Debut

[not_a_quaker]

Nix sprawls in the passenger seat, carelessly elegant, as I drive us to our intended destination, the jeep zipping smartly along. "What is this place?" Nix asks as we get out and head over to the door of the partially demolished home

Comments

[vat_69]

The island fucks with people. In Lew's estimation, that is incontrovertible fact. The island fucks with people, and whether it's simple sadism or some kind of theomorphic social experiment isn't clear, but the point is, you can't trust the fucking thing. Your eyes and ears and even intuition can be deceiving in this place, this hell in paradise wrapping. Okay, so maybe it isn't quite that bad, but the fact remains it's a tricky little bastard

[fourforone]

For a long second, I swear to god I ate something wrong or maybe I drank too much or Charlie's having a go with us, but that's just not Charlie Crews and I stand there gaping myself before I can move myself to motion and push myself forward, shooting Nix one helluva look, like 'can you believe this?' because a part of me sure can't.

Hell. I'm just glad Nix is here for Dick and vice-versa. Not that I haven't enjoyed Nix's company or anything, but you get the feeling when you're just being a replacement for someone else (and, I think with a mild pang of guilt, I have to wonder if that's what Babe's feeling lately). "Well, shit," I announce with a laugh, wandering over to clap Dick on the shoulder. "Look what we found, Nix." If Nix can bother to get up from off his ass, which has me mildly concerned but hell, different strokes for folks and whatever people say now.

[not_a_quaker]

I see Nix first, and then Buck, and I'm not sure what's stranger - seeing them together, when I know darn well Nix hates Buck; seeing them in civvies when we haven't been in anything but uniforms for years now; or seeing them suddenly emerge from what I'm rapidly concluding is definitely not a hallucination.

I give Buck a confused quirk of the lips and return the gesture, and I'm about to ask him what in the world's going on when Nix falls. It's stupid, I know, since we're not in active combat and I know it's just a flashback, but my heart suddenly seizes up in my chest and it's like Market Garden all over again. Hearing that ricochet, turning to see my best friend in the world knocked backwards onto the ground, seeming to fall in slow motion. A split second, a flash of memory, and then I'm moving.

"Nix!" I call as I jog over to where he's sitting in the grass, dropping to a crouch once I reach him. "Are you all right?" I ask, one hand going to his shoulder.

[vat_69]

"You're here," Lew says, staring up at Dick, stunned as if he actually had been shot. His gaze flicks over Dick's shoulder to where Buck's standing, looking more than a little amused over Lew's current predicament, and that somehow solidifies the situation, makes it real.

For one petulant fraction of a second he wants to shove Dick off, but luckily catches himself before he can prove to be a complete ass. A smile spreads slowly across his face instead, and he laughs.

"It took you fucking long enough," he chastises, still marveling.

[fourforone]

It's barely a couple minutes and already I'm feeling like a giant third wheel and I clear my throat lightly from just behind Dick to go ahead and remind him that I exist before he and Nix get too carried away with catching up on lost time. "We missed you," I agree with a solemn nod and a serious tone to his voice. "Welcome to...well, I don't have a clue in hell where we are, but the weather's nice."

[not_a_quaker]

The more Nix and Buck say, the more confused I get, and that's not a state I like to be in. Satisfied that Nix isn't about to keel over, I release his shoulder with a pat and shift so I can turn to look back at Buck without wobbling in my crouch.

"I missed you too, Buck, but when did you get back from the hospital?" I say, puzzled expression on my face as I glance slowly between the two of them. "And you," I continue, my gaze settling on Nix, "I just saw. Just now, marveling over Goering's alcohol selection. Took me long enough to do what?"

[vat_69]

"Personally, I thought this place was Hell," Lew begins as he pushes himself back to his feet, and he's grinning ear to ear now. Can't help it. "But then the booze showed up." His smile quirks as he shoots Dick a knowing glance. He wants to hug him, but isn't sure if it's too much.

"Tabula Rasa's what they call it. It's an island, and we don't know how we got here or why. The good news is food's free, the weather's fantastic, there are a multitude of gorgeous, scantily-clad women from the future."

