Alex watched as the last of his latest batch of Poolees left the office after another PT session. Most of them had just been recruited a month ago but due to the demand for bodies they'd be shipping out for Paris Island within the next month. Once the last of them left he spun around in his chair and scooted over to the couches that made up the waiting area where his team lounged in their PT clothes as they watched the news on the TV.
"Alright guys, I got our schedule for the near future. As you know the Divisions planning on occupying the East Coast and we've been tasked to support them within the Gotham AO. Routes need to be identified and cleared in order to establish supply lines and help with logistics. In addition command has identified several areas outside of Gotham that they want us to scout out and report back on for a Forward Operating Base. That's all coming up in the later half of the month and needs to be completed come October. In the meantime we'll be conducting some remedial training in preparation of these operations."
"I've never seen military training before. I know I'm just assigned to your team Sergeant but do you think I could participate?" Kara asked eagerly.
"Yeah, of course you can. Maybe you'll learn some good stuff that you can take back to the League. Now, obviously our route recon will be mounted, we'll be tagging along with a National Guard unit and utilizing their vehicles, but who here other than me has a Humvee license?" Alex asked and as he expected no one other than him did.
"You need a license for those things? Ain't they just like normal cars, but with armor and a gun turret?" Harley asked with a confused look from where she sat next to Ivy.
"Yeah, well the military doesn't want you driving them without a license specifically for that vehicle." Alex briefly explained.
"So why can't you drive it if you have a license?"
"Because I need to be able to direct the rest of you and I can't do that if I'm focused on driving. So guess what you'll all be doing this week!"
"Getting Humvee licenses?"
"Yup. You'll be meeting with Sergeant Jones across the street, he'll take you guys over to the Guards hangout. Ivy, make sure everyone's there at zero seven in cammies with flak and kevlar."
"Sounds good, what else is going on?" Ivy asked after jotting down the time and place in her notes.
"Let's see, we got a week long field op out at that DOD site outside of Gotham. Nothing too serious, we'll shoot some rifles and machineguns, toss some grenades, get some demo in."
"Oh man, I love grenades!" Harley exclaimed excitedly, startling Ivy as she jumped out of her seat.
"Great, cause you'll throw so many of them that you'll never want to see one again." Alex grinned. "By the way Harley, your being promoted tomorrow once you get secured for the day, so start thinking of who you want to promote you and find some PFC chevrons."
"Promotion? Me? Holy shit guys! I'm getting promoted!" Harley squealed in delight.
Alex shook his head and laughed at her excitement. "Crazy right? Alright, I got nothing else for you guys. Ivy you're in charge of them for duration of the Humvee course."
"Oh goody..." Ivy replied with a roll of her eyes before getting up and heading for the door. "Come on Baby Bat it's time to go home." She told Barbara as she passed by her. As part of Barbara's restriction Ivy had been designated to drive her to and from work and be responsible for making sure she did her hourly check ins.
Barbara sighed and looked at Kara longingly before getting up to join Ivy. "Goodnight Kara, I'll see you in the morning." Due to her being on restriction Kara wasn't allowed to stay with her past eight o'clock PM so Kara remained staying with Alex and Harley.
"Yeah, see you then Barbara." Kara replied with a small smile before the two redheads left together.
Once they left Alex scooted himself back behind his desk and began organizing and putting away loose papers on his desk. As he filed them away and turned back around he noticed that Harley was gone, probably off to the bathroom to change over, and that Kara was sitting alone starring blankly at the TV. He shrugged and turned back to his computer, checking over some documents and saving them. He looked back over to Kara and saw that she hadn't moved at all. Alex frowned and decided to see if she was alright.
"Supergirl you alright over there? You ain't exactly looking super right now." He called out.
Kara jumped slightly upon hearing her name and quickly whirled around to look at Alex. "Oh! Uh, I'm fine Sergeant, thank you. How are you?" She replied quickly.
"All this paperwork makes me want to suck start my rifle...I'm a damn Combat Engineer not some Admin fuck!" He said, laughing at his own expense. "Oh how I miss being with an actual platoon."
"Do you miss you're old friends Sergeant?"
"Eh, I didn't really have that many before I left the Battalion. My best friend, Daniels, we grew up in the Marine Corps together. From Bootcamp to MCT to Engineer School and then the Fleet we were together. Man, we used to get in all kinds of trouble as Junior Marines. I remember this one time we got so drunk in the barracks that we decided to go out and toss beer cans off the third deck balcony and try to hit some squirrels on the first deck. Well the OOD came by and started yelling at us and he started coming up the stairs after Daniels called him a boot ass bitch, so we booked it and started running through the barracks but somehow we ended up on the wrong deck. Anyways the OOD never found us and by some stroke of luck we ended up back in our room only to continue drinking until we passed out." Alex laughed at the memory and saw that A small smile had appeared on Kara's face. "I miss that guy..."
