The next morning, Steeler, Short Fuze, and Tollbooth take off into
town to get some supplies with the wounded VAMP. Tollbooth went
along so that they made sure that they had to call Spitfyre, as she
was the only other person on the base at the moment qualified to drive
the tow rig. Sure enough, the VAMP breaks down about 35 miles from
the base.
Steeler calls Hawk to tell him to send Spitfyre out with the tow rig.
Hawk immediately calls Spitfyre into his office and tells her that she needs to go rescue the boys.
"What for? Why not send Tollbooth? He's qualified on the tow rig."
"Because Tollbooth went with them. That's why."
"How convenient. I smell a rat. But, I'll go anyway. Where are they?"
"They're about 35 miles out from the base on the way to town. They're in one of the VAMPs, and whatever happened to it, the parts will need to be ordered according to Steeler and Tollbooth."
"Aw, Christ! Just the way I like to spend my days. I'll bet they knew that that particular VAMP was about to break down and yet took it anyway."
Hawk turns away from her so that she can't see the smile playing around his lips. "Go get 'em tigress," he mutters under his breath.
She leaves Hawk's office and goes over to the motor pool where she fires up the tow rig, making sure she has the equipment that they'll need. As soon as she leaves the base, Grand Slam, Hawk, Flint, Thunder, and Snake Eyes go to work.
They slip into her rooms with the key that Grand Slam never gave back yet, and proceed to romanticize it. They place candles, flowers, and incense all over the place. Flint slips into the little kitchenette and slides a couple of bottles of wine into her little fridge. Snake Eyes looks her stereo over and figures out how it works, changing the CD's in it. Grand Slam takes the package that the girls dropped off at his quarters for him on the bed and unwraps it. He lays out the dress, accessories and undergarments neatly on the foot of the bed. He then scribbled out a note of instructions and tacked it to the door. When the rest of the guys leave, he settles in to read a little. Flash sneaks back and adds a note on the bottom of the note.
When Spitfyre gets to the VAMP, it seems to be abandoned. She just goes to work, loading it onto the trailer of the tow rig and securing it. As soon as she gets that done, the guys appear. They'd walked down to the little truck stop down the road a bit and gotten something to eat. They ask her to take them on into town and help them with their errands. It's a bit cramped with four people in the cab, but they manage, somehow. They stop by the florist's and pick up a few dozen roses, stopping by Tollbooth's house on the way back to drop a couple of them off there for his wife.
They finally begin to make the trip back to the base. When the gate guard sees them coming, he calls Grand Slam's cell phone.
"They're on their way in. She doesn't look too happy, though. Good luck. She's caked with dust and sweat from what I can see."
"Thanks for the head's up. I'll start the bath now, because this is the first place she's going to head when she gets that VAMP unloaded. Short Fuze'll make sure of it." Grand Slam replied and hung up. He lit the candles and incense and started the stereo playing, making sure that there was a glass of wine on the counter waiting for her. He then strolled into the bathroom and started a hot bath running for the team's petite weaponsmith. He sprinkles some powder into it and then tosses a handful of rose petals in.
As he hears the footsteps out in the hall and hears the voices, pegging them as Short Fuse and Spitfyre, he fades into the shadows behind the bathtub.
He hears Spitfyre's soft "What the---?" and knows that she has found his note. He had already heard Short Fuze scampering down the hall, away from the trouble when and if it started.
The note she found on her door stuns Spitfyre. What had been done? How badly did they mess up her personal space? She turns the knob and steps into her quarters. It's like she steps into another world. Candles, flowers, and what's that scent? Could it be? Yes, it is! Her favorite scent, jasmine incense.
According to the note, there is a glass of wine waiting on the counter for her. She goes over and finds it. She sips it slowly and follows the next line on the note, following instructions and goes into the bathroom. She doesn't see Grand Slam lurking in the shadows in the corner. She disrobes and steps into the bathtub, sighing as the heat begins to ease her tired, sore muscles. She isn't really paying attention to her surroundings, and misses Grand Slam getting up from where he was sitting and coming over to the side of the tub with a pitcher of water, pouring it over her hair and reaching for the shampoo/conditioner, massaging it into her scalp and beginning to wash the dust and sweat from her hair.
As his hands run through her long, dark auburn hair, she closes her eyes and lets him do what he will. She does something that she very rarely does- she relaxes.
He struggles to keep his hands to himself and his mind strictly on the task that he's laid before himself. He finishes rinsing her hair, and wraps it in a towel. He closes his eyes and turns his head as he holds up another towel, one that he's kept warm, sitting on it, just for this purpose, and wraps it around her when she gets out of the tub, pulling her close to him and kissing her softly, surprising the heck out of her and himself in the process. He hadn't expected the spark.
While she gets dressed and ready to go out, he heads over to his quarters to get ready. As soon as he finishes getting prepared, he goes back over to her quarters. In his hand, he has a single red rose, knowing that that was one of her childhood dreams. She had told him about it one night when a bunch of them had gone out drinking, and she and Sci-fi had gotten into a drinking contest somehow. Believe it or not, she had actually come within two sips of winning. Much closer than any of the rest of them had. She was a special little girl.
