Adlai lay on her stomach on the roof of the shooting range, staring at the two-thousand yard target. She hadn't made a shot like this–at least, not with the precision she wanted–before. She took a deep breath and looked down at the black armband she was wearing. In giant, white letters, the number 72 stared up at her. 72 beats per minute; not slow enough. She needed to get into the sixties to be steady enough to make that shot.
Rowan had showed her that trick, the trick of slowing her heart rate to around sixty beats per minute, and then keeping it steady. Already, Adlai had found it helped her to stay focused and made her aim more accurate. Also, it meant her adrenaline didn't surge as much, so she felt less drained, afterwards.
She took a few deep breaths, her eyes closed, and focused on her heartbeat and what she wanted it to do–namely, slow down. She felt its speed decreased, and she glanced down at the arm band. 64 beats per minute. Not bad.
Inhaling, she peered through her rifle's scope, her eyes on the target. As she exhaled, she pulled the trigger. The sound of the shot and the gun's recoil broke her focus, and she looked away from the scope for a second, missing the shot's impact.
When she glanced through the scope once again, she saw a neat hole at the very center of the target, the bullseye completely obliterated. The shot had hit the perfect center.
Adlai couldn't help letting out a whoop of excitement. She'd done it! Applause coming from somewhere nearby made her jump, and the number on her armband increased briefly, then settled at 65, again. Adlai ejected the magazine in her rifle before she looked around for the source of the clapping and saw that Carter was standing in the spectator's zone, looking awed.
"Holy crap," Carter said as Adlai climbed down to meet her. "I can't even imagine making that shot! How the hell do you do that?"
Adlai glanced down at her armband and shrugged. "Rowan taught me this trick to keep my heartbeat steady, and it helps. Also, you always have to remember to breathe."
Carter gave a shaky laugh. "Yeah, I always have trouble with that one. I'm not the world's worst shot, but... I'm a medic, not a sniper, you know?"
"Yeah," Adlai said, understanding her completely. "I mean, I know how to clean a cut, but I'd be lost if someone told me to operate on someone."
"Exactly!" Carter exclaimed. "But I'm not here to enumerate my shortcomings, or yours. I was actually wondering if you wanted to go get a coffee? I'm free, right now, and I was thinking, since we're both Fox Squad probies, we might be able to commiserate."
Adlai giggled. "Yeah, okay," she said. "I could definitely use some caffeine. Let me just put my rifle away, and I'll be right back."
"Okay," Carter agreed, and Adlai hurried to get everything in order, then came back. "Let's go," she told Carter. Carter wrapped her arm around Adlai's waist; Adlai liked that about her, how she never shied away from physical contact. It was kind of comforting, and Carter always made it quite clear that, when she was affectionate, it firmly placed you as her friend, with no arguments about that. If she hugged you, you were her friend, and that was that.
They went to a cafe a few blocks away from Rangers' Square and claimed a table by a window that looked out over the bay. Carter ordered a green tea and a croissant, and Adlai chose a latte and a slice of coffee cake.
"Have you started classes at the Academy, yet?" Carter asked Adlai, as they were waiting for the barista to bring them their coffee.
Adlai nodded. She had started classes the day after they'd gotten back, and had started by choosing her program. "ComTac," she said, referring to the abbreviated name for the School of Combat, Tactics and Strategy. "You?"
"PolyTech and SciOps," Carter answered, meaning the School of Polytechnics and Science Operations. "I started right after I was recruited, but I only got a couple of days in before we started the mission. Basically, I'm as much of a newbie as you." The barista brought over their coffees, and Carter smiled up at her. "Thanks." She turned to Adlai. "Oh, I forgot to ask you, who's your training officer?"
Adlai smiled. "Ripple," she admitted. "She's killer hard on me, but it's all good. And, well, because I'm Tactics as well as Combat, Rowan's my other trainer."
Carter chuckled. "Oh, crap. Girl, you're screwed," she said between giggles. "Both of them? They're going to kill you before your probation period's done."
