“what the fuck is that?” AJ mumbled as he rolled out of bed, staggering towards the door.
He flung it open, intent of turning off the awful racket or killing whoever was making it. Working his way into the kitchen, he found Meredith making toast as Stasi howled along to the radio, which just happened to be playing Larger Than Life.
“The critics never stop.” He dropped into a chair and let his head sink onto his arms.
“Good morning.” Her voice was quite amused at his attempt to sleep at the table.
“What time is it?” His voice was muffled.
“Around 6:15. I was just getting ready to wake you guys.”
Her voice was much closer, and he looked up to find her sitting across from him with some toast and milk. He stood up slowly, stretching before doubling over to reach the floor. Meredith couldn’t help checking out his body as he moved, and she was still looking when he stood back up. They stared at each other---he couldn’t believe she didn’t turn away when he caught her; she couldn’t believe he was surprised she had been watching.
Leaning over, he grabbed a slice a toast and backed towards the door. “Don’t push your luck, McLean.”
He smiled and winked before disappearing out the door to claim one of the showers. Meredith finished her breakfast before waking up the guys. This was the morning she discovered the difficulty in waking up a sleeping Kevin.
She went down the hall, knocking on doors before entering. She woke up Nick fairly quickly. Howie was next, and he grumbled but was stumbling towards the shower before she left. Brian was next, and she was surprised when he answered her knock to find him already up and partially dressed in camouflage pants. He grinned at the look on her face. She shook her head and moved past AJ’s room to Kevin’s.
She knocked once, waited, then turned the doorknob. Light was filtering in through the window, casting shadows on his back as he lay stretched across the bed.
“Kevin.”
He didn’t move.
“Kevin!”
Still no movement.
“RICHARDSON!”
Not a muscle twitched. AJ stopped in the doorway to watch.
“It’s gonna take more than that to get him out of bed.”
Meredith looked over at AJ, then looked down at Kevin. She studied the situation a moment, then leaned over. Grabbing the sheet, she placed her foot against the bed and jerked….hard. Since he was so close to the edge on the other side and was lying on said sheet, he kind of rolled over and plummeted to the floor.
The sensation of falling registered in his head, right before he landed on the carpet. “Oofh.”
Slowly, he sat up and looked over the edge to find Meredith staring at him and AJ laughing.
“Time to rise and shine.” She smiled at him before leaving the room, her voice perky.
AJ continued to chuckle as he watched his older friend lever himself off the floor and around the bed.
“Morning, Train.”
“Get the fuck out of my room.” Kevin slammed the door on AJ’s laughter.
AJ shook his head and walked back to his room to grab his boots.
When everyone appeared in the kitchen, Meredith looked at them, glad to see they were at least somewhat coherent. “Eat quick, we’ve got to shove off soon.”
She left to grab something from her office, and Brian looked over at Kevin. “Who pissed in your Wheaties this morning?”
Kevin just stared at his cousin as he drank his coffee, turning to glare at AJ when he started to laugh.
“C’mon, Kev. It was funny.”
“What was funny?” Nick looked up from his bowl of cereal to stare at the two older men.
Kevin sighed, knowing the story would get out one way or another. “Meredith dumped me off the bed this morning when she couldn’t wake me up.”
The other four laughed. Howie was the first to recover. “Maybe we should try that some time.”
“Do it and die.” Kevin stood up, set his cup in the sink, and left the room to grab his stuff before they had to leave.
“I wonder what he looked like when she did it?” Brian set his bowl in the sink, taking Nick’s and Howie’s as well.
“Stunned.” AJ handed his friend his coffee cup.
“You saw?” Nick’s eyes widened.
“Yep. Pretty damn funny if you ask me.” He relished the memory, glad to have witnessed the usually stoic Kevin in a moment of vulnerability.
Meredith poked her head into the kitchen. “Let’s go. Daylight’s burning, and we’ve got lots of ground to cover.”
With no small amount of trepidation, the five men climbed into the SUV before they headed to the base.
Kevin had a bad feeling about the day. True, it didn’t start well. Maybe it’s just me.
Again, they started in Meredith’s office so she could check her e-mail, then they met the team outside. Training began with another run to the training field, but it didn’t take quite as long. Nick didn’t collapse this time, but the group was winded. Ramos took great pleasure in leading them through the various exercises.
Out of the corner of his eye, Nick watched Meredith as she did the pushups, admiring the fluid motion as she raised and lowered her body in time with the counts. He felt large and clumsy next to her, and he struggled with the workout.
Meredith only took them through one run of the obstacle course since she wanted to cover some actual fieldwork. Curran was the teacher for that portion, using his years of experience to teach the five men some basic maneuvers. Meredith looked over to find Nick’s attention elsewhere.
“Are we boring you, Carter?” She didn’t yell the question, but everyone heard her.
Flushing as he realized they were all looking at him, Nick turned his mind back to the discussion at hand as he shook his head “no” at Meredith.
An hour later, Meredith looked over to find Nick whispering to Brian.
