End of Winter (Rewrite & Expansions into Book Four)

Morning Formation

"Hello, Anthony," Aine purred. She smiled at me and it almost made my knees go weak.

No matter how much I hated her, she was still an attractive woman. Petite, with long naturally curly red hair, porcelain skin with a splash of freckles across her nose, grass green eyes, with small breasts and narrow hips. A heart shaped face with delicate features that still tugged at my heart strings even after our breakup and the all the baggage that went with it.

"Hello, Aine," I said. "Or is it Hannah today?"

"Hannah," she smiled. "It's why I called you Anthony, dear one."

Butcher made a grunting noise, trying to talk past his wired shut jaw. I grinned at him, remembering that Dobbs had stomped his ass like she was making wine at a French monastery.

"What do you need?" I asked.

She put her hand on my chest, over my heart. "I just wanted to see how you and Louis Parker were doing this morning, Anthony. Lieutenant Wright is hoping you're up to coming down to formation despite being on quarters. He has sent to me to see who is able and willing to attend formation from our wounded."

"Hurry your ass up," Butcher grunted past the wiring.

I turned half into the room. "Parker, we gotta go to formation!"

Parker made a disgusted noise.

"Thanks, Private Lane. I'll make sure he gets there," I told her.

"You are welcome, Corporal Anthony Stillwater," she smiled. She turned and started moving down the hallway, waving her hand like nobility. "Come along, Sergeant Butcher, we have tasks to complete. This box has working soldiers in it."

I shook my head before I closed the door. She always had to engage in one-upmanship, always had to twist the knife a little that you didn't have any secrets from her.

Parker and I grabbed our field jackets, both of us wincing as we put them on. I didn't know about Parker, but I was feeling a little tender in spots. Like where I'd taken more than a few hits to my body armor.

Oh, and my goddamn shoulder hurt where Tandy put his finger into the bayonet wound so he could suck my blood off his finger.

I slammed the door shut, feeling a moment of rage fill me. For a split second I wanted to hurtle down the hallway, careen down the stairs, and vent my rage as if Tandy would be standing at the bottom of the stairwell smoking a cigarette waiting for me.

"You OK, Stillwater?" Parker asked me.

I looked at him and he stepped back, holding his hands out. "Woah, woah, woah, man. Whatever it is, we can talk it out."

I sighed, letting my shoulders slump, shaking out my hands. "It's not you. Just... I don't know."

"Holy shit," Parker said, opening the door for us. "Last time you looked at me like that you cracked a couple of my ribs and broke my nose."

"Sorry," I said. I grinned at him. "Not for the ribs or nose."

He chuckled. "Jesus Christ you're an asshole. Remind me again why I saved you?"

"Didn't see it was me till too late?" I guessed, still grinning. I locked the door after us.

"Naw, I didn't want that big ass Amazon ripping my arms off for letting you die," He admitted. We walked a couple of paces and he suddenly laughed. "Wonder what it would be like to fuck her?"

I laughed. "Ask my brother."

"Oh, hell no, I'm not asking that big gorilla any shit like that. He'd probably pull my arms off and stuff them up my ass," Parker said. He sighed wistfully. "Still, she's really hot in a 'I lived on an island with Wonder Woman and once fought a Greek god in an amphitheater' type of way, know what I mean?"