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When Jake told Darcy that he was finally getting some leave and would be coming home and bringing Cougar along, she asked that he bring the rest of his unit as well. It would be an interesting meeting that was for sure, and she really wanted to meet the people that he spoke so highly of when he had time to call her. So she packed a weekend bag and headed over to Hannah’s to stay with them and meet the Losers as they had dubbed themselves.
Plus she liked Cougar, he was an interesting person, and she hoped that he would be a good friend for Jake. Especially since she knew how talkative he could get, it was one of the many bad habits that he picked up of hers that made her wonder why he chose that one. However, it had helped in a few situations he had been in, that he isn’t allowed to tell her about but he did anyway.
Then again maybe it was because Cougar could have a whole conversation with barely a vocally spoken word that made him an interesting person. She would think on it later, when she wasn’t speeding down the highway. She hoped the other members of his unit were as interesting, because if they weren’t then this weekend was going to go very slowly and awkwardly.
When she pulled into Hanna’s driveway she noticed that only Hannah’s car was there and shook her head. It figured Jake would be late for his own leave and so grabbed her bags, locked her car and walked into the house calling out as she did so.
“Hannah, baby I’m home!” Darcy said with a laugh and waited for the thundering footsteps of her favorite people.
“Auntie Darcy!” Screamed the eight year old right before she tackled the older woman in a bear hug, “whatcha doin’ here?”
“I came to visit, plus Jake should be here soon. He told me he had some down time and was bringing his unit. I wanted to meet them, and see if they were as nice as Cougar.” Darcy said as she set the hyperactive eight year old down and received a hug from Hannah.
“It’s good to see you Darce, Jake got stuck in traffic so he’ll be here in a bit, and Pooch is bringing his wife,” Hannah said as she pulled away from the hug and gave the younger woman a smile. “We miss you, honestly, you should come visit more often you know we have the space.”
“I know, and I will try, I have a full schedule though so it’s hard to get away. Though I guess it was a good thing I turned in my assignments early this week, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to leave the library.” Darcy said with a wry smile.
“Well put your bag in Jake’s room and meet us in the kitchen we’re making food for when the boys get here, and we could use some of your creativity. Then again, last time you were in my kitchen you almost set fire to the house so I’m not sure if I should invite you into the kitchen.” Hannah’s voice was stern, but the glint in her eye said she was laughing.
“That wasn’t my fault! I said I was sorry and I paid for a new toaster, why do you always have to bring up the pop-tart incident. If the filling hadn’t of melted out of it then all would have been fine,” Darcy pouted, but walked down the hall to deposit her bags in Jake’s room.
-.-.-.-.-
“Jensen, why the hell do I have to go with you to your sister’s house?” Roque growled from the backseat, he was not happy that he got dragged along for this trip. He’d had plans that involved a somewhat nice hotel, a few bars and maybe a woman. Not a trip to visit the family of someone in his unit.
“You have to come because Darcy asked, and she can do worse things to you than I can. She’s scary for a five foot two woman. Pooch is bringing Jolene and we’re having a barbeque tomorrow, think of it as unit bonding for better cohesion in the field.” Jensen stated as he drove.
“Then where is Clay?”
“Ah well, I couldn’t find him after the mission, and he never came back to the house so I didn’t get to ask him. I would have waited, but we’re already behind schedule to get there, and more than likely Darcy is already there. The traffic excuse will only hold for so long before I get read the patriot act.” Jake said as he cringed a bit, he remembered the last time he was late in arriving home and by that time Darcy had been livid.
Cougar chuckled, he liked Darcy, and she was an amusingly scary woman, who had some very creative threats. “Better drive faster then.”
An hour later they were parked behind Darcy’s car, grabbing their bags and walking up to a modest sized house. Jake opened the door and listened to the women laughing and talking in the kitchen. “Cougs you know where your room is, Roque I’ll show you to yours, and then we’re going into the kitchen. Take off your shoes here, otherwise Hannah will murder us in our sleep.” Jake said as he toed off his shoes.
A few minutes later, Jake led Roque into the kitchen and watched as Darcy hugged Cougar, before releasing him and making a beeline straight for him. “Hey lunk head how was your trip?”
“Good, good. Darce, this is Roque he’s the executive officer of our unit. Pooch will be here later with Jolene and Clay” Jake paused for a second, “Clay disappeared before I could drag him along for the ride.”
“Roque, nice to meet you. Are you taking good care of Jake?” Darcy asked with her head tilted slightly to the side as though she were studying all ways she could potentially murder him.
“If he’d shut up for more than five minutes he’d be able to stay out of trouble on his own. Also, why the fuck did you want his unit here?” Roque growled out, something about this woman made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
“If he was quiet then he wouldn’t be Jake, then again that is a habit he picked up from me. Don’t curse in this house; it is the only warning you will receive because if Addi learns it then it’s your head I will come after you. I asked because I want to meet the men who watch Jake’s back,” Darcy said, her arms crossed as she leaned on one leg, her hip canted slightly.
