Ripcord stared out across the black night-time waters in
reflection, wondering where all the time had disappeared to. The
team had spent last four days basically just repeating the same
activities over and over again; going to the beaches, seeing the
sights, and just relaxing in general. Sure he'd enjoyed the
welcome respite from active duty, but in hindsight, they hadn't
really done but a few things. A smile crossed the paratroopers
face as he recalled some memories of the leave a particular one
concerning weight lifting 'competition' he'd gotten himself into
with Fastdraw. With a final chuckle that was lost over the sounds
of the small out-board motor, he pushed the memories away,
focusing instead on the present. Mainly because he knew in his
heart that this would be the best moment of the trip; he'd
personally seen to it. As a warmer smile crossed his face, he
shifted his green eyes towards the small boat's only other
passenger. Lit by the dim light of the moon, the figure of
Covergirl was sitting towards front, reclining lazily against the
sides of the small craft. She was wearing the same type of
clothes combination of a skirt and sleeveless button up that
she'd been partial to for nearly the whole trip; causing both the
bluish hue of the floral patterned clothes and her exposed skin
to seem to glow under the moonlight. After sometime of the two
soldiers skimming over the water, Covergirl spoke, breaking the
silence but not the serenity of the moment.
"Let me guess," She started, raising her voice slightly
in order for it to carry over the engine while a playful look
crossed her face. "We're heading back to the airport in
Honolulu where you'd spent the day convincing one of the pilots
to bring us up to sixty thousand feet so we could jump?"
"Nope," He responded with a sly grin. "Some things
are better done at sea level." He saw Covergirl shoot him a
quizzical glance before he shifted his gaze from her to a swiftly
approaching dark mass on the horizon. As the boat neared the form
more details poked into the moonlight, revealing the shape of a
small island that was mostly dominated by light patch of forest.
As the piece of land drew nearer, Ripcord gradually eased back on
the throttle before bringing the boat to a stop within a few
meters of the thin strip of sandy beach that surrounded the
island. Not brothering to kick off his tennis shoes, he leapt
over the side of the boat and into the mid-thigh deep water. He
withdrew a braided metal cable from the boat before dredging
through the water and up the beach, lashing the tether around a
tree before heading back out towards the boat. He came to a stop
at the edge of the boat holding his arms out as a warm smile
played over his face. "C'mon, I'll carry you to shore."
He said with a slow nod of his head towards the beach.
"What have you done, Wally?" She asked as her eyes
brightened and a large smile both quickly developed on her
features.
"You'll see." He responded cryptically as his own smile
widened to match her own. The evasive comment seemed to only
further brighten her mood as she carefully eased from the boat
and into his waiting arms. Taking great care to keep her out of
the water, he walked ashore, seemingly unaffected by the weight
of the woman in his arms. He approached a spot of the ground that
looked much darker than the others, gently setting her down on
the cloth of the pre-placed beach blanket. He saw Covergirl
follow his actions, kicking off her sandals as he knelt down in
front of a pile of small logs. He stuck a single match and tossed
it on the wood, raising a modest group of flames the instant it
touched the already prepared fire. As the flickering soft glow of
the fire began to cover their small area, he crossed to the other
side of the blanket, settling in beside Covergirl before reaching
into the beginnings of the forest just behind the blanket. A
sound of disturbed ice was heard just before he pulled his hands
into view again, this time bearing a bottle of Champaign and two
accompanying glasses. After setting them down, he reached into
the tree line again, this time causing a soft click to sound a
brief moment before the opening notes of Journey's "Open
Arms" started to drift softly through the cool night air. He
quickly filled one of the glasses with Champaign and offered it
her, watching as she accepted it with a slightly shaky hand.
"It's our last moments in paradise." He spoke in a soft
voice, allowing a short pause to creep between the two before he
started again. "I wanted to make them count."
"I can't believe you did this, that you set all this
up." She said in a slightly unsteady voice as water started
to appear at the corners of her eyes.
"I wanted to show you how much you mean to me." He
responded in almost whispered voice as he placed his hand over
hers, slowly rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand. Her
bright blue eyes gazed deep into his, almost as if searching for
something. After a long moment of simply nervously biting her
lower lip, she finally worked herself up enough to speak.
"You mean a lot to me too, Wally." She carefully said
in a barely audible voice.
"I know." He responded with a slow nod, his face still
confident. "That's why I did this. We needed one prefect
night."
"We'll have plenty of them," She started in more
confident voice as she offered up a nod a of her own. "But
thank you for this one. You're right. It's absolutely
prefect."
"Also I want you to know something." He said while
giving a reassuring squeeze to her hand and letting his warm
smile grow even larger. "I know I love you now." The
comment caused her to lose her futile battle with her emotions as
a few tears finally broke free of her eyes and slid down her
cheeks. In spite of the tears, a smile rivaling his made it's way
onto her face, bring a sharp contrast to her tears.
"Why?" She asked simply in an almost awe-stricken
voice, as a quizzical looked crossed his confident features.
