CHAPTER 07

Jake actually wondered if Danni was going to wait for the rotors to slow down before she got out. He didn't say anything because, he figured the girl would be smart enough to keep her head down should she choose to run out. Apparently, Barbara was not as confident about the girls common sense. As Barbara was gathering her things, she said over the intercom, “Danniella, gather your things.”

Danni kept her reply off of the com channel and that was mainly because she rolled her eyes. That was easy enough to hide since she was sitting right behind Barbara. What the girl did say sounded almost like she was responding to a teacher who had just told her to get in front of the class and recite a math problem, “yes ma'am.”

Jake snickered and shot a glance back to Danni who only made a funny face at him. Amy, who was sitting right behind Jake, sighed in frustration and then began getting her own things together. Jake left that alone. It had been a long flight and he thanked his lucky stars not to have three women arguing the entire way. That was particularly true when you considered that one of them happened to be the pilot. Jake was actually amazed that they were all so civil. He had not been entirely sure what to expect but, so much silence was definitely not it. Even Barbara had been in an unusually good mood. That actually kind of worried Jake.

When they had finally collected all of their things and were walking towards the waiting pick up trucks, across the wet field of grass that served as the heliport, Jake decided to ask Barbara, “something good must have happened?”

“I have no idea what you mean Barton,” Barbara replied with an upbeat, almost cute, kind of tone. Then she asked, “how's Jessie?”

That question was very un-Barbara but, all Jake said was, “she's fine, I guess.”

“Well aren't we romantic,” Barbara replied. How the hell was she still smiling? She never smiled this much!

Jake brushed it off, “we both work, you know? She's busy, I'm busy.”

“I didn't say anything,” Barbara relied in her up beat tone. Jake let the conversation die right there. It was easy enough when he saw Danni, run ahead of them, then drop her bags, take a flying leap, and then land on some guy with dark hair, a beard of the same color, and wearing a matching long coat. Barbara noted, “that's why I told her to wait. That's Killian Rayne. His family owns the airport.”

“The Sheriff guy?” Jake whistled and then said, “not exactly what I was expecting.” There were more surprises for Jake when the guy introduced himself and Jake heard that accent, “New Celtlandia? Don't hear that much out here.”

“I see you've been to Beta Canaan,” Killian replied. The guy was most gracious and polite when he went on by noting, “it's supposed to snow in the next few hours, not much mind you but, it's nothing I would prefer to be in, not when I have other options.”

As Amy tossed her bags in the back of a truck, she did follow up on Killian's thought with, “I see Kent most certainly shares that sentiment. He didn't bother to come out here and meet us.”

The red head sounded pretty bitter but, Kllian all but ignored the tone and kept his polite host ways about him, “he's busy my lovely Miss Hiller. He's over at the clinic, as I am sure of, is why you are here as well.”

Amy glumly circled a finger in the air and said, “oh joy, can't wait.”

Nobody touched that one. They all simply got in the cabs of the trucks and took a ride over to the little cluster of buildings that served as the field proper. Jake rode in Killian's truck, with Barbara in between them. He quickly rolled up the window and noted, “I remember you saying this place is cold but, I didn't expect this.” Barbara did not try and bite his head off about anything. In fact, she did not even look as if she was here. Jake asked her, “is this normal?”

Barbara did prove to be listening, even if she did not really answer verbally. She just put her hand up and gave a 'sort of' gesture. Jake had no idea what that meant but, at least, Killian was willing to answer, “it looks like we're in for an early cold season. As you have probably noticed Jake...”

Now Jake interrupted but, was speaking to Barbara, “he calls me Jake.”

There was no answer so Killian went on, “as I was saying, down in the Arch, you have wet and dry seasons. Up here at Valley...”

“Hot and Cold?”

Killian snickered, “more like cold and colder. Actually it's not too bad when you get used to it. For someone like my sister, who's never lived anywhere else, she doesn't even notice. Actually it is quite pleasant, most of the time. I would say it is sort of like your autumn, you are from New York, if I recall, the big city?”

“Up state actually,” Jake replied with almost disinterest. He did go so far as to volunteer, “we avoided the city every chance we got.”

Barbara suddenly snapped to life but it was not the hostility that Jake was used to. She actually looked genuinely curious, “what's up state?” Jake snickered.

Jake was actually pleased that the tower was not as it's name suggested. His leg had not looked forward to the prospect of climbing an endless number of stairs. He was not pleased that the inside of this shack like structure was not much warmer than the outside. As Killian had noted, his sister Lucy did not even seem to notice. In stark contrast to Killian, she was a plump little thing but, had a button like cuteness about her and an accent that was one hundred and eighty degrees from that of her brother. She also seemed to handle all the business related tasks and got right down to having Barbara fill out forms.

Lucy did give Jake the occasional passing glance and the girl seemed to almost be amused by what she saw. Jake was not so sure he wanted to know why. Instead, he took the excuse that Danni offered when she decided to go out and see the horses. The girl was giddy and seemed genuinely so. She even tried to get Amy to go but, the red head sat glumly in her chair, trying to pull her jacket even tighter, and all she had to say about it was, “I'm fine.”

