July 8th, 2023
Specialist Lukas "Amp" Weiss
West Coast Rainbow HQ.
Portland OR. USA
Lukas was taking a short nap in the lounge again after another day of running combat drills at HQ. Eliza had stated that he was back in her good books but had again warned him that if he went AWOL again, it was expulsion and potentially prison time.
"Monika tells me that Ela's helping her watch you too. Is she still making you carry her around the base?" Eliza asked him about 10 minutes ago.
"Uh...heh...no," Lukas answered nervously. Eliza cocked her eyebrow at him.
"Or is she confronting you at random all over the place and forcing you to kiss her while no one is around?" Eliza asked, smirking. Lukas stared at the ceiling.
"Protip Lukas, women talk to each other. Meghan seems a lot happier now thanks to you and Monika. Good work...what's that face for?" Eliza noticed Lukas's own expression of smugness.
"Men talk to each other too, Miss Thornberry," Lukas retorted, using the name Jordan sometimes called her while he and the boys talked. Eliza turned red. Lukas figured it must have been a pet name or something. He remembered Craig talking about how Eliza liked Jordan. Uh oh...
"What...did he say about me?" Eliza stammered and looked around the area frantically. Lukas shrugged.
"Something about your hair. I think he said he liked it when you wore it down," he said.
"O-oh," she said and walked away muttering softly but a little excitedly. Lukas had kept his word about not telling anyone Eliza's nickname. He had changed her contact info in his phone though. Currently, he was sleeping in one of the chairs with his legs crossed out in front of him. His dreams consisted of the attack on Flak's safehouse and his subsequent death and of Ela rescuing him. While it was extremely barbaric in how Lukas had killed him, many of his teammates seemed to agree that Flak deserved what he got.
"The hijo de puta deserved it," Elena said and looked to where Derrick used to work again.
"If it were me, I would have just Sparta kicked him off the roof or blown up the chopper with his own RPG," Jordan said.
"I'm not saying I agree with how you did it...but it was necessary," Zofia said.
"Derrick can rest a little easier now," Craig said.
"YES LUKAS!" Ela said….wait no...that was for...something else. Lukas smiled in his sleep when that last thought came to him. He was awakened by someone sitting down next to him again. He opened his eyes groggily to see that Monika was sitting next to him eating a sandwich and reading what looked like a mission briefing.
"Whatcha got there sis?" Lukas said. Monika jumped a little. She must have thought he was still sleeping.
"A sandwich, what you've never seen one before?" Monika said jokingly. Lukas smiled.
"Hanging out with our American friend with the Italian last name, have you? Learning what jokes are?" he asked and gave her a small noogie. Monika threw his hand off but still grinned back. She and Meghan had been seeing each other a lot lately. Tina had told him that Meghan and Monika had one or two date nights at the condo.
"She treats you well, I've seen her. I don't have to dunk her head in the toilet like I did with that other clown back in high school," Lukas said thinking back to the time where he did in fact dunk Monika's old piece of shit boyfriend's head in the toilet. The guy had been pretty abusive but he was her first boyfriend and Monika must have been discovering her sexuality at the time and stayed with the boy out of wanting to be accepted. Lukas had witnessed how this clown treated his big sister in the hallway one day and confronted the douchebag in the restroom later and promptly dunked his head in the toilet. The guy was so embarrassed that he got beat up by someone 5 years younger than him that he started avoiding Lukas and Monika all together after that point. Lukas did get detention for it however.
"I've heard how well Ela treats you too," Monika said slyly. Great. She knew about the secret kissing he and Ela did all over the place.
"So...what's with the paper?" Lukas said quickly, wanting to change the subject. Monika finished her sandwich and then addressed him.
"Eliza found some intel on that name you mentioned. The Butcher or whatever," she said, handing the paper to Lukas. Lukas quickly read it. It contained White Mask messages sent via email about the Butcher being at some location in northern California on the 21st. Lukas handed the paper back to her.
"We're going. Along with Jordan and Eliza,"
"Like you and me?" Lukas asked.
"Yes, I'm supposed to give a field report. When you went with Eliza to stop that bomb threat, she wrote one for you too. Said your behavior had improved. I wanted to see for myself so I asked if you could come with us. After all, you did give Eliza the guy's name. Apparently, this place also houses prisoners and people they captured. I assume you're in?" Monika explained. Lukas nodded. This was the final guy that he needed to eliminate in order to be at peace about what happened back in April. And this time, he'd have his teammates with him.
