"Hey, this is Mike. If you want me, leave a message."


[For mun contact also]

LINK: Mike had to fight to resist the urge to sit on the side of the road and whistle 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life' while his best mate cursed and swore colourfully, kicking the tyres of his car after they ran out of gas mid-road trip.

[Follows THIS]

For as long as he could remember, Rob had been a light sleeper. A lot of it was probably born of being a soldier, but it never took much to wake him up. It had been a pain in the ass when he had been recuperating from the whole getting blown up thing. He had been a cranky bastard more often than not both from pain and lack of sleep, but again, he had been infinitely lucky to have Leila by his side putting up with it and learning how to handle him at his worst as well as his best. That was what marriage was all about at the end of the day, the vows just said it in a much more fancier way.

( Tonight, it was a strange noise out in the hallway that had him woken abruptly, ears straining to listen for what it was...Collapse )


Word Count | 3,548

[Follows THIS, simultaneous to THIS]

Charlie had been fortunate that Rob and Leila were willing to distract Mike for a bit longer while she had a shower. His mom had naturally been shocked to see Charlie come in the door with the married couple, and it had taken a lot to get Mrs Austin to keep quiet so she didn't give the game away. Charlie hadn't seen Mike's mother in years. The last time had been when the three Army buddies had come to Mike's for dinner, Mrs Austin showing off her awesome cooking skills. Charlie still had no idea how she'd got everything to taste so damn good.

Now with her wet hair still drying, and jeans and a t-shirt on instead of her uniform, Charlie walked slowly along the hall towards Mike's room. She still remembered the layout of the house. When she was younger she'd memorised everything that was even remotely connected to Mike. The crush had been huge, no doubt about it. It was a miracle she really had kept it from everyone, but the truth was out now. She wasn't even sure the crush had ever really left her, it had just been pushed to the back of her mind as soon as her life had become about service, and the war. And as soon as she realised she was probably never going to see him again.

Until she'd hurt herself.

Until now.

( Rob and Leila seemed to have a sixth sense about when she was coming, and they both exited Mike's room as they gave her a thumbs up and a wink...Collapse )

LINK: Might be goin' home sooner than I thought...

LINK: There needs to be a more extreme form of the feeling 'bittersweet'.

6.26. 'Cause you give me something
That makes me scared, alright
This could be nothing
But I'm willing to give it a try
Please give me something
'Cause someday I might know my heart
Give Me Something - James Morrison

Co-written with nevergonnamiss
[Follows THIS and THIS]

It was a meeting with his superior officer that was what finally gave Mike a boot up the ass in the right direction. Expectedly, Mike wouldn't be here in Afghanistan for a full term because it was so close to his last deployment. He was needed at the moment, but he would be home sooner than the others that shipped out with him this time and he would have a long, and well-deserved R&R ahead of him after that. He really couldn't wait, but they couldn't actually tell him when he would be going home, so as usual, everything was left hanging. And that was his job, he was okay with that, but did every aspect of his life really need to be left hanging right along with it? Rob pulled off the whole marriage thing, and Leila was okay when she had to wait for him. It wasn't easy, but they still made it work, still couldn't get enough of each other when they were together. Then Rob was nearly killed... should have died. It changed everything, made it warp from simple what-ifs to reality and brought a lot home to everyone. It was more than a wake up call. Mike couldn't deny that since then, he had been analysing and overanalysing his own life in very fine detail. He was nearly thirty and had nothing to show for it. Just because he was a soldier and fought for his country, did that really mean he had to go without things like a wife, kids, a house to call his own?

( He didn't have answers to any of those questions, but he was working on breaching the gap a little...Collapse )


Word Count | 7,977

LINK: Starting to get chafing... pathetic.

LINK: Can't stop thinking about her... can't leave it hanging like this... can't even decide what to do about it.

LINK: Mike was suddenly and pleasantly aware of how much people from your past could really leave a mark on your heart.