Agatha slept the clock around, and she awoke to the sound of a helicopter landing. Stretching, she had a blissful moment of vagueness that came after a deep sleep before her conversation with Merrick came flooding back, and she buried her head under her pillow with a groan.

Had she said everything she remembered saying? The likelihood that Merrick would be attracted to her with all the other beautiful women in the hospital was laughable. He was probably laughing at her, not that he ever laughed, but at the very least, he had to be amused.

Although, he hadn't looked amused.

Agatha worried her bottom lip as she rolled over and looked at the bottom of the bunk above her. Merrick had looked like he had wanted to shake her until her teeth rattled. She remembered his dark eyes, and how they had stared into hers, then she remembered being in the bunker with him as his body pressed against hers and the way his hand had cradled her head as he pressed her face against him.

Merrick might not be attracted to her, but she was definitely attracted to him. Agatha groaned again. Her big mouth! "Thanks, Dad!" she said aloud to the empty room as she threw her pillow to the opposite end of the bed in frustration.

It wasn't just her Dad. Both of her parents were movie stars, and she had grown up in both New York and Los Angeles, in communities where crudeness, especially about sex, was the norm. Her parents and grandparents had done their best to try to block the worst of it, but it was next to impossible to do when you spent all of your time with actors and actor's children.

Sometimes Agatha forgot to turn her filter on, and her conversation with Merrick had been one of those times. However, the more she thought about it, the more she thought that it wasn't totally true. She had given him fair warning. He had chosen to ignore her.

This thought made her feel a little bit better, and she swung her legs out of bed as the door to the dormitory opened.

"You'd better hurry up if you want to catch dinner!" Sherry said as she moved to her bunk and grabbed a tin of something.

Agatha's stomach growled at the thought of food, so she stood and started to dress.

"What's going on out there?" Agatha asked as she shoved her feet into her boots.

"Nothing, so far. We're about to watch a movie, and fingers crossed we get through it this time." Sherry turned to face her, giving her the once over. "You don't look any worse for wear."

"I'm fine," Agatha insisted. "Merrick is convinced I hit my head when I fell." She rolled her eyes.

"He's in a foul mood and has been all day. It's probably lack of sleep." Sherry followed Agatha out of the building. "The movie starts in fifteen minutes. It's 'The One That Got Away,' with Mason Stevens. I'll hold a seat for you if you like."

"Nah, I've seen it," Agatha said, letting her off the hook. "Thanks, though."

They parted ways, and Agatha went to grab something to eat before it was too late. It took almost no time at all to finish her meal, and with nothing else to do since she couldn't work, she wandered over to where the movie was showing.

There before her on the big screen was her father, Mason Stevens, looking adoringly at another actress. It was a romantic comedy which was the genre in which her father excelled. The movie had been released about twenty years earlier when Agatha was eight or nine, and she had to admit her father didn't look much different now. He was aging well.

She watched the movie for a few more minutes, listening to her father's voice, but it was making her homesick for the second time that day, so she turned and left the building, finding a few crates outside away from everyone to sit on.

Taking a deep breath, she looked up at the stars, which were more plentiful than what she would see in the big city, and wondered what her family was currently doing and if they were thinking of her.

"Did you hear!" Jenny squeaked as she dropped down on the crate next to her.

"Probably not," Agatha said as she eyed an excited Jenny. She looked as if she was about to come out of her skin.

"Elias Emory and The Addiction are coming here to play for the USO!" Jenny squealed. "I never thought I would ever get the chance to see him perform, and now I will!"

Agatha felt her heart speed up a little. Eli was her Godfather. It would be wonderful if he were really coming and if she was still on base when he arrived.

"When will they be here?" Agatha asked, keeping her voice calm.

"Two weeks from tomorrow!" Jenny squealed, jumping up and moving in the direction of the movie. She had a lot of people to tell. It would be a busy night.

Leaning against the building behind her, Agatha wondered if Eli was coming because of her, or to support the troops, or both. It had been odd that her family had honored her request and kept their distance for the past two years. Generally, they were always in each other's business.

A movement to her side startled her, and she turned to look over her shoulder. 

Merrick emerged from the shadows, watching her warily as he approached, and she couldn't hold back the laugh that escaped.

"I promise, no more embarrassing conversations." Agatha held up her hands in surrender. "I will say in my defense that I did tell you to leave it alone, but I am sorry if I crossed a line or said something I shouldn't have. I was tired and hungry."

Agatha could see Merrick considering his words carefully while he weighed hers. "It wasn't embarrassing, only frustrating." He remained standing and leaned his shoulder on the building next to her, crossing his arms once again. It was as if he didn't know what to do with his hands.