"You asked me why I stuck with you." She asked as she
sniffled back a few more tears, attempting to break the stream.
"I just want to know the same."
"Because you can make it all go away." He responded as
his smile returned and he raised a hand to brush away the tears
that made their swift trails down her face. "Just one look
at you and I know it's all gonna be all right."
"I know I love you too, Wally." She said as she brought
a hand to the side of his face, tracing the predominate features
while her swiftly drying eyes stared deeply into his. "And
it will be all right. You promised." He didn't say a word as
he leaned closer to her, his lips meeting hers. Their arms locked
around the other, pressing their warm bodies together as the
passionate kiss extended into a blissful eternity. Without any
hesitation Covergirl slowly leaned her body away without breaking
their lips, pulling his body with hers as she slowly leaned
backwards, laying her body down on the blanket. Ripcord finally
broke their lips as he slid his lips across her cheek and jaw
line, causing her to angle her head upwards, exposing her neck as
she pulled him even tighter against her body.
Ripcord was slowly roused by the dull beeping of his wristwatch's
alarm. He sleepily felt around for the timepiece, patting his
hand around on the soft fabric of the top beach blanket. Finally
his fingers closed around the fabric and plastic object, pressing
a small button to silence it. Once the artificial sound had been
silenced, the natural sounds filled his ears. The waves gently
crashing against the shore and the light rustling of leaves that
were being blown around by the cool ocean breeze. However, not
the sound of the waves, the smell of the salt water, or the sun
beating down on his partially exposed body could occupy his mind
for more than a brief second. He cast his eyes down towards his
chest, his eyes instantly falling on the sleeping form of
Covergirl, her cheek resting against his pectoral muscle. His
eyes wandered over the rest of her figure, all but her arms and
shoulders still covered by one of the beach blankets that the two
soldiers were sandwiched between. He took a long moment just to
stare at her sleeping face, trying to remember every detail of
her soft breath on his chest and her smooth skin pressed up
against battered body. He raised the arm his free arm and gently
brushed aside a few stray strands of her hair, smiling at how
well her strawberry blonde hair faded into the thin coat of fiery
hair on his chest. He gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze with
the arm that was wrapped around it and lightly brushing the
bottom of his jaw against the top of her head. He then called out
in a whispered voice, a part of him not really wanting to wake
the sleeping woman. "Courtney, it's time to wake up. We
gotta get goin'."
"No." Covergirl responded in a lazy voice as she
nuzzled her cheek into his chest. "Let's just stay here.
They won't find us." She finished as she squeezed his
shoulder with the hand planted on it and hooked her leg around
his as if to stop him from leaving her side. The weak attempt to
restrain him brought a smile to his face as he placed a small
kiss on the crown of her head.
"You know I'd love to, but evading the team for day or two
is one thing; Missing our flight and being listed as AWOL is
another." He responded, his tone still barely audible.
"I know." She stated with a sigh. "I just don't
want this to end."
"Neither do I." He offered with a warm smile and he
gave her shoulders another reassuring squeeze. "But like you
said last night, they'll be plenty more times like this."
"Yeah." She responded as broad smile crossed her face.
Very reluctantly she eased her weak hold off his body before she
slowly sat up, pinning the blanket to her chest with one arm as
she twisted her waist to look over the still laying paratrooper.
The two both stayed motionless for a long moment, offering a warm
smile to the other as both looked deep in the other's eyes before
Covergirl's voice pushed the moment away, her smile fading as she
spoke. "But you're right, we have to get back. Generals to
see, Worlds to save."
As the two soldiers rounded the corner, bring the airport
terminal into view, Ripcord was partially surprised to see that
he and Covergirl weren't the last ones to arrive. His eyes
instantly picked out the form of Zap, in the middle on a
conversation on a nearby payphone. After his keen eyes swept over
the rest of the Delta terminal the only other familiar face he
spotted was Hotseat. As the two soldiers walked towards a few
open seats he saw the older tanker look up from his magazine to
give the two a displeased look before he wordlessly shifted his
eyes back to the copy of U.S. News and World Report.
As he settled into a plastic seat next to Covergirl, Ripcord
shifted his eyes out of the large windows, mindlessly watching
the various airliners taxi back and forth. The paratrooper lost
all sense of time, just blankly staring before his day-dreaming
was broken as he heard a disgusted sigh coming from Covergirl. He
turned his head, instantly catching sight of the source of her
displeasure. He saw Fastdraw locked a sloppy kiss with an
attractive young woman, an eye focused on Covergirl as he used
one arm to wave her forward.
"Obnoxious fuck." Covergirl mumbled with a shake of her
head, which raised a small chuckle from Ripcord. After an
uncessarily long moment, Fastdraw and the woman said their
goodbyes before the young blonde walked off, Fastdraw's eyes
following her seductively swaying hips as she proceeded down the
corridor.
"Damn." Fastdraw stated with an impressed tone and a
smile as he shook his head. "Top, we can't leave."
