Alex reaches Chase’s
bunk, unsure of what to say or do. She takes a deep breath before knocking. As
soon as the door opens she is pulled into a tight hug. Smiling a bit to herself
she asks, “is everything okay?”
Chase nods, mumbling out “everything’s okay now.”
Chase pulls Alex to the bed, making her sit before taking
a seat next to her. She shifts a bit, turning towards him and notices Chase’s
eyes are looking at her gauze covered wound. Alex sighs a bit not wanting to
explain, but she knows she owes him that much.
“I was stabbed,” Alex says quietly, as she judges Chases
expression. He looks sad, worried, and borderline angry.
“The reason they showed up at the hotel is because I
mistakenly killed the bad guy’s brother, and he felt I needed to learn a
lesson, apparently his brother almost killing me wasn’t enough,” Alex finishes.
Chase
is speechless as he processes everything, unsure if he wants more details or
not. The thought of losing Alex again, only this time permanently, scares
Chases and he doesn’t know how to handle it. He begins pacing, trying to come
up with the right words to say, but nothing is coming out.
Alex
stands, stopping Chase in his tracks. “I’m okay, I’m too stubborn to die,
remember?” Alex asks, bringing up part of an old conversation.
Chase
laughs slightly remembering that night. He still seems a bit concerned, but
more relaxed as he realizes this is sadly just part of Alex’s job.
As
they lay in bed, they reminisce about the last five years or so since they last
talked. A laugh occasionally filling the room. Before they know it, the alarm
sounds signally all soldiers to get up and get to the mess hall.
Alex
groans before climbing out of bed, telling Chase she will see him in a while,
heading to change into her uniform. Just as she’s about to head out, she
catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Turning, she sees the cuts,
scrapes, and bruises from the previous night’s car chase, and she sighs,
shaking her head. The most noticeable mark being that of the cut running from
her hairline down to the outside corner of her left eye. She knows her head
slammed the window when it flipped.
As she walks to the mess hall, she is stopped quite a few
times, most congratulating her, some voicing how stupid she was. Entering the
mess hall, she realizes all eyes are on her. Alex uncomfortably walks to get
food, as random soldiers yell out random hate. Reaching the table where her
team is sitting, she slams the tray down on the table. Just as she’s about to
sit down, she hears someone yell out “You know, you got what you deserved when
he stabbed you.”
Looking up directly at the guy who said it, T.J. is about
to start a fight with him, but Alex stops him, telling him the guy isn’t worth
it. Alex simply smiles as she stands in front of the guy and replies with
“You’re right,” just before punching him so hard he hit the ground with a hard
thud. “Just like you deserved that,” Alex states, walking away from him and out
of the mess hall.
Walking across the base, Alex heads for one of the
warehouses needing to get rid of some excess anger. Once she reaches the
warehouse she heads upstairs and begins taping up her hands, and starts going
to town on the punching bag. A short while later she hears voices nearing the
building. Glancing out the window, she sees her team. Not wanting to talk to
anyone, she cranks up the stereo hoping that will tell them she’s not in the
mood.
She smiles a bit to herself thinking they left, when no
one comes upstairs. After a good hour or so she heads downstairs only to find
the five of them waiting for her. Before she even has a chance to say anything,
Connor speaks up “That guy is wrong, we know you did the right thing.”
“I don’t want to talk about this right now,” Alex
mutters, heading for the door.
Adam stops her though
before she can reach it. “What do you guys want me to say? You know I don’t
really give a fuck what any one of them have to say, so what’s the point in
talking about it?” Alex says, shaking her head before walking out of the
warehouse. The team is left mildly stunned never seeing her react to anything
like that before.
`Just as Alex reaches the main part of base, one of the
Captain’s runs up to her. “Master Sargent Michaels, General Stevens wants to
speak with you about the incident earlier today.”
Alex nods before
following the Captain to the General’s office, curious as to how much trouble
she’s in. She only has to wait a few short minutes before he calls her in.
“Care to explain yourself,”
General Stevens asks rather bluntly.
“Sir, Private Ramirez informed me I deserved to be
stabbed sir,” Alex replies matter of factly.
General Stevens sits
there a bit floored at what he just heard. Shaking his head, he dismisses Alex
with simply a warning, and a promise to deal with Private Ramirez. She thanks
him before leaving the office, heading back to the bunkers.
Her team spots her, as she walks out of the building
where the General’s office is. Concerned, they hurry over to her, hoping she isn’t
in major trouble. “Guys relax, I got off with a warning,” Alex says, trying to
stop the parade of questions and comments.
“Oh, good” All five of
them say at once.
As they all walk back to the bunkers, Alex’s side starts
throbbing, in seriously uncomfortable pain. She assumes it’s simply from the
way she was throwing punches, so she shrugs it off. Just as they reach the
bunker door though the pain becomes so harsh that it causes Alex to stop moving
and inhale sharply. Her team turns to look at her, wondering why she stopped. Trying
to calm the pain, she presses her hand to her side hoping it will help.
