Operation: thieving Thunder

Harry's proposition

Zofia's pov
        I glanced at Kye's sleeping form as Lera spoke "he's gonna be fucked up because of this" Gustave nodded before replying "I think he'll pull through but he's gonna be in pain for a while" I replied "He'll be okay, he's a lot stronger than you all give him credit for" Craig asked "how do you figure? You barely know 'im" I replied as I looked at each of them "I had to work to keep him still when he took that round, if you noticed he didn't cry after the girl died. He's been through this before and I'm willing to bet, he uses it for fuel" I heard Kye causing us to freeze "it's rude to talk about someone while they sleep you know" Lera asked " how're you feeling?" He tiredly looked at her "are you seriously asking me that? Like it isn't obvious" she sighed as Craig motioned me to go on and try "Kye, you gotta talk to us, we don't know what you're going through unless you walk us through it" he looked at me "I just lost close friends, I'm pissed, I want to get after the rats who did it but instead I'm in this stupid ass helicopter flying away from them. Uwasv(only alone), I wanna put a gatilda(bullet) in their heads but I'm here, it's not like any of you would get it. You're some of the best" I looked down as I pulled out a picture of my old squad at GROM and handed it to him, he gave me an odd look but took the picture none the less and inspected it.
       "That's my team in Guatemala, remember hearing about that huge sinkhole there?" He nodded not taking his eyes off the image, "see the guy to my right? Tall with blonde hair?" I craned my head so I could see his eyes as they darted around the picture before stilling "vskaga(yes)" I paused as I felt some pain clawing at my throat before replying "he was one of my best friends, when the ground started collapsing he didn't make it out in time" I felt Kye tense against my arm before a faint "sgi-dolige(I'm sorry)" was heard. I asked "what? What does that mean?" Garnering several looks of confusion from the rest of the team who didn't hear him, he spoke louder this time as he bowed his head "sgi-dolige(I'm sorry), it means I'm sorry. I should've known you lost people, forgive me"
      Everyone recoiled at the sudden turn of mood causing Craig to ask "hey, you sure you're not bipolar?" Everyone glared at him causing him to shrink until Kye replied "Vtla(no), it's just unbecoming for a chief to lose his temper." Craig followed it up "so you're actually an Indian Chief? Like they aren't calling you chief because of your rank?" He shrugged "I couldn't tell you, I'd bet it's on Rank but" Gustave sternly said "when we get back to base you're getting checked by Harry" Kye opened his mouth to protest only for me to speak "Just let him check, better safe than section 8" he fell quiet as we all started doing different things to pass the time. About 15 minutes later, my hands stilled as I heard Kye start humming a tune I'd never heard, I silently listened as I noticed the rest of the team had noticed and started listening too. I glanced over and noticed he was looking out the window and hadn't noticed the rest of the helicopter listening, a few minutes later he stopped humming and looked to his left and became hyper aware of what happened "Why're you all looking at me? Wait, could you hear me?" Lera nodded while tapping her headset "you left yours on" he sighed before muttering "I should've remembered the damn headset"
       Gustave asked "what were you humming?" He looked at him "one of vgetsi's(my mother's) favorite songs, she'd hum it to me when I was a kid to calm me down" I slowly spoke "vgesti's means.... what exactly?" He replied "I keep forgetting you guys don't speak Cherokee, anyway vgesti means my mother" I nodded before he asked "how long until we get back to base so I can go tell my platoon about the fuck up?" I heard Vicente(Capitao) for the first time in a while "we'll be back in a little over half an hour" Kye bowed his head "thanks"
Kye's pov
I kept scrolling through my phone until I heard Zofia "I heard Harry gave you paperwork so you could apply for Rainbow last time you were here, why didn't you?" I paused before looking at her "I filled out the paperwork but I don't know, I guess I just didn't want to leave the Rangers. I've spent 22 years of my life in this unit, it's hard to think about walking away" she replied sounding genuine "I had the same problem with staying at GROM, I wasn't that invested in the unit and was just there to keep an eye on Ela. I think sometimes you have to make the hard choice to open the next door" I looked down at my knee until I heard Blackbeard "We could use someone with your skills, there's no EOD operators at Rainbow currently. You could save a lot of lives" I looked up at him, staring deeply into his eyes, searching for an ulterior motive, only to find he was genuinely urging me to join "alright, you win. I'll talk to Harry about joining" he gave me an enthusiastic thumbs up while Zofia grew a small smile and Doc spoke "Zofia will bring you to Harry's office when we land, alright?"
        I nodded before looking over at Zofia "my gracious tour guide, would you be so kind as to bring me to the keepers hold?" The team chuckled as she nodded trying not to laugh, taking a couple deep breaths. We all fell quiet and started doing our own things until I noticed Zofia occasionally looking over at me, I asked "what is it?" She looked confused as I clarified "you keep looking over, is there something on my face?" She looked alarmed at being caught before she replied "your eyes, they're really pretty. They remind me of the Mediterranean" I smiled as I touched the corner of my eye "thank you, that means a lot." Capitao laughed out "Careful Raven, I think she's flirting with you" I joined him in laughing as the Pilot was heard "we'll be landing in 10." I waited patiently until we landed and Doc and Blackbeard ripped the doors open while the gunners and pilots started covering up their equipment, I carefully climbed out of the helicopter as Phoenix, Shadow and Apex came running towards the helicopter, I came to a halt as Zofia leaned over and spoke into my ear "I'll be waiting by the door" I turned to her "I won't be long" she patted my back as she disappeared from my view "take your time" I walked to meet the 3 Rangers running towards me.