“Carter.”
“What?” The moment it escaped his lips, he knew he was in trouble. She stood in front him, fire in her eyes.
“Drop! I want twenty pushups now!”
He stared at her, dumbfounded. She pointed down, one hand on her hip.
“On the ground, sailor!”
“But I was just…”
“Twenty-five. Do you want to go for thirty?” The tone in her voice made it abundantly clear she would not accept any insubordination.
Grimacing, he stretched out and began his punishment.
“Count ‘em out, Carter.”
“Two”
“Three”
Brian snickered a bit and leaned over to whisper to AJ.
“Littrell!”
“Ma’am?”
“Since you seem to enjoy listening to yourself talk, I suggest you drop and add your voice to Carter’s count. Give me twenty.”
Kevin shook his head as his cousin began the pushups. The other three remained quiet for fear of drawing attention to themselves.
At lunch, Brian and Nick distanced themselves from Meredith, eating at the same table but staying far away. After they’d eaten, Meredith took her team back to the firing range to continue the familiarization process with the weapons.
Howie just stared at the pistol before picking it up, loading it, and firing. He aimed at the target, but didn’t try to hit it with any sort of accuracy. When he finished, he ejected the magazine, made sure the gun was completely empty, and tossed the pistol to the stand.
“You don’t have to enjoy it, but don’t throw your weapon down again.”
She surprised him, and he jerked around with a guilty expression written across his face. Meredith didn’t say anything as she handed him another magazine.
He took it, turned around, and loaded the HK. He emptied it again, surprised to find himself aiming for the center of the target and placing his bullets close to the heart. Again, he tossed his gun on the stand after he’d removed the magazine and made sure it was empty.
“I told you not to do that again. Twenty pushups.”
“But I…”
“You don’t have to like it, but you will do it. Now, get your ass on the ground, Dorough.”
“I didn’t…”
“Twenty-five.”
He was shocked and opened his mouth to protest.
“From now on, every argumentative word out of your mouth is going to cost you five pushups.”
“Fuck.” The expletive was soft.
“Thirty, and count ‘em off.”
He dropped to the ground and began, counting off each pushup. He muttered under his breath, not loud enough for anyone to hear, but Meredith could see his lips moving when he wasn’t counting.
“Want to make it thirty-five?”
“Eleven.”
With worried glances, AJ and Kevin just stared at each other. They had no doubts they were going to fuck up and piss Meredith off, earning a swift punishment. The only questions were how, when, and what she would make them do.
It didn’t take thirty minutes for AJ to land on the hot seat. He was moving constantly, bouncing around the others, and Meredith was worried he’d end up in front of someone firing if he wasn’t careful.
“McLean!”
He froze in his tracks, turning to look at her. “Ma’am?”
“Since you seem to be so energetic, I’ll just let you run back to my office. When we start our march, I want you to circle the unit ‘til we arrive.”
Heaving a sigh, he ran in circles around them as they marched, almost making himself dizzy with the effort. When they stopped in front of her building, he skidded to a stop and dropped back into formation. While the actual activity hadn’t been bad, he’d gotten pretty angry when several people stared at him as they made their way from the firing range.
Meredith directed them into her office and sat them down at the conference table. Becky walked in and passed out the books the older woman had requested. When she set them down in front of them, the young woman could see and feel the resentment rolling off each man. Raising an eyebrow at her boss as she prepared to leave, she turned and walked out the door, quietly closing it.
Meredith looked at them, noting that they refused to look her in the eyes. She exhaled softly. “Please read the manuals. They give you some insight into your particular specialty. Tomorrow, you’ll work extensively with your Seal counterpart.”
They nodded, answering with a quiet “yes, ma’am” before opening their books. Meredith returned to her desk and kept an eye on them.
She wasn’t surprised when Kevin finished his first. Despite his demeanor, she saw the quick intelligence in his eyes and figured he’d pick up his craft rather quickly. He sat quietly for a few minutes, then Meredith noticed him moving around the table to each of the guys. They accepted his help for a few minutes before they began to squirm. When she saw white knuckles gripping pencils, she stepped in.
“Richardson.”
He looked up in surprise. “Ma’am?”
“Please return to your seat. I’m sure they can handle the books. If they need help, they’ll ask.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He sat back down and thumbed through his introduction, spending several minutes going over it again.
Once again, she noticed him leaning towards Howie and discussing Howie’s book. She saw the rapid shake of Howie’s head as he tried to stop the flow of Kevin’s words.
“Richardson!”
He looked up, the tone of her voice letting him know he was the one in trouble. “Yes, ma’am?”
“Take your chair and place it against the wall behind me.”
He moved his chair to the wall behind her desk, moving him several feet from the table. He waited for further instructions.
“Sit down, on your hands, and remain silent.”
“Pardon me?”
“Put your hands on the seat, palms down, then sit on top of your hands. I don’t want to hear a word out of you.” She spoke slowly, enunciating each word.
