Bitter Pill to Swallow

Chapter 6

"Sobel was totally convinced it was Major Horton, funniest shit I ever seen in my life."

Welsh threw his head back and laughed loudly, and Valerie laughed along with him. She'd searched for him the minute they got back from the field exercise because she knew he'd get a kick out of Sobel making a fool of himself.

"Luz really is something else," chuckled Welsh, shaking his head. "He's damn lucky he didn't get caught. They'd have his head for pulling a stunt like that."

"Yeah," Valerie snorted, "better hope nobody rats him out." She pulled out her pack of Lucky Strikes and was about to light one up when she saw Dick approaching them, making her groan in annoyance.

Welsh looked up in confusion, shaking his head and smirking when he realised why her mood suddenly dropped. "I really don't get why he bothers you so much," he chuckled. "I think Dick's the nicest guy I've ever met."

Valerie sighed and scuffed her feet against the loose gravel. She'd been putting some thought into the whole situation since the incident on the boat, and though she didn't want to admit it, she knew she'd been a bit hard on him. The more she'd seen him interact with his troops and have their back with Sobel, the more her dislike of him had started to dim. Of course she didn't tell him any of this, because she just couldn't bring herself to admit that she might have been a little bit wrong about him.

"Hey, Harry... Lieutenant Landry," Dick greeted, glancing at her hesitantly. She cleared her throat and lit her cigarette, inhaling deeply before replying to him.

"Afternoon, Lieutenant Winters," she said evenly, looking at a point somewhere over his shoulder. Welsh glanced between them, barely suppressing an amused grin.

"Have you two heard about Sobel?" He asked. "Turns out that the wire fence he cut was keeping in cattle. Strayer was giving him the what for the last I saw."

Welsh barked out a laugh, and even Valerie smirked in delight at the thought of Sobel getting a telling off.

"So, you heard about Sobel too, then," laughed Nixon as he approached them, leaning his elbow on Valerie's shoulder and grinning at them.

"Sure did," she laughed, "and the best part is I was there to witness the whole amusing event this morning." Nixon chuckled and clapped her on the shoulder. She glanced at Dick and found him with his eyebrows furrowed, lost in concentration.

"I s'pose you're gonna give me the what for since I didn't stop Luz from pulling the stunt in the first place," she commented, taking another drag of her cigarette. "Since you do love to point out how un-officer like I am."

Dick bristled slightly, looking as though he was indeed getting ready to lecture her. Nixon and Welsh glanced between the two of them, rolling their eyes and shaking their heads.

"Well..." he started, and Valerie looked away from him, waiting for the blow. "Actually, I wasn't going to say anything. I was going to say it'll finally show the brass what an incompetent officer he is out in the field."

Valerie's hand paused midair as she was bringing her cigarette to her lips. "Oh," she said, eyebrows raised in surprise. "Well then... you're not wrong there I suppose."

There was an awkward beat where they stared at each other, neither of them sure what to say next. She shuffled on her feet slightly, horribly uncomfortable with the awkward tension in the air.

"Well," said Welsh, clapping his hands together and cutting through the tension, "who wants to get lunch?"

~~~~~~

"Valerie, come on in."

She walked into Nixon's office and looked around. Somehow it was both tidy and messy at the same time, like some kind of organised chaos.