Resurrection
The day after Simone had told Lucy that Hoot had died the two of them sat in the backyard of their parent's house. Simone looked at Lucy, she was pale and looked tired, she hadn't slept much last night, and she had kept waking up and then crying herself back to sleep. Simone looked to her side again. "I have something to give you." She reached into her pocket and handed Lucy a white envelope with her name and address on it. Lucy took the envelope, her hand was shaking slightly. Simone thought that Lucy might want some time to herself so she walked inside the house. Lucy sat there and just looked at the envelope for a few minutes she didn't dare to open it. This was a so called death letter and if she read it that would mean she actually accepted the fact that he was gone. Eventually she ripped open the envelope and started to read.
Dear Lucy,
If you are reading this it means that I am gone and will not return to you as I promised. This is so hard to write, I'm saying goodbye to you while all I want to do right now is get back to you and hold you. I don't know if I told you yet but I love you with all my hart and every fiber in my being. I wish that if I haven't said it to you before you read this I would have, you are everything that I ever wanted and needed. I know that all you might feel right now is pain, but you're strong and you will overcome that. You are a wonderful and terrific person knowing you has only added to my life, it has always been my choice to be in the military and I have never regretted it, my family knew of my choice and were familiar with the possibility that I might not come back. I hope and pray that you will not blame my choices and judgement. I have to admit that when I got to know you leaving became a lot harder than it had ever been. I love you and always will.
Hoot.
Lucy felt a tear roll down the side of her face, she whipped it of and sat in the garden till it got darker and colder.
4 weeks later Lucy was on the airfield of the base, her father standing beside her. "Sweetheart, is there any way I can persuade you not to go?" Her father looked at her. "No there isn't dads so don't try ok, I'll be back soon enough." Her father didn't say anything anymore and said goodbye to her when she had to get onto the plane. She waved one last time, sank into a chair and closed her eye's. She was on her way to Somalia, after Hoot's funeral Simone had gone back to finish her assignment. Hoot's parents had stayed a couple of days. The Admiral and she had a couple of long conversations, at on point he had just looked at her and said; "He loved you very much, he told me so." In response she just nodded and he had hugged her. The first week Lucy had visited Hoot's grave every day, her mind was blank and she didn't feel like anything anymore. She was still staying at her parent's house because she couldn't go back to the apartment. Every thing in there reminded her of Hoot in one way or the other. She had needed to get away so a week ago she walked into the Colonel's office and requested to be put on active Delta duty and to be send out at the same time. Her father had made problems at first, he didn't want both of his daughters in harms way, but when he eventually saw there was no talking Lucy out of it he stopped trying to keep her home. The plain took off and Lucy fell asleep.
Todd was half sitting up in bed, he looked towards the door and smiled when he saw Simone enter the room. "Hi sweetie, come to see how the patient is doing?" Simone kissed him and sat down. "Yes and to tell you something, Lucy is coming here." Todd raised his eyebrows. "What? After all that's happened she's coming down here? How? What? When?" "Well apparently she got her self promoted to Delta in a hurry and pressed her orders trough to get sent her, I spoke to dad and he says she's gone over the cliff this time. She doesn't seem to care.... About anything!" Simone raised her shoulders. "I only spoke to her once, she called and asked me to put Thunder into the helicopter that is to pick her up, so I just gave it to Sanderson. He's on his way right now in Wolcott's helicopter to bring her here."
Lucy stood on a small airfield, she was waiting for the BlackHawk to take her to the base. From a far she could see it coming towards her. When it landed she lowered her head and jumped into the helicopter. Lucy looked into the helicopter and to her surprise she saw a familiar face. "Well if I had know that there would be softies in this place I wouldn't have come!" She shouted over the noise that the rotor blades were making. The man smiled an looked at her. "Hi Thunder long time no see! I have a present for you." Sanderson handed her gun to her. Lucy sat back in the helicopter, never even bothering to strap on her safety harness. She held her gun for a moment, checked it and loaded it trough. While she still held on to it Sanderson looked at her and pointed to her gun. "At least I got to hold it for a little while." Lucy looked at him and smiled back. "Hope you liked it, cause that will be the last time you will ever lay have your hands on my baby." She rested the gun on her arm and looked out the side of the helicopter. After they had flown for a while Lucy looked at Sanderson. "Were you with him?" Was al she asked, but Sanderson knew exactly what she was talking about. "No I wasn't, I wasn't even on the same side of town when it happened, if I would have been I would have done everything I could to have gotten those guys out of there." Lucy saw the look on his face, she knew he and Hoot had gotten along well, Hoot had told her so in his letters. She and Sanderson went back a while as well. They had been in the same group training for Delta, he had been the only one who had treated her like a team mate and not like a 19 year old girl. She decided to let it rest and changed the subject. "How's the food on the base any way?" Sanderson smiled. "As good as can be expected in a place like this, but its no home cooking I can tell you that!" At that moment a group of wild pigs was scared by the sound of the helicopter and scattered, Lucy looked up at Sanderson and just smiled before aiming her gun and shooting.
Simone sat down at her station, she wasn't supposed to use this for her own personal use but she desperately wanted to know if Lucy was on her way yet. "Super 64, this is central come in." The radio squeaked before Wollcot answered. "Central this is Super 64, how may I direct your call?" He said doing a very bad impression of an operators voice. "Wollcot you're an idiot, let me talk to my sister." They only thing Wollcot did was laugh before signaling to Lucy to pick up one of the headphones and patching Simone trough. "Lucy are you there?" "Yeah I am, what's up?" Lucy asked but knew the answer any way. "Just wanted to make sure you got on the BlackHawk ok that's all, what's your E.T.A.? (Estimated Time of Arrival) Lucy sighed before answering. "I'm fine! So you can call dad and tell him I got here ok! By the way I'm brining a something extra with me, see you in about 20 minutes!" She ended the communication and sat back, she knew her father would have asked Simone to keep an eye on her, but she didn't need looking after, she needed distraction.........
