Swanson went into the warehouse where the men slept and saw Suzette...standing there.
"You look a little lost." He said from behind her. "Forget the way to the infirmary, or the shower? Or who knows, the
rifle range?"
Suzette glared at Swanson.
"Why is it you Americans must have everything the same?" She demanded. Swanson's eyebrows jerked upward
and suspicions filled his eyes again.
"Why?" He asked, voice a smooth melt of honey. "You looking for someone in particular?"
"Oui." Suzette answered calmly. "I am looking for that Hector's locker. We are going to search it."
"Oh are 'we'?" Swanson chuckled, folding his arms across his chest and leaning back on one of the struts of a
nearby bunk. "And why would we do that?"
Suzette was circling slowly and, he had to admit, not all that far off from his fellow Delta's footlocker. Damned
feminine intuition or something.
"Because we must be assured he is not harboring intentions." Suzette stated, frowning at the lockers. And now
seemed to be using the 'we' in royal terms, Swan thought.
"I'm not letting you go through my friend's stuff." He stated calmly. More than willing to enforce it in hand to hand if
that's what it came to. Suzette rolled her eyes.
"You are not going to 'let' me, Robert." She informed him. "You are going to help me."
"I am?" He asked, nerves on high alert now that she'd used his first name. She gave him a smile that didn't help
settle him at all, so smug and slow and sure of herself.
"Of course." She purred. "We are going to see if he has a ring."
"Why are we doing that?" He asked against his better judgement. Suzette locked eyes with him and her face was
suddenly worried and vulnerable and a little bit scared.
"Because, chere," She told him softly. "He has told my Andi that he loves her."
"He's done - " Swanson cut himself off as his eyes went wide. And then the implication of why Suzette was hunting
for a ring sank in as well. "Shit." He managed. "You don't think - shit."
"My thoughts". Suzette admitted, glaring fiercely at the footlockers in front of her again.
Suzette sat back next to Swanson as well, shoulder to shoulder. Looking at the footlocker in front of them. She
sighed. Not content with their lack of find. She still had a sneaking suspicion. That Delta moved so fast! As if he
didn't understand the way a relationship was supposed to go at all.
"You searched the rolled socks?" She asked.
"Yep." Swan nodded. Feeling more than a little unsettled himself. After a minute, he asked: "Checked in the shoes?"
"Oui." Suzette agreed. There was a long pause.
"We should check under the mattress." Swanson decided and Suzette was on her feet as fast as he was.
"I know I like the sound of that." Hector said, ignoring everyone else in the room. Wasn't hard, they all just blended
into the background when she was there. "Come on, I was good the entire time I was untied. I didn't hoard any
silverware, or threaten anyone...." He was cajoling her, no doubt.
Swanson lifted the mattress and set it on the floor. "I cannot believe I'm doing this." He said as he started to rifle
through the scattered things stuck in the springs of the bunk. "You're a bad influence. He will kill me if he ever finds
out."
Leaning over him, Andi softened. She knew what he was doing but it did very little to make her immune to it. It
probably didn't bode well for her if she was this helpless already. She lowered her head again. Rubbed her nose
lightly against the side of his.
"Have I mentioned you're evil?" She asked quietly, lips curving at their edges. Her lips brushed his. Almost a kiss
but she wouldn't settle. Almost but not quite. Teasing. "Just one hand?" She bargained, lips touching his without
committing. "So you can eat what I brought you?"
"Feh." Suzette waved a hand distractedly while she searched the corners of the sheets where they formed pockets
for the edges of the mattress and then gave his pillow a thorough pat down. "We will tell him Andi did this." She
stated without guilt. "Looking for something for him."
"Andi jimmied the lock on his footlocker?" Swanson asked pointedly as he scowled at the quarter he'd found.
Suzette made the kind of sound that indicated he was getting caught up on unnecessary details and ran her fingers
along the seam of the mattress checking for intentional tears and hiding spots.
"Ooh, you brought me food?" He said with a chuckle. "Might need two hands for that, would hate to cause a mess
and all." He had had that taste of minimal freedom in the infirmary to not manipulate for it again. Besides, by the
time he managed to drag himself out of the bed, rip out the IVs and get himself steady enough to walk, he was sure
someone would be able to drag his sorry ass back to bed, whether he wanted that or not.
"There is no ring." Swanson said. "Where would he get one anyway? Hello, we're out in the middle of nowhere and
he's been laid up for the past few days, not to mention busy before that. And what's wrong with him having a ring
anyway?" He asked, getting defensive for Hector, since he wasn't here to defend himself.
"Two hands?" Andi smiled against him. "Now you're just being greedy." But she gave in enough to press a soft kiss
to his lips before straightening back up. Tucking one of her legs up under her and settling in comfortably, she
efficiently picked one of his restraints free before leaning down to pull the bag she'd brought with her into her lap.
