10. Tide
Date: 5-3-2024
Time: 1121
I blow out a puff of smoke, the white cloud spirals above my head mimicking the motion of my chair swiveling in circles. It's quiet. Not just the office, or my base– everything is quiet. No Bay members walk my shores, my little shark isn't wreaking havoc on my soldiers. If I thought I wasn't prepared for war, then I’m certainly not prepared for this middle ground I've found myself in.
Flattening my feet, the chair goes still. I glance to the drawer of my father's desk that I refuse to open. My desk. If I don’t pull out the journals, I know lie within then it won't feel like he's really gone. They were personal, marking his every memory. There were times Moe, and I would lounge in the corner while he wrote his day away. I place the cigar back between my teeth.
I reach for the drawer, hesitating over the handle. It's unlikely there's anything in them that's useful. The office door flies open, knocking into the wall making the frame filled with medals go crooked. Casually leaning forward, I pull the stick from my lips, pushing it into the stone ashtray.
“Is everything okay?” I cock a brow, intertwining my fingers on my abdomen as the seat creaks beneath the pressure of me leaning back.
“Sorry…sir.” Jasmine pants like she just ran a marathon. I tap a finger against a knuckle. The way her hand presses to her chest grasping at the fabric wrinkling her uniform has my mind reeling. What the fucking hell has my little shark done now? I was just there earlier and she was still asleep.
“Sam, couldn't reach you over the comms line, said it was important.” She cuts off my thoughts, forcing my body into action. The chair scratches against the floor toppling over onto the floor.
“He's in the control room!” Jasmine's yell follows my body pushing past hers in a hurry.
If Sam says something is important and it's urgent enough to have Jasmine sprinting across base to get me then it's the equivalent of a battle raging in my backyard. Every corner I turn and each flight of steps I climb are a blur, forming hazed streaks in my peripheral vision. Maybe I've been too distracted, lost in the quiet without recognizing the threat it can hold. My chest heaves. Maybe threats have come in or falsified information has been spread which will endanger my team. I barge through the door, nearly blinded from the various flashing screens. Sams unfazed, hardly acknowledging my presence.
“You might want to see this.” He points to the display in front of him. Rounding the room, I bend at the waist to get a better view of the lowest monitor. I grin as my little shark lifts her head to better examine her cuffs. Look who’s finally awake. My tongue drags along my bottom lip.
Her head falls back, and her mouth opens with what I’m assuming is a scream.
“I thought you said this was important.”
Sam clears his throat turning his head to the screen recording the adjacent hall. I set my jaw, gripping my hand into the back of Sam’s seat.
He better not—
Sharkies head snaps up, her head tilting curiously. I specifically told Moe to stay the hell away from her. He doesn't know what she's capable of—of the destruction she is. Anything that goes near her is torn to shreds. Sam flicks on the speakers.
“ Are you going to stand there staring or are you going to take me out of these things ?” Sharkie’s voice comes through statically.
“ You keep yellin’ like that you're gonna take longer to heal. I can get you some water.” Moe’s head dips into the room while he speaks and looks around, only to pull back into the corridor.
Like fuck he will. Pushing off the chair, slowly I roll up my sleeves. He knows better, this isn't some playground to make friends. It’s war.
The salty sea breeze sticks to my skin, I cross the courtyard to the infirmary. Lives have been lost at her hands. I don't care if they're surrounded by my people just like she doesn't care who he is. If given the chance she'll take anyone that's close enough to her.
“MOE!” My steps slow down the hall barely registering a sound over my voice, all personnel step aside creating a path out of the way of my fury. She could’ve hurt him.
“Shit…” He mouths the word, turning fast enough he knocks a tray of medical equipment out of Laura's hands.
“It was nice meeting you Moe!” Sharkie’s statement rattles in my ears reminding me that she is the enemy, and she has seen him. She knows his name, how he looks. If she escapes— no she can’t. She’s stuck. It doesn’t make the thought of him being in danger from the possibility any better.
Moe ducks around the corner and I take off at a sprint, each heavy footfall calculated. He’ll go through the back exit and attempt to get away, we've played this game too many times before.
Before he can reach the door, my hand is wrapping the bend of his elbow.
“God–” I yank him back hard enough his head jolts with the motion, cutting off whatever the hell he was going to say.
“What were you thinking?” I scold.
He goes silent, pushing at my hand, there's a flash of fear in his eyes that makes me loosen my hold, but he masks it with an aggravated groan.
“She's been yelling for days cuffed to a bed! I just wanted to–”
“That's none of your concern! I gave you one order…”
“Yeah, nothings my concern around here. Is it?”
Silence . He’s caught me off guard at the worst possible moment as he rips his arm out my grasp.
“Go. To. Your. Quarters.”
I watch him turn, digging his hands into his pockets and storming down the hall. I straighten my shoulders, tapping my fingers to my thigh but it's doing little to calm me. That wasn't my intention, I wish I could tell him that. Unfortunately, he needs time and quite frankly so do I.
A hand to my shoulder causes me to stiffen and tighten my skin around my strained muscles.
“We need to tend to her but she’s being, well–” the soft feminine voice starts but I'm already heading back in the direction I need to be going. I swear once she's healed she'll be getting a piece of my mind. I stop by the door, looking over the various people surrounding her thrashing body. There's too much happening. IVs rip from her arm and the blood pressure monitor makes an erratic sound from misplacement.
“Calm down, they're just trying to help.” I say smoothly. Her back arches off the bed with a scream stronger than I've heard. I push my hand through my hair, pulling the strands along the way. The irritable clanking of her cuffs grows louder over the rapid beat of her heart. My breathing shallows. Red . It slicks down her wrist, staining the sheets. It drips to the floor and drags against the scrubs of the nurses trying to get her still. I’ve had enough.
