CARNIVAL
"Town this small," Em began, "we don't get a lot of entertainment beyond that local movie theater and the bowling alley. Every year when they have this festival it's a pretty big to do."
"It's kind of nice," Nina replied, looking around. "Not having the insane bustle of the city."
"It's nice to be out," Kim sighed happily, looking around the fairgrounds. "Even if it's just the five of us."
"The other shift will get to come tomorrow," Erin replied mildly, pulling her purse higher up on her shoulder. "I'm all for funnel cake. Who's with me?"
Nina laughed, and Kim smiled. She hadn't seen their newest coworker looking so happy and carefree in a long while. Nina was still uncomfortable with the generally rowdy, loud, and sometimes bawdy atmosphere in Rade's at night, even after three months, and that seemed to wear on her a lot more than the work itself. The respite was nice for her, and it was nice for them to see her feeling better.
As they were walking on the boardwalk, they heard the man in the dunk tank start heckling somebody nearby. "Hey old man! Betcha ten you couldn't see the target to hit it!" There was a pause, and then, "Are you serving with them Marines or are you their father?"
Em pointed - lounging in chairs close to the dunking booth were a group of Marines from the base, the silver-haired recruiter included. "Must be them."
"Thomas is even hotter in civvies than he is in uniform," Jaime sighed happily, and Em rolled her eyes.
"They got him riled up," Kim chuckled as they went over to greet their usual customers. The Marines began to cheer when Thomas got up.
As he approached the line, Stultz grinned up at the waitresses. "You're just in time to watch the show."
"Make sure you take a Bayer before you try to throw!" the dunk tank man heckled. "Don't want you to hurt a muscle or nothing!"
"He's going to kill 'im," Elmore snickered.
The teen handling the exhibit handed Gibbs three balls. "Go ahead, sir."
One.
There was a huge splash as the man went into the tank.
"Lucky shot, lucky shot!" he laughed as he climbed out, dripping wet.
The baseballs pinged two more times against the metal target, sending the man plunging into the water twice more.
The others standing around started laughing as Thomas straightened, the man thoroughly soaked. He good-naturedly held up his hands, laughing as he conceded. "Great shots."
There was good-natured ribbing as Thomas rejoined them, and he smiled at all of them, but Erin watched as his eyes lingered on Nina for just a fraction longer. The veteran waitress thought it was just her imagination, and then she watched as his smile softened just slightly as he greeted the newcomer.
Her small blush and returned smile was quickly cut off when Stultz grinned and challenged, "How 'bout one of you do it?"
NCIS HQ
"Hey guys." Abby bounced in. "I tested everything you brought up from this past weekend and compared it with everything from the few weeks' before. You know that sandwich meat that Kate's consistently nervous about, week after week after week?"
"Yeah?"
"It's got enough preservatives to make her insides last for years, but it's not formaldehyde."
"Not that that makes me feel any better," Cassie muttered, looking at her sandwich and suddenly feeling a little nauseated.
"Anything from Master Sergeant Mathis?" Balboa asked, trotting in and dropping his coat on his chair.
Axelrod snorted. "Besides a bad case of stomach ulcers?"
"Cute. No, really."
"He sent us 'suspicious contents' of one private's locker," Abby explained, "but it turns out the hinky stuff in the scary black bottle that the private kept in his locker was an antibiotic for his ear infection. Boy, was his DI mad when he found out that the private had gone to an off-base doctor so he could hide his condition."
CARNIVAL
"They're cheatin'," was the first thing out of Stultz's mouth.
Kim frowned, watching as each competitor walked away without success. The man running the booth called out encouragingly after each, his shooting partner taking the time to reload his revolver. She watched them go through ten competitors and then her suspicious nature kicked in. She knew they were running some kind of scam, but she wasn't sure what.
A young man stepped up, his friends standing nearby. The boy then stepped up nervously to the range and put down a dollar before letting the man clap down the mufflers over his ears.
She was puzzled - the boy's stance seemed good, and he was calm. Quite frankly, she didn't understand that well how the booth shooter kept winning, but then again, the only thing she knew about guns was what she saw on TV.
He's cheating somehow," Stultz repeated to the group of Marines and waitresses, watching from a distance. "I just know it. I'll bet those targets are rigged - that every time they load up new targets for a new shooter, they're putting up a target with holes in the center for that booth shooter."