July 21st, 2023
Specialist Lukas "Amp" Weiss
White Mask Prison Camp
Northern California. USA
The 2 weeks leading up to the mission Lukas was currently on hadn't really been all that exciting. He continued to run drills whenever Eliza called for them and helped out his sister and Elena in the lab. Plus there were always the small little breaks where he and a short Polish woman had kissed him fiercely, told him that she loved him and that he was still in trouble. The night preceding this mission, they had slept together once more in private. In the morning, Ela had grabbed Lukas by the face and said
"You better come back to me. Understand?" She sounded a bit worried too. Lukas had eased her hands away from his face and gave her a kiss.
"Come on, you know who I'm going with. My sister, Jordan and Eliza. I'll be fine," he told her. Currently, he was taking up the rear of the formation and walking backwards checking every angle he could for White Masks. The team had surveyed the area in the weeks leading up to the mission. The place was a simple 2 story building with a basement. Eliza figured that that was where the prisoners were being held. Eliza, who had her hair unbraided and in a simple ponytail under her FBI cap, held up her hand and said
"Halt. Thermite, IQ, Amp, are you seeing what I'm seeing?"
"Affirmative Ash. Damn, I need some binocs or something," Thermite responded. Lukas turned around to see Ash pointing at a helipad where someone had just gotten off a chopper. Lukas took out his binoculars and handed them to Thermite.
"Thanks Amp. Let's see...eyes on a security detail and what looks to be like a lieutenant of some sort...scars on his mask and wearing what looks like an apron…Guy's real tubby too...Must not hit the gym a lot"
"That's gotta be the Buchter," IQ said. She had her Spectre MkIII open and scanning for any electronics like cameras or bombs. She caught Ash's eye and motioned toward one of the cameras nearby. Ash motioned for the team to get out of its line of sight and they followed.
"Alright here's the plan, Thermite and I will go after our friend the Butcher and Amp and IQ, you 2 go see if there are any prisoners in the basement. Weapons are hot. You all know the drill. Fire at will,"
"I'll bet one of those asshats is named Will so you got it Ash," Thermite said. Lukas saw Ash stifle a grin.
"Copy, Amp you're with me. Let's go," IQ said to him. Again, it was very weird being addressed as Amp when it came from his sister but he'd gotten used to it over the past few months. She was one of the few people that always called him Lukas. Sometimes Luke but mainly Lukas. The pair of them broke off from Thermite and Ash and went around back to a side entrance. IQ pointed out another camera.
"Should I shoot it?" Lukas asked, leveling his rifle at it. There was then a sound of an explosion followed by shouting and gunfire. IQ motioned for him to do so. Lukas shot the camera and the both of them entered the back door.
"Ash, you two alright?" Lukas said into his comlink
"Yes, we decided to make a really big fucking hole," Thermite responded over gunfire.
"And you guys call me the loud one," Lukas responded and checked a corner before signaling to IQ that it was clear to move. Most, if not all of the White Masks were busy attending to the diversion that Ash and Thermite had created so Lukas and IQ hadn't really had any opposition as they swept the base. He had to drop a few White Masks that had the fucking nerve to shoot at IQ. Lukas eventually heard the sound of a helicopter start and take off.
"Dammit, the Butcher got away!" Ash said into the comms. Lukas cursed himself. The bastard escaped before he could get to him. He turned to IQ who was currently posted up against a door leading to a stairwell.
"I think we found the stairs to the basement. Want us to sweep for any living prisoners?" Lukas asked.
"Yes, Thermite and I will secure the area as well as an escape vehicle. Meet us topside with anyone you find," Ash ordered.
"Affirmative. Ready?" Lukas answered before turning to IQ and taking out a sonic grenade. He primed it to the lowest level. It would still cause the targets a bit of pain but this level of charge wouldn't cause permanent damage. He and IQ made their way down the stairs and posted up on the sides of another door. IQ gave him the signal and pushed open the door a crack. Lukas threw the grenade inside where it went off for about 2 seconds. He then heard men yelling in pain and he proceeded to kick the door open to see 2 White Mask guards apparently stationed there to watch the prisoners. Lukas dropped one while IQ dropped the other one. Those 2 seemed to be the only people in this room. Both operators checked various corners and angles before going to walk along the hallway. The basement had a large room near the door where it branched off into 2 hallways which consisted of small cells surrounded by iron bars. IQ motioned to him that she would take one way and he would take the other one. Lukas began to walk down the hallway with his gun at firing height as he looked into each of the cells. The first one was empty, along with the second and third one. He noticed someone in the fourth cell near the back of the room. It was a man laying on his back with his head against the back wall and it was shrouded in darkness. The man's boots were close to the cell door and he looked like he was sleeping as he saw the man's chest go up and down under his filthy shirt. Lukas frowned. There was an all out assault 2 floors above not too long ago and he had just thrown a sonic grenade in the room and shot 2 hostiles. How the hell did this guy sleep through that? The sleeping man adjusted his position and Lukas got a good look at his arms. The man had what looked like a tattoo sleeve consisting of...
