SailingRabbit

Chapter 5 Hicks screamed until his throat and lungs were raw. He didn't hear people running into the room behind him, didn't hear them commenting on the hanging body. One of them immediately left to call military police, while another tried talking to Hicks, who didn't hear them at all. All he could hear was his heart pounding in his ears and his own screaming. Even after his throat and chest were hurting, he looked up, and screamed again. "Get him out of here," Serrano said. "I need a medic!" "Damn it, Serrano, the man's dead!" someone else muttered. "Not for Paulson! For Hicks!" "Why?" "He's clearly distraught, and we don't need him fucking up the MPs' work when they get here, mate!" "Fine. Do it outside. Where the hell're those MPs?" Serrano pulled Hicks up onto his feet. "He's not dead! He's not dead!" Hicks shouted. "He's dead, I'm sorry." "No, please! I wanna know who did this to him! Somebody killed him and I'll get my fucking revenge!" Serrano kept holding Hicks

Chapter 4 The day with Carlisle almost felt like a blur, and it made Hicks realize he needed to better adapt himself for situations like this. He usually equated being comfortable with being alone, but here he was, comfortable and not alone. When he wasn't alone, he was dealing with Travin's incompetence and his subordinates demanding to know when things would shape up. "Can't you just get a fucking pair and slap Travin till he snaps out of it?" one Marine had asked, angrily. "Forget it! Just sign my papers and get me outta here! I didn't leave home to be wasted like this!" Hicks simply stood there and took it. It didn't feel like something worth getting upset about. The balance of not being alone and being comfortable felt strange. He followed Carlisle around that day, taking whatever she offered, and trying to be pleasant compared to how he was in the morning. While they were in a multi-floored department store, Carlisle brought up the fact that Hicks didn't bring any civilian

Chapter 3 Hicks slid the keycard to his hotel room into the lock, waiting for the soft beep and a click before opening the door. He held the door open for Carlisle, who was still beaming with gratitude over Hicks allowing her to stay. The Paris hotel room was large and lovely, made better by a window offering a view of the city skyline, and the Eiffel Tower, all of which glowed brightly in the freezing night. As soon as the two entered the room, the lights flickered on. Hicks dropped his duffel bag on the floor, and glanced into the bathroom, which smelled heavily of lavender. "I'm gonna take a quick shower, and go to bed." Carlisle nodded, carrying her bag over to the chaise under the window. While Hicks was in the bathroom, she unfolded the teal blanket sitting on the edge of the chaise, and covered herself with it as she lay down. Hicks emerged from the bathroom with a towel around his waist, muttering to himself about how he forgot something in his bag. He unzipped his bag

- FanFiction Pen Name: https://www.fanfiction.net/u/7658425/TheSailingRabbit - What I Write For: Aliens, possibly Stargate at some point - Warnings: Prominent themes of mental health, violence/gore, non-explicit sex, bad language - Ratings: M - Genres: Sci-fi, drama - Other Information: - I update as frequently as I can. - I love to partake in prompt contests. - I do not take requests. - Feedback is always welcome. - I try to give decent writing advice when asked. - I have a list in my bio with stories in progress and already published.

Chapter 2 The longer Hicks sat in the coffee shop, the less of an appetite he had. Again, that feeling of regret began stretching its tendrils, laced now with homesickness, deep into his chest. Why didn't I stay home? he thought, rubbing his face. "Are you okay?" Carlisle asked, setting her cup of coffee down. "Yeah, I'm alright. There's just this part of me that wants to go home. Mainly because I know when Christmas and New Year's are over, I have to go back to my fucked-up unit. I'd rather wait for a new unit to accept my transfer papers at home rather than when I'm on duty." "Can't you talk to Paulson about that?" "I probably can. There's a couple issues with that, though. One is going back and forth between the States and Europe. The other is I don't want to look like I'm Paulson's 'favorite.' If he starts doing me favors that no other Marine would get, we could both get in a lot of trouble. I already had to take the last month off because I have a lot of personal days, and I

