A/N: I'm not sure about Thermal scopes but the internet told me they can be used in daylight...but for the sake of the story let's pretend it can do all the wonderful things I want it to do! Also Big Thank you to metube, MissCallaLilly and TerraNovafan for your reviews!
"I count 20 on the ground and 4 in the 'tree hut' for want of a better descriptive" Kate said on her radio as she looked through a thermal scope of the sniper rifle. She and Carter were about 300 yards away. Kate directed Jim and the soldiers into their positions as Taylor was currently on radio silence on a different channel as he was getting into his position.
"I prefer tree dwelling or cubby house makes me feel young again" Carter said to Kate after she finished her part in the plan, the insane plan that Taylor had cooked up on their way to their current position. They were now waiting for Taylor to click his radio twice to indicate he was ready. Carter was holding onto her safety line as she was precariously hanging off the ledge of a balcony of one of the tree huts. It was not the most comfortable position but it was the only one with a clear line to where Alicia was.
"Don't make me muzzle you" Kate told him. Carter chuckled at her acerbic tone.
"Kate, any sign of Taylor yet?" Jim whispered over the comm.
"He's getting closer, no serious changes of soldier movement" Kate said as she could see the thermal signature of who she assumed to be Taylor doing monkey impressions through the trees. The Sixer Camp's dwellings were all interconnected by bridges or zip lines. The jungle was also very dense in the area which made climbing from one tree to another made Taylor's life easier but Kate's uncomfortable as she had to rely on Carter to not drop her. Trust was not something easily earned or given for Kate. But then Carter needed her alive and letting her drop to her death wouldn't be in his best interests.
"Copy that" Jim said.
"So now we wait" Carter stated.
"Yeah in silence" Kate told him.
Taylor climbed through the branches as quietly as he could, he was just glad it was a windy day otherwise they would have heard him coming a mile away. He looked down into the room below seeing Alicia hang below him by her wrists. His gut twisted in fear and anger as he watched Escher walk up to Alicia. He wondered why Alicia wasn't struggling in bonds trying to free herself, if anything she looked resigned to her fate.
~Flash back~
"Why am I here?" Alicia asked. She was in her dress uniform standing outside the interrogation room in an undisclosed location. A week passed where she had laid alone in a hospital bed. General Philbrick visited her once but other than that she had no visitors. Then McClellan came to her room and told her to get changed she was being discharged and they needed her for one last thing before she could receive her new orders and transfer papers to her new unit.
"Mr Ellyas has decided he won't cooperate unless he has one last visit with you" McClellan said, Alicia glared at the man.
"You brought me here in my dress uniform? He's not supposed to know who I am!"
"It slipped out in the earlier interrogation-" McClellan didn't get to finish the sentence as Alicia slammed him against the wall and held him in a choke hold.
"Why do I get the feeling you were the one who slipped up?" Alicia growled at him as she pushed her forearm against his neck.
"Lieutenant!" A voice grouched from behind her. Alicia pulled away from McClellan and tried to regain what little composure and dignity she had left. Ellyas had stripped everything she had from her in that room. Alicia straightened her jacket and turned to General Philbrick.
"Not that we all don't want to rough up Agent McClellan but let me tell you the dry cleaning bill to get the blood out of your dress uniform isn't worth it. Understood?" Philbrick said, he chuckled at his own dry humour while Alicia remained as calm as she could. All the restraint and control she had learned in basic training and her own life was failing her as she wanted to beat the Agent to a bloody pulp. He had compromised her identity, who she was to the enemy, the only thing she had left that Ellyas didn't have of her. But it was gone.
"Yes, Sir" Alicia said.
"Good, now due to this regrettable situation of Ellyas finding out your name. Allow me to assure you he's going somewhere he won't coming back from. You're safe but we need his contact list-"
"Black book, he kept it all written down on paper. We want the location and he will only tell you" McClellan said interrupting the General.