The BlackHawk touched down and Lucy jumped out, Simone came walking towards her waving at her. When Simone got close enough she paused for a moment and looked at her sister. Lucy looked at her. "What?! No hug for your big sister?" Simone walked up to Lucy and hugged her before saying. "Sorry but I didn't know if I should hug you or salute you, when did you become a Sgt.?" Lucy had almost forgotten about her promotion. "Well they only needed a Sgt. Down here so I applied for a promotion and got it. How is Todd?" The both of the walked towards the hanger where Lucy dumped her stuff at the nearest free bunk and followed her sister to go and see Todd. "Hey ugly! I knew you would milk this for everything its worth! Laying about while other are working are you?" Lucy walked up to the bed where Todd was lying and hugged him. "Yeah I'm lazy that way." Todd said smiling at her. "You should have seen him a couple of weeks back, he couldn't even sit up." Simone kissed Todd on the cheek after she said that and sat down beside his bed still holding on to his hand. He had made a lot of improvement over the last couple of weeks. The doctor had said that if he kept up the hard work his recovery would be quicker than normal. They had sat with Todd for about an hour when Simone and Lucy walked back to the rows of bunks to get Lucy things squared away. "It might just be me, but I smell barbecue." Simone said sniffing the air. "No its not you, that was the 'something extra' I brought." Lucy replied smiling. They got to the bunks Lucy grabbed her duffel bag and started to unpack her things. "Excuse me, but this section of bunks is reserved for the Delta groups miss, you might want to take your things over to the corner which is reserved for the female soldiers." Lucy kept unpacking her things and didn't look up when she responded. "I know, that is why I'm unpacking here, I like to be close to my men, as I will be their Sgt. I thought it would create a bond." She now turned and stared straight into Cpt. Steel's face, which turned as white as a sheet as soon as he saw who he was talking to. "Well Miss MacArthur, I should have know only you could be this obnoxious!" Lucy was surprised at first but quickly recovered, she stepped back and saluted him before smiling at him. "Well sir it's a dirty job but somebody has to do it." She tried really hard to suppress a large smile. She and Steel had never gotten along, he had always wanted to become a Delta but never made it trough the tests prior to the training. He had convinced himself that she had gotten his spot on the training team on the last of his attempts. Of course he wouldn't admit that she had just been better than him, he had always kept saying that he would have gotten the spot if her father hadn't been a 4 star General. "If I would have know you were coming here I would have safety proofed the base, you do have a tendency to stir things up everywhere you go. I suppose that little barbecue going on in the corner is with you compliments?" Lucy straightened out her face. "Just a little aerial target practice sir, didn't want to leave it behind." She turned and walked towards the tables. Simone followed her. "What just happened?" Lucy signaled here to sit down and told Simone the whole history of what had went on between her and Steel in the past.
A couple of weeks later Lucy came walking into the hanger, she was covered in sweat and dirt. She had just come back from an assignment and needed a shower bad! All around men were throwing her fowl looks, she knew why that was. Simone had repeatedly told her these past weeks, that although she got on with her own men alright she had behaved like a total bitch to anyone else but Simone, Todd and her fellow Delta's. But Lucy didn't care, she did what she needed to do, only hoping that the jobs she did (whether she was ordered or she had volunteered for them) would make her tired enough to sleep an entire night. She kept waking up in the middle of the night, since she had heard how Hoot had died she kept having nightmares about a burnt body coming after her. Simone sat in a corner with Todd he was on one of his, now daily allowed, walks round the base. His back was doing a lot better and she had found it very hard to keep him in bed. So she had talked the doctor into letting him go for small walks away from the infirmary. He held her hand in his as he looked around at all the men, some of them greeting him as they walked past. "I wonder when I'll be going out with them again?" Todd asked while he looked at Simone. She squeezed his hand. "Just a little while longer sweetie, the doctor said that once they are sure everything in your back has healed properly you can intensify the physical therapy." He looked at her and just stared into her eyes for a few moments. "Thank you." "For what?" Simone looked into his eye's. "For being who you are and helping me trough al this, I would have never made it trough if it hadn't been for you. I love you." He brought her hand to his mouth an kissed it before gently squeezing it. They sat there for a while until they heard a lot of commotion coming from the corner of the hangar where the showers were. They heard a women's voice shouting. Simone immediately recognized it as Lucy's voice and told Todd she would be right back. She then hurried over to her sister to see what was going on.
Lucy bent over a man laying on the floor. "Now what were we talking about? Oh wait I remember! We were discussing what happens to people when they think they can grab a woman at any time." She grabbed the guy on the floor by the scruff of his shirt. "That is something you might get away with in Hillbillyland but in civilized society you at least ask a girl for her name before trying to grab her, plus the fact that no means no!" She readied herself to punch him square in the face when Simone grabbed her arm and dragged her away from the soldier. "What the hell are you doing!" Simone made Lucy looked at her, she looked at the soldier on the floor. He wasn't a Ranger or Delta so he had to be one of the regular soldiers from the other hangar. The guy got up but had a hard time standing up straight, one of his hands was covering his groin, telling Simone that Lucy must have kicked or hit him there. "Hey its not my fault, if she can't hang around with the guys she shouldn't have joined the army." The guy looked at Lucy with a face which told Simone in one go what he had tried to do, now she was getting angry. "I think you had better leave before I change my mind and decide to let go of her." The soldier could see in her eyes she meant it and choose the easy way out, he turned round and left. Simone now turned round to Lucy. "What happened." Was all she asked her sister while looking at her, hands in her side. Lucy suppressed a smile, Simone must have no idea how much she looked like their father standing like that, or else she wouldn't. "Nothing he tried to grab me and after I said no for the second time he didn't get the message so I told him in more direct terms." Lucy had a hard time not smiling while she said that. The both of the laughed and walked of to join Todd.
A couple of hours later Lucy was standing in the Colonels office with Cpt. Steel standing next to her. "And there for Sir I think that Sgt. MacArthur should be but on suspension for indefinite time." Steel finished his story and looked at Lucy with a little smile on his rat like face. The Colonel sighed and looked at Lucy. "What is your side of the story Sgt.?" She could see the twinkle in the Colonels eyes and knew he wasn't going to reprimand her for her action towards the soldier. "Well sir, the soldier did get fresh and I told him not to, but I do maintain he kicked himself in the balls, sir." Lucy didn't even bother to hide her smile. Steel turned three different shades or red when the Colonel smiled back at her. He waited until the Colonel dismissed him and than stormed out of the room.