"Sounds like you guys were pretty good friends. Have you talked to him since you left you're old unit?" She asked.
Alex's smile vanished at the question. "He's dead..." he quietly replied.
Kara's eye's widened upon hearing what he said and she quickly apologized. "Oh, I'm so sorry Sergeant, I didn't realize..."
"It's alright Kara. You couldn't have known. He was killed in my first deployment to Afghanistan by an IED strike. Sometimes I still see that blast when I sleep at night. God knows Harley's waken me up from that nightmare more than once." Alex muttered.
"I understand how you feel Sergeant. All my friends, family, my whole world is gone...All I have left is my cousin and the few friends I've made here on Earth."
"Damn, that's...I don't know. Say's a lot about how strong you are though, I feel that most people would've broke going through what you did."
"It hasn't been easy that's for sure. Barbara...She's been a good friend to me, just being around her helped me forget about Krypton. I never thought about her being the same gender, or even that we're a different species but I fell in love with her. I never expected her to return my feelings, if it hadn't been for Harley I never would've worked up the nerve to admit them in the first place, but I am beyond thankful that she did. Even after our...incident...I still love her."
"Good for you two, fixing things so quickly. Wish I'd have been able to be so forgiving back in the day. Wasted so many years being angry at the world, hell I even stayed in for the chance to die in combat. I figured that dying would be better than living when all my friends were either dead or losing their damn minds. Wasn't exactly in my right mind myself come to think of it, but hey, instead of dying I ended up here in Gotham, made new friends and got over my issues. Even managed to bring Harley back from the dark side. So I guess you can say it all worked out in the end, well not the end but you know what I mean."
"Yeah I get you Sergeant. I just hope that Barbara and I can be as happy as you and Harley seem to be."
"That's why you gotta enjoy every moment with her, which I know is hard with her being on restriction and all, but make the most of the time you guys have. I wish that I could sit here and tell you that we'll all make it out of this alive but that's not something I can. But enough of that talk, I've wasted enough of your time as is. Go on and get outta here."
"Alright I'll see you and Harley back at home, and Sergeant, thanks for the talk." Kara smiled as she headed out the door.
"That's what I'm here for..." Alex shouted after her.
As she left Harley came back down the hall in her civilian wear and headed straight for the door.
"See ya at home Alex, I gotta go run some errands real quick!" She told him before leaving as well, leaving Alex alone in the office.
"Yep leave me alone with this paperwork..." Alex grumbled to himself.
...
After leaving the recruitment office Harley made the trip through town up to the Batsignal, lighting it and casting Batman's symbol onto the clouds that seemed to permanently hover over Gotham. Harley paced back and forth impatiently as she waited but it didn't take long before she felt eyes on the back of her head.
"Ha, not gonna get the drop on me this time Bats!" She exclaimed as she whirled around to face the Dark Knight.
"Perhaps I'm starting to get a bit rusty? Is there something you need Harleen?"
"Um, yeah actually. I never got to thank you for helping me. All that time I was running with Joker you always tried to help me, saying that I was better than that. I never really listened to you back then, I mean I heard what you were saying but I just didn't believe in myself that I could be anything more than what I was. But you never gave up on me, even though I gave you, Bab's, and Bird Boy nothing but trouble. And then you helped Alex save me from Joker...I wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for you guys."
"I knew that you were never evil, misguided and foolish maybe, but not evil. Through all those years I could see that you hated being with Joker, that you were forcing yourself to be with him. It was a shame to see you being manipulated into going along with his schemes but I'm glad that you finally saw sense. You're doing really well for yourself now, I can see that. How is the military suiting you?"
"Oh, it's been a blast so far. I get to spend all day with my friends fighting bad guys and they're even having my put my psychiatry degree to use! Plus I get to play around with all their cool equipment! Tomorrow I get to learn how to drive a Humvee!"
"Sounds like you're having a lot of fun Harleen."
"Yeah it's great. But I got a favor to ask ya, if that's alright?"
"It doesn't hurt to ask."
"So, tomorrow after the Humvee course I'm getting promoted and I was wondering if you could be there to promote me. You've played such a big role in my life, trying to help me and all over the years that I thought that you'd want to see me make something of the life I've been granted." Harley explained and she nervously awaited his answer.
Batman rubbed his chin in thought as he studied Harley and thought over her request. After what seemed like forever he finally lowered his hand and smiled. "I'd be honored to be there and promote you Harleen." He answered.
Harley let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in and grinned. "You would? Oh thank you Bats! It'll be at four PM at the recruitment office, I'll let Alex know you're coming! Oh, and tell Bird Boy that he can come too! Thanks again Bats!" Harley exclaimed happily before flipping off the roof and landing gracefully on the street below, leaving Batman with a slight grin on his face.
