Rainbow Wars

Rainbow Wars Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"I want out. That's the only way I do this..."

I think I'm being tough but my father leans in, "Cair you're my son. Of course, I will find a way to get you out of here."

I hesitate. It should have been obvious but I didn't know he cared.

"Not just for me but for these guys I met. There are three of them," I tell my father, "They are pretty cool."

These guards aren't paying too close attention but we still need to speak low. His offer is still ringing in my head. I thought long and hard about his offer. I wanted out of this war and he was planning to end it before I began. That was perfect. Or so I thought?

"Why do you care about them?"

"They are friends."

"I know you, Cicily. You don't do friends," my father tells me.

I wasn't Cicily here though. I was Cair...the nice Queeney brother.

"I do now."

"Good. Do what I say and I'll get you out. I have a contact on the inside. Someone you won't expect. If you do this for us. We take care of you. The RTLs have your back."

I swallow my spit and nod.

I had no idea what I was getting into but I take his case.

"OK."

"Oh and Cicily?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't open it..."

~

I have a case in my hands. At this point.

We're walking into the dining room. The plan my father had given me was rather simple. I had to sneak into a room that the President would be meeting in. I had to hide the package. It was quick and simple. We pass the room on the way to the dining hall. It's unprotected but there are Agenda Soldiers walking the hallway of the estate.

"My life is the worst. At this point, I rather go to war. I can't believe my Uncles are blaming me for my grandfather's death," Tanaka is explaining to Jacob Varney.

I am not really in their conversation. I trail them with Maggot. There are other students from Squad B but luckily I don't see my cousin. We mix in with the upper squad but behind us are a whole bunch of other students. People in possibly worse situations than I am.

"How are you to blame?" Varney asks.

Tanaka shrugs, "I don't know man. At this point, I get blamed for everything. I was basically told that the only way I can bring honor to my family is to die a hero at war."

Varney seems harsh, "Shit."

"That's the Triad way."

"Are you even a member?"

Tanaka shakes his head, "Not yet. But it's coming. If I survive. As far as I'm concerned this is our last night of freedom. Everyone's talking about getting drunk. All I know is that I want my dick played with one last time..."

"Jesus, Tanaka---" Varney states, "Maggot's standing right there."

"He wants his dick played with like a piano," Maggot laughs.

Who raised this kid?

Varney shakes his head, "Maggot. See what you got him saying-----"

"Sorry," Tanaka states, covering Maggot's ears, "The kid is right though. If I'm going to die in the field, I need to find the Mozart of dick sucking tonight at this square."

"Stop treating him like a kid," I state, "That's the first thing we need to stop doing if he's going to survive out there."

Tanaka reluctantly releases his ears. They baby him. I don't know which one is worse between Tanaka and Varney. It was almost like they were trying to turn a kid back into a child when he had grown up a long time ago.

"He's right," Tanaka states, "We should be protecting him from bullets not curse words. Still. What about you guys. You guys going to get some tonight?"

it's awkward. I don't think Tanaka realizes the tension between Joseph and I. That's when I see Joseph Varney shoot me a stare. The stare is steamy with a clean white smile right before he gives me a teasing wink.

"Not from any random guy," Varney states, "But I do plan on spending some time with someone very special."

"Who? Didn't know you knew anyone?" Tanaka states, "Don't tell me? Osiris? Oh crap----you're sleeping with the sexy cameraman? Oh shit---wait! MAGGOT! HEY MAGGOT!"

The awkwardness of Tanaka and his curious question is thankfully interrupted by Maggot taking off into the dining hall.

As soon as he takes off Tanaka goes after him. Varney raises his long muscular arm and across his head a few times. It's clear that he is embarrassed by what happened.

"So that was awkward..." he states.

"It was OK..."

I turn away from him at that moment. I look past him down the hallway towards a door. My dad left me specific instructions.

"Did you hear my question?"

Question?

I had zoned out while talking to him and missed everything. I just nod at that moment at whatever he says, "Sure thing! Hey, I'll be right back. I left something..."