"Frustrating?" Agatha asked with a frown.

"Yes, being your superior, I was unable to respond the way I wanted to." Even his voice sounded tired.

"You mean shake or slap some sense into me," she gave a self-effacing grin, but Merrick remained silent. It was all the confirmation she needed.

"I thought you would be in there with the others watching the movie." Merrick changed the subject, staying put when she thought he would walk away.

"No, I've seen it, and it makes me homesick," Agatha said honestly. "I keep reminding myself that I only have four weeks left, then I get to go home. The closer the date gets, the more things make me homesick." She shrugged.

"What will you do when you get home? How much more time do you have to serve?" he asked as he looked up at the stars. It was unclear if he was surprised by the news that she was going home or not.

"That's it. It will be back to the real world and a real job. My service is up." Agatha had given four years of her life and gone through two tours. She was done.

"You could always reenlist," he suggested.

"Is that what you plan to do? Isn't this your third tour?" Agatha looked up at him.

"Yes," was his one-word reply.

Agatha wasn't sure which question the yes was answering.

"Don't you get homesick? Don't you miss your family?" she asked, looking up at him, noting that his face looked sharper in the encroaching darkness. 

"No." His one-word answer was brief but told her a lot about him. He was alone. The thought made her sad.

Agatha swore that behind his bland façade, he was laughing at her.

"Why are you amused all of a sudden?" she asked, doing her best to rein in her temper.

"What makes you think I am amused?" he asked, growing even more amused. Now Agatha could hear it in his voice, just under the surface. He didn't sound tired anymore. She liked the way his voice sounded when he wasn't barking orders. Then it struck Agatha that this was the first real conversation they had ever had, besides the embarrassing one from earlier, but Agatha had decided to forget about that one.

"What makes you think I'm amused?" Merrick looked at her oddly as he asked the question once more with a touch of impatience at her lack of response.

"Because I can feel it, and your voice has changed to prove it." She watched his lips twitch as if he was doing his best to hold back a smile

"So, what's so funny?" Agatha demanded, standing up and putting her hands on her hips. It took him so little effort to anger her.

Merrick considered her for a moment before he answered. "I can see the wheels in your mind turning. You're thinking up some woe is Merrick story. No family, no home to miss, he's going to reenlist, you're determined to make me a walking sob story, and it amuses me." His lips twitched again.

For a moment, Agatha wondered what he would look like if he smiled and if she would ever get to find out. She almost spoke the thought aloud but then stopped. It would end up in a similar conversation as their earlier one, the one that she had just promised herself to forget, and she would slink away in embarrassment.

"Well, let's be honest. You're not a very happy person, are you?" Agatha demanded.

Merrick tilted his head. "There are things that bring me joy and pleasure in life, but I must admit that there are not many of them in this God-forsaken place," he admitted. "I believe you said something earlier today about taking joy where you could find it, implying you feel the same way."

Agatha couldn't argue that point with him.

"Name one thing that brings you joy?" Agatha begged. She felt the sudden need to know that something made the churlish Merrick happy.

"Sending a soldier home alive when he might have been dead." Merrick stood up straight and stepped towards her.

"That makes us all happy. Name something else that makes you happy."

Merrick shook his head. "Four more weeks, correct?"

His words hurt Agatha. "The thought that I'm leaving in four weeks brings you joy and makes you happy?" She did her best to keep her voice level.

He stepped into her space and looked down at her, studying her face closely. He wasn't touching her, but Agatha felt as if he was.

"In four more weeks, when you are no longer a lesser rank than me. I will get to say exactly what I want to you, and that will make me happy. I don't particularly like having to guard my tongue." Merrick stepped away from her.

No. Don't. Don't pull a Mason Stevens. Keep your mouth shut. The words were just a turn of phrase and an unfortunate one, but still. Agatha felt one of her father's one-liners fighting to surface at his poor choice of words.

Agatha pinched her lips closed in an attempt to control her wayward tongue.

"Cat got your tongue, Stevens?" Merrick asked with a bit of devil in his voice.

Her eyes grew wide. He had done it on purpose. He was taunting her because he knew she couldn't say what she wanted to either. When had he learned so much about her?

Agatha released her breath in a slow hiss. "You said that on purpose. You know I can't pass up that chance of a one-liner, and that I can't say what I want to either."

"We have to take our joy where we can find it, Stevens," he responded with her earlier words.

Then he gave her an honest to goodness smile before he walked away, and it made her breathless.

Agatha decided there and then that he could tease her as much as he wanted as long as he kept smiling. It changed him completely and made something in Agatha's chest tighten in response.

Was it possible to fall in love with a person's smile?