"I don't want to see him. If I had my choice I rewind the clock and tell you to take your mission and-"
"We get the picture" McClellan said as he was sure Alicia had many beautiful descriptive words for what she'd do differently. "But we only have 48 hours before we go to extreme torture methods"
"Then take him there" Alicia said, she didn't give a damn about McClellan and Ellyas. He was just one bad guy who was just going to be replaced by another.
"Lieutenant, it's the last time we'll ask you to step out of line. Just do as the man asks" Philbrick said, it was more of an order than a suggestion. Alicia nodded and opened the door.
When she stepped into the room, Ellyas looked up from the table and smiled at her. She looked around the room seeing the cameras and two soldiers standing guaurd. Ellyas sat with his hands cuffed to the table, he looked like he hadn't left the room for a week by the state of his clothes and beard he was sporting. At least he didn't smell like it, obviously they allowed him the small luxuries of food and a shower.
"Lt. Alicia Washington" Ellyas drawled with a smile. Alicia felt the loss of power as it was the only thing she felt she had left that he hadn't had the pleasure of and now it was his rolling off his tongue. It made her feel foreign in her own skin. She kept a stoic face as she closed the door and took a seat opposite him.
"I have to say seeing you dressed in that uniform is really doing things for me. We should have role played you be the strong female officer who uses her feminine wiles and svelte body to seduce the evil man into telling him all his secrets. "He said with a smile before pretending to be shocked. "Oh wait! You've already done that." he looked to one of the soldiers and raised his eyebrows at him.
"You like what you see Soldier? She's really quite something in bed I definitely recommend a roll in the sheets with her if you get the invitation" He told the soldier.
"Are you finished?" Alicia asked Ellyas in a bored tone.
"Not even close with you. Let me guess they gave you the speech of how they are going to throw me into a dark hole and forget about the key. That you are safe? Well they are wrong. I'll get out eventually, may take some time but I'll get out." He told her.
"I'm quaking in my heels" Alicia said dryly.
"You should be because I will make you pay for this." Ellyas said calmly. Alicia felt her anger get the better of her.
"You will make me pay? I think I've paid enough! I have nothing in my life to give you! You have everything you son of bitch!" She said angrily as she slammed the palm of her hand on the table, Ellyas jumped at the noise and at her ire but it didn't stop him from enjoying her display.
"Not everything" he told her.
"Well Good luck. My family is dead, I have no life, no friends and my military career thanks to you is gone. Like I said what could you possibly do to me that I should be scared of? You can't hurt me, so what? You are going to kill me? Because you'd be doing me a favour by putting me out of my misery." She told him, she let him see the defeat and the loss what was the use in pretending she was strong that Ellyas hadn't left his mark. She was so tired. He looked disappointed at her surrender as he sat back in his chair.
"That's it?"
"Pretty much, they brought me in here because you are supposed to tell me where your black book or ledger or whatever you call it where you keep all your contact lists is. Now that you're done threatening to ruin me which you've already succeeded at, why don't you just tell me what the location is" Alicia told him.
~End of the flashback~
Alicia felt the branch above her dip for a moment and her feet touch the ground, she would have dismissed it as it was probably the wind had started to pick up in the last half an hour. But she felt the branch above her give again seconds later after the first dip. She looked up and her eyes went wide as she watched Taylor above her. He hand-signalled a '6', 'sniper' and to 'go prone' to her, she gave a nod before she quickly looked back to Ellyas and the other soldiers to see they were still pouring over maps.
She was silently counting down the 6 seconds in her head. The paralytic had worn off dramatically in the last hour and luckily Ellyas hadn't clued in that her metabolism was fast to begin with add in the pregnancy well her body was digesting the drugs faster. She could feel every ache and muscle protesting in her arms, shoulders and back. She already made a promise to herself that once she hit the ground she was going free herself of the restraints and kill Ellyas. She knew whoever was behind that sniper gun wouldn't take the shot unless they knew they would hit their target. At least that's what Kate told her when they once discussed it.
Alicia never had sniper training like Taylor and Kate. She had been curious to understand the intricacies of what went through the sniper's mind before they took the shot but even Kate stipulated every person was different. Kate said what she thought before she pulled the trigger was very different from what Taylor would think or even Alicia would think.
