Author: Jordan
Title: Purgatory Part 6
Rating: R for language and character death
Pairings/characters: Trombley, Person, Colbert, Hasser, Espera, OFC, Trombley/OFC, Trombley/Person(implied), Trombley/Chuckler(implied), Espera/OFC, Person/Hasser(implied), Colbert/Fick(implied)
Summary: Yes, but wait 'til you taste one, dearie. Like to try one? Go on. Go on, have a bite.
Disclaimer: Based on fictionalised portrayals. I do not own any person named in this fic, and I don't own the source material, except for a copy of the miniseries on DVD. This is for pleasure, not for profit.
Trombley sits alone in the oasis, watching the sun set maddeningly slow. The red-orange sphere doesn't burn his eyes, and he thinks to himself of the sunsets in Oceanside. It was at the beach that he met Corporal Josh Ray Person.
"So there I was in Sidney-- we stopped there for a week so that the Navy guys could get a resupply or some retarded shit like that-- I think they just wanted to get us off the boat so they could do a Village People reenactment. Anyway, there was this smoking hot Aussie chick at one of the bars there, and she was just begging for one of us to show her what Marine cock tastes li--."
"Ray!" The voice of his new team leader, Sergeant Colbert, pipes in at this moment. "If I have to remind you one more time that this is a family day, I'll personally find the steepest cliff in California and throw you off of it."
"Oh, right. I forgot that the newbies actually have family they made the misfortune of showing to this motley crew." The original man, Person, Trombley has to remind himself. "Who gives a shit, though? The only one that's actual recon is the LT."
"Be that as it may, Sergeant Espera, Lilley, and Trombley brought their families, and I'll be damned if someone in my team has a complaint filed against them because they can't keep their mouths PG-13 for more than fifteen minutes." Sergeant Colbert's voice turns icy, and in turn, a chill runs up Trombley's spine. Ray snaps to parade rest with an insubordinate "Oo-Rah, Sergeant," before remembering Trombley exists. He turns to him and eyes him over for a brief minute.
"Lance Corporal Trombleeeeeeeeeeeeey," he drawls out. "That's a retarded name if I've never heard one. You look like a fucking baby. Are you sure you're old enough to be in the Corps?"
"Old enough to have your mom screaming my name the other night, Corporal." Even though Sergeant Colbert gives a warning to him, he can see he's won some ground with Person as his eyes widen in surprise before his mischievous grin returns.
"Brad! He actually has a sense of humor. If he ain't like, dead or some shit after BRC, can we keep him?"
"He's our automatic rifleman for the time being. If he passes, he stays," Colbert informs him. At this, Person raises an eyebrow.
"What happened to Walt?" he asks in earnest.
"His A-Gunner."
"Why not put him on as AG?"
Brad smiles at Trombley. "You haven't seen him shoot yet."
Person still isn't pleased, he can tell, and looks at Trombley before returning his gaze to Colbert. "That's all well and good and shit, but this kid's still a fucking newbie. If he's on a gun team, he should learn to be a bitch before he's taking shots." He pauses for a minute before his voice lowers. "What's going on Brad? You, Pappy, Cocher, and Lovell bring in a shit ton of fresh guys who haven't even seen action beyond Sergeant Espera. I've been looking at the news, man. I'm not a fucking mouthbreather like half the guys here. Is it gonna happen?"
Colbert's gaze lowers before returning to Person's. "The LT and Gunny Wynn have been going to a lot of meetings lately. It sounds like we're not even going to see the Peleliu in the next few months. Battle drills and a possible C-130 trip to Kuwait if Saddam doesn't back down."
Trombley looks at Person, excitement in his eyes. War, in possibly the first days of the conflict. He was too young for the kickoff of Operation Enduring Freedom, but this could be his. He could imagine it now, kicking in the teeth of this Saddam dude, whoever he was. Person's own expression is vastly different. The excitement's there, yes, but it looks like he's hiding something.
"Yeah, sure, Brad," his voice is subdued. "Thanks. I'm gonna go walk or something for a minute talk to you later." Sergeant Colbert opens his mouth to say something, but ultimately stops. The damage is done. He turns to Trombley with a tired look on his face.
"You might wanna spend some time with your family, Trombley. It's likely we'll be there." Trombley nods at his new TL and turns around, walking through the sand at a sluggish pace. Lieutenant Fick passes by, giving him a grim smile before moving on to Brad, where he can hear the two talking in hushed voices before he moves on.