A couple of weeks later Simone sat at one of the tables with a plate of food in front of her but she was to nervous to eat. Todd had gotten a clean bill of health that morning and would be going out again tomorrow. She had already talked to Lucy about it, and was assured by her sister that she would do everything in her power to keep her husband safe. But after what had happened to Hoot's team, the militia had become more aggressive and more and more men came back from missions injured. A Delta sat next to her. "He Strike, can I as you a question?" She looked at him and said nothing, she just nodded. "Well I'm asking you because you are her sister. What is Thunders story? How could a girl that beautiful be this angry? I mean she is ok to have beside you in a fight but in person she can be so closed sometimes. I make no secret of it, I like her. The problem is that she doesn't seem to give me any reaction when I try to make a move so to speak." Simone looked at the guy for a moment and recognized him to be a member of Sanderson's team. "Your from Sanderson's team aren't you?" When the guy nodded she continued. "If you know Sanderson you have to have know Sgt. Gibson or Hoot, he and Lucy were what you might call an item, her giving you no reaction when you 'make a move' is her way of respecting a fellow Delta and not knocking you on your ass like she would any other person. My advise to you is this; work with her but don't try anything, ever again or she might just do just what she has been avoiding to do and hit you. She still hasn't gotten over the fact that he is gone and most likely wont for a long time, I hate to say it but you have no chance." The Delta left her again and Simone looked to where Lucy was standing. Her sister looked thin and weary, since she had come her she had lost a lot of weight. She was out on missions most of the time, and Simone knew for a fact that she wasn't sleeping well either. Last week she had been working a night shift, when she had returned she had to sneak trough the rows of bunks filled with people sleeping to get to her own bed. While walking she had passed her sister's bunk. Lucy had laid in it moving franticly in her sleep and moaning, Simone had stopped and sat down on her knees next to Lucy. She had stroked her forehead with her hand an shushed her while she dreamed. Lucy had grabbed her hand and squeezed it tight, like it had been a life line for a drowning person, for a second opening her eyes and looking straight at Simone. Eventually she had calmed down and Simone had softly let go of her hand and had gone to bed. The next morning she expected Lucy to talk to her about it, but Lucy didn't even seem to remember Simone being beside her the night before. Since that night Simone got out of bed every evening to check up on her sister, some night holding onto her hand for a while and softly talking to her like she had done that first night. Lucy was ducking in and out of line with a few of her men getting what hey wanted from the big pans of food. Lucy had just took a spoon to scoop some vegetables on her plate when a young Ranger behind her tapped her on the shoulder. "Excuse me but there is a line." Lucy just glanced at him. "I know." And continued with what she was doing. Todd stood behind the Ranger and smiled widely, this reminded him of what Hoot had done in their first couple of weeks here. The thought of Hoot still gave him a sting in his chest, he liked to think about him just being out on a mission but at times like this, the fact that he was gone slapped him hard in the face. Being thrown back into reality he saw the look on Lucy's face and decided to warn the guy before she would most likely hit him. He tapped the Ranger on the shoulder and told him the same thing Simone had told the Ranger that had confronted Hoot on his line jumping. When Todd had finished talking to the Ranger he took his plate and went to sit besides Simone, knowing she was worried about he had tried to comfort her all day. Lucy looked at the table were Simone and Todd were sitting, she envied her sister for still having Todd. She herself missed Hoot so much every time she thought about it her hart ached.
A couple of weeks more went by and Lucy's behavior got even worse. Simone had actually called her father for advice but he also didn't know what to do. He had said that he would come down there to see if he couldn't reason with Lucy. The Colonel had also called him to say that he had feared his daughter had gone over the deep end. There was no reason to complain about the state of her performance on duty, she was the perfect soldier, did her job and followed orders, occasionally. But personally she pulled away more and more. She even had started to pull away from Simone and Todd. The both of the had noticed and tried to talk to her but it was like trying to talk to a brick wall, the words hit her but slid of straight away.
Simone stood watching a helicopter coming in, it landed and a uniformed figure got out. A tall statuesque man looked round the landing zone until his look was fixed on her. He smiled and walked over to her, without even saying anything he hugged her tightly. "Hello daddy, I'm so glad you could come. I don't know what to do anymore." Simone looked at her father. "Its ok sweetheart, we'll figure this out together. Where is she?" "Out on a mission, so I have enough time to get you up to speed." Simone led him to his quarters and than sat down with him to discuss Lucy's behavior with him.
Todd signaled one of his buddies to follow the Delta men ready to storm the building, the plan was that the Delta's were to break trough and get the high profile suspects while Todd's team cleared the other rooms. The sign was given and the separate teams broke into doors at different places, Todd would never get used to the feeling of adrenaline rushing trough his body. He slowly and quietly made his way through the hallway and looked round a corner where he saw a man sitting at a table in front of a door. He motioned one of his teammates to take position on the other side and than went round the corner shouting at the man to lower or drop any weapons.
Hoot opened his eyes a bit, he could have sworn he had heard someone speaking English, or could it be his mind playing tricks on him again? Just like the last time when he had seen Lucy standing at his cell door and it had turned out to be a guard brining him his daily ration of watery soup. His body ached all over, the cut he had on his leg was still infected and the many beatings he had gotten since he had been here hadn't really helped as well. Todd waited for one of the others to fast cuff the man that had been sitting besides the door before opening it. It was small room with little light coming in from a small window at the top of its high sealing. He secured the room, checking out if there was anyone in here that might not have to friendly intentions towards him. When he was sure it was safe he got out a flashlight from his equipment and shone it round the room, when he got to the far east corner he nearly dropped his torch. In the corner lay a crumpled heap of clothes and it took him two goes to actually see that a man was filling those clothes. He was filthy, and frankly he didn't smell all that good either. Todd walked up to the person and bent down to touch his shoulder. Hoot opened his eyes, with out him noticing the guard had returned, no doubt to give him another beating. For the last couple of weeks the had beaten him over and over again to try and get him to tell them about the base, the equipment and all sorts of other things that they might want to know to plan an attack. He hadn't given in and refused to tell them anything, although he had come close to giving up a few times. They had told him that to his country men and his family he was dead and that no one was looking for him. The thought of him being forgotten was what almost drove him past his resistance. He was not going to give in! He turned onto his side to look to his guard. "Fuck You!" Was all he said. Todd felt his hart accelerating, that voice had sounded so much like.... "Hoot?" He didn't dare to think it but he needed to ask. Hoot opened his eyes completely now, the bright light was hurting his eyes but he thought he had recognized the voice that spoke to him. "Todd, is that you?" Todd dropped to his knees and helped Hoot sit up, he couldn't believe it, he had found Hoot! "Go and get McKnight and tell him I need an emergency evacuation NOW!" Todd shouted at the door, one of the guys standing there ran off immediately to do as Todd had said. "Its gonna be ok man, were gonna get you out of here." He gave his field flask to Hoot for him to drink from and just sat there on the floor next to him, he couldn't believe he had found Hoot.
Simone and her father were sitting at one of the long tables with a cup of coffee. "I just don't know anymore dad, she's turned into a one-woman- suicide-show. She goes out on every mission ordered or not, she just volunteers for them and she's gone. She is not eating much of anything and I know for a fact that she sleeps very little as well. The longer she is over here the worse it gets, like I said on the phone me and Todd cant even get trough to her anymore." Her father was just about to respond to her when one of Simone's fellow comm. Officers came running up to them. "Simone, there is a call coming through for you from an emergency evacuation unit!" Without waiting for her the man ran off again, no doubt to get back to his post. Her hart stopped beating for a second, what if something had happened to her sister or Todd! She jumped up and ran after the man, her father following her closely. When Simone came to her station she grabbed her headphones. "This is Simone Blackburn. Come in over!" Her hart was racing, what if some one was going to tell her Lucy or Todd was hurt. "Its Todd." Her heart skipped a beat, at least he was ok. But before she could ask what was wrong he continued. "You're gonna find it hard to believe but I've found Hoot." The radio went silent from the other end waiting for her response. "You found Hoot? I don't understand..." Simone was lost for words, he had found Hoot? How could that be? Hoot was dead. "I know how its sounds, I still cant quite believe it my self, but I found him! I've got him here with me in the humvee and we're on our way back to the base. See you when we arrive." Todd ended the communication and sat back in his chair, he looked over his shoulder to check again if Hoot was still lying in the back. They had placed him on a stretcher and put him in the back of the humvee, he lay there eyes closed. Simone looked up at her father, who had heard every word that Todd had said. "We should get Lucy back here." Was all her father said while placing a hand on Simone's shoulder.
