FIC: 3 Years in Hell, A Lifetime of Pain (6/?)

[BillGopher <asagiri@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Disclaimers - Buffy and Co. belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and UPN. 
We're just borrowing them for a bit.

Other Disclaimers - This has violence and angst aplenty. Break out the 
kleenex, you might need them.

Archives - As Faith put it, "Want, Take, Have", just let us know where.

Feedback - We both thrive on feedback of all kinds. We can be reached at 
kerrison29@xxxxxxxxxxxxx or senseiferret@xxxxxxxxx. Bill Gopher & Kerry 
Ferret

Three Years in Hell, A Lifetime of Pain
Chapter 6 

Sunnydale, CA

Joyce had been tossing and turning for the last several hours. Turning 
she looked over at Rupert to make sure he was asleep before getting out 
of bed. Slipping into a robe, she walked out and down the hallway to 
Dawn's room and looked in. She saw Dawn sleeping peacefully, < At least 
they can get some sleep.> walking back out of the room Joyce closed the 
door and headed downstairs to the living room.

< I know Rupert hasn't been sleeping well in the last few weeks. He's 
been so worried about Beth ever since she left for France.> Walking into 
the living room, Joyce sat down and turned the TV on and changed the 
channel to CNN. Part of her was hoping to see Beth, while another part 
was terrified to see her little girl there. She wasn't sure which would 
bother her more.

After she sat there for a while, she heard footsteps behind her and she 
felt Rupert's hands on her shoulders.

"Joyce, you can't stay down here. You need to sleep and you aren't doing 
yourself any good waiting to see something." Rupert moved around to the 
front of the couch and sat down next to his wife.

"I can't, what if the news shows something I'll miss it. I can't sleep 
anyway."

Rupert could see the worry lines etched on Joyce's face from the strain 
she put on herself. He knew she had been coming down here to watch the 
news for the last week.

"Rupert, I..."

"Joyce, please. Come back with me upstairs and rest. You read the letter 
from Beth, she's fine. What would she say if she were to see what you 
are doing to yourself?"

"She'd probably yell at me for worrying," Joyce replied.

"Yes she would. You're nightly visits down here are worrying us all 
Joyce. Dawn especially, she needs you as much as you need Beth to be 
back here where she's safe."

"I know. I'm not trying to ignore dawn. But ever since I found out about 
Beth being in France, I remember seeing my mother pace and worry when 
Dad went to Vietnam. I just can't sleep Rupert...I'm so tired." Joyce 
felt Rupert pull her close and hold her gently against his chest. "I 
know Joyce, so am I." He felt her slowly start to drift off as he 
whispered softly that that everything would be okay and not to worry.

Picking Joyce up, Rupert carried her back to the bedroom and gently laid 
her down on the bed and pulled the sheets over her sleeping form. 
Kissing her gently on the forehead, "I love you Joyce Summers."

Walking quietly out of the bedroom Rupert headed downstairs to his 
study. Once he was there he sat down at the desk and pulled out a metal 
lockbox from the bottom drawer. Unlocking it he opened the box and 
removed the only item inside, a small black address book.

Holding the small book in his hands, <I had promised myself I would 
never use this, that I would not ask them for help, there is always a 
price to pay for their assistance... I believed that nothing could ever 
make me willing to go to them for help, I was wrong.>

Opening the address book, he turned several pages till he saw there on 
the page the words, W. Council Contacts written on the top.

Flipping pages Giles searched for a name, someone who would help him 
without having to contact the Council directly, at least yet. <Carol. 
Yes, she might be able to help me.> 

Picking up the phone Giles dialed the international operator and a 
minute later he heard the phone ring 3 times when a women's voice 
answered. "Watson residence."

"Carol, it's Rupert Giles. How are you?"

"Ripper? Its good to hear from you!" The woman's voice became more warm 
and friendly, "We had heard that the Council in its infinite wisdom had 
bounced you. So what has you calling an old lady like me?"

"Actually I'm calling because I need some help Carol. I have a problem 
and I don't want to involve the Council in this matter."

Giles heard several seconds silence on the line, "What's wrong? Is it 
your Slayer, Miss Summers?" The humour and warmth in her voice was gone 
replaced by a business attitude.