After a minute or so of walking at this pace, he runs into Alicia, his wife. The Mexican woman's speaking animatedly to another Latina woman in rapid Spanish. He recognizes her as Gina, Sergeant Espera's wife. He isn't fluent yet, but he can pick up bits and pieces and surmise that they're talking about Alicia's pregnancy. She's beginning to show.
As he approaches, Alicia looks up and smiles, and a warm feeling fills his body. "James! Have you met Gina yet?" He shakes his head no and is surprised when Gina gives him a warm hug. "She's Tony's wife."
"Nice to meet you, ma'am," he says as she disengages from the hug.
"She was telling me she has a ton of baby clothes that she'll give us for when it happens." Trombley blushes at this and thanks Gina quietly.
"Definitely beats shopping at Wal-Mart." he tells her, only half-joking. Gina laughs and looks out to her own husband, who's currently in heated debate with Sergeant Reyes.
"It's a lot of work," Gina tells them. "And sometimes it'll feel like it's a curse. I'll do anything I can to help you two out, especially with how sweet you two are."
Trombley blushes again, and this time just feels awkward. Should he keep the conversation going? Should he break this happy mood between women with what he just learned, or pretend that the baby's the first thing on his mind? In the end, he just thanks Gina again before excusing himself. Alicia eyes him and he feels guilty for a moment, but the feeling passes as he walks away from them. The sun's beginning to set now, the dull red-orange of sea brine breaking up the light of the sun as it passes to the next hemisphere. In the distance he can see a shape on the edge of the water and realizes it's a man sitting just outside of the influence of the sea, watching the sun set as he does. He decides to intrude on this man's peace, and after a minute, finds it's Corporal Person. His face is damp, and not just from the sea spraying onto him from the wind.
"Corporal Person?" he asks softly. He looks up and grimaces, wiping his face before he returns his eyes to the sea.
"Don't fucking call me that unless an officer or something's around. I sound like a tool. Call me Ray." Trombley nods before taking a seat next to him. Sand squelches softly at his interruption, and he grimaces. Ray chuckles at that before taking another look at him. "Have you deployed yet, Trombley?" he asks quietly.
"Qatar for a few months," he replies, and Ray shakes his head.
"I didn't fucking mean like that. Like, a real deployment. You know, Bosnia, Afghanistan?" Trombley shakes his head. "Fuck me running," he says to himself. "You're fresher than a first day period, kid. Me and the Iceman, we've both been to Afghanistan. We heard about the fall of Kandahar while we were fighting Taliban around Bagram. LT actually helped Delta recover a downed Black Hawk in Pakistan with Tony and Fruity Rudy. This is some real shit we're gonna go into, James. I'm not gonna lie; I don't feel comfortable fighting by the side of someone who ain't never seen action."
James feels a flair of anger, but quickly suppresses it. Instead he replies with a derisive snort before looking at Ray in earnest. "Well, how am I gonna get fucking experience if assholes like you keep talking shit? I'm a Marine, just like you. Just cuz I'm not recon don't mean shit. And I have a fucking great eye. Just watch."
Ray laughs, but even Trombley can tell it isn't sincere. "We'll see, Trombley. We'll see."
His mind returns to the present as the sunlight hits him directly in the face. In the distance, shaded by a withered palm, is a lone figure. The frame tells him it's a male, and in that moment, he's on his feet. He looks around for a moment, and sees Hasser and Sergeant Colbert are nowhere to be seen. He approaches cautiously, walking in a way so that not even the soil and vegetation beneath his feet can tell others he's moving.
His approach goes unnoticed. The man has his back turned to him, a good sign. The man has dark hair, but he immediately knows it's not that Chuckler fruitcake. Chuckler's hair was unkempt, curly to the point past acceptance by Marine standards. This man's hair is straight, and short enough that rombley can definitely mark him as military. When he's finally only a few meters away, he speaks up. "Who the fuck are you?"
The man turns around, and he's caught off guard. "Hi, Trombley," Corporal Joshua Ray Person says congenially. He stands up and closes the distance between them. Trombley feels a nagging urge to stay on alert, but as Ray's eyes focus on his, the thought leaves as if it were water draining from a sink.
"R-Ray. You're dead, too?" His voice is hushed, and he's embarassed to realize he's stuttering. Ray laughs.
"Fuck no, I'm not.Death's for POGs and jerkoffs who don't know how to live right. Can't you see, man? It's a fucking dream. Brad's not real, you're not real, Chuckler ain't, and neither are Walt or me. All you gotta do is wake up." The voice is alluring. Trombley finds he can't ignore any of his words. "Brad'll be there. So'll Alicia and your kid. Everything will be okay. Just do it. Wake up, man."