He sat down, a pink blush crossing his cheeks. He couldn’t help but lean forward, trying to see what the guys were doing. He caught Meredith’s glance and quickly leaned back. He opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it when she removed a roll of duct tape from a drawer and laid it on top of her desk.
It was only by some miracle that no laughter escaped the other four; well, a miracle and fear of what Meredith would make *them* do.
Kevin spent another 30 minutes in tortured silence before Meredith shut down her computer and stood up.
“Let’s head home, gentlemen.”
When door to Meredith’s office opened, Becky watched the five men file out, their silence a heavy shroud over the office. Quite a difference from last week.
She knew that her boss was a fair woman, but that she demanded people do their best. She also knew Meredith was fair, but disciplined when it came to trainees. Becky only hoped the guys figured it out soon.
“Goodbye, Commander.”
Meredith smiled at her admin. “Ciao.”
The guys followed Meredith out of her office, down the hall, and out of her building. They didn’t speak to her on the way to the SUV, nor did they carry on much of a conversation with each other. As she drove, she felt as if their stares were daggers in her back, and she unconsciously stiffened her spine in response.
After parking in the driveway, the five men wasted no time in getting out of the car and into the house. Five doors slammed almost simultaneously after she opened the door and they all walked inside. Meredith winced a bit, but shrugged, hoping they would get over their anger quickly. She wasn’t going to change her training style, knowing they wouldn’t be happy about it, but it would help keep them alive in the remote chance they ever needed it.
“Better dig out the thermals, Stasi. Could be pretty frosty around here for the next few weeks.”
The dog followed her mistressto the bedroom, laying on the floor as Meredith changed into shorts and a t-shirt. She gathered up two days of cammies and took them to the laundry room. Standing in the hall outside the guest rooms, she yelled at the five closed doors.
“McLean, laundry detail. Everyone get your cammies together to be washed.”
She headed back to the kitchen to make herself something to eat, realizing there wouldn’t be a happy dinner together tonight. The five men trooped past her, barely acknowledging her presence as they dropped their clothes in the laundry room. The four not doing laundry scattered throughout the house as AJ started sorting clothes. The phone rang, and Meredith reached over to get it.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Mom. How’s Paris?”
“Yes, please. I’m about out of it. I’m sure Irene would like some as well.”
Meredith sighed as she ran her finger over the kitchen table. “No, just a new project. You heard about that celebrity training program? I got a group. No, not too bad. They arrived on Thursday. We got to know each other last weekend. Yesterday was hard on them. Took them on a run with Team 2. Yes, Curran’s fine. He and Maggie are still deliriously happy.”
She took a sip of water. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll tell them.” A short laugh echoed through the kitchen.
“Today was pretty bad. They all ended up in time out. Yeah, I think they were surprised I was like that. Yes, I know it’s for their own good. Mom, you’re preaching to the choir. I don’t think they’re ready to hear that it could save their lives.”
She was quiet for several minutes as her mother reassured her. “Well, they’re just going to have to hate me then. I refuse to let them goof off and miss something important that could mean life or death. I’m going to do my damnedest to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Taking another drink, Meredith smiled. “Yes, they know about Andy. Yes, they know about the POW camp. Yes, they are quite cute.”
AJ had been sorting laundry and loading it into the washer, stopping to listen to Meredith’s side of the conversation. Sighing, he realized that just because she’d been quick to call them on their jokes and inattention, it hadn’t been because she was being a complete bitch. The loss of friends and loved ones in the past made her do everything she could to ensure they made it out of whatever situation they encountered---even if it meant they hated her when she made them take responsibility for their actions and they had to suffer the consequences. He figured she did it to everyone under her command---that included five pop stars who expected a cakewalk and ass-kissing because of who they were.
When the first load finished, AJ quickly took them out of the dryer to keep the wrinkles to a minimum. Folding the clothes carefully, he pulled Meredith’s from the stack and walked towards her room. He noticed the door was not completely closed, and he knocked loudly.
“Come in.”
He walked in to find her sitting on her bed, pulling a brush through her hair as the strains of Mozart drifted through the air.
“Where would you like them?”
Meredith almost dropped the brush when AJ spoke to her. She looked at him with wondering eyes, then nodded toward the dresser.
“Just put them down there. I’ll hang them up in a minute.”
He carefully set the clothes down, standing there for a moment with his hand resting on the warm fabric. With one final caress, he turned back towards her.
There was a hint of softness in her eyes as she looked at him. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. See you in the morning.”
She nodded at him, and he walked out of the room, pulling the door completely shut behind him. He leaned against it for a minute, staring off into space, then straightened and headed back to the laundry room to finish folding clothes and distributing them.
Meredith remained seated on the bed, trying to figure out what had just happened. Shrugging, she laid the brush on the nightstand and sank down into her pillows. Rubbing her temples, she closed her eyes and began to breathe her anxiety away. It wasn’t long before she turned to her usual bedtime ritual of prayer before letting her body drop into slumber.
Table of Contents
Chapter Nine