Bright rays of sunshine shone through my window, letting me know that it was morning. 'Time for me to get up.' I mumbled to myself, sighing heavily as threw my AOT comforter off of me. I slowly slid out of bed, still sore from my intense workout that I did yesterday. I had decided to try it out on myself before giving it to my soldiers to do, and it came to bite me in the butt. Eventually, my feet touched the cold wooden floor, earning a violent shiver from my body. I stayed there, practically dazed as I sat on the edge of my bed, contemplating on whether or not I should get up. Then it hit me, I had to get up.

The contractual KorTac soldiers would be arriving today, and the Captain, Ms. Laswell, had assigned me new soldiers to add to my current team. I still had to get everything in place for them, and not luckily for me, I had left the list Laswell had given me, which contained the briefs for the soldiers that were being added to my team, right on my desk. In my haste of rushing to get home, I had practically dropped what I was doing, in return for some shut eye. I turned to glance at my alarm clock, it was 7:05 AM. I nearly shat myself, as the new soldiers were supposed to arrive at 9:00 AM sharp. I didn't even have enough time to change out of my old clothes (I went to sleep in my uniform).

I immediately darted out of bed, and half-limped over to my bathroom, spritzing on some perfume, and hastily brushing my teeth. I combed out my short hair, deciding to try, and style comb coils in it. It ended up not working out as my hair refused to cooperate. Frustrated, I gave up, and stumbled out of my bathroom, checking the time once more, 7:23 AM. Eventually, after a nice struggle, I made my way into Headquarters a whole hour late. I despised being late, especially without a good reason to be. So when I entered the building's doors at 8:15 AM, everyone's head turned in surprise. In both the office, and in the field, it didn't matter. I was an expert in both, and I was never, ever late to anything.

Aside from always being punctual, and stone faced most of the time, I never took kindly to foolishness, and I always made sure to steer clear of drama. That, as well as other things has let me lead my team to countless victories, with few to 0 casualties. I was the stuff that most people on this damn base hated. "The wicked witch who never had any fun" is what they called me. So as to say, the shocked looks on the other office workers faces was expected. As I got in the elevator, and made my way up to my office. I would occasionally mouth a 'Good morning' to passerby's.

When I got there, I unlocked the door, and swung it open, letting myself in, before closing it back with my foot. I made my way over to my desk, and sat down, picking up the list that I had abandoned there the night before. I read through it, memorizing as many names as I could. I scimmed over each solider's brief, and took heed to studying each one's strengths, and weaknesses. When I finished, I reclined back into my chair, and let out a pleased hum. I seemed to have a good selection on my hands, which made the tenseness in my shoulders ease just a tad bit. There had been several times where 141 had- had new contractual recruits, and I was given the worst of the worst to deal with. Sometimes, I wasn't even given any to add to my team at all. 'Guess this time I got lucky.' I thought to myself.

As I finished looking through the other thick stacks of paperwork that cluttered my desk, I noticed the time, 8:45 AM. I sighed and pushed myself up from my chair, my palms holding me steady as I stood up. 'Guess I should head down there; I don't want to take a chance, and end up late, again.' I thought to myself, before grabbing my phone, and a pair of headphones that were just laying around. I made my way back around my desk, and I trudged over to my door. Letting myself out, I paused to lock it behind me, before continuing down the hall to the elevator, and taking it down to the lobby.

  Upon exiting the elevator, I wasn't met with pure loudness, as the lobby was quiet for the most part. It wasn't crowded either. Aside from a few of the other lieutenants who had decided to get there early as well, the lobby was quite empty. Amidst the small group of people, I instantly recognized 2 people. It was Simon, and his little sidekick Soap. 'Well, isn't that just great'. I thought to myself, rolling my eyes as I silently made my way past them, and muttered an near silent 'Morning' in their direction. As I looked around for a seat, I spotted a love chair in the back of the room, and made my way over to it. I plopped down on it, put my headphones in, and slowly dozed off.

-

9 AM came fast, and I was jolted awake by someone. My eyes shot open, and my body went stiff, but instantly relaxed once I saw who it was. Gaz had sat himself beside me, and was grinning ear to ear. His eyes had a low gloss over them as he got his thoughts in order. "You were definitely drooling, and I got it on camera." He joked. I shot him a glare, and slowly wiped away the slob trail I had running down my chin.