"There's no way anybody who knows their way around a rifle can lose to a guy shooting a handgun," Elmore explained to the gathered waitresses. "The cards are stacked against the handgun shooter. That's how they're getting so many people to come and play. I'll bet they all think he's cheating, they just can't prove it."
"The handgun barrel is kind of long," Nina said softly. "Wouldn't that help?" At the surprised looks she got, she seemed slightly caught, then explained, "I shot rifle in high school."
"That would help," Thomas murmured. "But not that much." He paused. "I think he's shooting blanks at his targets."
Elmore looked at the older man in awe. "You can hear the difference?"
"Blanks," Erin cut in, looking at the recruiter questioningly.
"That second shooter we saw - his shots were all louder than the booth shooters, and they were using the same type of gun," Thomas said quietly. "Blanks shoot less loudly."
"D-ng," Stultz breathed. "They've got a good rig up! They shoot six rounds, it sounds like they fired off all the shots."
Thomas nodded. "It's a good scam." He paused a minute, then turned to Nina.
Lissa watched warily as Thomas leaned over, whispering intimately into Nina's ear. Over Thomas' back and shoulder she could see Nina's face, shadowed by his broad chest, and the growing dimpled smile was unmistakable. She nodded, and Thomas chuckled before turning to the Marines. "Want to have some fun?"
"Do we have another taker?" The booth manager grinned. "Step right up!"
A young couple came up to shoot, the guy cockily handing his girlfriend his jacket and smirking at the booth shooter. From a distance, she could still see the young man who'd just shot disappear into the crowd with his friends.
Lissa almost hoped that Thomas wouldn't say anything until after this jerk at the range got shown up.
Firing - and again the booth shooter won, this time with all six punched together in what looked like one giant hole.
As the young couple walked away, the boyfriend claiming it was just "bad luck" and so on, Thomas made his move. He looked at the booth's shooter and said quietly, "Your shots weren't as loud as those you were shooting against."
The booth shooter looked up instantly. "Excuse me?"
"Your shots weren't as loud as those you were shooting against," Thomas repeated. He watched with satisfaction as the booth manager's face drained of all color. He then turned to the hardened booth shooter. "They're actually firing real bullets. You're firing blanks at a rigged target. You let me load the weapons."
From a few feet away, Stultz, listening to every word, chuckled. He let a competitor go first - who unfortunately was that poor of a shot and would have lost anyhow. The booth shooter gave Thomas a "See?" smirk.
It was time to show them up. Stultz, hidden on the side of the booth, waved to Nina. He hoped Thomas knew what he was doing, giving a green waitress - even one who had shot rifle in high school - the task of showing up the shooter.
The Marine felt his mouth drop as Nina fairly skipped up, twirling a lock of hair around a finger nervously. "Hi," she cooed coyly when she approached. "Oh, this just looks like so much fun!" she gushed.
Thomas rolled his eyes at her for good measure.
"Pick your weapon of choice," the booth manager welcomed. "You can use a handgun, a rifle, or shotgun."
"Oh...." Nina's face fell in mock confusion. "Well, I'll use whatever you use!" she said brightly.
Cpl. Elmore was standing a few feet away, his mouth hanging open at the complete ditziness being exuded. He'd never seen her behave like this before. The hair twirled around a finger had to be the straw that broke the camel's back - his sister had done that when she was thirteen. It was like watching a teenybopper.
"Well, we use a handgun, but a rifle will give you better accuracy," the manager cooed, obviously completely taken by her act.
"Oh, no, no," Nina shook her head. "If I use a rifle, then we all do!" She handed the booth shooter a rifle, who handed it to Thomas - looking rather unimpressed - to load the bullets.
The booth shooter shot first, and then Kate daintily skipped up to the booth. "Can you help me with these...thingies?" she asked with mock puzzlement, holding up between her thumb and her forefinger the muffs by the strap connecting them, acting as though she were holding up a dirty handkerchief or something.
"Sure, babe," the booth shooter replied, half-leering. Nina just beamed back at him like an innocent fool, and Thomas snorted impatiently.
"I don't know whether to be utterly impressed that Nina can play the dumbest floozy I've ever seen," Erin whispered, "or be horrified that she can."
"Those cheats'll get what they deserve when she outshoots them."
Both men were falling over their feet to help her with her muffs, and then they handed her the gun.
