She'll Bring Honor To Us All (BWWM) ✓

Chapter 7: Do Not Question My Dedication

Commander's POV
I was awakened from my sleep by the sound of a door being shut. I glanced up at my room door but it was still closed. The walls were only thin enough to hear a door close as long as it came from one of the conjoined rooms.

My curiosity eventually got the better of me as I slid my handheld out from under my pillow and slipped it into the waistband of my pajama pants. You could never be too safe. I looked around for a shirt and found the one I had set on the couch, before I pulling that over my head. Glancing at the clock, it read 4:52am.

My rooms temperature was set to 77° so when I opened the door, I wasn't expecting the cold 66° that were blasting through the halls. All you could hear was the sound of ice and vending machines vibrating and echoing off the thin walls. I glanced at both ends of the hallway and was about to shut the door again, when I heard someone clear their throat further away.

I grabbed the key off the table besides the door before wandering out into the vacant halls. To my right, there was only rooms that stretched until the end of the corridor, so I headed towards the left where the elevator was. As I turned the corner by the vending machines, I stopped shortly and saw Rein sitting on one of the arm chairs with her back turned to me.

She was holding a book, and a cup of what I could only presume to be tea, as she looked past the words and out towards the large window that showed a view of the cities busy nightlife. "Couldn't sleep?" She asked me after some time. I wasn't sure how exactly she knew it was me.

I walked towards another one of the comfy plush chairs as I joined her by the window.

"I'm a light sleeper." I replied honestly. She never glanced away from the window as she took a sip from her cup. I couldn't make out the book she was reading, but it was large.

"American tea is shit." She announced, setting the empty cup onto the table. I cracked a grin at that.

"We specialize in coffee." I replied. Coffee was American's crack cocaine.

"Mm." She nodded more to herself, before she returned to reading. I couldn't help but continue to stare as I watched her read. Her body was more relaxed than before. Her hair was tied tightly into a neat ponytail and she was wear another one of her infamous black turtle neck shirts, along with some black tight pants.

"Did you not change?" I asked her after sometime. I was afraid I had broken her concentration but she answered me without looking away.

"I did. We will be leaving in a few hours so I decided to get ready early." She replied simply. I just nodded at that. She flipped to the next page of the book as I rested my head against the back piece of the chair and glanced out the window. I wasn't sure as to the exact time I fell asleep, but I knew it found me quickly in her presence.

~

"Wake up you little piece of shit!" Campbell barked as he hit me with a rolled up newspaper and I fell off the chair.

"Fuck." I groaned, rubbing the sleep from my eyes as I focused in on both Rein and Campbell holding their luggage ready to go. "What time is it?" I groaned.

"7:45am." Rein replied.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" I whined again to Rein, as I tried to scramble to my feet.

"That's not her job you idiot. You should've had an alarm set." Campbell snapped back as he hit me again with the newspaper.

"I did! I set it on my phone!" I replied, as I searched my pockets for it... until I realized I left that on my bedside.

"Are you serious right now?" Campbell continued to yell, "you brought a fucking gun but not your own phone?" I looked down at my shirt that had now ridden up a bit to reveal the handheld I had grabbed from under my pillowcase.

I glanced up to see the edges of Rein's mouth twitch up into a slight smile. I couldn't help but smile myself as I got up.

"This isn't funny!" Campbell replied, glaring at both Rein and I. "You need to go get ready now. We are leaving in 20 minutes with or without you." Rein gave me one last grin before she followed Campbell into the elevator with their bags in hand.

She had a pretty smile.

I stumbled through the hallway of the hotel as I tried to make my way back to my room to get ready.

Rein's POV
"How did you sleep?" Aaron asked while we loaded the last of our bags into the government car. I just glanced back at him. "Are the nightmares still happening?"

"No," I answered simply, "I don't let them."

"For Christ sakes, Rein!" Aaron whispered as he turned to face me completely. "How much sleep have you been getting a night?"

"An hour. In increments."

"Rein," Aaron sighed. He looked conflicted, like he wanted to pull me in for a hug, but he knew my limitations with my personal space. "Did Chi know?" He asked finally.

"She made me this herbal blend of teas that helped with sleep inducement, but not with the nightmares. After some time, I only slept short amounts of time at a go. Enough to function." I replied. I could see his fingers rub the bridge of his nose.

"We need you to be at your best for this, Rein-" he started, but I quickly cut him off.

"There is not a second in a day where my senses are even the slightest bit nulled. Do not question my dedication, nor interfere with my process." I replied, my voice going back to the cold, distant, monotoned one I had when I was first introduced to Aaron 5 years ago.

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