Thread: Coming Home [Firm x SYD3RS]

She was lively. A lot more lively than the women and the occasional man were in the hospital. It was a wonderful change and it made him forget much of what he had experienced. It also made him forget how meager he was right now with his shoulder, having her look up to him so much. And then she insisted on taking his bag. A gesture he wasn't expecting at all and before he could protest, she had slid it off his other should and now it was being put into her car. It was such a small behavior, but he felt he had just been socially castrated. He had just had his balls ripped from him and handed off to his girlfriend to serve in the trunk of the car. He felt useless in that instant, like he could do nothing. Like a woman . It amazed him how much the act got to him as he tried to shrug it off. She was trying to be nice. She was trying to do him a favor and make him more comfortable. He tried to remind himself of that, along with reminding himself that he was tired and she looked like she wasn't, so it only came proper that she'd try to lighten his load. He quickly had himself calm about it and tried to forget it. He already wasn't driving... As he worked to get in the car, be barely caught her soothing voice giving him such a sweet praise. I love you. It really helped to allow him to remember she was looking out for him. Not seeking to shame him. I love you too, Ash. He said after she had sunk into the seat beside him and he closed his door. I love you too... It felt odd being in the passenger seat. It was a position he had rarely experienced, at least not in the front right. They had him man the .50 cal on top of a humvee a few times. A position you more so crouched in, resting your back against the frame and support while you looked around with the gun. He also had sat in the back seats many times, just being a transport. Sometimes you'd get caught in traffic a lot like this, and you tried to force your way through so you didn't remain a sitting duck for an ambush. He never recalled them being shot at while patrolling, but he heard stories. Lots of stories. Sometimes you'd get nasty about it. Move the fuck out of the way! Was yelled many times on each of his trips for those patrols. It wasn't uncommon to even ram other cars out of the way. Seeing the traffic piled up in front of the car made him uncomfortable now, but he tried to suppress it. Even as he felt so vulnerable now. He instinctively reached a hand down between his legs, feeling for his rifle that wasn't there. At least having a weapon to fire back with was a comfort. Feeling none now only helped to feed his unease. It also didn't help that Ashley kept her eyes locked forward. She didn't seem the least bit interested to keep her head on a swivel, looking for threats. And just as he was about to start scanning around himself, he stopped. This wasn't the battlefield. This was home. He leaned back and closed his eyes, trying to suppress to anxiety. There's no terrorists here. There's no terrorists here. There's no terrorists here. Finally he felt himself starting to relax, trying to focus on stretching his tensed muscles. They were trying to get poised for action and jump out of the vehicle at a moment's notice while he yelled at his body to calm the fuck down! Uh...so what have you been up to this whole time? Fucking other guys? He pushed the thought away. Keeping busy? He opened his eyes again and looked ahead, lines of traffic from the airport jamming their escape. Their trip. He correct. Do anything interesting? he found himself now desperate for some conversation. Trying to get his mind off his idiotic conclusions and ideas. He glanced over to her, seeing her still beaming with her eyes on the road. He had to remind himself that she was happy that he was back and not painfully oblivious to getting her head taken off by a bullet.