“I’ll fucking-“ Roque cut off as the taser prongs hit him square in the chest and he fell to the ground twitching.
“I told you not to curse, it was the only warning you would get, and continuing to do so after one has been warned is not a very good idea. You are getting off easy this time, and keeping your bank accounts intact, failure to comply with that rule and you will be broke. Keep it up, macho man and see that I won’t hack into all your bank accounts and move all your money.” Darcy explained as she pulled out the prongs from the downed mans chest and stepped over him to return to cooking.
Jake cackled like a hyena as he watched Roque continue to twitch on the ground and Cougar had a small smile on his face. “I told you she could be scary, don’t push her Roque the taser is the least of her arsenal but her favorite. Especially if you curse around Addi, she’ll use it liberally with a smile on her face while cleaning you out of your money.”
“Auntie D, why is there a man twitching on the ground?” Addi asked as she stepped into the kitchen and stared at the man on the floor before looking around. “Uncle Jake! Cougar!” Addi squealed before launching herself at Cougar and then Jake with a bit smile.
“Honey, he’s twitching on the ground because he said some naughty words that shouldn’t be said around sweet little girls. He didn’t listen when warned, and so this was his punishment.” Darcy said as she looked over her shoulder at the small girl happily ensconced in her uncle’s arms.
“Ah,” Addi acknowledged before looking at the man on the floor, “You should really listen to Auntie Darcy; she’s very scary when she wants to be, but she can also be the nicest person ever.”
“Thank you sweet pea, why don’t you take Cougar and Jake and show them your pretty drawings, I’m sure that they would love to see them.” Darcy said, “I need to have a small chat with the man twitching on the floor.”
“Uh oh, some bodies in trouble!” Addi sang as she wiggled out of her uncle’s arms, grabbed both Jake and Cougar’s had and dragged them to her room talking a mile a minute.
The talk was going better than expected, although the threats that Darcy levied onto Roque were enough to make the dark man pale significantly. Which was saying something, because he was a special ops soldier and this was a five foot two tall woman with no known military training about half way through the door bell rang and Hannah said she would answer it giggling the whole way. She had always found it funny to watch Darcy threaten people; the woman sure did have some interesting ways to use a taser, brass knuckles and steel toed boots.
Hannah was still giggling as she answered the door and found a beautiful woman holding hands with a nice looking man, who had a warm smile on his face, “You must be Pooch and Jolene, please come in get comfortable. I hope you don’t mind, but I would appreciate it if you took your shoes off at the door and I’ll show you to the room you can stay in while you’re here. I’d introduce you to Darcy but she’s giving a very well thought out threatening speech to your XO in the kitchen.”
Pooch and Jolene exchanged a glance before shrugging slightly, and stepping into the house to toe off their shoes and follow their host for the weekend. “Pooch will probably receive a speech as well though it might be less menacing so long as he follows the two rules Darcy has, one: don’t curse in the house, two: watch out for Jake when she can’t and he won’t. Follow those and well she’ll take care of you as much as possible.” Hannah explained as she led them to the last available room, which should have been Cougar’s but he insisted that Pooch and Jolene could use it.
“Those are easy enough to follow, at least the first one is, and the second one is theoretically easy though literally somewhat impossible. Jake gets into a lot of things, and sometimes it is hard to keep up with him.” Pooch said as he set his and Jolene’s bags down on the bed.
“Oh, we know but Darcy is over protective of Jake and she just wants for you to do the best that you can, she doesn’t expect you to actually be able to watch over him all the time, that’s why Cougar does what he can, and she’ll probably get Roque in on it to, along with yourself. Don’t worry it won’t just be you alone. Anyway, would you like to get settled now, or meet Darcy? I have to get back to the kitchen to make sure she doesn’t accidentally burn it down.”
“I heard that, and stop bringing up the pop-tart incident!” A woman’s voice bellowed from another part of the house, followed by Jensen cackling from upstairs.
Hannah muttered something to herself about bat like hearing and crazy woman before turning around and stalking out of the door, then pausing, “the kitchen is down the hall to the left, if you want to see Jake he’s upstairs second door on the right, with Addi and Cougar.” She stated before resuming her walk toward the kitchen.
“Ow! Why did you hit me with a wooden spoon?” an indignant squawk was heard, and then more cackling from Jensen. “Keep laughing Jake, and see what I do!” came the threat before the laughter abruptly cut off.
Pooch just shook his head in amusement and Jolene giggled, “I haven’t even met her yet and I like her, come on let’s go meet Jake’s girlfriend.”
