So this is a little rough, and I wasn't entirely sure how to bring it along to full-chapter-size, but my brain had already moved on to the next part and I've been getting bogged down. I wanted to push ahead, but apologies for the condition of it.

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Rebecca only spent a few seconds pouting, but it was all Ronnie needed to get a little endearing entertainment out of it. It wasn't so bad for the kid though, as Sam smiled at her affectionately again right after the teasing and squeezed her arm apologetically. If they hadn't been through so much shit, Ronnie might have actually found them painful. Assuming she wasn't refusing to give them the satisfaction, that is.

While Rebecca was recovering from their gentle ribbing, Sam started to describe an email from the lady they made friends with at that fucking modern day slave plantation. Ronnie figured it was nice to know firsthand that the people settling in at the new neighborhood were content, but her face darkened and she sighed when Sam mentioned a request for her to go inspect their fledgling electrical work. They both seemed to catch on to her irritation, but Rebecca spoke moments before Sam did.

"What's wrong?"

"They really shouldn't mention something along those lines, hinting at facility status and asset movement, in a message like that. Yeah, we're using narrow beam microwave links between camps, but it's still sloppy. Landry especially should know better."

Sam's face started to fall in realization. "But he's got SSL encryption turned on for the mail connections, I could tell from the port number we had to use to connect."

Ronnie shook her head. "We shouldn't assume that'd hold up against near-state-level actors or rogue ex-government elements."

The redhead's lips pressed thin as the possibilities iterated through her head. "Yeah, with all the toys Black Tusk had... even if they've fucked off, maybe some of the small time local troublemakers scooped up leftovers just like us."

Rebecca's hand threaded under hers supportively. "And I guess there's always unknowns, huh." Sam nodded quietly while Rebecca continued. "Sorry, Ronnie. I was the one writing back and forth with Dylan, maybe I should have reminded her more."

Ronnie sighed again. "It's probably alright, the fact they're building a solar array would be pretty easy to figure out just from simple observation. But for goodness' sake don't make travel plans with her that way, we'll work those out through hardened channels. And, clearly folks need a reminder about OPSEC."

Rebecca tousled Rufus' ears when he came over, seemingly detecting the sudden shift in her mood. "Yeah. I think everyone means well, but maybe they need less of a reminder, and more of a lesson of what's actually involved in good comms hygiene. Not everyone's lucky enough to have been under your wing for a year! And, maybe Landry didn't know she was sending that and is gently lecturing her right now."

Sam snorted derisively and both other women looked at her expectantly, waiting to hear what the joke was. "Sorry. Uh, just thinking how that would be some really bizarre pillow talk right there."

That mostly exasperated Rebecca, but Ronnie found the effect pretty amusing, which did her mood some good. "Yeah, okay. I guess you two just make it easy to forget that sometimes." She chuckled, and thumped Rufus' side when he came over to visit. "Anyway, I should get out of your hair, make sure nothing's on fire again, and then get some rack time. You need me to take Rufus out for one last trip for you?"

The gals exchanged a brief look and Rebecca shook her head. "Nah. We went for a couple loops around the courtyard after dinner and being turtled up all day, and we might be awake for a little longer. If so, we'll take him out one last time so he lets us sleep in accordingly."

**

Ronnie grinned to herself as she closed the door behind her, twisting the handle slightly to make sure it locked. The kid might have been anticipating staying up for a while, but from the way Sam pulled the blanket from her lap up to her chin and curled up against Rebecca undermined that theory. If having to figure out which particular flavor of absurdly cute domesticity the girls were headed for was how the day ended, that was pretty good out of the list of potential outcomes she'd envisioned.

Envisioned and prepared for over the preceding weeks and months. Hell, some of them were canned scenarios right out of her embassy protection days, and she went back to spooling out contingencies in her head as she moseyed back down the hall towards the stairs. She'd gotten as far as picking an alternate route for the next approaching convoy and descending the first few steps when she heard movement in the stairwell above.

Her senses perked up at the sound, and she shifted her grip on her rifle to raise it partway. There was no reason to believe the compound was compromised, and the bottoms of the stairwells were still guarded, but she wasn't about to be caught flat-footed.

That didn't turn out to be a problem though; a loud sigh and the uneven shuffle of someone uncomfortably descending the steps ruled out any intention of stealth. The gait pattern of the approaching footsteps and familiar shoes entering view were enough for her to recognize Laura early. Before they could fully see each other, Ronnie lowered her gun to a casual carry and spoke at what she hoped would be a unalarming volume.