He stops me, "What about our date...figured we'd skip this thing and just head out..."

Damn it. I'd forgotten about that.

"I'll just be a second..."

I think he says something else but at this point, I know that everyone is distracted by the presentation of the room. The hallway that I was walking down earlier should have been empty by now. Now was the best time.

I head back down the hallway. My heart is racing when surprisingly I see Sargeant Young. He's looking for someone. I have to duck him and immediately shoot for the nearest bathroom.

The hallway I needed to get down was busy. Real busy. I needed to wait the men out.

I huddle in the bathroom. Tears stream out of my face. I struggle to find my composure wiping my tears on the military jacket that I have. Just at that moment, I see Bashir enter the bathroom. Desperate to hide my emotions, I start splashing myself desperately with the water. I think it works when I see him approach the sink.

"Hey it's you----" he starts, "Did you see the Sergeant?"

"Young?"

"Yeah. Listen You need to talk to him. It's really important. Wait. Babe---you OK?"

Babe. Him calling me that makes me cringe. He still thinks I'm the guy he cheated on me with. My twin brother. He presses his hands are up against the smalls of my back. I swallow my pride.

Fake it, Cicily. That's all you need to do.

"I'm great, babe."

I turn around. Damn Bashir is sexy. His hair has been firmly cut, his shoulders squared and his clothing pressed. That clothing consists of a mess jacket, trousers, white dress shirt, often with standing collar and bow tie, along with orders and Rainbow medals insignia. They drape on his muscular frame, solid arms and truck-like physique. When he gets close I swipe his chest just curious to feel if it is as hard as it looks.

It's harder. The man has steel underneath his uniform. Pure solid sexy muscle was under there and it pissed me off even more than my brother got to enjoy this.

"You sure?" he asks, "You've been different. Haven't written me as I wanted..."

"Well with Atom Bombs falling from the sky, I've been a little busy," I respond and quickly realizing how harsh it sounds so I add a cheeky smile that causes him to raise his eyebrows seeming a bit thrown off and defensive.

After a second though his face softens and he says, "You sure everything is OK? I know you're scared. You're about to be a soldier. Training's going to be tough. I would understand if you want to take a step back with things between us."

Step back? The way he says it seems like he's been thinking about it for a while.

"Are you breaking up with me?" I ask.

"Do you even want to be with me?" he asks hesitating over the sink, "Honestly I've always thought our relationship was destined to fail. You know. All the talks we've had about how guilty I felt about how we treated Cicily back then."

"Yeah Cicily," I pause.

There is a shake.

"You ever feel bad?" he asks, "About how we handled things with him?"

There is a pause at that moment. I guess I'm trying to act like I'm thinking but really I'm just studying Bashir's face. His Middle Eastern heritage made him look like some sort of Arabian prince. It was somewhere in his oval face; temple fullness; pronounced, elevated, arched eyebrows; large almond-shaped eyes; well-defined, laterally full cheeks; a small, straight nose; full lips; a well-defined jawline; and a prominent, pointed chin.

He was a dark knight and you could get lost in his striking eyes.

"I suppose. Do you?"

"You suppose. I never expected to hear that from you," he states, "I was under the impression you hated your brother more than anything. But I guess things change. I like this change..."

I turn. Facing him. We're close. Real closer. I don't expect us to be that close. By the way, he lifts his eyebrow I doubt he expected it either.

That's when it happens. He kisses me.

He kisses me his tongue pressed up against my tongue. He leans me up against the sink. Our tongues smoothly join one another. I pull away and he follows me, licking at my lower lip. Pulling me in closer to him. Before I know it both of our dicks are facing each other between the urinals.

"I missed this..."

He spits. Not like he would with some stranger in the middle of the street. No, he spits slow. A slow sexy drool that lands between our dicks. He uses his hand to massage our dicks together. We sword fight between urinals, kissing. Both of our hands behind each other's necks. We're so aroused precum bubbles up at the tips of our dicks and I can feel his fingers getting sticky from nut, spit, and sweat.