...
"Oh my God that was so borrrrrinnnggg..." Harley muttered as she, Barbara, Ivy, and Kara exited a makeshift classroom on the National Guards base of operations. After being dropped off by Sergeant Jones they had been introduced to their instructor, a Guardsman by the name of Staff Sergeant Wilks, before being subjected to a several hour long power point class on the Humvee and its specifications.
"Boring but informative." Ivy replied as she flipped through the notes she had taken while they waited for Staff Sergeant Wilks to bring a Humvee around for them to drive.
"Wait, you actually took notes?" The class had been so dry that Harley hadn't even bothered to write anything worthwhile.
"Uh, yes? Didn't you?"
"Uh, sure..." Harley replied as she rubbed the back of her neck.
"Really? Let me see." Ivy snatched Harley's notebook out of her hand and begun flipping through it. "Ugh, gross Harley! That's disgusting!" She exclaimed upon finding that Harley had just doodled pictures of dick's across the page and quickly handed the book back.
"Oh come on Red! We've all seen a dick before!" Harley laughed as she playfully nudged Ivy and earned a small laugh from Barbara. She continued to laugh as Ivy sighed and rolled her eyes before she noticed Kara by herself. "What's wrong Blondie, you don't think dicks are funny?" Harley redirected her teasing to the other blonde.
"Well sure I guess. I mean I've never..." Kara began to say before Harley cut her off.
"Never seen a dick? Well you do like girls so it makes sense. Bet you're a hit with all the ladies back in National City though, am I right?" Harley laughed at Kara's expense.
"What!? No! I'm...I've never...been intimate with someone before..." Kara blushed furiously.
"You're a virgin? Supergirl is a virgin? How?" Harley asked, bewildered that somehow one of the most powerful women on the planet was still a virgin.
"Is it that hard to believe? I just never met anyone that I wanted to...do that...with." Kara explained, turning to Barbara for help.
"Alright, that's enough Harley. Kara's a virgin, so what? She's still a hero." Barbara said, much to Kara's relief.
"Yeah you're right Babs." Harley replied before turning back to Kara. "Sorry for the teasing Blondie. Hey, when you do decide to lose it make sure its with someone special ok?" She said before winking at Barbara.
Kara nodded just as an up-armored Humvee with bright yellow student driver plates hanging off the bumpers pulled up and Staff Sergeant Wilks stepped out. "Alright Marines, who wants to get behind the wheel first?" He asked with a cheery smile.
"Oh oh, me first!" Harley quickly threw on her flak and kevlar before jumping into the drivers seat. "Come on Red, let's see how many chicks we can pick up in this bad boy!" She called out to Ivy as the Humvee roared to life. Ivy rolled her eyes again as she grabbed her own kit and made her way over and climbed into the back seat as Staff Sergeant Wilks hopped into the passenger seat to instruct Harley.
"We'll be back in about thirty minutes alright!" The Staff Sergeant called out to Barbara and Kara as Harley peeled the Humvee out of the lot and headed towards the busy streets of Gotham.
Seeing no point in standing around Barbara set her flak down against the nearby wall and sat against it before Kara joined her. The two sat together in silence for a few minutes before Barbara broke the silence.
"Soooo, you're really a virgin?" Barbara asked, causing Kara to groan in annoyance.
"UGH, yes Barbara I am still virgin! Does it really matter that much?" Kara asked, her annoyance evident in her voice.
"No, not at all! I'm uh, actually kinda relieved..." Barbara admitted.
"Why?" Kara questioned, clearly uncomfortable with the subject of her sex life, or lack there of.
"Well, I've never been with a woman before and I was kinda afraid that if we did, you know...have sex...I wouldn't know what to do and disappoint you. I mean I've been talking with Harley and Ivy about how to do it and well, this is embarrassing to admit, I've started watching some uh, erotic videos...just to see how it works though! I swear!" She blurted out, her cheeks red with embarrassment.
"Barbara I know what porn is and I don't care if you watch it! Really though, I've just been waiting for that one special person to share my first time with and besides it's not like I have a lot of time to be thinking about that kind of stuff between helping National City and working with the Justice League." Kara explained.
"So, do you think you've met someone special yet?" Barbara smiled innocently.
Kara smiled as she shook her head. "Fishing for compliments Barbara? You know I think the world of you and I think that...I would like to, you know..." Kara blushed as she ran her eyes over Barbara.
Barbara felt a warmth rise in her as Kara admired her. "Wow, well I'm glad that you feel that way about me Kara, but there's no need to rush into bed. Whenever you're ready I'll be there to hopefully not disappoint you..."
