Just a few weeks earlier, you couldn't stand that marine with the baseball cap. Your only intention was to prove that you could hold the reins of the camp without him and his self-confident attitude...but then, you must have definitely lost your way, especially after he said those things to you, looking at you differently more and more.

And now, your feelings became clearer in your mind when you saw him taking care of you. And when you pulled him to you to kiss him deeply...

For you, it was more beautiful and intense than the first one, but you were hoping it wouldn't be the last one...and that you could have given him the next one out of there.

You couldn't stop thinking about Jason, but then started walking again through what appeared to be a real ceremonial hall and thanks to that you were able to think of something else.

Definitely, two things caught your attention...a tent and a machine gun; this one had nothing to do with the temple, as if it seemed lost over time...you wondered if it still worked, but you didn't approach to find out as you made your way to the small camp.
Inside, there were things that didn't belong to soldiers, but more to a team of researchers, probably archaeologists.
From what it seemed, no one had got their hands on those things and so you decided to do it yourself.

Maybe, I'll find something interesting here.

First of all, you saw an old photo of a group of people...

"The Hodgson Expedition, October 1946."

On the same work table, you found some papers, possibly belonging to a diary, as it was written with the name of its owner. Randolph Hodgson.

I see, they must have made a really important discovery thanks to this place, but something must have gone wrong...

Anyway, you couldn't know more, as the rest of the diary seemed to have been lost...or hidden, maybe somewhere else; in any case, your fingers ran to the last pages, where there were anatomical sketches and short notes next to them...in particular, you were impressed by the detail of some fangs and wings, similar to those you had seen on the creature.

At this point, there wasn't much to understand, also the team of archaeologists had dealt with those monsters and you wondered what had happened to them, even if you had little doubt about it, but the fact that none of you hadn't found any remains of their body yet, it made you guess they must have gone further.

You remained motionless to reflect a little longer with the sheets under your eyes, before another image suddenly appeared in your mind.

Aaaaaah, Nick saw me kissing his First Lieutenant! And in such a situation! ...can you be more idiot than that Y/n??

Suddenly, you messed up your hair to try to make local mind again, moving hither and thither like a schoolgirl rethinking about her first crush before sinking into deep shame...until you hear a noise, not very far from you, that woke you up.

It came from the other side of a curtain, beyond those work tables and for a moment you feared you were never alone there...

So, you moved it slowly with one hand to find out who or what was and were amazed by the discovery.

《S-Salim!?》  You ran quickly towards him  《Luckily you're okay!!》

Well, not really, he was sitting on a chair in the corner and with his hands tied behind the back, but fortunately you didn't saw any scuff marks on his face...if Corporal Merwin had been around, he would certainly have beaten him to death knowing the sympathy he had for Iraqi soldiers.

Salim seemed pleased to hear your voice again and when he saw your worried eyes, he forced himself to smile a little.

《I'm also happy to see that you are better, Y/n.》  He answered you in a low, weak voice, but seeing clearly that your wounds had been treated; he wondered if it was the marine doing it, the one who, just before, was pointing the rifle at his face.

《I'm really sorry, this is all my fault. I shouldn't have let them do this to you...》  But his thoughts were again distracted by you looking at him with a sad expression.

《You have nothing to do with that, I should have expected that they wouldn't trust me from the start...you'll see that–》  Suddenly, Salim interrupted himself when saw your figure circle around him and then stop right behind the chair.

《W-what are you doing, you can't do this!》  The Iraqi man tried to turn his head as far as possible, but he couldn't see anything, just feel your hands intertwining his to try to untie the knots of the rope.

But when you heard him raise his voice you stopped abruptly.

《...why not? You can't stay like that Salim, what if we get attacked by those monsters and you don't have a chance to defend yourself!?》

There, Salim didn't answer that right away; he appreciated your concern for him, but he couldn't let you do it anyway.