Nina gave them one last, flirty smile, then turned to the target, tossing in a last dumb comment. "Which target is mine?" she asked, swinging the gun around with her at the same time, the barrel nearly hitting the shooter in the chest. "Oh," she replied, nodding and flashing another fakely grateful smile as they pointed it out. "This is cool!" she announced loudly.
She carefully took the gun, nodding eagerly at the last minute directions given to her.
Thomas watched with pretended disinterest as she stepped up to the line. He watched as Nina straightened and brought the gun up with expertise, then fired off a quick round of shots.
He tried not to smirk as the manager's face fell. The targets moved up slowly on their mechanically pulley; the booth's shooter had gotten only two in the center, the other four scattered around in the next ring out. Nina's shots were all nestled neatly in the center of the target. "Did I win?" she shrieked, bouncing up and down. "Aw, look at that!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "I'll take that one," she replied, pointing at the largest stuffed animal on display and giving each man a peck on the cheek as she danced off with the huge, soft toy, leaving behind in her whirlwind wake the two stunned men.
Elmore and the waitresses were laughing so hard they had to lean on each other for support. Stultz tried not to chuckle out loud, and Thomas just grinned.
They were all sitting in the back seat of a music concert tent when Lissa felt somebody standing behind them. She stood up, a grin as wide as his. "Took you awhile, Gunny Thomas," she commented, standing up.
"I sat through two more rounds just not to raise suspicion," Thomas replied, his eyes dancing. "Nice shooting, Nina."
"I learned well," she smiled in amusement.
"Nice acting, too," Thomas chuckled.
At that, Nina rolled her eyes. "I felt so stupid doing that," she muttered. "I feel like I need to shower to wash that idiocy off of me."
Thomas smiled, and Kim wondered if she was the only one who noticed him unconsciously slipping a protective arm around Nina's waist, protecting her from the bustling line trying to get out from the tent. "Well, it was pretty amusing. You should've seen their faces after you beat them."
"That's why I did it," Nina admitted. "They so needed to be taught a good lesson." She pointed to the gigantic animal. "You want it?" She turned to the other Marines. "Any of you? You guys took the booth down."
"No way," Stultz shook his head. "I show up on base carrying a four-foot tall pink rabbit and I'll never hear the end of it." He grinned as the others laughed, then added, "You could make him Rade's mascot."
Nina chuckled. "Perhaps. I just don't relish carrying it all day."
"Let's put it out in the car, then," Lissa proposed.
"I'll do it," Nina replied, holding her hand out of the keys. "I'll catch up with you guys in just a few minutes." She started to reach for the rabbit, only to see the recruiter carefully tuck it under an arm. "Vin, I can get it."
Lissa looked up instantly at the use of the nickname, and seeing the startled looks on the others' faces, she wasn't the only one who'd noticed. She'd heard him called 'Al' once or twice, but Nina's easy use of her own nickname for him was surprising - to all of them but Thomas. "I got it," he insisted quietly, following her out.
The two disappeared into the crowds, the Marine's free hand hovering at the small of Nina's back. The group stood at the opening to the tent, watching warily, forlornly until they were out of sight. Erin finally spoke: "It's not just me seeing things between them, is it?"
"No," Stultz replied glumly. "It's not just you."
They were strolling comfortably between the cars in the quiet parking lot. "Nice catch on the handgun thing - saying that you shot rifle in high school." He grinned. "It also gave me a good excuse to use you in beating their scam."
Kate just chuckled. "Thank God. I kind of panicked when they caught me in that slip."
They made their way to the car, Kate unlocking the door to the back. Gibbs held out the rabbit at arm's length. "You had to choose their biggest prize."
"That's part of the humiliation," Kate smiled. "Maybe I'll glue him into DiNozzo's chair." Gibbs chuckled, and then Kate smirked, "I think you enjoyed getting even."
"Did I?" Gibbs replied innocently, amsuement written all over his face.
"You did."
"And you didn't?"
Kate chuckled. "It was fun."
"I was getting concerned when you picked up those muffs the way you did," he admitted.
"Oh, come now, don't you trust me?"
"You're a good actress," he smiled, and she laughed.
RADE'S BAR AND RESTAURANT
Kate was still standing with her back to the door as she wiped down the tables to wait for the early lunch rush. At the knock, she called without looking up, "We don't open for another hour."