Just at that moment, the door opens and Tanaka walks in. Tanaka literally SEES our dicks in each other's hands. I feel my face flush with red.

Surprisingly though, Bashir doesn't give a damn. Maybe the rules were laxer for sex. I'm not sure. I wasn't here enough.

"What the fuck are you looking at, dumb ass?" he asks Tanaka.

The way he talks to him is disrespectful as hell. It's even worse when he gives me a soft kiss only to walk past Tanaka and make sure he stops right in front of him.

"Bashir don't."

I'd never said Bashir was a good guy when it came to other people. He always treated others like shit. For some reason, though it turned me on. Something about a guy who treated everyone else so horribly except for you. It made me feel special.

"Just forgot to clean up," Bashir states.

Bashir LITERALLY rubs our man juices from his hands all over Tanaka. Tanaka just stands there sort of half in shock and half in embarrassment. When it's done I think we're all surprised that Bashir got away with it so smoothly.

"I'm so sorry Tanaka," I tell him as soon as Bashir leaves, "I can fix that it."

I couldn't fix it. Couldn't even get close.

Tanaka takes a step away, "I'm used to it..."

"What?"

"Japan I was bullied often being gay. That's why I came here. You would think that the bullying would stop..."

It crushes me how casual he admits to victimization. All of a sudden I know I have to be there for this guy. All of a sudden Bashir's comments weren't Ok not when they impacted real people.

"I'll talk to Bashir. And the whole A team."

"Don't bother. You should be heading back. I just saw Joseph and he admitted he was going out wit you. He was beyond excited about your date remember. Or did you forget about that when you were jerking off the local bully?"

I don't know if Tanaka means to push like this. Perhaps Being smudged by Bashir had angered him or maybe my relationship with Bashir was enough to turn him off from me. All I know was his eyes were judgmental at this moment.

"Tanaka please..."

"I won't say anything if that's what you are worried about. It's none of my business," he states, before taking towards the door, "It's not like the two of you are in a relationship."

I bite my lip, "You're right."

"Just be easy with Joseph Varney. He's a good guy, Cair. He's been through a lot already. Just you know... Take it easy with him..."

I don't know what he means by that when he leaves but I know that I can't figure things out with Varney now. I needed time.

I needed to drop off the package...

~

"Don't open it," my father had made sure to say.

The President's dinner was in a grand hallway down the hall. They are making a big deal of it like they do everything the Castles get involved in. I put a spotlight and mental thought on the door as I follow a chorus of young boys just like me towards the main hallway

I sneak in.

It's a large electronic door. The room is clearly a meeting room. It seems like it's only getting set up. I turn at that moment and see that there is a table. The instructions say to leave it in the third seat.

I leave the case. Exactly where he said to put it. But then I think.

And so instead of leaving as I should, I stop. I fucking stop and I turn.

Suddenly the door opens!

"I need Cair Queeney released to me now..."

I rush underneath the table while some people come into the room. My heart is racing a bit. I press firmly against the seat and hold my breath and don't make a sound. The people who I hear are clearly distracted.

"Boone I told you I'd look into it. Calm down."

Boone? Boone was here! My heart is racing even faster. Even harder. How was that even possible? How'd he track me down? Or was he looking for my brother? All of a sudden I realize that I'm wanted. That's when I realize who Boone is talking to. It's my Drill Sergeant. Sergeant Young.

"I have reason to believe that RTL extremists have infiltrated the Rainbow MIlitary and you tell me to calm down."

Sergeant Young isn't even the least bit distracted, "I oversee 583 souls and Cicily Queeney isn't one of them. I wrote that to you some time ago now."

"His brother Cair is here. I got permission from your Lieutenant to do whatever it takes to stop the RTL threat."

"Cair is an Agenda Loyalist and I know you have your suspicions of them being twins...but we have no reason to believe that he is anything but who he says he is. He was vouched for by Kaiser Castle himself."