Kara smiled softly and laughed at Barbara's nervousness. "I wouldn't worry about that too much." She replied, leaning forward to rest her forehead against Barbara's. Kara was about to lean in more and kiss her when suddenly the Humvee raced raced around the corner and screeched to a halt in front of them.
"Hey pretty ladies! How much for a good time!?" Harley shouted from the drivers window. The two quickly separated, their faces red with embarrassment. "Oh, were you two having a moment? My bad!" Harley laughed as she hopped out of the Humvee and turned to Staff Sergeant Wilks. "So how'd I do Staff Sarn't?"
"Well, we didn't die and the vehicle is still in one piece..." The Staff Sergeant answered as he checked off some boxes on his clipboard. "Just drive like you did today for the rest of the week and you'll pass. Alright, give me another driver."
Barbara stood up and smiled down at Kara while offering her hand. "Would the lady care for a ride?"
Kara shook her head and laughed. "With you? Wouldn't miss it for the world..."
...
"To all who shall see these presents, greeting: Know Ye, that reposing special trust and confidence in the fidelity and abilities of Harleen F. Quinzel, I do promote this Marine a Private First Class in the United States Marine Corps to rank as such from the first day of September, two thousand and seventeen. This appointee will therefore carefully and diligently discharge the duties of the grade to which appointed by doing and performing all manner of things thereunto pertaining. And I do strictly charge and require all personnel of lesser grade to render obedience to appropriate orders. And this appointee is to observe and follow such orders and directions as may be given time to time by superiors acting according to the rules and articles governing the discipline of the Armed Forces of the United States of America. Given under my hand at Special Tasks Group Echo this first day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand and seventeen. Signed, Robert E. Anderson, General, USMC, Commanding."
Harley flinched as Alex snapped her promotion warrant shut. Even though she had only been a Private for four months Harley's date of rank had been backdated to when she had originally started working with DOD back in March and making her eligible for promotion early. She had been excitedly awaiting for this all day and was all she could think about while learning to drive Humvee's, much to her instructors annoyance. And now here she was, getting promoted in front of all her friends.
"Who would you like to promote you?" Alex asked.
"Batman."
"Very well. Batman, if you would."
Batman walked over and stood next to Harley. He acknowledged Alex with a nod as he took the chevrons that Harley held out for him and pinned them to the collar of her uniform.
"Congratulations Harleen. You've come a long way since we pulled you out of that burning warehouse. Declared sane, became a Marine, and now fighting to defend the people of this country from evil. I'm proud of the person you've become and I hope that you will continue to do great things." He told her as he finished pinning on her new rank.
"Thanks Bats. That really means a lot coming from you. I only hope I can live up to your expectations." She replied with a smile. Batman nodded at her and Alex again before returning to the others.
Once Batman was back Alex handed over Harley's promotion warrant and shook her hand. "Congrats, you've really earned this Harley. The General says he's sorry he can't be here but he sends his congrats as well. You're an amazing woman and an outstanding Marine. Keep doing what you're doing, alright?" Alex told her before lowering his voice so only she could hear. "We'll have to celebrate in private back at home later, yeah?"
Harley smiled happily and blushed at the thought. "Ooh, Sergeant that sounds an awful lot like fraternization." She teased back.
Alex just smirked at her before coming back to attention. "POST!" Harley snapped back to attention and executed a left face. "MARCH!" Harley couldn't shake the grin she had on her face as she marched back to rejoin the others and receive more words of congratulation.
After a few minutes Alex finally rounded everyone up to pass along some word. "Alright, alright I think we've congratulated her enough. We're doing some good shit out here, you're all getting licensed this week and then next week we're gonna get some good training in before we're finally boots on the ground. Divisions gonna be here end of October and it's our job to ensure that they get here without any complications from the enemy. Everything we've done up tell now will seem like child's play once they get here, I expect us to be tasked out frequently and be thrown right into the thick of the fighting so take this upcoming training seriously, you're lives will depend on it. Now I'm not going to lie to you guys, the fighting will be deadly. Divisions already estimating casualty rates to be high within the opening days and that rate will continue to grow thanks to the urban environment. So take these last few weeks to enjoy yourselves, but keep you're heads on straight and don't get into trouble. I need everyone of you ready for the fight."
"And we're ready to kick some ass!" Harley shouted enthusiastically.
Alex nodded his head and grinned. "Fuck yeah. Get you're affairs in order Marines, you have the week."
...Mission Complete...
Its getting crazy out there guys, 58 people were killed and hundreds more wounded in a massive shooting in Las Vegas that can only be described as a despicable act of terrorism. I hope that as Americans we can all forget about our bullshit politics and come together in this time of tragedy and be there for one another.
Whether it be overseas or on our own soil we will not fall to terrorism.
Stay safe out there ladies and gents...
Semper Fidelis