"No...No FUCKING way...IQ...get over here. Now. Find a key too," Lukas said and began examining the door and even tried to pull it open with his own strength. He'd know those tattoo sleeves anywhere. IQ appeared at his side within 30 seconds. She looked a little confused at Lukas's attempts to open the cell door.
"Amp what are you doing? Is that man alive?" IQ said and handed Lukas a key.
"Yes...Monika...It's Derrick," Lukas said and used the key to open the cell door which opened with a creek. IQ looked at the sleeping man who had stirred and sat up and his face was now visible in the low light. IQ's eyes widened at the sight of him.
"Oh my God...oh my God it IS him!" IQ said and put her hand over her mouth. Lukas walked into the cell and examined his friend. The man in the cell was Derrick Joseph Castellano of the US Air Force and Team Rainbow. He was alive.
"L-Lukas? Monika?" Derrick said, wiping his eyes and resting them on Lukas before smiling. Lukas saw that he had slightly longer hair as well as a beard but he could still recognize Derrick's trademarked smile under it. He gave his buddy a hug.
"H-hey buddy," Lukas said. Derrick returned the hug.
"A-Ash...we found a prisoner...it's...Ash...it's Derrick. He's alive," IQ said shakily into her commlink. She walked over to Derrick too and gave him a hug. Derrick mumbled something that sounded like "Tell Meghan yet?" but Lukas couldn't make it out clearly. He didn't care at the moment. Derrick Castellano was alive. A bit banged up and malnourished but he was in fact alive.
"Wh-what?" Ash's voice responded.
"Weiss...don't do this to her…" Thermite said.
"Eliza...Jordan...Derrick's alive. He's right in front of me," IQ said. Derrick took that moment to crack a joke, just like Lukas remembered. He leaned forward a little so he was closer to IQ's headset mic.
"I assume you're here to take me home right? I have quite the scathing review to write online about the hospitality here. No chocolates on my pillow I mean honestly," he said. Lukas smiled and he could tell that IQ was too. Lukas figured that IQ left her comm open because he heard Ash gasp followed by her own shaky voice.
"Oh...Oh my god...Jordan...Jordan please tell me you heard that…That was...that was...I swear..." she said.
"I did...holy shit…He's alive..." Thermite's voice responded.
"Get him...get him out of there. We have an escape vehicle," Ash ordered. Lukas helped Derrick stand. IQ still spoke to him. Derrick eyes drooped. He must not have gotten much sleep.
"Yes Derrick, we're taking you home. To Tina. Remember Tina? How about Meghan?"
"Are they ok?" Derrick asked weakly. The poor guy needed a shower and a decent meal. Derrick smelled like sweat, blood and Axe body spray for some reason but Lukas still didn't care. Derrick was alive.
"Yes Derrick, they're fine," Lukas said, helping Derrick climb the stairs. Derrick looked satisfied and continued to hold on to Lukas.
The 3 of them had reached the surface in about 15 minutes. The base was secure and Lukas could see Ash and Thermite standing a few meters away. It looked as though Ash was crying against Thermite's shoulder. Thermite was facing in Lukas's direction and he gently turned Ash to face them. Ash's eyes rested on Derrick and she sprinted over to examine him. Lukas could see that there were tear tracks running down Ash's cheeks. Ash gingerly touched Derrick's face.
"Oh my God...it is him," Ash said through her tears. Lukas knew that she had been beating herself up over Derrick's supposed death for the past 3 months and she must have been so relieved that he was alive. Not as much as Meghan and Tina were about to be though. Tina however was currently on an assignment over in Toronto for a few more days so she'd see him when she got back. Derrick's eyes rested on Ash.
"Derrick, do you remember me? Who am I?" Ash asked. Derrick pretended to be very confused before he snapped his fingers and nodded.
"Lara Croft!" Derrick said. Ash immediately hugged him and started crying again.
"Yep, that's him," Thermite said.
"Well...this is different. I won't tell Tina if you won't...oh SHIT, it's Jordan...play it cool!" Derrick said. Lukas could hear Ash begin to laugh through her tears. Thermite walked over to examine Derrick too.
"His Royal Airness in the flesh! She hugged me first. You saw it," Derrick said, still a bit weakly. Thermite grinned. Lukas meanwhile looked to IQ. He himself couldn't believe what had just happened today. Flak had not been bluffing, Derrick was alive. He had miraculously survived the helicopter crash and subsequent explosion. He had been held as a prisoner for the past 3 months but Lukas thought he didn't look so bad all things considered. Just sleep deprived, malnourished and in need of a nice long steamy shower.