Lucy was laying on her stomach taking cover besides a building, Sanderson was only a few feet away from her trying to get a clear shot at the man across the street firing at them. "Damn Steel and his stubbornness, he's gonna get us all killed!" She shouted at Sanderson. He said nothing but just nodded in reply, just as she was about to take aim her comm. started of. "Uniform 11 what is you position, over." She pressed the button on her side. "I don't want to get into this now base, I'm right in the middle of something!" She wanted to aim again but was again interrupted. "Uniform 11 this is base, request your position over." She didn't respond, instead she resumed fire upon a truck across the street from which a militia soldier was firing a 50 caliber weapon on them. The comm. officer just looked up at the colonel, Simone and her father. "Sorry sir, she's not responding." The Colonel sighed and signaled the man to step away from his station. "Sgt. This is your Colonel speaking, I want to know your position and I want to know it NOW!" Lucy heard the booming voice of the Colonel come through her comm. Because she needed both her hands to be able to shoot, she opened the comm. so she wouldn't have to keep pressing the button. "Colonel this is MacArthur, my exact position would be; On my stomach, in the sand right between the impacting 50 caliber bullets on the left and the exploding R.P.G.'s on the right! Now if you don't mind I have some work to do." The Colonel smiled a small smile, any other soldier who would disrespect him in that manor would have gone straight to the brig. But he knew the high pressures the Delta's were under and the specifics of Lucy's situation so he didn't mind as much. "Uniform 11, I understand that you are taking heavy fire, but it is imperative that you return to base right now!" Simone grabbed her fathers hand and squeezed it waiting for Lucy's reaction, but it didn't come, instead of that they heard the sounds of the back ground and Lucy's voice yelling over heavy gunfire. "Fuck this, I cant have a conversation with the base and try and do this! If Steel isn't going to do anything about this I will! Sanderson! Get up close and draw fire, when this asshole starts to reload cover me, I'll blow him of that truck myself. If I have to wait for Steel we'll be here for Christmas!" Sanderson jumped to his feet and did as Lucy had asked, he drew fire until their opponent had run out of bullets and needed to reload. At that point Lucy shot up while pulling a pin out of a grenade and swing it onto the truck, a few seconds later it exploded. The both of them and the rest of the group now fired upon the other men positioned round their location. After a few minutes all went quiet and Lucy replied. "Sorry base but it was a bit noisy here, I have to return for what?" Before the Colonel could answer Cpt. Steel came charging up to Lucy. "Goddamn you Sgt.! I am your superior officer and I did not authorize that form of action!" Lucy looked at him with a straight face. "Sorry CAPTAIN but I was getting orders through from the base, and if you don't approve of my form of action than you will just have to keep up! Sir." She added sweetly before turning round to Sanderson and pulling a face. "Sgt. When you are quit done over there, you need to return to base now! McKnight is on his way with the humvee colony to pick you and the rest of the chalks up, we will brief you when you get here." Lucy started to feel edgy, there had to be a special reason she was being pulled out of assignment like this. "Base, what is the reason of me being called back?" The Colonel looked at Simone who signaled him not to tell her about Hoot. "Uniform 11 its it a reason of family matters, we will discuss that when you return." The Colonel ended the communication before Lucy had a chance to ask anymore questions.
A short while later Simone, Todd and the General stood round the Hospital bed Hoot lay in. The three of them still couldn't believe that he was there. Hoot looked up at the people round his bed, he was so happy to see each and everyone of them. It was still kind of hard for him to speak but he needed to ask. "Lucy, has anyone talked to her?" Todd put his hand on Hoot's shoulder, Simone had told him that Lucy was on her way back to the base, but Hoot didn't know she was here. The three of them had decided not to tell him that. They are trying to get through to her now." Was all he said, Hoot closed his eyes again and laid back, he couldn't wait for the day that he would be able to hold her, he had missed her so much.
Lucy jumped from the humvee and signaled for a medic. "The 50 gunner got shot in the head! He's in here." She directed the medic to the back of the humvee and helped him get the young man out of it. She was covered in his blood on the left side of her head and shoulder, when they had come round a corner at the end of the city a small group of militia had taken them under fire and the young man got shot close to her. A few inches of and the bullet would have hit her instead She wanted to get cleaned up before going to the Colonel but she was approached by a desk clerk. "Ma'am, your sister requests you presence in the infirmary." This was all he said, Lucy's hart started to race, something must have happened to Todd! Without giving her appearance another thought she ran towards the infirmary. She burst through the double doors that led to the ward, at the end of a row of beds she saw Simone, Todd and he father standing together, if all of them were ok what were they doing her? Lucy walked up to them and wanted to know what was going on but before she could ask anything Simone stepped out of the way and revealed the person laying in the bed. Lucy couldn't believe her eyes, she raised bot her hands in front of her mouth and stared at the man lying in the bed. Were her eyes deceiving her or was that Hoot in that bed? Slowly she walked up to him, when she got to the foot of the bed she put her arm out and touched his leg. This partly to confirm to herself that what she was seeing was real. Hoot looked at his girl standing besides the bed, she was wearing a full armor set and Thunder was swinging loosely of her hip, what was she doing here? When she got face to face with him she reached out and put her hand on his cheek, all the while neither of them spoke. Hoot looked at the side of her face and saw it was covered in blood. "You're hurt." Was all he said while he reached for her head, the sound of his voice was to much for Lucy. "Its not my blood." Was all she said before taking his hand and sinking through her knees crying. Simone looked at Hoot. "We'll leave you two alone for a while." She turned around and closed the curtains round the bed. When Simone and Todd walked out of the infirmary Sanderson was waiting for them. "Is it true? Did they find Hoot?" Simone shook her head confirming his question, Sanderson said nothing else and walked away. When he got to his bunk he was approached by Cpt. Steel. "Sgt. Where is Sgt. MacArthur? I Want to personally tell her that I'll have her butt court marshaled for that stunt she pulled earlier." Sanderson sat down and looked at the Cpt. With a smile. "I think you will have to wait a while sir, at the moment she is occupied by Sgt. Gibson's resurrection."