..5..6.. Alicia finished in her head. She heard the ropes snap and then her body fell to the floor ungracefully as Taylor jumped down into the hut. He gave her a knife quickly before he fired his sonic pistol at one soldier.
Malcolm sat at the table and looked at the tools and equipment that had been dumped unceremoniously in front of him 10 minutes previously by a Phoenix Soldier before he was ordered to fix the Terminus that now stood to the side of him. The tent flap opened and Mira came in with a tray of food and water. Malcolm couldn't help but cringe at the woman's appearance as half her face was swollen and bruised badly. So badly her right eye was swollen closed.
"Hooper thought you might be hungry" Mira said as she unceremoniously dropped the tray on the table.
"What happened to your face?" Malcolm asked, he thought the Phoenix Soldiers and the Sixers were allies.
"I fell in shower. What do you think happened?" Mira snapped as she sat down in an empty chair in the tent. He watched as the woman shifted taking slow and easy breaths. He could only assume she had broken ribs among other injuries.
"I thought-"
"Well you're wrong. The alliance broke down when Lucas disappeared with his calculations to locate and reopen the portal a few days ago. Thanks to Escher the Sixers are now prisoners and the Phoenix Soldiers are in control. Frat boys with guns, I can't wait for your girlfriend to slaughter them" Mira said with some satisfaction.
"Kate is not like that" Malcolm said.
"Please she's not the girl next door Malcolm and you should be glad of that fact" Mira told him.
"Damn" Carter said impressed as he watched through his binoculars. Kate had fired a single shot severing the ropes above Alicia's head.
"Lucky shot" Kate commented as she turned her focus to the ground and started culling the number of soldiers on the ground to more manageable number before lifting her rifle back into position to set up her next shot for Taylor's final signal. She was not game to fire into the hut because of the close quarters and how fast those inside were moving with exception of Alicia who was on the floor.
Taylor dispatched of two soldiers with ease before he turned to parry Ellyas's fist and right hook the man in the face. Ellyas backed up and shook his head trying to clear the fog in his head.
"You're not supposed to be here!" Ellyas growled. The two started fighting it out as Alicia picked up the knife and sliced through the thick rope around her feet first.
Taylor threw a punch but instead of connecting it with Ellyas's face. The man caught his arm with locked it with his own while he drove the palm of his free hand into Taylor's face and punched him in the solar plexus winding him.
Alicia sliced through the last of the rope quickly as she could as she heard the sickly crack of bones breaking and Taylor groaning in pain. When she looked up she saw Ellyas had broken Taylor's upper arm. Ellyas punched Taylor in the face again and threw him to the floor. She pushed to her feet and staggered at first before got her footing. Her muscles complained at the movement but it didn't stop her as she moved towards Ellyas.
"Well I obviously underestimated your strength" Ellyas said as he watched Alicia's determination.
"You always did" Alicia responded before she started swinging her knife at Ellyas, he dodged her swings and caught her knife hand. He pushed her knife arm away and she used the opening landing two hard punches to his flank and face before elbowing him in the face. She went to punch him in the solar plexus but Ellyas caught her fist and quickly twisted her arms into a lock.
Kate watched through her scope trying to find a clean shot but Alicia kept getting in the way. The woman had been told to lay low. So much for following orders Kate thought grimly as she waited for an opening. The zip line for their dwelling activated and someone stepped into their 'hut'.
"Kate?" Jim asked, Kate didn't take her eye from the scope but could see him in her peripheral vision that he was near Carter.
"Taylor's down and Alicia is currently not following orders. I haven't got a clean shot" Kate said updating him. Alicia was currently kicking the man's ass, Kate was glad she was on Alicia's good side as the woman was really punishing Escher. She watched as Alicia headbutted Escher and broke the guy's nose and then kneed him in the groin before trying to slice the man to ribbons with a knife.
"Then just take a shot" Carter said.
"I'd prefer not to kill my best friend" Kate told Carter.
