AN1 Happy Sunday to you all! I forgot that the last chapter was the tenth chapter since my return a month ago. So to all who have reviewed every chapter since I came back: you have my thanks. And a special thanks to a select few names who have left a comment for every chapter (or almost every) of the story. I appreciate it very much (even constructive feedback, too, so long as it remains respectful and non-flaming because flamers can take a hike).
AN2 I can passionately share that the best of Who Dares Wins is by far still yet to come! I meant it when I floated the 175-chapter remark (it could even be higher. Who knows?) a few chapters ago. We have embassy sieges, hotel sieges, clandestine Russian units (the most dangerous threat for Red Team), deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria (with story arcs to take place for all three), the abducting of a Red Team member, deaths in the unit, new unit members, and I can safely tease all of this to you without spoiling it because you don't have the foggiest of ideas as to what is coming in order first (or will have any advance notice of the events until they actually happen), nor why the Russians will be the most dangerous, nor who dies, or when ;)
Who Dares Wins
Chapter Forty-Two: Lockdown: Part Twenty-One: Dogs of War: Part Five
Monday, 19 November, 2007
The full complement of Red Team entered a bar in the city centre of Manchester just after noon.
"Right, fellas and ladies, let's get the drinks in!" Big Dan shouted in intense excitement, looking at his teammates as he extended his arms in a celebratory way to showcase some of that thrill!
Chuck, Cole Barker, Jamie Hughes, Chris MacDonald, John Murray and Bryce shared the excitement with Dan, while Sarah pointed at John and said, "And if you intend to stay on good terms with me after the comments you've made about Chuck and me all day, then you're buying the first one."
Chuck suddenly pointed in tremendous endorsement at Sarah. "That is an excellent shout, Sarah, because I suddenly feel the very same way!"
"Fair enough," the Scot said, nodding in concession.
The unit then approached and took seats on stools at the counter of the bar.
A barmaid soon arrived to serve John Murray as he placed the team's order while conversations started within the squad.
Looking around his teammates, Bryce seeped with excitement and said, "I'm gonna get fucking slaughtered today!"
"Not half as much as I intend to, mate!" Jamie said, chuckling back.
Laughter erupted among the team as Jamie and Bryce—seated next to each other—nudged into each other while excitedly rubbing their hands together.
Soon after, Cole turned to look at Chuck and Sarah to his right and said, "I'm looking forward to this!"
"Me too," Sarah replied while Chuck said, "You are?" which implied that Cole wasn't going to enjoy it as much as Chuck intended to.
Cole muted laughter as the best friends shared their warm gaze for a few seconds and shook hands until Chuck turned to look at Sarah while Cole focused on Jamie to his left.
Sarah quickly met Chuck's glance, the lovers pausing to share deep, intimate eye contact for a long moment.
Crossing his arms on the bar surface, Chuck smiled at her.
She smiled back at him.
However, neither lover knew what to say to each other right now in the presence of their teammates off-duty. Because whatever they would say would be nothing more than a façade for the show of their teammates because if either lover were to talk about the things they each wanted to right now—which would be them showing an explicit, growing romantic interest in each other—then they knew that yet more teasing would start, which was part and parcel of being in the army.
Neither Chuck, nor Sarah, didn't have to like that teasing. However, they both knew, as did everyone who served, that giving your teammates a hard time was a basic expectancy of military life. Chuck and Sarah simply had no choice but to suck it up, grow a thick skin, and hopefully develop themselves to the point they no longer let their teammate's comments about their intimate activities get to them and instead torment right back at them.
Chuck did know this, of course, that they couldn't hide and pretend like they weren't a thing forever. However, at the present stage in their relationship, Sarah was a lot more naïve to that reality, which was understandable because her personality was extremely reserved, so reservations about sharing personal aspects of her life came very naturally to her, unlike Chuck…
The barmaid soon served the whole unit their drinks shortly after, who each turned to their front to receive them.
With every member of Red Team now holding their beers or shorts, Chris led the toasts, "Cheers."
"Cheers," the unit replied, raising their glasses, while Big Dan said, "Up yer arse."
The team muted the briefest laughter before taking mouthfuls of their drinks, sighing pleasurably and looking up to the heavens as they did so.
"Aww! That's lovely, that is!" Big Dan moaned out pleasurably.
