For Challenge #5
Using the Lines:
Line 1: Hey, what's that sound? Line 2: There's a man with a gun over there
Line 3: It starts when you're always afraid Line 4: There's something happening here
Bonus line: Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Under Fire
by Lace
Mac and six other Marines were driving back to camp after delivering some supplies to a village. Captain Rick Norton had been offered some information about Taliban locations in exchange for food; they'd been on the road for two days. Mac had been in Afghanistan for three weeks now. After being sent to investigate the accident that took the lives of two Marines, including the in country Judge Advocate, Mac had been ordered to stay behind until a new JAG could be assigned.
Mac had to admit that she was enjoying being in Afghanistan again. Not that she didn't miss her family, Chinese take out, a comfortable bed that smelled nice, a long soak in the bathtub, and a million other luxury things. However, she was a Marine, and she loved being out there with her Marine buddy's getting her hands dirty. It was what she was trained to do.
“I'm betting you can't wait to be replaced out here, ma'am?” First Lieutenant Gregory Malt asked.
Mac smiled. “Believe it or not, but I'm actually enjoying this. Not that a long soak in my bathtub doesn't sound tempting though,” she added with a little laugh.
“I'm not one for the bathtub, but it sure would be nice to have a cold beer.” Lt. Malt leaned back in his seat with a smile on his face. “But a huge bathtub of cold beer sounds good, ma'am.”
“Malt, you can't really be saying that beer is the first thing on your mind of activities when you get back home?” Second Lieutenant Carter Harris laughed. “I'm thinking sex first and beer second.” He sat up a little straighter. “Excuse the language, ma'am.”
Mac chuckled. “No problem, Lieutenant.”
“Not everyone's got a one track mind, Carter,” Captain Rick Norton said. “Besides, the Colonel is the only one here who gets to see the good old US of A in a while,” the Captain reminded them.
“Hey, what's that sound?” Lt. Malt sat up straight and made a movement with his hand to quiet them. “Was that gunfire?”
“Sounds like it,” Rick said as the truck went out of control. “There's something happening here.”
There was a big bang, and the truck fell over to its side, throwing everyone inside it around, before it lay still.
“Damn it!” Rick tried to open the door, but it didn't move. “Everyone okay?” he asked as he started kicking the door.
Mac moved from the place she'd been thrown and got to her feet. She found Lt. Harris on his back with his right arm in an unnatural angle. “You okay, Lieutenant?”
“My arm, ma'am. I think it’s broken or something. It hurts like hell.” Harris twisted in pain as he said it.
“Malt, are you okay?” Rick yelled.
Malt nodded. “I banged my head a little, but I think I'm okay.” He stood and went to help Rick with the door. They heard some more gunfire. “I wonder if Sully and Dave are okay.” Malt was referring to Staff Sergeant Timothy Sully and Gunnery Sergeant Dave Walters, who were in the front seats.
“We have to get the hell out of here to find out.” Rick pointed to the door. “On three we go at it together. One, two, three.” There was a bang and the door flew open. “Let's get out of here.”
“Can you stand, Lieutenant?” Mac asked Harris.
“It hurts like hell, ma'am, but I'll try.”
Mac helped the young man to his feet. “Can you climb out of here?”
“I don't know ma'am.” Harries was shaking with pain now.
Between Mac, Malt, and Rick, they managed to get the Lieutenant out of the car and put him on the ground. “Stay there for now,” Mac ordered. “How're Gunny and the Staff Sergeant?”
Rick shook his head. “Dead, ma'am.” He ran a hand through his short hair. “Damn it, we're so close to camp.”
Mac was about to respond, but gunfire made her move her attention away from the Captain and to where the gunfire came from. “Let's focus on getting out of here, okay?” she yelled and reached for her weapon.
Rick and Malt also reached for their guns and returned fire. “There's at least ten of them, ma'am,” Rick said as they took cover behind the car.
“I agree.” Mac took a deep breath before jumping back up to return fire. She hit two targets and got back behind the truck. “They are eight now.”
“Nice, ma'am.” Malt chuckled. “For a lawyer.”
