Ghost of the Past
Disclaimer: Same as before.
Northern Ireland
3 January 1990: "Range me." Sergeant Alfred "Alfie" Davidson said, from behind the scope of
his L96A1 sniper rifle.
Private Hal Olden, a recently arrived eighteen-year-old fresh from the Royal Marine Sniper
School raised the spotter scope to his eye, "Four hundred and fifty meters."
"Right, two blokes with Armalites at 450 meters. I'll take out the lead bloke, Olden after I fire
you take down the second." Davidson said. The two snipers had radioed into HQ with their
contact and it was confirmed the two masked gunmen were IRA terrorists on their way to a
hide to start sniping at British soldiers.
"Ready on my mark." Davidson said, zeroing his crosshairs on the head of the first terrorist.
"Ready." Hal replied, leveling his telescope sighted M-16 on the second.
Both men breathed deeply to increase the oxygen in their lungs and blood streams. Davidson
slowly squeezed the trigger on his rifle, exhaling as he did so, keeping the crosshairs zeroed
onto the IRA terrorist that was now firing single shots at a British convoy. He felt surprise as the
heavy rifle bucked and he watched with grim satisfaction as the terrorist's head exploded.
Hal leveled his crosshairs on the second terrorist, breathing too rapidly for Davidson's liking,
"For God's sake Olden, calm. Make the shot like it's a bloody day on the range wanker!"
Hal calmed down, slowly squeezing the trigger on his M-16 as the terrorist ran through the
hedges beside the road. He felt the M-16 buck as it went off, sending a smaller but no less
deadly 5.56mm round downrange into the back of the terrorist's head…
Hal's Apartment, Harbor View, 0800 Local Time
29 May 2000: Hal jerked up in bed at the memory of the first time he'd ever shot a human
being in cold blood. The man wasn't even aware of he and Davidson's presence until the latter
opened fire, killing his partner.
"Bloody Hell it's Saturday…" Hal groaned, as he stumbled out of bed, not really in the mood
for sleeping again.
He stretched and got a drink of water and decided to go for his morning run. He figured the
exercise would keep his mind off his latest nightmare. He got down into the park and began
running along the trail, nodding a curt but friendly nod to a woman pushing an infant in a stroller.
Ivy had just started warming up for her own morning run. She'd decided to do her morning run
and then make a pit stop at her parent's house for a shower and a change of clothes before
going to Tatiana's baby shower.
She caught sight of a very familiar figure just after he'd nodded hello to a woman pushing an infant in a stroller. From a distance she could tell it was Hal, from his short cropped black hair,
lean, compact build and the sand brown t-shirt and black shorts he wore.
Hal caught sight of his partner after he'd finished saying hello to the woman with her infant
daughter in a stroller. He had always liked babies they could bring a smile to his face even at the
worst of times. As he looked up from the stroller he could see his partner running towards him.
He could tell it was her not only by her short red hair, but also by her lean, athletic physique.
She waved him over and he ran alongside.
"Come here often?" Hal asked jokingly.
"No, this is my first time." Ivy joked back.
As they got closer, Hal couldn't help but notice how her short shorts exposed her toned and
well defined legs. Her t-shirt was obviously an older one she wore a lot seeing how it clung to
her upper body in all the right areas as far as he was concerned.
"Sorry if I'm a bit slow, Hal, my knee's been giving me trouble lately." Ivy mused.
"It's quite alright." Hal replied, yawning.
"Didn't sleep well?" Ivy asked.
"I got a fair amount." Hal replied, "Kind of far from Riverside, aren't you?"
"I'm here for Tatiana's Baby Shower, remember?" Ivy replied.
"Oh, I almost forgot." Hal replied.
"Well I was going to call you, but even if I did, we both know you're Mr. Punctual…" Ivy
replied.
"Ha ha." Hal replied, "Very funny."
"I thought the British pride themselves on precision." Ivy replied, laughing and taking off
running.
"Oh that's not funny!" Hal replied, chasing after her. He caught her around the waist and pulled
both of them into a soft landing into a patch of grass.
"Hal! Stop….Not fair!" Ivy said, "No tickling…"
Hal had discovered Ivy was more than slightly ticklish a few inches under her armpits back in
Israel, so he started tickling. Ivy laughed breathlessly, but then she remembered her old Sensei's
words of wisdom, 'When in doubt, take the offensive.'
Ivy reached up and countered, tickling Hal under his chin. She noticed he was extremely
ticklish under there in Israel as well. "Fair's fair, English." Ivy laughed.