The day after Simone had told Lucy that Hoot had died the two of them sat in the backyard of their parent's house. Simone looked at Lucy, she was pale and looked tired, she hadn't slept much last night, and she had kept waking up and then crying herself back to sleep. Simone looked to her side again. "I have something to give you." She reached into her pocket and handed Lucy a white envelope with her name and address on it. Lucy took the envelope, her hand was shaking slightly. Simone thought that Lucy might want some time to herself so she walked inside the house. Lucy sat there and just looked at the envelope for a few minutes she didn't dare to open it. This was a so called death letter and if she read it that would mean she actually accepted the fact that he was gone. Eventually she ripped open the envelope and started to read.
Dear Lucy,
If you are reading this it means that I am gone and will not return to you as I promised. This is so hard to write, I'm saying goodbye to you while all I want to do right now is get back to you and hold you. I don't know if I told you yet but I love you with all my hart and every fiber in my being. I wish that if I haven't said it to you before you read this I would have, you are everything that I ever wanted and needed. I know that all you might feel right now is pain, but you're strong and you will overcome that. You are a wonderful and terrific person knowing you has only added to my life, it has always been my choice to be in the military and I have never regretted it, my family knew of my choice and were familiar with the possibility that I might not come back. I hope and pray that you will not blame my choices and judgement. I have to admit that when I got to know you leaving became a lot harder than it had ever been. I love you and always will.
Hoot.
Lucy felt a tear roll down the side of her face, she whipped it of and sat in the garden till it got darker and colder.
4 weeks later Lucy was on the airfield of the base, her father standing beside her. "Sweetheart, is there any way I can persuade you not to go?" Her father looked at her. "No there isn't dads so don't try ok, I'll be back soon enough." Her father didn't say anything anymore and said goodbye to her when she had to get onto the plane. She waved one last time, sank into a chair and closed her eye's. She was on her way to Somalia, after Hoot's funeral Simone had gone back to finish her assignment. Hoot's parents had stayed a couple of days. The Admiral and she had a couple of long conversations, at on point he had just looked at her and said; "He loved you very much, he told me so." In response she just nodded and he had hugged her. The first week Lucy had visited Hoot's grave every day, her mind was blank and she didn't feel like anything anymore. She was still staying at her parent's house because she couldn't go back to the apartment. Every thing in there reminded her of Hoot in one way or the other. She had needed to get away so a week ago she walked into the Colonel's office and requested to be put on active Delta duty and to be send out at the same time. Her father had made problems at first, he didn't want both of his daughters in harms way, but when he eventually saw there was no talking Lucy out of it he stopped trying to keep her home. The plain took off and Lucy fell asleep.
Todd was half sitting up in bed, he looked towards the door and smiled when he saw Simone enter the room. "Hi sweetie, come to see how the patient is doing?" Simone kissed him and sat down. "Yes and to tell you something, Lucy is coming here." Todd raised his eyebrows. "What? After all that's happened she's coming down here? How? What? When?" "Well apparently she got her self promoted to Delta in a hurry and pressed her orders trough to get sent her, I spoke to dad and he says she's gone over the cliff this time. She doesn't seem to care.... About anything!" Simone raised her shoulders. "I only spoke to her once, she called and asked me to put Thunder into the helicopter that is to pick her up, so I just gave it to Sanderson. He's on his way right now in Wolcott's helicopter to bring her here."
Lucy stood on a small airfield, she was waiting for the BlackHawk to take her to the base. From a far she could see it coming towards her. When it landed she lowered her head and jumped into the helicopter. Lucy looked into the helicopter and to her surprise she saw a familiar face. "Well if I had know that there would be softies in this place I wouldn't have come!" She shouted over the noise that the rotor blades were making. The man smiled an looked at her. "Hi Thunder long time no see! I have a present for you." Sanderson handed her gun to her. Lucy sat back in the helicopter, never even bothering to strap on her safety harness. She held her gun for a moment, checked it and loaded it trough. While she still held on to it Sanderson looked at her and pointed to her gun. "At least I got to hold it for a little while." Lucy looked at him and smiled back. "Hope you liked it, cause that will be the last time you will ever lay have your hands on my baby." She rested the gun on her arm and looked out the side of the helicopter. After they had flown for a while Lucy looked at Sanderson. "Were you with him?" Was al she asked, but Sanderson knew exactly what she was talking about. "No I wasn't, I wasn't even on the same side of town when it happened, if I would have been I would have done everything I could to have gotten those guys out of there." Lucy saw the look on his face, she knew he and Hoot had gotten along well, Hoot had told her so in his letters. She and Sanderson went back a while as well. They had been in the same group training for Delta, he had been the only one who had treated her like a team mate and not like a 19 year old girl. She decided to let it rest and changed the subject. "How's the food on the base any way?" Sanderson smiled. "As good as can be expected in a place like this, but its no home cooking I can tell you that!" At that moment a group of wild pigs was scared by the sound of the helicopter and scattered, Lucy looked up at Sanderson and just smiled before aiming her gun and shooting.
Simone sat down at her station, she wasn't supposed to use this for her own personal use but she desperately wanted to know if Lucy was on her way yet. "Super 64, this is central come in." The radio squeaked before Wollcot answered. "Central this is Super 64, how may I direct your call?" He said doing a very bad impression of an operators voice. "Wollcot you're an idiot, let me talk to my sister." They only thing Wollcot did was laugh before signaling to Lucy to pick up one of the headphones and patching Simone trough. "Lucy are you there?" "Yeah I am, what's up?" Lucy asked but knew the answer any way. "Just wanted to make sure you got on the BlackHawk ok that's all, what's your E.T.A.? (Estimated Time of Arrival) Lucy sighed before answering. "I'm fine! So you can call dad and tell him I got here ok! By the way I'm brining a something extra with me, see you in about 20 minutes!" She ended the communication and sat back, she knew her father would have asked Simone to keep an eye on her, but she didn't need looking after, she needed distraction.........