Adlai smiled ruefully. "Yeah, I know," she said. "Who's your T.O.? I don't think I know."
"Gerrit," Carter said. "He's a complete know-it-all, but we get on okay. He's actually a really good teacher, even if he's physics and engineering, and I'm biochem and medicine. Indigo offered, but... I like working with Gerrit well enough."
Adlai nodded, tucking into her coffee cake. She understood almost exactly what Carter meant. Ripple might have been a stone cold bitch, and Rowan might have been the queen bitch, but they worked well together–they just fit.
When Adlai looked up again, she noticed that Carter hadn't touched her tea or her food. "Okay," Adlai said brusquely, setting her coffee aside. "Why am I getting the feeling that you didn't ask me here because you wanted to commiserate about our training officers?"
Carter looked up, frowning a bit. "Why?" she asked, rather defensively if nothing really was wrong.
Adlai crossed her arms. "What's really going on?" she asked, flat out. Pretences wouldn't get them anywhere. When Carter didn't answer, Adlai reminded her, "You're the one who wanted us to go out together to talk, and now you won't talk? That doesn't add up."
An ashamed blush spread across Carter's cheeks, and she ducked her head. "It's just... I keep having these dreams, now."
Adlai leaned forward, suddenly feeling sympathetic. "About the fighting?"
Carter nodded, then shook her head. "Oh, hell," she whispered. "No, about Nash. About what they did to him–what I did to him! They didn't even make me, but I stitched him up so they could keep torturing him. I was just so angry with him, for what he'd done to Rowan. And now he's dead, and maybe if I hadn't... I don't know. And, well, I keep thinking about Cailee, and how she's going to grow up without her father. No matter how big of a dick he was, she doesn't deserve that."
Adlai reached across the table and took Carter's hand. "Nash was a pervert, a terrorist and a rapist. Imagine if Cailee had grown up with him! Would he have ever laid a hand on her? And now she has a mom; she didn't before. She's a thousand times better off without Rowan." Then, speaking her mind and knowing it would hurt Carter, Adlai added, "Nash did the world a favor, killing himself. You can't blame yourself for that because it wasn't your fault. It was his, for becoming who he did."
Carter gave a watery smile. "How is it that I'm older than you, but you're the wise one in the friendship?" she asked, clearly trying to make a joke, but falling short.
Adlai smiled bitterly. "Because I'd lived a lifetime of shit before I was fifteen. Joining the army, and now the Rangers? That was the best thing that ever happened to me."
Carter wiped away a few years. "Me too. Despite the nightmares. But... I don't think I'll ever be able to get over this, you know? I'll always remember... what I did to Nash."
"Good," Adlai said firmly. "Because that's what makes you different to him. You have a conscience, telling you things like that are wrong; he didn't. Now, drink your tea."
Carter did, and, for a few minutes, they were quiet. Then, Carter said, "Did you hear about how Prescott's got a boyfriend, now?"
"What?" Adlai said, narrowly avoiding spitting out the mouthful of coffee she'd just gulped down. "Prescott? As in, way-too-serious Prescott who never thinks about anything but work?"
Carter giggled. "I know! I couldn't imagine him dating, either! But it's true. It's Thane, from Grizzly squad. You know, the massive dude who's Grizzly's sergeant."
Adlai's eyes widened. "Really? I thought he was dating someone else! Wasn't Thane at least hooking up with Samara, that really sweet girl in Dragon? The one who looks a bit elvin?"
"Oh my god, he was, wasn't he?" Carter snorted. "I guess that's over, now. Because Indigo told me Samara's seeing Santiago, now. Apparently, Indigo walked in on them doing it in one of the conference rooms."
Adlai burst into laughter. "Holy fuck! Really? Samara never struck me as the kind of person to hook up in random places! Santiago, yes. Samara, hell no."
