Operation: Phantom Shock

The Return

Weaver's POV
2 weeks after Ice Pick, 1 day after the War ends, 12 1/2 months after joining Rainbow
Yukon Territory, Canada
I looked out the passenger side window as the forest passed while Frost and I drove to the base,

Frost asked "what's it like? What are the people like? Is it gonna be nice?" I looked over, tearing my eyes off the landscape, "Bro, relax, you'll see in a minute. We're almost there" he sighed as we fell into a silence I asked myself how does it feel to win a world war? Was it worth it? How many sacrifices is too many? My musings were interrupted by the sudden stop of the humvee, I looked forward and saw the familiar base "There she is, come on" we slid out of the truck and grabbed our gear and clothes out of the back seat before walking in the front door, shivering slightly at the blast of hot air that hit us until I sighed in relief "home sweet home" frost chuckled as Emma came around the corner and froze at the sight of us before slowly walking forward and poking me in several spots as she walked around me, coming to a stop infront of me "Weaver...?" I nodded with a smile "Hey Em, I'm home" she tackled me to the ground in a death grip of a hug earning and "oomph" as I impacted the ground and she burrowed into my chest mumbling "I missed you" I chuckled "I missed you too, how'd you hold up for the last couple weeks?" She mumbled as I sat up "I've been so restless, I heard the war ended and couldn't stop checking the clock hoping you walked through the doors" I heard Frost "while I love the fact you two are smiling and happy, can we please get to the room so I can drop off my gear?" I looked down at Emma still buried in my chest "come on em, we can catch up at the dorm" she nodded but made no move to get up. I chuckled as I maneuvered out from under her and stood before Frost spoke "lead the way, weave. I don't know where I'm goin" I chuckled "follow me" she walked next to me and spoke to Frost "hi Derek, how've you been?" He replied "tired but good" I commented "that's the fuckin' truth" Emma asked him "where's the rest of Metal? Why are you here?" there was a sharp intake of breath before "KIA, I'm the new guy" she looked at me "how're you holding up?" I spoke slowly as the words were found "I miss them but... I'm proud to have been on that team and to know guys like that. I wish they could've seen the world they brought in to reality" she nodded as we talked for another 2 minutes before I pulled out the key to the dorm and walked in to find Meghan packing "Where ya going?" she turned quickly as he hand snapped to her chest "oh my god! Weaver, you scared the shit out of me!" I rubbed the back of my neck "Sorry 'bout that, anyway where ya goin'?" She spoke "I'm moving in with Craig since Maxim's not... here... anymore, He wanted someone there to help get used to being back again" I nodded "Got it, the rooms always open if you need to get away from Craig's stench" she chuckled "thanks, Hey derek" he gave a small wave as Meghan walked past him and out heading into the hall. I dropped back onto my bed and spread out "oh my god, it's orgasmic.... this bed is SO FUCKING COMFORTABLE!" Emma sat next to my head and laughed as Derek laid on his new bed "Oh my, dude you're right it is orgasmic, speaking of that I need new underwear" I laughed as Emma looked down at me and our eyes met "So about that date" Derek spoke "bro it's been 10 minutes and she's already on it, you've been caught lacking" I looked at her "how does a hunting trip to Alaska sound?" She looked at me with surprise "really? You'd be willing to teach me and bring me hunting for our first date?" I nodded with a smile "it'll be fun, if you want a classic fancy restaurant we can do that too" she shook her head "no, I like the sound of your idea" Derek replied "well done, I was expecting an IED eruption when you suggested it" I lazily lifted my left hand and gave a thumbs up "Same my guy, but It'll be fun" Emma asked "Does Harry know you're here derek?" He looked over "No, I think we should let him know, right?" I shrugged before pulling my phone out "I'll shoot him a text cause I'm not leaving this cloud" Emma sighed but didn't offer an alternative as I typed away before hitting send and watching as time seemed to slow and my phone fell towards my face. My hands snapped to my face as I groaned from the sudden impact "Sonuvabitch" I sat up holding my nose as Derek laughed openly and Emma asked rhetorically "now what did we learn?" I shot back "that my phone is fucking heavy, Jesus fuck" she moved infront of me "Let me see, ya big baby" I tentatively pulled my hands away and Emma checked it over "It's just because the skin is thin there, it's superficial" I sighed as I laid back "wanna put on something?" Derek asked "what do you have?" I shrugged "movie box is next to the tv, pick something" he stood with a sigh and headed to the TV, I heard a knock at the door "It's open!" The door opened and a few seconds later Harry appeared I gave a short wave "Hey boss" he smiled "Hello Weaver, how've you been?" I replied "All things considered, not bad. What about you?" He replied with a sharp exhale "Busy, apparently it's difficult to rebuild the world" I laughed as Emma replied "I could've told you that" he nodded as he spoke to me "I'm glad you made it through, now onto important matters, Derek Westbrook welcome to Rainbow." Derek straightened "Sir" Harry extended his hand, Derek shook it before asking "What can I expect from Rainbow?" Harry turned and walked to the window "Hostage rescue, bomb threats, chemical attacks, assassination attempts. All things you're very familiar with, it should be an easy transition. If you need anything feel free to come to my office, I'll set the time aside" I gave a small chuckle "Derek, it's not that crazy, stop impersonating the fish" Harry asked "you know you guys are war heroes right? All I've heard from the American Government is when can they do interviews or get their Medal of Honor." I must've looked shocked since Emma spoke "You saved the Vice President, recovered the Russian President and his daughter, took down the jammer blocking the defense of America and so much more, why are you shocked you're getting a medal" I spoke distractedly "I was just doing my job, it wasn't anything special" Derek nodded "any Unit guy would've done it, I wasn't expecting such high honors" Harry laughed "yes well you're getting the highest one, we leave in 2 days to go to DC" I nodded still in shock "thanks for the heads up" he smiled "Alright, I best get going Lord knows I've got enough paperwork to do" Emma replied "Bye Harry, have a good day and hopefully that paperwork doesn't turn you as gray as Vicente(Capitao)" he replied "If I get that gray please, for the love of everything holy, drag me out of the office" we laughed as he disappeared around the corner and we settled in for whatever Derek put on the TV. I propped myself up against the wall as Derek turned off the lights I felt Emma shift closer as the opening scene of Space Balls started playing, I sighed as I relaxed and leaned against Emma, I saw her look over in my peripherals before she looked at the tv and mumbled "this is nice" I nodded before whispering to myself so she wouldn't hear "je t'aime(I love you)" I froze when I heard a soft "je t'aime aussi(I love you too)" she chuckled as she felt all of my muscles tense "didn't think I'd hear you huh?" I nodded stiffly as she turned and whispered into my ear "then why did you say it right next to my ear?" I shrugged "I don't know, can we have this conversation later?" She nodded "After dinner we can talk" I smiled faintly as we fell into a silence before I shifted so I was leaning back on Emma as she rested her arms on my chest. When we got to the final battle Derek and I spoke along with the scene before laughing when we finished