The name Castle carries weight even in private. There is silence. I don't hear anything but an adjustment and I am assuming it is Boone making that adjustment. The Drill Sergeant never really took me as someone in desperate need of adjusting anything from nerves or emotions.

"You want to throw out names, Young? Well fine. I am under authority from President Titus Castle."

Young doesn't argue with that.

"Fine. Take him," he states, "Take him and watch his producer, Lisa Tran runs a special about a sudden weird disappearance of one the Agenda's most beloved child patriot by one of the most despised men in new Jerusalem.

Despised was right. The Castles looked so perfect that it was always a whisper about the reptile looking man named Boone that is their bidding.

"You wouldn't..."

"No of course not. I am a military man with no use for political matters. However, if Lisa Tran were to do it...I wouldn't stop her..."

I am confused. Why was he helping me? Why wasn't he giving me away?

Boone seems irritated, "You'll regret saying that Sargeant."

And just that moment the two of them leave the room together leaving me alone. And that's when I realize that Boone is really concerned about me. And the more I think about it the more I think that I don't know exactly what I am getting involved in.

So I do exactly what my father specifically told me not to do.

I open the box.

"Guns..." I realize.

There were two pistols. High tech pistols. The kind of stuff that I'd seen on CNN when people were talking about how technologically advanced New Jerusalem was.

And then there were silencers.

These weren't two pistols. These were two pistols that were going to be used to kill the President...

~

It isn't until very late that I get back with the others. Lisa Tran is seemingly waiting for me when I get to the area that we were supposed to meet. She had missions on her desk no doubt our missions. I don't look. Scared a little. I think that she would be upset for waiting for me for so long but she seems to be busy with work that she doesn't even seem to realize that I'm standing in front of her face until I almost wave her down.

"Oh, Private Queeney," she states, "Get upstairs. We got you guys a decent room before we leave in the morning for Bootcamp. You probably won't get much sleep. We leave in three hours."

It was happening.

We were leaving for Bootcamp. It was really my last day of freedom. I head towards the back of the suite where my sleeping quarters are. I walk past Maggot who is comfortably sleeping on a couch. Not too far away from him the first door is open and there is someone snoring in there but I'm not sure who. I know who I don't want to see right now. Me having to deliver the package had taken longer than I had expected. The whole situation of leaving guns, for god knows who, definitely seemed to shock the hell out of me. I didn't realize what I was doing but I knew that things were intensified.

That's when I see two figures at the top of the stairs. Joseph is one of them. He's shirtless. His brown skin glistens in a lean white light. He's muscular and attractive without seemingly aware of either. There's something casual in the way he hangs his head, the way that he effortlessly leans back with these hot eyes. And when I say hot---I mean HOT.

Joseph's dark eyes smolder. He bit down at his lip hard, surprised and intrigued by what Osiris is saying in front of him.

"We should definitely get closer again," Osiris is telling him.

I don't blame Osiris. Varney has the sex appeal of an Alpha Squad member but without realizing his own sexiness. That's when Osiris does something I don't expect. He pulls out some alcohol from a bag he had already stored. He takes a long hard shot and then passes it to Joseph. Joseph stares hard at the bottle. I am about to say something but he stops himself.

"We gotta be up in a few hours..."

"So? Even more, reason to drink. You're going to be in boot camp doing the same thing for a year. Who wants to do that?"

I stop moving. Stuck. In the darkness. I stop moving because I don't want to seem like I'm spying. But somehow by trying not to seem like I'm spying I end up stuck in the darkness actually spying on what Joseph and Osiris are referring to. It was my second time today spying on someone and let's just say I'm on a role.

So I stop. I stop to the point of even breathing.

"Now that I don't look homeless right?" Joseph laughs and teases him.

"Oh come on can you blame me. I didn't know what I had when I had it. But I know now. You're the sexiest guy in the entire army. It's only a matter of time before they promote you to Squad A. You can be like a national hero...and I can make that happen."

"You can?" Joseph asks.

"I edit all the clips."

"Can you edit out my face?" Varney asks looking irritated, "I'm hideous."