        When they came to a halt my eyes traverse each of their weary faces until Phoenix asked "we heard your team was KIA, what happened?" I gained a thousand yard stare as I replied "we got caught, they set a trap and we weren't ready" Apex asked again "Raven, what. Happened?" I turned my empty eyes to him "We secured the camp, blew up the targets and waiting for egress. The rounds started flying and we tried escaping, everyone was gunned down. Rainbow arrived just in time to save me, it was too late for Angel. She... she-uh bled out in my arms" shadow recoiled as the words hit him before Phoenix asked "where are their bodies?" I looked back at Doc as he returned with the nurses and started prepping the bodies to move them to the morgue "hey Doc, do you have a place we can have our ceremonies?" He asked "will a hangar do?" I nodded as he motioned to the 2nd hangar to our left "that ones unused" I thanked him before turning to Phoenix "Go with Doc, he's gonna prep their bodies to send home"
          He didn't reply opting to start following Doc causing me to walk over to Zofia leaning against the wall "Ready to go?" I nodded "Sorry for taking so long" she smirked "I'll get my payback" I leaned back "what's that supposed to mean?" She just kept smirking causing me to shiver "evil woman, jeesh" she laughed before looking at me "pretty interesting tick you got there" I felt my face contort to confusion before I realized where she was looking and traced her view, realizing I was rubbing my thumb over the side of my pointer finger "oh, wow, I didn't even notice. Good eye" she made the motion of a circle around her eye "eyes of a hawk" I chuckled before replying "I believe eyes of a wohali(eagle) fits better" she sighed before muttering "is this how the Americans feel when I speak polish?" I nodded "think of it as my tsusasi(revenge)" she rolled her eyes "I'll learn what you're saying someday" I replied smugly "no, no you won't." She narrowed her eyes "why not?" I asked "who's gonna teach you? There isn't a Rosetta Stone for Cherokee, the pronunciation is weird, you wouldn't know how to structure sentences if you did learn the words. I believe I'm firmly in the lead here" she groaned "I'll get it eventually" I nodded "I'm sure you will but by then I'll have learned enough polish to speak like a 3 year old... with a severe speech impediment"
       she laughed before I joined her trying to bury the pain of loss with the laughter. A few minutes later we arrived in front of the heavy oak doors that held a chance at a new experience, I took a deep breath calming my frayed nerves as Zofia asked "you sure you're up to this?" I nodded "Just kinda nervous" she nodded slowly "come on, the sooner we do this the sooner you start to calm your nerves" I took one last deep breath before nodded "let's do this, just a gunfight" Zofia pounded on the door 4 times before Harry called faintly "Come in Zofia!" I cocked my head to the left "How does he know it's you?" She chuckled as she replied and opened the door "I always hit the door 4 times" I gave a staccato "oh" as I was greeted by Harry's confused face "who are yo-? Oh, hello Raven" I gave a small wave as he grew a warm smile "what brings you to my office? Do you need something?"
        I replied with a question "Is there a position for an EOD expert at Rainbow?" Harry seemed surprised "finally interested are you? Do you have that paperwork I gave you?" I nodded "it's in my bag at the barracks" he sighed but quickly regained his upbeat demeanor "very well, when you can bring them to me and I'll sign them and get you enrolled in the selection course" Zofia spoke "I'll sponsor him" Harry gave her an uncertain look "are you positive? You know if he gets kicked out your career will go with him correct?" I turned at the last part "Zofia you can't, it's not worth it" she ignored me and replied to Harry "Tak(yes), I'm aware. I want to sponsor him" he sighed but pulled out a new form "Fill this out, it'll skip the selection and you'll be brought directly into rainbow. Zofia will be your mentor and you're staying with her" I cocked an eyebrow "We've found having the Mentor and Student living together gives them more time to bond outside of team trainings"
         I nodded before going to fill out the paperwork "Harry, sir, one question" he excitedly motioned me to go on "Will we be able to hold a ceremony for the 3 Rangers we lost? The unit wants to give them our respects" he looked down "you can use the auditorium, Zofia will show you the way when you leave" I felt a tear well up before I blinked it away "sgi(thank you)" he replied "Gvlieliga(you're welcome)" I reeled back as if I'd been punched while Zofia all but yelled "you speak Cherokee?!" He chuckled before replying "no, just a few words I've picked up from the internet" I shook my head with a chuckle "almost had me convinced for a second" he laughed as Zofia sat down and I slid the paper back to Harry causing him to ask "Zofia, you're sure you want to do this? It's a pretty big commitment"
         She nodded "Tak(yes), I'm sure" I looked at her "seriously, you shouldn't" she gave me a pointed look "why not? Planning on getting kicked out?" I shook my head as my thumb ran in small circles over my fingers first knuckle "I'm not worth your career" she replied "I'm the one who makes that choice, I say giving you this opportunity is worth it. You'd be a great operator here, all I gotta do is straight the edges and you're one of our best" I acted like a 40s cartoon woman after receiving a compliment "d'oh stop it" Harry laughed like a father watching his kids do something stupid before signing the paper and checking his watch "As of 21:38(9:38pm) you're officially a member of Team Rainbow, our first Ranger in this reactivation" I saluted "Rangers lead the way, sir" he chuckled "At ease Warrant, Zofia please help him move his bags and equipment into the room. It'll go smoother if you're there to help" she chuckled "with him? It'll never go smoothly" I feigned offense as Harry spoke "alright, alright, settle down. Go move your stuff, tell you unit and go pay your respects, I'll have the rest of the team, myself and the rest of administrators there as well to give them a proper send off" I nodded as I felt Zofia tap my shoulder "let's go, it'll give you time to settle in"