Red Tape and India Ink (Conclusion)

By Wesa

Series: War of the Worlds

AU: Forbidden Lust

Disclaimer: No major characters are mine. They belong to Paramount and to Strangis and Strangis.

Category: Angst

Warning: This story deals with mature subject matter, including the slow recovery of a rape victim, although there is no description here of the actual crime. I know that I have oversimplified the emotional disturbance of the victim here, and for that I apologize to anyone who might take offense.

By Wesa.

"How do you feel about that?" Virginia Rudd asked Kasey gently, even though she knew the answer already; she'd heard it hundreds, maybe thousands of times.

"I'm angry!" Kasey exclaimed. "I don't know for certain that we'll get off on the desertion charges, but what officer doesn't want to believe his people think highly enough of him to come after him if he gets into trouble? That they're completely loyal to him? That's all we did. Colonel Ironhorse is the best officer I've ever served under; the toughest, yes, but also completely fair. And we all knew that if we got into more trouble than we could handle, he'd be there to bail us out. Of course we went after him!"

She got up and paced across the living room, looking out the window toward the driveway where Ironhorse and Stavrakos were running sprints with Derriman timing them. Paul had to rest between each short run, but he was coming closer to beating Alex with each race. He was regaining his strength quickly now. "We lived in a warehouse," Kasey continued, half-listening to Bill rag on Alex about letting the older man catch him. "We ate each other's cooking - and I'm no better a cook than either of them, in fact Alex's cooking is pretty good, though he makes a horrible mess. We didn't have a shower. No TV, radio, nothing. There were days when I would have killed for a good book. Or even a mediocre one. Just to break the monotony." She turned. "They had no right!"

"And if you had been guilty, they would have had the right?" Dr. Rudd wondered.

"No, of course not," Kasey replied, frowning. "It's just that - that I was finally getting my life back together after - well, after we found the Colonel, and I -" She broke off, unsure exactly what it was that she was trying to say. "Do you know? I mean, about -" How could she ask without giving away the secret she shared with her CO?

"You were lovers?" Rudd asked, giving Kasey a way through her confusion.

"Well, yeah. Before."

"So your crusade to find him was personal, too."

Kasey nodded and turned back to the window. "I guess that for me, it was all personal. I never expected Bill to go AWOL with me. He had too much to lose. Alex had just got himself straightened out and become a responsible adult. I was less surprised that he came with me, but he pretty much ruined what had become a much prettier record. If I hadn't been in love with Paul, I don't know if I would have gone after him, best CO in the world or not."

"Does he know how you feel?" asked the counselor.

"We haven't said anything to each other about it. Not in so many words," Kasey replied sadly. "I just want it to be like it was before!" she exclaimed, turning back to face her counselor. "I don't have to be in love; I don't need him to love me. I don't care if we have to meet furtively. I just want to be able to touch him, to let him touch me!" She held back a sob. "They took that away from me. They took him away from me! I'd just gotten him back, and they took him away from me again!" She glared angrily at the counselor, her breath coming in ragged gasps as she fought off tears of rage. "I just - I just want everything to be normal again. Is that too much to ask?"

Dr. Rudd didn't answer, knowing it for the rhetorical question it was. She changed the subject slightly. "I understand, Sergeant, that your fellow soldiers, Non-coms and officers alike, call you Kasey. Your given name is Katrina, isn't it? Why do they call you Kasey?"

"What?" The abrupt change of subject caught Kasey off-guard. "I - Well, it's my initials," she explained. "It's something I started when I joined the service. 'Katrina' is just too feminine. If I had been going into admin or something like that, it would have been okay. 'Katrina' or 'Kat' would have been fine if I was going into electronics or if I was going to be waging war by pushing buttons. But I was going into Special Forces. It's male-dominated, even more so than any other part of the service. I couldn't let my fellow soldiers be reminded that I'm female every time they said my name. In combat, men tend to either feel protective toward women, or they resent them. I didn't want them to feel either way about me."

"Yet you have no problem with your fellow non-coms saving you in the jail?"

"Hell, no!" Kasey abruptly remembered that this woman had a military rank of major. "I mean, no, ma'am," she amended. "I'd have done the same for them."

"But they're men."

