Soldier Part 4: Drink, Feck, Arse!*

*A/N; Drink, Feck, Arse is a quote from a UK TV show Called Father Ted about Irish priests. This was the catch phrase of one of the priests who was drunk all the time. You can kind of see where this might be heading. Oh and before I forget; I don't not own the Teen Titans, DC comics blah blah you get the idea.

Soldier fed a link of 100 rounds from the box into the chamber and pushed the top lid down and pulled the cocking handle back and let it slide forward. Raven watched as he moved his hands around the weapon with such speed and confidence that it was almost frightening. She wasn't sure if it was experience or programming he was running on but she was impressed.

He lay down on the roof; put the machine gun into his shoulder before taking aim through the holographic sight and opened fire. Rounds spat from the fire in short sharp bursts, tracer rounds burning through the snow in the air. He could just see the target he was aiming at, it was just over 500m away. Sparks and water impacts pinged and splashed around the buoy. He continued firing off the last of the belt and reloaded another belt.

He stood up and gripped the fore grip tight and repeated the process. Most people would struggle to hold the weight of the big gun and fight the fierce recoil from the big 7.62NATO rounds. Soldier tapped his helmet and it receded, he took in a deep breath of icy air.

'You done?' Raven asked.

'Yeah, I think I've picked on the buoys long enough now.' He began to pack the M60 away and picked up the flight case. Raven used her powers to send the other flight case to Soldier's room.

'Follow me, I'll show you to your room.' She turned and went down through the rooftop doorway. Soldier followed dragging the big case with him. She lead him through the halls and corridors of Titans Tower, he was still confused as to where he was. Raven opened a door and showed him in, 'this will be your room for as long as you are here. We brought the rest of your stuff up from your car, hope you don't mind.'

'No, its fine. Thanks for brining it all up for me.' He replied gratefully and began to arrange things around the sparse yet comfortable room. It had a double bed, bedside cabinets, dressing table and mirror, built in wardrobe, comfy chair and a work station and desk. He put the flight cases next to each other and released the clasps, opening the lids. He opened smaller flight cases and placed his rifle in one, the others contained his sub-machinegun; an H&K UMP .45 fitted with silencer, red-dot sight, and Infra-red laser and torch units. His pistol stayed firmly attached to his thigh.

The next contained a shotgun; Pancor Jackhammer Mk3, it only had a red-dot sight on the top. He finally took off his helmet and placed it on the dressing table. Raven was shocked that his hair was as long as it was. He looked more like rocker than a hardened soldier.

He dug a laptop out of his Bergen and booted it up, placing it on the workstation desk. 'Not the worst place I've slept in by far.'

'What would be the worst place you've slept in?' Raven asked.

'Oh... erm I think Sierra Leon. That hut stank of goat shit and dead goat. Lots of dead goats.' He replied.

'Ok that sounded pleasant.' Raven answered wishing she hadn't asked, 'you sorted your things out?'

'Yeah, I think I'll grab an hour's worth of sleep. Unlike you I've been on the go for almost 48 hours now and even I; a modified super soldier requires sleep from time to time. And food, need food.' He said smiling.

'Ok, I'll leave you to it. We usually eat around 6 anything you don't like?'

'Onions. Can't stand the bastards, good for target practice mind and who said anything about you leaving? You're not going to join me?' Soldier teased.

'No, I'm not. And if that was an attempt to hit on me; you failed. Miserably.' With that she left, the door shutting swiftly behind her.

Soldier smiled to himself and lay down on the bed. He closed his eyes and let sleep wash over him.

He was out for a while, longer than he intended. Raven came and knocked on the door waking him up. 'You called?' He asked groggily.

'Yeah, dinner is ready; this way.' She told him. He grabbed his helmet and clipped it to his assault vest that he wore over his body armour. They wandered through the halls into the main room again. Cyborg was finishing preparing dinner and Beast Boy was playing video games on the big TV and getting his arse kicked. Robin and Star were nowhere to be seen.

'Dude! Where the hell are you hiding?' BB shouted in frustration, he re-spawned and went hunting for the player but got taken out by him again. He went from green to red, the anger building on his face.

'How many times is that now BB?' Cyborg asked, BB mumbled under his breath, 'what did you say?'

