To Love a Colonel

Battlefield

     All characters and content  belong to the movie 'The Patriot' :) Enjoy!

-Cate

*******************

          Feeling the sun on my face I tried to turn onto my side but my nose bumped into something warm and hard. What the hell?, I thought as I peeked one eye open. There, laying next to me, hair loose, was the Colonel himself. I opened my eyes fully and sat up a little to get a better look at him. His hair was loose and he wore only his jacket and linen shirt, the front of it gaping open to give me a full view of his chest and the dark hair that dusted it.

     I sat up fully and thought, What is he doing sleeping on my blanket with me? I looked around and saw that our fire had gone out and the rest of the men were still asleep. I rubbed the back of my head and hissed in a breath when I came in to contact with the small gash.

     Tavington shot up when he heard me," What's wrong?" he looked me over, his sleepy eyes slowly waking up.

     I stopped his hand before it swiped over the back of my head," It's nothing. I just forgot that the cut was there." I gave him a small smile," Thank you for worrying though."

     He took a breath and nodded once," How are you feeling? I see the bleeding stopped." pulling my hair away from the back of my head he lightly touched the tender skin," Once we get to  the main camp you will go and see the surgeon. He will put a salve on your wound to bring down the swelling."

     I watched as he brushed his long, dark hair away from his face and suddenly felt myself blushing. I'd never been around a man this early in the morning. It felt odd to hear his usually cultured voice husky with sleep. It was kind of sexy. Did I just think of some aspect of him as sexy?, I thought and shook my head to get rid of the idea.

     His voice snapped me out of my daze," Would you accompany me down to the stream?"

     My eyes narrowed as I stood on shakey legs,"  And why would you want me to?"

     He stood and went over to his saddle and took out what looked like a shaving kit and rolled his eyes at me," To keep me company as I shave Miss. Stone." then motioned for me to follow him down to the stream.

      I grabbed my blanket and shook it out, bunching it in my arms as I walked down the tiny stone covered hill. I plopped down on a rock near him as he set his kit out in front of him at the edge of the water. Since it was still a bit chilly out I wrapped my blanket around my shoulders and watched him as he began to put shaving cream on his jaw.

     He peeked at me with those silver eyes and said," Tell me about yourself." and began to shave.

     I streched my arms out in front of me, shaking off some of the cold," What do you want to know?"

     I saw him shrug, not taking his eyes off the tiny mirror he held in his hands," What pushed you to join the military? What happened to your family?"

     I might as well tell him, there's no point in hiding it, I thought before saying," Well, both of my parents were in the military themselves. My father a Lieutenant General and my mother the head of undercover opperations in Russia. They were all killed, one by one, at some point in my life." I sighed," As for what pushed me to join was not really my choice at all." when he gave me an odd look I continued," My long time friend knew that I grew up in a military family and saw it best to dump me near Charleston when I had made the choice to leave Ohio for Boston."

      Tavington seemed to be thinking about this and looked curious," How did they die? If you don't mind me asking." 

      I waved that away and smiled grimly as I remembered my past," I don't mind you asking. My mother was killed when rebels came to our house one night, seeking food and shelter. Something about them set my mother's instinct off because as soon as we gave them what they needed, they shot her," I made a gun motion with my right hand," Point blank between the eyes before she could even could reach for her own gun." I shuddered," They found my brother and I shortly after they stormed the house, taking it for their own."