"Catching some fresh air before you turn in?"

Rebecca's mother cleared the turn, looking down at Ronnie in surprise, but at least she didn't jump out of her skin. Still, she had an oddly sheepish expression on her face, reminiscent of a kid caught sneaking back into the house.

"Eh, kind of the opposite, really." Laura lifted her far hand into view, holding a lighter and a battered pack of cigarettes. "I couldn't stop thinking about earlier in the day and needed a break, a change of scenery."

The last thing Rebecca needed was to find her mother and then lose her to a carcinogenic habit, but Ronnie tried to keep her face and tone carefully neutral for the time being. "Those are probably pretty hard to find these days."

Something might have slipped through her guarded expression though, given Laura's sigh. "Yeah... I know. I swear it's the first in months, and I think they're going stale or something. It was even worse than the few I allowed myself over the long weeks of waiting and praying." She slowly made her way down to the landing, and even with Ronnie being a few steps down, their eyes were almost even. "Doesn't make much sense that a stimulant would be relaxing, but I guess it was more the ritual."

Ronnie didn't miss that Laura had her MP5 slung across her back and nodded at it. "Well, it's good to find that balance between vigilance and preserving your sanity these days, it's the only way to keep from losing your shit."

Laura scoffed, akin to the same amused huff Rebecca made sometimes. "No kidding." She looked upwards briefly, then back. "And, don't worry. I've seen enough old movies that I wasn't waving a glowing cigarette around in the dark. I stayed inside the top landing, out of sight through the doorway.

She deserved a few points for that. Ronnie had initially assumed Laura wasn't on her own balcony simply out of concern Rebecca would smell the smoke, but, that would have been almost as exposed as the roof. "I appreciate that." Ronnie nodded upwards. "Did it work? Were you able to clear your head enough to catch some shut-eye?"

Laura sighed. "Maybe. I just can't stop thinking about what it's going to be like feeling like I did today one day after another, and how the kids have already been living that for a couple of years." Laura gazed contemplatively in the general direction of the girls' apartment during her brief pause. "They're too young to be staring death in the face like that." She glanced back at Ronnie. "I know a lot of soldiers go — went to war at their age, but it's different. I mean..."

Laura's voice trailed off as she struggled to finish her thought, but Ronnie was well accustomed to folks stumbling over the civilian/soldier gap. "In some ways. But, I get that it's worse when it's your family." She caught herself glancing towards the stairwell door too. "Seems like once we start feeling too old for this shit, everyone else starts registering as too young for it, huh?"

Laura seemed to refocus more intensely on Ronnie's eyes. "Like it's too late for us, so we'll just deal with whatever comes along, but we get all bent out of shape over how it's not fair for them."

"Exactly." Ronnie looked back at her for a moment, long practiced at not being disturbed by extended pauses in conversation, then continued. "For what it's worth... yes, your daughter's had an unfair and tragic number of brushes with death, but she's getting pretty good at punching it in the face."

"Hah. Enough to make a Marine proud?"

"She's still a bit of a softie, but she's toughened up around the edges quite nicely."

"No wonder you call her 'cookie' all the time then." Laura chuckled. "Well. Thanks for giving her the boxing lessons. It's a big help knowing your child's surrounded by the right people."

"One thing you learn fast in the service — when the shit hits the fan, everything becomes about the people next to you — at least the ones who are worth a damn. Sam, her friends... the folks she's bonded with are there because she takes care of them too."

That seemed to touch a chord for Laura, as she just smiled quietly, a hint of pride potentially creeping onto her face. Ronnie took that as her opportunity to exfiltrate from the conversation before it got awkward. Or more so. "Well, goodnight ma'am. Stay safe and sleep well." Can't hurt to be polite. Be interesting to see if she hates that word as much as her kid does.

Laura blinked back to the present. "Oh. Right. You too. Actually, Sergeant?" Ronnie checked the turn she'd started and raised a curious eyebrow, and Laura held out the cigarettes, having transferred the lighter to her other hand. "I don't know if anyone on the garrison would still want these, or if they might make for good bartering. Could you get rid of them for me?"

Ronnie couldn't help half of a grin. "Sure. If all else fails, they make good slow-burn fuses for incendiary IEDs."