The BlackHawk touched down and Lucy jumped out, Simone came walking towards her waving at her. When Simone got close enough she paused for a moment and looked at her sister. Lucy looked at her. "What?! No hug for your big sister?" Simone walked up to Lucy and hugged her before saying. "Sorry but I didn't know if I should hug you or salute you, when did you become a Sgt.?" Lucy had almost forgotten about her promotion. "Well they only needed a Sgt. Down here so I applied for a promotion and got it. How is Todd?" The both of the walked towards the hanger where Lucy dumped her stuff at the nearest free bunk and followed her sister to go and see Todd. "Hey ugly! I knew you would milk this for everything its worth! Laying about while other are working are you?" Lucy walked up to the bed where Todd was lying and hugged him. "Yeah I'm lazy that way." Todd said smiling at her. "You should have seen him a couple of weeks back, he couldn't even sit up." Simone kissed Todd on the cheek after she said that and sat down beside his bed still holding on to his hand. He had made a lot of improvement over the last couple of weeks. The doctor had said that if he kept up the hard work his recovery would be quicker than normal. They had sat with Todd for about an hour when Simone and Lucy walked back to the rows of bunks to get Lucy things squared away. "It might just be me, but I smell barbecue." Simone said sniffing the air. "No its not you, that was the 'something extra' I brought." Lucy replied smiling. They got to the bunks Lucy grabbed her duffel bag and started to unpack her things. "Excuse me, but this section of bunks is reserved for the Delta groups miss, you might want to take your things over to the corner which is reserved for the female soldiers." Lucy kept unpacking her things and didn't look up when she responded. "I know, that is why I'm unpacking here, I like to be close to my men, as I will be their Sgt. I thought it would create a bond." She now turned and stared straight into Cpt. Steel's face, which turned as white as a sheet as soon as he saw who he was talking to. "Well Miss MacArthur, I should have know only you could be this obnoxious!" Lucy was surprised at first but quickly recovered, she stepped back and saluted him before smiling at him. "Well sir it's a dirty job but somebody has to do it." She tried really hard to suppress a large smile. She and Steel had never gotten along, he had always wanted to become a Delta but never made it trough the tests prior to the training. He had convinced himself that she had gotten his spot on the training team on the last of his attempts. Of course he wouldn't admit that she had just been better than him, he had always kept saying that he would have gotten the spot if her father hadn't been a 4 star General. "If I would have know you were coming here I would have safety proofed the base, you do have a tendency to stir things up everywhere you go. I suppose that little barbecue going on in the corner is with you compliments?" Lucy straightened out her face. "Just a little aerial target practice sir, didn't want to leave it behind." She turned and walked towards the tables. Simone followed her. "What just happened?" Lucy signaled here to sit down and told Simone the whole history of what had went on between her and Steel in the past.
A couple of weeks later Lucy came walking into the hanger, she was covered in sweat and dirt. She had just come back from an assignment and needed a shower bad! All around men were throwing her fowl looks, she knew why that was. Simone had repeatedly told her these past weeks, that although she got on with her own men alright she had behaved like a total bitch to anyone else but Simone, Todd and her fellow Delta's. But Lucy didn't care, she did what she needed to do, only hoping that the jobs she did (whether she was ordered or she had volunteered for them) would make her tired enough to sleep an entire night. She kept waking up in the middle of the night, since she had heard how Hoot had died she kept having nightmares about a burnt body coming after her. Simone sat in a corner with Todd he was on one of his, now daily allowed, walks round the base. His back was doing a lot better and she had found it very hard to keep him in bed. So she had talked the doctor into letting him go for small walks away from the infirmary. He held her hand in his as he looked around at all the men, some of them greeting him as they walked past. "I wonder when I'll be going out with them again?" Todd asked while he looked at Simone. She squeezed his hand. "Just a little while longer sweetie, the doctor said that once they are sure everything in your back has healed properly you can intensify the physical therapy." He looked at her and just stared into her eyes for a few moments. "Thank you." "For what?" Simone looked into his eye's. "For being who you are and helping me trough al this, I would have never made it trough if it hadn't been for you. I love you." He brought her hand to his mouth an kissed it before gently squeezing it. They sat there for a while until they heard a lot of commotion coming from the corner of the hangar where the showers were. They heard a women's voice shouting. Simone immediately recognized it as Lucy's voice and told Todd she would be right back. She then hurried over to her sister to see what was going on.
Lucy bent over a man laying on the floor. "Now what were we talking about? Oh wait I remember! We were discussing what happens to people when they think they can grab a woman at any time." She grabbed the guy on the floor by the scruff of his shirt. "That is something you might get away with in Hillbillyland but in civilized society you at least ask a girl for her name before trying to grab her, plus the fact that no means no!" She readied herself to punch him square in the face when Simone grabbed her arm and dragged her away from the soldier. "What the hell are you doing!" Simone made Lucy looked at her, she looked at the soldier on the floor. He wasn't a Ranger or Delta so he had to be one of the regular soldiers from the other hangar. The guy got up but had a hard time standing up straight, one of his hands was covering his groin, telling Simone that Lucy must have kicked or hit him there. "Hey its not my fault, if she can't hang around with the guys she shouldn't have joined the army." The guy looked at Lucy with a face which told Simone in one go what he had tried to do, now she was getting angry. "I think you had better leave before I change my mind and decide to let go of her." The soldier could see in her eyes she meant it and choose the easy way out, he turned round and left. Simone now turned round to Lucy. "What happened." Was all she asked her sister while looking at her, hands in her side. Lucy suppressed a smile, Simone must have no idea how much she looked like their father standing like that, or else she wouldn't. "Nothing he tried to grab me and after I said no for the second time he didn't get the message so I told him in more direct terms." Lucy had a hard time not smiling while she said that. The both of the laughed and walked of to join Todd.
A couple of hours later Lucy was standing in the Colonels office with Cpt. Steel standing next to her. "And there for Sir I think that Sgt. MacArthur should be but on suspension for indefinite time." Steel finished his story and looked at Lucy with a little smile on his rat like face. The Colonel sighed and looked at Lucy. "What is your side of the story Sgt.?" She could see the twinkle in the Colonels eyes and knew he wasn't going to reprimand her for her action towards the soldier. "Well sir, the soldier did get fresh and I told him not to, but I do maintain he kicked himself in the balls, sir." Lucy didn't even bother to hide her smile. Steel turned three different shades or red when the Colonel smiled back at her. He waited until the Colonel dismissed him and than stormed out of the room.