   Over the years, me and Gaz had grown close. Mainly, because he was one of the first sergeants that respected me, and my authority. When I was first promoted to a lieutenant, no one really bothered to take my orders seriously, but he, along with a few others did. For that, I always have those people near my heart. After all, they helped shape me into the person who I am today. Blinking multiple times, I tried my hardest to wake myself up.

I heard Gaz release a sigh, "The Kortac guys are almost here by the way. The other lieutenants have moved up to the airlift to meet them." He said, and I hummed, wiping my eyes. 'That explains why the lobby seemed so quiet. Those idiots didn't even bother to wake me up.' I scoffed to myself. "What time is it?" I suddenly asked the man, my voice sounding hoarse from that brutally short nap I just had. "8:51 AM. Don't worry LT, you'll be on time." He said, showing that signature, cheeky grin of his. I gave him a small smile before pushing myself up, and off the chair. Gaz did the same.

   We made our way to the elevator, dreadfully waiting for it to arrive. When it did finally come, we boarded it, and made our way up towards airlift.

While we stood apart from each other, Gaz started to make small talk. "Do you think they'll be like straight snobs?" He asked me, and I thought for a long moment, before answering. "No. Well, I mean, they shouldn't be. They are highly trained individuals. I, at least, expect them to be professional." I said, raising my shoulders in a slow motion shrug. Gaz nodded his head slowly in response, and I let my gaze return to the floor. The rest of the ride was silent, aside from Gaz's occasional humming.

   When we arrived, the elevator made a loud 'ding' before it's doors opened. I heaved a heavy sigh before stepping out, with Gaz following behind me. All the other lieutenants stood on the tarmac in a group. I, however, found an empty spot in the shade, and quietly leaned against the wall. Gaz looked around for a bit, before catching my attention, and waving goodbye to me. He jogged back to elevator, and caught it right before it's doors closed.

'Why did he even come up here?' I asked myself, for I could never tell just what was going through that boy's head sometimes...

-

The sound of a chopper, and its blades ruptured through the still, and heavy morning air. Everyone made way for it to land, and when it did, it met the tarmac with a loud 'thunk.' Almost immediately, all of it's doors swung open, and the Captain of Kortac, along with his soldiers, all started to come out. One by one, each member hopped down from the chopper slinging a heavy bag over their shoulders, and making their way across the tarmac to stand near their captain. Some of which took in the scenery around them, while others didn't really bother.

As the last soldier popped their head out from behind the chopper's door, it became very apparent that everyone was squished the entire ride here. The soldier didn't even have to jump down like the others to exit the aircraft. He simply extended his legs, and his feet automatically touched the ground. Once he stood to his full height, it was quite clear who this 'human battering ram' was. I had seen that nickname in the thick stack of paperwork that I'd speed-ran this morning. I adjusted my body to watch his movements, occasionally craning my neck to try, and look over the large group that was in front of me. It seemed like I wasn't the only one who had taken an interest to him.

The other lieutenants seemed to perk up, and observe him as well. I stood with my legs slightly ajar, and my arms folded in front of me. Ends of my blackish-brown hair sticking to my neck, and curling because of the humidity. "Welp definitely not going to get that one on my team." I mumbled under my breath, shifting my weight to one of my legs, and causing me to bump into something. I kept my gaze forward, ignoring whoever or whatever it was that I hit. I hadn't even realized ghost had snuck up on me, until he said something. "I'll gladly go for him as well, he seems skilled. I'd have to test him first. Something you should do. Judging a book by its cover isn't a good habit to have in this field of work, Belle." He said from behind me. Heaving an annoyed sigh, I closed my eyes, and took in a deep breath. 'Here he goes again with his bs.' I thought to myself, not even bothering to look at the man.

Almost as if on que, I suddenly began remembeing all those times when he made my life literal hell. When he found out that I made it to the rank of a lieutenant in a shorter time than he did, he became hellbent on believing that I got with the higher ups in order to obtain my rank. In this short moment of time, I was remembering all of those times I went back to my dorm crying almost every day because of him. I felt fresh tears begin to well up in the backs of my eyes, and I forced myself to stop thinking about it all. "Fuck." I muttered under my breath, before clearing my throat. "Well hello to you, too, Lieutenant Riley." I said, still not bothering to face him.

To say I hated him was one thing, I absolutely loathed this man.

(1855 worddssssss hehe)                                                                                                                            

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// I don't think Belle really likes Simon.... //