Que le Rêve et L'amour
Rifiuto: Non Miriena
Summary: Sergeant Josephina Lupo and her team discover a baby girl abandoned on the side of the road not far from their base in Afghanistan. From that moment on, Jo makes it her mission to not only protect the innocent little girl from the ravages of war, but from the life she would face in an Afghanistan orphanage, and give her the life she deserves... not realizing that in saving the abandoned little girl, she's also saving herself. Jo/Zane.
A/N: The title is a portion of a quote from Anna de Noailles... "But dreams and love." Written: 2012. Rewritten: 2013. Found: 2019. - Licia
Outside Wiezner's Military Base,
Afghanistan,
2001
It was black.
There was such a difference from the typical blackness of a night sky, and the blackness that stretched out before her and her team, on the dirt road they trekked along, not far from their base. The four military personnel, on evening patrol, had been given the assignment, all because she had made some comment about "enjoying being surrounded by the darkness at night," and her CO decided that was enough of a reason to put the fresh-out-of-West-Point grad on first watch. He sent three others with her, of course, but that was it, telling her that it would do her good to spend a little time in "in the darkness" since she enjoyed it so much and had volunteered.
But there was a difference between the darkness that filled her room at night back in New Jersey, and the darkness before her now. She knew that darkness, she was familiar with it, as familiar as her dad's cooking or her brother Ricco's car was to her.
This darkness?
This darkness she knew nothing about.
In this darkness, the enemy hid; machine guns and bombs and sniper rifles, all intent on hitting moving targets sent in retaliation for a terrorist attack that claimed over three thousand lives. Men and women of all backgrounds, colors and ages enlisted; whole families who had served in the military for decades, like hers, enlisted. All three of her brothers, and her father would have gone, if the injury he'd sustained in Desert Storm hadn't resulted in an honorable discharge and near constant pain, making his serving alongside his children impossible. Besides, someone had to be home to tend the vigil.
"When we get back to base, I'm making a pot of coffee, curling up with my laptop and putting a movie on. Maybe something lighthearted, like The Parent Trap."
Private Jensen chuckled, glancing at Jo, before, "Old or new?"
"What do you mean?"
"Old or new? The one with Haley Mills or the one with Lindsay Lohan?"
Willis stopped, startled. "There's two?"
She snorted softly, rolling her eyes. Of course Willis would react that way; though he was twenty-one- three years older than her- he was probably the most innocent of their squad. The young man from South Bend had been sheltered most of his life, having grown up with a father in prison and an overprotective mother, but for all his innocence, there was a strength about him that one had to admire. The kid was also a genius at computers, having spent most of his sheltered life burying himself in the latest technology, even going so far as to learning how to rebuild and program them.
"Sometimes I wonder how Willis ended up joining the military in the first place." She turned, glancing up at Eric Brogan, who glanced quickly at Willis before returning his gaze to hers. An Army Ranger, Brogan was four years older than her; one of her older brother Davie's friends, Jo had spent the majority of her childhood and teenage years around Eric, to the point that she knew what made him tick. Safe to say, Davie hadn't been too happy when Eric had started dating his little sister, but Jo, being Jo, had told him to get over it or shut up about it. The siblings hadn't spoken to each other for weeks, before Davie finally ended up giving in.
"He's good with technology."
"Yeah, meaning he should be in a hundred floor high rise making tons of money and creating the latest technology. Not out here in the Afghan desert on night watch. The kid's too innocent to be here."
She shrugged. "We're all too innocent to be here."
The group continued on in silence, the darkness swallowing them whole, until,
"Shh."
They all stopped as she held up a hand. "What is it, Lupo?"
She waved the question away, straining her ears, hoping to hear the noise again. After several minutes of silence, she cast it aside and they continued on. Again, the same noise reached her ears, and she stopped. Her senses now on high alert, she turned to the others. "Do you hear that?"
Confused glances, soft whispers, the shaking of heads. A few footfalls. And again, that unsettling noise. She glanced at Brogan, who nodded. He'd heard it too. Without a word, Jo raised her flashlight, sending a beam of light into the engulfing darkness- "Who's there?"
Nothing.
Just endless desert and darkness.
And then her light landed on a bundle on the ground, not far away. From where she stood, it was difficult to tell if it was a roadside bomb or a pile of clothing left behind. Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward, but Brogan grabbed her arm. "What are you doing? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
She turned back to him. "I'll be right back." She gently yanked out of his grasp, making her way towards the bundle, ignoring the protests of her cohorts. Just because she was the lone female of the group, didn't mean she couldn't do the same job as the males. She'd grown up with three brothers. She was just as strong as them, and ten times just as stubborn. Eventually, she stopped mere feet from the bundle. Slowly, cautiously, she knelt down before it. The noise once more reached her ears again; this time louder, yet thin.
With her heart taking residence in her throat, she reached out. If this was an IED, one wrong move, and she and her mates could be blown to pieces. And so with the careful skill of a heart surgeon, she lifted the edge of the ratty blanket... only to find a baby girl's unfocused gaze staring up at her.