Ellyas disarmed the knife from her hand and threw her to the floor to where she had fallen earlier in her restraints. She groaned in pain and feigned she was running out of steam. Ellyas was a smug bastard she knew once she was on the ground he was going to kick her. But she was smarter, she waited until he walked up to her body and then attacked she kicked out his legs and then as he hit the floor she kicked him in the head. His head lolled as he groaned in pain.
Alicia then grabbed some of the rope that was nearby and quickly wrapped the rope around Ellyas's neck pulling him up to his knees strangling him. He pulled against her and picked up a knife from the floor just as she pushed her knee into a nerve point in his back pulling him back up. He tried to stab her in the leg. Luckily she saw the flash of the blade and moved her leg and used it to pin his knife arm as she let one hand let go of the rope and she pulled the knife from his hand and tossed it away. She wrapped another length of rope around his neck and pulled hard.
"It's over, just let go" She told him in a dark voice as she pulled tighter on the rope choking him to death. He struggled against her hold and pulling at the rope that was around his neck but it was useless. After a minute his body went limp and he stopped struggling but it took a few seconds before she dropped the rope and snapped his neck for extra measure. She sat back on her feet and looked at her hands that were shaking, tears ran down her face as she wasn't sure what came over her. She forgot about herself when she heard Taylor groan in pain.
She crawled over to Taylor and gently touched his face which was bruised and bloodied.
"Nathaniel" She whispered trying to rouse him. "Wake up please. Nathaniel" she begged he stirred after a few moments of her hovering and opened his eyes. He looked up at her, tears streaked down her face. He sat up quickly and wrapped her up in one arm as the other was broken. She buried her face in his neck and held onto him tightly as she cried.
"I'm sorry" she said as tears streaked down her face "I'm so sorry" she said.
"Shh it's ok, we're ok" he said as he held her tightly with one arm. "Let me look at you" he said pulling back he cupped her face getting a good look at her. He brushed the tears from her face and smiled. "Still beautiful" he said as he surveyed her injuries, Alicia chuckled she was about to say something about how she was anything but beautiful only for Taylor pulled her into passionate kiss.
"Hello!" Kate said taking her eye off the scope as soon as Alicia and Taylor locked lips giving them some privacy. She didn't need to know where that kiss was leading.
"I think we can say they are ok" Jim surmised as he lowered his binoculars. He pocketed them and held out his hands to Kate to help her back from her current location. Kate handed him the rifle and then with Carter's help moved off the railing into the hut. She shook out her limbs and stretched for a moment.
"Ok one rescue down. One more to go" Carter said as he packed up the rope while Kate dismantled the rifle packing it away.
"How was it on the ground?" Kate asked Jim.
"All good, we have the Rhinos ready to go" Jim said. Kate nodded as she handed the weapons case to Carter to take down the Zip line with him. Carter left them. Kate sunk to her knees and sighed in exhaustion.
"You ok?" Jim asked as he could see her hands were shaking and knew Kate needed to rest not being running around the badlands. Elisabeth had asked him to keep an eye on Kate as she was not in condition to be running around. He asked 'what condition' and Elisabeth pulled the Doctor patient confidentiality card.
"Yeah, I'm just too old to be running around playing soldier" Kate half joked, she stood up and swayed slightly, fatigue hitting her hard. Jim steadied her and she closed her eyes for a moment.
"You sure you can do this? I mean I know you can but you look wrecked" he told her as he held onto her arm to steady her.
"Yeah, I'm just going to need a nap" Kate told him, Jim chuckled as she pulled out her comm. unit. She really didn't want to break up the couple but there were pressing matters at hand. "Commander Taylor, come in" Kate called a few seconds later she repeated the call when Taylor didn't answer.
"You have to get that" Alicia mumbled between kisses as Kate repeated her hail over the comm. for the fourth time in ten minutes. After she reassured him she felt fine she then tended to him and put a splint on his upper arm and checked him over. Other than a concussion and the broken upper arm he was fine with exception of his need to physically touch and kiss her. She didn't mind indulging him as it was exactly what she needed and wanted herself. Taylor reluctantly pulled away from her and took his comm. unit out of his pocket.
