Mari & Ilna-you're the best.

McRollers-thanks for reading.


Rush (1/1)

Steve and John sat at a table in the Tropics Bar at Hilton Hawaiian Village finishing up a pitcher of beer. They'd spent the evening catching up with two old friends from BUD/S training who were on the island for the weekend before heading out for a month-long backpacking excursion.

"I can't believe Rodgers and Buzz are gonna take on Federation Peak," John said as he leaned back in his chair. "That's the toughest hike in Australia."

"Those two always were all about fitness." Steve smiled. "Remember the time they talked us into that stair running challenge?"

"How could I forget?" John snorted. "Freddie and I had a great view of all three of you from about 20 feet behind the whole way."

Steve grinned. "I couldn't let them win."

"More accurately." John's eyes twinkled. "You couldn't stand to lose."

Steve offered a wry smile in acknowledgement of his competitive nature which was still alive today but nearly as intense as it had been in his younger days.

"I can't even remember what the bet was," he said. "Probably something stupid."

"Probably beer related," John chuckled.

Steve barked a laugh. "You're probably right."


"Midnight feast or afternoon snack?" Carrie asked as she and Catherine sat on the back deck at the beach house, sipping beer and relaxing. Angie and DJ were on a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's and the two women were enjoying some bestie bonding time. Carrie was reading questions from a best friends quiz she found while doing some late night web surfing the previous week.

Catherine thought for just a few seconds before saying, "Midnight feast."

"Same here," Carrie said. "I think that started at the Academy. I can remember sitting in our room after lights out, so tired we could barely keep our eyes open, snacking on whatever treats one of mothers had sent."

"It was the only chance we had." Catherine chuckled. "There was certainly no time for an afternoon snack back in those days."

"I'm not sure cookies have ever tasted better to me than they did on those nights," Carrie said. "Sitting there in the dark, dreaming about taking on the world, talking about what we thought it would be like after graduation."

Catherine smiled. "Those were some really good times."

"They were," Carrie agreed.

She paused for a minute, lost in a memory, then snorted a laugh.

"What's so funny?" Catherine asked.

"I was just remembering that time we saw Steve at the bar with that pretty blonde and you tried to pretend you weren't upset but when we got back to the room you ate a whole sleeve of Thin Mints from the box your mom sent."

Catherine chuckled at the memory. "She was a friend of the Millses and Steve was just showing her around to be nice."

"Which you learned the next day but we might have found out sooner if we'd stayed at the bar more than five minutes after we saw them," Carrie pointed out.

"We had an early morning," Catherine said defensively. "We had to get home."

Carrie barked a laugh. "If that's what you want to tell yourself."


"Do you remember that time we had to go in and pull them out when their mission went south?" John asked as he refilled his glass from the pitcher of beer in the middle of the table.

Steve nodded. "When we finally got to them they'd been taking fire for close to forty-eight hours. They hadn't eaten or slept. They were covered in mud."

John snorted. "That wasn't mud."

Steve searched his mind for the exact details of the mission.

When the memory hit he grimaced.

"Oh that's right. They were hiding underneath an old outhouse. How could I have forgotten that? It took a week to get the smell out of my nose."

"The thing I remember most is the two of them sitting in the chopper, still covered in … what they were covered in." John shuddered. "Eating those dodgy sandwiches the pilot picked up before we took off. I still don't know what was in those things."

"I'm not sure which smelled worse." Steve smiled. "Them of those sandwiches."

"It was a toss up," John said. "But I don't think I ate for like two days after we got back."


Carrie wrinkled her nose as she read the next thing on the list. "Mosquito bites or blisters?"

Catherine thought for a minute. "Preferably neither, but if I had to pick I guess I'd say mosquito bites."

"I probably would too," Carrie agreed. "Mostly based on that week we spent in Thailand where we both ended up with the biggest blisters I've ever seen. And I've seen some big ones."

"It was those cheap shoes we bought at that little boutique by the airport." Catherine winced at the memory. "I think the straps were made of razor blades."

"I think so too." Carrie chuckled. "But we had to get something or we would have spent the whole week wearing our boots with everything."

Catherine took a sip of her beer. "Definitely not a good look."

"I blame the airline for losing our luggage," Carrie said. "Luckily we had our swimsuits and a couple of sundresses in our carry ons."

Catherine subconsciously rubbed her foot. "I can still remember how much it hurt putting my boots back on when it was time to leave."

"Pure torture," Carrie agreed. "But the fun we had that week almost made it all worth it."


"Do you ever miss it?" Steve asked as took another swallow of his beer. "You know … the adrenaline rush."

"Not really." John shook his head. "I mean, I'm glad I got to experience it, but that kind of thing is a young man's game. How about you?"

"Same." Steve ran his hand over his face. "But talking to those two guys tonight made me think. They're still chasing that feeling. Looking for 'the next thing' to make them feel that intensity. It makes me wonder when I lost that drive."

John tipped his glass towards his friend. "I'll be sure to let you know if it ever happens."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "You don't think I have?"

John shook his head adamantly. "Not even a little. Putting aside the fact that you have what, by anyone's measure, would be considered an adrenaline fueled job, I've watched you on the sidelines at DJ's games, and in the gym when Angie's class has a gymnastics performance. You are every bit as energized watching them as you ever were dropping behind enemy lines."

Steve beamed. "You think so?"

"I know so." John pulled out his wallet and put a generous tip in the middle of the table. "You haven't lost a thing. You've just redirected your energy into your wife and kids, and all your family and friends, not to mention the task force."

Steve smiled at his long time friend's assessment.

"You're still hiking your own very challenging path," John continued. "It's just a different kind than the one you were on twenty years ago."

"It's not just me. You're married to Carrie so that's a challenge on a whole other level too," Steve teased.

"She is definitely her own kind of adrenaline rush," John agreed. He lifted his nearly empty glass in a toast and after Steve did the same said, "Here's to challenging ourselves in new and exciting ways."

Steve smiled. "Hear. Hear."

THE END


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