"This is Victor-one-one. Over." He said and waited.
"Victor one-one, this is Eagle base. What's your status? Over." Another male voice said over the radio. "Status stable.
Dispatched a couple of would be troublemakers to the UN. Over."
"Heard that. More paperwork for us justifying you boys being there. Clancy? Over."
"Clancy has stabilized. Moving him out tomorrow. Awaiting instructions. Over."
"Hold on." The voice said, obviously either relaying or going through papers. Turned out he was relaying.
"This is Grandpa Eagle, Victor-one-one. Do you copy?" Another male voice came over.
"Copy, sir. Victor-one-one reporting on Victor-oh-nine's status. Stable and ready for transport in the morning. Over."
"Stable means what? Black hawk or convoy? Over."
"Sir, I'd say hawks. One black hawk, three little birds. I've got four Rangers and two Deltas that aren't combat ready.
Over."
"Will dispatch one heavy, three lights, Victor-one-one. Additional personnel required? Over."
"Medical personnel to monitor, sir. Request," Hector looked at Andi who gestured. "One doctor, and one medic or
nurse. Over."
"Will send additional personnel and equipment." Since the medical teams would know what to bring. "Radio in a
medical report to the team by tonight. Over."
"Affirmative, sir. Medical report to be radioed in tonight. Expecting birds at what time? Over."
"Oh-six hundred. Victor-oh-niner to be airlifted off American base by nightfall. Over."
"Affirmative, sir. Oh-six hundred is the sortie time. Will prepare the others. Over."
"Affirmative. Oh, and Garrett? Hope you enjoyed your vacation. Over."
"Right sir." Hector said with a chuckle. "Victor-one-one signing off."
"Grandpa Eagle copies. See you tomorrow. Out."
Hector replaced the radio and the head set. "Well, that's all done." He said to Andi.
Andi listened to the military rattle. Understood it enough to know at six in the morning tomorrow they'd have
helicopters. And that would be the end of that. She watched the back of Hector as he talked. The lines of his
shoulders and the way the muscles on his back moved when he talked, turned to look at her. The vulnerable way the
back of his neck looked where the short haircut tapered off. He took off the headphone set and she stepped forward.
Lightly stroked her nails through that hair and the base of his neck.
She was going to lose this. She'd only just found it. Didn't even know if it could have been hers to keep anyway. And
now she was going to lose it.
"Victor one one?" She asked with a soft smile.
Hector chuckled as she played lightly with his short cropped hair. "I was the eleventh man in my chalk to get a call
sign. We're from V company, or Victor company if you're over the radio, so its Victor one-one. Clancy was the ninth,
so he's Victor oh-nine. Grandpa Eagle is the guy who runs the base, Major Hawthorne. He shoulda retired years ago,
but he loves it and won't. So we gave him the nickname Grandpa behind his back, he found out about it, and
hundreds of push ups and chin ups later, he took that call sign."
He leaned back in the chair and offered her a grin. "So, see? Its all perfectly logical and not nearly as weird as it
sounded once it's explained, right?"
She watched him sit back in the chair and thought - 'he moves as if he owns the world'. It was strange and not the first
time she'd noticed it. As if anywhere he was, was his area and he was comfortable in it. The strange part was that he
didn't seem to notice it and it didn't make her uncomfortable. As if he really did belong wherever he was and so there
was nothing threatening or odd about it.
She wondered if they retired or recycled a call sign when one of the soldiers didn't need it anymore.
"No. You still sound 'weird'." She teased, one side of her mouth quirking upward. She leaned forward across him and
pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. "But I think I'm getting used to it."
"I do not sound weird." He said with a chuckle. "Why does everyone say that? If its not the accent, its when I break out
into the military jargon. Makes perfect sense to me!" He smiled up at her when she kissed his forehead, he liked that
oddly enough, after years of being perhaps a bit standoffish when it came to people, at least on a personal level.
Anyone in his chalk or his family would tell whoever asked that Hector Garrett was one of the friendliest people you
could ever hope to meet, also a grin and a joke when the circumstances called for it, and a helping hand in others.
But...if anyone scratched below the surface, really, that's all they'd be able to say. They'd draw a blank after that.
With moderate surprise, he realized that probably the same thing could be said for Andi. He remembered Suzette's
face the other night when Andi revealed a scary tale from her childhood, she'd probably painted it as all puppies and
roses, if she'd painted it at all.
And for once in his career, he didn't want to leave.
What did you do on your last day with someone? Especially when you'd only known each other a few days and yet it
felt as if something in you have been waiting to meet him all your life? And you were in a medical camp with absolutely
nowhere to go and a distinctly limited amount of things to do?
Andi braced her arms and hopped up to sit on the edge of the table next to Hector, resting the toes of her shoes on
the seat of the chair so they touched the side of his leg. He was going to have to go walkabout and tell everyone on
his team what was going on. And Sam was still looking for him. As soon as she set foot outside this tent a dozen or so
things would suddenly pop up needing her attention too. She'd shirked already for her phone call. He'd want to be
there when the UN showed up. And she had patients to look after.
She didn't want to think about how her days would sound without his slow, lazy drawl in them anymore.
"You're obviously just misunderstood." She agreed with a crooked smile. Shifting the toes of her sneakers against his
leg, nudging him slightly. "What are you doing for lunch?" she asked.
