Operation: thieving Thunder

Debrief

Kye's pov
   I slowly walked over to the table Doc was sitting at as I inspected the walls and tables, so much more sterile then the rest of the base, I heard my callsign "Raven, have a minute?" I checked my watch quickly "yeah, I've got time" as I arrived at the table and he motioned to the chair across from him, I followed his suggestion and planted myself in the chair as he started speaking. "I figure with everything going on no ones checked on you, given the fact you've been so helpful" I rubbed the back of my neck, a nervous tick I possess, "I'm fine, really, those operators are the priority" he leaned forward resting his forearms on the edge of the table "that's not what I'm asking," his finger flicked up to my head "I want to know how this is being effected" I sighed and crossed my arms "alright, what do you want to know?" He asked "do you feel any different since the incident occurred?" I shrugged "yeah, kinda" he asked a follow up question "guilt? Anger? Something else?" I looked down and to my right before looking at him again and speaking "Guilt, I feel really bad about all of this" he nodded knowingly "I can see it in your body language, your arms are crossed, they tell me you're uncomfortable her, the constant looking down tells me you feel bad, you checking on Zofia every now and again tells me you're invested in fixing what went wrong. Am I incorrect in my assessment?"
       I shook my head no as my hand subconsciously ran over my burns before Doc asked "how'd you get those? They look pretty extensive" I spoke somewhat quietly "we were hunting a mask leader, the guy went into the fuel storage with a bomb vest and those two don't mix. I was too close when the building detonated and part of my balaclava caught on fire, we managed to get it off before it did too much damage but I got these permanent reminders" he asked a different question "do you have any ptsd or mental issues because of it?" I nodded before replying holding my arm "I'm pretty unease around fire, if it gets too close I get pretty unpredictable in trying to get away" he spoke with some softness to his voice "you don't have to feel ashamed to be afraid of the fire, everyone's afraid of something" I shifted and placed my chin on the knuckles of my hand as the red haired woman walked over "the check ups are done, you should go and talk to her before she falls asleep" I stood wordlessly and walked over to Zofia's bed.
        "How's your head?" She spoke tiredly "it still hurts but I can talk now, so that's better" I sat down "Egasinu(sleep), you'll need your strength" she huffed indignantly "I'm strong" I replied "I'm sure you are, I'm sure you're miles ahead of me in skill given that you're an operator here, but you still need to keep your strength up so you can get back into the field" she shook her head no "A lot of the operators here are tier 2 and 3 units, some are even police, you're just as good as any of us" I waved her off "you're just flattering me now" she chuckled before her hand quickly moved to her forehead "Ow, och to boli(ow, oh that hurt)" I replied with a small laugh "see? You should listen more, if you were sleeping you'd be fine" she replied with a smile "eat shit," before suddenly turning serious "don't blame yourself for what happened, we didn't tell anyone we were there, you couldn't have known" I shook my head "but I should've, I'm a tracker and all the sign was there." Zofia's shot back "Nie(no), you did what your training told you to do in that situation, no one on the team blames you" I went to protest but she cut me off "No one. Blames. You. Stop putting the guilt on yourself when it's not yours to carry" I sighed before I asked "what's your name?" She gave me an indecipherable look "you haven't figured it out?" I spoke slowly "wait. Is your name actually Zofia?"