'20!' he growled. Cyborg tried not to laugh.

'He's moving after each time he drops you, you'll never find him. Out think and out flank. Draw him into an ambush then frag his arse.' Soldier instructed. BB glared at him and ignored him, turning back to the TV. Soldier shook his head, 'what you been cooking up for us Cy?'

'Meatloaf and veg; that do you limey?'

'Aye sounds canny. Smells good anyway.' Soldier answered smiling; he was starving and would probably eat anything put in front of him.

'BB stop getting your ass kicked and get to the table, dinner is ready. I've made Tofu-loaf for you. Somebody buzz Romeo & Juliet; just hope they aren't doing things you're meant to do when you're married.' He teased.

'Hey if you feel like you're ready, then you're ready to do it man. Leave them be, nice to see that they can have some sort of normal life inside this abnormal one.' Soldier said feeling kind of bad for them; he knew what it was like, to live in a world no one else would understand and finding something that seemed normal within it.

'Talking from experience eh Soldier? Thought you Special Forces types where cold unthinking killing machines.' BB commented snidely.

'Not always no, but it helps from time to time.' He replied back, that shut Beastboy up very quickly. Raven let a twinge of a smile cut across her face, he really did make her smile; been a while since that had happened.

'Ah here they are; Romeo and Juliet!' Cyborg joked again, 'been making little Robin/Star babies?'

'Fuck off Cy ok.' Robin retorted. Cy had hit a raw nerve and so did BB; they both took the chance to annoy their normally unflappable leader. Star didn't know what else to do but go bright red.

It continued through half of dinner before Soldier finally snapped out of annoyance more than pity for Star and Robin.

'You two, shut the fuck up. What they do when they want to be alone together is none of your business, so treat them with a little respect, think how would you like it if they where winding up about how you Bumblebee or Terra.' He stared Cyborg and Beastboy out, making sure they felt bad about the way they were acting. 'Not so pleasant is it? Now apologise.'

Cy and BB hung their heads in defeat and apologised. Robin and Star accepted, conflict resolved. They finished up dinner and Soldier insisted he helped clean up. It was a Saturday and seeing as they had missed movie night the night before thanks to a Slade intervention, they decided to watch a film tonight instead. Cyborg got the snacks ready and offered drinks around the place.

'You not got any beer?' Soldier asked.

'No we don't.' Cyborg answered.

'Jesus H Christ, your all what 18 give or take, you live in your own place with no parents and you don't have any type of booze at all?' Soldier asked shocked. The Titans show their heads. 'Holy frigging shit. I've been drinking since I was recruited at 13. Ok you lot are getting an education tonight. I'm off to by beer.'

Before the others could protest he was off and out the door to the garage. He drove to the nearest store and walked in helmet on, pistol on his leg, knife on the shoulder strap of his assault vest and UMP across his back. The store clerk nearly died when she saw him, 'please don't hurt me, take the money and anything else you need, just don't hurt me please.'

'Whoa wait misses; I'm not going to rob you. I just want some drink and I'm going to pay for it, maybe even drop the change in the charity collection if you have one.' Soldier reassured her.

'Wait, you're the guy from the bridge. You save Starfire and the rest of the city! You're all over the news!' She tossed him a copy of the evening paper. He looked at it; it was of him getting out the car just before he shot at the camera woman filming him. Inside the paper there were photos of him abseiling over the side but none with his helmet undone, the snow had picked up by that time and had reduced visibility for the press.

'Yeah that's me. How many other people you going to see wandering around looking like a cross between the Master Chief and Solid Snake?'

He grabbed a several backs of bottled beer, some wine for the ladies, Jack Daniels, vodka, but decided against Absinth as it always gave hi8m a banging hangover the next day and severe memory loss. He never did figure out how he ended up in Sunderland in some girl's bed with her and 2 other girls, good times. He bought other things as well; glass tumblers to have the JDs out of, proper wine glasses, shot glasses and a bag or two of ice and a pack of cigars.

He paid the lady, gave her a nice tip as an apology for scaring her and put some coins in the tub for a local hospice. He drove back to the tower and carried everything upstairs. The Titans were waiting for him, he hadn't been all that long and they were shocked at how much he had brought in.

