day Jeanne Ellen will find her forever partner. We both knew that partner was never going to be me.
It was so lonely in my room. I was the only female here. Ram and Flamin Fred were becoming my closest friends and surrogate brothers. They knew I have a boyfriend back home and respected me enough to keep their flirting to a minimum. During our time training, I learned a lot about my new friends. Ram's name is Michael Ramsey. He was given the nickname Ram because he could plough through any obstacle. Not to mention it was a short form of his last name. Flamin Fred's name is Calvin Winters. He got the tattoo before joining the Army, after catching his twin brother in bed with his girlfriend. That must have hurt. The tattoo made it easier to tell them apart. His parents were furious. I started calling him Cal since I didn't really like his nickname. It gave everyone the impression he was gay.
Ram and Cal started calling me 'bomber' after our first month of training. We were tasked to take out various targets. I didn't like shooting at the human like targets. Shooting gas tanks on Jeeps or other vehicles was my forte. I became quite skilled in causing massive explosions. We were becoming quite the formidable team. I provide a distraction while they take out the targets.
Our first deployment was in a few months. We would be assisting the special ops Ranger team in South America. They were able to neutralize their target but it would take a few months to hike to a safe enough area for extraction. The problem was getting past the men camping near the extraction site. Ranger team alpha was the best of the best, but they were needing extraction assistance.
We were training with team delta. They were total badasses and much too serious. The captain didn't want me on his team because I'm a girl. He was convinced Cal or Ram could do my job. To prove his point, he gave each of us a variety of targets to hit. Ram hit every target but couldn't get his jerry can to explode. Cal produced almost identical results as Ram. He hit the jerry can, but the gas leaked out without exploding. It was my turn to fire. I ran through the same routine as Ram and Cal. My jerry can exploded shooting hot shrapnel into the other two cans and setting them on fire.
"Holy Crap!" Captain Kavanough yelled. "How did you do that?" He was impressed.
"It's all in hitting the sweet spot," I shrugged off. "I never miss." I wasn't bragging, just stating a fact.
"What's your name?" he barked an order.
"Fannie Palmer, sir." I stood at attention.
"General Palmer's daughter?" he asked with a raised brow.
"Sir, no Sir," I smarted. Cal and Ram were practically laughing. I was going to the extreme in my answers, over-exaggerating the sarcasm in each reply. They couldn't stop themselves from laughing.
"What is so funny," he demanded.
Cal decided to take pity on the team captain. "She's General Palmer's niece, but not in the biological sense." Kavanough looked confused. "Captain, Fannie is his surrogate niece. Her father and the General served a few tours together."
I told the guys the story about my Uncle Alex, aka Ace. They know practically everything about Stephan, my BD and incubator, except for my real name and my adoptive parents. Very few people knew the derogatory nickname my rapist gave me. I told them about my boyfriend Carlos but nothing about Jeanne Ellen other than what they already know. Ram told me he believed for years that he had a son but found out recently it wasn't his. When the woman sued him for support a few months ago, I suggested getting a paternity test before giving her a cent. Once he starts paying support, he would be assuming financial responsibility. I didn't want him to go through all that trouble. Cal is a very nice man. The only scary thing about him is the tattoo. I've seen many women shy away from him. Speaking of tattoos I added a few more to my body.
We hung around the bars during our weekend leave, but I was still too young to drink. Ram was quite the lady's man. I could easily see how he got himself into trouble. He was the oldest in our group at age 22. Cal just turned 21 a few weeks ago. He was more content scaring the creeps away from me. I'm still 19 because my birthday isn't for another three months. These guys act like my protective older brothers and I absolutely love it.
Our team was scheduled to leave in a few days for our mission. I had an appointment to have my hair buzzed. The captain wanted me to look like just another one of the guys. I was willing to do whatever was necessary to make the mission easier for our team. My uniform included a stretchy bandage designed to hide my breasts. It wasn't too comfortable, but it was a necessary part of my uniform. I would be sharing a tent with Ram and Cal since I trust them not to take advantage of our close proximity.
I called Carlos to tell him I'll be offline for a minimum of two months. When he asked where I was going, I confessed, "I'm being deployed for a ten week mission. After this mission, I return to base for debriefing. I have another long term deployment immediately after."
"You're in the Army," he stated.
"Yes. I joined after I lost Stephan," I finally admitted.
"Will I see you when you return?" he sounded almost sad.
"I can't make any promises. It depends if our schedules align." I was really sad.
"When do you leave?" he asked.
"In a few days. I have tomorrow to visit family before I leave," the ones in Georgia not Jersey.
"I'll see you tomorrow Babe," he promised. I readily agreed after giving him Uncle Alex's address.
I asked my uncle if we could stay the night at his house. He granted permission after reminding me it was my home too. It's been awhile since I've seen Carlos. "Young love," he muttered when I left to grab my duffle. Carlos arrived early the next morning. He was surprised to see the General open the door. When Carlos starts basic training, our relationship was going to be forbidden. Uncle Alex assured me our relationship will be accepted because they already know about its existence. As long as it didn't affect our training, we were permitted to date. There was a lot of paperwork involved. Personally, I think it would be easier if we just got married... much less paperwork involved.
