Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Jen

M y head was still spinning from the confrontation between Sheppard and Scott. I had to force myself back into the real world so that we could finish up the start sequence on the helicopter and get out of here. I wanted to know what had just happened. Was he in such a hurry to get out of this base that he was willing to fight anyone who delayed him?

Take your hand off my pilot. Is what he'd said. Of course, he also told Scott to stay away from any of his pilots or crew. Had he just claimed me? Or was he this protective of all his team? And why did both answers leave me breathless.

I avoided Sarah's gaze, though it was all but drilling holes in my back. Her and Karolyn's noses had been pressed to the window as Sheppard and I walked back toward the helicopter. They had zero chill and my face was still burning hot at the thought of everyone on the tarmac watching the show we'd put on. What a great way to introduce myself to everyone. Scott had struck again. Would there ever come a day when he didn't materialize out of nowhere to hound and embarrass me? How long would I have to pay for being stupid enough to date him? Stupid enough to trust him.

The last thing I needed was to get caught up with anyone while I was over here. I wouldn't allow it. Scott being here was a huge inconvenience, but he was stuck in Bagram and I'd be half a country away. It was the only thing keeping the agitation at bay. I hated the asshole and was supposed to have a break from having to occasionally see his face on base back home. He wasn't supposed to have been on this deployment. Not that I could do anything about it.

I let Nick handle most of the start-up and fly us out of here. Besides the obvious fact that he knew the area, I was too shaken to take over. Everything that had just happened was confusing and unnerving. I took the scenery in as a way to distract from Sheppard. I refused to moon over the man. The mountains were enormous, and the view was nothing short of breathtaking.

"This is amazing. I've flown through mountains before, but nothing like this," I said.

"Oh yeah, these things are nuts. Some of these peaks are so high that we can't even fly over them, helicopter just won't go that high. Crazy thing is, people live up there," Nick replied, motioning to the top of one of the peaks.

"The buildings? Some of them look centuries old. It feels like we're flying in the literal footsteps of history."

"If you like that, when Chief Asshole back there has one of his rare happy moods, he can tell you all about the history of this land. He knows every inch of the place. Bit of a history buff," Nick commented.

I tried to imagine Sheppard not being a moody jerk. The image wouldn't form. It didn't matter that I'd only seen him for a handful of minutes, the first impression he'd made was rooted deep. For now, I'd take Nick's word for it that Sheppard had good moments.

"And here we are, coming up on home sweet home."

Out on the horizon a military base was coming into view. I could make out the runway and see another helicopter in the distance. Nick reached down and adjusted the radio, tuning in the airfield's radio frequency. The voice that came booming through the speakers was an unexpected and delightful surprise.

"Hey Shep, that you coming back with the new kids?" The voice was female and more than familiar. It was Laura. My best friend since ROTC in college. I knew she was in the country, but things had moved so fast since arrival that I hadn't pieced together that she was up here. Add in the fact that we were originally supposed to be stationed in Bagram for this deployment and this was a nice change of pace. Suddenly I didn't feel so stressed and alone.

"That's right, Captain. We'll be landing in a moment," Sheppard answered. He was much less grumpy when talking with other Apache pilots.

It wasn't easy to ignore the way my belly clenched as his deep voice sounded over the radio. What is wrong with me? I worked around men every day and never had I responded to anyone like this, not even Scott when he'd first approached me. Sheppard's voice alone shouldn't be causing my panties to dampen. Trying to ignore my reaction, I calmed my nerves. Knowing Laura was down there waiting for me helped.

We'd parted ways during flight school. She chose Apache attack helicopters; I chose Black Hawks. She was a captain, same as me, which meant that not only was she part of Sheppard's team, but was technically in charge of him. That would also help keep things civil, I hoped. Despite my bizarre reaction to the man, I hadn't forgotten that there was bad blood between our teams. Enough of it that the former MEDEVAC team had been given the boot.

I should have used this time to pump Nick for information during the flight. Instead, I'd remained mostly quiet, reminding myself what I was here for and what I didn't need in my life. My brain seemed to understand, but the rest of my body was rioting.

"Well, I'll make sure that they get a warm welcome." I could sense something mischievous in her voice. I knew her too well. We still got together for vacations a few times a year, except for when one of us was deployed. The time away and distance never seemed to matter once we saw each other.

We were just lining up with the runway and beginning our approach to land. Laura's helicopter was in front of us, flying low over the runway.

Suddenly flares started shooting out of her helicopter. "Oh no, I forgot to turn my flares off," The voice was new, it must have been Laura's copilot.

