Chapter One

Ripcord took a hard look in the mirror mounted above the sink in his small hotel room-like dormitory. Considering an earlier glance he'd taken in a mirror in a similar dormitory back at Howard Air Base, he looked a lot better. There wasn't a doubt he still looked horrible but not so much that he resembled a prime candidate as an extra in "Dawn of the Dead". He'd spent most of yesterday in the infirmary or in debriefings. The day before was a total blur after he'd decked Courage's worthless ass. He remembered very little other than his irritation at Doc's poking and prodding of his ribs and later from some intel butter bar's same thirty questions over and over again. When he'd finally gotten to return to his room he'd almost immediately fell on his bed and drifted off into a deep sleep. Unfortunately, the alarm clock wasn't told it had become Ripcord's new nemesis. As the high-pitched buzzing started Ripcord had immediately shot his hand to the clock and fumbled around for the off switch. Unable to find it he had forcefully jerked the cord free of the wall. Despite his long, restful sleep, he had still felt somewhat tired. He had reluctantly slid out of the bed and made his way towards the shower, stripping off the unmarked BDUs as he went. He ended up spending about in a hour just standing the shower, letting the water run over him until the hot water heater had finally given out. Both the long sleep and the hot shower had the effect of finally freeing his system from the last bit of withdrawals from the combat stimulant. Ripcord tired his best to ignore his tired face or the layers of gauze and plastic that still covered his left arm as he continued to look in the mirror, instead focusing on his uniform. He let a smile across his face as his eyes scanned over the smartly pressed fabric of the woodland BDUs. In addition to being dry they reminded him of who he was. After week of roaming around isolated locations in unmarked BDUs, the smallest things made him feel comfortable. The specialist ranks on his collars, the HALO badge, the master parachutist badge, the EOD badge, the 82nd airborne division patch, even the name and branch tapes seemed to stand out on the uniform. They reminded him of something that he'd begun to doubt himself; he wasn't an expendable resource, he was a soldier for one of the greatest nations in the world. The thought brought a smile to his face that stuck with him as he turned on his spit-polished jump-boots and walked out of the door. As he stepped outside he threw on his maroon beret before headed off towards another section of the dormitories with a renewed pride in his step, still smiling at the little things here and there that he'd notice. The crisp fall Virginia mountain air never seemed to feel better than today. The cloudless sky seemed bluer. Even the half bare autumn trees gave his spirits a small boost. He took in all he could. He didn't know when he'd see it again. Hawk had called him and the rest of the Brazil team in for a briefing this morning, most likely to rush them off to a foreign locale to again wreak havoc in some way or other. Ripcord pushed the thoughts out of his head as he came to a door and gave it a few quick knocks.
"Hey Covergirl, you ready?" Ripcord spoke loudly enough for his voice to carry through the wooden door.
"One sec." Came back a muffled reply from behind the door. Ripcord nodded to himself waited patiently for about half a minute before the door finally swung open. "You look a lot better." She said as she gave him a once over.
"Thanks, you too." Ripcord responded with a smile as his eyes took her in. Not even the bandages on her temple or the dull colors of her BDUs seemed to detract from her natural beauty. "You ready to go?" he finally asked.
"Yeah." She managed to barely sigh out as she downcast her eyes and gave a solemn nod. With her head still hung down slightly she started to walk away from her door.
"One more thing." Ripcord said as he reached out and gently grabbed her arm, effectively stopping her. She turned and gave the paratrooper a quizzical stare. "I still think I love you." He said with a warm smile after a brief pause.
"No drugs?" Covergirl asked quizzically, as she took her eyes away from him.
"Nope, I'm clean." Ripcord stated matter of factly. He let a smile cross his face as he anticipated her next question. "And the brace Doc gave me is really helping my ribs. Almost no pain." He added with a smile. He saw Covergirl shift a series of nervous glances around before she smiled and spoke up, looking into Ripcord's eyes.
"I think..." She started before nodding and pressing on, "me too Wally." Her stare continued for a moment before she downcast her eyes and shifted almost nervously. "I'm just..." She started, struggling through her words, "What if...I mean, we're on the same team." She finally finished in a quick breath.
"Well I've already stricken an officer and been insubordinate," He responded with a less than serious tone and a shrug, "Why quit while I'm ahead?" His voice and face immediately took on a more serious air as he continued, "And if you were cut off," He nodded, "Yes, I'd try to save you. But I'd do the same for any of the others." He let some humor drop back into his demeanor as he continued quickly, "Well maybe not Fast Draw or Heavy Metal."
"I wouldn't expect you to." She said with a slow shake of her head as she looked back up at Ripcord again. Her voice took on a very serious tone as she continued, "It was like with Hotseat, we had to finish the mission. I didn't like it, but it was the right thing to do." As she finished, she cast her eyes down yet again, almost like she didn't want to face him. After a short moment she continued in an almost defeated voice. "Like Fast Draw said, your emotions are going to get you killed, and I....I don't want that, Wally. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you." She finished in shaky voice with a fearful look in her deep blue eyes.
"Well what do you want us to do?" Ripcord challenged in a slightly raised voice. "Avoid each other? Just turn off our feelings? I don't know about you Courtney but I can't just forget how I feel about you." Ripcord stated flatly, in an almost frustrated voice.
"No... no I don't want that at all... " She faltered before she gave a small smile and looked back at Ripcord. "I mean someone has to watch your back, Skyboy." Then was a slight pause before she continued, her voice starting to get shaky as a worried look crossed her face. "I can't just forget either. Just tell me... tell me it'll be okay? All right?" She asked in an almost pleading tone of voice.
"It will be. I promise." Ripcord replied in a firm voice and with a slow, solemn nod of his head.
"I think I love you too, Wally." She returned in firm voice as she stared into his warm green eyes for a long moment, her own eyes starting to water. She let a brave smile cross her face, almost as if she was trying to keep her herself from crying. After a moment of silence between the two, she chuckled for a brief second before she spoke up again. "I'd hug you, but I've seen your ribcage." Her comment allowed Ripcord to let a smile creep across his face as he took a step closer to Covergirl.
"Well then will this do?" He said as he put a finger under her chin and tilted her head up, looking deep into her eyes while he did so. He slowly inched his face closer to hers, feeling her body shake as their lips met. They closed their eyes as the small moment extended into a blissful eternity, their hearts beating ever faster before Ripcord reluctantly leaned away, causing their eyes to slowly open.
"That works." Was all Covergirl could manage to muster in a small, shaky voice as a soft smile played over her face. After her words died, a silence fell between the two, both of them just staring quizzically into each other's eyes, searching for a sign of what exactly to say or do. Just as they both opened their mouths to speak, a familiar voice called out, causing the two to look away from each other, their eyes falling on Zap as he rounded the corner of the building.
"Hey amigos." The Hispanic explosive expert called as he came to a stop near his two friends and held up a cardboard 'drink tray' holding several covered styrofoam cups. "Coffee?" he asked. Both nodded quickly and scooped up one of the cups. "You guys ready to head to the briefing?" He asked as he watched the two quickly down a few sips of the hot liquid. Finally, Covergirl responded to the question.
"Yep," She sighed reluctantly as she downplayed her eyes somewhat. "Generals to see, worlds to save."


