He laughs. “I’m taking my piss test first. I’ll be happy when this is over,” he says, breathing out.
It’s surprising. “You want to go back to Bronze Bay?” I say, my tone mocking. “Too rough now that you’re an old geezer?”
“Fuck you,” Aidan says. “It was supposed to be a permanent switch. It’s a big change. Admit it. I see you limping,” he tosses his words over his shoulder.
Sighing, I look left and right as I step into the street. “I’m fucking perfect,” I exclaim. “Ready for it to be done as much as you, but I have something to go back to.”
“Maybe I do too,” he quips.
He’s such a liar. He has everyone else’s chicks to try and steal. That’s what Aidan has. “Did you see the last intel brief that came through? They’re on this coast. It may happen sooner rather than later. I wish I could go right now and blow the motherfucker into outer space.”
Aidan nods. “It’s never that easy. Come on, bro. You know better.” I do, but wishful thinking never hurt anyone. “See you at home, honey. Better have my bourbon waiting when I walk through the door and crotchless lace panties under your dress,” Aidan rasps, splitting away from me as he heads to another building.
Shaking my head, I grin. No one else is around to hear him which only makes it that much more disturbing. The base is usually bustling at this time of day, but since the mission planning began, they’ve closed it down to everyone except SEALs and required support staff. I haven’t left the gates since I arrived, and I’m itching to go beyond, back into the real world. I decide right now that I’m going to put in a request to leave base and go out to eat at a damn restaurant in town. I won’t talk to anyone, and I’ll find something that follows my diet, but I need to feel the buzz of life to level my head.
The Navy isn’t granting leave to any of us. We’re trapped here until it’s go-time, unable to visit friends or family. It’s supposed to be for our loved one’s safety, but this is the first time in history there’s been this kind of a full-scale hunt in the states so all of the rules have changed, and I’m not sure anyone knows what exactly to expect. I scan my ID card and press my thumb into the reader to open the heavy metal door, making sure to close the door all the way behind me.
Inside the building there is life. Lots of it. People in military uniforms litter the hallway from every branch imaginable, even foreign service members who are here to watch us operate for their own training regimes—taking our tactics and applying them to their own countries and problems. Nothing brings a world together quite like one common thread: the same enemy. I nod at a few men I recognize and bang a hard right into our wing and scan my ID again to get inside. It’s a little more lax in here, some SEALs are wearing uniforms, and others are in PT clothing, black running shorts, and a brown tee, depending on what they have on their own schedules. We have relaxed grooming standards among dozens of other privileges that aren’t granted to big Navy, it is most evident in the hairstyles we are allowed.
“You ready? We’ve been waiting for you. Twiddling your diddly again?” A SEAL in my group rasps, nodding his head toward my empty seat.
I chuckle, taking my place at the conference table and grabbing the tablet in front of me. “I’m only late because your mom likes to watch,” I hiss back, glaring at him with a smirk.
“Mom jokes are out, Leif. You’d know that if you weren’t so busy tanning your ass cheeks in Florida instead of back here with therealTeams working like a man.”
The screen turns on and lights dim, and he has the last word…for now. The commander’s red, irritated face flashes on the screen and the meeting begins. We get the notes on our tablet screens as someone gathers the important points during the exchange. My heart starts hammering as the facts trickle into my awareness. We’re getting closer. I’m not thinking about zings, mom jokes, or anything other than what’s in front of me. The familiar hatred creeps into my awareness, the power that thrums through my body to destroy.
I won’t miss this time. I don’t care what it costs me.