"Are you kidding me?" he asks.

I wonder the same thing when I hear that.

There is a heaviness to Joseph. He takes the bottle of alcohol. Watching his lips circle the bottle is almost the same as watching a kitten slowly die. It's the saddest thing ever.

Almost as though defeated Joseph's eyes get lost for a minute and just says, "I am not that guy anymore..."

"You're more than that guy than you know. You're beautiful...don't you see that. Because I do. That face. That smile...those lips..."

He gets in between Joseph's legs. Joseph grabs the side of his waist seemingly to hold him steady as he advances. I watch as Osiris goes for the kiss. And just when they are about to lock lips Joseph pulls back.

"I'm actually feeling someone else..."

My heart drops.

"Cair?" he asks.

There is a pause.

Was it true? Was Joseph really stopping other guys for me?

"Listen that's not the point. The point is maybe you guys should focus on Tanaka. That's a real Agenda story. Grandson of a dead guy who wanted peace. How about Maggot? His brother's dead. Enough tragedy for everyone."

"What about your tragedy?"

When he says it I can almost him exhale deeply.

Osiris continues talking when there is no reply, " I can give you a favorable edit," he states, "I can make America fall in love with Joseph Varney----again. Isn't that what you want?"

Joseph looks stuck. Stuck to the point that he is really thinking about it. Was he really letting this fucking Osiris guy tell him that he should do some back end deal to look good on TV? This point I'm giving cameraman Osiris a second look. I didn't know him. I didn't know anything about him but something about him was off...especially his overall interested in Joseph Varney.

Sure Joseph was sexy, just as sexy as the Squad A guys. But he hadn't been through what those guys had been through. He hadn't gone through Bootcamp. To already start calling him some sort of National Military hero was premature at best.

"I'm good. Not really into hookups

"I want you to fuck me," Osiris plants Joseph's hands firmly against his tight ass cheeks.

For a minute I think I see the crotch area of Joseph gets a little rise. He was drunk and Osiris was sexy. But somehow this guy manages to pull away.

"Am I interrupting?" I clear my breath.

I'm just on time because when I get closer it seems like Osiris was really laying it on thick. He has his right hand pressed up against Varney's abs. I look down at those abs of his. They were like a damn washboard. I remembered how hard Bashir was. Joseph didn't have a problem. His body was hard and trained but natural. The was skin there and warmth and more humanity than either Osiris and I knew what to do with.

He was special. I have the feelings in my bones and looking at Osiris I think he felt the same.

I have to admit I'm nothing but jealous seeing how Osiris was close to him.

When Osiris sees me, he doesn't stop his flirtatious attempt at slowly stroking Joseph.

"Cair----" Joseph hops up unexpectedly clearly not expecting me to walk in the way that I walk in.

Seeing him nervously looking between Osiris and I proves that Joseph Varney definitely isn't the smooth guy he used to look like back on television.

Osiris keeps his eyes on me for longer than he should. If he was the competition it was definitely steep. He was tall. He was stunning. Even his slight feminine mannerisms wouldn't be enough to stop the sexiness of it all.

Osiris and Varney look like they belong together and that's the worst part.

"Just when things were getting hot," Osiris teases, "Oh I should get going. Tomorrow's a big day. See you, boys, later. Silk Valdez will be here specifically for you Queeney. Time to get the camera ready..."

When Osiris leaves we are left alone. It's awkward being next to Varney. I watch as he is staring out of the window. There was really not much to see. Not too far away was a runway on the military base with a few buildings. The night is quiet and still. No one out now but late mechanics and sentries.

"That was----" he starts.

"You don't have to explain," I cut him off. I cut him off because honestly I don't deserve an explanation at this time but really at the end of the day did I really want to know how far Osiris had gotten with him? The thought of it all was sure to drive me crazy if I wasn't careful. And I planned on being very careful after what Bashir had put me through.

"I didn't want to even hang with Osiris. You missed our date," he realizes, "I was waiting for you for a while."

