Just Another Day in Paradise {openish}

[Lt. Commander Katarina Foster]

I’m saying my chick bad
My chick hood
My chick do stuff that your chick wish she could
My chick bad, badder than yours
My chick do stuff that I can’t even put in words
Her swagger don’t stop
Her body won’t quit
So fool pipe down you ain’t talkin bout shit
My chick babe, tell me if you seen her
She always bring the racket like Venus and Serena

The sound of heavy thumps and loud shouts rang out through the underground training level compound as a select group of individuals went through their routine practices. A slender, dark haired woman stood on the side and watch her soldiers critically before she seemed to come to a conclusion and walked out in the middle of the mats.

"Ok, boys and girls! Thats a wrap for the night! Cool it down and then hit the shower! We'll take up on tactical manuevers again tomorrow night!"

As her crew groaned and sarcastic words were bandied about, Lt. Commander Katarina Foster smirked and tapped her foot on the mats. Letting her brows rise, she gave them all a look.

"Well, that is .. unless you all wanna stick around and go another few rounds with me? I'm sure I can summon up the energy to peg a few of you a couple more times."

That immediately got the response she expected and several of the unit headed for the showers. Shaking her head in a motion that sent her long ponytail dancing around her, Kat waited until they'd all disappeared and then began a work out of her own. It was routine and gave her some sense of normalcy that she lacked in other senses.

As a half vampire, she found her nights empty when they weren't out running a mission and spent more hours than not in this empty gym. Once in a great while, her former mentor would stop in to help her keep her edge but usually it was just her. It was in those long, empty hours that a sense of loneliness haunted her and if she didn't keep herself active.. She thought she would probably go insane. Short freaking drive she knew but what other option did she have? A freak had to do what a freak had to do, right? Right.

After two hours worth of grueling torture, Kat collapsed back on the cool mats and tried to catch her breath. Her muscles quivered in exhaustion but the restlessness that had been there before was gone. Nothing like stashing the demons in the closet, she thought to herself as she closed her eyes and tried to relax.

It was only then that a whisper of sound caught her attention and she vaulted to her feet in a blur of motion that was almost untrackable. Lashing out with a foot, she stopped just short of delivering a stunning blow to the intruder.

"Careful there, buddy.... That sort of thing could get you killed."

[John Sheppard]

Went down the highway
Broke the limit, we hit the town
Went through to Texas, yeah Texas
And we had some fun
We met some girls
Some dancers who have a good time
Broke all the rules, played all the fools
Yeah, yeah, they, they, they blew our minds


“I will go a few rounds with you Kat,” John smirked right before Curse elbowed him. His friend was worried Bullseye’s big mouth would get all of the team some extra drill. Shaking his head John followed the others as they left, it wasn’t exactly extra combat training he was looking for with the CO anyways.

Heading to the showers, he let the warm spray of water hit the back of his neck and closed his eyes. Training was all well, but it wasn’t a proper substitute for real action. The thing that came to his mind while he thought of Kat was, but he knew she would again go on with all that story of him being only human and the no sleeping with anyone under her command rule. As far as he knew, rules were made to be broken…and what was wrong with being only human anyways…sooner or later some moron would get lucky and kill him, so he would seize life while he could.

Stepping out of the shower, he slipped into a pair of jeans, boots and a button up shirt and off he was for some distraction.

Jumping into his motorcycle, he soon left the base and into one of the many nightclubs around. Drinks, women, made a game of pool and a fight. Those were the ideas in his mind when he pushed through the doors and the heavy music pounded in his ears, never mind the aching in his muscles due to training.

But after a solid hour of drinking and twenty minutes of flirting with a cute brunette, his mind constantly went back to the commander. It was real hard to focus on the woman’s curves when Kat didn’t leave his mind even when the brunette was kissing his neck.

And she wasn’t all that happy when he simply stepped up without a world, took the bottle from the bar and walked out. Sure there was some name calling, but John didn’t seem to care.

All he did was jump back into the motorcycle and ride back to the base.