《Americans...they will accuse you if you try to help me. And I can't allow it.》

You stood listening to him with that almost pleading tone. Of course, releasing him was the right thing to do, even if that meant going against your teammates.

And also against Jason...until Salim himself stopped you. You knew he was doing it for your sake rather than his own.

But just at that moment, someone stepped in the tent so suddenly. From there, you would have had to prepare yourself for the paradoxical situation that would have arisen...

• • •

《...what are you doing here, Miss Hale?》

When you saw the colonel a few meters away from you and Salim, you automatically positioned yourself between the two men, because you wanted to prevent him from approaching the Iraqi one.

But Eric didn't really seem to be looking for an answer, as if he had understood perfectly what was going on and his expression frowned further.

《You were trying to free him, weren't you? He's not our ally, in case you haven't noticed yet.》  Eric kept talking with a contemptuous and hostile tone and Salim could only hope the situation didn't get worse.

Until you started talking too.

《With all due respect sir, you may not have understood who we're dealing with at this very moment...we're not alone, extremely dangerous creatures live these ruins so we must find a way to get out of here, before it's too late!》

Your speech sounded too perfect and moving to be true, or that was just a way to justify your big mistake and so the Colonel shook his head in such disapproval.
Sure, he could have expected a logistical error from Lieutenant Kolchek or Sergeant Kay, but certainly not from you and when Eric heard that story come out of your mouth too, he was sure that you all were completely out of your mind.

You opened your eyes in bewilderment at his reaction.

H-how can he be so blind about what's happening around him??

《He's lucky to be still alive and you're a fool to believe he's a good person. That man killed Rachel.》  He said all of a sudden, clearly upset by the sudden loss of his wife.

But the truth was, things had started to go wrong since you and the team had reached to that deserted land to find a fucking weapons silo that wasn't there!

《I don't know what happened to her, but I know for sure it wasn't Salim...and he could have killed me, but he didn't, saving my life instead!》  You had enough of the blond's accusations and you didn't know what else to say or do to get him to believe you...you prayed for Jason and Nick to come back soon in that exact moment.

Anyway, King wasn't done arguing yet and took another step towards you.

《Whatever you're doing, this could play your promotion, Miss Hale, and I'm sure also your father wouldn't be so proud of your behavior, if he were still alive.》

When he mentioned your father for no apparent reason, you held back to not punch him in the face.

《...sorry, but my father has nothing to do with any of this...》  You unintentionally raised your voice, as you sweated from your clenched fists.  《So please, don't speak as if you have known him–》

《I personally met Lieutenant colonel Jonathan Hale when I was still in the Military Academy...I was very saddened when I learned of his disappearance, as I had great respect for that man.》  Eric seemed to calm down, but it was evident the way he praised your father in front of you was to make you feel lower than you already were.

And you really regretted the fact that Rachel wasn't in his place now...

Meanwhile, Salim was listening to you and Eric and realized how much you were trembling, as if you could hardly control yourself; he really wanted to help you, but it would certainly make things worse if he got in the way and decided to remain silent.

But you were right, he had never met Rachel, nor he had tried to attack any of them, that was definitely something Dar would do, he thought sighing heavily...apparently, you weren't the only one dealing on this.

Before a fight could break out between you and the colonel, some footsteps from outside caught your attention, until the sergeant and the first lieutenant appeared at the entrance.

《Sir, you absolutely must see this...》

But Eric couldn't argue with Kolchek's sentence, because he was incredulous at the thing that the two Marines had abruptly placed on the table, after they had dragged it all the way...of course, both you and Salim immediately recognized the creature you had encountered and killed earlier.

《W-what the hell is this...》  Eric looked at you once more before returning to stare at the monster's corpse, obviously uncomfortable and still looking for confirmation.

《A pain in the ass, that's what it is.》  Jason said frankly  《Since we've been down here these bastards have been giving us no respite and doubt there aren't any others out here.》

《Did you two kill it?》  Eric asked as rationally as he could, referring to the two soldiers.

