'A Crush On You' Author: Hugo "Animal" Chikamori E-mail: hchikamori@yahoo.com Rating: PG-13 Classification: Animal/Other R; Harm/Mac R...(possible Meg/Animal R...I don't know yet.) Spoilers: None, except whatever comes out of Animal's demented mind... Summary: Animal's getting tired of being single...and a crush develops between him and an enlisted navy female petty officer. Author's note: Disclaimers: The characters Harm Rabb, Jr., Sarah Mackenzie, AJ Chegwidden, et al. belong in concept if not name) to CBS/Bellisarius. No profit is being made from this story, nor is any infringement intended. -------------------------------------------------------------- Part 1/???? Petty Officer 2nd Class Eileen Forrest sighed as she put away another file. A petite brunette with dark eyes, deep enough to melt in, and a cheerfully perky smile, she was pixie-ish on the cuteness factor. At least 99.9% of the time she could be counted on to be cheerful, but today was a stretch. Lieutenant Commander Kimberly Benton had dumped at least sixty files on her at about 4:30 in the afternoon and told her to file to her heart's content. A great excuse for almost losing her cool and going 'postal'. Petty Officer 3rd Class Danyelle Parker grinned as she walked past Eileen with a cup of coffee. "Life not getting any easier? Eileen." PO3 Parker asked. "No..." Eileen grumbled. "Another forty-nine files to go..." Eileen said as she jammed another file 'Burrows' between Burroughs and Campbell which happened to be the other file. DAMNIT...MISFILE!!! Yanking out Commander Dale Campbell's file, she correctly filed it in the 'C's. She was just about ready to throw up her hands and give up when Danyelle inhaled audibly. That caught Eileen's interest. "You hear about the new commander?" Danyelle hissed in a stage-whisper. "Harm, So, how is your investigations going with Mac. Seems like VF-14 has had it's share of the operational accidents." The two officers walked in. Eileen inhaled. Both of them were cute. The senior officer was asian, a commander in rank and YOUNG! Not much older than herself. The other was so tall and handsome. They both had gold wings on their uniforms. Both were pilots. Eileen resisted inhaling her breath again sharply. "Will you take a look at those two..." Danyelle hissed. "I'd like to make some sweet music with that tall Lieutenant Commander." She grinned back at Eileen. Eileen tried to choke down a snort of laughter. Danyelle could be counted on to always elicit some lascivious comment. "Get a grip on yourself, Danyelle..." Eileen said. "If those officers..." "Excuse me...Petty Officer." A voice in front of her said. Eileen looked up, startled to see a set of khakis, their collar -points showing commander's pins. "SIR!!!" Eileen snapped to attention as did Danyelle, who had by this time, thankfully, bitten her tongue. Eileen looked up into the slightly amused face of Commander Hugo "Animal" Chikamori, she could see that by the name-tag. "Do you usually work this late?" he asked. "Yes, sir." Eileen answered 'His cologne, his eyes..." she thought to herself. Blushing furiously, she tried to cover her interest. If her back hadn't been against that filing cabinet, she would have slid to the floor, for the lack of support her legs were giving her. "I'll have to see about that..." Animal replied, looking over at Harm. "Those files can wait until tomorrow. Why don't you and the PO3 go home. Relax. It's too nice of an afternoon to be hanging out here." Animal grinned a wide charming grin that caused Eileen's legs to turn to water. "But, sir...Lieutenant Commander Benton wanted..." Eileen protested. "Lieutenant Commander Benton just loves to hand out work." Animal grinned. "It just so happens that I have her slotted for hops all day tomorrow. So with any luck, you won't see hide or hair of her until day after tomorrow." Harm grinned. He liked the way that Animal ran his squadron. Tight but not taut. Relaxed, yet efficient. And Lieutenant Commander Benton was starting to get quite hard-assed. Maybe she did have to learn to ease off a bit. "Thank you, sir." Eileen said. If only she could...'snap out of it, Eileen, you can't ask an officer if he would be interested in going out with you...you'll just end up on charges of fraternization with an officer and a charge of conduct unbecoming. You'll end up destroying his career as well as your own.' The arguments tumbled through her mind as she gathered her purse. As they headed towards the main gate and the bus-loop, PO2 Eileen Forrest was told by PO3 Danyelle Parker, "I think the commander was checking out your body. Eileen. He's cute. So's the Lieutenant Commander. The Lieutenant Commander is a dream... if...only..." Eileen winced. "Shut up...Danyelle." "You must like him..." Danyelle continued, prodding her friend. "He wouldn't get you so hot and bothered if he didn't arouse you." "Danyelle!!!" Eileen growled. "What?" "SHUT UP!!!" Danyelle grinned as she saw her friend to the bus. Eileen looked like a little volcano about ready to explode. She must really be infatuated with the commander, Danyelle concluded. BACK HOME BOQ NAS OCEANA VIRGINIA BEACH, VA Animal sighed as he got in the door. He hadn't realized how much YN2 Eileen Forrest would linger on his mind. The thought, the vision of her tantalized his mind. Animal mumbled to him- self 'Snap out of it...' A rank of commander at the age of 28, he had now been a three-striper for an year. He