"I'm here" he said looking at Alicia with amorous eyes. There was no mistaking what he wanted to do with her after his arm was strapped properly and Alicia was checked out and freed from the infirmary.
"I don't want to break up what I'm sure is a beautiful reunion but I would like to debrief quickly then get on the road again." Kate said her voice was a mix of awkward and amused.
"We'll be on the ground in a minute" Taylor said his eyes never leaving her. He wanted nothing more than to get Alicia back to the colony and on a Bio-bed to make sure everything was alright before taking her back to his…no their house and hold her. But there were still a lot of things that needed to be finished first like getting Malcolm back and the Sixers.
"Copy that" Kate replied. Taylor dropped the comm. unit and ran his free hand through Alicia's hair. She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch.
"Kate sounds impatient" Alicia said.
"Malcolm is in the Badlands with the Sixers and the Phoenix Soldiers. Carter and her have an agreement, I'll tell you everything on our way back to the Colony" Taylor told her.
"Carter?" Alicia said in disbelief as she helped Taylor to his feet.
"Yeah those two have been stuck at the hip since he saved her. Another long story like this will be when you tell me what the hell Escher wanted from you" Taylor said as he gestured to the mess around them.
"It's Ellyas" Alicia said. Taylor looked at her oddly as the name registered but he remembered Philbrick telling him the man was dead. Alicia nodded as she knew exactly what he was thinking.
"Why do people have a nasty habit of coming back from the dead?" Taylor asked.
"I don't know but he's definitely not getting up now" Alicia told him.
"You just had to go and be a hero" Kate said with her hands on her hips when Jim helped Taylor safely off the Zip line. Taylor smiled.
"It's what I do" he told her smugly. Kate laughed and shook her head at him. A second later Alicia dropped down from the trees on the zip line and once she was on solid ground.
"And you!" Kate said pointing at Alicia angrily. Alicia stepped back expecting to be told off instead Kate pulled her into a hug.
"Don't ever do that to me again!" Kate told her as she held onto Alicia tightly. Alicia couldn't help the tears welling in her eyes and blamed it on her hormones and the traumatic hours being tied up.
"I'm sorry?" Alicia said slightly confused as to what she should be apologising for or if she was supposed to at all.
"So you should be! You were supposed stay low what happened to following orders?" Kate told her, she released Alicia and held her by the arms and looked the brunette over. "You ok?" Kate asked.
"Yeah" She said blinking away her tears even Kate had watery eyes and they both laughed at their softness. Jim and Taylor looked at them oddly not sure what was so amusing.
"Good, you guys should get back to the Colony ASAP and see Elisabeth" Kate said.
"We will" Alicia said.
"Also can I just say for the record you have some kick ass moves" Kate said impressed.
"Thanks, you outdid yourself with that shot" Alicia returned.
"Thanks it helped that you weren't wriggling around. Otherwise I would have missed. It's been a while" Kate said. It was true as Kate hadn't picked up a rifle for over 6 months. Of course Alicia and Kate went to the firing range once a week but that was to blow off steam than to practise and hone their skills. But that was just with sonic pistols not the rifle Kate used today.
They moved towards the two Rhinos that were nearby both pointing their nose's in different directions.
"So you going to explain to what this was all about later right?" Kate asked Alicia. The question made Alicia uneasy she didn't like that time of her life in fact she pretended it never happened. Like it was a story she heard in a bar one night.
"I'll tell you when you're thirty" Alicia stated covering up her unease with humour. Kate smiled and shook her head at Alicia but understood.
"Ok, well Carter and I better get going" Kate said when they reached the group of soldiers and Carter.
"I'm not letting you go without backup-" Taylor started but Jim cut him off.
"I'll go. I have been trained in advance long range shooting and the Sixers don't hate me, right?" Jim asked volunteering himself. He looked at Carter who gave a nonchalant shrug that translated to being indifference on the Sixer's behalf on whether they hated Jim or not.
