Locked & Loaded (Gardens to Guns #3) (Academy fanfic)

Part 39

Nathan’s POV

         “All Hail the Conquering Warrior!” Doc whispered as Silas carried Sang through my house and into my room. I pulled back the blanket, and he laid her head on the pillow like she was some kind of china doll. I covered her up, and we walked out, closing the door behind us.

         When I got the text from Kota saying that Sang was out cold, I was glad he gave us a heads up. If Silas had just come walking up holding an unconscious Sang in his arms, all hell would have broken loose.

         We grabbed water bottles and went out to the patio. North and Kota sat at the patio table with Mr. Blackbourne and Victor. Doc sat next to Mr. B, and Silas and I pulled up chairs. Gabe and Luke lounged on floats in the pool, but moved them to the edge of the pool where they could hear the conversation.

         “Based on video evidence, we can presume that Miss Sorenson had a successful trip to the range?”

         Silas reached for the rolled up targets, but North stopped him. “Baby’s job, not ours.” He turned to everyone else. “She did great. She had fun, and she’s becoming more and more confident. Raven is fine with her testing next week.”

         Mr. Blackbourne raised his eyebrow. “Oh? And which pistol is she using?”

         North grinned. “The Aegis.”

         Mr. Blackbourne raised his eyebrow. “Good choice.” Silas and North both nodded. “How did she deal with the long guns?”

         Silas sat up a little straighter. “Raven asked me to ‘teach’ the long guns. We went over the basics of long guns before she touched one. I think the .22 was a little boring for her.” He looked to North and Kota, who both nodded. He pointed at Kota. “Kota worked with her on the shotgun.”

         Mr. Blackbourne turned to Kota. “Was the .410 boring for her, as well?” Wait. Did he just crack a joke?

         Kota smiled. “Not boring. She said it was ‘different’, but she was, of course, competent with it. I went over how shotguns are used for home defense, so she understands the need for the knowledge. For other uses,” he smiled, “in her words, ‘Bambi is safe from me.’”

         “Spoken by a girl who has never had fresh venison,” Luke chimed in. “So you didn’t explain that buckshot doesn’t taste good and that Bambi should be more worried about my hunting rifle and scope?” Kota shook his head.

         “What did she do next, Mr. Korba?”

         “North worked with her on the AR-15.”

         He shot a look at North. “Mr. Ravenstahl let you do instruction?” There went the eyebrow again. It had gotten a workout since we met Peanut. The guys all loved how easily Mr. B was surprised when it came to her.

         North shrugged. “Tactical error. He left Silas in charge of long gun training, and Silas let us teach our own weapon. Raven won’t repeat that mistake.”

         Mr. Blackbourne nodded. “And how did she do?”

         North smiled. A real smile, not one of those scary ones that he does when he’s told he can destroy something. “I think she’s in love.” Everyone chuckled. “She took to it easily. As you could tell from the video, by the end of the morning, she could hit a 3-inch target from over 50 yards.”

         “Has Mr. Ravenstahl altered his view on her natural skill?”

         Silas laughed. “He’s still withholding judgment, but he did say that she’s damn good.”

         “Damn right she’s good!” Gabe yelled, and we all laughed.

         “You’re a little biased, Gabe,” I called out.

         “Oh, yeah… like you’re not.”

         “Nope. I am completely objective. Always.”

         “Hey, Doc! We need a psych eval over here!” Luke shouted.

         Dr. Green laughed. “Already did it. Conclusive diagnosis, and I’m pretty sure it’s contagious.”

         “Oh? We’ve all got it? Give it to me straight, Doc. Are we gonna live?” Luke called back as Gabe was trying to dunk him.

         “I’m pretty sure that twitterpation isn’t lethal.”

         I stood up and went into the house. The pizza delivery guy was supposed to arrive anytime, and I didn’t want him waking Sang up if we could help it. I shut the sliding door and walked over to my bedroom door. As quietly as I could, I opened the door to check on her. It didn’t really have time to register that she wasn’t in bed before I heard the bathroom door opened. I turned, and Sang stepped out in her black and pink bikini, braiding her hair as she walked. She was looking down and didn’t see me until she almost ran into me.

         She looked up at me and her eyes lit up. “Hey, Honey!”

         “Hi, Peanut.” I wrapped my arms around her. Yeah, that was what I had been missing all day.

         I felt her relax into me. “How long was I asleep?”

         “Not long. Silas didn’t want to wake you up. We’ve just been out at the pool, hearing about your latest adventures.”

         I felt her chuckle. “It was a fun morning. I wish you could have been there with us.”

         I kissed the top of her head. “Next week. We’ll all be there. So, Silas won’t let us see the targets. Ready to show them off?” I pulled back and took her hand, pulling her towards the sliding door when the doorbell rang. “Oops! Pizza.” We detoured towards the front door.

         “How do you know that they’re ‘show off’ worthy?” She smiled as I opened the door. Victor had already paid for the pizza and tip online, so all I had to do was get them from the guy and sign the slip. Five pizzas in hand, we made our way to the back of the house.

         “How do I know? You forget, Peanut, I’ve seen you shoot. And, rumor has it that you’ve only gotten better since then. So… yeah… they’re probably ‘show off’ worthy.”

         She opened the sliding door, and we walked out, placing the pizzas on the table.

         “Well, look who’s here! Good morning, Sleeping Beauty!” Doc announced, standing up to hug her. Splashing announced Gabe and Luke’s exit from the pool. They pulled her away from Doc and hugged her to them to get her soaked, kind of like a sandwich. A Sang sandwich… I shook my head… no…