She folded up her rag and tensed, then turned quickly to see MP Mathis a couple feet away - inside. Kate bit back her gasp and had to stifle her immediate impulse to reach for her (now non-existent) gun. "Master Sergeant," she said as calmly as she could. "Our cook is...just firing his stove up. He won't be ready for another half hour. You're welcome to sit if you like."
"I'm not here to eat." He walked around to face her.
Kate had to admit, she'd never been interrogated as part of a case before. Oh, sure, they had asked her questions about Cmdr. Trapp on Air Force One, and Gibbs had shoved her into the bathroom for what was more a mean beatdown than a questioning, but she was generally the questioner.
She straightened, determined not to let the MP scare her. She smiled graciously and nodded. "What can I do for you, Master Sergeant?"
"Why are you here?" He sure didn't waste time with pleasantries.
"Excuse me?"
"The entire base is talking about you and Thomas," the Marine replied shortly. Well, Kate had to admit, he certainly was blunt and honest. "I want to know why you are here. This isn't exactly the best job, and no offense, ma'am, but you're not exactly the type who'd fit into this kind of environment."
Kate straightened. "Not that it's any of your business," she retorted, "but I am here because my mother took ill. Among those of us still at home, somebody had to come out to work. I was not about to let my sister be the one to do so."
"You're not from around here."
"No, I'm not. We recently moved two hours away. Since they have no better jobs than do here, I went as far as I could. Without my complete college degree, jobs are a little difficult to come by," she replied sharply, following the script. "I needed one that would pay well and quickly. This job has more flexible hours with higher pay, and it didn't have a problem with the fact that I didn't have waitressing experience."
"Do you know why?"
Kate didn't say anything.
"Do you wish you were out yet?" Mathis asked in a small hiss, raising an eyebrow.
"Excuse me?"
"You've been here a few weeks. It can't be the best job you've had."
"No, it hasn't," she replied firmly. "But it pays well." She thought for a moment and remembered Gibbs' statement from Howe - that some of the girls tried to marry out for financial needs. "And when my family circumstances stabilizes financially, I will go."
Mathis' eyes shot up to her face at that.
MARINE BASE
"...was doing all different things," MacDow replied to Thomas' question as he stapled a packet and set it aside. "I was on a mobile training team in South America for awhile - Paraguay, Brazil, Colombia, Peru."
"Beats sitting all day," Thomas replied with the slightest bit of envy. "I hate riding a desk."
MacDow chuckled. "Easier to date and marry, I guess, if you're stable, though."
"Yes sir. But if women marry Marines, they ought to know what they're getting into."
"There's a reason they say love is blind." Capt. MacDow stapled another packet.
"You're all heart, sir," Thomas commented, trying not to laugh.
MacDow gave him a slightly puzzled look. "You still believe in it?" he asked, dropping the enlisted-officer tone he used when on base.
"Sure. Marriage, kids, everything." MacDow looked at him, his mouth hanging open. "I'm not good at it, but it's a good thing. Look at Gunnery Sergeant Howe. It's worked well for him."
MacDow looked at him, still slightly stunned. "Gunny, purely as a younger guy asking somebody with more experience, no ranks, nothing: are you serious about what you just said?"
"Sure."
MacDow clamped his mouth shut, still looking at the older man in surprise. "Somebody change your mind?" At Thomas' raised eyebrow, the captain just stopped and smiled, shaking his head. "Never mind."
RADE'S BAR AND RESTAURANT
He appeared out of nowhere the minute her tray was put down. "You all right?" he murmured, looking at her.
Kate was sure she looked a mess. The day had started pretty badly with Mathis' visit and just gone downhill from there, and she was completely exhausted. The loggers had gotten their paychecks at the end of the day, and while a few had run out the minute they were free, others were in for a weekend of just partying. Tony had thankfully warned her when he came in and managed to glare down a few who were getting too free with her, but it had been a long day.
Then the Marines had come in and apparently the swamp training had been particularly bad because of the rain, and so a lot of the recruits had not been in a good mood. One fight had nearly escalated into a brawl until Lissa had thrown a beer across the room, followed by Erin screaming angrily at the top of her lungs. She had had her fair share of yanking up the fighters and throwing them into tables far away from each other.
