Solace & Taproots

3.12

It took another ten to fifteen minutes of smoother breathing, punctuated by an occasional sigh, for Rebecca to resurface. She was still bleary-eyed when she lifted her head, blinking, and winced away from the light. That prompted Sam to perfunctorily smack the work lamp away on its swinging arm. Probably harder than she needed to, but it was bothering someone she cared for, so it got slapped like a drunk at a bar would. Maybe a little less angle, no english to put a spin on the ball, since it was above and behind her. Even so, her fingers were still stinging as she brushed several wayward strands of hair aside from Rebecca's face.

"Hi sweetheart. There you are." Sam paused and smiled at Rebecca for a moment. "Wow. That was a good one. You blotch up real nice, and you don't even have my freakishly pale skin. It's okay though." She kissed Rebecca's forehead and continued. "Everybody needs a good ugly cry once in a while. I'm probably overdue myself, the way things are out there." Ronnie moved her hand in a slow loop on Rebecca's back while Sam went on. "But you've got your lil' family here with you."

"Is little, and broken, but still good. Yah, still good." Wait, dafuq? RONNIE said that. Rebecca turned halfway towards her with a shocked and confused (still very blinky) frown, while Sam's mouth was literally hanging open. "Sarge?!? What the heck? Are you even allowed to watch, nonetheless quote, Disney movies?"

"I continue to serve after my honorable discharge on a volunteer basis and have certain latitudes. Also, Gunnies have childhoods too, you know. We need to be in touch with them so we know how to yell at people."

Well. That was certainly better than any mental three-fingered-salute Sam was going to come up with to derail and reboot any spiral Rebecca was stuck in. Wow. And, trained tactician that she was, Ronnie apparently pressed forward with the advantage.

"Do you think you girls are up for some news? I promise you're going to like a lot of it."

Sam looked down at Rebecca (who leaned against her again, but with her head turned so she could hear and half-see Ronnie). "Yeah, Sarge. I think we're good for that." She smiled a little and nestled her cheek against Rebecca's hair firmly enough to know Rebecca would feel it.

"So, Fairbanks is an officer and a gentleman worthy of my faith. Between him, me on his flank, David and Barry and Erik onside, and even Sebastien biding his time to apply just the right nudges about Black Tusk and their plans..."

Rebecca surprised them both with a little tittering giggle. "Hee... tuskfuckers..."

Both of the other women chuckled. "I see you've been off dazzling the visiting soldier boys... and girls, okay, with your charms," Ronnie continued. "He really did a good job of knowing and seizing his moments. I think he's turned out to be alright. Short version, we had Peter eating out of the palms of our hands, Xanax-frosted oats and all. We got 'im. Fairbanks sold him on you..." (she patted Rebecca's back) "... and me as the dynamic duo with ties to the military and the community at the construction site. Sammie here is vital to up-leveling their infrastructure and getting them onto a radio net. With repeaters at both locations, we'll be dramatically expanding their radio range on this entire side of town, outwards for miles, and deeper into more buildings and tunnels too."

Rebecca tightened her arms around Sam, who reciprocated as they listened to Ronnie go on. "There's more. Chris and Pat are going to rotate back and forth between both places every two weeks or so, with the increased patrols they're going to be pushing through. There's definitely an opportunity for synergy — Lassart loved that word — between sites on the supply front... and all that open space, Fairbanks and his people are even hoping to try spinning up industrial agriculture for ethanol or biodiesel production. DeLoreans aren't the only thing that can run off of leftovers in their gas tank."