Author's Note: I tried to limit the military slang but some was inevitable to help the flow of the story. Also, this is a work of fiction!
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"Welcome to Marine Camp Jalalabad," said Staff Sergeant McGrew. "This will be your new home for the next seven months."
"Oh great," said Sergeant Bishop. "I can't wait to hang out with Marines for seven months."
"Do you have a problem with Marines?" asked McGrew, eyes narrowing.
"Oh no, they're all really smart and nice and fun to hang around," said Bishop, exaggerating her smile and rolling her eyes.
"Oh great, a sarcastic army sergeant, just what we need to liven up the place," rumbled McGrew, he grabbed one of her three packs. "Follow me, I'll take you to your tent.
Bishop grabbed her gear and fell into step behind McGrew. She stared at his back as he walked quickly toward the row of permanent structures nearby, he looked like a typical Marine, rugged and lean. As Bishop walked behind him, she was determined to match his pace, despite the two gear bags she carried. God, she hated Marines, she thought as they walked in silence. They were all arrogant, single-minded and obsessed with being Marines, they thought they were the greatest thing in the world, they had no sense of humor and tended to look down on other services. This one was probably an ass, just like all the rest.
It was just after sunrise in Afghanistan, the air was crisp and the sun was rising in a blaze of crimson light. As they walked, she saw a group of Marines running in formation off in the distance. It was a remote outpost manned by Marines, she had volunteered to deploy but had expected to go to an Army base, unfortunately, the Marine post had needed a motor transport chief to coordinate all their vehicle patrols and maintenance schedules and she got selected because she was the best.
He brought her to a line of large green permanent tent structures, off to the side was a small grey building. There were multiple rows of tents and she could see a line of brown tents in the back.
"The small grey one is mine, the showers are the brown ones in the back, the female shower is marked," said McGrew. "If you need anything, just come let me know, you'll get used to the layout after a few days, but if you need help finding your way around just ask."
As he talked, he walked between the rows and came to the last tent in the second row.
"Here is your tent, we have a few other girls on base, so we've two tents designated for female enlisted, you share with the rest of them, the tents can house 12 so you should have plenty of room," said McGrew.
"Anyone here?" he yelled out, when nobody answered they entered the tent. "Any questions?" he asked as he dropped her gear on a rack and turned to look at her.
Catching her breath from the pace he set she walked by him and dropped her bags on the metal rack. She looked around the tent.
"No, I'm good," she replied, then deliberately turned her back and ignored him. She bent over and started opening her gear bags. After a few seconds she realized she hadn't heard him move, she looked back over her shoulder. "Ahem," she cleared her throat as she caught him staring at her ass. "I said I'm good."
"Yeah, ok," he replied and left the tent. McGrew was a little disconcerted that she had caught him staring at her ass. God, what a bitch, he thought as he walked away. Typical soldier, no discipline, they think this is all a joke and that all Marines are stupid. Still, he had to admit that she had a great ass.
It was mid-October and McGrew was four months into a 12-month deployment. It was his fourth deployment in five years. He liked deploying and he loved being a Marine. He had wanted to be one since he was a kid, and at 18 he'd enlisted. It had been the best decision of his life, he'd served 10 years so far and was going to stay in as long as they let him. The base they were on housed just over 300 Marines and support personnel. It was a remote outpost situated near the mountains bordering Pakistan.
Two months later.
"Damn I hate dealing with you," McGrew fumed. "Why do you give me a hard time every time I come here?"
"I'm not giving you a hard time, I'm just making you fill out some paperwork," Bishop replied with clenched teeth.
They glared at each other over the desk between them. Both stood with their arms crossed in front of them.
"Nobody else has to fill out this paperwork," he said and took a step around the table, his six foot, 190 pound muscular frame dwarfed her.
"Nobody else comes back every single damn time with bullet damage all over my vehicles," she said as she took a step toward him. She was only 5'2," 115 pounds but she refused to be intimidated by this jerk of a Marine. "I have to write reports explaining all the damage on these vehicles, I don't think having you help write them so I can justify the mechanical expense is really that big a deal."
"Yet every time I come here you always find a reason to make me do more paperwork," said McGrew raising his voice and inching closer.
"Like I said, you're the only one who brings back my vehicles all fucked up," Bishop said, raising her voice and glaring up at him. They were barely a foot apart at this point and both were full of adrenaline. McGrew had just spent the day on a vehicle patrol and had come to turn in the vehicles, it was late at night and they were both tired and cranky. As they glared at each other she noticed the dark stubble on his chin, off-handedly she thought it made his brown eyes and attractive features even more striking, but hell would freeze over before she'd admit that. With his short dark hair and muscles visible in the green t-shirt he was wearing, he looked lethal.
"So you're blaming me for getting shot at?" he yelled.
"Don't give me that shit, I never said that, either fill out the paperwork or you don't get the vehicles next time," said Bishop.
The tension in the air was palpable and they were both breathing hard. As they stood glaring at each other McGrew noticed her chest heaving, her breasts strained the green t-shirt she wore. This was the first time he'd seen her without her blouse and her tits was bigger than he imagined, they looked like D's, he reflexively glanced down and saw that her nipples were poking her shirt. He quickly looked back up into her eyes, they were a striking green and right now they were filled with anger.
She had grabbed some paperwork, so she hadn't noticed his glances. Since he didn't want her to notice what he'd just been looking at, he quickly said, "Never mind, just give me the paperwork. I assume I can give you this in the morning, I'd like to go eat now, if that's ok?" His voice was full of sarcasm.
For just a second, she'd relaxed, as close as they were, she could smell the sweat and dust on him, it was manly and wasn't unpleasant, she'd even noticed his glance and she could feel how hard her nipples were. Then he added the last sarcastic comment and the stray thoughts she had about him evaporated.
"Just make sure you get it to me," she snapped.
Two days later.
He looked around the chow hall, every seat was taken. Finally, he spotted an empty seat, and then he saw who else was sitting at the table. He groaned inwardly, he didn't want to fight but damned if he was going to let an army sergeant stop him from eating.
"Anybody sitting here," he asked as he walked up.
Bishop looked up at him, for a second her eyes narrowed, then she just shrugged and told him to sit.
As he sat down, he inwardly vowed to make an effort to be nice. He smiled at her, she looked down and focused on eating while ignoring him, they ate in silence for a few minutes. Finally, McGrew tried to break the ice.
"Was my paperwork done right?" he asked.
"Yeah, it was fine," she said curtly.
He felt his temper rising.
"Excuse me sergeant, what have I done now that's pissed you off?" he whispered.
"Nothing, it's just every time we talk we get mad at each other and I don't want to deal with it, ok," she replied.
"I wouldn't get mad if you weren't such a bitch to me," he said.
