"If I'd have known this was going to happen, I would have gotten you angrier earlier." Dean said. Elizabeth rolled her eyes. They were lying on his bed facing each other, with their heads propped up on their elbows.

"Believe me, this is not the first time I've been mad at you, not even close." Elizabeth said.

"Really?" Dean asked.

"You're not exactly the cuddliest commander in the camp when you're shouting at us and making us do pushups for making jokes."

"Hey, it's for your own good. Look at the guns you got." He retorted with a grin.

Elizabeth laughed and flexed. He reached over to felt and it tickled causing her to laugh harder. He dragged her closer and kissed her. Elizabeth smiled into it, she felt so relaxed, she just wanted to fall asleep.

"What time is it?" She asked. Dean rolled over and grabbed his watch on the bedside table.

"It's close to one." He said.

Elizabeth groaned into the pillow. She had to get up in six hours.

"I have to go." Elizabeth said getting up and grabbing her clothes. "I hear my commander is taking us on a hike in the morning and I would like to get some sleep."

"He sounds like a real jerk, this guy." Dean said laying down back against the bed. Elizabeth really was tempted to get back in.

"One of the worst." She said rolling her tank top over her head and grabbing her jacket and back pack.

"I'll see you in the morning." Dean said. She turned back to him and bit her lip to stop her grin from going too wide.

"I'll see you in the morning." She said back. He sat up and kissed her. He tried to deepen it but Elizabeth broke away and grabbed her back pack and snuck out.

All the girls were asleep as she made it back to her bunk and she only paused to take her jacket and shoes off before collapsing into bed. As predicted the morning call came way too soon for her like. She dragged herself up and stooped to get a clean pair of socks and slip her shoes on.

They all set out together but Becky hung back with her.

"Where were you last night? I was up till midnight."

"I fell asleep in the study center and I didn't get back until one. I'm just happy I didn't get caught." Elizabeth lied smoothly.

Becky seemed to accept the lie, but it put a damper on Elizabeth's mood. Though she wanted to share with her new friends, this was something she would have to keep secret. They gathered under the flag and her eyes roved around. She saw Dean, facing the flag, his hat shading his eyes.

The salute was made and her and her troop gathered to begin the hike.

"Our new Squad Leader will be leading the pack today and I get to watch him see how hard my job actually is." Dean said.

Everyone began a jog up the side of the hill. Adam shouted encouragement, Elizabeth kept just behind him as she would with Dean. However she saw movement to her left and saw Dean was keeping up just beside her.

"Good morning sir." Elizabeth said.

"Morning Curran." Dean replied barely glancing at her. "How ya doing up there Milligan?" He directed to Adam.

"Fine sir." Adam said.

"Keep shouting those orders." He said and he shot a very brief grin that only she caught.

The hike ended at a stream. Adam was asked to direct the squad across. As they began to wade across, however, machine guns, more jarring than anything Elizabeth had ever heard rang out.

"Get down!" Adam said. Those who weren't in the stream, they hit the gravelly bed. For those who were in the river unfortunately, they ducked under water. Elizabeth took a breath and dived under the surface. The cold mountain water almost shocked the air from her lungs, but it was something she was used to, she had always loved the water. The gunfire ceased over the rushing of the water in her ears. She chanced a pop up. She looked around panicked for Dean.

She didn't see him. Adam however was shouting orders from the bank.

"C'mon let's go!" He said. Elizabeth dragged herself out of the water, looking frantically around for Dean.

She made it out and they all headed to the trees each covering each other's back. Where was Dean?

They made it onto the covering and she looked around.

"Where's Commander Harvelle?" She asked Adam.

"I don't know." Adam said.

Everyone was gathered together, and then suddenly there was a slow clap. She turned and saw Dean standing on a boulder.

"Congratulations everyone, you have gone through your first drill."

Everyone looked up at him speechless. Elizabeth definitely could have kissed him because she was relieved it wasn't real and then killed him for scaring her.

"This is roughly an example of what you would go through on the field. I am proud to say that Cadet Milligan conducted himself well and the rest of you followed his orders. However, your defense was shoddy, you did not even try to detect where the machine gun sound was coming from, and I spy a few dropped packs back there. Keep them on your damn backs people."

He stepped down.

"I'll take it from here Milligan." He said to Adam. He led the squad back to the camp. When they reached the camp, Elizabeth was still feeling pretty pissed and soaked from her dip in the river. They headed straight for the artillery field. Elizabeth got behind a mounted machine gun and began to fire at the large human shaped target down the field. Dean was walking up and down the rows and Elizabeth waited for him to walk by.

"Sir, I think my gun is jammed." Elizabeth said up to him.