He's explaining anyway. Her eyes keep darting at me as studying my reaction t. I had stood him up and I was wrong.

"Dammit, Joseph---I honestly lost track of time."

I don't think he believes my answer but he nods regardless.

"With Bashir?"

I gulp hard. What if Tanaka told him what happened between us. I was single. I shouldn't care but I do.

I pause, take a deep breath and ask, "Why?"

He shrugs, "I hear he went AWOL tonight sneaking out somewhere."

"Weird. But not with me. I really didn't want to miss our date."

He looks around, "I thought you changed your mind. You had me worried."

I am looking out the window but I can feel his eyes on me. He's watching me very closely studying my reactions as though trying to figure it out. I think it's attractive the way he does it. It makes me feel almost like prey. Or maybe like a puzzle trying to get figured out. The thing was I was a subject in the mind of Joseph Varney and one that he clearly seems to find some sort of interest in.

But what's the difference between his interest with me and interest with Osiris.

I have to keep it real with him.

"Listen. I like you. I don't want you to ever think that's not the case. I liked you before this-----"

"I know. I like you too."

He isn't smiling. He's probably still disappointed but the way he says it makes me think he is being real.

"And that's why I spent all night waiting up for you."

"You did?"

It had taken hours for me waiting in that room so that no one would see me walking out. I had to be beyond sure before I walked out. I managed to do it effectively but I'm scared. How effective was I? Especially if I'd hurt Varney in the process.

He bites down on his lip and smiles, "To be honest? Yeah. I didn't want to seem lame for admitting it but also don't want to seem like some sort of player. You've been completely honest with me..."

"Well----"

"No, let me finish. I need to be honest as well," he states, "I'm feeling you. I'm always been feeling you. The real you. And honestly, you standing me up did sort of hurt my feelings."

Hearing him admit that I hurt him definitely means something to me. I feel myself get a bit on edge but I don't respond right away.

"I'm sorry," I state.

"Whatever."

I wasn't expecting that. I don't think about it though. I get he's upset with me. I start walking away assuming that maybe I just fucked it up with the one-shot of happiness that I'd get from this whole experience. But as I'm walking away I feel something. It's gentle. A small soft tingling up my spine that I hardly notice.

When I pass he glides his fingers under mine.

"Wait..."

I turn. Our eyes connect. There is all this passion when he stops me. I look down our fingers are touching. My stomach is all in knots. He makes me nervous and I'm so nervous I think I'm going to explode.

"Yes?"

That's when I hear his stomach. If I am in knots then his stomach literally is in a jigsaw puzzle. It's all out of place and I can see the nerves on his face.

I don't get it. Why would a guy who looked like Joseph Varney ever be reluctant to express sexual interest in someone? Who would ever turn him down?

"Sorry I don't know what I was thinking----"

"You forgive me?" I ask.

"Yeah...maybe..."

.

He grabs a shirt off of the chair and flings it over his husky shoulders. It's a black shirt he hadn't buttoned. His feet were still bare. I definitely liked what I saw.

He leaves for a minute into the sleeping quarters. I follow him. Sure enough, it's Tanaka who was sleeping in one bed. Maggot's stuff is on another. The beds were small military beds.

"Everyone's asleep..." I start but stop. It's starting to feel a little weird.

He looks around and pauses himself, "Yeah. Lisa might as well be. It's just us. Alone. Probably the only time we'll have this kind of privacy for a while."

"Yeah..." I state taking a step closer, "With all the tension it'd be nice if I had someone to help me out with that."

He turns to me. We are close in the darkness. We don't react.

It takes him forever to get the nerve to realize what I'm doing and respond hesitantly with, "Where are you tense?"

"All over..."

He smiles, a sneaky soft smile, "Well I can help with that."

I am leaning up against a bed unsuspecting him to be as aggressive as he is all of a sudden. He walked over, placing his hands on the bed and trap

ping me between it and him. The heat from his body radiated toward me. Time seemed to freeze as the force of his attraction buzzed within me. If I was going to do this I couldn't be a pussy.

