Here's chapter two. Hope you enjoy!

Lee tossed and turned all night. He kept seeing his team disappearing one by one before his eyes. He knew what happened to them. He knew they would never come back. Why they had even decided to join the fight against the Mimics so unprepared was beyond Lee. Barney had seen it as an opportunity to offer their elite services. No one knew how intense it would be, and no one knew that their weapons would be useless against the aliens. Lee still wasn't even sure how he survived. Barney had shoved him off a cliff, and he'd managed to stop his fall before sneaking away.

"Get the hell out of here. That's an order!" Barney had shouted right before pushing him. Lee wasn't given the opportunity to argue. The others had fallen already. The two of them were the last standing. The last thing he saw was the Mimic destroying his best friend. That had made his decision right there. He was going to join the UDF and kill all these sons of bitches.

"Rise and shine," Rita's voice said as she walked past their bunks.

"Awww really?" Brady asked, groaning.

"Yes."

Lee rolled off his bunk before more groans of complaint could start. Rita was already off to the races. He followed her, ignoring the feeling of hunger in his stomach.

"Well, this is a first," she said, seeing him suit up alongside her.

"What is?"

"No breakfast?"

"I'm following your example," he answered. "An empty stomach makes me angry, so I'm channeling it into my fighting."

"That's not why I don't eat..." she started.

"You're not human then? Are you a Mimic?" he asked, faking horror. He jokingly held his weapon in her face. She pushed it away, trying not to smile.

"Stay focused," she instructed.

"Focus is my middle name. I was in the SAS," he said, gearing up. She looked over at him.

"You were?"

"Yup."

"So, you've seen war then."

"A little, but nothing like this. Okay, so talk me through this outfit again," he said, examining it in his hands.

"It's new. We're trying it out, but we figured it's better than what we were using," Rita said.

"It's heavy and awkward," he said. "How are we supposed to do combat while weighing a hundred plus pounds extra?"

"You're doing more shooting and swinging a big ass knife than hand to hand combat," she pointed out.

"Ah. But I'm good with a knife," he winked.

"Really?"

"I can show you later," he smirked.

"You might get your ass whupped," she retorted. He raised his eyebrows.

"Is that a challenge?"

"It just might be."

"You're on, missy," he said. Before he could say anything else, Rita turned on the machines. Without even blinking, he ducked and weaved, shooting, slashing and stabbing. Rita jumped in with him, and side by side they took down the machine Mimics. She couldn't help but notice they worked well together. He matched her step for step, and they rolled off each other's backs like an orchestrated dance.

"Damn," James said from the entryway. They were both panting and sweating by now, but all the machines were "dead."

"What?" Rita asked.

"You two are a force to be reckoned with," he chuckled.

"And don't you forget it," Lee retorted.

"We'll take a break while you and Brady suit up and practice," Rita said, taking off her gear. Lee did as well.

"Sounds good," James agreed. He moved to take her place while Rita and Lee walked to the breakfast hall.

"Nice work today," she said. She couldn't help notice how good Lee was.

"So when are you gonna whup my ass?" he asked, eyes twinkling.

"Tonight," she answered. "We've got a busy day ahead of us."

"Doing what?"

"Training. I also have to check on other squads to see how their progress is coming."

"You're important, aren't you?"

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, you're high rank."

"Sergeant Major."

"I see."

"You don't seem surprised," she pointed out.

"I just didn't expect anything less," he responded. "So why does everyone just call you Rita?"

"Only my team does and Aldridge. It got so repetitive all the time with everyone saying Sergeant Major Vrataski this and Sergeant Major Vrataski that. It gave me a headache, so I allow only a select few to just call me Rita."

"Am I one of those few?" Lee asked.

"We'll see after tonight," she said playfully, which was very unlike her. There was just something about Lee that made her put her guard down.

...

"There's something you should know about Rita," James said while Lee got ready to face off with her.

"Oh yea?"

"She is very reluctant to let people get close to her. It takes a while. She's been burned a few times in her life."

"Haven't we all?" Lee asked.

"In a way, yes, but hers is a little sharper," James answered, hesitating. "Perhaps she'll tell you about it."

"Perhaps," Lee agreed. "She doesn't know everything about me, though. I'm not one for letting people get close either."

He didn't wait for James's response as he grabbed his knife collection and walked out of the barrack.

...

Rita sipped her water while waiting for Lee. She wasn't sure what she was trying to prove here. Lee was the new guy. He should be proving himself to her through training abilities, not fun challenges.

"You ready?" he asked, sliding into the stool beside her.

"You go first," she nodded.

"This isn't darts," he scoffed, looking at the dart board.

"I know that," she retorted. "You didn't think we'd be doing this inside, did you? Come on." She hopped off her stool and went out the back door. Lee followed. She stood, waiting for him to throw first. He noticed she had drawn two targets on the wooden fence.

"Here we go," he said, aiming and throwing. It was a bull's eye, which Rita didn't even blink over.

"Just the one knife?" she asked. He gave her a puzzled look. She took out three and threw them all at once, and all of them landed dead center of her target just millimeters from each other.

"Impressive," Lee nodded. Rita clicked her tongue and felt her face grow into a smirk. He threw a couple more, making a smiley face on his target.

"This isn't an art show," she commented.

"Let's just agree that we are both equally good," Lee said.

"I'm better," Rita said immediately.

"No, no. You're not."

"Yes, I am. Just admit it," she said, poking him in the chest. He spread out his arms, tilting his head at her.

"Oho," he crowed.

"Go again?" she asked.

"You're on," he answered.

...

Rita felt slightly giddy as they walked in the moonlight after their dual. All the warnings in her head telling her to not get close, to not get involved were being drowned out by the voice demanding to know more about him. She didn't know what it was about him that made her disregard all her usual feelings of mistrust for people.