[fourforone]

"Very gorgeous," I offer my two cents into that little last comment because I may not be indulging my woes in sex anymore, but that doesn't mean I can't observe the very beautiful nature that is the Tabula Rasa Women. I'm digging out a cigarette as Nix speaks, lighting it up when he's through and cradling it in my fingers by the time he's done. "The men are here. Some of them, at least. It's good that you're here, Dick. I'm a poor substitute for you."

[not_a_quaker]

I rise to standing as Nix does, and I hear what they're saying but it's not making a whole lot of sense. "Tabula Rasa," I repeat, and then I'm silent for a few moments, just looking at the two of them, at our jungle surroundings, trying to take it all in.

"Oh, I don't know about that, Buck," I say, turning to meet his eyes, because Buck's a damn good leader, and I would have replaced the incompetent Dike with him if I'd had the chance. "So we're stuck on this island, and we don't know why, and some of the men are here but not all," I continue, trying to assess the situation at hand. The idea of gorgeous women sounds nice, sure, but that's not my primary concern right now.

"And we have no contact with anyone? Anyone from battalion, or regiment? Is George here with the radio?"

[vat_69]

It's impossible not to laugh, and Lew's feeling good enough that he doesn't hesitate to do exactly that as he claps Dick heartily on the shoulder. "Radio's not going to do you much good, Major," he advises with a knowing twist of his lips. "Did you miss the part where I said there were scantily-clad women from the future? This is a bit beyond Regiment's scope, Dick."

[fourforone]

"Plus, I think Georgie's attention is elsewhere," I add with my own little knowing grin and I can't fault him. Hell, now if Babe would just seal the deal, I can stop worrying that he's abstaining or whatever the fuck I'm doing to myself is called. "It's a lot to take in, we were all hoping you'd be here to explain it to us."

Not the other way around.

[not_a_quaker]

This is all unlike anything I've ever encountered. A strange island, no means of communication, women from the future, and who knows what else. I have no intention of handling it any way other than how I've handled everything else through the war, though: with a level head and determination. Whatever this is, I guess I'm here now, and we can figure it out as a team.

"How long have you two been here?" I say, because even though I feel a little crazy asking it seems like an important question, and a relevant one, given what they've been telling me.

[vat_69]

Lew casts a glance to Buck and then back to Dick, and hell, he knows this is time to be serious -- As indicated by Dick's telltale mother-like "explain these shenanigans" expression -- but he absolutely cannot stop smiling. He resists the urge to throw his arms around Dick again, then decides he doesn't care if it's too much or not and gives in, pulling his best friend in for a good, solid hug.

"Over two months," he finally answers, then quietly mumbles "missed you" before he pulls away again.

[fourforone]

"Jesus, should I just go stand by a tree until you're both done?" I ask, after the first quiet scoff because feeling like a third wheel is only getting worse when they're deciding to play 'Show Your Emotions' on hyperdrive and I don't have an explanation for Dick that'll make me sound anything but crazy.

[not_a_quaker]

The hug is unexpected, but not unwelcome, and I return it in kind after only a half a moment's hesitation. It doesn't seem possible that Nix hasn't seen me in two months, and yet that's what he's saying, and I try to wrap my mind around it. Then he's mumbling words only loud enough for me to hear, and something in his voice gets to me in a way I can't quite explain. I give him a searching look once he pulls away, and as well as we understand each other I know he can read it. What the hell have you been going through while I wasn't here?

Buck's voice snaps me out of my worried contemplation, and I place a solid hand to his shoulder, giving him a ghost of a smile. "What about you, Buck? About the same amount of time as Nix here?" I blow out a breath. "Two months - that seems hard to believe."

[vat_69]

It hits Lew, then, that Buck's jealous. Maybe not of him, or Dick, but the situation, and Lew doesn't quite know what to think about that at first, if only because it wasn't so long ago that the two of them hated each other.

Maybe hate is a strong word, but it was close to that.

"Oh, Buck, you know I love you, too," Lew quips, and steps over to pull him into an exaggerated embrace, complete with kissy-face. "I couldn't ever replace you, baby."