==================

Outside Los Angeles, CA

Faith arrived at the Tick-Tock Diner several minutes early, <Always 
better to get a feel of the place, before the spooks show up,> and 
walked over to a table where she could see everyone who walked in and 
waited.

10 minutes later she saw a tall, dark-skinned man walk in to the diner 
and head over to her table.

"Miss Winters?" his deep baritone voice asked and pulled out a chair as 
she sat down in front of her.

Pulling out an envelope he placed it on the table and slid it over to 
Miss Winters, "I have been asked to convey our satisfaction with your 
last operation. The intelligence ring you broke could have compromised 
national security and agents abroad."

Faith took the envelope and slid it into a inner pocket in her jacket. 
<Working for the NSA does have some perks> she thought happily. <And I 
know that St. Agnes's Church needs a new gym, I guess Santa's coming 
early this year.> Faith suppressed the urge grin.

"We'll be in touch thru normal channels." Within a second he was gone.

<Dang NSA agents are better at disappearing than Angel.> she thought. 
Faith noticed some patrons of the restaurant looking in her direction 
and quickly dropped a few bills on the table before making her way out 
and to her bike.

Once on her bike headed towards her apartment Faith felt her anger 
starting to return. No matter how long or how many missions she did for 
the NSA she still felt helpless about Beth.

Faith pulled out into the street and felt the rush of the wind as she 
gunned the engine flying down the highway as she headed back towards her 
apartment. <It's been over 3 weeks since Red dropped by and told me 
about Beth, damnit!> Faith felt a rush of anger over her frustration, 
none of her contacts in the NSA or even Angels demon contacts could 
scrounge up the tiniest bit of info on Beth's whereabouts or if she was 
okay. <Why the brick wall? What else is going on here?> Faith thought, 
suddenly wondering if this wasn't a coincidence.

Faith slowed the bike as she neared her building, <Fuck it. Nothing 
matters but getting Beth back safe. I'll deal with anything else later> 
she thougth when she realized there was one person she hadn't spoken to 
yet. <Damnit, I hate singing! Slayer's don't sing, well at least I don't.>

====================

Firebase Bravo 112
75 kilometers east of Bordeaux, France
1315 hours local time, October 16

Taylor, Beth and the rest of the squad walked into the large briefing 
room. Scattering about they sat down with the rest of Charlie company.

At the front of the room were several covered charts, the company 
commander, Capt. Daniels and Gunny O'Shea. "Gunny, lets get this on the 
road," said Daniels.

"Taylor! Shut the door. Everyone else put a lid on it, the captain's 
here to brief you meatheads, not stand here looking at you."

Once the door was closed and Taylor was seated, Daniels pulled the cover 
off the first chart revealing a map of Pyrenees region and several 
cities. "The 13th MEU and 2nd MarDiv are to launch an assault from 
Gironde and strike into the Midi-Pyrenees. Their job is to take Gers, 
and the bases at Montauban, Cahors, Rodez and Aurillac. HQ has code 
named this operation, Thuderbolt."

"We won't be in the main assault however, the 13th along with 1 
battalion from the 7th Light Cav and the 82nd Airborne we'll be going in 
behind UE lines and hit their supply depots and commo & command bunkers."

"Our job is to cause as much destruction and chaos in their rear areas 
as possible. And considering the chaos you've managed back here," 
Daniels smiled, "that should be easy." Some of the tension left the room 
eased by his humour.

"We will not have any artillery or air support during our phase of this 
operation. All air & artillery have been have had control transferred to 
the Army's I Corps who are launching a diversionary assault with the 1st 
Batt/69th Armour and the 7th Light Infantry near Tours."

"At 0130 hours we'll be choppered in behind Cahors, command has decided 
that Charlie & Alpha companies will be broken down into platoons when 
we're inserted. Better chance at making it in and out that way. You'll 
have 6 hours to do all the damage you can and meet back at your 
rendezvous point for pickup. Anyone not there will have a long walk 
home. You'll receive the rendezvous points for the insertion and 
retrieval when you lift off."

"This operation commences in 12 hours, I expect to see all of you here 
after the operation. Good luck." Daniels walked out of the silent room.

O'Hara's voice rang out, "Get you're gear together, you'll be given 
double your basic ammo load for this op. Platoon commanders and 
sergeants stay behind. Everyone else, dismissed."

