Soren kept looking around, checking reflective surfaces to see if they were being followed, as he walked with Mia. He just couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. Mia picked up on his tension as she held his arm, she asked what was wrong, but Soren reassured her that everything was fine, not wanting to frighten her. She was a marine infantry officer, and perfectly able to handle herself in a fight, but he had more training in surveillance techniques and he was a fully trained special operations sailor.

Mia confronted him, "No, everything's not alright. You're tense, and you keep looking around. You think we're being followed, don't you?" He was caught, he nodded slightly, the gesture speaking volumes. "You're not just a fighter pilot, are you?" Mia suspected by his evasive answer earlier that he wasn't just an ordinary fleet defense squadron pilot, but she didn't want to press it either. He shook his head, indicating that he was not. Mia smiled and gave his arm a squeeze. Even though they had only known each other for a couple of hours, she really liked him.

Soren had been keeping to well-lit streets, and public areas as he walked her home, despite the fact that there were numerous shortcuts through alleys. Violent crime was almost unheard of in the fleet, sure there were the occasional crimes of passion and bar fights, but muggings and random violence on the street was almost non-existent. Still, Soren had a feeling…

He didn't see his attacker swing at him, so much as feel the man's presence. Soren pushed Mia out of the way as he ducked the wild swing. He spun on his heel taking a low crouching stance before driving his hand into the man's diaphragm. He shot a series of rapid fire punches into the man's ribs and face, before grabbing his extended arm and wrenching him around into a shoulder lock and throwing him onto the ground. The man let out a grunt as he hit the ground. Soren looked around to see that a man was attempting to grab Mia. She was fending him off, but he was very large and unfazed by her strikes. Soren dislocated his opponent's arm and struck him in the jugular, causing the man to pass out. Soren raced over to the large man assaulting Mia. He leapt onto the man's back, wrapping his arms around the man's neck in a sleeper hold. Soren planted his knees in the small of the man's back and shifted his weight to drag the man down. Soren bladed his body to his opponent's, keeping his vulnerable points away from Mia's attacker. Soren felt the man's struggling begin to trail off as he lost consciousness…

When Soren searched the men's pocket he found some of the literature that was being handed out at the rally earlier. Apparently these men were connected to it somehow. A few moments later the police arrived, as the men began to regain consciousness. Soren and Mia identified themselves to the officer, and gave their statements. They were dismissed when the cameras corroborated their story. They were told that it seemed pretty open and shut, but to stay available for further questions.

Soren and Mia began walking once more, and they were only a short distance from the tram that would take them on post.

The ride was non-eventful, and they sat quietly as the tram sped into the main city section. It was a short ride, despite covering a significant distance. Before long they had arrived at their stop. His barracks were relatively close to hers, his compound only being down the road.

"Well, that was exciting," Soren said with a smile. It was a goofy smile, which seemed to pit Mia at ease.

"Sure was, probably my most memorable first date ever," Mia quipped. She was fibbing a bit, as she had never really been on a date before. She wasn't even sure this really qualified.

"So we're calling that a date then? I can almost promise that the second will be better," He said, smiling. By the time he had finished his sentence they had arrived at her barracks. Mia nodded, and they made plans to meet the next evening. She leaned in and kissed Soren on the cheek before they said goodnight.

It was around 2330 hours when Soren walked into the team room. He was greeted by Elsa and Stephen, both of whom were apparently into their second case of beer. He saw a stack of empty cans next to an empty case.

Elsa whistled sharply at him, and Soren turned just in time to catch the can of beer that had been thrown his way.

Elsa looked at him with a wolfish grin, "Ok newbie, spill. I want details…"

Soren looked at Stephen, who was grinning stupidly, face flushed with alcohol. Apparently he had told Elsa about Mia. Soren glared accusingly at his friend, who raised his hands and put on his best innocent face, indicating that he had said nothing. Soren popped the tab on the beer can he held in his hands and filled his teammates in on the evening's happenings.

Stephen was speechless, which was not a common occurrence, and it was Elsa that spoke, "You sure know how to show a girl a good time, don't you?"

Soren burst out laughing first, and was soon joined by his comrades…

A few days passed, during which Soren, Stephen, Elsa, and Mia spent much of their time off together. Mia was getting settled in her platoon, getting along well with her troops, especially in daily maneuvers. Soren had yet to step into the cockpit, rather their team had been working on their core warrior tasks. They would be expected to regularly put in ten hour days, with physical training in the morning, followed by range time after breakfast, then lunch, and then tactical proficiency drills in the afternoon. All of which was highly physical and exhausting.

Finally Friday rolled around, which was the classroom day and that meant their workload was light. They would be released after lunch, and Soren had plans to spend the evening with Mia. He had tickets to a concert at the park downtown.

Soren and Mia walked out of the park, smiling and laughing, and barely able to hear a thing. The crowd had been large, and the speakers were loud. The cheering was thunderous. The Fire Bomber cover band had been particularly good, though it wasn't Soren's typical taste in rock. Several bands had performed that night. They ran the gamut from norse power metal, to symphonic rock. There were even some performers who had covered Sheryl Nome in their own style. Mia had particularly enjoyed the band that had covered Sheryl Nome, as she was a fan. Soren made a mental note to get tickets for Sheryl's show next month.

Soren and Mia took the bus back to post, deciding not to have a repeat of their first date. They settled down in Mia's barracks room. It was really more of a small apartment, two separate rooms sharing a bathroom and a kitchen. They spent the rest of their evening together.