A couple of weeks later Simone sat at one of the tables with a plate of food in front of her but she was to nervous to eat. Todd had gotten a clean bill of health that morning and would be going out again tomorrow. She had already talked to Lucy about it, and was assured by her sister that she would do everything in her power to keep her husband safe. But after what had happened to Hoot's team, the militia had become more aggressive and more and more men came back from missions injured. A Delta sat next to her. "He Strike, can I as you a question?" She looked at him and said nothing, she just nodded. "Well I'm asking you because you are her sister. What is Thunders story? How could a girl that beautiful be this angry? I mean she is ok to have beside you in a fight but in person she can be so closed sometimes. I make no secret of it, I like her. The problem is that she doesn't seem to give me any reaction when I try to make a move so to speak." Simone looked at the guy for a moment and recognized him to be a member of Sanderson's team. "Your from Sanderson's team aren't you?" When the guy nodded she continued. "If you know Sanderson you have to have know Sgt. Gibson or Hoot, he and Lucy were what you might call an item, her giving you no reaction when you 'make a move' is her way of respecting a fellow Delta and not knocking you on your ass like she would any other person. My advise to you is this; work with her but don't try anything, ever again or she might just do just what she has been avoiding to do and hit you. She still hasn't gotten over the fact that he is gone and most likely wont for a long time, I hate to say it but you have no chance." The Delta left her again and Simone looked to where Lucy was standing. Her sister looked thin and weary, since she had come her she had lost a lot of weight. She was out on missions most of the time, and Simone knew for a fact that she wasn't sleeping well either. Last week she had been working a night shift, when she had returned she had to sneak trough the rows of bunks filled with people sleeping to get to her own bed. While walking she had passed her sister's bunk. Lucy had laid in it moving franticly in her sleep and moaning, Simone had stopped and sat down on her knees next to Lucy. She had stroked her forehead with her hand an shushed her while she dreamed. Lucy had grabbed her hand and squeezed it tight, like it had been a life line for a drowning person, for a second opening her eyes and looking straight at Simone. Eventually she had calmed down and Simone had softly let go of her hand and had gone to bed. The next morning she expected Lucy to talk to her about it, but Lucy didn't even seem to remember Simone being beside her the night before. Since that night Simone got out of bed every evening to check up on her sister, some night holding onto her hand for a while and softly talking to her like she had done that first night. Lucy was ducking in and out of line with a few of her men getting what hey wanted from the big pans of food. Lucy had just took a spoon to scoop some vegetables on her plate when a young Ranger behind her tapped her on the shoulder. "Excuse me but there is a line." Lucy just glanced at him. "I know." And continued with what she was doing. Todd stood behind the Ranger and smiled widely, this reminded him of what Hoot had done in their first couple of weeks here. The thought of Hoot still gave him a sting in his chest, he liked to think about him just being out on a mission but at times like this, the fact that he was gone slapped him hard in the face. Being thrown back into reality he saw the look on Lucy's face and decided to warn the guy before she would most likely hit him. He tapped the Ranger on the shoulder and told him the same thing Simone had told the Ranger that had confronted Hoot on his line jumping. When Todd had finished talking to the Ranger he took his plate and went to sit besides Simone, knowing she was worried about he had tried to comfort her all day. Lucy looked at the table were Simone and Todd were sitting, she envied her sister for still having Todd. She herself missed Hoot so much every time she thought about it her hart ached.
A couple of weeks more went by and Lucy's behavior got even worse. Simone had actually called her father for advice but he also didn't know what to do. He had said that he would come down there to see if he couldn't reason with Lucy. The Colonel had also called him to say that he had feared his daughter had gone over the deep end. There was no reason to complain about the state of her performance on duty, she was the perfect soldier, did her job and followed orders, occasionally. But personally she pulled away more and more. She even had started to pull away from Simone and Todd. The both of the had noticed and tried to talk to her but it was like trying to talk to a brick wall, the words hit her but slid of straight away.
Simone stood watching a helicopter coming in, it landed and a uniformed figure got out. A tall statuesque man looked round the landing zone until his look was fixed on her. He smiled and walked over to her, without even saying anything he hugged her tightly. "Hello daddy, I'm so glad you could come. I don't know what to do anymore." Simone looked at her father. "Its ok sweetheart, we'll figure this out together. Where is she?" "Out on a mission, so I have enough time to get you up to speed." Simone led him to his quarters and than sat down with him to discuss Lucy's behavior with him.
Todd signaled one of his buddies to follow the Delta men ready to storm the building, the plan was that the Delta's were to break trough and get the high profile suspects while Todd's team cleared the other rooms. The sign was given and the separate teams broke into doors at different places, Todd would never get used to the feeling of adrenaline rushing trough his body. He slowly and quietly made his way through the hallway and looked round a corner where he saw a man sitting at a table in front of a door. He motioned one of his teammates to take position on the other side and than went round the corner shouting at the man to lower or drop any weapons.
Hoot opened his eyes a bit, he could have sworn he had heard someone speaking English, or could it be his mind playing tricks on him again? Just like the last time when he had seen Lucy standing at his cell door and it had turned out to be a guard brining him his daily ration of watery soup. His body ached all over, the cut he had on his leg was still infected and the many beatings he had gotten since he had been here hadn't really helped as well. Todd waited for one of the others to fast cuff the man that had been sitting besides the door before opening it. It was small room with little light coming in from a small window at the top of its high sealing. He secured the room, checking out if there was anyone in here that might not have to friendly intentions towards him. When he was sure it was safe he got out a flashlight from his equipment and shone it round the room, when he got to the far east corner he nearly dropped his torch. In the corner lay a crumpled heap of clothes and it took him two goes to actually see that a man was filling those clothes. He was filthy, and frankly he didn't smell all that good either. Todd walked up to the person and bent down to touch his shoulder. Hoot opened his eyes, with out him noticing the guard had returned, no doubt to give him another beating. For the last couple of weeks the had beaten him over and over again to try and get him to tell them about the base, the equipment and all sorts of other things that they might want to know to plan an attack. He hadn't given in and refused to tell them anything, although he had come close to giving up a few times. They had told him that to his country men and his family he was dead and that no one was looking for him. The thought of him being forgotten was what almost drove him past his resistance. He was not going to give in! He turned onto his side to look to his guard. "Fuck You!" Was all he said. Todd felt his hart accelerating, that voice had sounded so much like.... "Hoot?" He didn't dare to think it but he needed to ask. Hoot opened his eyes completely now, the bright light was hurting his eyes but he thought he had recognized the voice that spoke to him. "Todd, is that you?" Todd dropped to his knees and helped Hoot sit up, he couldn't believe it, he had found Hoot! "Go and get McKnight and tell him I need an emergency evacuation NOW!" Todd shouted at the door, one of the guys standing there ran off immediately to do as Todd had said. "Its gonna be ok man, were gonna get you out of here." He gave his field flask to Hoot for him to drink from and just sat there on the floor next to him, he couldn't believe he had found Hoot.
Simone and her father were sitting at one of the long tables with a cup of coffee. "I just don't know anymore dad, she's turned into a one-woman- suicide-show. She goes out on every mission ordered or not, she just volunteers for them and she's gone. She is not eating much of anything and I know for a fact that she sleeps very little as well. The longer she is over here the worse it gets, like I said on the phone me and Todd cant even get trough to her anymore." Her father was just about to respond to her when one of Simone's fellow comm. Officers came running up to them. "Simone, there is a call coming through for you from an emergency evacuation unit!" Without waiting for her the man ran off again, no doubt to get back to his post. Her hart stopped beating for a second, what if something had happened to her sister or Todd! She jumped up and ran after the man, her father following her closely. When Simone came to her station she grabbed her headphones. "This is Simone Blackburn. Come in over!" Her hart was racing, what if some one was going to tell her Lucy or Todd was hurt. "Its Todd." Her heart skipped a beat, at least he was ok. But before she could ask what was wrong he continued. "You're gonna find it hard to believe but I've found Hoot." The radio went silent from the other end waiting for her response. "You found Hoot? I don't understand..." Simone was lost for words, he had found Hoot? How could that be? Hoot was dead. "I know how its sounds, I still cant quite believe it my self, but I found him! I've got him here with me in the humvee and we're on our way back to the base. See you when we arrive." Todd ended the communication and sat back in his chair, he looked over his shoulder to check again if Hoot was still lying in the back. They had placed him on a stretcher and put him in the back of the humvee, he lay there eyes closed. Simone looked up at her father, who had heard every word that Todd had said. "We should get Lucy back here." Was all her father said while placing a hand on Simone's shoulder.