"How?" he asks, finding that waking up is all he wants.
"It's easy," Ray tells him. He turns his hand in a great flourish. When it settles, in his palm is a peach, ripe and more vivid than any fruit he's ever seen. "Eat it."
As his hand reaches out for the fruit, something nags at him. Something Chuckler said to Sergeant Colbert, but what it is, he can't remember. All he can think about is his desire to wake up, and suddenly how very hungry he is. He takes the fruit. Even through the dirt and sand caking his digits, he can feel the fine hairs of the peach, can practically taste its nectar. He brings the fruit to his lips and downs a sizeable chunk of it in one bite.
The taste of ash fills his senses.He nearly throws up but finds his mouth working against his mind to swallow the chunk of fruit. He looks at the bitten peach in his hand and sees the core is molten red. The peach has turned blue, perfectly round and mottled with white and brown spots. His mind begins to swim and he realizes it's Earth he holds in his hands. His bitten off a chunk of the earth.
His mind begins to fill with the thoughts of billions of people, all at once. As that chunk of fruit slides down his throat he can begin to feel himslef becoming one with them all, even those who are unseen, what could most commonly be called a spirit. He realizes what's happened and power begins to fill him, great and terrible. It begins as heat, but begins to coalesce as light, streaming from his pores and Ray is no longer Ray, but him and James knows finally what Chuckler is.
"...Reaper." James' voice echoes across the vast plane of nowhere he and his team mates have found themselves in, and Ray-who-is-really-Chuckler laughs as the man falls to the floor, unconscious.
"Isn't that a bit melodramatic?" he asks, though he knows he'll get no answer. "'Sides, it's kind of a case of the pot and the kettle now. You're special James, like I was. I was waiting for you, and you came. My journey was long over, and I'm tired. I can wait for yours to end, but the transformation needed to begin. You're the most promising I've seen. Sleep a while. You'll feel better in the morning."
--
Brad and Walt race to where the source of the light came from, two deadly silent figures armed with the weapons of man in a world created by something far greater. After some time, Walt notices two figures in the distance and points them out. They bound forward, and just as the shapes are recognizable, Walt stops in his tracks.
Before the second one disappeared, he could have sworn he saw Ray.
To Chapter 7.
Title: Purgatory Part 6
Rating: R for language and character death
Pairings/characters: Trombley, Person, Colbert, Hasser, Espera, OFC, Trombley/OFC, Trombley/Person(implied), Trombley/Chuckler(implied), Espera/OFC, Person/Hasser(implied), Colbert/Fick(implied)
Summary: Yes, but wait 'til you taste one, dearie. Like to try one? Go on. Go on, have a bite.
Disclaimer: Based on fictionalised portrayals. I do not own any person named in this fic, and I don't own the source material, except for a copy of the miniseries on DVD. This is for pleasure, not for profit.
Trombley sits alone in the oasis, watching the sun set maddeningly slow. The red-orange sphere doesn't burn his eyes, and he thinks to himself of the sunsets in Oceanside. It was at the beach that he met Corporal Josh Ray Person.
"So there I was in Sidney-- we stopped there for a week so that the Navy guys could get a resupply or some retarded shit like that-- I think they just wanted to get us off the boat so they could do a Village People reenactment. Anyway, there was this smoking hot Aussie chick at one of the bars there, and she was just begging for one of us to show her what Marine cock tastes li--."
"Ray!" The voice of his new team leader, Sergeant Colbert, pipes in at this moment. "If I have to remind you one more time that this is a family day, I'll personally find the steepest cliff in California and throw you off of it."
"Oh, right. I forgot that the newbies actually have family they made the misfortune of showing to this motley crew." The original man, Person, Trombley has to remind himself. "Who gives a shit, though? The only one that's actual recon is the LT."
"Be that as it may, Sergeant Espera, Lilley, and Trombley brought their families, and I'll be damned if someone in my team has a complaint filed against them because they can't keep their mouths PG-13 for more than fifteen minutes." Sergeant Colbert's voice turns icy, and in turn, a chill runs up Trombley's spine. Ray snaps to parade rest with an insubordinate "Oo-Rah, Sergeant," before remembering Trombley exists. He turns to him and eyes him over for a brief minute.
"Lance Corporal Trombleeeeeeeeeeeeey," he drawls out. "That's a retarded name if I've never heard one. You look like a fucking baby. Are you sure you're old enough to be in the Corps?"
