"Stop it." Andi commented mildly.
"Stop what?" Suzette asked.
"Hovering."
"Certainly am not." Suzette answered, turning in her chair to point a fork threateningly at the taller doctor.
"Mm." Andi commented and walked over to the other side of the desk to pick up a report. A moment later, Suzette
rolled her chair over as well.
"Am not." She stated firmly as Andi's lips curved silently.
"Did you want to ask or were you just going to follow me around the rest of the day?" Andi asked mildly, looking
through reports.
"I have no idea what you're talking of." Suz found her salad much more interesting apparently and Andi nodded.
"Oh. Good."
There was a long stretch of silence filled with the sound of shifting papers.
"I'm not going to ask." Suzette repeated.
"Good." Andi agreed.
More silence.
"Because I am hardly one of the vulgar crowd." Suzette asserted.
"Yeah." Andi agreed. Pulling a pen from behind her ear to make some notations on a report.
"I know there is no need to make sure you have nothing desperate or dangerous planned."
"Mm hm." Andi agreed, scribbling a note.
"That you know this is c'est la vie."
"C'est la gare." Andi corrected. Suzette snorted.
"Only you English compare romance and war."
"What can I say? We're optimists." Andi flashed the smaller woman a smile and then went back to her work. Walking
over to the other side of the desk to look at a list of supplies. A moment later Suzette's chair made the journey as well.
"So you are 'okay' with this?" the French woman asked.
"I think, given the supplies on hand, it’s the proper treatment. If antibiotics don't clear it up, we can see about trying
something more specific."
Suzette rolled her eyes.
"About your soldier. He is leaving."
"Yes." Andi agreed calmly again. Suzette threw up her hands.
"I worry about you." She exclaimed. "So much you say he makes you happy and now I think maybe not so much."
"He does make me happy." Andi clarified. Finally taking pity on Suz, she tucked the pen back behind her ear and
looked down at her friend. "But there's nothing I can do. I'm not very experienced at this type of thing so I've decided
instead of going with hysterics, I'm just going to do my job."
"Oh." Suzette said. Not sure whether that was a good thing or not. She certainly didn't want her friend hurt. The
sooner these soldiers were out of the camp the better. Then it would be over and they could all go back to normal.
Except...
Andi walked over to one of the cabinets and pulled down a few bottles, checking their labels.
A moment later, Suzette rolled her chair over.
Swanson paused outside the tent. "You ready?"
"Stop making such a big deal out of it." Hector said, annoyed. It wasn't Swanson's to make a big deal out of in the first
place.
"Big deal out of what? So do I need to bring a handkerchief or a box of Kleenexes or something?"
"I'm going to beat the shit out of you." Hector said, shaking his head.
"You can try." Swanson taunted as they walked through the open flaps of the med tent, talking to the men inside
before looking for Andi. At least he was sure that was Hector's plan.
"I think you should cut everything off." Suzette said. "Tell him good bye, but don't write. Long distance relationships
are impossible. It’s not like you're from his hometown where he will return on leave, after all."
"Mm." Andi commented. Her comment for all the suggestions Suzette had finally decided to come out with in the last
five minutes. She couldn't tell if Suz just couldn't keep it all in anymore or sensed the approach of impending doom
and was desperately trying to shout helpful suggestions over its approaching roar. She seriously debated the
possibility of both because it amused her while sorting through the meds she'd set out on the table.
Thinking uncharitable thoughts about 'all-American hometown' girls.
"You know I am right." Suzette stated, folding her arms under her chest.
"Mm." Andi offered, long fingers sorting bottles into sections.
"You must give him up 'cold turkey' as they say." Suzette watched her friend ignore her. Added in the same tone: "Or
have the wild monkey love sex and get it out of your Puritan system."
"Mm." Andi commented. Suzette threw her fork and Andi raised an arm automatically to block it. Shooting Suz a
laughing look from the corners of her eyes.
"You!" Suzette laughed. "You I can do nothing with. I do not know why I even attempt such things."
"Me either." Andi agreed with a grin before raising her head to look as the tent flap was moved aside and figures
walked into the dimmer interior. Even across the space, her eyes met Hector's and the smile went softer and warmer
and welcoming.
"Mon Dieu." Suzette muttered under her breath.
In the same near silent tone, Andi cheerfully reminded her:
"Wild monkey love."
"I don't know about you two." Swanson said, shaking his head, catching the look.
"That's because it's none of your business." Hector said with a grin. Swanson sighed. The wall came back down. He
knew it would sooner or later.
"I'll tell the guys." Swanson volunteered with resignation.
"Just don't want to earn your Purple Heart today?" Hector teased, spotting Suzette near Andi.
"More like a black eye." Swanson mumbled as he headed over to the Rangers, Hector's chuckle following him. But
that's all that followed him because Hector was headed in the opposite direction toward the medication section.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Suzette said politely. "We have no heavy lifting for you today."
"Good, cause I'm in a lazy mood." He said with a slow grin.
"Hi there." It was silly to feel that lift in her chest just because he'd come over. But she had anyway and it softened
everything inside her. Including the smile she gave him. As if he was the only one in the world. Because, right now, he
was. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and looked up at him. Loving that lazy rogue grin of his.
"Come to rescue me from nosey friends and back breaking labor, have you?" She asked. Eyes laughing. "Please say
'yes'."
He had already learned to love that smile, and he wondered (hoped) if it was just for him. Unlike other smiles, it
started at her eyes and worked its way across her face. He was going to miss that. He was going to miss her.