"Oh bullshit!" Nick shouted angrily, making me jump. "Every time with these assholes."

My eyebrows shot up as I glanced over at him. He was glaring at Laura's Apache, his face turning as red as an over ripe tomato. I had a feeling I was seeing first hand one of the issues between the old crew and these guys.

When you land at an airfield you're supposed to deactivate your flares. On occasion, the radar equipment on the ground caused them to inadvertently activate, shooting flares into the grass, and starting a fire. Watching Laura's helicopter fire off dozens of flares, it was clear this was no accident. They were hitting the dry grass next to the runway and already flames were licking across the ground.

"Oh oops, they just keep firing off." The man's laughter was barely contained. An area the size of a football field was burning now.

Nick sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to get a hold of himself. "Every time the grass grows back these assholes light it on fire. It's always when I'm landing. Fucking pricks. I swear they just did it to try to pull me into the arguments."

"You stayed out of them?" I asked, curious.

"Yeah, I didn't see the point in causing trouble with the guys who're supposed to watch our asses out there. Unfortunately, the rest of our crew didn't see it that way and the Apache guys are always up for a round or two of fighting. Just the way they are."

Sounded logical to me. No wonder Nick was the only one who was still here while the rest had been shipped off. If he kept his head around these guys and did his job, I was glad to have him on board. I didn't comment again, choosing to remain silent. It wasn't the right time to mention to him that Laura was my friend. Best friend. This deployment is just getting better and better. The sarcasm in that thought was thick. It was only our second day in country and I couldn't seem to catch a break.

We flew over the burning field, landed, and shut down our helicopter. I reached for my bags as we all unloaded our gear and I silently prayed that Laura wouldn't come rushing out here. I wanted to make a good first impression with Nick, and clearly the history between these Apache guys, Nick, and the previous MEDEVAC team was still fresh and unfriendly. As excited as I was to see Laura again, I'd rather have our reunion happen inside, away from everyone else. It didn't matter that we were taking over for the old team, Nick and the previous commander were still here, I needed time to smooth things over.

I looked over to where the Apaches were parked, trying to find Laura. My search was interrupted when I caught sight of Sheppard tying down his aircraft. I didn't mean to stare, but the sight of him in his combat shirt made my mouth go dry, again. His muscles bunched as he worked, it forced me to stop short and take notice. I shook my head, reminding myself that he nearly started a fight with my ex over, well, I don't know what, and that his team just set the airfield on fire in front of me, and was likely a big contributor to whatever ‘problems' the last MED crew had out here.

The squeal that bounced off the pavement and echoed around us had me whirling around in time for Laura to toss her Amazonian body into my arms. I wasn't a tiny woman at five-ten, but she was still a little bigger and the move had me staggering backward into the side of our Black Hawk, even as I wrapped my arms around her. I winced as my body slammed into the metal, but couldn't help but laugh at her enthusiasm.

Her legs locked around my waist and she pulled her head back so she could grin down into my face. "I can't believe you're here! That we're here!"

My gaze slid over to Nick, whose eyes were narrowed on us. The smile I gave him was equal parts apologetic and sheepish. Oh well, the cat was out of the bag.

"Me neither," I replied to her with a laugh. Over her head, I saw the Apache guys she'd been flying with standing next to their aircraft, watching us with grins on their faces. Rolling my eyes, I nodded toward them. "Get off me before they think we're going to give them a show."

She snorted, but hopped off me and back onto the ground. "I have to finish up out here, but then we've got so much to talk about." She took a few steps toward Sheppard, then stopped and spun on one foot. "I heard something happened over in Bagram with Scott…" She trailed off, looking angry. She hated him almost as much as I did.

"Ho-how did you hear that?" I asked, shocked that somehow the news had already made it here. I knew gossip spread as fast as the fire out on the runway while deployed, but this had to be a new record.

She shook her head and smiled. "Apaches communicate faster than anyone else." She winked, with a mischievous look on her face. "One of the guys mentioned that Sheppard handled it." One of her brows arched up. "I can't wait to hear all about that."

I turned around quickly before my blush gave me away, though her laugh told me it was too late. Somehow she already knew there was an attraction there. At least on my side. How did she always know?

We were polar opposites, but God I loved her. She was closer to me than my own sister. I turned and gave Nick another guilty smile. He just shook his head in disappointment, his mouth puckered, looking like he'd been chewing on a lemon, and went back to unloading the aircraft.

So much for that first impression.