I hesitated, before lifting my hands and placing them on his chest. His skin was surprisingly soft over the hard muscles underneath.

"You're so fucking perfect..." he tells me tracing my lips with his thumb. He flexed his pecs and I jerked. My pinky finger accidentally flicking over his flat nipple and his breathing pick up.

"This isn't usually how this stuff goes..."

He lightly ran a finger down my cheek. "My plan was to wait, but you're making it very difficult."

I shivered as he gently traced my earlobe. "How?"

"Because right now all I want to do is take your clothes off, throw you on that bed, and get deep inside you."

It would change everything. There are moments in life where you know things matter. You know that a single decision will change the course of your life forever. I could be afraid of getting hurt and being in this situation and turn him down. Osiris no doubt would go after him. Maybe they'd work, maybe they wouldn't but that would be putting fate in someone else's hands.

Oh, God, what am I doing? Despite my fear I said, "Then...then do it."

He stared at me for what felt like hours before he closed the distance between us and kissed me. The fire spread throughout my body, so hot I was sure he could feel it. His lips were firm and demanding against mine. When his tongue reached out for entrance into my mouth I quickly obliged. He immediately filled my mouth with his tongue and my hands clenched against his chest. He groaned, kissing me harder.

His hand came down to caress the moist sweat beading up at the starts of my ass. He was softly massaging my aching flesh. When his thumb brushed across my nipple I trembled as liquid heat replaced my bones. His other hand clutched my waist, pulling me against him. He reached around to cup my behind as he pressed his erection against me.

His left mine, kissing his way to her ear.

"I'm going to touch you," he said, his hand leaving my butt to pop open the button of my shorts. Excitement and fear trembled within me. It was happening so fast.

His tongue played with the curve of my ear. "Tell me to touch you." His zipper released, and his hands skimmed along the waistband of his panties. All reasoning left.

"Touch me everywhere...". I beg between deep-throated moans.

Just at that moment, an alarm sounds.

An alarm that rings and breaks up any sense of a romantic moment that we're having. All of a sudden I see Osiris running down the hall. He stops at the open door and sees us standing there. My heart is racing. Something is happening but I'm not sure what. When he sees me standing there with Jacob Varney, it seems like Osiris just completely gets cold. He just looks at us, eyeing us up and down.

We are panting, touching, sweating and clearly getting into something. It's not like we could pretend like we weren't.

"What's happened?" I ask.

It's awkward but right now that wasn't my concern. My concern was the blaring alarm.

"We need to leave now..." he states, "An RTL got caught with a gun tonight...a pistol. We have reason to believe he was after King Castle."

Shit!

"What's happening now?"

"The RTLs seemed to be using the attack for a distraction. It's happening now. They are attacking the base."

"Why here?"

"They knew new soldiers were here before being sent off to training. How better to defeat your enemies before they're prepared. They are trying to take over the city and we believe that they have help."

It was the gun. It was the gun that I left earlier!

~

I don't even have time to think about it. Before I know we are on a plane. I look out the window. The aircraft hangar was the only thing around as far as the eye could see. It's silver domed roof projected up from the golden plains into the blue like some alien ship. Inside was only dust and the echo of my feet. In the shafts of light that penetrated the tall thin windows the dust swirled and the wind whistled through the front and rear openings. It seemed unfinished, like it had been built for a purpose and then abandoned, yet it wasn't that old. That meant that this building was built too quickly.

Too quick just like the war.

Too quick just like the soldiers fighting the war.

No one was ready.

There was no warmth in the beams and no comfort in the concrete floor. We sit knee deep in silence. The engine is roaring outside. There are other planes. Planes that are taking off. It seems like something is happening.

"Get on..." I hear Sargeant Young state, "You're all are flying with me. We need to keep you safe."

Us? Weird...

"Yes, sir."

That's when I feel him grab me. Sargeant Young holds my hand. He's stopping me from talking. He leans over, "When we land...use this...and I'll have someone escort you out..."

I'm confused.