"Ok, but I want it understood only Carter and I are going into the camp. You're just going to cover me when necessary" Kate told him.
"What about me?" Carter asked as he had walked up to join the group.
"Don't you have a whole bunch of friends there to look after you?" Kate asked him.
"Speaking of, can we go now?" Carter asked impatiently.
"Take Kobayashi and Reilly with you as well" Taylor said ignoring Carter's impatience. Kate nodded the two soldiers crossed the invisible line between the Rhinos to Kate's side.
"Ok, if all goes well I'll see you two tomorrow after lunch" Kate said with a smile.
"Just come back" Alicia told her.
After Taylor and Alicia's Rhino pulled away, the five of them looked at one another waiting until they knew the Rhino was definitely not coming back before Kate spoke up.
"Ok now they are gone. Here's the plan" Kate said, she pulled the plex from out of the pack in the back of the Rhino. She activated the screen and showed them the map.
"Sheriff, you'll be here with the rifle and the Rhino some distance away with Reilly and Kobayashi" Kate said pointing to the map and marking positions on a ridge that overlooked the Phoenix Campsite it was like Escher had planned on making it an easy job for a small army to sneak up undetected on the Phoenix Soldiers.
"That's a fair distance" Jim commented as he knew it would be a lot of running for Kate and Carter who would be going in on foot. IT also meant that it would take him, Kobayashi and Reilly at least a few minutes to join them.
"But it's a good position and we can't risk pulling up closer as the Phoenix Soldiers will hear us" Carter told him.
"Reilly and Kobayashi you'll stay with the sheriff and you're our eyes and ears" Kate said gesturing to Carter and herself. "If shit hits the fan-"
"Which it will" Carter cut in. Kate shot him a look before continuing.
"You wait for my order to engage. If I don't give the order you stay as you are and when the dust settles you go back to the Colony and inform Taylor of what happened. This isn't your fight. Is that clear?" Kate asked them.
"We're not going to leave you behind" Reilly told her.
"I'll probably be dead by then so it won't matter" Kate said pragmatically.
"Let's worry about that if it happens" Jim said as he felt like an argument was about to erupt by the look on Kobayashi and Reilly's faces. Even he was ready to argue that Kate wasn't expendable but he knew that Kate didn't think on the same wave length as he and the others did.
"Right, so Carter and I are going in we'll start the fight. Sixers will have their war and I'll get Malcolm out during the main fight to safety and go from there" Kate said, she left out the part where she was going to go back and help the sixers finish off the Phoenix Soldiers.
"Ok how do you want me to proceed in this plan?" Jim asked.
"Anyone who appears in my blind spot or if I'm not going so well and need cover fire… Feel free. Just be sure when you pull the trigger I'm not in your cross hairs" Kate told him with a wry smile.
"Right so all I have to do is not shoot you" Jim repeated with a smile injecting some levity into the situation.
"Yeah don't shoot me but Carter is fair game" Kate said.
"Hey!" Carter said offended.
4 hours later, Alicia and Taylor were in the Infirmary. Taylor had fussed over Alicia claiming she should get preferential treatment but caved as he knew he wasn't going to win against the combined forces of Alicia and Elisabeth. After he was treated Alicia traded positions with him on the Bio-bed. Alicia made sure the curtains were closed around the bed for some privacy before Elisabeth proceeded with the scans. Elisabeth was currently reading the results of those intensive scans to make sure nothing was missed when she spoke up.
"You're-" Elisabeth started to say but Alicia cut her off.
"Yeah can we not publicise it?" Alicia asked politely. Elisabeth smiled and nodded as she continued to read over the scans. "Also Kate was doing me a favour. So please don't be too angry with her" Alicia added.
"To be honest I should have known better considering how Kate avoids any kind of talk about her health" Elizabeth said with a smile as she was used to having to push Kate to admit her health issues or order her to lie down for a scan. Just like Alicia who liked to keep her privacy in that regard.
"I assume the nausea has been horrific as Kate said?" Elisabeth asked.
