The Ghost and the Phoenix

Part Fourteen

KorTac's introduction to the team went smoothly. Price was convincing, and no one seemed to question their reason for being on base.

König and his men were very competent, skilled and intelligent operators, and it didn't take them long to integrate themselves amongst the other 141 members. However, there was one interaction that had Simon on edge.

Simon and König were walking to one of the storage units, when the Austrian suddenly halted, spread his arms wide and bellowed across the grounds.

'Little Bird!'

Mel and Jackson had just exited a different storage room, carrying boxes. The look of surprise on Mel's face was quickly replaced with a huge smile as König began walking over.

'I see my Little Bird still has her wings.' he said as he grabbed the box she was carrying with one arm, and pulled her into a hug with the other.

Simon's eyes darkened at seeing the other man's arm around her. It took every ounce of self-control to not drag König aside and punch him in the face.

'Hey Colonel.' Mel laughed, nudging him away. 'I heard we had an oversized visitor on base.'

'Had to come see for myself you were okay.'

'Yeah, sorry about the jet.'

'Eh. We got more.' König dismissed her apology with a wave of his hand. 'Where do you want this?' he asked tapping the box he still held.

'Oh, it's okay, we're just going back to the hanger.' She glanced at Simon, giving him smile. 'I don't want to interrupt.' Mel went to grab the box back, but König lifted it out of her reach.

'A small detour won't hurt.' he looked at Simon. 'Isn't that right Lieutenant.' König began heading in the direction of the hanger without waiting for a reply.

Mel mouthed sorry to Simon, before walking quickly to catch up to König, leaving him to follow behind with Jackson.

'I keep forgetting how big that bastard is.' Jackson mused, repositioning the box he was carrying for a better grip.

'How often did you work with them?' Simon asked, his eyes fixated on the two in front of him.

'A couple of months, once or twice a year.' Jackson answered. 'Not often enough for the Colonel in any case.' His reply caused Simon to slow his pace.

'Why do you say that?'

'Because they were together.' He glanced at Simon and was startled by the look he received. 'Shit....Sorry. I thought she'd have told you about that.' When Simon didn't reply Jackson filled in the awkward silence. 'But don't worry, I don't think it was serious, I mean she never talked about it. They're just friends now.'

'Good to know.'

When they reached the hanger Simon waited at the doorway. He listened as Mel and König were in deep discussion about the altercation with the Raptor, while she unpacked the boxes.

He watched them intently, noticing how easily they interacted with each other, feeling the jealousy inside him building, chipping away at his confidence. Maybe he was over reacting, but Simon couldn't push the negative thoughts from his mind.

Was it possible he'd read the situation with Mel completely wrong? Sure she liked him, but maybe her feelings didn't run as deep as his. Maybe he was just someone to play with, to keep her bed warm at night until her next posting.

Anger mixed with jealousy, drowning out the part of his mind that was screaming for him to stop being an idiot. Simon's vision turned red when König placed his hand on her arm and gave it a squeeze.