Red Team held in further laughter over typical Big Dan responses.
But he was right.
It was lovely.
"Aw, shite!" John Murray declared suddenly.
Everyone turned to look at their right, at John, seated at the far end, to query his sudden comment.
Looking at his teammates all glancing at him, the Scot said, "We forgot to order one in honour of Ghost, our missing mate."
Groans instantly erupted within the unit because he was spot on: they had forgotten.
"You're right, fella," Big Dan said, nodding. "So we'll have to make sure to buy a nice cold beer in honour of him next round, and as he's not here, I'll be having that one, fellas, and I'll be expecting all of your votes on the matter!"
Immediate complaints erupted within the whole team to the extent that the bar became disorderly, which caused Big Dan to smirk in approval.
"You're not having my vote, mate!" Jamie said. "You might have got Chris's burger, but you'll be facing thunder from me if you make a move on that pint that I will firmly place my eyes on!"
"And me. Because I'm running independently too, this time!" Cole said quickly.
"Hang on a minute!" Chris said suddenly, shooting a stare at Jamie. "A burger, you say? What's this then, laddie?!" he said before finishing by looking at Big Dan.
Big Dan snorted, but Bryce interrupted the proceedings: "When Chuck went AWOL for a few hours on Thursday, he came back with burgers for all of us. But Dan nicked yours, mate."
"You fucking snitch!" Big Dan said, pointing at Bryce in contempt. "Now I'll say this, Speedy, fella; you wanted it just as much as me!"
Intense laughter erupted from Chuck, Sarah, Cole, Jamie and John.
While Bryce said, "No, I never."
"You lying little rat!" Big Dan said back instantly as his jaw dropped in shock, pointing multiple times at Bryce in disdain.
"Right!" Chris said, taking over the affairs, glancing around the unit. "That greedy bastard took my burger?" he asked while pointing at Big Dan.
Chuck, Sarah, Cole, Jamie, John and Bryce nodded in sync as the laughter intensified.
Chris shook his head at Big Dan, looking at him in disgust!
Big Dan snorted before he said, "You stormed off sulking, fella, so you had no use for it. But don't worry because I put it to good use for ye."
The laughter continued amongst Chuck, Sarah, Cole, Jamie, John and Bryce while Chris held an intense belittling stare right at Big Dan!
"Ok, then, laddie!" Chris said. "I already had the firm intentions of pulling rank and claiming that pint, but after hearing this, only one person is getting that beer, and he goes by the name of MacDonald! You can forget voting for that greedy bastard because I will be expecting your votes for me!" he said, looking at his team.
"If it stops Dan from always getting everything, then I'm fine with it, and you have mine, Chris," Bryce said smugly, feeling great satisfaction in getting payback for losing out on the double cheeseburger to Dan.
Big Dan audibly winced as he shook his head in disgust at Bryce. "I'll remember that, Speedy, fella. And I have a very long memory, I can assure you about that."
Snorts erupted from Chuck, Sarah, Cole, Jamie, and John.
While Chris said to Bryce, "Nice one, laddie, keep it up, and you won't have to be the decoy after the next time, and I'll make that one easier on you as well."
Bryce nodded, suppressing laughter, now feeling extremely pleased with himself for dropping Dan in it and getting something back in return!
Chuck turned to look at Sarah and said, "It feels so good to laugh at his expense."
"After how he treats us, I'm over the moon," Sarah said gleefully as she shifted a smug look between Chuck and Big Dan.
Chuck nodded in immense agreement as he continued his hysterics.
Big Dan turned to look at Chuck and Sarah. "Were you two just talking about giving me your votes?"
Sarah shook her head. "No."
"After what you've been saying to us lately," Chuck scoffed. "In your dreams. We were talking instead about how thrilled we are to give Chris our votes."
"I always knew you were a mate, Chuck," Chris said before he pointed in endorsement at Chuck and Sarah.
From his position at his end of the group, Chris then turned his attention to look at John Murray, seated at the other end. "Remember a fellow Scotsman when you cast your vote, laddie," he said.
"Och! What I remember is you being a turncoat and blasting out Vindaloo with these wee tossers during the lock-in a few weeks ago. So I will vote for neither of ye and take it myself, so I will!" John Murray said.
The laughter hugely intensified, which turned the quiet bar very loud.