Sighing, I hefted my bags over my shoulder and dropped them off in the container that would serve as my room. I eyeballed the space. It was more than enough for us. According to Nick, I'd be sharing it with Laura. That was fine by me. It would give us more time together between missions. There wasn't much time to settle in. I was grateful Laura was still out at her aircraft because, before I did anything else, I needed to go see the Colonel that was in charge of our base and check in. Laura and I had a habit of losing track of time whenever we were together. I was hoping we'd kicked that bad flight school habit, but only time would tell.

"Colonel Ortiz is more relaxed than you might be used to, but don't let his easy nature make you complacent. He will eat you alive if you get out of line," Nick said as I joined him back out in the hallway.

He showed me to the Colonel's office. The door was open, but he still knocked as he walked in. "Sir, this is Captain Walker, our new Pilot in Command and Commander of the MED detachment."

Colonel Ortiz stood up and stretched his arm out. I grabbed his hand and shook. I was grateful that Nick had warned me because the Colonel's easy smile would have confused me without it. Most Colonels usually tried to show what hard asses they could be right out of the gate and then would loosen up over time. They didn't normally shake hands.

"Welcome Captain, we're glad to have you up here. We're short-handed as it is." His deep velvety voice didn't fit with his tall, lanky stature and I had to work to keep my jaw from dropping.

"Well, Sir, I'm looking forward to helping," I replied, respectfully.

"Is this your first deployment, Captain?" he asked me. It was a courtesy question. I didn't have a combat patch on my right arm, so it was easy to see that this was my first.

"Yes, Sir." This was actually nice. I'd been expecting a spiel about the way they do things here. One that was delivered like an ass chewing, even though he knew nothing about me. A dressing down that would hint—without being subtle at all—that I was expected to conform to the way they ran things, without thinking I was special enough to change anything. It's how most introductions with Army Colonels went.

Instead, the Colonel was kind and seemed genuinely interested in learning more about me. Like I said, it was nice, but it also made me feel odd. The ass chewing was expected; this threw me off my game a bit.

"This is going to be different than they told you. The whole task force is spread thin. We have aircraft all around the country at various Forward Operating Bases, or FOBs. Normally, you would be here with your standard MEDEVAC team and MED chase, a second Black Hawk crew, but we can't afford to double up. Instead your chase bird will either be a Chinook or an Apache. You'll fly with them or, when they don't have a mission, they'll fly with you."

"Sir, that's…unusual". More like virtually unheard of. "The Chinooks shouldn't be a problem, they're faster than we are, but the Apaches, they can be quite a bit slower. That could be a real problem."

"It could be. Likely it will be. But you can't fly solo, it's too dangerous, and the Chinooks won't always be available. It's something you guys will have to work out."

I bit my lip trying to think it through. You didn't have time on a MEDEVAC call to wait for a slow aircraft. The Colonel was right though, flying solo was very dangerous. Insurgents took every opportunity to shoot rocket propelled grenades, RPGs, at any helicopters flying alone. When we needed to land we always took an Apache with us to cut down on the likelihood of attack. At the moment I didn't see a solution to the problem, but I hoped something would come to me. The Colonel wasn't done talking, so I focused back on him.

"Your team will also be covering the CSAR mission."

"Sir?" I asked. CSAR was Combat Search and Rescue. It was a dedicated team, usually run by the Air Force, that looked for pilots that had been forced to land in hostile territory, whether it was due to mechanical problems or being shot down.

"You are CSAR trained, right?"

"Yes, sir, I've been through the training and certification, it's just that I've never heard of being assigned to both MEDEVAC and CSAR at the same time."

"Now you have. Parked next to your MEDEVAC aircraft is a HH-60 Black Hawk with mounted door guns and a hoist similar to the one in your MEDEVAC aircraft. If you're called out for a search and rescue, something we all hope never happens, then you'll take that bird, and your crew chief and medic become door gunners."

"Understood, Sir." Already this was becoming more complicated than any plans I'd had.

"Have you met the Chinook or Apache crews yet?" he asked

"I haven't met the Chinooks, the Apaches… sort of."

He laughed. It wasn't hard to see that he knew what they'd done. He also didn't seem to be in a hurry to chastise them. Having leadership that took a more hands off approach was going to be a nice change of pace. Then again, maybe if he'd been more involved, the problems between the helicopter communities might have been shut down before they got too bad. What I thought didn't matter. He was in charge here, and all I could do was take orders and hope I could help mend the rift.

"The Apache crews here are solid, and they won't disappoint you, on mission," he assured me.

On mission? What the hell did that mean? It looked like everyone was used to the Apache crews' antics. Off mission, they'll just set the airfield on fire for funsies and start fights with your ex. Out loud I said, "Good to know, sir." With that introduction over with, I headed back to my room to start unpacking and get some rest.