"Escort me out of where?" I ask.

The Sargeant leans even closer in and whispers, "To be with your father..."

I want to ask the Sargeant more questions, such as how he knew my father. If he was working with my father that meant he was a traitor? Did that mean he was an RTL? Was there an RTL actually working as my fucking DRILL SARGEANT!

I want to ask those things but I feel an arm grab me. It's Tanaka. He motions for my seat. I can see him panicking in his eyes. He doesn't let it show really but in his eyes, it's already war. We already started fighting.

"What's happening?" Maggot asks.

"SHH!"

I look to the front of the plane. There are some cargo and a bunch of other soldiers that I don't know. We are on the back of the plane closer to the engine.

We each reverberate around the room like a cymbal, yet no-one blinks or moves to stop it. Outside there is no traffic or gunfire like we expect, by now it must be 4 in the morning. The time in which the sun was thinking about rising. When it does the rest of the men will move, gather the arms and head out.

"Seems like the attack stopped..." Joseph Varney whispers listening to the silent air, "Maybe it was all a false alarm."

"I don't think so," I interrupt."

They all look at me. All three of them. Joseph, Tanaka, and Maggot. Not too far from us, Lisa Tran was having a discussion with the Sargeant. Osiris was trying to calm her down but it seemed to be very heated. I don't think that Lisa liked getting off of the schedule and honestly, this was definitely off schedule.

Before I know it we're taking off but then something happens.

"WHAT THE----!"

BANG BANG BANG!

"We are under attack. I repeat. We are under attack," the pilot says on the loudspeaker.

I look out the window. The banging sound won't quit. I see the lights from below. We have to be at least a couple hundred feet in the air by now.

"ENGINE FAILURE!"

"CAIR! CAIR!"

"GET MAGGOT DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME! GET MAGGOT! HIS SEAT BELT IS LOOSE!"

"CAIR!"

I'm not sure what happens.

The moment I realize that our plane was being shot out of the sky I knew something was wrong.

I look over at the Sargeant. I take off my seatbelt and move towards the front of the plane away from my friends.

He looks shocked this is happening, "They lied. They lied. They set this up. They knew we were going to be on this plane. They set us up to die!"

"What's he talking about?" Lisa Tran asks.

"I'm not sure..." Osiris responds.

Somehow Osiris is recording all of this. The Sargeant's eyes getting wide. I know that he's upset about something.

He was going to implicate me.

I try to distract, "What's happening with the fucking plane!"

It wasn't hard to distract. Not until the Sargeant says, "They knew we were RTL traitors. They want to take us out. The RTLS want to take us out so they can save face on the World Stage..."

The RTLs ordered the plane shot down?

Why? My father promised to get me out. He got me a seat on this plane.

That's when the Sargeant says something.

I assumed I was dead. Then I kept walking and waking.

There had been some sort of accident. A crash. I liked to be unconscious rather than awake. Because when I was awake I could taste the coppery blood pooling in my mouth. I could feel it grazing my teeth and soaking my tongue. I felt the aching and cracks in my bones. Each crack felt like rocks were burrowing into my skin. I sucked in cramped air, feeling my lungs caving in on themselves. I saw the spots in the corners of my vision, making my head feel like the only thing inside of it was static. I heard a buzzing noise, filling my ears. I felt like I was there for hours, fading and waking and fading and waking. My agony was the only thing keeping me alive. It was the only thing I could feel anymore.

And that's when I see the Sargeant. He's dead right beside me.

I don't see Tanaka or the others. I don't see the entire back of the plane.

"No survivors..."

I am about to scream for help but then I realize I don't recognize the uniforms. There were no uniforms. These people were dressed in common clothes. They were RTLs. They were the enemy.

"Good," I hear my father state.

"A shame you had to make that order to shoot down the plane with your son still on it..."

My father had shot my plane down. He had planned on killing me? Why? What was so important to him?

My father doesn't skip a beat, "It was a necessary sacrifice..."

To read the next chapter in advance go to www.crushedcrown.com