"Horrific is a great word for it" Alicia said as she was feeling nauseous as they spoke.
"Well everything looks perfectly fine." Elisabeth said with a smile.
"Everything?" Alicia asked double checking.
"Yes, here take a look for yourself" Elisabeth said as she made a copy of the scans onto a plex and handed it to Alicia.
"Twins" Alicia breathed as she looked at the results.
"What?" Taylor asked as he wasn't sure he heard Alicia correctly. Elisabeth nodded and smiled.
"And they appear to be in perfect health." Elisabeth said confirming everything Alicia was reading. Taylor looked gobsmacked as he pulled a chair over and sat down.
"Boys or Girls?" Taylor asked.
"It's too early to tell, now Lt Washington I want you to stay overnight for observation just to be on the safe side. We'll also have a private discussion later about what we will next in terms of care etc. but for now I'll give you two some time to talk" Elisabeth said to Taylor as she disappeared behind the closed curtains. Alicia looked to Taylor.
"You ok?" She asked him.
"Not the first time I've been knocked around" he said.
"I was talking about me and the baby-I mean babies" She said in a low voice, she looked equal parts scared and happy. He frowned at her for a moment wondering why she would think he wouldn't be happy.
"Yes, of course I'm ok." He said he quickly moved from his chair to sit on the bed. He grabbed her hand with his and brushed his thumb over the back of her hand. "I just thought it would take months of trying before-"
"Me too" She said with a soft smile.
"We'll have to change our plans though. You will not be going OTG and you're off duty until further notice" He told her in an authoritative tone. Alicia's smile dropped at Taylor killing what was supposed to be a perfect moment.
"What? I'm pregnant not an invalid! You can't just take me off duty and ground me" Alicia hissed as she pushed up on to her elbows looking at him incredulously.
"I'm your commanding officer I can do whatever I like and taking you off duty and the OTG roster is for your protection" he told her. She couldn't believe how quickly he went from being the man she loved to an overbearing and controlling asshole in less than a second. But she lost her anger quickly when she saw his expression turn from professional to the side of him he only showed her. His hand caressed the side her face.
"I'm also protecting myself. I can't go through what I did today ever again" He told her, his voice was thick with emotion. He looked ready to say more but Elisabeth came back into their curtained room. He looked away as he brought his emotions and facial expression under control.
"Sorry to interrupt, but Sgt Guzman says he needs to speak with you Commander" Elisabeth said.
"Tell him I'll be there in a moment" Taylor said to Elisabeth. The doctor nodded before closing the curtains. Taylor leaned over Alicia and kissed her gently.
Jim touched Kate's shoulder. The young woman's eye snapped open and she looked up at him. For a few seconds she looked wide awake and alert until she realised she was safe and relaxed. He was amazed she had actually slept the whole ride out as it was not the smoothest ride.
"We already there?" Kate asked in a groggy voice.
"Yep, everything is ready except for you" Jim said holding up an armour vest. Kate wrinkled her nose as she hated the armour. It was the functionality of it as it was too bulky.
"Don't make that face at me. Just put it on" Jim told her. Kate sat up from the seats she had been sleeping on and rubbed her face.
"Fine" she said, she took the armour vest. She removed her BDU jacket and pulled the armour vest on and then the arm guards. "I feel like I should be playing American football in this" Kate commented as she climbed out of the Rhino. She pulled on a thigh holster for her side arm and armed herself with a Ka Bar knife before turning to Carter.
"That's it?" he asked her, surprised that she wasn't picking up sonic rifle. Kate took the ear piece for the comm. unit from Jim and stuck on her ear.
"Excuse me for packing light" Kate said dryly as she looked at his get up. He was carrying a sonic rifle and probably a couple of concealed knives but still in his Sixer outfit of ratty clothing.
"Not even a rifle?" He offered.
"Too much noise and it will slow me and you down" Kate said not sure why she was explaining herself to Carter of all people. "We'll be collecting arms on the way so hand over the rifle" she told him.
"You're no fun" Carter told her as he handed the rifle to an amused Jim.