“Give me my weapon. I can help.” Harris breathed hard as he tried to move. He fell back to the ground and twisted in pain.
“Damn it, there's a man with a gun over there!” he yelled, just as bullets flew over their heads. “They are trying to surround us.”
“They probably figured out that they outnumber us,” Mac yelled back just as Malt fell to the ground. Rick and she both returned fire, before Mac ran over to where Malt lay twisting in pain. She dragged him behind the truck. “It's his shoulder,” she told Rick.
“We have five of them down, ma'am, but they are still returning fire.” Rick breathed hard. “Hopefully, we'll get help from base soon.”
Mac put pressure on Malt's wound. “What do we do while we wait?”
“We try to move in and take them out,” Rick said.
“That's suicide,” Malt argued. “They are too many.”
“What's your suggestion then, Lieutenant?” Rick barked.
“We stay here and wait for help.” Malt tried to sit up. “I'm down, and Harris is down; there's only the two of you left. Five against two. I don't like the odds of that, sir.”
“We gotta do what we gotta do,” Rick said.
“You're wrong, sir.” Harris chimed in.
“I think I'm right. We can't just sit here,” Rick yelled.
“Nobody's right if everybody’s wrong,” Mac intervened. “We stay here, but we keep returning fire. Help will be here soon. We're only an hour away from base, and we've already been here 45 minutes and 33 second.”
“Yes, ma'am,” they all said.
Mac nodded. “Good, now let's give them some competition, Captain.”
“Yes, ma'am. I'm ready when you are,” Rick said.
Five minutes later they had managed to take out two more of their enemies, but the ones left were still returning fire. Malt was starting to look pale, and he wasn't talking anymore.
“Come on, Lieutenant, stay with me.” Mac slapped his face. “You want that bathtub filled with cold beer, you have to keep fighting. Now, talk to me. That's an order.”
“Ye...yes, ma'am,” Malt stammered. “But what ... what I really want is ... is to see my daughter, ma'am.”
Mac continued to hold the pressure on his wound while Rick continued to return fire. “How old is she?”
“She just turned one.” Malt breathed hard. “Do you have kids?”
“Yes, two. Ben is four, and Matt just turned one.” Mac focused on Rick. “How you doing over there, Captain?”
“I just took one of them out, ma'am. You just keep Malt alive, and I'll keep the Taliban away. I want my goddaughter to have her daddy home again,” Rick said.
“We grew up together, fought together on those New York streets, and now we fight together here.” Malt looked Mac square in the eyes. “I can't leave him here alone, ma'am. I can't leave my wife and my daughter, ma'am.”
“Then don't. You just have to keep up the fight. Help should be here soon.” Mac's arms were shaking, but she kept the pressure on Malt's wound.
“My wife told me ... about a nightmare she had ... I was shot and she had to ... to come to my funeral.” Malt hissed in pain. “It starts when you're always afraid, ma'am.”
“What starts?” Mac didn't understand.
“The nightmares, ma'am. It's worse for them back home than for us over here; ... they don't know when they'll get the news of our deaths.”
“Malt's right, ma'am. We don't have to live with the consequences, but they do,” Harris said. “I'm sure your husband is worried now that you're here.”
Mac nodded. “He is, but he knows the responsibility of duty.”
“Marine, ma'am?” Rick asked. He had sat down with them, now that the gunfire had quieted down.
“NAVY. He's with JAG now, but he was a fighter pilot for many years.” Mac smiled. “And no jokes about marrying a squid.”
“There's reinforcements. Too bad the Taliban have disappeared.” Rick rose to his feet. “You're going to be fine, buddy,” he said to Malt.
Four days later
Andrews Air Force Base
It had been a long flight, but finally they had landed on American ground. Two caskets, two injured, Captain Rick Norton, and herself were the passengers on board the air craft. She couldn't wait to see Harm and the kids again. Almost a month had passed since she last saw them. Phone calls and emails just couldn't compare to actually being close to them.
She stepped off the plane and immediately started looking for them. There were a lot of people gathered there, mostly family of the deceased and injured. Finally she saw Harm with Matt on his hip and Ben standing beside them holding his hand.
