"So, what are you going to do?" Swanson asked Hector as they packed up the hidden weapons. Sam hadn't gone
through the supplies that well, he had missed an entire crate of dismantled firearms and ammunition. But now it was
time to take it back.
"What do you mean?" Hector asked, though he knew what Swanson meant. He shrugged. "Give report and see what
new assignment they're going to send us on next. Should be a doozy, considering everyone thinks this was a
vacation."
"Ah, so payback for being lazy?"
"Don't we always get that?" Hector asked with a chuckle. "They'll probably give the poor Rangers leave though."
"Well, they are just kids." Swanson pointed out.
Hector laughed. "Excuses."
"So what's up with you and Andi?"
"What's up with you and Suzette?"
"Completely different and I asked first." Swanson countered.
"Ah, not something you want to talk about?" Hector asked innocently.
"You know, back home, I could have groupies for being a special forces soldier." Swanson said with a laugh. "Not be
threatened with castration. I mean, like its my fault she came on to me."
"You're just too hot for your own good." Hector said with a chuckle as Swanson complained.
"That's what everyone keeps telling me." Swanson agreed with a grin, stowing the weapons with practiced ease. He
worked for a minute and then chuckled.
"Clancy's going to be real sorry he missed this." He looked over at the dark haired Delta working stoically next to him.
"I'm not talking about the vacation part of this adventure either, you know."
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Hector said and continued packing, breaking down the weapons even
more to fit in a smaller space.
"Just saying, he's always been on you to get a girlfriend." Swanson said casually.
"I've had girlfriends."
"Yeah, the ones you date on leave then forget to call when you come back." Swanson said. Hector just looked at him
briefly and went back to packing. "Soon your mother is going to be bugging you about getting married."
"My mother's dead, remember?"
"Sorry, man. Vanessa I mean then."
"She's not my mother, and she doesn't give a shit." Hector said, keeping his voice nice and even as his hands worked
steadily.
"You're going to miss her."
"Who, Vanessa?" Hector scoffed, making a face at that.
"No, your Andi. Keep up."
"It's hard keeping up with a blonde." Hector said. "We're not even in the same atmosphere. Ready?"
"You're not going to answer me?"
"I'm not going to answer you."
Swanson shook his head. "Dude, sometimes its not a bad thing to talk to people and maybe let them in a bit."
"I did. Let's go."
"Yeah? Who?" Swanson said, picking up the bags with Hector to drop them at the pick up point.
"Told you I'm not answering you. Try to keep up here."
Swanson looked over at his friend but didn't say anything. Hector didn't talk about his private life. Every now and then
something slipped out but you usually had to really be paying attention to even catch that. But this was different.
There was an edge to the dark Delta's shield this time. Swanson had been in this line of work long enough to know
when certain areas were dangerous.
'Course it didn't mean he wasn't still going to venture there. He'd just be smart about doing it.
"So, what are you going to do?" Molly asked. Looking at Andi as they passed out food to the patients in the tent. Andi
had a sneaking suspicion that that exact question was the reason Molly had volunteered to carry the tray in the first
place.
"Finish what I'm doing and eat lunch at some point?" Andi suggested. Giving Ahmed his lunch with a smile.
"No." Molly snorted. "About Hector. What are you going to do about Hector?"
"Don't snort in the food." Andi chided mildly. Molly waited but that seemed the extent of the reply.
"Well?" She prompted and Andi shot her an amused look from the corners of her eyes. "Don't laugh." Molly protested.
"I'm serious!"
"Mm." Andi gave the standard non-committal reply. When she reached for the next bowl, Molly pulled the tray out of
the way.
"Not until you tell." She stated. Andi sighed and simply used her longer arms to reach around the smaller nurse and
take what she wanted.
"Hey!" Was the protest and Andi gave a chuckle.
"I'm not going to do anything." She answered calmly. Ruffling the next child's hair before moving on.
"That's..." Molly paused. "That's not very dramatic." She sounded almost disappointed.
"You were expecting tears?" Andi asked. With something that, on anyone else, would have been very sharp sarcasm.