"I surrender! I surrender!" Hal said, between laughs. People walking by stared at them, mostly
smiling as they did.
"So the 'bloody colonials' best the finest the British have to offer?" Ivy laughed, continuing her
tickling, not realizing Hal had both his legs around her waist, despite being on his back, he was
far from helpless. Twisting sideways Hal managed to use his heavier weight and the greater
muscle mass of his legs to throw Ivy onto her back.
"Turnabout is fair play…" Hal replied, tickling her back.
Both of them sat up after long moments of laughing. As they sat on the grass, side by side, just
enjoying the beautiful late spring day, Ivy felt Hal's right hand on top of her left. She smiled and
sidled closer to Hal, thinking, 'Hal Olden, if we weren't out in public right now…'
Hal was about to withdraw his hand, which had accidentally found itself atop Ivy's. Remembering the agreement, to just stay friends, after he kissed her in Britain he moved his
hand away. 'God Ivy, if touching you that briefly is enough to cause me to get light headed I'd
hate to see what would happen if we…' Hal thought.
At the same time they looked at each other in an awkward silence. They turned away and both
thought the exact same thing. 'What are you thinking?'
They went on their jog in relative emotional comfort. After they finished the trail Ivy said, "I'm
going to run back to my house to get changed before the baby shower."
"I'll run with you." Hal replied.
The pair finished the two additional miles back to Ivy's house and Ivy noticed her parents were
gone. She fished a key from a hidden spot in the front porch and opened the door, finding a
note on the fridge.
Ivy,
We're going out for lunch and a movie. See you for dinner?
Love,
Mom and Dad
"Well if that's the case," Hal replied, "I'll get showered and dressed and I'll pick you up for the
baby shower."
"Thank you, Hal, as long as you don't make me late…" Ivy replied.
"Bollocks, when have I ever…" Hal began.
"I can think of a few dozen occasions where your punctuality gets called into question…" Ivy
replied.
A few minutes later, Hal was waiting in his SUV in front of Ivy's house. He put the car in park
and turned off the engine, remembering where her spare key was hidden and opened the door.
"Ivy? I just let myself in, I'm here to pick you up."
Hal walked up the stairs and as he made it up there a door swung open and he was graced
with the most beautiful sight he'd seen, Ivy Darren clothed only in water droplets and a little
white towel. Her eyes widened the moment she saw him. She heard him call out downstairs but
didn't think he'd go and look for her.
'What's gotten into Hal? I mean it can't be that exciting staring at his half naked partner fresh
from the shower.' Ivy thought, then recovering her composure she said, "Hal, you're exactly
five minutes and seventeen seconds early."
"See, I can be punctual, even early." Hal replied calmly. Inwardly he was making a valiant
effort to keep his eyes focused on her face and keep his eyes from traveling downward. 'Good
God, if I were to die right now, I could die very happy, because she likely knows I'm staring.'
Hal thought.
Briefly but discernibly enough his eyes wandered south. Ivy blushed and said, "I'd best go get
changed."
'OK, maybe looking at his half naked partner fresh from the shower turns him on…' Ivy
thought, feeling more than a bit flattered by Hal's valiant attempts to control his wandering eyes.
About five minutes later Ivy came out of her room and Hal felt the wait was well worth it. She
wore a short sleeved red blouse, contrasting well with her black jeans and a nice pair of shoes.
Her hair was still drying but was combed neatly enough, so she picked up her purse and
motioned Hal to head downstairs.
After locking the door, Hal and Ivy climbed into Hal's SUV and they started towards Zack
and Tatiana's place. "So I guess this tour wasn't as dull as you thought it would be…" Ivy
began.
"It's been a good deal more eventful in some areas. First we dealt with a psychotic sniper,
rampaging dinosaurs, a Middle Eastern brushfire…" Hal continued, smiling.
"…Let's not forget bringing the murderer of your old sweetheart to justice." Ivy replied and
instantly wished she could've taken those words back, because Hal's smile lessened a bit.
Hal could see her looking flustered and said, "It's OK."
"I still shouldn't have…" Ivy began.
"Ivy, what's done is done. I forgive you." Hal replied.
The pair arrived at Tatiana's baby shower. In the middle of the room was a white crib with
several gifts bestowed by well wishers to the new baby. "Hal! Ivy! It's so great to see you."
Tatiana said, throwing her arms around both of them.
"I see the morning sickness has passed." Hal began.