"Monika…." Lukas said. IQ looked into Lukas's face and lowered her mask. She was smiling too.
"I know. You were right in believing that he was alive," she said.
"We promised them, didn't we? That if he was, that we'd bring him back to them," Lukas said and watched as Ash and Thermite helped Derrick into the nearby Jeep. Derrick looked dead on his feet and Lukas felt that he was about to take a nice long nap on the way back.
"Should we call that in?" IQ asked.
"And spoil the surprise? You know Derrick. Derrick loves surprises," Lukas said. Derrick must have heard him because he smiled at his buddy and gave the 2 fingered salute.
July 21st, 2023
Specialist Lukas "Amp" Weiss
West Coast Rainbow HQ
Near Portland OR. USA
Derrick passed out during the car ride back. He quietly slept with his head against Lukas's shoulder. Lukas was still at a loss for words to describe what he was feeling right now. His best buddy was alive and sleeping against his shoulder. Eliza sat in the passenger seat while Jordan drove. Lukas could hear her crying softly to herself and shot happy glances at Jordan from time to time. They arrived back at HQ about an hour later and Derrick woke up and shielded his eyes from the bright light of the Facilities lights.
"Ahh, I see Skywalker didn't burn the place down during my absence," he said. Monika turned to Lukas.
"Why does he call you Skywalker or Cool Hand or Duke Boy? I've been meaning to ask you that," she asked as Lukas helped Derrick out of the Jeep.
"Don't watch a lot of movies, do you Geller?" Derrick said as Lukas supported him.
"Skywalker as in Luke Skywalker. Cool Hand as in Cool Hand Luke. Duke Boy as in Luke Duke. They're all characters named Luke or Lucas. He calls you Geller sometimes because of Monica Geller from the show Friends. He's got a nickname for everyone, haven't you noticed? He never calls someone their real name unless he's being serious," Jordan said, helping Eliza out of the car. Monika seemed to understand what Derrick meant now.
"Air Jordan's got it, '' Derrick said, snapping his fingers and pointing at Jordan.
"I'll deal with our fearless leader. You guys take him to Meghan. She's gotta be in the lab," Jordan said and led Eliza off in another direction as Lukas, Derrick and Monika made their way to the lab. A couple of the staff members had recognized Derrick and made exclamations of surprise and happiness upon seeing him. Derrick acknowledged them all with nods and his 2 fingered salute. They got to the entrance to the lab and Lukas looked at Derrick and Monika.
"Ready?" Lukas asked.
"Is Tina here?" Derrick asked. Monika shook her head.
"She's in Canada for another week or so. She'll be back," Monika said.
"She better bring some of that Tim Horton's back with her. Them donuts be DE-LICIOUS. Last time I was there, I got a dozen of those Maple Dipped ones and lemme tell ya I. Got. NNNNASTY!" Derrick said and pretended to crack his neck and back. Monika, as usual, looked extremely confused at the American slang Derrick sometimes spoke in. Lukas was a tad better with American lingo as he had played a lot of night clubs back in the day.
"It means he devoured the entire box in like a night," Lukas explained.
"Try 30 minutes Cool Hand, HOO nelly, that next day at the gym was not so fun," Derrick said. Monika smiled and motioned for Lukas to lead Derrick in to see everyone. Lukas did so as Monika followed.
The setup could not have been more perfect. Mehgan was in the lab like Jordan had said and she had her back to the door. Elena, Zofia and Craig were also in there but they were facing towards the 3 of them. Craig had lifted his can of soda to his mouth and looked towards the door. He saw Derrick and froze with the can still raised in the air. Elena looked at him with a puzzled expression before she too looked towards the doorway and her mouth fell open in shock. Zofia followed her gaze and dropped what she was working on and just stared at Derrick. Derrick was still being supported by Lukas and he was smiling. Elena looked at Lukas and he answered her silent question with a nod and a smile. Derrick let go of Lukas and he walked over to stand behind his sister. Meghan, who had been busy working on something that Lukas couldn't see, glanced up and must have seen the looks on Craig, Zofia and Elena's faces.
"What's up...you guys look like you've just seen a ghost," she said. Derrick turned to face his buddy with that mischievous smile, basically saying "perfect fucking set up." Lukas watched as Derrick leaned forward a little bit towards Meghan's ear.
"Boo," he said. Meghan jumped before she instinctively exclaimed,
"Jesus CHRIST Derrick," and went back to working on her project. 5 seconds passed until Lukas figured she had just realized what she had said. He saw her look up towards Elena, Zofia and Craig again.