"Old enough to have your mom screaming my name the other night, Corporal." Even though Sergeant Colbert gives a warning to him, he can see he's won some ground with Person as his eyes widen in surprise before his mischievous grin returns.
"Brad! He actually has a sense of humor. If he ain't like, dead or some shit after BRC, can we keep him?"
"He's our automatic rifleman for the time being. If he passes, he stays," Colbert informs him. At this, Person raises an eyebrow.
"What happened to Walt?" he asks in earnest.
"His A-Gunner."
"Why not put him on as AG?"
Brad smiles at Trombley. "You haven't seen him shoot yet."
Person still isn't pleased, he can tell, and looks at Trombley before returning his gaze to Colbert. "That's all well and good and shit, but this kid's still a fucking newbie. If he's on a gun team, he should learn to be a bitch before he's taking shots." He pauses for a minute before his voice lowers. "What's going on Brad? You, Pappy, Cocher, and Lovell bring in a shit ton of fresh guys who haven't even seen action beyond Sergeant Espera. I've been looking at the news, man. I'm not a fucking mouthbreather like half the guys here. Is it gonna happen?"
Colbert's gaze lowers before returning to Person's. "The LT and Gunny Wynn have been going to a lot of meetings lately. It sounds like we're not even going to see the Peleliu in the next few months. Battle drills and a possible C-130 trip to Kuwait if Saddam doesn't back down."
Trombley looks at Person, excitement in his eyes. War, in possibly the first days of the conflict. He was too young for the kickoff of Operation Enduring Freedom, but this could be his. He could imagine it now, kicking in the teeth of this Saddam dude, whoever he was. Person's own expression is vastly different. The excitement's there, yes, but it looks like he's hiding something.
"Yeah, sure, Brad," his voice is subdued. "Thanks. I'm gonna go walk or something for a minute talk to you later." Sergeant Colbert opens his mouth to say something, but ultimately stops. The damage is done. He turns to Trombley with a tired look on his face.
"You might wanna spend some time with your family, Trombley. It's likely we'll be there." Trombley nods at his new TL and turns around, walking through the sand at a sluggish pace. Lieutenant Fick passes by, giving him a grim smile before moving on to Brad, where he can hear the two talking in hushed voices before he moves on.
After a minute or so of walking at this pace, he runs into Alicia, his wife. The Mexican woman's speaking animatedly to another Latina woman in rapid Spanish. He recognizes her as Gina, Sergeant Espera's wife. He isn't fluent yet, but he can pick up bits and pieces and surmise that they're talking about Alicia's pregnancy. She's beginning to show.
As he approaches, Alicia looks up and smiles, and a warm feeling fills his body. "James! Have you met Gina yet?" He shakes his head no and is surprised when Gina gives him a warm hug. "She's Tony's wife."
"Nice to meet you, ma'am," he says as she disengages from the hug.
"She was telling me she has a ton of baby clothes that she'll give us for when it happens." Trombley blushes at this and thanks Gina quietly.
"Definitely beats shopping at Wal-Mart." he tells her, only half-joking. Gina laughs and looks out to her own husband, who's currently in heated debate with Sergeant Reyes.
"It's a lot of work," Gina tells them. "And sometimes it'll feel like it's a curse. I'll do anything I can to help you two out, especially with how sweet you two are."
Trombley blushes again, and this time just feels awkward. Should he keep the conversation going? Should he break this happy mood between women with what he just learned, or pretend that the baby's the first thing on his mind? In the end, he just thanks Gina again before excusing himself. Alicia eyes him and he feels guilty for a moment, but the feeling passes as he walks away from them. The sun's beginning to set now, the dull red-orange of sea brine breaking up the light of the sun as it passes to the next hemisphere. In the distance he can see a shape on the edge of the water and realizes it's a man sitting just outside of the influence of the sea, watching the sun set as he does. He decides to intrude on this man's peace, and after a minute, finds it's Corporal Person. His face is damp, and not just from the sea spraying onto him from the wind.
"Corporal Person?" he asks softly. He looks up and grimaces, wiping his face before he returns his eyes to the sea.
"Don't fucking call me that unless an officer or something's around. I sound like a tool. Call me Ray." Trombley nods before taking a seat next to him. Sand squelches softly at his interruption, and he grimaces. Ray chuckles at that before taking another look at him. "Have you deployed yet, Trombley?" he asks quietly.
"Qatar for a few months," he replies, and Ray shakes his head.