Lucy was laying on her stomach taking cover besides a building, Sanderson was only a few feet away from her trying to get a clear shot at the man across the street firing at them. "Damn Steel and his stubbornness, he's gonna get us all killed!" She shouted at Sanderson. He said nothing but just nodded in reply, just as she was about to take aim her comm. started of. "Uniform 11 what is you position, over." She pressed the button on her side. "I don't want to get into this now base, I'm right in the middle of something!" She wanted to aim again but was again interrupted. "Uniform 11 this is base, request your position over." She didn't respond, instead she resumed fire upon a truck across the street from which a militia soldier was firing a 50 caliber weapon on them. The comm. officer just looked up at the colonel, Simone and her father. "Sorry sir, she's not responding." The Colonel sighed and signaled the man to step away from his station. "Sgt. This is your Colonel speaking, I want to know your position and I want to know it NOW!" Lucy heard the booming voice of the Colonel come through her comm. Because she needed both her hands to be able to shoot, she opened the comm. so she wouldn't have to keep pressing the button. "Colonel this is MacArthur, my exact position would be; On my stomach, in the sand right between the impacting 50 caliber bullets on the left and the exploding R.P.G.'s on the right! Now if you don't mind I have some work to do." The Colonel smiled a small smile, any other soldier who would disrespect him in that manor would have gone straight to the brig. But he knew the high pressures the Delta's were under and the specifics of Lucy's situation so he didn't mind as much. "Uniform 11, I understand that you are taking heavy fire, but it is imperative that you return to base right now!" Simone grabbed her fathers hand and squeezed it waiting for Lucy's reaction, but it didn't come, instead of that they heard the sounds of the back ground and Lucy's voice yelling over heavy gunfire. "Fuck this, I cant have a conversation with the base and try and do this! If Steel isn't going to do anything about this I will! Sanderson! Get up close and draw fire, when this asshole starts to reload cover me, I'll blow him of that truck myself. If I have to wait for Steel we'll be here for Christmas!" Sanderson jumped to his feet and did as Lucy had asked, he drew fire until their opponent had run out of bullets and needed to reload. At that point Lucy shot up while pulling a pin out of a grenade and swing it onto the truck, a few seconds later it exploded. The both of them and the rest of the group now fired upon the other men positioned round their location. After a few minutes all went quiet and Lucy replied. "Sorry base but it was a bit noisy here, I have to return for what?" Before the Colonel could answer Cpt. Steel came charging up to Lucy. "Goddamn you Sgt.! I am your superior officer and I did not authorize that form of action!" Lucy looked at him with a straight face. "Sorry CAPTAIN but I was getting orders through from the base, and if you don't approve of my form of action than you will just have to keep up! Sir." She added sweetly before turning round to Sanderson and pulling a face. "Sgt. When you are quit done over there, you need to return to base now! McKnight is on his way with the humvee colony to pick you and the rest of the chalks up, we will brief you when you get here." Lucy started to feel edgy, there had to be a special reason she was being pulled out of assignment like this. "Base, what is the reason of me being called back?" The Colonel looked at Simone who signaled him not to tell her about Hoot. "Uniform 11 its it a reason of family matters, we will discuss that when you return." The Colonel ended the communication before Lucy had a chance to ask anymore questions.
A short while later Simone, Todd and the General stood round the Hospital bed Hoot lay in. The three of them still couldn't believe that he was there. Hoot looked up at the people round his bed, he was so happy to see each and everyone of them. It was still kind of hard for him to speak but he needed to ask. "Lucy, has anyone talked to her?" Todd put his hand on Hoot's shoulder, Simone had told him that Lucy was on her way back to the base, but Hoot didn't know she was here. The three of them had decided not to tell him that. They are trying to get through to her now." Was all he said, Hoot closed his eyes again and laid back, he couldn't wait for the day that he would be able to hold her, he had missed her so much.
Lucy jumped from the humvee and signaled for a medic. "The 50 gunner got shot in the head! He's in here." She directed the medic to the back of the humvee and helped him get the young man out of it. She was covered in his blood on the left side of her head and shoulder, when they had come round a corner at the end of the city a small group of militia had taken them under fire and the young man got shot close to her. A few inches of and the bullet would have hit her instead She wanted to get cleaned up before going to the Colonel but she was approached by a desk clerk. "Ma'am, your sister requests you presence in the infirmary." This was all he said, Lucy's hart started to race, something must have happened to Todd! Without giving her appearance another thought she ran towards the infirmary. She burst through the double doors that led to the ward, at the end of a row of beds she saw Simone, Todd and he father standing together, if all of them were ok what were they doing her? Lucy walked up to them and wanted to know what was going on but before she could ask anything Simone stepped out of the way and revealed the person laying in the bed. Lucy couldn't believe her eyes, she raised bot her hands in front of her mouth and stared at the man lying in the bed. Were her eyes deceiving her or was that Hoot in that bed? Slowly she walked up to him, when she got to the foot of the bed she put her arm out and touched his leg. This partly to confirm to herself that what she was seeing was real. Hoot looked at his girl standing besides the bed, she was wearing a full armor set and Thunder was swinging loosely of her hip, what was she doing here? When she got face to face with him she reached out and put her hand on his cheek, all the while neither of them spoke. Hoot looked at the side of her face and saw it was covered in blood. "You're hurt." Was all he said while he reached for her head, the sound of his voice was to much for Lucy. "Its not my blood." Was all she said before taking his hand and sinking through her knees crying. Simone looked at Hoot. "We'll leave you two alone for a while." She turned around and closed the curtains round the bed. When Simone and Todd walked out of the infirmary Sanderson was waiting for them. "Is it true? Did they find Hoot?" Simone shook her head confirming his question, Sanderson said nothing else and walked away. When he got to his bunk he was approached by Cpt. Steel. "Sgt. Where is Sgt. MacArthur? I Want to personally tell her that I'll have her butt court marshaled for that stunt she pulled earlier." Sanderson sat down and looked at the Cpt. With a smile. "I think you will have to wait a while sir, at the moment she is occupied by Sgt. Gibson's resurrection."