"D...Der...Derrick?" she said softly. Elena, who had her hands over her mouth now, nodded. Craig did too. Zofia smiled and pointed towards Derrick.
"Hi Megs," Derrick said. Meghan whipped around and looked her brother in the face. 3 seconds passed before she screamed and threw herself at him and began crying. Derrick, in his weakened state, still managed to catch her and hold her upright. Lukas could see that he missed his big sister so much.
"DERRICK!" she yelled through her sobs. She gripped him tightly as she cried into his chest. Lukas looked over at Monika again who was looking towards Derrick and Meghan. Lukas saw that Monika was crying too although she was smiling. Lukas put an arm around her and she leaned into his body.
"Hey, what's going on here?" Ela's voice asked from behind him. Lukas stepped aside with Monika so Ela could see what was happening. She looked at Derrick's back and her eyes widened.
"Is that?!" Ela asked Lukas.
"Yes," Lukas answered.
"You found him?" Ela asked as Meghan continued to hug her brother while bawling her eyes out.
"No...he's still missing…" Lukas said sarcastically. Ela hugged Lukas and kissed his other arm while rolling her eyes.
"I heard that Skywalker. I make the jokes around here. Kick his ass for me later, ok Cinder?" Derrick said from across the room. Meghan laughed through her tears as she still clung to Derrick. Ela frowned.
"I don't get it. Why did he just call me Cinder?" she said.
"Say Cinder and then your name," Lukas explained.
"Cinder. Ela….oh…" she said, a little embarrassed. Zofia heard and smirked at Ela and said something in Polish. Lukas caught the word "slippers." Ela scowled but put her arm around Lukas's waist anyway. He could tell she was happy he came back OK. Meanwhile, Meghan was currently touching Derrick's face and arms as if she still couldn't believe that he was here. Derrick took the sunglasses off Meghan's head and put them on himself.
"There we go, they look much better on me...Hang on a tick...is that the date?" Derrick asked, pointing at the clock on the wall which displayed the date as well as the time.
"Yeah. Why?" Lukas answered. Derrick looked down at his sister again and used his finger to lift her face towards his own.
"Happy Birthday Megs. I uh...don't have anything for you. Sorry," Derrick said. Meghan collapsed against him again.
"I don't care! I have my brother back!" she yelled but it came out a little muffled.
"Come on Megs, I must reek. Their idea of a shower was a bucket of water followed by getting sprayed with some of that Axe body spray. Felt like I was in middle school gym class again," Derrick said as Lukas saw Meghan's arms press even tighter against him. Hearing Derrick make jokes just caused Meghan to cry even harder.
"My baby brother's alive!" Meghan shouted.
"Dude...uncool!" Derrick said, looking around at everyone else. Saying that seemed to confirm to everyone that they were not dreaming. Derrick was alive and well. Elena, who had always liked Derrick's company, had also walked forward and hugged him. Meghan finally disengaged from Derrick and walked over to Monika and Lukas. She hugged Lukas first before going to Monika.
"You...You found him!" Meghan said through her tears.
"I promised you that I would bring him back. I also didn't know it was your birthday, here." Monika said and gave her a kiss on the mouth. She pulled away after a few seconds. "Go. be with your brother. I'll take you out later, ok?" Lukas smiled at Meghan and he saw that Derrick was also grinning at Monika as Elena continued to hug him. Lukas put his hand on Monika's shoulder again. The pair of them had fulfilled their promise, they had brought Derrick Castellano home.
July 22nd, 2023
Specialist Derrick "Loki" Castellano
Castellano Residence
Oceanside, CA. USA
"You'll get nothing,"
"Derrick?" Meghan looked towards Derrick who had just realized that he was staring off into the distance for no reason.
"What?" he asked her.
"Nothing, you just looked distant for a moment. As if a thought crossed your mind...wow, that's rare,"
"Oh you're a COMEDIAN," Derrick said and gave Meghan a playful shove. The pair of them stood in the driveway of their parents house having just got out of the rental car. Derrick and Meghan had been given 2 weeks off to be with their parents. Derrick had witnessed Meghan and Monika exchanging a goodbye and, as usual, cracked a movie reference joke.
"Ahh yes, the Austrian goodbye," Derrick asked as he saw Monika kiss his big sister on the lips quickly. Derrick was extremely happy for Meghan. Apparently, she and Monika had begun seeing each other during his absence. Monika had looked towards Meghan because she didn't understand the joke.
"What does that mean? He knows I'm German right?" she asked. Meghan kissed her on the cheek.
"It's from The Last Crusade Mon," she told her.