Beth headed back to the barracks, at her bunk she pulled out some paper 
& a pen and started writing;


Dear Mom, October 16,2003

Sorry I haven't written in awhile things have been hectic to say the 
least. I know your worrying about me and I'll tell you again that you 
shouldn't. Yes it's dangorous here but I've got a great team to back me 
up. Taylor's been great at whatching my back and I've even managed to 
save him a few times.

I wanted to let you know that I might not be writing for a few weeks. We 
are headed to a pretty tight spot and won't have much time. I just 
wanted to let you know this so you won't worry from not getting letters.

Give my love to Dawn, tell Giles to relax and stop being so British and 
let Xand and Will know I'm okay and will be writing as soon as possible.

Elizabeth Summers, LCpl. USMC

<<<<<<>>>>>>

Somewhere SE of Brive-la-Gaillard
0530 hours local time
October 17

Beth shifted the Alice Field Pack she was carrying, it was a good deal 
lighter now. They had destroyed 2 supply depots, a fuel dump, and a 
satellite dish in the last four hours, <Well things are going good so 
far, lets just keep our fingers crossed no patrols.> Beth thought as she 
walked over to Taylor. "Taylor, what's next?" she spoke softly.

"Not sure, think we're headed towards a triple C (Command, 
Communications, & Control) base about 10 kilometers north, after that we 
head back to the extraction LZ. Just stay on your toes."

The platoon stopped just below a steep rise in the road and gathered 
around the new Lieutenant, Jason Means.

"Okay, here's what I want. Just over that rise the road goes down into a 
small valley. On either side of the road is forest and on the other side 
of this valley intel says is a triple C site for this sector. Black, 
take your squad down and scout out the road for any surprises. If its 
clear signal me and I'll follow with the 2nd squad. Taylor, you stay 
back at the top. If there is a trap, you'll be responsible for making a 
hole for us to pull back. Clear?" When he saw the three squad leader's 
nod, "Good. Let's go."

Black took his squad over the rise and down the road, they spread out as 
they got to the bottom and moved into the valley. Several minutes passed 
when one of the squad appeared and signaled 'All Clear'. Taylor watched 
as the LT took his squad down the hill and straight down the road 
towards the forest. <Idiot! What's he doing? Why are they bunched up?>

The LT signaled Taylor to come down, "Alright, spread out. Ramirez, I 
want you and Shintaro on the flanks. The rest of you keep your eyes 
peeled, this is too easy." As those last words left his mouth gunfire 
erupted from the forest cutting down Lt Means and two other Marines.

The rest of the Marines dropped down looking for any cover in the open 
ground. Taylor quickly saw the heaviest fire was coming from left side 
of the road by a fallen oak. "Shintaro, Little, give me some cover fire 
by that oak!" Several other Marines started firing towards the oak as 
well and the enemy fire started to slack off.

Beth crawled up to Taylor, "Are we having fun yet?" she quipped 
sarcastically.

"I have had better," as he fired off several rounds where he saw a huey. 
"Now go get your butt over..." when an explosion came from behind them. 
Turning he saw a group of about 10 huey's charging from behind them at 
the top of the hill. "Summers, grab Ramirez and Little," Taylor fired 
three rounds hitting one huey and dropping him, "and move over to that 
ridge on the right. See if you can swing over it and hit them from the 
side. We'll hold them here."

"K," Beth replied as she fired two quick bursts killing 2 huey's and 
started to crawl over as bullets flew above her from two directions. She 
got to Ramirez first, "Ram, you're with me. Have you seen Little? He's 
got the M60."

"He's dead." Ramirez replied as he moved back, staying low.

"Shit. Well then it's just you and me then. Let's go."

The two moved up the hill and over the top of the ridge and down several 
feet on the opposite side. "Ram, this is what we're gonna do. Taylor's 
holding the huey's that hit us from behind. We're gonna return the 
favour and hit them from behind catching them between us and open a way 
out so Taylor can get the platoon the hell out of there." The two moved 
around the back of the ridge, the sounds of continuous gunfire carrying 
over the hill as they moved towards the road.