"So that's three votes for Chris, three independents, and no votes for Dan," Chuck said gleefully. "I hereby declare Chris the winner!"
"Fuck it!" Big Dan said, conceding defeat. "You win some. You lose some. I have to say, though, old timer, that burger was lovely. You would have loved it, fella," he said smugly.
"You greedy, horrible bastard!" Chris shouted in scorn as he lunged for Big Dan.
His actions caused the unit to share unrestrained laughter for a long moment.
x-x-x-x-x-x
Red Team received their second round of drinks while conversations were occurring throughout the unit.
Chuck had chosen Sarah as his current partner.
Leaning into her as she arched herself slightly to receive him, he whispered into her ear as quietly as possible, "Don't drink too much here."
Sarah nodded multiple times, fully understanding why he'd said that while she then smirked as he pulled back from her.
Now returned to his position, he winked at her.
She winked back at him, discharging the briefest of kissing actions with her lips towards him, before she bit her lip because she was very much looking forward to the events forthcoming between her and her lover tonight...
Chuck could only grin at her actions, fully intending to have those irresistible lips all over him, just as soon as they'd finished their date: even if it meant him having to upping and outright bailing from the bar at some point just to go on it!
The lovers held their glance for a few more seconds until Chuck broke it, not wanting to get caught looking at her for too long and having Sarah take additional ribbing because of it, which could kill her mood before their date.
Chuck turned to his left to look at Jamie—who wasn't in any conversation—and asked, "So how are things going with Emily, Jamie?"
Jamie turned to face Chuck while most of the unit paused their conversations because they were interested in hearing the answer.
Jamie soon sighed. "I'm not sure yet," he said, but he paused briefly. "Actually, mate, things are pretty shit in regards to that," he admitted.
"Why?" Chuck asked, raising his head in query.
"Because of the fucking lockdown, mate!" Jamie said in anger, shaking his head in frustration, and curling a fist. "One of her friends clocked all of us at Jim's Pub on Thursday night. And because I can't tell her about the red alert 'cos we've only known her for a few weeks, I fed her the usual bollocks that we were all deployed on training for a few weeks, so she's not very happy about the lies so early into us starting to see each other. Fucking lockdown! Why won't it just FUCK OFF?!" he cursed, waving his hands frantically in the air in anger as he finished.
Suddenly, most of Red Team erupted in intense laughter at Jamie's expense.
While it was mostly Bryce, Chuck and Sarah that had been taking grief by the team of late, none of them would hesitate to have a laugh and a joke at another team member's expense, at least while the whole team was together, that is.
It would have been different if it had been a private conversation with one coming to another for advice.
"Fucking hell!" Jamie complained at his teammate's actions before he started laughing himself: he was too easygoing not to. "What are you horrible twats all laughing at, ey?!"
The laughter continued for a long moment more until Chris said, "I don't know why I'm laughing. I've been in the doghouse with my wife for several years now."
Cole nodded. "If lockdown continues for much longer on my end, then Sophie might run away too. It's hard to plan a wedding while I'm stuck cramped in a 2x4 room in barracks for twelve bloody hours per day!" he complained.
Intense chuckles broke out again, this time at Cole's expense, who started to grin at their actions.
"It's good to hear that you fellas are suffering," Big Dan said gleefully. "Because I'm in the doghouse twenty-four seven with the missus, lockdown or not! At this point, fellas, I've turned into a fucking dog! I may as well sleep in the fucking kennels back at camp!" he said, snorting.
A new wave of thunderous laughter erupted from the unit for at least half a minute.
Bryce, who was the first to be able to talk, joked, "It sounds like Chuck and Sarah are the only two that are in a relationship on the team who aren't in the doghouse!"
Sarah instantly arched herself forward to give Bryce an ice-cold hostile glare, almost feeling tempted to throw the glass she was holding at his head. She tightly clenched hold of the drink to stem her anger towards him as she became more and more pissed off by the second towards somebody she'd told never to speak to her off-duty again.
However, Chuck gave a verbal response. Pointing at Bryce, he angrily said, "You little shit!"
In addition to Chuck's reaction, Bryce's comments set off another immediate, prolonged outpouring of laughter from Big Dan, John, and Chris.
While Cole, this time, came to Chuck and Sarah's defence and said, "At least they're both getting some, and I hope they stay together for the rest of their lives because they deserve it."