"Wait...Oh I remember now. Yes, I've seen that movie. Very funny Derrick," Monika said and gave him a hug goodbye too. Meghan had "escorted" Derrick to their parents house and intended to surprise them and spend 2 weeks there with them. Meghan walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell while Derrick waited out of sight. The door opened and he heard his father say
"Meghan! What a surprise...wait...did something else happen?"
"No Daddy, we got some time off and wanted to surprise you," Meghan answered.
"You and that nice German woman that I know you like? Monika was her name, yes?" his father asked. Derrick jumped on the opportunity for a quip.
"Don't worry Pops, I already gave Monika a stern talking to about being with Meghan here," he said and came around the corner. He saw his father's face change from polite puzzlement to complete and utter shock. He looked from Derrick to Meghan and back again.
"It's him Daddy," Meghan said sniffing a little. Derrick walked up to his father and gave him a hug. Thankfully, he actually had a few showers and some real food so he wasn't as weak as he was the other evening. He could also hear his father crying into his shoulder. Something he hadn't seen him do in forever.
"How...what? We thought…you're alive. My son is alive," his dad said.
"Come on, you know me dad. I'm resilient. Where's mom?" Derrick asked.
"Out on a walk with Josie," he said, still continuing to hug him. Meghan leaned up against the banister and watched Derrick hug his father. This is what he had been missing for the last 3 months. Affection. He had got none of it in that place. When he had seen Lukas and Monika open his cell door he thought he had been dreaming but no, they had brought him back to HQ to be reunited with Meghan. He had really wanted to see Tina but she was apparently busy in Canada. Derrick heard a dog bark from behind him followed by a woman screaming. Before he could turn around fully, a golden retriever had appeared at his side, barking happily and whining at the same time.
"Hi Josie! Did you miss me? Yes you did! Yes you did! Are you a happy puppy?!" Derrick said, disengaging from his father and reaching down to pet Josie's head and body. Meanwhile, Meghan had gone over to pick their mother off from the ground. She had apparently screamed and fell to her knees upon seeing the back of her no longer deceased son's head. Meghan walked her mother over while repeating
"Yes mom, it's Derrick. It's really him. He's alive." His mom reached out and touched his face.
"Hi Mommy," Derrick said. His mother wailed and engulfed him in such a tight hug he thought his eyes would pop out of his skull.
"MY BABY!" his mother yelled.
"That's me Ma. I missed you," Derrick said and he actually meant it. He missed a lot of his friends and family while being held prisoner but that wasn't really important right now. He had 2 weeks to spend with his parents, his furry canine friend and most importantly, his big sis.
August 1st, 2023
Specialist Tina Lin "Frost" Tseng
Oceanside, CA. USA
Tina was abruptly awoken by the pilot of the plane telling everyone that they were to be landing in Oceanside for refueling and then heading to Portland. Tina grabbed the dogtags currently around her neck when Oceanside was mentioned. Derrick was from there. It might have only been 3 months but she still missed Derrick with all her heart. She can still remember the first time she had met the charismatic American. It was years ago at this point but she remembered the first thing he said to herself and Buck. He landed the chopper he was piloting on the roof where the pair of them were waiting for him, killed the engine and hopped out. Back then, he didn't sport facial hair like he did now but Tina thought he was still pretty cute.
"What's up? Name's Castellano but please call me Derrick. I've been sent to assist you guys. Which one of you is...uh...Buck right? Weird. I expected it to be Loonie," Derrick had said and chuckled at his own joke. Buck did too.
"That's me," Buck said and raised his hand.
"Ah, that must mean you, my Canuck friend, are Toonie? NO WAIT...it's gotta be something ice related cause you know, Canada. Now I gotta ask before I forget, do you or do you not know a guy named Victor Fries?" Derrick asked Tina and cleaned his sunglasses with his shirt. Tina could see his deep brown eyes and smiled under her mask.
"No...should I?" Tina said. Derrick grinned. Buck leaned over and whispered
"That's Mr. Freeze's alter ego from the Batman comic books," into her ear. Tina nodded. Oh so Derrick was this type of guy? Fantastic, Tina liked funny handsome men that were also dorks.
"Just call me Tina," she told him. Buck cocked an eyebrow at her. Derrick turned out to be very good at his job as well. He infiltrated the shipping warehouse all on his own and retrieved the manifest Ash was looking for without so much as a scratch on him.
"Here you go. Hopefully this is what you were looking for," he said and handed Tina a folder. It was. Tina looked at the handsome American pilot in amazement.
"How...you just walked in there and swiped it?" Buck asked him. He had been surveying the area for the past 20 minutes with Tina. Neither of them had even noticed that he had disappeared.
