Birds of Prey

Chapter II: Mirrors

Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy

My eyes flew open as I sat upright, my chest heaving, sweat dripping from my forehead. My face was pale and confused and my mask was making breathing even harder. The only thing i could see right now was Rafe’s worried face.

"Captain, are you okay?" he asked putting a hand on my shoulder.

"There are turbulences sir. You should be sleeping in a bed not with your head against a steel wall" Luke advised, clicking some buttons on his control pannel.

"Yeah…just…a nap that didn’t go as planned" I said rubbing my nose bridge trying to wake up all my senses.

"Nightmares?"

"Yes" Ireplied with a small sigh.

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really. Not in this layout. Where are we anyway?" I asked Luke raising my morning voice.

"Flying over Italy, sir. Good morning by the way." he added turning his head face me for a moment. The weak leds from his control pannel were pretty much all the light I was seeing. I looked outside the window and admired the breathtaking view. Tons of lit up cities that were connected magically by busy highways and roads. The clouds were tinged with a warm glow, and appeared to be floating effortlessly across pinkinsh sky. The sun itself is a fiery, radiant orb, slowly peaking above the horizon, casting long rays of light across the landscape below. The earth is still shrouded in a blanket of mist, and the world seems peaceful and tranquil, basking in the early morning light.

"Thanks. Where are the others?" I asked Rafe, slowly getting up.

"Oh, they are still in their rooms. It’s pretty early actually-"

« We still got about three hours to go so sit back and enjoy the ride boys » Luke added with a small smile, looking back at us through his sunglasses.

"You surely deserve a coffee or two for this ride"

"I can drink whatever I get captain" he confirmed with a chuckle.

I got up and went to the restroom for a quick shower and to proceed with my morning routine since I had three more hours to kill. Yet again I found myself pulled to the bathroom mirror. I saw my face and looked back, feeling that there was something wrong. Something I see in my eyes more than often every passing morning. Nightmares. Again. After all this shit is done with i swear I’m becoming a monk and I’ll learn how to sleep with my eyes open. Or maybe the therapist everyone told me about wouldn't be the worst idea. Would be even better if i could afford it.

Mirrors are the most sincere things i know in this world. And right now i am looking at myself and I don’t see a brave captain readying himself to motivate his team to defend someone else’s country. The face belonged to someone else. Someone with big brown eyes, a crooked nose from some hallway fight and dark hair in a crew cut. I see the young fresh-out-of-highschooler who was earning his living from muffins and cookies, trying to help his family as much as he could. A boy who was surely lying to himself if he ever admitted that he was doing fine. I knew it was me, but I wasn’t me.

I blinked a few times and then slapped myself. Not so hard. Always works. Especially when I’m drunk. I removed the layers and turned on the water. I ran my fingers across a fresh scar covering my upper thigh that had a pretty old bandage on it. It was another missed bullet wound. These might not be lethal but annoying as hell.

I carefully removed it throwing it in a nearby bin and examined the area. The stiches were healing up fast which was a good sign. Water shouldn’t damage it… again. It didn’t take long for me to step in the shower and a wave of ice cold water brought me back to reality immediately. I washed off all the sweat on my forehead and my chest and quickly turned off the shower. It reminded me of my old training days in northern Europe. Oh those winters. Only the warmth of our souls made us not freeze to death. And of course gun fire and the car engines.

I dried myself with a towel and picked some fresh clothes from a nearby shelf. A tight black thermal turtleneck which was probably 2 sizes smaller, some classic camo pants and of course my mask. I only hope the weather will have the slightest amount of mercy upon us. Winters from this part of the world can be both brutal and beautiful. The cold air bites against the skin, sending chills down the spine alongside the sound of russian drones flying above your head. There's something special in fighting in cold battles. Or that's what we think, considering the fact that we don't see snow that often.

I left the bathroom only to bump into Pearl who apparently had just woken up. His hair was a total mess, his usual prismarine tshirt was tucked in a pair of shorts which hung loosely on his hips, highlighting his huge calves. This man wouldn’t miss a chance to flex his legs. He mostly trains only lower body at the gym like a teenage girl who wants to build some ass. Poor lad. He’ll figure out that’s bad for his condition some day.

« Oh- ‘morning captain. Sorry about the um- » he greeted me midyawning.
« It’s okay. Bathroom’s free if you- » « Oh no, no, no i’m not ready for that yet. I was going to do a little morning stretch and the headquarters are pretty small y’know » he cut me off taking a few steps back.

"Fine, but don’t start jogging on a goddamn plane, okay? If you want to wake up everyone then find another way. Some of them would kill for those 5 more minutes your mom was talking about when you were ten" I commented, heading to the armoury to find some suitable gear.

"Yes sir" he replied with a short laugh.

Jyromir, Ukraine

"Good morning, sir" I welcomed the commander who was waiting for us on the airstrip. I could already tell that he wasn't enjoying the cold. The chilly morning breeze was sharp, yet so pleasant in contrast to the explosions that were going on only 60 miles away.

"Captain Turner, squad Red" he shook our hands after saluting. "How was your trip boys?- and girls" he added looking at Yun over his shoulder.

"Smooth as a glider, sir. You should definitely give Cameron a raise for it." I, in fact, did not feel most of it.

"That’s not how it works but I’ll take that into consideration" he responded with a small laugh. "I'm pretty sure he will not get bored in the sky while you guys take care of those russians."

"Oh, we will make sure he won't. Otherwise he would have to change his job to being some private pilot on a yacht" I turned my head towards Luke giving him a small nod before the aircraft door closed.

The commander hand gestured towards a line of dark vehicles dusted with mud and snow "You take that cruiser and follow the convoy. We’ll be right behind. The action is close and I know you wanna take part" he ordered as we approached the black armored SUV. I still don't know where is all his sarcasm coming from but I just decided to play along. There is still a small amount of jealousy I have for higher ups. They give orders and then watch the chaos unfold from afar. Most of them turn into grumpy leaders no one is motivated to follow once they've reached a certain age or performance status. But Jameson is not like that. I've known him long enough to say that. But sometimes he sticks to the luxury of being in charge. It can get annoying.

"Of course! Wouldn’t miss it for anything." My team entered the car, taking all the back seats, leaving Ale in the driver's. I opened the door but the commander pulled my shoulder back a little. I dropped the car keys.

"Listen, these are not soldiers. They are terrorists. And they will kill everyone standing in their way. So you gotta hit them hard where the vodka doesn’t shine. They will not hold back. And if you find any survivors out there…" he hesitated a moment. "Protect them with your life. But don’t trust them. We never know." I nodded in response and patted my arm. With all his bad parts, I still considered him a mentor, like a father figure I never had. He doesn't say it much but I believe he cares for us more than a simple military leader.

I got inside the car and Alejandro started it with a strong cold roar.
"Stay sharp redheads! Off you go now."
Hood gave us the last wave and we set off alongside the other trucks in our convoy.