Beth used hand signals to tell Ramirez to stay here as she moved 
forward. Moving quickly she stayed low, <Good, the roads clear. The 
didn't leave anyone behind.> Pulling back she got to Ram, "Okay, its 
clear. When we get to the top, split left, I'll go right. Kill anything 
that moves fast and hard. We have to punch a hole fast and get them out 
of there." She saw him nod and they set off towards the road, they moved 
up just below the crest of the hill, Beth looked at Ram and gave him the 
thumbs up.

The 2 charged over the ridge, as Beth crossed over the top saw a huey 
officer stare at her in horror. She fired a short burst killing him. 
Running she dropped behind a broken tree stump and pulled a grenade and 
the pin, "one potato, two potato, three.." and she tossed it at 2 huey's 
to her right and dropped down. She heard a WARRUMPH! as the grenade 
exploded, peeking out she saw the huey's were dead.

"Taylor! NOW!" Beth yelled, as she did something caught her eye on her 
left, as she turned her head she saw a huey pop out off and fire at her. 
She heard he supersonic CRACK as bullets flew by her head. Dropping down 
she started to duck behind the tree stump when she felt a white-hot 
poker along her arm. "AHHHH!" she yelled out in pain, once she was down 
she looked and saw a bullet had hit her in the arm. <Ahh, shit that 
hurts. Ugghh! It doesn't look like it hit a bone.>

Turning her head back towards the road she saw Taylor and several others 
from the platoon charging up the hill where she and Ram had opened up a 
hole for them to get out. Grabbing her rifle with her good hand she 
slung it over her shoulder and forced herself to sit up, trying to 
ignore the pain. <Ok, on 3 we're gonna get up and run the hell out of 
here. Okay. Three!> Stumbling to her feet, Beth felt the pain shoot up 
her arm as she moved it dashing up the hill towards Taylor and the 
others who had taken positions on the top of the hill firing back at the 
huey's. Passing Taylor she slowed down on the other side of the hill and 
stumbled over O'Shea. "Shit. O'Shea!" She turned away suddenly 
stumbling back from what was left of the Corporal. The right side of 
his head and face had been blown off.

She felt a hand grab her from behind and saw that it was Ramirez. 
"They're cutting us down like wheat out here," said Ramirez. He noticed 
the amount of blood coming from her arm. "How bad?"

"I've had worse. Fuckin' huey took out O'Shea."

Moving back from the hilltop, Taylor jogged over to Beth, "Summers, get 
everyone back here moving towards the LZ." He looked over the remaining 
marines of the platoon, "Ramirez, Bryans, Donnell, you're with me. We're 
gonna keep them a little busy. O'Brien take the claymores & frags and 
mine this back side of the ridge along the road. I want a surprise left 
for anyone following us. You've got 5 minutes to do it. Go."

Beth got the remaining seven injured Marines moving quickly as possible, 
<The LZ's about 10 klicks from here, we can make it. But that damn 
chopper better be there.> Taking a quick glance, Beth turned and looked 
for Taylor, seeing him she turned back towards the Marines ahead of her.

<<<<>>>>

Fifteen minutes later, Taylor and the other Marines caught up with Beth 
and her group. "We're about 20 minutes from the LZ Beth," he said to her 
from behind when he noticed the blood dripping down her hand.

Beth turned to look at Taylor, "Glad you're back. I'm not sure if some 
of them can keep this pace up though."

"How bad is it?" he asked as he saw the pale pallor of her face.

"It passed thru my arm, didn't hit anything. Sanderson patched up best 
he could. It'll have to wait till we get back to base though. I'll be ok 
though." Beth turned to hide a grimace of pain from Taylor as she 
shifted her arm.

Taylor saw her face before she could turn however and knew she was 
lying, "Okay. You and Ramirez take rear-guard. I'll see about moving 
things up. We may have to start ditching anything we don't need. Watch 
yourself Beth." And he jogged forward to the front of the line.

<<<<<<>>>>>>

Beth and Ramirez stayed behind on guard as Taylor and the rest of the 
platoon headed into the LZ. Suddenly they heard gunfire from the LZ, 
"Shit! What the hell?" she heard Ramirez say.

Beth took off at a run towards the LZ and Taylor, as she got closer she 
heard gunfire stop, slowing down she moved behind some trees for cover.

Seconds later Ramirez crawled up beside her. "Trouble up at LZ. We've 
got to get cover."

