13 OCT 2010

Sand Island

Grimm was sitting down and eating a bowl of cereal in the squadron room when the door swung open. The ginger haired Viper pilot was expecting to see returns from the CAP rotation, but he was surprised to see Ash walking in with a bag slung around her shoulder.

"Captain!" Grimm bolted to his feet. Ash grinned weakly. Judging by the bags under her eyes, she hadn't slept well in her absence away from the island.

"Am I glad to see a familiar face." Ash remarked. "As you were. Where are the others?"

"CAP rotation." Grimm replied. "They're due back about now."

"Cool." Ash yawned.

"What happened? Did you get shot down?" Grimm asked about the details of Ash's trip to Yuktobania.

"Ran out of fuel over the Fuscum Sea." Ash explained, dropping her bag on one of the lounges. "Luckily for me, the Emmerians picked me up before the Yukes did. Caught a relief flight to Saint Hewlett from Gracemeria, a train from Saint Hewlett to Cape Landers, and a C-130 from Cape Landers to here."

"Eventful journey?" Grimm joked.

"Something like that." Ash bit her lip. "I need a shower, try not to have a welcoming party for me."

"I make no promises." Grimm replied, earning a chuckle from Ash as she grabbed her bag and disappeared into the locker room.

Not long after Ash had made her homecoming appearance, the pilots and WSOs who had been on combat air patrol returned from the air. Chopper, Kitagawa, Nagase and Wolf were all heading to the locker room to store their equipment. Grimm decided not to say anything about Ash's return, instead waiting for them to figure it out themselves.

Kitagawa grabbed a small duffle bag from her locker and entered the woman's shower block in need of a cool shower and a change of clothes. She heard one of the far shower heads running. Her most immediate thought was that the lady Grimm was hooking up with was in there. Kitagawa decided to mess around with her a little bit. She dropped her bag on the bench opposite of the shower line and knocked loudly on the stall door.

"There are less obvious places to have horizontal activities, LT." Kitagawa said over the noise of running water. Instead of replying, the woman in the stall opened the door.

"First of all, captain." Ash said mockingly. Kitagawa was completely taken aback. "Second of all, what about vertical activities?"

Ash was expecting a remark about their lack of either, but instead she was taken aback when Kitagawa damn near tackled her to the ground and hugged her so tightly that Ash felt like her ribcage was going to collapse.

"Kita!" Ash squeaked. "My fuckin' spine!"

Kitagawa loosened her grip so that she wasn't literally crushing Ash's ribcage, but she was still holding on tight.

"このバカが。(You idiot.)" Kitagawa muttered. "You fucking, fucking idiot."

"In my defence." Ash offered a weak defence of her actions. "I didn't think I was going to come out alive. I wasn't going to risk your life on that chance!"

The two locked eyes for a moment. They were both under the shower head and it was steamy inside the stall, but Kitagawa legitimately looked like she was going to cry. Ash had never seen Kitagawa being this emotional before. In a vague attempt to help Kitagawa with her emotions, Ash pressed her lips against Kitagawa's. The latter was surprised for about half a second before she regained her confidence, kicking the stall door shut and pushing Ash against the back wall. Ash's hands slid toward Kitagawa's waist. Kitagawa's hands went for the zips on her uniform. No matter how much tension existed between the two, it was very quickly turning into passion and relief.

Outside, Grimm had left the squadron room, heading for the beach on the eastern side of the island. He hadn't been out much for recreation since the war had begun. With the recent reduction of direct combat operations after Yuktobania's failed landing, Grimm actually had the time to get out and get some sunlight and fresh air.

Of all of the people to run into, on his way to the fenceline, Grimm ran into Danica.

"Funny seeing you here." Danica spotted Grimm and walked up to him.

"Likewise." Grimm replied modestly. "Good morning?"

"Better now that you're here." Danica casually flirted with Grimm. Grimm chuckled.

"That makes two of us." Grimm flirted back.

"Fucking romantic." Danica giggled.

"Hey, you started it!" Grimm retorted as they walked onto the grass that surrounded the east side barracks. Beyond the barracks was the fenceline surrounding the base, and beyond that fenceline was the beach. From the beach, there was ocean as far as the eye could see.

"No minefield signs. I'd say we're in the clear." Grimm spotted the lack of any indication of mines in the sand. Hell, nobody had mentioned it in the most recent security brief.

"Famous last words." Danica remarked. "Ah, fuck. I didn't bring any towels."

"Were you planning on going out swimming? In the shark infested waters?" Grimm scoffed. "You've got balls."

Danica hit Grimm lightly in the gut with a closed fist. "Sunbathing, Hans, sunbathing." The two walked out onto the sand.

"What, you don't want to get sand in your uniform?" Grimm asked. The duo strolled along the beach.

"I'd rather not get sand in my bra." Danica replied. "Gets really scratchy up there."

"I can be your towel if you want." Grimm suggested with a deadpan innocent voice. Danica snorted and turned her head. She felt every part of her face going red.

"I- shit." Danica was lost for words for a second. She looked around. "I would, but somebody's gonna see us."

"Oh, I know a place." Grimm suggested. He went from trodding along to jogging up the beach. "Come on!"

"Where are we going?" Danica asked, increasing her pace to keep up with Grimm.

"There's a cove a couple of minutes up the beach!" Grimm explained. "Nobody knows its there and it should still be sunny up that way!"

Ignoring the childish absurdity of what the two were getting up to, Danica kept pace with Grimm even as the latter broke out into a sprint. They followed the fenceline all the way over to the mound of land that separated the Air Force side of the base from the now-decommissioned port. There was a series of stairs that led from the beach up to the top of the hill, but what they were aiming for was a good twenty or thirty metres down the hill towards the ocean. A section of breakwater. Grimm suddenly disappeared from Danica's line of sight. She struggled to spot the opening where he had slipped through until she was almost right in front of it.

"Watch the wall!" Grimm called out from around a gap in the breakwater. Danica came to a halt. Almost invisible from a distance, there was a man-shaped hole in the breakwater. As small as she was, Danica still had to slip sideways to fit through the gap. On the other side of the breakwater was a little sandy cove providing a decent view out to the ocean. Danica looked around. She didn't spot any cameras or watchposts.

"This is just here?" Danica asked, subtly impressed that Grimm knew the cove was there.

"The cove? Yeah." Grimm replied, pausing for breath. "Nobody comes up this far, let alone that close to the tunnel."

"Fuck, right on." Danica was impressed. She went to go sit down in the sunlight, but then she remembered Grimm's previous offer. "Hey, Hans?"

"What's up?" Grimm asked. Since she was wearing the two-piece uniform, Danica unbuttoned her aviator's blouse and took off that and her tee shirt, leaving her in a bra and the lower half of your uniform.

"You offered to be my towel. You best be ready to back up that offer."

Grimm laughed and laid down on his back. Danica laid down on top of him and planted her head against Grimm's chest.