"Well, I was hoping to still be avoiding Sam to the best of my highly trained ability." He said with another chuckle,
resting a forearm on her knees. "Wanna help me with my nefarious plan of avoidance?" He chuckled again.
"Nah, I'll face up to him like a man. Might need some coddling afterwards though." He said and turned his most
childlike innocent gaze on her.
She gave him a look but couldn't hide the smile.
Deadly. He had to have been absolutely deadly to the women in his family when he was a little boy. She rested her
elbows on her legs and cupped her face in her hands, edges of her lips curved as she looked at him.
"Well, I am a doctor." She confided. "I might be able to help with that kind of thing." She grinned. "Unless you'd rather
have Suz look after you."
"Suz? As in the one that still wants to skin me alive for reasons I don't even pretend to understand? I think I might
need you to protect me from her." He said with a chuckle, since Suzette was smaller and much more fragile looking
than him certainly.
"But since I think I'm on my own in the protection area, and I have to face Sam at some point, I will definitely be in the
mood for lunch, even if it is protein bars and water." Hector said, back to the original question.
She laughed at the idea of Hector hiding from Suz. Mostly because it wasn't as off base as it should have been
considering the difference in their sizes.
She liked the feel of his arm on her knees. It was intimate but it was permanent too. As if he was making a point. Not
that she could be sure that was what he'd intended but it made her feel better and so she took it whether it was
intentional or not. She reached out, shifting to cradle her chin in just one hand while she lightly brushed the fingers of
her other one against the short hair that was trying to curl against his forehead. Telling herself she really needed to
stop finding excuses to touch him. She gave him a smile, fingers still shifting his hair lightly.
"Oh. I think I can manage better than protein bars and water." She stated. "Especially since you're going to be coming
back from battling toothsome dragons and such."
"I would have described him as a rabid lion, but I guess dragon works." He said with a chuckle about Sam. If he were
the logical creature everyone usually accused him of being, he'd move away, hell, he wouldn't have started this in the
first place.
But he wasn't sure he had started it, and wasn't sure she had either. IT was more like it just happened. Out of the
clear blue sky and fell into their laps. As if it were meant to be. Was it also meant to be that he should leave too? Far
too many metaphysical questions for him to figure out, and he wasn't much for metaphysics in the first place.
It was, quite possibly, the most pointless conversation they'd ever had, Andi thought with a soft smile. There were,
after all, only so many ways you could draw out the same sentence and rephrase it to stall for time. Which was, in
essence, what they were really doing. Stealing time.
She felt absolutely no guilt about it whatsoever.
"I'm going to miss you." She said it softly, stroking her fingers gently through the hair at his temple. She shifted her
eyes after she said it to met his. There was acceptance and a soft undamaging sadness in her eyes. She wouldn't
mention it again. There was no point to bringing it up more than once. But, she gave him a quick, quiet smile, she
would miss him when he was gone. She could say it just this once without hurting either of them.
"No you won't." He said confidently. "Because I won't really be gone. I'm a notoriously prompt letter writer. And once in
a while, our jobs do give us breaks. Most think they don't, but they do. We'll just have to take them, is all." Then he
looked at her a bit regretfully. "but...in order for us to have lunch, I have to deal with Sam and you have to get back to
work. Plus I gotta tell all the guys. I'll save the Rangers till last, and meet up with you in the med tent, how's that
sound?" Since the Rangers were drawing out their injuries to stay around the pretty medical staff, suckers.
Andi smiled at him and didn't agree or disagree with his assessment of whether she'd miss him or not. For all she
knew he'd forget about her the moment his boots left the camp. She didn't think it was likely, not with the way he
looked at her. But she also knew she wasn't experienced at all when it came to relationships with men that weren't
strictly friendships and it would be less of a blow if she at least pretended she'd seen it coming. She was sure Suz
would be quite useful in that area at least.
She trailed the backs of her fingers down his cheek and then straightened up.
"Come and find me." She agreed with a smile. "I'll have bandages ready in case Sam takes a chunk out of your skin.
"I'll find you. I'm highly trained in that area you know." He said with a grin as he stood up and headed off to take care
of Sam. He found Sam in a surprisingly good mood.
"Sergeant." He said, smoking again, as he went over the inventory again. "UN's on its way. Take it you've contacted
your people?"
As if 'his people' were an entirely different species or something. But Hector slipped his sunglasses back down over
his eyes and nodded.
"Bright and early, 6 AM we'll be out of your hair." He said evenly. Wow, not even a thank you for saving their asses the
previous night. What was worse, Hector wasn't even surprised at that.
"So what do you need from us before you go?"
"Medical report I can broadcast over to the medical team at the base. We're bringing in choppers." Sam didn't
disappoint.
"Helicopters? Here? Absolutely not."
"The safety of my men is more important to me than concern over stirring up a little sand." Hector said, glad he had
his sunglasses on. He was on the verge of glaring. "Don't worry, the UN are bringing cattle carts for them." He said,
hitching his thumb briefly to where the captives were. "Its not a negotiation. There will be choppers here at 6 AM, by
seven, we'll be gone."
"Well, there's that at least." Sam said. "Damn military. Have to use force in everything don't you?"
"If I had to use force in everything, I would have smacked the shit out of you already." Hector said. "We've been
nothing but polite, we've more than replaced what we've used, and we saved your asses last night. I'm not asking for a
thank you. Not even gratitude. Just a little politeness. Goes a long way, even with brutes who use guns."