Waltzing the War Zone 1 (Patreon)

How does this work for a reintroduction into the universe of Tank and Lev?

Tank was finishing up another set of push-ups, this time with a flat weight on his back when a familiar voice called out, “Olly, olly, all in free. I know you are out here somewhere, Tank.”

Tank collapsed onto the metal bleachers, heat soaking through his sweat stained T-shirt. “Lev?” He sat up and the weight on his back slid to one side and clattered onto the football bleachers.

“Tankersley,” snapped Staff Sergeant Chase. “What do you think you're doing?”

Lev was crossing the green practice field, Aldrich next to him. In the last four years, Lev hadn’t changed much. He never had looked his age, and he didn’t now. However, he did have a smattering of white hairs hiding among the blond that hinted he might have left his twenties behind. He certainly didn’t look like a man with two doctorates who ran the engineering side of the nations most classified military program. And that was the man Tank could reduce to incoherent babbling through the judicious use of his mouth and a couple of flexible fingers. And Lev could do the same to him.

As Lev and the general strode across the green turf, Aldrich had his sunglasses on and his head swiveled from side to side as though searching out potential enemy positions. He might have recently been promoted from the Incursion Force’s base commander to the unit general, but he was still a soldier through and through. It would take more than a promotion to dull decades of training and active duty, especially when several years of that duty was fighting the alien scientists who like to treat Earth like an oversized Petri dish and experiment on humans in either a sadistic gambit to entertain themselves are some strange scientific project that no one had yet been able to explain.

In the end, it didn't even matter which was true. Whether aliens had some legitimate agenda that humans were simply too undeveloped to understand or whether they were just sadistic dicks who liked genetically tampering, the end result was the same. When the aliens screwed with humans, the humans suffered. Tank knew that firsthand. Sadly, the incursion that had defined his adolescence hadn’t even been one of the nastier ones. Sure, they had aliens impersonating demons, complete with magic spells, spider attacks, and he’d lost two friends. However, he hadn’t been locked in gladiator fights on an alien ship or exposed to a deadly disease while he watched the people around him die. Nope. As bad as his childhood had been—and it had been a legitimate horror show—others had been damaged far more.

The staff sergeant’s face was turning an alarming shade of red, and Tank tried to get his brain back into the right space for placating him. “I apologize, staff sergeant. Permission to go speak with Dr. Underwood?” Now that Lev was within sight, Tank was vibrating with a need to wrap his arms around his lover.

“Permission denied.” Chase snapped. Lev and General Aldrich stood by the railing that separated the fencing from the bleachers. This was the practice stadium, so only a metal rail divided the two areas. Aldrich leaned forward, his forearms resting on the top pole as he continued to scan the area, but Lev slid under the pole and stood at the bottom of the bleachers with a huge smile on his face.

“Tank,” he said, his voice little more than a whisper.

Chase practically growled. “I don't know why the Army decided to fuck up a good thing. I miss the days of don't-ask, don't-tell when you people knew to keep your personal lives away from other people's business. Cadet Tankersley, you owes me twenty-six more push-ups, and unless you turn around right now, I'll make 100 more push-ups.”

Chase probably thought that was a threat, but Tank regularly trained with the John Doe, and since John had been raised on one of the alien gladiator ships and had been forced to fight for his survival, he had a skewed definition of training. He liked Tank, and that translated into torturing Tank with training that would make Special Forces envious. And since Tank spent summers with Special Forces, he knew that for a fact. Chase was nothing more than an annoyance.

“Are you threatening Tank for being gay? Lev asked. His voice had a brittle intensity that made the hairs on the back of tank's neck stand up.

“Lev, it's fine.”

“Listen to your little boyfriend, it's fine. Now get lost. You are interrupting a discipline, and Tankersley’s ass is mine until I say it’s not.”

General Aldrich slowly removed his sunglasses. “You know, when Tank told stories about how homophobic you are, I assumed he was exaggerating. I figured you are one of those crusty near-retirement sergeants who just like to give everyone shit. But staff sergeant, that is sounding suspiciously close to unbecoming conduct.”

Chase puffed up. “And who the fuck do you think you are?”

Aldrich’s eyebrows had an up close and personal encounter with his hairline. “Tankersley, would you like to introduce us?”

“Oh, and I really wouldn't. In fact, I would like to be two states over before the potential nuclear fallout strikes.”

General Aldrich pinned Tank with an unamused expression. Even though Aldrich was the closest thing that Tank had to an uncle, that look still had the ability to make his balls crawl back up into his body and apply for positions as internal organs. “Staff Sergeant Chase, this is a General Clyde Aldrich.”

The sergeant's eyes got wide and he looked from Tank to Aldrich and back as though trying to decide if this was some elaborate joke. Aldrich tucked one of the glasses arms into the front of his button up shirt. “Tankersley, would you like to explain to me why you haven't run a complaint up the chain of command? I happen to know that you are capable of complaining when the situation calls for it.” He gave Tank a dry look.

Lev snorted but then held his hands up in surrender when both Tank and Aldrich glared at him.

Tank cleared his throat. “Staff Sergeant Chase has never taken his unhappiness beyond a few choice words.” And excessive punishment exercises, but Tank didn’t mind those and Chase didn’t target the other ROTC cadets. Of course, all of them had the good sense to avoid pissing off the sergeant. Tank had never managed to master keeping his head down—not unless someone was actually shooting at him.

