Sappho's Commando

NINETEEN (ISELEN POV)

One of the perks of being a soldier is that the smartest among us soon learn how to pack light. On planes and ships, in barracks, etc, there's little space, rooms are usually shared, and we almost always wear uniform. It doesn't make sense to carry loads of clothes just in case. We don't wear fancy clothes often either and our military equipment takes precedence, there's no room for our two favourite pairs of sneakers. Our personal suitcases are small, sometimes a simple backpack with underwear, a basic toilet bag and one or two outfits.

This is why I can get up from my seat today, grab my bag and walk out of the plane after saying thank you to the flight attendant. I didn't need to check in my luggage and don't have to wait for the airport staff to take my suitcase out of the cargo hold. I only carry two extras: a cute and fancy shirt that matches by black trousers, in case Ruby wants to take me to dinner in a nice restaurant, and a box of typical pastries from my hometown as a present for her.

I check my phone, smiling when I see the text where the pretty doctor tells me that she's waiting for me at the main gate. I have to force myself not to run towards her like a lovesick fool. Ruby Rose has turned my world upside down. Her eyes, smile and perfume are weapons of destruction that turn my brain into jelly when I'm around her and I don't have a dangerous mission to focus on.

A week of vacation far away from the doctor allowed me to think with a clearer head and I realized that everything is going too fast, a bit too fast for my taste. I've never been one of those lesbians that moves in with her girlfriend just one month after meeting her, I'm a guarded person, especially when it comes to allow new people to enter my inner-circle. I'm not a fan of one-night-stands and I like to take some time to get to know someone.

But I can't control what I feel for Ruby, I've never needed to protect another human being so badly and it's pretty obvious that I underestimated my feelings for her. I've never been in such a situation before. Is it possible that Major Lange-Campbell is the chosen one, the one and only, my soulmate? Thinking about it makes me feel anxious and that's not the best way to start my trip to Scotland, I'm supposed to be here to have fun with a beautiful lady who will show me the best that Edinburgh has to offer... before introducing me to her family. Fuck, this is going too fast.

A text catches my attention and I take a look at the phone screen, frowning. What the foxtrot? It's from Colonel Larsen and she tells me that there was information about an American dealer who's selling illegal weapons to the Russians on Zenaida's hard drive. Unfortunately, she was unable to identify him, she didn't even find a code name, but the boss suspects that he's the big shot the ATF is looking for, the real owner of the cargo that we got back from the pirates.

Even through a cold screen, I can sense that Cecilia Larsen is frustrated and she doesn't like the situation. The Valkyrie is like a hound dog, she'd love to catch that bastard that moves weapons all over the world boldly and she believes she'd do a better job than the Americans, probably. But that's not our mission and they keep her in the dark; that's pissing her off. Maybe, she's a little mad at us because she was unable to blow off steam scolding us. To be honest, we all were expecting her to lecture us about our mistakes during the last mission and I don't understand why she decided not to do it.

After enjoying a delicious dinner in Budapest and a round of palinka shots with Hanna's friends, only one because that liquor could knock down a full-grown bear, we went back to the apartment to sleep given that we had to get up early in the morning the next day to take a plane. When we arrived in Brussels, we only had time to have a shower, put on the uniforms and fix our hair before rushing to meet the big bosses. Ruby and I carried the hard drives proudly but our grins got frozen on our lips when we spotted Colonel Larsen waiting in the anteroom, wearing a flawless uniform while looking at us spitting mad and fuming.