They noticed her at the same time as she found them in the crowd. “Mommy!” Ben let go of Harm's hand and ran to meet her.
“Baby,” Mac said and lifted her son into her arms. “I've missed you.” She covered his face in kisses.
“I've missed you too, Mommy.” Ben snuggled into her neck and hugged her close.
Harm and Matt came to join them. “There's the rest of my men.” Mac leaned in and kissed her younger son's head. “Hi, little man.”
“Mommy.” Matt grabbed a hold of her uniform, and Mac took him into her arms as well.
Mac put Ben on the ground and soon she had her head buried in Harm's neck, his strong arms around her. She didn't care that they were both in uniform; she just needed a hug.
Harm kissed her head. “It's good to see you, Marine.” He smiled and let her go.
“You have no idea.” Mac smiled.
“Mommy, I want up.” Ben tugged her uniform jacket.
Harm lifted his son into his arms. “Come here, buddy.”
“Ma'am?”
Mac turned and focused on Malt, sitting in a wheelchair, and his family. “Hi, I'm Lt. Colonel Mackenzie,” she introduced herself to who she assumed was Malt's wife.
The woman smiled. “I know who you are, Colonel. I just wanted to thank you for what you did for my husband.”
“I just did my job, ma'am.” Mac focused on Malt. “I'll drop by Bethesda and see how you're doing.”
“Thank you, ma'am.” Malt smiled. “Commander.” He nodded to Harm as his wife wheeled him away.
“Colonel.” Captain Rick Norton saluted her. “It was an honour working with you, ma'am.”
Mac saluted back, with Matt still in her arms. “The honour was all mine, Captain.”
Rick acknowledged Harm. “Sir.” Then he walked away.
“Are you done Semper Fi-ing?” Harm teased her.
Mac smiled. “Let's go home.”
The next morning
Mac and Harm's house
Mac stretched in bed and opened her eyes. She smiled by the sight in front of her. Matt was sleeping close to his father, hugging one of Harm's hands close to his body. Ben was sitting up in bed looking through one of his books.
“How long have you been awake?” Mac reached for her oldest son.
Ben snuggled into her arms. “For a while. Mommy, can I go to Afghanistan with you the next time?”
Mac smiled and kissed her son's head. “Afghanistan isn't a nice place to be right now. Mommy probably won't have to go back there in the near future.”
Ben lit up. “You'll stay home with us?”
Mac nodded. “Absolutely, at least I'll be here most of the time. It's my favourite place.”
“Okay.” Ben crawled out of bed. “Mommy, can we eat now?”
Mac stretched again and got out of bed. “I want pancakes.”
“Me too,” Ben agreed. “Should we wake them up?” He pointed to his father and brother.
“We better let them sleep a little longer. We don't want them to be grumpy.” Mac reached for Ben's hand.
Mother and son shared a knowing smile.
An hour later, Harm came walking into the kitchen with Matt in his arms. “How long have you two been up?”
“We got up early.” Ben jumped off his chair. “We let you and Matt sleep longer. We didn't want you to be grumpy.”
“You brat.” Harm smiled and ruffled Ben's hair. “We don't get grumpy.” He put Matt down in his chair.
Mac walked over and kissed her youngest son. “Morning, baby.” She turned to Harm. “Morning.”
“Morning.” Harm wrapped his arms around her. “It's good to have you home.”
“It's good to be here.” Mac kissed him deeply.
“I'm watching cartoons now.” Ben ran out of the kitchen.
“Mommy!” Matt had found a spoon and was banging it into the table.
Harm reluctantly released his wife. “How about tonight we make the kids sleep in their own beds so that I can give you a proper welcome home?” He reached for the spoon Matt was banging into the table. “Let's have breakfast, buddy.”
Mac laughed softly. “There's pancakes.” She stepped close to her husband again. “And about tonight …” She kissed his cheek. “I can't wait.”
Harm smiled as he sat down with his son. “Let's eat, buddy. Daddy needs a lot of energy for tonight.” He winked at Mac. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” She sat down as well and leaned back in her chair with a smile on her face. It was good to be home.
The End