And it wasn’t hard to find the woman that haunted his mind, was it? Off course he knew exactly where she would be as if a few hours hadn’t passed already. She always pushed herself further and harder than everyone else, felt it was her responsibility as the CO.

As for him, all he needed was someone to point him into a direction and he would be happy to blow up something or someone.

Laughing at her remark, John rolled his eyes.

“All work and no play makes you a dull girl commander,” he said waving the bottle at her. “How about it? I have some Tequila. Are you going to turn into bed early like an old lady or will you down a few shots with me?”

[Lt. Commander Katarina Foster]

Believe it or not, everyone have things that they hide
Believe it or not, everyone keeps most things inside
Believe it or not, everyone, believe in something above
Believe it or not, everyone, need to feel loved
Feel loved, but we don't, and we won't
Until we figure out, could someone deliver us?
And send us some kind of sign, so close to giving up
Coz faith is so hard to find
But you don't, and you won't, until we figure out

Ok, Sheppard had a death wish or something. That was the only thing Kat could figure as she stared at him over the bottle of tequila. The maniac always seemed to be popping up on her radar just when she thought she'd successfully pushed him into her mental box of "Do not open till the world crumbles into ash" things. Sometimes she swore that he lived just to push her buttons.

Dropping the foot that had been angled at his throat, the slender commander rolled her eyes and gave him an arched look. Brushing a strand of hair that had escaped her ponytail off her face, she sighed.

"Lt. Sheppard. You know damned good and well there isn't suppose to be any liquor on base." she retorted. "I could court marshall you for that, you know."

Then, belying her own words, she snatched the bottle from his hand and glanced at the label.

"Oh... Patron. My favorite! At least you tap the good stuff and not that bottle of the barrel sewage crap....... I might forgive you for the old lady comment after all."

Turning away, she grabbed up a towel and wiped off her face. Hot, sweaty and entirely to aware of John's presence, she took a deep breath before turning to face him again. Tossing the

"So... what brings you back here? I thought you guys would be fast asleep by now... Didn't I work you hard enough? And by the way.. You forgot the salt and lime. Good thing I'm made of stern stuff."

Moving to the mats, she sat down and twisted the top off the bottle. A slight shudder went through her at the smell but she lifted it to her lips took a hard hit. When she was finished, she wiped her mouth with the back of a hand and smirked at John.


"You going to stand there all night or you going to join me?? "

[John Sheppard]

Many stand against us but they will never win,
We said we would return and here we are again,
To bring them all destruction, suffering, and pain,
We are the hammer of the gods, we are thunder, wind, and rain!
There you wait in fear with swords in feeble hands,
With dreams to be a King, first- one should be a man,
I call them out and charge them all with a life that is a lie,
And in their final hour they shall confess before they die!

[/color]

There was a mischievous grin in his lips as he nonchalantly juggled up and down the Tequila bottle in his hands. He did see her leg coming, but he knew her well enough to know that it wouldn’t connect. As much as the commander seemed to fear losing her control, John in turn trusted her completely and was more than willing to risk it to prove it. And if he did died…well, at least he would die with a smile in his lips.

"Lt. Sheppard. You know damned good and well there isn't suppose to be any liquor on base. I could court marshall you for that, you know."

He did know very well, fact was he didn’t quite care. From where he stood, rules were there for one reason and one reason alone, to be broken. Their team was the perfect example, how many times had they broken one rule or another?

“If security isn’t good enough in this dump to prevent me from smuggling it in, it is not really my problem, is it?”

Come on, hot and sweaty Kat, he had dirty thoughts running around in his mind. How could he avoid coming back over and over to try his luck if that was what he found? John didn’t even try to stop his eyes from leering over her figure. Those were indeed some dangerous curves, but when did danger stopped him before? The psychic bitch was right at one thing at least, he had no fear of dying, what was the point when he hadn’t much to live for anyway? It had been that way sine Livie died, but this job and the sight of Kat stirred some life in him.