"Infiltration expert man. That's what I'm best at. Before you ask, no one's dead. Knocked out, but I decided to not make a mess during my little trip to Canada. Need to hit that Tim Hortons at some point. Perhaps catch a hockey game," Derrick said, twirling his knife on his finger. Shortly afterwards, Derrick had given her and Buck a lift back to where he had picked them up. Tina had sat next to him and made small talk with him while Buck eyed her with a smirk on his face. After that mission, Tina had wished that the US would send Derrick to assist the JTF2 whenever needed but the next time she had seen Derrick was on the news after he saved Ash's niece and nephew. That event took place at the end of last year. She had been at the West Coast HQ at the time with Buck, Meghan Castellano, Ash and Harry and was putting the finishing touches on it before she had been assigned to it a few months later. She had been sitting in the lounge having a conversation with Harry, Buck and Meghan when Ash had suddenly appeared.
"Meghan, are you related to someone named Derrick Castellano?" Ash asked.
"Yeah, he's my brother. Why? What did he do?" Meghan replied. Ash turned on the nearby TV where Tina's crush, the handsome American pilot, appeared on screen giving an interview. This time, Derrick had facial hair. He was just as handsome as Tina remembered.
"Derrick!" Meghan shouted and watched the screen intently before she smiled. She must have read the title at the bottom of the screen that read "Savior of Levi (10) and Abigail (5) Cohen"
"I was the one that spotted little Abby's snowsuit from the air so I set the chopper down and led the two kids over to it. Abby was scared at me at first due to the helmet I think but once she saw that I was a good guy, she listened to me," Derrick was explaining. Meghan frowned slightly. Tina did too. That man looked like Derrick Castellano but he wasn't acting like it at the moment.
"I expected him to make jokes. That's always what he does," Meghan said a bit dejectedly.
"Oh yeah, I remember that," Buck said and glanced at Tina again. Oh he knew about her little crush on Mr. Castellano.
"That explains what my niece just asked me. Just got off the phone with her. She asked me if I knew the Funny Man that did all the voices," Ash said. Tina next saw Derrick a couple months later in Greece where, thankfully, he reverted to his comedic personality. She remembered when she saw him make his charismatic entrance into the arena pretending to be Rob Halford from Judas Priest. She thought she had basically given it away that she liked Derrick after he mentioned something about hitting on foreign exchange students.
"He...he wasn't serious about that was he?" Tina asked Meghan back in Greece after Derrick left to speak with Harry.
"Don't know really, I was in the Navy when he finished high school. I do know that he was a bit popular with the ladies in college however," Meghan had answered. Well he's going to be fucking mine. I'll make sure of that, Tina remembered thinking to herself afterwards. Tina also remembered how she felt when Lukas had told her about how Derrick had feelings for her too. She remembered their first date and their first kiss. She remembered everything about the man she still loved with all her heart. She was also pissed at herself for yelling at him that morning before he had died. She can't even remember what for but the next thing she knew, Derrick was dead and she was told by Lukas that he'd loved her.
Tina clutched the dogtags in her hand again and fought the urge to cry in front of everyone on the plane. At least there wasn't anyone in her row of seats. A few months ago, Lukas had informed her that the piece of shit motherfucker that shot her boyfriend out of the sky was dead. She had been so happy that vengeance was served. She didn't tell Ash about her short conversation with Lukas on her birthday but she was adamant about him remaining on the team and only receiving a warning. She heard that Ash gave Lukas a warning and assigned his sister to monitor his behavior. The plane touched down a few minutes later and Tina leaned back against the seat wondering how long the refueling would take.
"Good Afternoon passengers, is there someone named Tina Lin Tseng on board?" Tina looked up when this announcement was made.
"Uh yes, that's me," she said loudly, a little confused.
"Someone is here to see you and escort you somewhere," the announcement continued. All of a sudden Meghan appeared at the front of the plane and motioned for her to follow. Tina grabbed her carry on and personal item from the overhead compartment and followed Meghan outside onto the tarmac where there was a car parked. It looked like a rental.
"What are you doing here?" Tina asked and climbed into the passenger seat.
"You'll see," was all Meghan said as she turned the car on and drove off the tarmac. Tina's mind was still on Derrick and how much she still missed him. Meghan however, looked a little excited about something.
"What's with the happy face? Is Monika here too?" Tina asked. She knew about Meghan's relationship with Monika. She had accidentally walked in on them kissing at the condo once.
"No, someone better," Meghan said and Tina realized the route they were taking. They were currently taking the route to Castellano Hill. Tina began to breathe heavily.