Carter giggled. "I guess Santiago must be really, really good in bed if Samara's being less prudish," she said, smirking so much that Adlai thought she looked like a cat who had just eaten a bird. "But, you know, Indigo swore it was true, so..."
Adlai snorted, trying to keep a straight face, then dissolved into full-blown laughter, and Carter was even worse. A few of the cafe's other patrons glared at them, clearly annoyed, but Adlai couldn't stop laughing. She really didn't want to think about Santiago and Samara doing it, even though she knew Santiago was always horny as fuck, and that it was pretty much a right of passage to walk in on him with someone.
Just then, someone stepped up to their table, and both Adlai and Carter tried their best to control their giggling. Adlai managed to sober up enough to look up at the woman and realized that it was Rowan's physical therapist, Keely.
"Hey," Carter gasped between chuckles.
"Hey," Keely answered looking slightly perplexed. "Actually, I was wondering if I could sit here, with you. All the tables are taken, and it's always awkward, sitting with strangers."
"Right," Adlai said, her laughter finally subsided. "Sure, you can sit with us. Of course, right Carter?"
But something odd had happened to Carter. Her laughter had died out, and she was looking at Keely with desire sparkling in her eyes. And Adlai understood. Keely was hot, if you went for bold, badass and ballsy. And Keely was gazing back at Carter with a similar look on her face.
Adlai smiled to herself and decided that it was time for her to be a very good friend and make herself scarce. "Actually," she said, standing up. "I have to go. Training, you know."
"Yeah," Carter said, glancing briefly back at Adlai, before returning all her attention to Keely, again. "Bye, A. Keely, have you tried the croissants here? They're amazing."
"No, I haven't," Keely answered, and Adlai slipped away, shaking her head with amusement. Playing matchmaker was fun, she decided. Maybe she should try setting up Darcy and Walker, unless they were already together. She'd never quite been able to tell. Then again, relationships between the members of the same squads were forbidden. Still, something like that would never stop Darcy, so...
She was so lost in thought that she didn't see Solberg until she'd nearly crashed into him. "Oh, shit. Sorry!" she yelped, reaching out to steady the carrier with four coffee cups that he was holding. "I'm so sorry," she said again.
Solberg gave a half-smile. "No problem," he said, and Adlai was suddenly confused. He never passed up an opportunity to snap at someone. So, who was this guy and what had he done with the Wren Solberg she knew?
But she wasn't about to question why he was suddenly being nice, so, instead, she asked, "Where are you going?"
Solberg glanced around. "Training," he said. "Slate is determined to kill me before the day is out, and we're working with Cade and Lieutenant Reid, apparently. Hence the four coffees Slate asked me to get." He raised the carrier a little higher, and one of the cups wobbled and would have fallen if Adlai hadn't grabbed it, just in time.
She plucked up a second cup and said, "Let me carry these two, before you spill all of them. Where to?"
"The gym," Solberg answered. "Thanks. You don't have to, though. I'll manage on my own."
Adlai shrugged. "Sure, you'd manage. But, this way, you'll better, and you won't have to stop to adjust things every few seconds and be late to training. Cause if you are, Slate will really kill you." And she smiled at him, wondering if maybe she had been wrong about him.
"Well, thanks," Solberg said, and he gave that odd smile again, but this time, Adlai realized it was amusement, an expression that seemed almost new to him. Side by side, each carrying two cups of coffee, they strolled to the gym in companionable silence.
Feeling the fog brushing against her skin, the ocean air briny around them, Adlai felt inexplicably content, like her whole life had been leading up to this moment, like she had always been meant to wind up standing here, next to her former rival, a Ranger.
She'd never believed in fate before, but now, she was slowly coming around to the idea of it–fate, kismet, destiny, luck. Whatever it was, whatever it was called, she was slowly starting to believe in it. She thought that maybe she'd found her destiny, now. That finally she was where she belonged, in a life that was meant to be hers.
But a tiny voice in the back of her head wondered idly how long it could possibly last.