Dean bent down to take a look. Elizabeth took the opportunity to speak privately,

"I know it was for training but you scared me." She hissed.

"I know." He said smiling at her. "You'll probably know next time if it's a drill."

"I'm gonna get you back for that." Elizabeth said.

"Save it for sparring practice." He said raising his eyebrows.

He got up and Elizabeth turned back to the gun. He really was too much some times.

It was hard going through the day. There were things he did that definitely were distracting. Finally, dinner was served and she left for sparring. The gym was dark as she entered,

"Sir?" She asked, until she knew they were alone she had to be cautious.

A pair of arms caught around her waist and she reacted automatically, punching her elbow into their side. Hands blindly flailed out as she reached behind her but she grabbed only air. She was dropped to the mat above her. Lips attacked hers and she recognized them. She put her hand up and felt something smooth and plastic.

"You cheated." Elizabeth said pulling off his night vision goggles.

"Just wanted to try out my new toy." He said laughing, she could feel the vibrations.

"Me or the goggles?" Elizabeth laughed. She slipped them in and he became visible in a greenish light.

"I'm just taking a guess but I'll say you look dead sexy in them."

"Let me get the light and you'll see."

He rolled off of her and she got up and found the light switch. The fluorescent lights flickered on and she turned, she raised the goggles so they rested jauntily on her head. Dean got up.

"Just as I thought." He said kissing her. Elizabeth gave in, pouring in everything she had held back during the day. Finally she pushed on his chest.

"I'm not getting out of practice. Spar first." She said giving him a push on his chest, sending him back a few steps. He bit his lip.

"You're on." He said.

It really wasn't as difficult as Elizabeth thought hiding her relationship from everyone. He carried on as normally, still criticizing her when she made mistakes ignored her largely when she did something good, as was his custom. Sometimes she thought she saw Ellen watching her narrowly, she kept her head down though. There were a few times they did get sloppy and could have easily gotten caught. Like the time she had been walking past the canteen and Dean had pulled her behind it and kissed her. She had enjoyed it but she had asked him never to do that again.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking." Dean said later.

"That's the problem with men, none of you think very much!" Elizabeth said affectionately.

Despite how much training there was in camp, the cadets were in fact given downtime, to relax, visit the sights nearby, or carry out chores. Happily one Saturday Elizabeth and Dean both had a free day. It found them in his cabin, it was a warm late summer day, a shower had begun outside, and they laid there listening to the rain outside. Elizabeth's head was on his chest and he played idly with her hair. Her hand snuck up his chest to rest over his heart and over his tattoo. She traced it lazily with one finger.

"What does it mean?" She asked.

"I guess you could say it's a protection against bad things." Dean said.

"Where did you find it?" Elizabeth asked.

"Sammy, why the hell would I get some lame ass star tattoo on my body like I'm some pop star?"

"I'm getting the same one."

"Still getting the pop star vibe complete with my trusty pop star sidekick with matching tattoos."

"Dean, you haven't seen it." Sam said. He grabbed a piece of paper and began to draw. It was a star in the middle of a fiery circle. It actually did look good, kind of metal actually.

"The points all represent someone, you, me, Mom, Dad and Jo." He said pointing to each of the five ends.

"The circle is protection and all the lines overlap each other. We're all still together and protected. Even though they're-" Sam trailed off. "What do you think?" He asked looking up at Dean. For a fourteen year old Sam was getting really tall, at the beginning of the year he had barely reached Dean's chest. Dean smiled and clapped him on the shoulder.

"I like it Sammy."

"Sam." Sam corrected under his breath.

They had gotten it together, Dean had teased Sam asking if he had wanted to hold his hand but Sam had bitten his lip as the ink gun pieced his skin. It became their symbol, nobody knew what it was and they could use it to make stuff. If they signed a note to each other that was the symbol or when something was theirs it was marked as his or Sammy's.

When he had escaped and Sam had refused to come with him, he thought he had seen the last of that. It showed up however as Sam's personal signature. Carved into the flesh of his victims, making each one of them his.

"Hey." Elizabeth broke his train of thought. Her hand reached up to cup his cheek.

"You okay?" She asked.

"Fine." He said his voice a little husky.

"You don't have to tell me." Elizabeth said, she sat up and pressed her lips to his. The rain was increasing outside and a low rumble of thunder threatened.

Dean deepened the kiss and Elizabeth felt him shift as he leaned over her, pushing her back into the pillows. Whatever he wasn't telling her, it was his secret for now.

xXx

The three months had drawn to a close. As promised, many of the cadets that had been in her squad at the beginning of training were gone. The rest were leaner, toughened, and dedicated. This was the final test. They were to be tested on their strengths and be sorted into branches. Becky, Meg, Rufus, and Chuck, had gone into technology, and she only saw them occasionally. Madison and Lilith had made it into combat. Lilith was no doubt happy about that. Elizabeth lined up that morning with the rest of the squad for one last "pep talk" from Dean.