《No, it was the two of them who did this.》  Nick added, pointing at you and Salim and Eric was silent for a moment that seemed endless.

But the colonel made no apologies for what he had told you just before.

Jason sensed that something had happened there as you had been silent the whole time.

《This...this is an incredible discovery, it must be some rare underground species!》  Suddenly, Eric paced back and forth as he tried to get things together.  《I think an autopsy of the body must be performed in order to find out more about its physical composition...》

Well, Jason and Nick looked at each other for a moment, they didn't seem very excited to stay there while Eric dissect the creature in front of their eyes...

But before they could leave to do their work around the temple, Jason stood staring at the only girl across the room, waiting for any answers by her. Of course, he would have preferred a thousand times if you were with him, and not with the colonel.

《You're staying here or coming?》  He asked taking a few steps towards you, without hiding a clear invitation to join him and you finally looked up.

You couldn't answer anyway, as Eric was quicker than you at doing it.

《About that, keep an eye on Miss Hale, Lieutenant...she tried to free the prisoner just now.》

Jason looked first at him and then at you with a confused expression hoping he was joking, but when you threw a contemptuous look at the blond one, he understood you did it. And this caused a strong discomfort, and annoyance, inside him.

《Got it, sir.》  Jason just nodded taking that as a normal order and his reaction threw you off completely.

You stood looking at him like an idiot and without saying a word, not believing what you had just seen...how could he agree with the colonel, doubting you so easily??
Nick also seemed surprised by his friend's sudden change, but he just followed him for now, as that situation had already become unbearable for everyone, thanks to the King.

You didn't deign another look at Eric, on the contrary you turned to Salim, who had lowered his head, as if he had avoided you voluntarily to look at you, so as not to get further into trouble...

Of course, Jason had noticed that and his mood got even worse.

You followed him anyway, but you couldn't stay without saying anything and when the two of you were far enough from the small camp, you positioned yourself in front of him to stop his steps.

《Can you explain what's your problem?》  You crossed the arms in front of your chest, waiting for a reasonable response.

But the cap boy was far from being calm and his hands began to sweat on the rifle, without stopping to look at you with narrow eyes.

《I should be the one to say that, what the hell is wrong with you, are you really freeing that fucking soldier?》  There, Jason raised his low voice forcing you to step back.  《Really Y/n, I don't understand why you insist on helping him...》

《And you realize what situation we are in or you think you're still up there making war? Please stop being an asshole Jason!》  You answered in equal tones, but that irritated the other more, not expecting you to call him in that way.

《Just stay away from him. Don't need to think of a guy like him anyway.》  There, Jason leaned towards your ear to say that, but it sounded more like a warning than a request.

《Yeah, but I should think of someone like you instead...do you realize what are you saying?》  You raised your eyebrows, totally upset and disappointed with him and when he heard that, he couldn't hold back a loud chuckle.

《Oh I know exactly what I'm fucking saying, and it seemed to me that you were looking for something from me too not long ago, sweetheart!》  A mischievous grin had appeared on Jason's face, now unable to restrain himself and that left you speechless.

But it faded instantly on hearing your slow reply.

《...and now I know I've made a big mistake to do that.》  Then, you turned your back to join Nick, who had been waiting for you two in the meantime.

Jason didn't try to stop you but just stared at your little figure as you left him there, after you had totally rejected him.

Well, if the things were going in this way, it means they weren't working from the start, that was what he was thinking as he nervously rubbed the visor of his cap...

But he felt he had everything wrong, anyway.

Jason Kolchek tried to forget that painful feeling inside him by concentrating just on his mission, making a big effort to assume his usual and composed attitude.

《Let's go Sergeant.》

He said without stopping walking and Nick spied on him confused, there was definitely something wrong, he thought uncomfortably as he saw you apart from each other.

And you tried so hard not to let yourself be seen or heard sobbing.

...you're a fucking fool, Jason.