“No commander, I still have plenty of pent up energy left on me if you want to have a go,” he told her with a smirk, she was smart enough to read in the underlines and figure out what he meant. “Besides I will get enough sleep when I’m dead. As for the lime, yeah I guess I forgot that, but for salt I thought I could lick you. Human body is naturally salty, you know?”

Yeah, no shame at all in him.

Taking a seat next to her, he took the bottle from her hands and gulped down a hefty swig. And there was that familiar warm feeling that lighted his body on fire in the cold night.

“Hey Kat, what’s up with that last mission? I thought we were going after the whole pack, not pull down after a little scrap. Lucian got anything out of the fleabag he hauled in? And heck…what is with Rae and that Xena’s battle cry? Wasn’t I supposed to be the crazy one?”

[/center]

[Lt. Commander Katarina Foster]

There are days when she's a whisper
Nights when she's a scream
A reason to wake up in the morning
To close your eyes and dream
She'll curse you like a sailor
She'll wound you with her eyes
She always makes it better
But she won't apologize
I know everything about her but don't know her at all
She's a ride on a mystery train
To a place you've never been before
Better hold on tight to that mystery train
You're not in Kansas anymore
She's a ride on a Mystery train

Well, wasn't' he just a bag of surprises.
NOT.

Kat rolled her eyes at his wise cracks and let the burn of the tequila sooth her parched throat. His attitude was just what she'd come to expect from their resident explosive expert. All sarcasm and pent up aggression combined with a recklessness that boarded on insanity. He had no regard for his own life or the structure that she found some comfort in but she knew he'd die before he let any of his squad down. He was a wild card that she never knew what to make of and more often than not had to restrain herself from killing. Oh yeah, some days it really sucked to be her.

And when she wasn't wanting to kill him, she was fighting off the urge to see if he was all talk when it came to his flirting. Heaven help them both if she ever got weak enough to test that theory. From past experience, Kat knew that physical intimacy was the one time when she had no control over the blood lust. She could very easily kill him without even being aware of doing it. It was a risk she couldn't, wouldn't take no matter how much of a temptation he was.

Glancing over at him, she simply shook her head at his salt comment. The picture that flashed through her mind on that one had her reaching for the bottle again and taking another long drink. It was with a great deal of relief that she heard him change the subject.

"Eh... you know how missions are. Fly by the seat of your pants. We got done what needed done. Bad guys taken out, a flea bag toy for Lucien and a good time for all." she replied. "As far as Rae... Well, we all have our issues. As long as she shows up, does her part and doesn't piss me off... its all good. She can whistle Dixie if she wants as long as she takes care of business. We all have our quirks so... "

Shrugging, she leaned back on her palms and rolled her head on her shoulders in an effort to loosen tight muscles.

"And, for the record?? I think we are all a bit insane... You.. you just have a death wish....."she continued when she finally looked back at him. "Damn... Things are starting to heat up. We've been lucky so far but we are taking far more risks than we should. One of these times... One or more of us isn't going to come home. "

Reaching up, she rubbed a hand across her face and sighed.

"Its the only thing that scares me at this point...."

[John Sheppard]

Please me
Show me how it's done
Trust me
You are the one
I want to reconcile the violence in your heart
I want to recognize your beauty is not just a mask
I want to exorcise the demons from your past
I want to satisfy the undisclosed desires in your heart

[/color]


A good time for all, riiight. John would have a better time if he’d get to obliterate all the freaking werewolf race, maybe that would stop his nightmares and quench his thirst for revenge…or maybe it would be the death of him since at times it seemed like vengeance was the only thing that had him kicking at times.

“Death wish…yeah, that’s what that psych bitch likes to say. Can I blow her up, please?”

Bringing the bottle back to his lips he took another long swig and shrugged. Yeah, watching the woman he loved be eaten by a pack of murderous beasts had played quite a number with his mind, hadn’t it? Ah heck, he was never Mr. mental healthy to start with and he wasn’t allowed to talk freely about at least half of the classified crap in his past anyways, so why even bother?