sighed, "Being single sucked. Officers could only go out with officers. Enlisted were restricted to enlisted. And neither were allowed to date out of their rank, much less within the same chain of command. That was strictly verboten. Yet, Eileen's image danced before him like a tantalizing pixie, that refused to go away. He went to the bathroom sink, ran the cold water and stuck his head under the running water. It didn't work. EILEEN'S HOME NORFOLK, VA Eileen sighed as she slipped out of her uniform, the sound of the running water in the bathtub masked her frustrated sigh. As she looked in the mirror, she saw her own image, a tight body, nice breasts, a physique that would entice any man. But she just had to fall for the unattainable ones. The officers. And they would remain unattainable unless she became one of them. What caused officers to be so irresistible. Their dress whites, the way that their officers cap badges gleamed in the sunlight while on parade. Especially that new commander. During the takeover ceremony, she had noticed him in his dress whites, along with the big rack of medals. He had two rows of ribbon-only awards above his right breast pocket and the 25 medals that covered his left breast pocket. The medals she could only dream about. Animal was a walking Navy Medal encyclopedia, he had won so many of them. And the gold wings. Eileen had dreamed about marrying a pilot ever since she was a young girl. The very sight of those gold wings on the new commander's uniform made her hunger. He had won the Navy's second highest medal for valor, the Navy Cross. And there were rumors that he had been nominated for the Medal of Honor. Eileen sighed again. So, this was the only way that she was going to be able to date an officer. She would have to become an officer herself. Yet, maybe, that was it. 'If I go through OCS...' Eileen thought to herself. 'I'll be an officer.' Then another thought ran through her mind, giving her pause. 'But...what if he meets someone else in the interim and forgets about me.' Eileen hesitated for a brief moment. Then her mind was made up. She'd jump for the opportunity to become an officer. "It's worth a shot." Eileen said out loud to herself as she slipped into the nice warm water. "At least, even if things don't work out, I'll have become an officer." She was working on her university degree and only had one more course to finish up before she would graduate. Then she could go on to OCS. Maybe it would all work out in the end. Eileen sighed again, as she bathed her- self and let her mind wander. TWO MORNINGS LATER "Sir, respectfully, request permission to speak to you in private, sir." YN2 Eileen Forrest asked, her voice slightly hesitant. "Come in..." Animal sounded pre-occupied but made time for her. He looked up as she stepped into the room. She was in the uniform of the day which happened to be summer white. The officers also wore their summer whites. Eileen looked over at Animal who looked resplendant in his shoulderboards, the three gold stripes of a commander and the upside down star of a line-officer. She couldn't resist giving him the once-over. "Sir..." She stammered. "I have brought a set of my transcripts, sir, from university and I was wondering, sir, if I might ask you for a recommendation...to OCS, sir." She asked tentatively, her eyes sparkling. Animal looked up...with an stern expression...and Eileen almost wilted,"Of course, I...could...bother...you...at a later time... sir..." she stammered on, then noticed that Animal's stern expression had given way to a big grin. She stopped stammering and clammed up. "I was wondering when you were going to ask that question." Animal started. "because, I was going to recommend that you take that line of career choice. The Navy could use you far better as an officer than as enlisted." He stated firmly as he looked her transcripts over. Eileen tried to restrain herself from uttering a gasp of surprise. He had known all along that she was officer- material. "Thank...you...sir. I appreciate your faith in my skills, sir." Eileen replied as she stood at attention. "I am finishing my last course, this week. I should be able to start my OCS course within the month. Sir." "Good for you, Yeoman Forrest." Animal grinned at her. "I think you're doing the best thing for your career in becoming an officer. Good luck, Eileen." Animal replied. "Sir. One question." Eileen asked. "How tough was the OCS course, sir." "I took AOCS...the aviation pipe-line." Animal replied. "It was tough, but nothing that anyone can't handle if they're tough, that is." He grinned. "One bit of advice, stay ahead of the power -curve." He paused as he got up out of hhis seat and walked over. "Stick it out. It's worth it in the end. I'll have your recommendation filled and your application submitted. Fast- tracked. Commander Mitchum owes me a favor. I'll call it in." he grinned at her. 'oh, god...he has such a nice smile.' Eileen thought to her- self and caught herself just long enough to stammer "Thank you, sir." She gave Animal a brilliant smile and Animal's legs nearly buckled. 'She has such a terrific smile...if only.' Animal thought to himself, but restrained himself just long enough to say. "Will that be all?" "Yes, sir." "Dismissed." Animal watched her gait as she walked over to the door and stepped out of his office. He then released a breath that he hadn't realized he had been holding. (to be continued)