Molly made a face.
"Well, not from you. Though I might cry." She got a smile for that and grinned back. "Come on. You must have
something in mind." Andi shook her head.
"I'm being very careful not to."
Molly frowned.
"You think he's going to forget you. Just whistle off into the sunset and forget you."
"Sunrise." Andi corrected mildly, handing out another bowl. "He's leaving at sunrise."
Molly rolled her eyes.
"Fine. Sunrise. You think he's going to forget you?"
One of Andi's slim shoulders rose and fell in a shrug.
"I didn't say that. He's a good man. I don't think he forgets people easily."
"I'm going to drop the rest of these." Molly clarified pointedly. "All over the you and the floor."
Andi turned to look at her with a flatly amused look. That, Molly noted, didn't exactly reach anywhere past the very
surface of her dark eyes.
"Right." Andi nodded. "I'm sure he'll remember me. I think he's too - " she shook her head. "I don't think he draws
people close often and I think its precious to him when he does. I think that makes a difference to a man like him."
"And you still think he's going to forget you." Molly supplied.
"I don't - " Andi shook her head again with another sigh. "I don't know that he'll think this is worth continuing when I'm
not around. And that's not very fair to him to think that way."
"Andi." Molly gave her own gusty sigh. "You're a girl. We always think that. Welcome to the world of dating."
"I'm not sure I like that world." Andi stated blandly.
"The benefits far outweigh the pain." Molly stated factually and it was Andi's turn to snort.
"Are we dating?" She asked after a minute and Molly looked at her.
"Um - kissing, talking, wanting to be alone. More kissing. I'd say 'yeah'."
"Ah." was Andi's only response.
"Look, I don't know what all the interest is." Hector said, a bit testily, though he tried to hide it as they hid the bags
near the pick up point under some low lying brush.
"I didn't say anything." Swanson said, covering up the bags on his side.
Hector just gave him a look and shook his head. "Some things are just private."
"And everything's always private with you."
"And what's wrong with that?" Hector said. "I could be like you, I guess, and broadcast every single thing that's
happened to me in my entire life, but someone has to balance out your exhibitionism."
"Very funny."
"I thought it was."
"So what are you going to do about her?"
"What do you mean what I am going to do about her?" Swanson wanted to pound his head against a wall. Would be
easier, that was for sure.
"When we leave."
"What I want." He said vaguely. Swanson groaned in frustration, which Hector caught. He grinned at Swanson. "Give
up yet?"
"Never." Swanson replied. "I'll hound you until the cows come home."
"I hate that expression. Cows come home a lot you know."
"No cows here."
"Will you stop?"
"Nope." Swanson said and grinned. He was in dangerous territory. Not that Hector would get physical, just completely
shut down. He'd seen it before. But he just had to know.
All right, Swanson decided, so the front door approach wasn't working. Or at least Hector had that front door double
locked and rigged to explode with too much pressure, Swanson figured. But hell, what else did he have to do with his
time right now? He figured he'd try a 'window'. Hector seemed plenty protective of the slim English doctor.
"Must be awfully confident she's hooked on you." He commented mildly. "That's a good sign." Watching the other
Delta as he threw out guesses to see which ones got a tug. "I mean, nobody's missed the way you lit a fire under that
doc that reassembles weapons in the dark when it comes to her. Him being that way and us leaving like we at least tell
me you haven't left things as vague with her as you are with me."
Hector shot him a sharp glance at that one. Okay, that one bothered him. It really, really bothered him.
"Okay." He said mildly. "What do you suggest I do? I could...quit and join the Red Cross. Or I could pack her in my
carry on. Which one sounds more feasible? Considering that as far as the Red Cross is concerned, I really have
nothing to offer them in the first place?" He ran a hand through his hair after straightening up. "Look, we're going to
write and all that bullshit, and I got some leave time stored up, you never know. I'm kinda cornered here, wouldn't you
agree?"
It was, quite possibly, the most information Hector had ever offered on anything personal. Ever. And Swanson bit back
a whistle because he knew it wouldn't go over well. Letter writing? Leave time? Shit. That was long haul type of stuff.