"Cover? We can't leave the rest of the unit." Ducking her head from 
behind the tree she saw Taylor throw down his weapon followed by the 
other unit members. The chopper was a burning wreck and Taylor and the 
platoon were surrounded by at least a company huey's.

One huey came up beside Shintaro smashing the butt of his rifle into his 
ribs, bringing him to his knees.

Ducking back behind the tree. "Shit! There's about a 100 or so that I see."

"It's no good Summers. We've got to get out of here."

"No buts, we get captured we don't help anyone." Ramirez moved away 
silently, heading back down the trail they came.

Taking one last look back Beth looked for Taylor, but couldn't see him. 
Turning she started after Ramirez.

==============

Beth started scribbling on the paper she had scrounged up in the 
abandoned bunker that she had found this morning.

Faith,
I'm writing this in the few spare minutes I have in a bunker we found 
last night. We've been on the run for 2 days straight, ever since we 
were caught outside Aurillac in an ambush. I'm not sure where Ramirez 
and I are right now.
If I didn't know better I'd say they were waiting for us. I haven't 
seen Taylor since we managed to pull back, I don't know if any others 
managed to get away. I just know Ramirez and I have to keep moving 
south, but we can't keep this pace up. I'm so tired, maybe we'll lose 
them. I hope so."
War is... war is indescribable Faith. It rips away at you, tearing 
your insides till you can't feel anything. War is sweat and blood and 
though you've shed some blood, it is the blood of those you went to 
school with, your friends and comrades, those you were too slow to 
protect that is shed.
The sun's gone down and we have to move out. We'll have a better 
chance at night to avoid being captured. We might be able to get back, 
but I'm not sure. Take care of yourself and tell Mom & Dawn I love them.

Elizabeth Summers, LCpl. USMC

=====================

Sunnydale, CA
1 Week Later...

Joyce was standing in the kitchen when she heard the car pull up in her 
driveway and when the doorbell rang a few moments later. As she walked 
towards the door a chill run down her back. Opening the door she was 
greeted to the sight of two officers from the Marines, "No!" she whispered.

The officer on her left grasped her arm and held her from falling as he 
guided her into the living room and to the couch. Joyce dully noted the 
cross on his right collar instead of the marine insignia on both. The 
priest sat down next to her holding her hand, while the other officer 
stood in front.

"Beth??? She's okay, right?" Joyce asked.

"Mrs. Summers, I'm sorry to bear this news. On October 17th, 2003, Lance 
Cpl. Elizabeth Summers was involved in several rear area actions with 
elements of the 2nd & 3rd Company/13th Foreign Legion Demi-Brigade. When 
her unit was ambushed, she rallied members of her platoon and flanked 
the unit that attacked them. During this attack, LCpl Summers was 
injured during combat, but was able to open a way for her platoon to 
pull back and allow the remnants of the platoon to fall back out of the 
ambush and back towards their retreival point. There the platoon was 
ambushed by a UE company who were lying in wait. She was again injured 
as she created a diversion to allow several members of her platoon to 
escape. We regret to inform you that Lance Cpl. Summers was killed in 
action. Please accept our deepest condolences and the thanks of a 
grateful nation for her service to her country." Capt Myers finished. He 
hated this part of his job, all he saw was the pain in the faces of the 
families he visited. But it was something that 'had' to be done.

"NOOO!!!!!!!" Joyce wailed. <It can't be Beth, there has to be a 
mistake. She's too smart and strong, she promised she'd come back and 
they'd keep in touch.> She felt the priest holding her as he tried to 
comfort her, but his words were meaningless. Beth was dead and nothing 
was going to bring her back.

Capt. Meyers continued, "For her bravery under fire, Lance Cpl. Summers 
is posthumously being awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. Her 
actions saved several of her teammates, you should be proud of her."

The priest finally spoke up next to her, "Can we call someone for you, 
your husband, family? This is not a time for you to be alone Mrs. Summers."

"M-my husband, Rupert" Joyce felt the tears pour down her face and the 
pain rack her body. Beth was gone, she would never be able to tell her 
how much she loved her.

The priest motioned to Capt. Myers who pulled out a cell-phone and 
stepped a few feet away to make the necessary calls.

TBC...