       She nodded doing a small bow "Zofia Bosak, at your service" I clarified "bosak? Like commander Jan Bosak?" She nodded slowly "how do you know my father?" I replied remembering the training vividly "he trained my platoon when we were stationed in Poland, made us one of the best platoons the regiment has" she spoke distractedly "huh, I never knew he was training Americans. Anyway, what's your name? We like things to be fair here" I chuckled "Kye, Kye onacona" she struggled with the Cherokee part causing me to speak "it's pronounced OH-nah-COH-nah" she repeated it causing me to nod, confirming she said it right, and her to smile broadly "you're Indian right?" I bowed my head slightly "tetsalagi(I am a Cherokee), Yeah, I'm Indian" she asked "does your last name mean anything? Like sitting bull" I replied "white owl, I was named after what they called my father. He was this British guy, who's really white, watching and learning everything the clan would teach him, like an owl, hence my last name white owl"
        she smiled "Kye, it's a really cool name" I shrugged "it's nice, really hard to find one of those name keychains with my name however" she laughed "mine too, it's spelt with a Z instead of an S" I stood and stretched "I should probably go talk to Harry before my team thinks you all locked me up, get some rest and take care" she nodded "stay safe until I see you again" I gave a small wave "you too" before turning and walking to Doc "can you take me to Harry or are you doing something right now?" He looked up "no, no I can take you. I'm just writing reports, come it's not that long of a walk"
        I nodded and turned as he walked to the door stealing one last glance at Zofia, noticing she was looking at me as I gave a small smile before disappearing from her view and entered the hallway. I didn't see Doc until I heard him next to me "follow me, it will be a short walk" I nodded and fell into line with him as we started making our way through the cold, damp hallways "So what do you do with the Rangers? I heard you talk with Zofia about it" I replied "My specialty's are Demolition and EOD, but my rank gives me the job to make decisions in combat, I take care of equipment and I help get new equipment phased into our teams. You guys have individual gear right?" He nodded "Yes, we have our custom gadgets why?" I replied "let's say each of my team members got some of your gadgets, my job is to help integrate that effectively into our operations." He nodded slowly "ah, so you do the same thing Elena does" my face contorted with confusion causing his to explain "one of our operators is constantly tuning and messing with our gadgets trying to make them better, she helps us get used to the new equipment" I nodded with a chuckle "sounds like I'd get along with her, that's where my callsign comes from, I'm constantly messing with the firing mechanisms of the Masks bombs. My platoons captain called me Raven once because "he's always poking at those motherboards like a ravens always poking at food" and it stuck"
        he chuckled  as we turned a corner and came to a stop "take these stairs to the second floor, door at the end of the hall, that's Harry's office" I nodded and made my way up the staircase, when I got to the second floor there were a couple operators giving sidelong glances as they inspected me as I passed until I reached the door and knocked, hearing a faint "Come in" through the heavy Oak door. I looked around the office as I straightened my back and rested my closed fist palm side against my leg "Sir" he smiled knowingly "Warrant Officer, what brings you to my office?" I gave a salute as I replied "a ride sir, I need a ride" he leaned back in his chair resting his fingertips against one another "I'm sure we can arrange for something, have you ever thought about going through the selection process for Rainbow? I believe you'd make a good operator for the team" I shrugged "Sir? There's a process?" He chuckled jovially "Oh yes, either I select the operators and invite them to the team or they apply and come for the 5 week selection course"
       I replied as I looked out at the cloudy sky while rain impacted the window pane "I never knew there was a selection course" he followed my gaze "Beautiful isn't it? Even on the stormy days" I nodded almost mesmerized "I love the sound of rain on a aluminum roof" he laughed as he pulled out a paper and started writing before sliding it to me "here, this will explain everything if you're interested in joining. I'll call Jäger and get you that ride, in the mean time, why don't you look through this and start thinking about it?" I picked up the paper carefully like it'd turn to ash if I was too rough "sgi(thank you) sir, I'll definitely think about applying" he smiled "I'll be keeping an eye on your progress, and stop calling me sir I'm just Harry" I nodded as the door slid open and a man a bit shorter than me walked in "yes Harry? You needed something?" Harry motioned to me "I need you to give him a ride back to Orzysz, I'm sure his unit is start ask questions"
        I chuckled "si-Harry, with all due respect, I want to get back because the 4 toddlers will destroy that base and the Captain, Lieutenant and Sergeants are all busy planning raids for tomorrow" Jäger asked "do you not take breaks? You're always raiding the enemy?" I nodded as I looked at him "asehi(yes), this is a nightly affair. I just don't get brought to a different base keeping an eye on the wounded every night" he shifted his weight after crossing his arms "you sound familiar, like extremely familiar" I shrugged "deja vú? I couldn't tell you, I don't think I've flown with rainbow before." Harry cut in "why don't you have this conversation in the air? It'll give you an hour to figure it out" I noticed the undertone, he wanted to get back to work, Jäger and I saluted before I followed Jäger through the door and down the hall. We talked, learning about each other as we moved through the base, until we got to the door that led outside,  and Jäger grabbed his helmet and put it on before walking out and towards to the nearest hanger.
        I followed him, looking around and relishing in the smell of fresh rain along with the coolness of it, a stark contrast to the warm sterile medbay, until I reached the blackhawk and climbed up into it sitting back and sighing with relief as my muscles relax, Jäger pointed to a headset and then motioned me to put them on, which I did. "Hallo(hello), hallo hallo(hello hello), can you hear me?" I replied "yea, I can hear you" he sounded happy "wunderbar(wonderful), we're just finishing up the checks we'll be leaving in 10 minutes" I replied staring at my phone as I scrolled "Rog' sounds good, thanks for giving me a ride" he waved me off "no big deal, I search for chances to fly whenever I can" it fell to a silence until the helicopter rolled out onto the tarmac and Jäger spoke to the Air Traffic Control tower before we lifted off and started heading for Poland.