But they still had till morning, that would have to be enough, now wouldn't it?
"I don't know, you know I get paid to save the world, right?" He teased. "So what kind of bribe do I get for saving one
woman?"
Andi's brows came down and she appeared to give it some thought.
"Well..." she paused. Absently unwinding one hand enough to curl her fingers in the close cut hair at the back of his
head. Her eyes met his. Serious. "The obstacles are a bit more difficult than you're used to. Even with special training
it might be a tough job." Andi lowered her voice conspiratorially and brought her lips close to his ear to softly state:
"Why, just Suzette on her own is very fierce." Suzette made a noise that might have been protest or agreement. Andi
grinned. "I would definitely demand hazard pay at the very least." She told him seriously. Before pulling back to look
up at him and added blithely: "Mike says you usually get paid 'peanuts', so can I start by upping the pay to lunch and
going from there? I absolutely cannot possibly burn anything this time around."
"Actually I get paid bubkes, that's a step up from peanuts." He said with a laugh and glanced over at Suzette. "I don't
know if I want to take on a woman who has one of my boys cowering..." He said, making a big show of thinking her
offer over.
"As he should." Suzette added, raising her chin a notch there, which made Hector raise an eyebrow.
"But the obstacles aren't so bad. Watch." He said and took her hand off the back of his neck, still held it, and started
to stride out of the med tent, her in tow. "See? That wasn't so bad."
Andi laughed, twining her fingers through his while she reached out with the other hand on the way past and grabbed
their lunch. Waving around it to Molly who was grinning and waving vigorously from where she'd been checking IVs to
the side.
In the tent, Suzette had started after them too late with her admonishments and stopped herself about halfway to the
exit. Thinking Andi was going to forget her duties tonight and it would all be that soldier's fault. She put her hands on
her hips and shot Molly a glare for being so cheerful and gusty about the 'romance' of the situation.
"That's going to be trouble." Swanson commented from where he was already standing next to the French doctor.
Suzette agreed but wouldn't give him that satisfaction.
"At least he knows what he wants." She stated sharply. Swanson shot her a look.
"At least she doesn't have claws." He retorted. Suzette gifted him with a look from under her lashes.
"Every woman has claws, chere." She purred. "Its just a matter of how she chooses to use them." Then she turned on
her heel and walked back to the back of the tent.
Swanson glared once more at Suzette as she walked off and shook his head, thinking to himself, maybe it would have
done Suzette some good to see Hector and Andi get all 'kissy faced' in front of her. At least it would have made
Swanson laugh.
"Such a clever plan." Andi teased, still laughing as the sunlight hit her face and she blinked her eyes to adjust them.
"Cunning, courageous and decisive all at the same time." She came even with Hector and shot him a grin. "Do they
train you especially for strategy like that or was it instinctive?"
"Carefully, carefully trained at the knee of my grandfather. He was big on saving damsels in distress." Hector said with
a grin.
"Was he really?" Andi asked curiously, looking at Hector with a smile. Wondering if he had somewhere specific in
mind he was headed to or just 'elsewhere'. "Do you know where you're going?" She asked for clarification, trying not
to sound too amused, looking over her shoulder at where they'd already passed. And then, to add yet another
question to the list, she added: "And was your grandmother one of those 'damsels'?"
"Grandma? Hell no." He said with a chuckle. "Grandma bailed Grandpa out of a bar fight when he bit off more than he
could chew. Turned on the old Southern charm, talked her way out of it, smiled sweetly, dragged him outside and
smacked him for even getting into that on the first date. Grandpa says at that moment, as he saw stars, he knew it
was love. Grandma said she just enjoyed him making it up to her." He chuckled again and looked around. "No clue.
Why? Any suggestions?"
She laughed and gave his hand a light tug, turning toward one of the tents they were passing.
"I had not idea being knocked about affected the males in your family that way. Maybe I really should have clocked
you after all last night." She shot him a laughing look before pushing aside the tent flap she'd stopped in front of. It
was another supply tent but one that held most of their electronic spares. The fabric they used on the tent was the
same kind they used in the clinic, designed to keep the heat out and what little cool there was in. She came here for
privacy herself from time to time. Not a lot of call for replacement parts on a daily basis. "So what's the difference
between this 'Southern' charm I hear all about and 'Northern' charm?" She asked him with a grin.
"There is no such thing as Northern charm, no matter what they say." Hector said with a laugh. "So that's the
difference, us Southern men are naturally charming and the northern ones have to work at it. Poor suckers." He said,
inhaling the cooler air of the equipment tent. It was a stark change from outside, bright and hot, to cool and dim.
"So you were really going to clock me last night." He said, still chuckling. "Good to know. Now I know what buttons to
push."
"Well, if you'd told me that was the fastest way to the heart of all the males in your family, maybe I would have." She
commented mildly in reference to hitting him. Hand still in his as she started to weave her way through the stacks of
gear. "It would have saved me the trouble of cooking for you and astonishing you with my amazing ability to be
distracted."
"Well, Garrett men also never make it easy." He said, chuckling. "Besides, food's also a good way, considering the
crap I usually eat when I'm off base. And, gotta admit, I really like that I'm such an object of distraction. That's
definitely a highlight for me, let's me know the easiest way to get to you...all I gotta do is distract you." Even as, in his
internal clock, he could feel the seconds count down to when he'd have to leave. And no amount of distraction or
smacking could change that deadline.