"Well, it's been a rough three months. You've have been through drill after drill after drill after drill. You have made it here. You are the ones who showed what you are made of and shown that it is something worth having. I honestly cannot be prouder of you. Now, that doesn't mean you get to jump the gun and get lazy because if I hear one word of you jackasses making me look stupid I will personally come after you. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir." They chorused out.

"Now go in there and make me proud." Dean said and dismissed them.

He walked past Elizabeth and she heard a quiet, "Good luck." as he walked back to his cabin.

First was the written portion on tactics. The weather had taken a chilly turn telling everyone that summer was over. Elizabeth tapped her pencil against her forehead as she read a scenario. After two grueling hours of drawing battle plans, writing essays, and filling in bubbles, she turned it in. Next came in the physical tests. There was the obstacle course with a mud pit, rope bridge, and electrical and barbed wires she either had to jump or crawl under. Immediately after that she was put in a squad and this time they had to go up with real soldiers dressed up in North uniforms shooting paint pellets at them. The goal of the simulation was to avoid being hit by the enemy before reaching the designated safe area. Elizabeth thought she saw Garth hiding under one of the helmets. She led a small band with her across the scraps of metal and shrubbery. She touched the pad that signaled safety and they were safe!

Next was the technology part where she was put to work to crack a code and use the information given to her advantage. The code revealed coordinates and she stuck a pin into the map, "bombing" the area.

She was bone tired and brain dead. She stumbled back to her now empty bunk, the results wouldn't be known until tomorrow and she was ready to take a shower and fall into bed. She was halfway through her shower when she realized she was starving to boot. The canteen had closed down for the night and the only thing she was a squashed granola bar in the bottom of her back pack. She gave a small groan and promised herself a big leisurely breakfast tomorrow, since there was no more training tomorrow. She looked in the mirror as she brushed her teeth. She looked different, but it wasn't just physically, the girl who had first arrived had changed. Elizabeth had gained something here. What it was exactly was hard to pin down. She pulled her wet hair into a pony tail and headed out to her bunk.

Elizabeth would have flopped down onto the bunk, however there was someone already sitting there.

"Hey." Dean said smiling.

"What are you doing here?" Elizabeth asked looking over her shoulder at the door.

"Relax all the officers are at the party in the tech center. Ash is the DJ and Ellen is making some serious drinks."

Elizabeth's nose caught a delicious smell of cheese and garlic and her stomach gave a huge growl.

"And I brought you some dinner, I remember when I was tested, I was starving." Dean said, pulling out a square box. Inside was a delicious pizza that was still hot. They sat on the floor and dug in with gusto. Elizabeth seriously never thought he could be more attractive than he was at that moment, showing up with pizza after the day she'd had.

"How do you think you did?" Dean asked, helping himself to another slice.

"I did my best, I don't know how well I did on the tech part but everything else I'm feeling good." Elizabeth said.

"Ash said you caught on quickly. You'll be fine." Dean said. Elizabeth leaned back against the side of the bed and sighed.

"I can't eat another bite, thank you so much." She said.

"You're welcome." He said. Elizabeth felt like she could fall asleep right there. Dean noticed.

"You should get some rest. I'll see you in the morning." He got up and Elizabeth followed him up and to the door. He kissed her, neither of them particularly minding the garlicky breath. He walked off with the rest of the pizza into the chilly dark.

Elizabeth fell into a half coma until the next morning. When she opened her eyes, she sat bolt upright. She was going to find out her results today. It was quick work of getting dressed and heading out the door. The canteen was full of her squad, some were nursing coffees enjoying the cool breeze, others dug in heartily into the most leisurely breakfast they'd had in months. Elizabeth helped herself to a plate of eggs and ketchup and plopped down next to Adam. He was one of the breakfast eaters.

"How do you think you did?" She asked.

"Obstacle course, and the group effort were probably the easiest. So much easier than just looking on paper." Adam said. Elizabeth nodded sympathetically.

"I can't believe it's almost over." Adam said. "All the training, all the studying, it's come up to this."

"I think of it as only just beginning." Elizabeth said.

"I'll eat to that." Adam said holding up a piece of scrambled egg. Elizabeth giggled and bumped her piece of egg to his.

"What are you doing for the day?" Adam asked.

"Becky left me some of her books. It's been ages since I've read something that wasn't a battle plan." She said.

"What books?" Adam said.

Boy was he in for a treat.