"Room ATEN-SHUN!" Hotseat barked out as the seven soldiers shot to their feet and assumed rigid positions of attention. Hawk immediately waved his soldiers back down into their seats as he strode purposefully into the small briefing room and came to stop as he took his place at the head of the room. Hawk waited the brief moment until all the Joes had been seated before he spoke up in his normal authoritative voice.
"First off I would like to commend each of you on performing admirably in Brazil. Despite having nearly every part of the original plan fall apart you still managed to complete every aspect of the mission. More importantly you did so without losing a single man or major piece of equipment. Outstanding job soldiers." Hawk took a moment to look at his soldiers, each seemed in their own way to swell somewhat with pride at the General's praises. Hawk then reached into a manila folder he'd been carrying and withdrew a single sheet of paper. He spoke solemnly as his eyes scanned over the faces before him.
"I read the debriefing reports, you had a rough mission, I know what I'm about to say won't be much reward but it'll all I can do." The general let a pause fill air, causing the each of the soldiers to glance quizzically at each other. After a brief moment had passed Hawk continued, "Each of you has been awarded the Bronze Star with Fast Draw also earning the Purple Heart, and Hotseat earning the Prisoner of War Medal. However, due to the classified nature of this operation, all debriefings, awards, and personal accounts concerning your actions on this previous mission, will remain classified for the for exactly twenty years from this date." Hawk internally winced as the bright looks on the faces of his soldiers faded to almost pained disappointment. Trying his best to ignore their looks Hawk proceeded.
"For whatever it's worth, you've proven to me that each of you form an excellent team. So look forward to continuing your work with each other. I need you in field as soon as possible." Once again Hawk was pained to see the drop in morale that he'd just given his troops but pressed on, knowing they would be thankful at the end of this briefing.
"However, the majority of you are in such bad shape that sending you right back into a combat zone would be suicide. I need each of you to heal before going back into the field. Once again, I know it's not much but it's all I can do." Hawk watched as his people perked up again at the hint of some down time. "I'm authorizing a weekend pass to each of you. Two days to get off base and do whatever you want to do. After that you'll report back here where you'll hop a series of flights to Hickham in Hawaii. Officially you'll each be on TDY to Fort Shafter at a special conference on Training Doctrine. Unofficially you'll be living out of a hotel in Honolulu, doing little more that just checking in by phone to Shafter once a day." Hawk took a moment to let the images of his soldiers' contained joy settle into his mind. "I know you people deserve more that ten days, hell, some of you need more than ten days, but it's all I can do. Dismissed people, I'll see you in ten days." Hawk quickly strode towards the door, causing each of the soldiers to shoot smartly to their feet. As Hawk reached out for the door handle he stopped and let his arm drop to his side before turning to shoot a smile at his soldiers, "Have fun, Rogue Force. That's an order." Before any of the Joes could speak, Hawk slipped out of the room.

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