“Sedate her.”
Date: 5-3-2024
Time: 1524
I hated having to do it, but it was the only logical choice. It was something I could control. Everything has felt upside down, seeing the way she looked right after fighting with Moe completely wrecked my world. All the blood that followed, with that one statement still fresh in my head. This is his home, of course things are his concern around here. Just not her .
I shake my head breathing in the fresh, clean scent of the room, distracting myself with the task at hand. Unlike the fiasco on shore, her skin isn’t cold anymore. It’s warm and so soft I have to hold back the urge to brush my thumb along her wrist as I toy with the bandages that wrap her minor cuts. It reminds me of my mother, and it gets me closer to her . The photograph in my pocket doesn’t feed the fix I need anymore, and I wonder who would want to hurt such a violent creature.
“You could’ve hurt yourself, or him, if you had the chance.” I mumble under my breath. I highly doubt she can hear me, but someone needs to talk some sense into her. A low hum comes through her nose. I imagine she's trying to get the last word, she seems like the type.
“Save it for someone else. I’m not listening to it. If you’re going to be here, you have to be more careful.”
Okay, I’m conversing with myself now. Maybe I’m losing my mind, but this is what she does to me. She takes everything I think I know about rationality and morals and throws them out the window. I don’t need to stay. She already makes me bloody confused, but having her here on my base. Fuck ... Yeah, she isn’t leaving.
Her lips part with a soft breath. I’m gonna take this as a win by default. Tomorrow I’ll come back and see that someone redoes her bandages. One thing is for sure, though. Cuffs are never going on her wrist again unless–
My body stiffens, urging itself into action by standing. I didn’t realize how much having her here would affect me, but judging by the sudden pain behind my zipper, I know it’s not a good thing.
Her hand drops to the mattress with a sudden thud, typically I’d be more gentle, but I’m treading in beyond fucked territory. My body has a mind of its own when it reacts to her.
When was the last time I got Moe out on the training grounds? It’s usually a routine for us, but I’ve been distracted. Maybe I can release some pent-up frustration. It’s a win-win.
I pull at the collar of my shirt, making the buttons pop open. My fist thumps his door while I keep pushing past his room, just like clockwork fumbled steps and quiet curses follow behind me, surely struggling to pull his boots on. He’s always been my shadow even more now than ever since it’s just us left with each other. The bulletproof door leading to the outdoor training area opens with my palm.
“What’re we doing today, Cas?”
I grin, hearing the excitement in his voice. I’ve missed it too. He may not be my blood, but he’s always been my little brother.
“Sparring.” It’s a one-word answer followed by the toes of my boots pressing against the mat. He grimaces, lowering his head enough that his unruly flaming hair falls over his brows.
I roll my sleeves slowly and deliberately, catching his attention to the fresh addition of ink lining my arm. I have plenty of tattoos so it's not unusual for more to be added. What is unusual is the one I picked to take place wrapping around my forearm.
“Normal sparring or dad’s version?” He grumbles, tilting his head with furrowed brows as he studies the markings. A wicked grin curls around the corner of my mouth. This was the perfect idea for a distraction.
“I hope you studied.” I purr, earning a jab of an elbow into my ribs. Hopping onto the mat, the cushion dips and he follows suit, raising his fist to his chest.
“Let’s start easy.” I twitch a step, making him jump back and my chest shakes with held-back laughter. “High threat situation, but you notice a member missing.”
“They were captured.”
I throw an elbow with some of my body weight, knocking it into his raised arms blocking his head.
“Ah, ah, let me finish. It was an unexpected situation, you notice their belongings–”
“Either they willingly left and expected to return or they were in a rush.”
I hum in approval, but it spins into a groan when his shoulder knocks into my stomach, making me fall on my arse. I should have planted my feet. The soldiers file off the field into the base. They know this is our time. After their original leader fell, these moments became more important to us. Moe calms my head just like I ease his tension.
We tumble around in silence under the cloudy scenery. The high concrete walls and watch towers block out most of the outside world, but you can still hear the ocean that crashes just a few feet away from the exit.
I wiped the back of my arm to my nose. He’s grown up so fast that it makes me miss the times we were just kids tumbling in the sand while our mother laughed and our father barked innocent orders.
“Okay, last question.” I take a deep breath, raising my brows as I kick his feet apart to correct his stance and step back.
“When your superior gives you an order, what do you do?”
His body stiffens, fist lowering for a moment before rising back.
“Obey it.”
Despite being correct, I tackle him to the ground, relishing in the aggravated growl he lets out. Rolling off his body, I grunt, feeling a punch hit me hard in the side.
“I was just curious, Cas. You can’t protect me from everything forever,” he mumbles under his breath. He’s right and I can’t blame him. She makes me curious too, and I know I can’t always shield him, but I want to try for as long as I can. I was born for my role, he was tossed into it, unable to protest being just a baby left on our base’s doorstep pulling the heart of our mother. I fling a hand to my side, smacking his chest.
“Let’s go to the firing range. Maybe we can work out something to ease your curiosity and give you something to do.”
He pushes onto his side to get up, throwing an ‘accidental’ swing towards my face that I dodge. Pushing to my feet I pause, gripping his shoulder.
“Don't say anything like you did today again. This is your home.” I give him a light squeeze drawing his attention back from where it tried to stray.
He nods with a small shrug.
“Alright,” I grin, “the last one to the targets has to run the exercise course.”