As Jake walked to the door, Killian brushed his arm and told him, “I am taking it that you had a most interesting flight.”

“Trust me Sheriff,” Jake told the guy in a volume that let everyone know he did not care who heard, “I gave up trying to figure that stuff out, a long time ago.”

That actually did draw Amy's attention and she winced in confusion, “figure what out?”

Jake was ready to give the kid a less than polite brush off but Killian broke in with, “flying.”

Jake still had to add, “or flying right into the fall, or fall out as the case may be.” Amy looked at him like he was weird and, that was good enough. Jake left and found Danni over by the fence. She was standing there trying to get a horse to come up to her but, with not much success. Jake volunteered, “it helps if you got something they can eat.”

Danni seemed confused but, not about the suggestion, “you know about horses?”

He joined her on the fence line, “I'm no expert, if that's what you mean. We did own a few when I was a kid. I'm sure my parents still have some even if I'm pretty sure they don't ride anymore.”

Danni blinked, “parents?”

“Yeah Danni,” Jake was not sure if he wanted to laugh or cry, “like most human beings, I had two.”

“Sorry,” Danni tried to smooth it over but, “I mean it's just. I never thought about it. You're just...”

She was getting her foot even deeper and Jake almost had to laugh, “you mean old?”

“No,” Danni denied it even if that's exactly what she meant. “You just never talk about your family.” Danni let that sit for a minute and silence returned. Then she tried, “it's just, you never talk about yourself. I guess, I mean, I don't really know you, when it gets down to it.”

Now Jake did snicker as he replied, “really subtle girl. You been talking to Norm.”

“Huh?” Danni tried back pedaling, “no. I mean... nobody really ever talks to...”

“Come on Danni,” Jake sighed, “you and your Mom were at his house last night. I heard you complaining about it all the way down in the commissary. I'm taking it you went down in that junk pile of a garage.”

Danni was starting to feel actual fear and she could not believe it, “uh, no?”

“Well,” Jake calmly said, “I am hoping he explained to you exactly how dangerous all of that is.”

Now Danni gave up and just said, “not in so many words but, I know Norm.”

“Yeah you do,” Jake said with an almost air of regret in his voice. Then he perked up and said, “that's why he trusts you and, because he does, I trust you too.”

Did she say it? This conversation did not exactly turn in any direction that Danni had expected and, she was no longer so sure what was safe and what was not. Jake had just managed to put her feelings through a roller coaster ride that she did not ever imagine was even possible. Danni just could not help herself when she said, “he doesn't trust you Jake.”

Again, the answer was also not what Danni expected, “I know. He also has good reasons for that. I can't hold it against him.”

Danni wanted to crawl up in a shell, “you're not mad? The way you guys have carried on, I almost thought you were friends or something.”

“What we are Danni,” Jake told her bluntly, “are professionals doing a job. Norm understands that and so do I. More important, we both understand what that means.”

Now Danni really was scared. If she understood what Jake was saying then, Norm was pretty right on the money. Who was this guy that she thought she knew? Danni even liked him. She even hit the more relevant question of, what was Jake Barton? “Norm was a cop. You're some kind of commando, right? How is that the same?”

Jake could see the girl tensing up and he told her, “would you relax already? Why would I hurt you Danni? Why would I even want to?”

Danni repeated herself and it was both a question and an answer, “you're some kind of commando, right?”

Jake blew that off, “I was Special Forces. Sometimes we were commando's, yeah. That wasn't our primary job though.” Jake let that hang in the air until she actually asked. He told her the truth and it almost made her eyes roll right out of her head when he said, “we're teachers.”

The bewilderment made Danni forget all of her emotions as she took that in and then told him, “ok, I have to admit. You've managed to screw with my head pretty thoroughly here but, that one, tops them all.”

Now that Jake could see that he had gotten past all of her little hang ups, he tried to even sound like a teacher, “Danni, for most of my career, my job as been to go into places and teach people how to defend themselves.”

Danni thought about it a little and asked for clarification, “you mean like shooting guns and stuff?”

Jake shrugged, “sometimes but, less than you would think. Most places like that, people already know how to shoot. They get lots of practice doing it to each other. There's a lot more to fighting a war than just knowing stuff like that.”

“Oh my god,” Danni's jaw dropped, “that's what you're doing here, isn't it? That's why the Americans sent you.”

Again, Jake shrugged, “it seems to be what I'm doing now but, to be honest Danni, I have no clue why I'm here. It was the job they gave me and, like any good soldier, I just saluted and went and did it. Makes life simple when you do that. When you're grown up, you'll get that.”

Now it was Jake's turn to be confused. Danni threw her arms around him and buried her head in his chest. Jake was not sure what to do but, finally, he hugged the girl and listened to her cry. The only thing that Jake was sure of was, they didn't cover this in training at Bragg.