"And the cravings have been getting strange. I've been running around stores all over the place
trying to find pickled herring. I finally went to Mendelssohn's Grocers, down the street from
Ivy's…" Zack began.
"So next time ask me before I come over, I'll pick some up for you." Ivy began.
As Hal and Ivy went to talk to Armando and Chief Wells, Corso came up to them, smiling, "I
can taste my winnings coming now…"
"Oh c'mon Corso, Ivy's car broke down, Hal just gave her a ride." Zack began.
Jennifer and Louie stood off to one end, watching Hal and Ivy talking to each other. "He really likes her." Jen began.
"Jen, Ivy's car broke down, Hal's just giving her a ride." Louie replied.
"Explain why they're so close to each other on Tatiana's love seat?" Jen began.
"Jen, they're just friends." Louie insisted.
"Well, take a look at his right hand, it's right on top of her left." Jen replied.
Ivy had turned around to talk to Corso for a bit about something when she noticed the warmth
of another hand atop her own. She turned to find Hal's right hand was on top of her left.
Surprised and delighted she turned to face him.
Hal for his part had not intended to be almost holding hands with Ivy. He had moved his right
hand to his side and found it positioned atop Ivy's. It wasn't as if he disliked the contact, he
loved being close to her but he still wasn't sure if it was just physical attraction.
"Somebody's being affectionate today…" Ivy began.
"…No less affectionate than I've been other days." Hal added.
'That's twice in one day Darren, twice in one day he's taken your hand...' Ivy was thinking.
That was when an Englishman in a three piece suit, out of place with the slightly more casually
dressed baby shower attendees showed up. "Excuse me, where may I find First Lieutenant
Harold Olden, Royal Marines."
"That would be me." Hal replied, standing, gently disentangling Ivy's hand from his own, "What
is the occassion?"
"You're to be present at the British Embassy, tommorrow at 10 o'clock." the aide said, "That
will be all, be sure to read the contents of the letter."
The Englishman turned on his right heel and walked out the door. "It's blokes like that which
give us English a bad name." Hal quipped.
Ivy laughed lightly and read the letter over Hal's shoulder. "Congratulations." Ivy remarked.
Hal turned towards her and said, "I'd like to keep that under wraps, I don't want to steal the
new mommy's thunder..."
"I don't think you need to worry about that, Limey." Ivy indicated Tatiana with a large crowd
around her, mostly women.
"Hey Ivy. Hal." Zack said, as he walked by with a drink in his hand, "I'd best drink some of the
punch before Armando gets around to spiking it."
"Hey, congratulations, dad." Hal replied, "Any word on its gender..."
"Not yet. I'd love to have a sonogram done soon so I can figure out what clothes to buy our
kid. I'd hate to have people constantly guessing its gender because its wearing yellow." Zack
replied.
Wells walked over and said, "Well I for one want to know the gender of the kid too, so I
know what kind of cigars to buy."
"I take it the bachelor party was a rousing success." Wells continued.
Ivy stifled a laugh and Hal shot her a dirty look. "You're still miffed about the incident where
you, Armando, Zack, and Lucas wound up in the county lockup." Ivy began, "Tatiana and I had to bail those four out of the slammer at two in the morning."
Hal groaned and rolled his eyes as Ivy continued, smiling, "Hal and his old friend, Lucas were
arguing with a severly hung over Armando, Zack was dying of a hangover and..."
"...Not to mention clothed only in an orange prison jumpsuit two sizes too large, sir." Tatiana
said, "Thankfully since it was his bachelor party I was merciful."
"Bollocks." Hal interjected. You said you'd slot him if he did it again if I recall correctly."
"I can see my future namesake's coming along quite nicely..." Wells said, patting Tatiana's
slightly bulging midsection.
"We still don't know it's gender sir." Tatiana began.
"It's Grant when we're out of the office, Tatiana." Wells began.
"Sorry sir...I mean Grant." Tatiana said.
Wells looked at his two more senior detectives for some support in his current exasperation.
Hal deadpanned, "It's that command presence of yours, sir."
"How do you think this week will turn out, Hal?" Ivy asked him once Wells had gone off rolling
his eyes.
"I think it will be a relatively quiet one, Ninja Girl." Hal replied.
"As they say. Famous last words." Ivy replied.
"I'm willing to bet you dinner and a movie that all we do next week is paperwork and file
reports. To be paid up next Friday." Hal replied.
"You're on, Hal." Ivy replied.
TBC