"Men get raped in jail all the time, ma'am," Kasey replied. "Of course, that's in civilian jails, and they usually don't get raped by their jailers. None of us was prepared for what happened to me." She turned to the window once more. "Bill and Alex are like my brothers. I hope we never get separated; we're that close."

"Do they feel the same way?"

"You'd have to ask them." Kasey smiled faintly, watching Bill and Alex wrestle outside, each trying to throw the other, while Paul refereed the match. "I think they feel that way about each other, at least. Maybe Paul, too -- I mean, the Colonel."

**********

"Hey, Kase," Stavrakos, wearing only a pair of cutoff jeans and basketball sneakers, called down the hall. "Are you comin' or not?"

"Yeah, yeah. Hold your horses," came the reply. A moment later Kasey emerged from her room, tying her hair up and back in a ponytail. She, too, wore cutoffs, over a one-piece bathing suit, an old pair of lightweight sneakers without socks on her feet. "What's the big rush?" she asked. "The lake will still be there in ten minutes."

"I'm hot, I'm sweaty, and Colonel Ironhorse told me to get you down there right away."

Kasey blinked. "Why didn't you say so? What's he want?" she asked, moving faster with the additional information.

"I dunno. Some new kind of training he's thought up, probably," he replied.

They hurried to the lake, where Ironhorse and Derriman swam strongly across the cove, apparently racing. Kasey frowned, wondering aloud, "Is he strong enough for that?"

Stavrakos laughed derisively. "What are you, his mother?" he asked. "If he thinks he can, he can."

She glared at him and went down to the shore, where Ironhorse was wading ashore, breathing heavily, having barely beaten Derriman. "Are you sure you're ready for this, Colonel?" she asked softly. "If you cramped up, we might not be able to get to you quickly enough."

He smiled at her. "If I do," he teased, "I want you to give me mouth-to-mouth, not either of these guys." Her sudden severe blush encouraged him, and he caught at her hands. For the first time since the attack, she didn't try to draw away. He squeezed her hands gently, promising, "I won't overdo it, Kasey," before he released her hands and stepped back. "Stavrakos, Coleman, to the far shore of the cove and back. Winner gets to race me."

Kasey unfastened her cutoffs and dropped them, kicking off her tennies as well, and waded into the water in her swimsuit. She looked back over her shoulder at Stavrakos. "Coming?" she asked.

"Kasey, that's an unfair advantage," Derriman laughed.

"I know," she replied as Stavrakos waded in beside her, "but Alex has muscles, so I have to cut down on resistance or I won't have a chance."

Ironhorse gave them the signal to start their race, and the two older men watched the two younger soldiers stroke strongly for the far shore. "That's not what I meant," Derriman told him.

"I know," Ironhorse replied, watching the swimmers. "She is beautiful, isn't she?"

"More importantly, she's beginning to be able to use it to her advantage."

"She never tried to use it before," Ironhorse pointed out. "That's why she wants to be called Kasey, so you guys would forget she's a woman."

Derriman let a smile tug at his mouth. "Yes, sir. So she could spring it on us when we had forgotten, and get us off-balance. It works on Alex. It worked on you."

Ironhorse looked at him sharply. "How much do you know?" he asked.

Derriman shrugged. "Kasey has friends who are into the weird-ass stuff: Alex told me she went to see some gypsy one time when they went into town, said she got 'female stuff.' He was so embarrassed that he didn't ask any more questions, but if it was regular stuff, she could have gotten it at any drugstore, or even on post. It was shortly after that when the two of you started going to town together. She drugged you, didn't she, Colonel?"

The Colonel didn't answer directly. "Do you know where this gypsy is, Sergeant?" he asked.

**********

A week later, their court martial began. The sergeants were not contesting the charges, though Ironhorse had managed to convince Lieutenant Moyler, their legal representative, to argue that there had been extenuating circumstances. He also testified on their behalf, of course, as did Drs. Blackwood and McCullough.

The second day, the subject of their treatment while incarcerated arose. Stavrakos and Derriman testified, then Major Wakabayashi. Major Rudd, Kasey's counselor, testified, and finally Kasey was called.

"Sergeant," Lieutenant Williams said gently, "will you please tell us what happened the night you were allegedly raped?"

She stared briefly. "'Allegedly,' sir?" she repeated, startled.

"You can't, can you?"

"No, sir. I have no memory of that night," Kasey admitted.

"Why not?"

"I can only tell you what I was told, sir, that I was drugged with Rohypnol."