“Yes, but I do I want his bad attitude scaring away the cadets who have so much promise that the Army is investing money to send them to university?” Aldrich asked. “We don't send just anyone to university on an ROTC scholarship, Tankersley. I would prefer to avoid chasing good people away with this attitude of his.” Aldrich shifted his unhappy glare from the sergeant to Tank. “I can't say that I'm happy that you let this happen. He’s a homophobe. What's your excuse?”

A frisson of unhappiness ran along Tank’s spine when he realized Aldrich was genuinely unhappy with him. “Sir, the staff sergeant doesn't like gay people. That is not unique to him or even unique to the Army. I have talked to other cadets about the importance of letting others get to know us before revealing our sexual identities and knowing where to draw the line when homophobia is interfering with the job.”

Aldrich ducked under the metal rail and took three quick steps up onto the seats. His boots clanged against the metal benches, and the sound generated a faint echo as it moved up the bleachers. “Tankersley, it looks like you’re doing pushups with a twenty pound weight plate on your back. That means that homophobia has gone beyond words.”

“John makes me work out harder. I can easily handle any punishment Staff Sergeant Chase has assigned.”

Chase’s neck turned a vivid shade of red and the color crept up into his cheeks.

“And I’m not thrilled with the ways you allow John to beat on you. However, that is in the name of legitimate training because he knows what you’re going to face as soon as you’re officially assigned to the unit. This guy is trying to make your life miserable, and that's not acceptable. I thought we got you over this self-sacrificing shit, Tankersley.”

“You did, sir. What was the psychiatrist you sent me to said.”

“I question that conclusion if you are still letting people treat you this way.”

Tank shrugged. If Staff Sergeant Chase had succeeded in making him miserable, he would have done more than bitch to Lev. Chase’s pissiness hadn’t even gotten bad enough for him to complain to John, so he was no where near territory where he would make an official complaint. “Is there a reason for today's visit?” Tank asked. There was a local incursion, he would be more than happy to go fight aliens. In the years since he had found out about the alien experiments on earth, he had been largely exiled to university. He was busting his ass to finish his bachelor degree early and complete special forces training, so he knew he was making progress towards rejoining the IF, but he just wanted to get back into the fight. Exile sucked.

“Lev, would you like to take Tankersley out for lunch while I have a conversation with Staff Sergeant Chase?”

Lev’s smile was openly sadistic. “That would be my pleasure.”

“Staff Sergeant, let's head back to your office.” Aldrich pulled his sunglasses off his shirt and put them back on before he headed back down the bleachers. Tank glanced towards where the weight plate, but no one had told him to pick it up and he would really rather go with Lev then carry the weight back to the ROTC gym. Tank waited until Aldrich and Chase were on the field and walking toward the ROTC building before he moved toward Lev. Lev held his arms out, and Tank grabbed him by the waist and lifted him into the air so his feet swung.

Lev hugged him back and laughed. The sound was so full of joy that a matching feeling bubbled up in Tank’s chest.

“Are you trying to prove that you're some badass soldier now? Because I am far more impressed with your brilliant mind. I just read in the last academic paper you wrote, and you have got to use that for your master’s thesis.”

“Hello to you too,” Tank said with a laugh. Lev never changed, and Tank never wanted him to. Tank leaned in and pressed his lips against Lev’s. Lev’s strong fingers wrapped around the back of his neck, and they deepened their kiss. Heat gathered under Tank’s skin and he almost wished he had a supply closet in the area so he could drag Lev in and do dirty things to him. However, he was older now, and not under the influence of alien mating hormones. So he did the adult thing and pulled back before temptation overcame his common sense. Despite what Aldrich thought, he did have some.

Tank rested his forehead against Lev’s shoulder. “I missed you.” Usually they spent part of spring break together, but Lev had been working on a new ship system that had come online, and Tank had taken a week to do some SERE training.

“Me too. These absences are getting harder every year. I can’t wait until you join the unit for real. I plan to take a week’s vacation and not let you out of bed.”

Tank laughed. He was going to be joining the unit as an officer instead of as the dishwasher this time, but a lieutenant still got a lot of shit jobs. He doubted a week in bed would fit into the schedule. “Are we staying on campus or heading off to lunch?”

“Off. Definitely off. University was not a good time for me, so I have lots of negative associations with campus.”

“That’s because you were about twelve when you went to college.” Tank knew that story. He couldn’t imagine having his mother follow him to classes, and neither Lev nor his mother had handled having him in class with twenty-somethings. It sounded like Lev’s mother had done her best, but the few stories Lev had shared didn’t sound fun. Mothers. Tank’s own mother did her best, but negligence was her primary parenting strategy. Tank wasn’t sure whether it made it better or worse that he knew she wasn’t his genetic mother. Like lots of people involved in alien incursions, his genes had been screwed with, although in his case, he was still a normal human. He just didn’t genetically match his parents.

Lev thought he was a clone, and Tank figured that was the most likely explanation.

“So, where’s the car?” Tank asked.

Lev stepped back, escaping Tank’s embrace before taking his hand. “East lot,” Lev said. “I’ll show you.” Lev’s hand and his smile were warm. Tank had no illusions. For Lev and Aldrich to show up without warning, something horrible was going down. Something beyond horrible, even. However, for this moment, he just soaked up the feeling of his lover’s warmth. The fight would come soon enough, so right now Tank planned to enjoy a few moments of peace.