“Heat up?” he smirked at her, “And here I was thinking only I was feeling the heated glares you’re giving me.”

A soft chuckle left him before he took a more serious demeanor. “We all knew what we were in from the moment we signed up Kat. We know we’re all going to leave young and good looking corpses behind…except for Curse obviously – like he would resist from taking this cheap shot at his friend even if he wasn’t there – and we all made our peaces with it. It is important what we’re doing here commander, for all those ungrateful bozos out there who don’t even know we exist or they’d been eaten by now.”

Giving her a little mock salute, he smirked. The glamorous life of fighting the nasty things that bumped into the night. No recognition, no freaking parades in their honor, the pay was crappy…but it was a helluva time.

Handling the bottle to his CO, John smiled.

“Come on, drink up commander, you’re to tense and in need of relaxing a bit. How about a little massage from yours truly? I promise to behave…”

Liar, like he was capable of behaving even if he half managed to pull out an innocent face.

[/center]

[Lt. Commander Katarina Foster]

Against the grain should be a way of life
What's worth the price is always worth the fight
Every second counts 'cause there's no second try
So live like you're never living twice
Don't take the free ride in your own life

It all seemed so simple coming from Johns mouth but Kat knew it wasn't. Each and every time they went out, she lived with the knowledge that one or any of them could be killed in the line of duty. So far, she'd been able to shove that knowledge to the side and do what needed to be done but the day might come when she couldn't. The longer she was with this team, the more they felt like family and the thought of losing one of them... Hell, it terrified her, plain and simple. One stupid screw up and the baddies could cut through them like a knife to butter.

Sighing, Kat ran a hand over her face and took the bottle. Gulping the liquor down, she coughed and then eyed John warily. The dude had no sense of self preservation. He'd probably flip if she ever took him up on his blatant invitations. The good lord knew they'd been dancing around each other enough.

"As nice as that sounds... I'm afraid I'm going to have to pass, Lt. It wouldn't do to get caught in a compromising position with a fellow officer. We'd both get our asses kick off the squad."

Handing him back the bottle, she pushed to her feet wearily and tossed her towel at him.

"Now, if you'll excuse me... I am going to hit the showers and then held for the bunker to get some shut eye. You should probably see about doing the same... Tomarrow could be a long day."

Turning towards the locker room, Kat moved with her easy grace but paused long enough to toss back over her shoulder.


"And just for the record?? The day you behave will be the day they bury me for the last time!"

With that, she disappeared into the showers with laughter trialing behind her.

[John Sheppard]

Never made it as a wise man
I couldn't cut it as a poor man stealin'
Tired of livin' like a blind man
I'm sick inside without a sense of feelin
And this is how you remind me
This is how you remind me
Of what I really am

[/color]


But to John it was that simple.

Everyone on the team knew the stakes, why they fought and that each mission could be their last one. Heck, he knew that since the very first day he had joined the SEALS. Not to mean that he wouldn’t mourn their passing, even that annoying Lucien who pretended to be a killer monk. They were like a family to him, but he had to learn that shit happens and people die, get over it. His way of getting over just was getting drunk, going into suicidal missions and then partying like the world was about to end.

Mothers worried if their kids played with scissors when they were small…HA! his mother should have worried when her son played with explosives when he’d grow.

It was a shame to see Kat go, but didn’t it always make for a beautiful sight to watch her wander off?

Smiling as she tossed her towel at him, Bullseye took another long hard pull at the bottle. “It would be worth being kicked out the squadron for that,” he mumbled under his breath. Like they would get hid of the ones insane enough to get the job done!

“Good night grandma!” he spoke after her mockingly. Sleep that early, yeah right! Forget about he was just yawning, he had almost half tequila bottle still. And…and…”Hey, do you need any help in the showers?...Just checking…”

[/center]

[Lt. Commander Katarina Foster]

(Hey John, I thought this was a good wrap? Then we can start a new thread for the team and the whole plot we talked about with John? If your up for it still anyways!)

[John Sheppard]

(Sure thing)