Emma asked "How did you guys know that? How many times have you watched this movie?" I replied chuckling still "enough to be considered insane" she shook her head "you Americans are weird" I nodded "Yeah, but we're fun" Derek spoke "Amen, hey what time is it?" I checked my phone "5:51, 9 minutes to dinner" Emma spoke "we should go, Mike(thatcher) and Jalal(kaid) get all the good stuff if they're there before you" I sat up as Derek looked at me "Sounds like David" he nodded "I know that aftermath, let's go" we stood and looked at each other before bolting out of the room and running through the twisting corridors as I yelled direction to Derek who was a few meters ahead of me "Left! Left!" He grabbed the corner and threw himself around it as I did the same until we reached the cafeteria. We got our food and sat down, I looked through some pictures on my phone until I saw the one from the diamond mine mission in the blackhawk, I paused on it as Frost looked over as we both froze and just stared at the phone. Emma looked over "What's wrong?" I slid the phone across the table to her "This is the last mission everyone was here, it's like looking at a ghost" she looked at it "I see" she went to slide the phone back when her finger touched the screen causing it to shift to the next picture, a picture of her and I posing next to a Uh-1y Venom,

I looked down as she spoke "I wasn't expecting you to have that picture still" I nodded sadly "it was a long time ago, everything was different" Derek patted my shoulder "keep your head up, they didn't sacrifice themselves so we could be depressed in the new world." I sighed "I guess" just then Marius, Meghan, Mike and Craig day down. I gave a short wave as we started catching up, settling back into a peacetime rainbow is gonna be difficult.