Pretending not to notice when Hector went for the other strap.
"Sandwiches." She stated, lifting them out to set them on Hector's chest. "Pat was nice enough to help me make
them." Potter made a sneezing noise.
"Sorry." He apologized. "Thought you used 'Patrick' and 'nice' in the same sentence."
"Where'd you get tomatoes?" Cara asked as Andi handed her one of the sandwiches.
Suzette gave up in her search and looked at Swanson as if he'd just told her he believed the world was flat. A
blank, uncomprehending 'you've got to be kidding' look.
"You do not seriously believe he just decided he loves her, do you?" she asked. "Or that a man like him would not
be able to find a ring if he wanted to?" She didn't even answer why it was wrong of Hector to actually be thinking of
having the ring in the first place.
And Hector did just that when he had a free hand, he quickly undid the one holding his other hand down. See,
before he couldn't do that, because he had someone laying on his free arm.
"Seems Andi has designed a new ranger trick." Hector said with a chuckle as he sat up a bit more and placed the
bag on his lap instead of his chest. "Gotta teach me that one." He said with a wink as he unwrapped a sandwich.
"Well, there's no ring." Swanson said, taking the mattress easily from Suzette and hefting it back onto the top bunk
and trying to right everything again. He had to figure out the lock on the foot locker...but he was sure he had time to
do that. "So calm down."
Potter took the sandwich Andi offered him, realizing that it had bacon in it and he could have sworn the cooks told
him they were out of bacon just this morning. Noticing the way the two people on the bed sat so they were angled
facing each other, outer thighs touching unconsciously despite the fact they were still open enough to be talking to
the other people in the room. Just barely of course, Potter thought as he settled back in his chair.
As an MP he'd hauled a lot of soldiers in for a lot of reasons. He'd taken on Garrett several times himself as well.
But he never would have guessed at this one. Not in a million years. Guy should have gotten himself shot a long
time ago if this was the result.
"It’s easy, really." The willowy doctor was cheerfully telling the Delta. She fluttered her lashes over those large and
suddenly liquid eyes of hers that she had focused on Hector and in a slightly wistful voice, complete with almost
impossible to hear sigh, added: "Cor, gov'nr, an' I did so 'ave me 'eart set on a bite o' porker."
"Mon Dieu." Suzette all but collapsed onto the bottom bunk as she sat down. Looking - vastly relieved. And maybe
just a bit scared, Swanson thought before he raised an eyebrow at her.
"It's not really that bad." He commented, giving the mattress one more push to fit it into place and then sitting down
next to her on the bottom bunk. She rubbed her hand across her forehead.
"He moves so fast." She stated. As if still getting over the shock of it. "Much too fast."
Hector laughed at her vocal antics, the rest of the people in the infirmary (Clara, who was busy with her normal
work, and Potter, who was trying to ignore them a bit too) fading off into the back of his consciousness. He ate his
sandwich, it was definitely better than the slop he had eaten earlier.
"Treatment like this, might make me be able to tolerate being a patient." He said with a smile.
"Okay." Swanson said. "The guy's drugged. He's sedated to the point of being actually pretty woozy. We shouldn't
hold anything he says against him. Besides, yeah he's moving fast, but who's the one that dropped everything and
moved into our infirmary?"
"You're such a liar." She laughed. leaning forward to press a kiss to the tip of his nose. Not that she didn't think he
appreciated the sandwich but she didn't believe anything would make him more accepting of his position as a
patient. And she didn't believe for an instant that he wasn't already plotting his great escape either. She was
learning that the more Hector was being co-oporative and tractable, the more likely it was he was plotting how to do
things his own way. For tonight at least, with his side the way it was however, she thought they should be fairly safe.
One could hope at least.
She handed him his water pointedly.
"But it wouldn't hurt you to take advantage of the situation while you can" she told him, going through the bag to
sort through the other things she'd brought, eyes on what she was doing instead of him. "After all, when you're well
enough to leave here, it means I have to go back to my own camp."
"So you're hinting that I should milk this for all its worth?" Hector asked with a chuckle. That would be a new
experience to say the least. But he did keep his mouth shut that according to him at least, he was well enough to
leave the infirmary and return to the barracks. "I think I can do that. For a bit anyway."
"That's the spirit." Andi flashed him a smile, leaning forward to kiss him again. Because it was the truth. She
shouldn't even be here now but they were letting her get away with it. When he was well enough to get up and move
back to his bunk, she knew for a fact she wouldn't be allowed to curl up next to him in the barracks. So he wasn't
the only one milking this for all it was worth.
Though she would have preferred a different reason.