Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

Mark

T he stories continued around the fire and everyone was looking pretty relaxed an hour or so later when Jen's medic, Sarah, came up and sat by us. She was slouching a bit more than usual. I hadn't realized up until right now that she had barely been outside with us. She pulled a chair in between me and Jen. She was perched on the edge of the chair and kept rubbing her neck and arms. She was uncomfortable. Given the way she usually blushed when she saw Santos I would have figured she'd find her way nearer to him. This was a dead giveaway that something was up.

Jen had noticed, too. I turned in my chair to face her fully. "Sarah, Sweetie, are you ok?"

I almost never used the word ‘sweetie' when talking to a woman. Especially when talking to a soldier. I didn't want anyone to think I was talking down to them or being fifty years out of place with my language. Right now was a little different. Sarah was almost young enough to be my daughter. And although I didn't have kids of my own, her unease was igniting a paternal instinct that I didn't know I had. She looked so confused and unsure of herself.

Sarah turned and looked at me. "I'm… I just-" She kept rubbing her neck with one hand, with the other she reached across her chest and held her elbow. It was a self-soothing gesture and something I'd seen before. Too many times before. I had a feeling I knew what was going on. Hope that I was wrong bounced around inside my chest.

"What happened, Sweetie?"

She shifted uneasily, but finally met my eyes. "I was alone in the Tactical Operations Center; Brady came in…" There was confusion and unease in those blue depths.

Jen started to stand up, her expression filling with rage. I looked her in the eye and held up a hand, motioning for her to wait, and to sit back down. The look on her face said I had about three seconds to explain why she shouldn't castrate Brady.

I moved around and kneeled in front of Sarah. It was a weird feeling; Sarah was so tall that, from a kneeling position I had to crane my neck to make eye contact. Not a normal thing for me. I reached forward and grabbed her hand gently. I placed one of mine over and one under and held it, looking her in the eye. Her other hand was still rubbing her neck. "Honey, did he come in carrying an accordion?"

She nodded in misery. Jen's head snapped up and she looked around in confusion at the others around the campfire. When no one looked alarmed she turned her attention back to Sarah, imminent rage replaced with utter bafflement. Artie, Santos, and Ty knew where this was going. I heard Artie whisper-shout to Santos. "Dude, you didn't warn her?"

"I-I didn't think..."

"Dude, it's Brady. Everything concerning Brady needs to come with a warning."

I tried to ignore them and continued, "Did he play it for you?" She nodded. "Did he look you in the eye while he played it?" She bobbed her head again. "Did he look at you like he was disgusted, like it was your fault this was happening?" Tears and confusion welled in her eyes as she nodded for the last time

I let go of her hand and leaned back on my heels. She drew her knees into her chest and shuddered. I looked at Jen, who was now looking between me and Sarah, mouth hanging open.

It took all my control to keep from laughing at the look on Jen's face. I took in a deep breath and let out an exaggerated sigh. Brady was an odd man, but a good one. Goodish. He was a close friend of mine and we liked to give him tons of shit for his idiosyncrasies. I'd found myself, more than once, having to explain to other normal people why Brady did the things he did. Luckily, he was pretty happy-go-lucky. He was intense as hell, but typically cheerful about it. He did have one peculiar quirk that stood out amongst the others.

"First off, welcome to Operation Vigilant Guardian. It's not official until Brady shames you with the accordion. You're one of us now. Second, no amount of showers will ever truly make that shame go away."

"It's been three months for me and I still sometimes cry in the shower," Ty said.

The men sitting around the fire chuckled in unison. Most of them had already had this happen to them. It was a time honored tradition at this point. I didn't miss the expression on Santos's face as he stared at Sarah. Looked like I wasn't the only one interested in one of the women here.

I looked at Jen and explained, "It's a perverse form of dominance. Brady took a lot of bruises as a kid for playing the accordion. He loves playing it, but he can't get past his shame for loving it. So, in true Brady fashion, he puts that shame on others, and he's good at it."

Jen stared at me, mouth still hanging wide open. She looked at Sarah, who was now relaxing, but still rubbing herself randomly as though she could wipe off the unease.

She looked back at me. "What the literal fuck is wrong with you Apache guys?"

That got another round of laughter from the others, but I ignored her. I glanced over my shoulder and shouted, "Brady!"

He burst through the door looking left and then right, wide eyed and poised like he was looking for trouble. Anyone who didn't know him would think this was unusual. For the rest of us, we knew this was his typical way of entering a space. I stood up.

"What!" he barked.

"Bread. Apology bread." I folded my arms over my chest and glowered at him.

"Fuck off, I ain't apologizing to some West Point shithead who thinks…"

Freezing, I groaned inwardly. "Not him," I growled. God help me, I don't want to know who he's talking about. I motioned to Sarah.