That gave the prosecutor pause; he had heard of the drug. "Who told you this?"

"Dr. McCullough did, sir," Kasey replied. "I felt - odd - the next morning, so I requested to go to sick call. Among other things, they took blood, and I guess they tested for drugs, because when Dr. McCullough examined my file, she said, she found the test showed residues of Rohypnol."

"I see. Were you a virgin, Sergeant?"

"No, sir." Ironhorse was proud of Kasey; she hadn't even flinched from such a personal question.

Williams appeared irritated at having failed to rattle her. "In fact, you had just spent the previous ten months living with two men, isn't that correct?"

"Yes, sir," Kasey replied, in a tone that expressed surprise that he could even question this action, adding, "and the eight months before that with those two and an additional seven. They were my squad-mates, sir."

"And how many of them were you having sex with?"

"Of my squad-mates, sir?"

"Yes, Sergeant. How many of these ... nine men were you having sex with?"

Kasey nearly smiled. "None, sir. They were ... like brothers to me."

Williams clearly thought she was lying, and began to badger her about it. Ironhorse endured it as long as he could before he leaned forward and murmured to the sergeants' legal advisor. "Aren't you going to do anything about that?" he asked.

Thus urged, Moyler finally stood and objected. "I think these facts have been sufficiently established," he told the panel of officers. "Can we move on?"

Williams kept Kasey on the stand for the rest of the second day and into the third. Over the intervening night, Ironhorse told her to tell about their affair if she was asked.

She shook her head. "I hope that won't be necessary, Paul," she told him softly. "I've managed to deflect him once already. I hope to be able to phrase my answers so as to keep you out of it. I don't want to destroy your career. The Army needs officers like you. There aren't enough."

"When you're found innocent," he said, "there's someplace I want to take you." She looked at him questioningly. "I talked to Madame Rue a few days ago. She thinks there might be a compound that will help you deal with what happened to you. She wants to talk to you first."

**********

The last thing Williams asked Kasey was why she had decided to go AWOL.

She looked at him in disbelief. "Because Colonel Ironhorse was still alive, because he's the best CO I ever had, because the Army needs officers like him. Because the enemy had him," she replied in a voice that implied that she thought the reason should be obvious to everyone. "Sir," she added as an afterthought.

When the officer in charge of the tribunal asked if he had any more questions, Williams shook his head. "No, sir," he replied.

At that, Moyler rose and requested that the charges against the three sergeants be dismissed, claiming that all the witnesses' responses to the prosecution's questions had proved that their actions had indeed been justified.

Waiting for the verdict was excruciating. Physically nearly fully recovered, Ironhorse paced until Suzanne stood and gripped his shoulders. "Paul," she said, "I'm getting exhausted just watching you. Will you please sit down?" She pointed to the chair next to Kasey.

The blonde sergeant smiled at him. "I don't bite, Colonel," she said. Involuntarily, he put his hand to the ear she had bitten on their second date. It had long since healed, but a smile played briefly across his lips at the memory. "Well, not in public, anyway," she amended, causing Stavrakos to choke on his coffee.

Moyler, waiting with the group, stared at her, then at Ironhorse, then slumped in his chair, covering his eyes with one hand. "Coleman," he asked, "did you lie on the stand?"

"I most certainly did not, Lieutenant," Kasey replied indignantly.

Moyler let the subject drop, deciding he was better off not knowing.

**********

"This board unanimously finds Sergeant William Derriman, Sergeant Alexander Stavrakos, and Sergeant Katrina Coleman guilty on all counts," announced the ranking officer, a Colonel James Bollin.

Paul glanced at his sergeants, all three standing at attention, showing not a twitch at the announcement. Beside him, Suzanne and Harrison both made noises of protest, and he hushed them quickly. Paul had a hunch Bollin might be on their side in this.

"Sergeants, although you are in fact guilty," Bollin continued, "it is this board's opinion that you acted from motives of loyalty and honor in the best interests of your country and the U.S. Army. We therefore sentence you to time served and a fine of $100 each for not following regulations. You are also directed to pay $6000 each in back rent to the owner of the warehouse you lived in and to pay the power company for the electricity you stole.

"You are hereby reinstated to your former assignments, and back salaries will be paid.

"This court is adjourned." Bollin whacked his gavel on the wooden table, and the three senior officers and the prosecutor left the room.

