The Soldier Next Door

The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

But when the skeletons of the past make a reappearance, you cannot help but feel that fear that drives you under.

Yes, we can never go back and change the past, but the past is still close to us. The things we have tried to forget and put behind us will always come back to stir again.

Did I foresee this? Not even in my darkest dreams that haunt me at night have I even managed to imagine this one ever coming to the surface again.

Have I left such a path in my wake that it will constantly come back and take me by surprise when I least expect it? I believe that I have lived my life by the good deeds that I have done; how come does the ones that you get wrong to be the ones that will define what happens to you next in your life?

I have honestly thought that some demons would have been put to rest, but I need to remind myself that my life is full of unpredictability, and nothing will be complete if I do not have some new challenge to face every day.

Which then brings us here.

I find myself staring at a ghost, yet that is what it seems to be. So as I close my eyes and squeeze them real tight, slowly I flutter them open again…

“Emma?”

She smiles at me and cocks her head, “Hello, Lieutenant.”

With that, Gibbs steps in front of me, shielding me from a woman that I thought would be dead. Though my question is, “How?”

She only but smirks at me, “Oh, my dear Ethan, I am a woman of many talents.”

From underneath Ana’s breath, there is anger that only starts growing, “Who the fuck are you?”

“The woman that kept your husband’s bed warm while you were whoring yourself around.”

And yes, that Emma should not have said, for next, Ana launches her fist at Emma’s face, snapping her head to the left. Ana then retracts and prepares to smash Emma’s face again, but I call for her, “Boo, please stop!”

“I don’t know what the fuck is going on here, and I actually don’t think I want to know,” Ana growls as she looks between Emma and me.

Only but shaking my head at Emma, that seems to be getting a world of satisfaction, “Why are you here, Emma. You know I can have you arrested?”

She looks at me in disbelief as if I have just asked her something rather stupid, “This is my home, here with you. Why should I not be here?”

“Are you fucking insane?”

“I heard that you are deploying again, and I could not let you slip out of my hands again.” And next, much to Ana’s frustration, “I can’t let you go; I love you.”

Well, that does not go well with Ana that only but steps closer to Emma again, “You will stay the fuck away from my husband. Do you understand me?”

Emma steps even one more step closer to Ana, “You will not tell me what to do. Ethan loves me just as much as I do him, he might not feel it now, but in time he will come to know that.”

“Emma,” Ana’s voice growls with an utmost warning, “I promise you, if you step one foot closer to my husband, then I will fucking kill you. Now, do you understand me?”

“Oh, Ana,” Emma mocks at Ana with a smirk plastered over a face that has recently gone under the knife, “Your husband does not have a choice in this. He is leaving with me here today.”

With that, in the blink of the eye, Emma presents a Glock firmly pointed in my direction.

From behind me, I hear as Gibbs and Ray arm themselves, leaving me standing terrified that Emma will point that gun at Ana.

God, I cannot take another bad thing to happen in our lives again.

But the sad reality that I need to remind myself of is that this is a problem that I have created for myself, and it has come back to haunt me.

Karma is a bitch, and I have just been bitten.

“Emma,” I raise my voice a pitch as I start to warn her, “Emma, drop that gun; you are playing at a dangerous game now. You know you will be taken out.”

She only but bursts out in a godawful chuckle, “I have been here for weeks; none of you fools have even noticed me.”

Then from next to her, I hear Ana, “Well, with that nose job, I would not have recognized you either.”

Then much to my terrifying horror, Emma swings the gun and points it in Ana’s direction.

“Emma, drop the fucking gun,” my voice echoes over the ones of Gibbs and Ray.

In an instant, my world comes crashing in as I watch the lives of my wife and child stand in the face of danger.

Then with a grip on my heart and suffocating lungs, I try to step closer to Emma as I continue, “Drop the fucking gun.”

But Emma is not budging for a moment; my please fall upon death ears that seem to be very determined. I cannot help but fear that she will pull that trigger without any doubt.

So as I creep closer with each scuffle, “I said drop that fucking gun!”

From behind me, I watch as Gibbs and Ray join me next to my side. Only briefly looking in Ray’s direction, he hands me my very own weapon.

Checking the clip and the safety, I am confidently armed…

Question is…

Will I drop a woman?

Well, she is threatening my family, and by any fucking oath I have sworn, that is more important.

So with nothing other than a trembling rumble that comes from a dry throat, I shuffle another foot forward and lift my arm pointed in front of me, with only, “Drop the fucking gun, Emma. I will shoot you.”

She only but continues to intimidate Ana as she tackles, “You would never shoot a woman.”

“Don’t be so sure of yourself,” I warn her, “You are fast changing that possibility.”

“Ethan,” her voice drops to a tone lower as I can hear her stutter in her words, “You know that you feel something for me. She has never cared about you the way I do; look what she has done to you.”

“Emma, what happened between us was a mistake…”

And god, I should not have said that, for next, she explodes out in anger, “You don’t mean that. All those times…”

With those very words that are threatening to be discovered, I watch as Ana’s eyes grow wild.

“Emma, I am not asking you again to drop that gun.”

But there is no sign that she is going to back down and let Ana walk away from this unharmed. The fear cripples every movement that I am trying to make to get Ana to safety. It is not only my immediate concern, but it has Ray and Gibbs on the edge as well. There has now drawn a crowd of Marines that has heard the commotion.

Needless to say, within seconds, the Pendleton Police are surrounding us. Now, if I thought one of the Officers could talk her down, then I am mistaken.

She is a fucking Raider.

They are tough as shit…

And near damn indestructible…

But she has one thing against her…

The determination of a father and husband…

It is that determination that has me right up her back. In as little as the wink of a breath, I point the tip of my barrel against the back of her head.

I hear her gasp as she feels the cold steel and the warmth of my breath on her neck as I softly growl, “This is the last time I repeat myself. Drop the fucking gun.”

But she does not move an inch and only but whispers, “I knew I would have you close to me one day again.”

I cannot help but burst out in a fit of laughter, “If this is your idea of being close, then fuck, you really need help.”

And I should not have said this, for she lifts her Glock that fraction higher to meet the center of Ana’s temple.

“Now back off or the whore days.” Then she pauses for a brief moment, “You have two choices. You come with me, or your whore dies.”

There is a snap in my restraint as I look over her shoulder into the eyes of Ana. There is fear riddled in every corner. Her mouth does not need to tell me, but her body begs to be saved.

With that, a small piece in me dies, and I know that I have come to a point where I will make some hard decisions in my life.

What I do next will not define just my future but those of three others.

Ana…

My child…

And Emma…

I don’t give a fuck what happens to me. There are only two coming out of this alive.

So with that determination to uphold my vows to my wife, I push the tip of the barrel even firmer, watching as it disappeared between her chocolate brown hair.

She inhales deeply…

Then she whispers under her breath, but I cannot hear a word she says. Only by the look on Ana’s face do I know that it is not something that is better left unsaid.

With one last hope in me, I call her name that I wish that I had never spoken at all from the very first moment I laid my eyes upon her. I regret ever taking that foolish step into her tent that fateful day and even beyond that, I continued to step over what was a very blurred line at the time. There are many things that I would want to take a retake on, and this one is the biggest mistake that I would want to erase.

But there is no turning back, only the time to clean up your mess.

And what a fucking mess I have made.

But it ends here.

Take no prisoners…

Leave no one behind…

And…

Deafening…

Earth-shattering…

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And…

All goes quiet.