Oorah - Salim x M!Reader [House of Ashes]

Chapter One

"And this is our resident Devil Doc, (Y/N)," Jason stated, gesturing over to the other man.

"Uh... hi?" 

It wouldn't be so awkward if he wasn't in the middle of fixing an amputated leg. Well... 'fixing' in a way. The leg was already gone, but he was helping to stop the bleeding and making sure Private Miller wouldn't die. It wasn't a pretty site, that was for sure.

"This is Lieutenant Colonel King . We're heading down to the briefing room," Jason explained.

(Y/N) looked at the others standing there. He didn't recognize them. But considering they were headed straight to the briefing room, (Y/N) assumed they meant business. Rachel was not going to like this. "I'd go with you, but uh... Y'know." He gestures to his bloody hands and the missing leg of Miller.

"Everyone deserves a break now and again," Jason smiled at him. Jason and (Y/N) were friends. They'd both seen hell together. (Y/N) remembers patching up Jason more than once when he was younger. As he's matured, however, he seems less risky in his stunts.

"A break? What's that?" (Y/N) joked back, smiling. He looked back at the wound, knowing this was time sensitive. "I think the C.O. is still in her office. Tried to get some paperwork from there but she, quite literally, slammed the door in my face."

"Sounds like her. Ya know where Joey's hiding?"

"Where he always is. Desk jockey."

"Thanks. Alright, let's move," Jason said to the others, headed over to where Joey should be.

"Nice to meet you," (Y/N) said to King and the woman, still not sure what her name was. She must not be important. Otherwise Jason would have introduced her. Hell, he was surprised Jason introduced (Y/N). Usually he allowed him to just work, not caring about the social stuff. King must be important.

King nodded at him. "We'll see you in there." The woman simply smiled at him, tilting her head, before the two followed Jason.

(Y/N) looked back at Miller. "If I make it in time..." (Y/N) muttered to himself, grabbing more rags to soak up the blood.

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"Fuck is that? Modern art or something?" (Y/N) could hear Merwin talking. He had just finished up taking care of Miller. He hurried into the briefing room, trying to be quiet. (Y/N) stood next to Jason, looking at the screen.

"Did I miss anything?" (Y/N) whispered to Jason.

"Nothing yet," Jason replied quietly. "Just Merwin being a smartass."

"This is footage from the highly classified Caelus Program," King explained. He saw (Y/N) come in late, but understood. He knew he was busy.

"That supposed to mean something to me?" Merwin shot back.

"It's a thermal satellite system that I personally pioneered."

"Ohh... Well, I'm impressed. Please, pioneer away," Merwin replied sarcastically. (Y/N) could see the grin on Joey's face. 

But King was not amused. "You behave like this in all your meetings Corporal?" 

"Boys are just eager to catch a break, sir," Jason spoke up. He always defended the crew. He was good at it, too, having gotten Merwin out of hot water more than a handful of times. "No harm meant."

"Very well," King said after a moment, seemingly content. "Satellite sweeps of the warzone have uncovered what appears to be an underground storage facility. This will, of course, require further investigation. But I strongly suspect it's where Saddam's chemical weapons are hidden."

The room seemed to lighten up at that statement. Merwin and Kay fist bumped. "We got you, you sonovabitch," Jason whispered excitedly, giving (Y/N) a high-five.

"CENTCOM has given the green light to raid the facility and seize any weapons on site. Hostiles may be over, but there are holdout groups of Republican Guard all over the country. They could deploy those weapons at any time so we need to move fast. The Army is giving us a ride out there on their helos. On arrival, Lieutenant Kolcheck will lead the raid on the facility. Once it's secured, we'll carry out a full weapon inspection."

King looked around the room, seeing the faces of excitement. All except for on the face of his wife. "Now listen up. There's been a change of leadership, but Rachel's operational expertise and local knowledge is just as valuable as ever. She'll be flying with us, and I want you to show her the same respect. Any questions?"

"Huh?" (Y/N) whispered to Jason, confused.

"Oh, shit. Forgot. King's the C.O. now."

"Shit. So that's why Rachel looks so annoyed."

"I think that's just her face," Jason snorted.

"The fuck are we waiting for? I'm ready!" Merwin grinned, not being sarcastic for once.

"That's tribal territory out there, Colonel. Make no mistake, these people are feral. I take it we're getting air support?" Jason mentioned. It wasn't a bad idea.

"Nah, too many birds could bring them down on us. We move fast-in, fast out," Merwin replied. That... sounded good, too. 

"That's pretty much what your mama said to me," Joey grinned at him.

"Hey, careful, boy! If I hadn't pulled out so fast, I could've been your papi," Merwin joked back, earning a high-five from Joey.

(Y/N) couldn't help the soft chuckle that escaped him. It wasn't even that funny, but after months and months with barely a joke, he found just about anything funny.

Jason rolled his eyes. "Alright, that's enough, Merwin. Sir, what's your call?"

"We keep this thing small. If it goes south, I'll pull the plug and we can bug out," King decided. (Y/N) was a little concerned, but it made more sense this way. This was a stealth mission, right?

"With all due respect, I think that's the wrong call," Jason replied. He always spoke his mind, even if it got him into trouble.

"With all due respect, Lieutenant Kolcheck, it's not your decision to make," King said to him, firmly.

"This feel right to you?" Rachel asked, finally speaking up.

"Merwin has a point. If we spin up too many helos, we'll increase our chance of being spotted. Any concerns, come see me after the meeting." King was firm, (Y/N) could give him that. He makes the hard decisions and sticks by him. (Y/N) respected that. "We go dark until the weapons are secured. If we don't break radio silence within 24 hours, CENTCOM will mount a rescue operation."

"A lot of shit can go down in 24 hours," Joey mumbled, mimicking (Y/N)'s thoughts. Hell, he'd seen shit go down in a second.

"Ah, quit being a bitch!" Merwin scolded him.

"I'm just saying, is all..." Joey responded meekly. (Y/N) could tell he was nervous. 

"This is why we went to war! This is what gets us out of bed every morning. Make no mistake, ladies and gentlemen, this is how we stop Saddam from using these weapons. Be ready in one hour. Dismissed!" King concluded. A big speech kind of guy. (Y/N) never really cared for speeches.

The crew went about their business, preparing their gear and getting ready to fly. If King wasn't bullshitting... Hell, (Y/N) was excited.