"What? I didn't do nothing." But Brady bent his head and kicked at the dirt with the toe of his boot as he said it. Like a little kid caught throwing rocks at passing cars.

I raised my arm and pointed at him. "Bread. Now, Squeeze Box Sissy." He'd admitted to me once that was one of the nicknames he'd been given as a kid.

That was all it took. His chest bowed out in defiance, an attempt to distract from the watering in his eyes. He grunted, turned, and stormed off.

Sitting back down, I turned to Sarah and Jen. They were doing their best interpretation of a fish. Their mouths kept opening and shutting, but no noise was coming out. Jen had managed to raise her arm and point in Brady's direction, her face asking ‘what the fuck just happened?'

"Don't ask, and don't try to understand. Pretty soon he's going to bring you the best loaf of bread you've ever eaten." They kept staring, clearly unsure how to proceed. "Freshly baked bread. Trust me. After the bread you'll forget all the weirdness and he'll never harass you with the accordion again."

Sarah's smile was bright enough to have us all returning it. "Thank God for small miracles. I don't think I could endure that noise...or that look, again. It was so…persistent. Like he was trying to burrow into my soul."

Santos nodded. "We've all had that unpleasant experience. We get it. Oh, and don't ask how he makes the bread either, none of us have figured it out. Especially because it comes so fast. Just be happy with the fact that you've never tasted anything that amazing," Santos added, with a smile for Sarah. She blushed and looked at the fire, slowly returning back to her normal, shy self.

Jen and Sarah relaxed, still perplexed, but happy and smiling. Karolyn shifted uneasily, reminding me that she was still there. She'd been quiet during the entire situation with Brady and the accordion. A devious look flashed over her face. She was clearly trying to figure out how to become the center of attention again, but it was too late. I was focused on Jen now and wasn't about to lose that, and Santos had scooted closer to engage Sarah in conversation. Artie and Ty kept telling stories, loud enough to drown Karolyn out. Likely picking up on the fact that I wanted to talk to Jen alone, but this was as alone as we would get.

With everyone playing musical chairs, I took the opportunity to sit next to Jen once again. I reached out and nudged her to get her to focus on me and not the fire. My knuckles brushed against her skin, causing her to jump slightly, and I swear, even through the firelight I could see a slight blush on her cheeks and goosebumps on her skin. I suppressed the urge to do it again. She covered her shock and embarrassment with an impassive mask and gave me her full attention.

"We don't have any planned missions tomorrow, and barring any emergency calls for you guys it should be a quiet day. Why don't we plan on a flight tomorrow after lunch? We can give you a proper local area orientation. You guys kind of got dropped into the fire and never had a chance to really see the area."

A few strands of hair were hanging loose from her ponytail, framing her face, forcing my attention to zero in on her lips. I squeezed the elbow rest on my chair to keep my hand from coming up and brushing aside a strand that was caught on her lower lip. I ground my teeth slightly when her own hand came up and did what I wanted to. Once the hair was gone, she licked her lips. The move was sexy as hell, though she clearly had no idea how she was affecting me.

Hesitantly, she said "Yeah, that would be good. Nick already knows the area but it would be good for the rest of us. Thank you."

The scent of fresh bread floated through the air. Jen and Sarah's heads popped up and followed the scent. Brady was back, holding a plate with a small loaf on it. He walked over and handed it to Sarah. Staring at the ground he mumbled, "Sorry for the accordion earlier."

"It's okay, thank you." She reached out and grabbed the tray. Brady handed her a knife to cut it with and then slunk back to the office. Sarah cut a few pieces, handed one to Jen and took another for herself.

"Oh my God, mmmm. This is sooo good," Jen moaned in shock as she tasted the slice. My mouth went dry watching her enjoy it. I swallowed painfully, trying not to stare. "What is this? Jalapeno? And it's so warm. Seriously, this is amazing, how does he-"

"Don't ask," I croaked out. I fumbled for a bottle of water and took a big chug, trying to rehydrate my mouth. Watching a woman eat bread had never turned me on before now, so while my brain was a little confused, my dick was fully on board. It kicked beneath my shorts and I had to lean forward, elbows on my knees, to hide it from her. "We don't know, but it's always on demand if you need it."

"You're right, Chief, this is delicious. Mmmmm." A loud, obnoxious groan split the air. Jen and I blinked at each other a few times, then turned in unison to Karolyn. She was making a display of her slice. It looked like she was trying to make out with it. I turned back to Jen in time to see her shaking her head in bemusement.

"I think we're going to turn in," Jen said, standing up. "Let's go ladies."

Watching her walk away, I was torn. I was grateful she was taking Karolyn with her, but it would have been nice if Jen had stuck around longer. I settled back in my chair, arms positioned to hide my hard-on. Whether I was tired or not, I was going to be stuck here for a while.