"Yeah, mate, which is more than I can say for him!" Jamie replied, snorting before he and Cole joined Big Dan, John, and Chris in laughter, which became more uncontrolled after the additional comments from their teammates.
"That's not what they both told us," Bryce said as Chuck and Sarah glared at him. "Because they told us it was a one-time thing."
"Then why the fuck did you open your fucking mouth?!" Chuck shouted as he moved to stand, his rising anger consuming him because of Bryce's provocations.
Chuck had thought they had passed this after their fight a few weeks ago, but if he continued with these remarks, they would soon be throwing down again, and soon.
Sarah, likewise, was becoming engulfed in rage herself and was close to standing too: or throwing the glass at his head that—at this moment—made Sarah want to strangle him a hundred times over just by looking at his smug face.
However, remaining composed, Bryce soon said, "Because none of us, not just me, believe your one-time thing bullshit lies. Chuck, I'm just saying it how it is, mate. None of us cares what you do together. The only people who seem to care are the both of you."
"I'd start running if I was you, Speedy, fella!" John Murray said, howling in laughter.
However, Big Dan waved his hand dismissively at John. "Nah, John, he's right, fella. We tease Chuck and Sarah about it, and we always will until the end of time because that's part and parcel of being in the military. I can promise that I won't stop doing it. But at the same time, none of us gives a fuck that they're still sharing a bed, which all of us know they still are," he said, but he paused to point primarily at Sarah because he knew even without being told that she'd decided to hide it. "Behind the gags, the laughs, and how much I torment you, Sarah, you're still my mate, and so is he. You could each make it a lot easier on yourselves right now by being open and saying back to our provocations, 'At least we'll be shagging each other silly tonight, unlike any of you, 'cause you'll be sleeping alone.' But because you won't do that, and instead, you're both living in denial, you're only making the tormenting worse on yourselves and becoming easy targets for all of us until you both stop giving a fuck about it and start throwing punches back at us."
"He's right," Chris said in agreement. "So long as you don't bring it to work, which you haven't; then behind their jokes, you have our support. And as the team leader, my stance on that is final and the main one that matters. My marriage has become a living hell, but having a significant other is a big way to relieve tension after ops. Ops, the both of you are going on. Unlike the rest of these nosey bastards, I'll respect your privacy if you don't want to go open about it. I'm just saying that you don't need to hide it either."
"They're all right," Jamie said.
"Of course, they are," Cole quickly agreed.
Chuck and Sarah turned to look awkwardly at each other, with their relationship now being a focal point of team discussion, which they didn't want to happen again.
Soon breaking her glance from Chuck, Sarah started to look around all of the team. "Well, it was a one-time thing," she said, which led to immediate loud groans in complaint from everyone except Chuck. "But at least he rocked my world during it and made me lose control while you do nothing but jerk off to pornography mags like a loser," she said, pointing at Bryce.
Suddenly, thunderous laughter erupted from the entire unit except for Bryce, whose gaze hit the floor in embarrassment and he didn't know where to look.
"FUCKING HELL, MATE!" Jamie cried out as Cole, John, Big Dan, Chuck, Jamie, and Chris bent over against the bar as wave after wave of fresh, intense laughter erupted.
"WE'VE CREATED A FUCKING SAVAGE!" Big Dan roared out in massive approval as he and Jamie, Cole, John, Chuck and Chris laughed their guts out.
"And that's how you stop the grief, lass!" Cole said in massive endorsement, feeling very proud of the first sign of Sarah tormenting back, which, as Big Dan stated, would have to be mandatory if she wanted the teasing of her to stop.
Sarah smirked, smugly glancing at Bryce and feeling satisfied with getting one over on him for a minute until Bryce finally had a reply to give and said, "It can't have been that good if it was a one-time thing, can it?"
Fresh laughter erupted from everyone except Chuck, who stopped laughing at Bryce's expense, and he started glaring at Bryce again.
"And that's how you answer back!" John Murray said, chuckling.
"Yeah, it is," Jamie agreed. "But it took Speedy Gonzales nearly a minute to come up with a reply, so he's shaky and on the ropes!"
Big Dan nodded. "He is. So now he's there for the taking, Sarah, and you should deliver the knockout punch!"
"What is it?" she queried, contemplating Big Dan's suggestion.