"So, you had a team?" she asked. He grew solemn then, and she immediately regretted asking him about it.

"I did," he nodded. "But I'm not ready to talk about them."

"Are you sure?"

"Do you want to talk about Misty?"

"No."

"Well, when you're ready to talk about her, then I'll talk about my team," Lee compromised.

"Deal," Rita said.

"So," Lee started. "Is it Sergeant Major Vrataski then?" They stopped walking, and she looked at him in the moonlight.

"Rita is fine," she answered. She caught his smile, his teeth flashing in the light.

"All right," he said. Rita smiled to herself then. Perhaps Lee wasn't going to be a total annoyance after all.

A Week Later

Rita wasn't sure what she was doing. She spent most of her time with Lee, and she found herself more and more intrigued with his past, not that he'd share it with her. They knew a battle was coming and very soon. Rita guessed she just wanted to enjoy the time left before she potentially died. She knew it was a big risk every time she went into battle. How she survived this long, she wasn't sure. It was nightfall now, and she was running around the track, trying not to think about death and what that would be like.

"There you are," Lee said, joining her easily.

"Here I am," she agreed absently.

"Ah, deep in thought I see," he noted.

"What's wrong with that?"

"Absolutely nothing."

"These suits had better work," she said to him as they rounded a corner. "After all this."

"I'm sure they will. Hey, wanna see something cool?" he asked. She looked over at him then.

"Why not?"

"Come with me."

...

"The sky?" she asked incredulously as Lee found an abandoned truck and climbed into the bed. She climbed in after him, and they lay on their backs looking up.

"There's a meteor shower tonight," Lee said, nudging her ribs. "Thought it might help take your mind off things."

"I used to do this with my Dad," she sighed, putting an arm behind her head.

"Yea?"

"Yea."

"I'm sure he's watching tonight then."

"He can't."

"Why not?"

"He's dead. Cancer."

"I'm sorry."

"It's life," she said, wanting him to let it go. It hurt to talk about her Dad. Her Mum was never the same after. Her brother had run off to join the military. She wondered where he was now.

"I never knew my parents," Lee confessed. She turned to stare at him, shocked.

"Never?"

"No. I'm not sure what happened to them. Either they died or I was taken from them. I was raised by a guy who was all about martial arts and guns. It's from him that I know how to fight."

"So...Christmas isn't your real last name then?"

"No."

"Do you know what it is?"

"Hendricks," he answered softly. It felt foreign on his lips. He hadn't said it out loud since he was a child.

"Lee Hendricks," Rita said thoughtfully. "I like it better."

"I've never told anyone except you, so keep it that way," Lee warned, but he was smiling a little. He had no idea what possessed him to tell her. It might be the fact that he could die out there in the upcoming battle, and he wanted someone to remember him for who he really was. It might also be because he really liked Rita and knew he could trust her.

"All right," she promised.

"So what were you before the war? What was your career or job?"

"I was a teacher."

"Of?"

"History."

"Ah, yes. Good ol' history."

"I loved it."

"I didn't mind it, but I preferred biology. I liked knowing how things worked on the inside."

"And what did you do?"

"Me?"

"Yea."

"I..." Lee trailed off. He wasn't sure how to put it. He didn't want her to think less of him. Rita watched him struggle for a moment.

"Did you kill people?" she prodded.

"That's one way of putting it," he answered, nodding.

"Like a hitman?"

"More like a mercenary, an expendable" he corrected. "We were a team, the six of us." He didn't mention the younger crew that had joined when Barney was tracking down Conrad. He was grateful they had been too afraid to fight aliens. They could still have a life.

"You lost them," Rita said carefully. She could sense the sadness inside of him that he covered up so well. She recognized it because she did the exact same thing.

"Yea," he nodded. "We wanted to help. We were not prepared for what we stumbled upon."

"You escaped."

"Barney saved my life, and in the process sacrificed himself."

"That must have been so hard."

"It was. He was my best friend, the only other person who understood me."

"That was Misty," Rita said softly. It was only fair. It had been their agreement after all. Lee was quiet, waiting for her to continue.

"She always had my back. We were friends since high school. When I said I was joining the UDF, she thought nothing of joining with me. She was there for me when Dad died, when my..." Rita stopped suddenly. She didn't want to share that just yet. Clearing her throat, she continued. "Anyway, she was always there for me, and I for her. Losing her was like losing my right arm."

"I'm sorry," Lee said, watching her carefully. He hadn't failed to miss her coverup.

"There's one!" Rita said suddenly, startling him. He caught the tail end of the meteorite as it flickered out. Their conversation stopped once it really started. Rita was grateful because for a moment, she had almost been too vulnerable with Lee, and she didn't want to be that vulnerable to someone else ever again no matter how tempting it was.

A Few Days Later

"This is it," Aldridge said to the team. "You are going to Verdun. We have to win this. We have to show them that we mean business. It's the first time our suits are being used. Let's hope it brings us some luck, huh?"

"It's the person in the suit not the suit itself," Lee muttered. Aldridge didn't hear him and continued on.

"Good luck to you all. God speed," he finished. Rita led her team up into the ship where they strapped in. Lee felt his heart racing a little. This would be his first battle since his first encounter with those monsters. He was ready.

"Let's do this!" Mark shouted, whooping. Brady joined him. James just shook his head.

"Okay, team," Rita started. "Focus, attack, and don't get killed."

"Great advice as always," James teased. She just shook her head.

"For England?" Lee asked her, mimicking the popular 007 quote.

"No, for me," she answered, smiling finally. He laughed as they went up into the air. It might be the last time he ever got to laugh.