'We're not going to drink that much, you've brought loads!' Raven protested.

'This is lame compared to what I'm used to. We used to have double this amount and then some. Normally Absinth was added to the mix as well.' He answered, putting some of it in the fridge.

Star was curious as to what this 'booze' was and decided to help Soldier put it all away. He pulled the cork on the red wine and left it on the kitchen counter, explaining to Star that red wine should never be served cool but at room temperature and should be left to 'breath' for a while after the cork had been taken out. 'Soldier there is more to this booze than the others explained.'

'There really isn't that much to it. I just know the proper ways to drink certain types of booze. Cider for example should be served chilled with lashings of ice. Guinness should only come out the pump or a bottle, never from a can if you can help it and always from a glass.' He explained, 'ok gentlemen its beer for you and wine to begin with for the girls.' Soldier poured a glass of wine for the girls and tossed bottles of beer to the boys before cracking one open himself. He took a swig and stared at the bottle in admiration, not bad for American shite, he thought. He sat with the others, Raven sat next to him she crossed her legs nursed her glass on her lap, she gave him a half smile, which he returned and took another swig of beer; he hadn't had a drink in a while and enjoyed the mild sensation of alcohol spreading through his body.

The movie was a zombie apocalypse type thing. Soldier liked the plot and the characters but disliked the fact that the American Army had managed to fit 90rounds into a magazine the same size as a 30round one. That didn't stop the drink from flowing, he'd knocked back a few bottles so had the rest of the lads. Star was trying a bit of everything and was the only one not starting to feel the effects. Raven had moved onto the red wine. In the dim glow of the TV no one had noticed that they had moved closer together. Soldier got up and headed for the door making his way towards the roof. He grabbed the bottle of JDs from the fridge and two glasses. Raven got the message and followed him.

He poured a measure of Jack's into each glass and stood looking out over the City, street lights burning in the dark. He sparked up a cigar and took a long draw, the glow lighting up his face. Raven sipped at her Jack's, she didn't find it too bad.

'You do this often? Get girls half drunk then get them all alone and then make your move?' Raven asked.

'No, it was getting rowdy down there, and you wanted to be alone with me.' He replied.

'No I didn't.' She scowled.

'You forget. You've been inside my mind; once a door has been opened it's not always one way traffic. That and I think the wine helped to keep the door ajar if I'm honest.'

'You where inside my mind? How dare you!' she exploded.

'I didn't go far. I only got the stuff that was at the very forefront of it. Which happened to be thoughts about me.' he replied.

'Don't kid yourself. My mind is almost impenetrable, no one gets in...' she was cut short by the taste of Jacks on her lips and a smell of cigar in her nostrils.

'No one gets in, eh?' Soldier spoke in her mind.

'What do you think you're doing? Stop i; I don't want to do this!'

'I'm doing nothing. I'm not holding you, you want this. You're in control, you made me kiss you' Soldier said softly. It hit her, she did want this. She didn't know why, but she did, she was genuinely attracted to him. She stopped kissing and looked into his eyes. The harshness had all but gone; she was not dealing with the Soldier anymore. She had the person behind it and he wasn't all that bad.

She smiled, a proper one this time. Apart from the time in the back alley he'd treat her with respect and had made an effort to get to know her. He knew of her past and didn't care. She didn't mind his flirting or his jokes or his methods. She kissed him again, this time pulling him closer and holding him tight, he put his arms around her hips feeling her relax in his grip.

She teleported them to her room, Soldier poured another measure each. 'Cheers' and they clinked glasses, taking a sip that turned into a gulp.

She held his hand and looked into his eyes longingly...

A/N; ok so the randomness of the Soldier/Raven coming together thing is odd and out of character I admit but, we all know Raven is a very she and withdrawn person keeping her inner most feelings and thoughts to herself, we all know what happens if Raven doesn't let things out. Remember the episode where she loses her powers because she won't admit she was scared by the movie, well maybe the same thing happens if she bottles up other feelings. After years of loneliness and no one really like liking her, maybe her subconscious mind or one of those personalities inside her head has had enough and decided to take over just a little.

That's my line of thinking anyway and its pivotal to the overall plot of this story so put up with it!