His English doctor had gotten under Hector's skin but good.
"Don't join the Red Cross." He stated calmly. Now that he was finally getting somewhere he wasn't about to abuse it.
"I'd hate to think that one day you might be in charge of saving my life." He shook his head to knock blond hair off his
forehead as they started a slow circle of the area to make sure it was secure.
Shit. Even if he did tell anyone back at base, which he wasn't inclined to, they'd never believe this.
"It's a problem." He agreed after a minute. Looked thoughtfully up at the sky through his sunglasses. "Course we
could just do a snatch and grab with her. I think we've got a layout of the camp down enough. It should be pretty in
and out." He looked over at his friend. "Seriously, man, have you given her any indication or are you playing stoic and
silent with her too? Hasn't she said anything?"
Hector looked at Swanson over the top of his sunglasses as he bent to adjust some brush. "Sure, she's said some
things." He said. "And why do you guys always jump to the stoic word?" He shook his head.
"Stoic. Definition: someone who can repress emotions and show patient resignation under difficult circumstances.
Basis in Greek, dating back to the philosophers in 300 BC or so that followed the train of thought that God decides
what's best and virtue results in happiness, based on some guy named Zeno who taught at a place called Stoa.
Romans of course screwed with it after they conquered the Greeks, and it became then the calm acceptance of all
occurrences as the unavoidable result of divine will or of the natural order." Swanson was actually a highly literate
man, who absorbed knowledge like a sponge and remembered the interesting things forever. "Yeah, that's you."
"I'm not emotionless." Hector countered, straightening. "and I'm not repressed."
"Sure." Swanson said, treading carefully.
"When we get back to the base, I'm taking away your dictionary." He said.
"You know, Hector is a verb." Swanson said thoughtfully.
"I bet." Hector said. "Does that describe me too?"
"Unfortunately no, your parents named you wrong. To hector someone is to bully them, or dominate them in an
intimidating, blustering way." Swanson said.
"Thank heavens for that." Hector said, shaking his head.
"Course, it’s a famous person's name too."
"Yeah, yeah I know. Oldest son of Priam and Hecuba of Troy, killed by Achilles in the Trojan War according to
Homer." Hector said. "Next?"
"Actually I was thinking of Hector Velazquez. Ranked 21 in boxing. Super featherweight." Swanson stated smugly. Not
at all who he'd been thinking of but it wasn't right to let Hector get away with stealing his thunder that way. "Though
you might want to find out if her name means anything scary."
He glanced over at his friend again before scanning the horizon. He'd hit a freeway sized nerve and as much as it had
made Hector spill a bit, he didn't want to push to hard and have the other Delta close up on him again. It was kind of
nice talking to the guy as if he were human and had all kinds of complicated problems with his emotions too. Hell,
Swanson just thought it was nice he wasn't the one with the problems like usual. Or rather, his problem was French
and a whole lot less fun talking about than Hector's doctor.
"So," Swanson stated mildly. Not about to let himself get distracted. "You going to reach an understanding with either
your doctor or her ex-operative medic friend? Or are we just going to arrange an 'accident' for him?"
"Already reached an understanding with Mike. At least I think. Hard to tell. He's harder to read than me." Hector said,
chuckling. "Super featherweight, huh? Nah, I'm a long way from super feather weight. That's like, what, a hundred
pounds?"
"No, that's the strawweight division. 126 to 130 pounds. You're more...a heavy weight." Figuring his dark friend had to
be over two hundred pounds, even if it was due to height and muscle. "The light end of heavyweight, but a
heavyweight."
"Cool." Hector said, nodding.
"So you going to talk to Andi, or just ride off into the sunset?"
"Sunrise. We're leaving first thing in the morning." Hector corrected, but not answering.
"Hey, can't a guy be cliched without being corrected?"
"Nope."
"So?"
"So what?"
Swanson bit back a groan. If he could pull off the latex trick with Hector to get him to talk, he would. But even that
probably wouldn't work. "Come on. Let's go to the med tent. You got a doctor to talk to, and I got one to give me the
silent treatment."