Fastdraw said as the smile turned into his normal grin once he
approached his three teammates after the woman had disappeared
from view. Hotseat only offered a slow shake of his head as he
continued to read the news magazine. "I'd ask where everyone
else was," Fastdraw started as he plopped down in the chair
beside Covergirl. "But my favorite tanker is already here
and that's the only one I care about." He finished as he
threw an arm around her shoulders.
"Only in your dreams hotshot." Covergirl responded as
she near-forcefully threw the younger soldier's arm off of her.
"C'mon Court, you know you want me." He shot back as he
moved to put his arm around her again, causing Ripcord's features
to harden as he turned towards the younger soldier. However
before the paratrooper could say anything, Hotseat quickly
defused the situation by changing the subject.
"To answer your question kid," The older NCO started,
bringing the attention of the three soldiers on him almost within
a heartbeat. "Heavy Metal is already here, grabbing a last
drink in the bar. Repeater is..." He trailed off before
shaking his head and closing his eyes. "Repeater is still
missing."
"He does know what time the flight leaves right?"
Ripcord asked in disbelief as he shot a quick glance to the
Boeing 747 that loomed just outside the large windows.
"I figured he just needed some time to blow off steam but
now I'm starting to get a little wor-" The older tanker
started before being cut off by Fastdraw.
"Hole-lee shit." The anti-tank specialist said with a
low whistle, causing everyone to shoot their eyes to what had
caught the younger soldier's attention. Stopped near the entrance
of the terminal were two figures. One was easily recognizable as
the hulking body of Repeater, while the other was a smaller yet
still tall and athletic brunette woman in Army issue class B
uniform with insignia that usually identified a nurse. Diana.
Both were talking yet their words weren't clear of the bustle of
the airport. It took Ripcord a moment to see that the big machine
gunner firmly held the nurse's two hands in his and both wore
small smiles on their faces. What the hell? Repeater? Smiling?
After a few more minutes of their conversation Diana nodded
before the big Ranger took up her in a firm hug. A moment longer
and the two reluctantly parted, both staring at the other as they
walked their separate ways.
"Aww-yeah! Get some big man!" Fastdraw said as a
lopsided grin crossed his features and he pointed both index
fingers at Repeater's slowly approaching form.
"Shut the hell up." Repeater retorted as the corner of
his mouth raised in a half-smile. Ripcord stood dumbfounded, as
did the the others. He didn't know what had happened his teammate
but it sure as hell seemed to be for the better.
"Damnit! That little sonuvabitch bet me five hundred dollars
that he'd have a stick up your ass within a week of gettin'
there!" Fastdraw said, finishing his joke and raising
laughter from his fellow soldiers. As the younger soldier started
another joke Ripcord looked around at his team. Despite being in
a base they didn't exist at, being in heavily starched woodland
BDUs, and eating food he could barely recognize; they'd still
managed to have the same banter that had been present throughout
most of the Hawaiian vacation. Ripcord hoped the condition could
carry over for the next time they went out into the field. The
paratrooper was able to push aside the dark memories of his
incident with Fastdraw in Brazil as he felt Covergirl's knee
lightly bump into his under the table. He smiled to himself as he
returned the small contact; they'd come up with strange ways of
showing affection while not 'being' Wally and Courtney. Still
smiling slightly, Ripcord looked back down at his so-called meal,
only to have his eyes brought back up as he heard Fastdraw's joke
stop mid-sentence. A young looking soldier had approached the
group and stood near one of the empty chairs next to the group's
'spot' at one of the long rectangular tables in the mess hall.
Ripcord's eyes instantly ran over the front of the soldier's
BDUs, allowing him to learn a little about the soldier from the
seemingly casual look. Specialist Gambello, U.S. Army, no special
badges for advanced training, run of the mill soldier.
"Hey guys, mind if I take a seat?" Gambello asked in
confident voice as he motioned with his tray to the open seat
next to Ripcord.
"Yeah, we do. This table is strictly RFO." Covergirl
finally responded after taking a long moment to size the soldier
up, tilting her head to the side and giving a cocky smile.
"RFO?" Gambello asked in a dumbfounded voice.
"Rogue Force Only. Table for seven." She said flatly,
looking away from the fellow Joe.
"Eight." Heavy Metal corrected as he took another bite
of the processed soy 'hamburger' that he held in his hands.
"I didn't think bright boy here would understand about
Murphy, seeing as how he can't see where he's not wanted or
anything." Covergirl said with a shrug to Heavy Metal, still
ignoring Gambello completely. After an embarrassed flush went
through the soldier's cheeks he defeatedly turned and walked over
to another table.
"You people are pitiful." Hotseat said with a shake of
his head, as a small chuckle escaped his lips.
"Sorry Top. but you know the old saying." Covergirl
said with a smile playing over her face. "You're either one
of us, or you're shit outta luck. And he?" She stated with a
jerk of her thumb towards where the soldier had seated himself.
"Wasn't one of us."