He'd known from the time that she joined the team that she was special, although it was just beginning to dawn on him why she was so special, at least to him.
Hawk immediately calls Spitfyre into his office and tells her that she needs to go rescue the boys.
"What for? Why not send Tollbooth? He's qualified on the tow rig."
"Because Tollbooth went with them. That's why."
"How convenient. I smell a rat. But, I'll go anyway. Where are they?"
"They're about 35 miles out from the base on the way to town. They're in one of the VAMPs, and whatever happened to it, the parts will need to be ordered according to Steeler and Tollbooth."
"Aw, Christ! Just the way I like to spend my days. I'll bet they knew that that particular VAMP was about to break down and yet took it anyway."
Hawk turns away from her so that she can't see the smile playing around his lips. "Go get 'em tigress," he mutters under his breath.
She leaves Hawk's office and goes over to the motor pool where she fires up the tow rig, making sure she has the equipment that they'll need. As soon as she leaves the base, Grand Slam, Hawk, Flint, Thunder, and Snake Eyes go to work.
They slip into her rooms with the key that Grand Slam never gave back yet, and proceed to romanticize it. They place candles, flowers, and incense all over the place. Flint slips into the little kitchenette and slides a couple of bottles of wine into her little fridge. Snake Eyes looks her stereo over and figures out how it works, changing the CD's in it. Grand Slam takes the package that the girls dropped off at his quarters for him on the bed and unwraps it. He lays out the dress, accessories and undergarments neatly on the foot of the bed. He then scribbled out a note of instructions and tacked it to the door. When the rest of the guys leave, he settles in to read a little. Flash sneaks back and adds a note on the bottom of the note.
When Spitfyre gets to the VAMP, it seems to be abandoned. She just goes to work, loading it onto the trailer of the tow rig and securing it. As soon as she gets that done, the guys appear. They'd walked down to the little truck stop down the road a bit and gotten something to eat. They ask her to take them on into town and help them with their errands. It's a bit cramped with four people in the cab, but they manage, somehow. They stop by the florist's and pick up a few dozen roses, stopping by Tollbooth's house on the way back to drop a couple of them off there for his wife.
They finally begin to make the trip back to the base. When the gate guard sees them coming, he calls Grand Slam's cell phone.
"They're on their way in. She doesn't look too happy, though. Good luck. She's caked with dust and sweat from what I can see."
"Thanks for the head's up. I'll start the bath now, because this is the first place she's going to head when she gets that VAMP unloaded. Short Fuze'll make sure of it." Grand Slam replied and hung up. He lit the candles and incense and started the stereo playing, making sure that there was a glass of wine on the counter waiting for her. He then strolled into the bathroom and started a hot bath running for the team's petite weaponsmith. He sprinkles some powder into it and then tosses a handful of rose petals in.
As he hears the footsteps out in the hall and hears the voices, pegging them as Short Fuse and Spitfyre, he fades into the shadows behind the bathtub.
He hears Spitfyre's soft "What the---?" and knows that she has found his note. He had already heard Short Fuze scampering down the hall, away from the trouble when and if it started.
The note she found on her door stuns Spitfyre. What had been done? How badly did they mess up her personal space? She turns the knob and steps into her quarters. It's like she steps into another world. Candles, flowers, and what's that scent? Could it be? Yes, it is! Her favorite scent, jasmine incense.
According to the note, there is a glass of wine waiting on the counter for her. She goes over and finds it. She sips it slowly and follows the next line on the note, following instructions and goes into the bathroom. She doesn't see Grand Slam lurking in the shadows in the corner. She disrobes and steps into the bathtub, sighing as the heat begins to ease her tired, sore muscles. She isn't really paying attention to her surroundings, and misses Grand Slam getting up from where he was sitting and coming over to the side of the tub with a pitcher of water, pouring it over her hair and reaching for the shampoo/conditioner, massaging it into her scalp and beginning to wash the dust and sweat from her hair.
As his hands run through her long, dark auburn hair, she closes her eyes and lets him do what he will. She does something that she very rarely does- she relaxes.
He struggles to keep his hands to himself and his mind strictly on the task that he's laid before himself. He finishes rinsing her hair, and wraps it in a towel. He closes his eyes and turns his head as he holds up another towel, one that he's kept warm, sitting on it, just for this purpose, and wraps it around her when she gets out of the tub, pulling her close to him and kissing her softly, surprising the heck out of her and himself in the process. He hadn't expected the spark.
While she gets dressed and ready to go out, he heads over to his quarters to get ready. As soon as he finishes getting prepared, he goes back over to her quarters. In his hand, he has a single red rose, knowing that that was one of her childhood dreams. She had told him about it one night when a bunch of them had gone out drinking, and she and Sci-fi had gotten into a drinking contest somehow. Believe it or not, she had actually come within two sips of winning. Much closer than any of the rest of them had. She was a special little girl.
He'd known from the time that she joined the team that she was special, although it was just beginning to dawn on him why she was so special, at least to him.