That's what had been missing - bouncers. When she asked after the brawl, Emi just shook her head derisively. Kennedy didn't believe in hiring bouncers - that's what cops were paid for. "Do you think any of us got to be the way we are by accident?"
"I'm a little tired," she admitted. Gibbs wasn't buying the 'little' part. He grabbed his coat and gently tugged on her wrist. When they got to the back door, he plucked her coat off the rack and handed it to her. "I've only got a fifteen minute break," she replied, and she was sure she must have sounded exhausted.
"I know." He opened up to the back, which faced the back woods area and was relatively quiet and private. He sat down on top step. "Take a nap."
"If I close my eyes I won't wake up until tomorrow."
"I'll wake you up."
Kate mumbled, rubbing her eyes, "I thought we had to do something to sell this story to all those people in there."
Cars pulled up into the parking lot, and Gibbs watched as Howe and some of the Marines came out. He quickly pulled Kate down to him. She stumbled a bit, her exhaustion getting to her. "Go to sleep," he said quietly, sitting her down on the step and seating himself around her. He covered her legs with his jacket before quietly repeating, "I'll wake you up."
She didn't need to be told twice. Within seconds she was asleep, leaning against him.
Paul Stultz was so glad to be out of camp for even just a few hours. Everyone had split up as fast as they could after that lousy week of all rain, and tempers had been running high. It didn't help when the MPs came barging in two hours ago when they heard there had been a brawl.
He saw the light in the back porch darken slightly and looked back quickly to see Gunny Thomas stand under the light, and Nina Sutton drop into his arms and fall asleep almost instantly. She shifted slightly, and he moved her so her head was resting against his shoulder.
D-mn. He had been hoping for a stress free weekend, and the last thing he wanted to think about was yet another pair tempting a serial killer.
As he crossed into Rade's, he noticed Isaac Mathis standing there, watching the couple in the back with a frown.
He should not have offered to do this.
Kate gave a soft little sigh in her sleep, her breath brushing lightly against his neck. She curled up tighter, and his hands automatically went to pull up her jacket around her shoulders.
When he had seen Kate's expression, and when he had brought her out for some peace and quiet, and when he had seen the cars pull up and remembered his cover story - he had all been thinking about the job. Kate looking like that was bad for the case - she might slip and say something she shouldn't; she might let down her guard from sheer exhaustion. The Marines in those cars needed to believe Alvin Thomas' story. Case, case, case.
He was not thinking about the case now.
She was curled up, asleep. She most likely would kill him if she knew what was going through his mind now.
Why hadn't he proposed that somebody else do this assignment? He had objected, he reminded himself. Just not vigorously enough.
She was warm and light in his arms, and the soft exhales kept blowing ever so slightly against his neck. Her hair fell forward against his collarbone. She had shifted slightly to get more comfortable, and now with her head against his shoulder, he could feel the heat rising from her body against his.
He looked down at his watch. She had just a few minutes left, and he knew she'd want to freshen up - whatever women DID when they were "freshening up". "Kate," he murmured. He turned his head slightly towards his left, where she was snuggled against him. "Kate, get up." He tugged at her arm gently.
He barely had to move his head to touch her. She was mere inches away from him, and he could feel as the corners of her mouth turned down into a small pout that was for inexplicable reasons terribly enticing. He fought down his impulses and shook her a little. "Break's just about over."
She wiggled more deeply against him, not seeming to realize where she was, and the pout grew. "'M sleepin'. Go 'way."
"Kate." His voice was sharper this time.
She sighed and he could feel the light air on his skin as her eyes slowly blinked open. He was looking down at her, much like he had on that sub when he held her, mesmerized. For a long moment she was just staring up at him, her head tilted back against his shoulder, her face just inches from his, all warm and soft.
Kate suddenly seemed to realize her position, and a deep blush fell over her face as she quickly pulled away. He almost wasn't listening as she gathered herself up, thanking him a couple times for waking her.
She disappeared inside after he promised not to stay outside too long. He folded his coat over his arm and sighed, rubbing a long, tired hand down his face.
APARTMENT COMPLEX
"'lo?" Kim sat up in bed. "Hey Erin. No, I got in fine last night. Half-asleep, but I'm OK. ... No way!" she sat up, laughter in her tone. "Are you serious?" There was a loud bang from the room next to her. "Erin, I'll call you back. There's something going on in Nina's apartment. ... I just want to make sure she's OK."