Chapter 1 December 2171 A trail of cigarette smoke followed Hicks as he walked around the empty house, looking down at a message sent by General Paulson. "I hope things have been going well for you back in the States. It's been bitterly cold here in Paris, but certainly not the worst winter I've ever seen. Christmas is fast approaching, and if it doesn't conflict with your personal schedule, perhaps you could stop by and spend the holiday here. Thought it might give us a chance to talk about something other than work." It wasn't that hard of a decision to make. Over the course of the last two days since receiving the message, Hicks had booked his flight to Paris and packed what he needed, which wasn't much. Deep down, he wasn't looking forward for his break to end. It meant going back to his unit, still waiting for his transfer notice to come through. At least his request had been accepted, but there was no way of knowing how long it would be before a different unit was ready for a

Chapter 11 There was a creak and a thump as Hudson swung himself out of his bunk. He dashed out into the hallway, in only his socks and skivvies, and ran toward Hicks and Spunkmeyer. "Let him go, man!" Hicks turned around to punch Hudson in the stomach. The wind rushed out of his lungs as he fell. Spunkmeyer, fueled with fear and anger, socked Hicks in the side. Stunned by the blow, Hicks reeled before grabbing Spunkmeyer by the neck, and began squeezing. The anger quickly faded into panic. "What is going on out here?!" Apone demanded, grabbing Hicks by the shoulder. "Let go of him, Hicks." Hicks's eyes were lit with rage. Apone remained calm, maintaining eye contact with Hicks. "I said, let go." Hicks's grip loosened, and Spunkmeyer collapsed on the floor, gasping for breath. "You wanna tell me what's going on?" "Sir. I was getting our powerloader operator to re-organize the ordnance back here. That would never pass inspection. There's no discipline. It's worse than Sergeant

Chapter 10 April, 2171 The end of April brought about Spunkmeyer's seventeenth birthday—which everyone else thought was his eighteenth. He had a year to go before he was an adult, but he wondered if he'd ever be able to truly open up about himself. A part of him felt that wouldn't happen until he left the Marines. Hudson was already seeming like a worthy candidate to keep more of Spunkmeyer's secrets. He really did try to make Spunkmeyer feel like a member of the family. Hell, he gave more hugs than Spunkmeyer ever received from Kendriss, a lot more. The feeling of loneliness had lessened significantly, but it was still there. Spunkmeyer was certain that it wouldn't go away, no matter how many friends he made or love he got. It wouldn't go away because he was never going to connect with his father the way a normal person should. Whenever he fell into deep thought about it, the aching in his heart got worse. He'd feel like crying. He felt like a child lost in a strange place

Chapter 9 Spunkmeyer treated his new comrades like his old friends back in New York, despite not knowing them very well. This little game of unorganized baseball brought back memories. He missed the long summer days in the park behind the middle school. He knew he had sacrificed that when he enlisted. It felt good to be playing again, even though it was with a different crew. Standing on the pitcher's mound, Spunkmeyer wound up to throw the ball toward Wierzbowski, who was crouched behind one of their smartgunners, a tall, stocky man called Marrin. Spunkmeyer turned to his right to spit for good luck, and heard Hudson laugh. "Nice, man," Hudson said. "What?" Spunkmeyer glanced at him. "That's the most impressive spit I ever seen, man." Hudson snorted in the back of his throat, and then hocked a loogie on the ground. "Gotta get all the goodness in there." "Hudson, that's disgusting." Drevis shook his head. "Throw the ball, Spunkmeyer." In several ways, the rest of the unit was

Chapter 8 March, 2171 Ferro was adjusting her flight suit in the hangar near the dropship she would be flying for her final assessment. She'd be flying with Evison in the co-pilot's seat, so he could see if she really was ready to be sent to her first unit. From the corner of her eye, she saw Spunkmeyer walking up to her. "Excited?" he asked. "Nervous," Ferro replied. "You?" "Nah-well, a little, but, everyone is." Spunkmeyer grinned, then looked outside at the cloudless blue sky. "Nice day. Hopefully, that'll work in your favor." "Evison told me it's a good sign when the sun is out on your final assessment day. That, and he mentioned I should be graduating as a lance corporal." Ferro smiled back, and then took a breath. "Thanks for helping me, Spunkmeyer. I can't express how much I appreciate all you've done." "No problem. Thanks for making me feel like I matter to somebody." Ferro gave him a quick hug, then turned to jog to the dropship. Spunkmeyer turned to leave as well