"You have to admit that it wasn't a one-time thing between you both and that he's still rocking your world: as you so elegantly described," Big Dan said instantly. "And then Speedy's fucked and has nothing further to fire back at you unless he then says that he can give you it better than Chuck can."
"And we all know that's bollocks even before he says it!" Cole quickly interjected, chuckling rowdily.
The latest outpouring of laughter in approval erupted amongst the team as Bryce quickly said, "Fuck off!" in complaint.
"Well, how about it, Sarah?" Big Dan soon asked, encouraging Sarah to tell the truth and win the round of tormenting in style.
However, Sarah remained silent, leading to further groans from most of Red Team except for Chuck, Chris and Bryce.
"Fair enough, Sarah," Big Dan soon conceded. "We'll have to work on that, because we're your mates, but if Blue Team get wind of you and Chuck, then that's a different story... Nevertheless, you performed well."
The unit shared additional toned-down giggles as Jamie said, "Yeah, she did. But fucking hell, Speedy Gonzales has been picking fights with Dan, Chuck and Sarah already! I think he started on the ale much earlier than us!"
Jamie's comments set off snorts from everyone attempting to prevent further laughter as Cole said, "He's been up on an all-night bender before the training exercise!"
"In that case!" Chris shouted, commanding the attention of his team. "We have some catching up to do! Get another round in!"
Immediate, loud agreements erupted from the rest of Red Team.
Cole promptly ordered Red Team's third round of drinks just as soon as the barmaid appeared back in sight.
x-x-x-x-x-x
"Who's for another then?" Bryce asked, nodding at the consumed third round of drinks.
"Nah," Chuck said, shaking his head. "I don't want to get pissed on an empty stomach. Plus, there's still a lot left of the day. It's only two in the afternoon, and I don't want to get wasted before we even reach four o'clock."
"He's right," Cole said. "I intend to get slaughtered tonight, but it's too early for us to do it right now. We can all head off to do a few things on our own for a few hours, then meet up for a meal tonight and finish off at the nearest bar afterwards."
"Sounds good to me, mate," Jamie said, smiling at Cole.
Everyone nodded.
Chuck turned to Sarah, who was looking back at him.
He winked at her, feeling happy to have led his teammates into convincing themselves to leave the bar, which meant he would be able to set up his date with Sarah.
She smirked back at him. "Very slick," she mouthed inaudibly.
Chuck grinned at her, and she smiled back as the lovers held their warm gaze for a long moment until it was disturbed by Big Dan, who said, "Right, let's be off then. We'll all meet up in a few hours and head to a restaurant, but I at this moment, am barring Chuck and Sarah from coming with any of us for the rest of the day, including tonight!"
Laughter instantly erupted from Cole, Jamie, Bryce, Chris and John, while Chuck and Sarah's faces dropped in shock.
"Why are we barred?" Sarah asked.
Everyone listened intently as Big Dan said, "Sarah, the reason why you're barred from coming with us is because you won't do it yourselves, so we'll do it for you. We're off-duty now for twenty-four hours, so you and he are heading out together tonight, or doing whatever else the fuck you want with each other with all of our blessing, and the next time you're going to see any of us will be tomorrow morning just before we depart back for Hereford. And I don't want to hear anything from anyone here about what I've just said. Now, are we agreed?" he finished, looking at all his teammates except Chuck and Sarah.
"Agreed!" Cole, Jamie, Chris, and John Murray said in unison, while Bryce said nothing but didn't object.
"Let's be off then!" Chris said, moving to stand.
Red Team followed suit as they stood and departed the bar.
Chuck and Sarah, who were the last to leave, paused in place just before exiting with their six teammates already out in the open air.
"Well, I guess that makes it easier for us, Sarah," Chuck said, grinning.
"Yeah," Sarah agreed with a loving smile. "I guess it does…."
The lovers departed to link up with their teammates out in the city centre before they all split off to do their own things for a few hours...
AN3 Next Chapter: Charah shops for their romantic date, Chuck gets a text from Cole, Sarah gets one from Jamie (what do they say?), and the chapter concludes with Chuck and Sarah's passionate date! And then in subsequent chapters, Lockdown concludes (how?), we meet Carina (what role does she have?), and more!
As always, I would love to hear thoughts from my regular commenters. And maybe from some new faces also? :)