What's in a Name?

Kat smiled as she approached the Mess Hall, hearing the raucous chatter of the other crew men and women she knew were attending the joint exercises between Army and Navy the following day. As she entered the room, the sight of one person in particular made her stop and stare in surprise

"Rachel! What are you doing here?!" she cried, hugging the petite British doctor and wife of CNO Tom Chandler "I thought you were presenting at some virology conference in London?"

"Postponed for now I'm glad to say" Rachel replied "I wasn't really looking forward to hobnobbing with bigwigs at the moment"

Kat nodded in sympathy as she knew Rachel and Tom never did like being apart around Christmas, and not for obvious reasons. It was Christmas 5 years ago that had seen Rachel shot and fighting for her life thanks to an Immune named Curtis. As a result, both preferred to be together and within eyeshot of one another, it wasn't logical but there it was. Both women paused for a moment before giving themselves a shake, determined not to let melancholy get the better of them.

"So, what's this I hear about choosing a call sign then?" Rachel grinned wiggling her eyebrows at the younger woman, causing Kat to roll her eyes.

"Yes! Come on Kat share!" Ravit Bivas-Burk called over, chuckling evilly "I heard it was Cupid – cause you shot your arrow right through Diaz's heart"

Kat just groaned, wishing for the hundredth time she could strangle Eric Miller for his daft comments, egged on by Carlton who she knew must've related the tale to his wife, as Kat knew Ravit hadn't been present that day.

"Oh, come on! Cupid? Seriously?" Kat replied unable to resist another eye roll

"How about KitKat – have a break, have a KitKat!" Wolf chipped in, causing a chorus of laughter from the Australian and his Kenyan born wife Azima. Even Rachel giggled at the reference that left the American crew members baffled – not having seen the advert for the well-known British candy bar.

"Kat weren't you a Ballet/hip hop dancer? And your flight crew, mostly guys, right?" Sasha asked, knowing full well Maddy Rawlings and her helo crew were pretty much the only all-female flight crew present. Sasha also knew Kat had had her issues with said crew, though the girl's hard work and dedication had won them over since.

"Yes, and yes" Kat replied not sure what the Intelligence operative was going with her train of thought

"So how about Nutcracker – for obvious reasons" Sasha grinned wickedly, waiting for the assembled audience to get the innuendo.

It didn't take long before the penny dropped, leaving the entire mess hall howling with laughter at the joke. Kat joined in with the laughter, till the tears rolled down her cheeks. Only Sasha could come up with a name like that, and made the young cadet decide then and there to keep it! If nothing else, it was oh so memorable, for all the right reasons and wasn't that what a call sign was all about?

"Done! Nutcracker it is then!" Kat crowed as she sat down next to Rachel to enjoy the rest of the evening.