"I didn't fucking mean like that. Like, a real deployment. You know, Bosnia, Afghanistan?" Trombley shakes his head. "Fuck me running," he says to himself. "You're fresher than a first day period, kid. Me and the Iceman, we've both been to Afghanistan. We heard about the fall of Kandahar while we were fighting Taliban around Bagram. LT actually helped Delta recover a downed Black Hawk in Pakistan with Tony and Fruity Rudy. This is some real shit we're gonna go into, James. I'm not gonna lie; I don't feel comfortable fighting by the side of someone who ain't never seen action."
James feels a flair of anger, but quickly suppresses it. Instead he replies with a derisive snort before looking at Ray in earnest. "Well, how am I gonna get fucking experience if assholes like you keep talking shit? I'm a Marine, just like you. Just cuz I'm not recon don't mean shit. And I have a fucking great eye. Just watch."
Ray laughs, but even Trombley can tell it isn't sincere. "We'll see, Trombley. We'll see."
His mind returns to the present as the sunlight hits him directly in the face. In the distance, shaded by a withered palm, is a lone figure. The frame tells him it's a male, and in that moment, he's on his feet. He looks around for a moment, and sees Hasser and Sergeant Colbert are nowhere to be seen. He approaches cautiously, walking in a way so that not even the soil and vegetation beneath his feet can tell others he's moving.
His approach goes unnoticed. The man has his back turned to him, a good sign. The man has dark hair, but he immediately knows it's not that Chuckler fruitcake. Chuckler's hair was unkempt, curly to the point past acceptance by Marine standards. This man's hair is straight, and short enough that rombley can definitely mark him as military. When he's finally only a few meters away, he speaks up. "Who the fuck are you?"
The man turns around, and he's caught off guard. "Hi, Trombley," Corporal Joshua Ray Person says congenially. He stands up and closes the distance between them. Trombley feels a nagging urge to stay on alert, but as Ray's eyes focus on his, the thought leaves as if it were water draining from a sink.
"R-Ray. You're dead, too?" His voice is hushed, and he's embarassed to realize he's stuttering. Ray laughs.
"Fuck no, I'm not.Death's for POGs and jerkoffs who don't know how to live right. Can't you see, man? It's a fucking dream. Brad's not real, you're not real, Chuckler ain't, and neither are Walt or me. All you gotta do is wake up." The voice is alluring. Trombley finds he can't ignore any of his words. "Brad'll be there. So'll Alicia and your kid. Everything will be okay. Just do it. Wake up, man."
"How?" he asks, finding that waking up is all he wants.
"It's easy," Ray tells him. He turns his hand in a great flourish. When it settles, in his palm is a peach, ripe and more vivid than any fruit he's ever seen. "Eat it."
As his hand reaches out for the fruit, something nags at him. Something Chuckler said to Sergeant Colbert, but what it is, he can't remember. All he can think about is his desire to wake up, and suddenly how very hungry he is. He takes the fruit. Even through the dirt and sand caking his digits, he can feel the fine hairs of the peach, can practically taste its nectar. He brings the fruit to his lips and downs a sizeable chunk of it in one bite.
The taste of ash fills his senses.He nearly throws up but finds his mouth working against his mind to swallow the chunk of fruit. He looks at the bitten peach in his hand and sees the core is molten red. The peach has turned blue, perfectly round and mottled with white and brown spots. His mind begins to swim and he realizes it's Earth he holds in his hands. His bitten off a chunk of the earth.
His mind begins to fill with the thoughts of billions of people, all at once. As that chunk of fruit slides down his throat he can begin to feel himslef becoming one with them all, even those who are unseen, what could most commonly be called a spirit. He realizes what's happened and power begins to fill him, great and terrible. It begins as heat, but begins to coalesce as light, streaming from his pores and Ray is no longer Ray, but him and James knows finally what Chuckler is.
"...Reaper." James' voice echoes across the vast plane of nowhere he and his team mates have found themselves in, and Ray-who-is-really-Chuckler laughs as the man falls to the floor, unconscious.
"Isn't that a bit melodramatic?" he asks, though he knows he'll get no answer. "'Sides, it's kind of a case of the pot and the kettle now. You're special James, like I was. I was waiting for you, and you came. My journey was long over, and I'm tired. I can wait for yours to end, but the transformation needed to begin. You're the most promising I've seen. Sleep a while. You'll feel better in the morning."
--
Brad and Walt race to where the source of the light came from, two deadly silent figures armed with the weapons of man in a world created by something far greater. After some time, Walt notices two figures in the distance and points them out. They bound forward, and just as the shapes are recognizable, Walt stops in his tracks.
Before the second one disappeared, he could have sworn he saw Ray.
To Chapter 7.