Kim jumped out of bed, throwing on a pair of shorts as she sprinted out of her apartment. In the hallway, she saw Lissa and Em poking their heads out nervously. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door. There were voices inside, and then the door opened to reveal Thomas.
She should've known.
He looked different without his hair slicked back, and while they had all seen him dressed in civilian clothes before, they'd never seen him this casual. His short hair looked soft without the usual gel, and slightly mussed; Kim didn't want to think about who had done that. He was dressed simply in a pair of worn, faded jeans and a dark blue tee-shirt with "Marines" across it in white letters. A chair fallen on its back explained the bang.
Jaime would drool right there on Nina's doorstep if she were here. Even Lissa would have stopped to admire...right before she took Nina to task for taking this relationship too far. Gone too far was true. "Gunny," Kim said, a little more coldly than she intended.
"Kim," he greeted guardedly, and Kim took pride in the fact that she had managed to make a Marine suspicious. "Nina's inside."
Just then, the brunette appeared. "Kim!" Nina greeted in surprise as she came to the door, the Marine heading back inside. "Do you want to come in and have lunch with us?" she invited.
For a brief moment, Kim seriously wanted to strangle Nina right then and there. She was generally so nice and reasonable - why couldn't she be amenable about this? She said sharply, "I heard something, just wanted to check if you were OK." She shot a pointed look at the petite brunette.
"Oh." Nina turned red a little, now more subdued. "I knocked over the chair."
"Just checking," Kim replied, and her tone must have been cold enough because Nina's expression was one of sincere apology. She couldn't stay mad at her; Nina at the moment reminded her too much of her headstrong younger sister. "Thank you for the invite," she continued, softening her tone. "but you go ahead. I...I was actually in the middle of a phone call."
Nina followed her out, and closed the door slowly behind her. "Kim, I'm sorry."
"I don't understand why you can't wait," Kim said defeatedly, almost helplessly. "If you cared about him, you'd realize that he's as much a target as you are."
MARINE BASE
"Howe." Mathis dropped uninvited into the chair in front of the gunny. "You have to reign him in."
Howe ground his teeth mentally and tried not to snap. He'd fought with Theodora in the morning, then had a bad day in the field, and then had come to a desk full of paperwork his CO had dumped on him. He didn't want to SEE Mathis, much less talk to him about anything. Howe knew Mathis meant Thomas, but just to be ornery, he asked, "Who?"
"Thomas," Mathis replied sharply. At Howe's sigh, Mathis replied, "See? Even you know what I'm talking about."
"It's just a fascination," Howe replied, turning another page in his file.
"It's not a fascination," Mathis retorted sharply. "You know it. You saw it."
"Mathis, come on. He buys her a coffee, talks to her on her breaks. It's nothing compared to what some of the other guys do for the waitresses. That logger Logan was hitting on her for weeks: flowers, trying to buy her drinks, good tips."
"Howe, did you notice that he doesn't even try anymore?"
At that, Howe stopped. "You've been keeping tabs on Nina Sutton?"
"I keep tabs on every new girl in the bar, Howe," Mathis retorted. "You think I go to that bar to kick back and relax? How many of our guys were murdered with waitresses from that bar?"
He sighed. "So, yeah, when Sutton came on board I started watching her. And let me tell you something - Logan has backed off. It's not what Thomas does in comparison to what the others do. It's what he does for Nina Sutton in comparison to what he does for the other waitresses." He waved a hand impatiently.
Howe frowned into his file. He didn't want the MP to notice how that comment had affected him, because it did lay things out. Thomas was always reservedly warm and polite, always the gentleman, but it didn't come anywhere near the kind of attention he paid to Sutton.
He knew her shoe size. Where would he have gotten that kind of information?
"You know what I'm talking about. If that killer's still here, Sutton and Thomas are dead."
Howe rolled his eyes at the file in irritation and finally looked up. "Mathis. I know you don't like Thomas, but in all reality, this is stupid. He's a recruiter temporary TAD here to push papers, and then he'll be gone."
Mathis gritted his teeth. "Look. NCIS said they think the killer's still in town; they don't think he ever left. It's just that the girls here stopped dating Marines. The gunny is not the kind of guy I'd hang out with regularly," he replied shortly. "But he's a good Marine, and I know that, and I do not want to have another dead Marine on my hands." The door slammed behind him on the way out.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.