Carlos and I spent the next night together. He loved my new tattoos and kissed my buzzed head. The one tattoo was a small filled in Batman symbol on the inside of my left wrist. My uniform will easily hide the mark. I have a larger one just above my pelvic bone with the initials RCM inside the thick outline. Poor Cal was embarrassed when he was creating the mark. I noticed Carlos had some ink as well. He had 'Babe - Siempre' tattooed on the inside of his left hip. I loved his only tattoo. We made love most of the night. I was leaving at 1400 hours.
"I love you Stephanie, Babe," he said between kisses.
"I love you too Carlos," I said before attempting to climb out of bed. It was 0530 and I was itching to get my day started. I needed to meet my team in six hours and I wanted to visit the gym.
"Don't get shot," he said into my ear. His arms tightened around me. He was having a difficult time letting me go.
"Don't go crazy Batman," I replied. Reluctantly he let me leave. Uncle Alex turned a blind eye as I snuck Carlos out of my room.
While I was waiting for the treadmill in the gym, I was approached by Uncle Alex. He motioned behind him. Major Rogers was standing behind Carlos. "Follow me," Major Rogers ordered. Carlos reached for my hand when I walked past him.
"What's going on?" I asked him.
"You'll see," he replied. "Take a quick shower and put this on." He passed me a bag containing a simple dress, panties and bra. Using the women's shower, I quickly washed off the sweat and dressed in the clothes from the bag.
"Ready whenever you are." I took his right hand with my left.
His thumb stroked my left ring finger. We were led to the administration building. Carlos pulled me aside and asked, "Will you marry me today?" Last night I told Carlos I was ready to get married whenever he wanted. I couldn't see my life without him by my side.
"Yes. I'll marry you today Carlos." Our ceremony was performed by the Army chaplain. We were pronounced husband and wife at 0900 on Friday July 18, 2004. Carlos and I wanted our marriage to be completely binding before I leave. Uncle Alex drove us back to his house so we could consummate our marriage. Thankfully he caught a ride back to base and left me his car.
I had to meet my team in the mess hall at 1130. At 1030 we returned to base. I called Cal to meet us in my barracks. He was adding our wedding date to my larger tattoo. Carlos had him add the date to his tattoo too. My emergency contact papers were updated to include Carlos. I couldn't believe I was being deployed on my wedding day.
"I love you Carlos," I said before getting into the Jeep.
"Take care of my wife," Carlos told Cal and Ram. They gave him a sharp nod.
On the Army jet, Ram and Cal reorganized our packs so they were carrying most of the heavy items. They left me with enough water and rations in case we got separated. During one of our training sessions they learned I could quickly scale a tree and hide within the canopy of leaves. As long as I had a blanket, rope, water and rations I could hunker down there for days.
It would take us almost a month to hike to our final target location. We were required to gather intel during our travel. Our team will travel mostly at night and hide in trees or caves during the day. I was surprised how light these large men were on their feet. They barely made a sound as they walked over the dry grass.
My team hasn't showered in over a week. I was given a new type of birth control before I left for this mission. The medic injected it into my ass cheek and said it would last for three months. Our medic, Bones, had another vial to administer another injection if our mission extends past twelve weeks. He was instructed to inject it during week eleven. I had a backup dose in case I was separated from Bones. All members of our team were instructed in first aid so I knew how to inject it into my hip.
We arrived at our first target a week later than anticipated. My spidey sense indicated we were in danger. I whispered my concern to Ram. The outhouse was causing my spidey sense to go haywire. It took a few days to neutralize the enemy blocking our path. Luckily all our men survived without injury. I experienced nightmares from my first kill. The rocket I launched into the wooden outhouse killed the five men hiding within its depths. Kavanough confirmed the kills. He said a sixth man outside the structure was hit with shrapnel but survived. After interrogating him, he learned about the other two camps along the road. The next one was 20 miles down the road, the last one in 30 miles. We were 40 miles away from our final target.
That night I was exhausted and emotionally drained, but I kept up with the guys as we hiked ten miles down the road. We needed to get away from the bodies because the wild animals would be circling soon. It wouldn't be wise to get between wild life and their next meal.
We encountered our second camp of enemies the following night. They were fairly easy to neutralize. Cal and I were tasked with providing cover for our men. Fortunately I didn't have to fire my weapon. Kavanough had me send a cryptic message to home base. It was both a check in and notification we were zeroing in on our target.
Quite a few hours and another nine miles later, we made camp among a thicket of trees. I quickly fell asleep after dinner but a nightmare woke me up. Ram was tightly tucked into his sleeping bag. His dark hair was messy from sleep. Cal was sleeping with his mouth open and half out of his sleeping bag. His head had a few days worth of growth. He looked so peaceful while he slept.
I squeezed between Ram and Cal on the other side of the tent. Ram was pressed against my back and I was pressed against Cal's back, our sleeping bags separated our bodies. I needed the comfort from my friends. "Roll over Bomber," Ram whispered. I rolled over to face him. He pulled my head onto his shoulder. "The first one is always the hardest," he whispered into my ear.
"How did you get past it?" I whispered back.
"I keep thinking it was either them or me."
"So kill or be killed?" I asked. Our conversation was still whispered.
Cal rolled over and pressed into my back. "Exactly bomber. You saved the lives of our team. We didn't know the outhouse was occupied," he whispered.
"I just listened to my spidey sense. I'm nobody's hero," I whispered back. I felt both men wrap their arms around me to squeeze me tight.
"You're our hero, Wonder Woman," they whispered. I fell asleep in the cocoon their bodies provided. We slept for a few hours before it was time to move camp.