"Why...why are you taking me there...Meghan...I can't. I miss him too but…" Tina began.
"Tina, trust me. You'll want to see this," Meghan said and turned down the street leading to Castellano Hill. Meghan pulled into the lot and killed the engine. She turned to Tina.
"Come on,"
"No,"
"Tina, come on,"
"No Meghan,"
"Trust. Me" Meghan said and got out of the car. Tina reluctantly followed with her hand still on Derrick's dog tags. She followed Meghan down the path leading to the hill. In the distance she could see a man sitting there with his dog. Tina turned to Meghan as they reached the base of the hill.
"A man with a dog? That's what you wanted to show me?" Tina asked. Meghan however looked as though she was about to cry with happiness.
"Look closer Tina," she managed to say. Tina did so. The dog was a golden retriever and the man was petting her head gently as he sat with his back to them. Tina couldn't exactly tell who it was at this distance. The dog turned its head in their direction, barked and ran towards the pair of them. Tina realized who the dog was when she got to Meghan. It was Josie, Derrick's parents' dog. Josie recognized Tina as well, wagged her tail at her and walked to her side.
"Hi Josie," Tina said miserably as Josie licked her hand. Meghan however was pointing to the top of the hill. Josie sat on the grass with her nose pointing in the same direction. Tina turned to see who the man was. He was facing them now. He was looking at Tina with a smile on his face. Tina gasped. She knew that smile. She knew the tattoos she could see peeking out from the sleeves of his T-shirt. She knew this man's walk and how he presented himself to others. She knew exactly who this man was. She fell to her knees as the man she loved walked down the hill towards her. He clearly wasn't dead like she thought he was.
"No...Der...Der...Derrick?" Tina said in a voice that was on the breaking point of tears. She turned to Meghan who was smiling at her.
"Yes. It's him. Surprise Tina. Lukas and Monika found him," Meghan said simply as she pet Josie's head. Tina turned back in Derrick's direction and looked up at him. Derrick was in front of her at this point and he knelt down so he was at her eye level. He reached his hand out toward her face and touched her cheek. Tina leaned into his hand and felt his familiar warmth. Derrick spoke to her for the first time in 3 months.
"Nice day eh? I-MPPF!" was all he said before Tina hurled herself at him and kissed him so hard she nearly knocked some of her own teeth out. It was him. It was Derrick. He had survived. Lukas kept his promise about bringing him back to her. She stopped kissing him and broke down entirely against his chest. She was crying so hard that she was shaking. His arms gently wrapped around her body. She was in his arms again. The day started out rather mediocre but she now had her boyfriend back. Derrick gently helped her get to her feet and held her close as she weeped in sheer happiness.
"No no folks! She's alright. She just hasn't seen me in a few months," Derrick said. That was the understatement of the fucking century. Other people must have seen and or heard Tina's sobbing. Derrick eventually made Tina look into his eyes. She saw that his hair was a little longer than she remembered and he had more of a full beard rather than a 5 o'clock shadow but that didn't matter. He was physically here. He was holding her just as she remembered he did.
"I assume I'm still your boyfriend after kissing me that hard," Derrick asked. Tina nodded vigorously. Derrick grinned before Tina kissed him yet again. She could tell that she was currently a wreck but she didn't give a flying fuck. She was kissing Derrick again. Derrick gently pulled away from her and touched her face again.
"Can I tell you that I love you now?" he asked.
"Y-yes...because I do too Derrick. I never stopped. I love you so much," she said and kissed him for the third time. The feel of his lips against hers make her clutch him tighter against her own body. Meghan said "Awww!" as Tina held Derrick close.
"Bad time to mention that Ash sort of made out with me when I was found right?" Derrick said after she let the man breathe.
"WHAT?!" she said but Derrick grinned.
"Still got it," he said and popped his collar like a doofus from the 80s. Tina grinned as Meghan rolled her eyes. Tina buried her head in his chest. He even smelled the same.
"Thanks Megs," Derrick said.
"You're welcome little bro. How were the waves today?" Meghan's voice asked.
"Totally righteous sis. Wiped out a few times but I still caught a few GNARLY ones," Derrick said in that surfer dude voice. Tina laughed.
"It really is you," Tina said and touched his face again.
"Yes Tina, it is," Derrick said in his normal voice and kissed her once more. God dammit she loved this man.
"H-hold me," Tina said and Derrick did so. She continued to cry against him as he began to hum a slow song into her ear. It was "Open Arms" by Journey. This was the greatest day of Tina's life. The man she loved with all her heart had returned to her.
Mission Report:
Derrick Castellano was found alive during Operation: Resurgence. He was extracted from the location and brought home to his friends and family