They made their way toward the kitchen and could hear talking in low voices two of which were distinctly feminine. When they rounded the door and looked in Pooch let out a low whistle at how pale Roque looked, before turning to face the two women who were chatting amiably over something on the stove. “You can have a seat at the breakfast bar,” the shorter of the two women said, without even turning around and continued to stir the contents in the pot.
“Thank you,” Jolene said and made her way to an empty stool before turning to look at Roque. “You know Roque, you don’t look so good.” She said with a straight face, although her lips twitched as though wanting to curve into a smile.
Roque glared at her before looking down at the breakfast bar and grumbling. A small click from the stove sounded before Darcy turned around and glared at the top of Roque’s head for a second before turning to both Jolene and Pooch, “Hi, I’m Darcy it’s nice to meet you!” Darcy all but chirped with a large smile blossoming on her face.
“I’m Pooch, and this lovely woman is my wife Jolene. It’s nice to meet you as well, I’d say I’ve heard a lot of good things about you but Jake doesn’t really talk about you much.” Pooch said as he held out a hand for her to shake. He wasn’t expecting the firm grip he got and was surprised a bit.
“I know he doesn’t,” Darcy stated with a smile, but didn’t explain why, before turning her attention to Jolene, “I heard that you make some amazing cookies, Jake went on and on about them one day, and it’s nice to finally put a face to the lady who can make the best cookies ever” Darcy said with a bright smile.
Jolene blushed a little, “I’m glad he enjoyed them, I can give you some recipes if you’d like.”
“Nah, I can’t bake to save my life, but I can cook alright.” Darcy said and glared at Hannah as she snorted in amusement, “stop thinking about pop-tarts!”
“Well if you hadn’t of set the toaster on fire with one, I wouldn’t have banned you from it,” Hannah explained, chortling.
“It was a defective pop-tart, and the filling oozed out, how was I supposed to know that was going to happen?” Darcy said defensively, and both Pooch and Jolene laughed.
“I like you, I have a feeling we’re going to be great friends,” Jolene said as she laughed.
“I hope so, because it would be awkward if we couldn’t get along especially since our men are in the same unit” Darcy said as she grabbed dishes from a cupboard and started to set the table.
-.-.-.-.-
Dinner was a loud and raucous affair, with Jensen and Pooch telling edited stories about their missions and some of the units that they had been attached to. Jake told the guys of how he met Darcy, and Darcy told them of how she taught him everything she could about hacking and her habit of talking that Jake had picked up. By the end of the meal they were congregated in the living room, Addi watching television from her position on Jake’s lap and Darcy sprawled on the couch leaning on Jake with her legs draped over Cougar’s lap.
“We are going to be really good friends, Jo! I can see it now!” Darcy exclaimed as she cuddled farther into Jake’s side and Jake squeezed her back. He was glad that Darcy got along with Pooch and Jolene, although Roque didn’t seem to like her all that much, then again Roque didn’t seem the type of person to really like anybody.
-.-.-.-
When Darcy found out about Bolivia and the deaths of Jake and his team she cried, before calling Hannah and asking her to go to the hangar where she was to pick up Jake’s things. She had tried to call Jo, but the other woman wasn’t answering so she left a message to call as soon as she wanted. It took Darcy two days to get leave from the school, citing a family emergency and approval to turn in her assignments via e-mail. One of her professors decided that she needed to turn it in before she left, and that was the only reason she hadn’t left earlier.
After submitting her assignment and cursing the teacher out mentally Darcy put her bag in her car and drove to the airport. Once she arrived, she checked her bag into baggage claim, made her way through security and sat at her terminal until seating call, everything was a haze for her, and she knew it would only be a matter of time before she became angry. Someone somewhere had messed up and gotten her boys killed and she was going to find out who, how and why.
The flight was short, and by the time the plane landed, Darcy was pissed off. Apparently the person sitting next to her thought that hitting on her was a good idea, even though she had been crying so she broke his nose. The flight attendant asked what happened, and Darcy explained that her boyfriend died over seas and the jackass next to her was annoying her to the point of violence, the guy sputtered trying to defend himself and Darcy got moved up to first class.
She was still pissed though, the audacity of some people astounded her and made her way to baggage pick up and rented a car. Hannah was already in Washington staying at a hotel, and waiting for Darcy to show up to head to the base. The ride was silent, and depressing, but none of the women could muster up enough emotion to break it.
When they arrived at the hangar it was silent two fold out tables pushed together, and three soldiers standing on the other side at parade rest. Hannah and Darcy each held onto one of Addi’s hands and walked slowly toward them, the closest one coming to attention in front of him a folded flag lay on the table with a pair of dog tags resting on top of it. When they stopped in front of him, he picked up the flag and held it out never once looking at the two grieving women and child.