Author's Note: On behalf of Cat414, I have posted the next chapter today. Two chapters in one day. And yes, I am aware that the chapters are getting longer and longer every time. Hmm. Oh, well.
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Hawthorne held onto the bars above her head with one arm, then twisted her legs above her head and used those to grip the bars. Releasing her grip with her arm, she then twisted backwards and grabbed onto the next bar with her hand, letting her legs unwrap from the bars and leaving her hanging by her hand onto the bars.
This was the military's version of monkey bars, and as Hawthorne only had one good arm, she had to improvise and do some good ol' gymnastics. It wasn't too challenging for her, but she still had to swing back and forth, leaving her broken arm dangling painfully.
She happily jumped off, landing expertly on her feet and giving the infuriated Heller a charming smile.
"Rerun the entire obsitcal course," Heller growled. "Now."
Hawthorne just smiled again, then started the course over with no complaints.
Heller watched as she did everything- perfectly- and wondered how he could break her.
"Heller."
Heller turned to see Hannibal Smith standing there, his typical humored expression present.
"Smith," Heller responded, hate glimmering in his eyes as he took in Hannibal's appearance. "What're you doing here?"
Hannibal continued smiling. "I was just taking a walk around, then noticed a bloody woman doing acrobatics on an obstacle course."
"She fell down and broke her nose," Heller said.
"Huh," Hannibal said. "Could it be that she was pushed down, and somebody broke her nose?"
Heller turned an infuriated glare toward Hannibal. "You trying to say something, Smith?"
"Lieutenant Smith to you, slime ball," Hannibal said, putting a cigar in his mouth. "I'm watching you."
Heller glared at Hannibal's back as the latter left, then turned back to Hawthorne.
She was looking at the Lieutenant as he walked away, and Hannibal gave her a quick wink as he left.
"Hey! Did I say you could stop?" Heller yelled at Hawthorne, who had paused to wink back at Hannibal.
Hawthorne kept moving, seemingly unaware of Heller's comment.
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Peck stepped out of the latrine, thankfully looking much better than he had an hour ago. He felt nicer, too, as he wasn't covered in dirt or grime. Although he still had a bunch of bruises and his ribs were howling blue murder, he felt much better.
He stepped into the Mess, getting in line and hoping for a good meal (or, at least, a relatively good meal).
"Looking for someone, Private?"
Peck jumped at the voice, then turned to see Hannibal Smith. He bristled.
"Buzz off."
Hannibal laughed. "Relax, kid, I just wanted to say hi. And Hawthorne should be here in a minute."
"What? How'd you...?"
Hannibal laughed again. "She's the only person that I can think of that you'd be looking for. Well, good night."
Peck watched as he walked off, feeling slightly creeped out and more aware of his surroundings as he scooped some food into the tin plate that he held.
True to Hannibal's word, Hawthorne soon appeared in the Mess, any trace of blood on her person gone. She soon spotted Peck and limped over.
"Hey," she said, getting behind him in the food line. She happy scooped some glop into her tin.
"Hey," said Peck. "Tomorrow's Sunday. We get that off, so we can't be pushed around by Heller."
Hawthorne smiled. "That'll be really nice, to be able to relax and not be kicked around all day."
Peck nodded as he got to the end of the line. He poured a cup of coffee for himself, then poured one for Hawthorne. "So, what's your first name?"
"Danielle," Hawthorne said as she took the coffee from Peck. "What's yours?"
"Templeton," Peck said.
Danielle smiled as she led Temp over to a table. "You know what nickname would fit you well? Face."
"Face?" Temp asked. "Why?"
Dani shrugged as she led Temp over to a table. "'Cause you're so good at changin' it. Besides, that was the first thing I thought of when I saw you."
"You thought of my face?" Face asked.
She chucked. "No. When I saw you, I thought "face" would be a good nickname for you."
"Oh. Well, Face it is, then."
There was a bit of a pause as they started to eat.
"What do you think of Heller?" Face finally asked Dani.
She shrugged as she swallowed a bite of food. "I try not to think of him too much. But as much as I've figured out, he's just a big ol' ugly guy who's trying to break someone that he's never gonna break."
Face nodded. "I've picked up that much. But do you feel anything... suspicious about him?"
"I donno. My six sense keeps bugging me about him, but it could just be because he has something out for me."
"Have you heard about the Kendig suicide?"
Dani looked up at Face. "No. What happened?"
"Apparently there was a guy named Kendig who was in Heller's Unit. Heller couldn't break him, and a month after he was in the Unit, the kid committed suicide," Face said.
"What if it wasn't a suicide?" Dani asked.
Face nearly spit out his coffee. "Heller wouldn't murder someone!"
Dani shrugged as she took a bite of some yellow meat. "I've seen murders made into the most convincing suicides. And Heller isn't exactly a preschool worker, if you get my drift."
Face shook his head, not convinced. "But there'd be proof of a murder."
Dani looked straight into Face's face. "Not necessarily. If he was unconscious before he died, Heller could've used gloves and force Kendig to pull the trigger."
"There would've been proof if he was drugged or knocked out," Face said.
"I know quite a bit about this case. Kendig was cremated before the morgue was able to investigate his body. A new morgue attendant "mistakenly" cremated him an hour before he would've been looked at."
Face sighed. "That's scary."
Dani shrugged. "If this is Heller's work, he's more likely to kill me that you. I get under his skin much better than you do, so you have no worries."
"Or he could kill both of us," Face muttered, suddenly not feeling very hungry.
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Hannibal quietly watched from his table in the back as Peck and Hawthorne talked. He was itching to talk to Hawthorne, as his message was very important, but Peck and her seemed not ready to finish chatting yet. Hmm.
Hannibal took another drink of his coffee, then watched as both Privates stood up and began to exit. He discreetly followed, abandoning his cup of coffee.
Hawthorne yawned and gestured to her barracks. Peck nodded, then both turned their own separate ways.
Good. Now I can finally get somewhere.
He started to jog after Hawthorne. There wasn't too much ground between them, and he made it up to the Private's side in little to no time.
"Private," Hannibal said as he began to walk next to Hawthorne. "Nice night, isn't it?"
Hawthorne looked at him with little surprise, but with a pleased look. "Yeah, I guess so."
"Listen, kid, I have something that you might want to know," Hannibal said, stopping.
Hawthorne stood still, waiting. "What?"
"It's about you and Private Peck."
Hawthorne rolled her eyes. "Look, there's nothing going on between us. We're in the same unit, we have the same old nasty CO. That's it."
Hannibal shook his head. "There's more than you know, kid. I just ran a DNA check, and Templeton Peck is your brother."
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AN: So, how's that for a plot twist?