Chapter 37

CHAPTER 37

Jen

T he next morning, I felt like I was floating on a cloud. My feelings for Mark were sorted out, there was no question anymore, no fear, and I wasn't running away. I wanted to spend the whole night in his arms, but after we had finished at the aircraft we had to come back to the real world for a little while. We each made our way to our assigned barracks for the night. Even though I wasn't able to spend the night in his arms, I still slept peacefully. Knowing that he was mine, and that I was his. I'd never been so smitten.

I stepped outside, stretching as the early morning sun warmed me. My muscles were loose and I was relaxed for the first time in a long time. Outside of the transient barracks were a few picnic tables that everyone tended to congregate around. Mark was out there already. He smiled when he saw me step outside. I practically floated over to him. Remembering where I was, the largest Army base in Afghanistan, I forced myself to behave and sat across from him. I wanted to sit right in his lap and press my lips to his, but that wasn't an option here in broad daylight.

"How'd you sleep?" he asked.

"Amazingly. Only one thing was missing."

"Oh? And what was that?" His sly smile told me he knew exactly what I was talking about. Without waiting for a response, he winked at me, then said, "The others are at chow already, let's go grab some breakfast.

Making our way across the base to the chow hall I discovered a new type of torture. I was no longer denying my feelings to myself. But we still had to keep our relationship a secret from the Army. More than ever I wanted to hold his hand, lean into his shoulder, feel his arm wrapped around me.

The way he smiled as we walked would hold me over. I could see in his eyes he wanted all the same things. It could wait until we were stateside. For now, I could be content with discretion. We were nearing the end of his deployment, but I was still a Captain, and he was a Warrant Officer. We could both get in a lot of trouble, at least while out here. Once stateside, we could sort things out with the Army.

Making our way through the lines, we got our food and moved into the dining hall. We saw our crews sitting together and walked over to join them. I was shocked to see Nick sitting across from Brady and Artie, actually talking and not tossing insults at each other.

"You actually stayed under that fucking cloud bank? The whole way?" Brady asked.

"It was that or go through it. Fuck, you guys went right into it. I thought Apaches were supposed to stay out of the clouds?" Nick asked.

"Little known secret," this came from Artie, "Our Infrared sensor lets us see through the clouds. Usually."

"So you were able to see the whole way?" Nick was solidly impressed.

"Ummmm… Most of the way," Brady confessed.

It was good to see them finally getting along. What happened last night, it buried whatever grudge was left between them. All it had taken was Nick proving he'd go above and beyond for someone other than himself. I knew that Nick would come through in a real emergency, I knew that what had happened with Ross wasn't his fault. But now that he had a chance to prove himself, the others saw it too. I had no doubt moving forward that we would all be one solid team. It was a great feeling.

They all looked up as we sat next to them. "Sarah make it out alright?" Artie asked as I settled in.

"Yeah, thanks to you guys," I told him with a smile. "She called Ariel this morning right before she hopped on the last flight home. Her mom is still holding on, so I think we got her there in time."

"Good," Brady said, shoving oatmeal into his mouth. "Nothing worse than losing someone, when you're over here and can't help or say goodbye." We all nodded in agreement.

"So… How much trouble are you guys going to get into for that stunt?" I asked with a cringe.

Brady snorted, but Mark just grinned. "We'll take care of it. Don't worry."

I had no doubt about that. Something told me Ross was going to have a bad day if he tried to chastise these men for what they'd done. More so, now that I knew Colonel Ortiz the way I did, I was sure that he would handle the paperwork and keep Mark out of any real trouble.

A large hand grabbed my knee under the table and it startled me so badly I jumped, bashing the hand and my knee into the underside.

All three men sitting across from us looked surprised, then almost simultaneously grins spread over their faces. I glared over at Mark, but he was staring down into his plate shaking his head and trying not to laugh. I'd ruined his plan to subtly touch me. Thankfully our guys wouldn't say anything and no one else could see what he was up to.

Mark ran his hand up and down my thigh a few times before letting it settle back above my knee. The others went back to happily chatting about aircraft and the functionality of both. It soon turned into a friendly dick measuring contest about which was better.

"You really can't compare them," I told them. "They both excel in their fields."

Brady scoffed and pointed his spoon at me. "The Apache has better weapons. You guys are stuck with a door gunner. How is that really going to help when you're being shot at?"

"True," I told him. "But what is the Apache going to do when you need to pick up an injured soldier? Or if you have to give someone a ride?"

Brady snapped his mouth closed because I had him there. Sure, if the person was healthy they could have them hang onto the side of the aircraft and lift them out, but it wasn't technically allowed and who wanted to ride like that? Well, other than every man in the army. They would all give their right arm to be able to give it a try.

"That's why we work so well together," Sheppard said, butting in. "We each can complete the tasks the others don't do as well."

Nick and I stared at him wide eyed for a moment. When Brady and Artie nodded in agreement my jaw dropped a bit. This was the first time since being out here I'd heard them say anything positive about the Black Hawk community. Clearly, judging by the look on Nick's face it was the first time hearing it for him as well. I realized that when he said ‘we' he didn't just mean Apache and Black Hawks. He meant me and him.

The awkward moment passed, and the guys went back to talking as they shoved food in their mouths. Mark touched my shoulder and made a motion with his head to follow him.

Getting off the bench, I went over and tossed the remains of my breakfast in the trash, setting the tray on top of the bin and waited as he did the same. "What's up?" I asked as we walked away from the crowd of people in the chow hall.

Mark gave me a probing look as he studied me. "I was just wondering what your plans were once you got home? Stateside."

"Uh. Going back home to Texas, I guess," I told him. Strange how the notion of going home filled me with a sense of sadness. We still had about a month out here, but I found myself wishing I could stay. All I had waiting on me at home was an empty apartment and a narcissistic mother who only called when she needed something.

Mark must have read the look on my face because he nudged me with his shoulder. I focused back on him just in time for him to give me a devious smile. "I hear Texas is nice this time of year."

I frowned. We were about to be heading into the summer months at home. Texas was hot and sweaty this time of year. No one would call it ‘nice'. I laughed and shook my head at him. "Okay, well what are your plans?"

"Originally, I was going to go home to New York. I'm thinking maybe a vacation is what I need though."

"Yeah? Where?" His smile had hope simmering inside my chest.

"I've haven't been to Texas in a long time."

"You'll love it," I told him with a grin. "It's a lot like this place, in fact and you can crash with me." I gave him a quick wink.

He shoved his hands inside his pockets and whistled. "Offering me a place to stay. Who knew you had it in you?" he joked. We both laughed.

What could I say? He had a point. I'd spent the majority of our time here desperately trying to avoid him and my feelings for him. That was the past. I was accepting the way I felt about him with open arms now.

He grinned and nodded. "Then it's a plan. Looks like I'll be visiting Texas."

"Georgetown, Texas," I clarified.

"Well at least you don't live in Killeen." A look of horror flashed over his face. "Or on Fort Hood, itself."

"Oh God, no," I laughed. "I know better than to live on base."

"I knew there was a reason I liked you," he told me with a grin.

"My reasonable nature?"

He gave a mock frown. "Sure, we'll go with that."

I smacked him in the gut. His guys calling his name had us both turning back around. It was time to go back to MES.