James

Camp Slayer

1446 HRS } May 30, 2003

Iraq's culture, otherwise regarded as the Culture of Mesopotamia, is among the world's oldest cultural histories and it is considered to be one of the most influential cultures. It was also known for its' creativity; which has a deep heritage that extended back to ancient Mesopotamian art and consisted of numerous traditions such as architecture, literature and calligraphy. I'll admit, this was why I had an interest in the republic as I was fascinated by the artists' creative visions. Some of the work I've seen online is just...! Absolutely amazing.

The amount of dedication surprises me even now, too.

In any case, I'll... I'll be honest, I'm not entirely sure how to describe my time in Camp Slayer. That was a military installation on Radwaniyah Palace and even with the stations set up, the place still looked fancy to me. It had pretty much most of the rooms you could imagine; numerous apartments, ballroom, library, so on and so forth. Plus, it was one of many aspects I remember having to adjust to upon arrival and I think if you asked my ex or any of our friends how they felt about our base of operations or Iraq in general, they'd tell you the same thing. Another aspect I remember us having to adjust to was the distance away from our families - which, I'll admit, was tough.

But despite that, we just needed to remember that they were waiting for us. I mean, that's all we could do.

A knock on my bedroom door snapped me out of my thoughts, prompting me to turn my head to see my fellow CIA officer, Raegan Abbott, peek her head through. She was a really lovely girl who looked like a little bad*ss in her green military jacket, grey t-shirt, denim jeans and combat boots. Her dark hair was also tied back in a ponytail with bangs framing her face, the latter two which showed off her freckles perfectly. Oh, hey Rae!

"Hey, James," She greeted me. "I hope I didn't wake you up?"

"Ah, no, no, you didn't," I said, pulling myself into a sitting position and tiredly rubbing my eyes. "What's up?"

"I thought I'd let you know that Colonel King has just arrived on base," Raegan explained in a concerned manner. "He's en route to the briefing room,"

Hearing this, I glowered at her in shock. "W-Wait, seriously?!"

"Yep,"

"I thought he was supposed to show up here next week?" I asked, as I got out of my single bed and tided up my dark covers.

"Yeah, so did I," The young girl agreed. "But I guess there must have been a change of plans or something?" Cue an innocent shrug. "Who knows?"

"Fair enough," I responded politely. "Thanks for letting me know, by the way. I'll be out in a minute,"

"Sure, of course," Raegan flashed a kind smile, before exiting my room and closing the door behind her.

I'm not going to lie, I was quite proud of my base of operations at the palace. It was a couple of doors away from Rae's and it was one of the aspects I remember having to adjust to after I arrived. The space was decent enough, the walls were a creamy white and the floor was an ash grey. I also had a white desk and dark blue chair, which were accompanied by a shelf of drawers sitting on the left side of my room. A single window stood proudly next to the right side of my bed, which allowed me to get a direct look at the numerous palm trees outside.

Simple and surprisingly, decent hospitality.

Once my covers were tided up, I stripped out of my grey t-shirt and dark bottoms into a dark t-shirt, three-colour desert fatigue pants with two grey kneepads and a pair of tawny brown combat boots. I then slid on a woodland camouflage interceptor PASGT vest, an earpiece in my left ear and a black watch on my right wrist, before grabbing my brown rucksack by one of the straps and leaving to join Raegan out on a mildly noisy base of operations. Hm, glad to hear that everyone else seem to be in good spirits.

"Okay, I'm ready," I greeted after I closed my bedroom door behind me. "You headed for the briefing room?"

"Uh, no," The young girl answered. "I'm hoping to check with Joey, beforehand,"

"Okay," A mischievous smirk began to paint my face. Are you two a... No, that's not any of my business. But still, the scenario sounds sweet. "What have you guys been getting up to?"

"Well, he has been telling me about his family," A shy smile. "He's got a three year-old nephew and they've built quite a lot of Lego sets together,"

I chuckled. "What's the kid's name?"

"Daniel,"

"Cool name," I complimented, earning a small grin. "Is Lego something you're interested in, as well?"

"Course!" Raegan piped up excitedly. "I built them almost 24/7 when I was a kid,"

"That makes two of us," I responded. "I hope I might be able to do that with Andrew some day, too,"

"What about Phoebe?"

"Yeeah, she's not buying that," I shook my head amusedly. "She's more into princess dolls, flowers, you get the idea,"

Hearing this, the girl smiled. "Yep," Her brows then furrowed in thought. "Maybe she might change her mind, when she's older?"

"I doubt it. But uh, yeah - who knows?"

God...! If only my younger self knew what 2020 would bring, regarding those kids. Not that I'm complaining.

It wasn't long before she had decided to take a left and walk into a smaller room, which had a single desk and a chair perched in the centre. Hm, that must be where Joey is. Eh, might as well say Hello. Once I followed her, I was glad to see him and Raegan smiling happily when they noticed one another. Aww, that's sweet. But unfortunately, my content was short-lived for... pretty much one reason, only. Yeah, guess who I found myself making eye contact with?

"James?" Oh, good lord.

"Colonel," I turned right to give him a respectful salute in an attempt to hide my growing anxiety. No, nononono. Rachel, I could reallyuseyouradvicerightnow!

"I'm glad to see a familiar face here," Eric greeted me with a small grin, strolling over to shake my hand. "I trust you're doing well?"

"Yes, sir," I answered politely. "Good flight?"

Hearing this, my acquaintance's brows furrowed. "It could have been better," Oof. He then offered an apologetic smile. "Apologies for arriving early, Lieutenant. Things are moving quickly, as you might have heard by now,"

"I understand," I reassured him, suddenly feeling more at ease. Hm, is it just me or am I worrying for nothing?

Despite remembering what Rachel had told me, he... he didn't seem all that bad. I was barely able to see his brown eyes through the aviator sunglasses he wore and his white henley shirt, denim jeans (which were tightened by a dark belt) and brown boots appeared to be simple enough. He also had a black plate carrier strapped over his chest, but the most surprising thing I noticed was the black necklace with his wedding ring. Why does he still have that? He must know that Rachel doesn't want to take him back anymore, surely.

"On a separate note, how's Rachel doing?" Eric suddenly asked me, with concern visible in his eyes. "Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine," I responded. "And, er, honestly, I don't think we need to worry about her - since she's always telling us that she can take care of herself," I'll be shocked if she ever accepts my help, come to think of it.

My acquaintance chuckled. "That's true," One brief glance towards Raegan and Joey, and... "Ah, listen, I better get going. Catch up, later?"

"Sure,"

"Looking forward to it," The man flashed a friendly smile, before leaving me to it. Unfortunately however, it didn't take long for me to realise that I had subconsciously allowed my anxiety to flare up again. F*ck! Why is this happening now?! Everything's fine! This time, I think it was... I think it was because I suddenly remembered Eric's history with Rachel and... it didn't help that she had developed a reputation to the point where another friend of mine, Jason Kolchek, referred to her as the 'Queen B*tch'.

Well, their reunion should be fun to watch, right? Not.