Chaos ensued.

**********

Paul and Kasey listened intently to Madame Rue's instructions.

"You must take a tablespoon of this powder in a cup of water with each meal, child," said the gypsy with the gold-capped tooth. "Then when you think you are ready, drink some of this." She handed Kasey a vial of inky blue-black liquid.

Kasey uncapped it and sniffed, making a face as she put the top back on the vial. "It smells like turpentine," she protested.

"You're to drink it, not smell it," chided Madame Rue. "It will work, young woman."

"How long will it take the powder to work?" Paul asked.

"At least a week," replied the gypsy, "but you must not rush her, eager young soldier. It may take longer. She will come to you when it is time. Katrina, do not drink from the vial before you are ready, no matter how much you want him."

"Yes, ma'am," Kasey murmured.

"Is that everything we need to know?" Paul asked, drawing out his wallet.

"When she drinks from the vial, eager young soldier, the two of you must be alone where you will not be disturbed," Madame Rue warned. "It would be best if you were ready for her at that moment."

**********

Kasey had been taking the powder exactly as the gypsy had instructed for ten days when Paul approved two weeks' leave for her just two days after his own leave was approved. He left Stavrakos and Derriman in charge of security at the new McCullough-Blackwood Institute for Alien Studies and borrowed Harrison's key to Dr. Forrester's cabin. Of course the two remaining sergeants, Harrison, and Suzanne all knew they were going to the mountains together, and wished them well.

They carried their travel bags into the cabin and looked around. No one had used the cabin in years. Kasey shook her head. "I'll bet there are spiders in the bedding," she said, looking at the bed in the far corner of the one-room cabin and repressing a shudder.

Paul nodded. "Looks like we clean the place first."

They spent all that first afternoon cleaning the cabin, including washing the sheets in a big washtub Kasey found hanging on the outside wall. After hanging them to dry, she went inside and helped Paul sweep and mop and dust and wash the interior of the cabin from ceiling to floor. By the time they had that finished to their satisfaction the sheets were dry, and they made the bed.

Paul looked across the mattress at Kasey. She met his eyes and, unaccountably, blushed. "We won't do this if you're not ready, Kasey," he told her.

"I want to," she told him. "It just ... doesn't feel natural. I mean ... "

He smiled at her. "It's okay," he told her. He glanced out the window. "It's getting dark. I'll get the groceries in here and we can fix dinner."

"I'm not much of a cook," she warned him.

Paul chuckled. "It's too late for me to get picky about that," he said as he ducked out the door to bring the ice chest in from the car.

They cooked hotdogs on sticks in the fireplace, sitting on the now-clean floor and drinking beer from the cooler. When Kasey came back from a trip out to the latrine, Paul had thrown their paper plates into the fireplace and was spreading a blanket from the back of the car on the floor in front of the fire. "You take the bed," he told her, always the gentleman.

Kasey opened her mouth to protest, but Paul was already on his way out the door. She brushed her teeth and was sitting on the edge of the bed in her t-shirt and panties contemplating the vial the gypsy had given her when he returned.

Paul saw the vial in her hand but said nothing, brushing his teeth and getting ready for bed. He lay down on the blanket in front of the fire, but couldn't take his mind off the blonde in the bed behind him. Every time she moved, the springs of the old bed squeaked.

Then she was there, kneeling in front of him. She stared at him for a long moment, then uncapped the vial and drank half of it in one gulp. "Oh, that's vile!" she exclaimed, her eyes watering. She took a couple of deep breaths and drank the rest, then tossed the vial into the fireplace, where it shattered.

She made a horrible face, as if trying to clear the taste from her mouth, her eyes squeezed closed. Paul watched her, not moving, waiting for her to make some move to indicate to him what he should do.

When Kasey opened her eyes, her pupils were dilated, and it was not only from the lack of light in the room. "Are you alright?" Paul asked her.

She lunged at him and stuck her tongue down his throat, pressing her body against his. Her hands caressed his neck, his shoulders, his chest. She pulled off his t-shirt, then her own, and rubbed her nipples against his chest, moaning in pleasure.

Whatever he had expected, this wasn't it. Kasey was insane with need. Paul caught her hands in his and rose, drawing her up with him. Breaking their kiss, he swung her up into his arms and carried her to the bed.

**********