Vengeful Storm Ch. 03

Hi All

As I'm having serious writers block with some of my current stories, I have decided to edit my stories already on Lit and re-submit them. A big thank you to amerks29hockey for editing this chapter. All characters taking part in sexual activity are eighteen or over. For those waiting for another installment of Cowboy's Honour, i am having serious trouble with it. I will probably take the series off of Lit and re-edit it and then re-submit it. Hopefully going through it will inspire me.

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*Sam*

I was sitting in my office going over the last couple of days in my head. I could hear a steady drip, drip, drip coming from outside somewhere. I would have to get one of the guys on to it. Living in a sewer wasn't the most ideal of places but it was all that was left. Still, we had to be vigilant with leaks. We had blocked up all the manholes but when we got a big storm through sometimes water still somehow managed to sneak in.

I could hear footsteps walking down the hall, quickly coming closer to the door. I knew who it was. Jack had already told me about how pissed Raine was. But much to my surprise it wasn't Raine who poked her head around the door.

"Hey big brother."

"Hey yourself. How you doing Sal?"

Sal walked over and plonked herself on the edge of my desk, a big grin on her face. "Just fine. What about you? Heard you were having women problems."

"Ha ha. I don't know what to do Sal. So much has happened in the last couple of days, I just can't seem to get my head around it. What am I going to do about Storm?"

"Have you talked to her yet?"

"No, I thought I'd wait for a while until she's on less meds and able to answer my questions without falling asleep. Although Jack says she's pretty bloody lucid for the amount of drugs we put her on. Still, I think I should wait until she's got some strength back."

"Maybe. Personally I'd talk to her soon anyway. Not about anything in particular, just anything really. Get to know her. You've always been good at judging people and working out their character. You'll know whether or not she's trustworthy."

"It's not just that Sal. There's something else about her. Something I can't quite put my finger on."

"Jack told me earlier. You think Storm is like you?"

Out of everyone in that base, Jack and Sal were the only ones who knew about my past. Simply because I knew that they wouldn't judge me for what I was and in a way still am. They would still look at me and see their big brother. Other people aren't so forgiving, even if everything you've done was for their safety.

"I don't know. But I don't want to take the risk that she could pose a threat. At least I don't have her sister breathing down my neck any more."

"Sam, I want a word with you." I had to say it didn't I? The door was pushed open, banging loudly against the concrete. "I'm not at all happy about this Sam. There is absolutely no reason to have Storm restrained like she is. How you doing Sal?"

"Hi Raine. I'll just leave you two alone shall I?"

The look she gave me over Raine's shoulder said one thing. Suffer. She was so going to pay later. I sighed to myself warily. I was tired and I wasn't in the mood to hear Raine go on about her sister. "I thought Jack told you why it was necessary to have her restrained."

"Yeah, and I don't buy it. And I know why you sent Jack to tell me instead of telling me yourself. I've been speaking to Sal. I know how good Jack is at bull shitting. Please don't degrade my intelligence by telling me it's because of the drugs she's on. I spent over half an hour with her and she's perfectly lucid."

I was going to kill Sal when I got my hands on her. "Raine, please could we not do this now. My head's splitting and I have rounds to do."

"Your head's not going to be the only thing that's splitting if you don't take the cuffs off of her. Storm knows why you've done it and she respects you for thinking of your men, god knows why. I think she's hit her head harder than we first thought, but she knows I'm safe here. She's not going to try any more escape attempts."

"Look, I'll talk to Storm tomorrow morning. If I feel that she's going to be okay then I'll take the cuffs off of her. I don't want to hear anything else about it."

"God you're a hard bastard. You're worse than my father."

"Good, you should be used to being told what to do then."

"Aaahhh, you're impossible. Fine! Tomorrow morning. But if you don't come and realise how utterly ridiculous you're being then I'll get her out myself and damn the consequences."

I stared thoughtfully at Raine. I knew how dedicated Storm was to Raine, I had seen it first hand when Storm came to free her. But I don't think I had fully realised until just now how dedicated the sisters were to each other. "You really would do anything for each other, wouldn't you?"

Raine's face softened a little and I heard her sigh softly. "Well it's like I said. We're all each other have."

"Can I ask you something?"

"You can ask. Whether or not I'll answer is another thing entirely."

"Alright then. What did Storm do, before the war broke out?"

"What do you mean, what did she do?"

"What did she do for work?"

"Oh, I've never been sure really. She worked for the government, same as my father but in another division. Storm never really talked about her work much. I think she worked as an interpreter for high ranking government officials, you know, when they had meetings with men from other countries, other worlds. That sort of thing. She speaks something like twelve languages. Like I said, Storm never really talked about her work. In fact to be honest, we never really saw her over the past six years. She was off world a lot."

Raine slowly sat down on one of the chairs, a far away look in her eyes as she remembered her past. "We were never close as kids. We loved each other dearly and would still do anything for each other. We were just into different things. I took after our mother. I know it's hard to imagine now, but I was a very shy child. I got teased a lot and stayed at home most of the time. Storm though, god, she was a hellion.

"My father was the security chief of quadrant sector five here on Earth. Storm took after him. My father always wanted us to be able to protect ourselves and taught us a little self-defence and how to properly use a gun. Storm excelled. Dad started to train her every afternoon in martial arts. I think she even did some training with the new cadets before she got her job as an interpreter."

Raine shook her head as if to pull herself out of the memories. I was glad. I had gotten more out of Rain than I thought I would.

"I'm sorry, why do you want to know this?"

"I'm just interested. I wanted to get a look at Storm's character."

"Really? And what did you discover?"

"That she's a remarkable young woman that will do anything and risk everything for her family."

"If that is what you believe then why is my sister still in chains?"

"For that very reason. Look, I can see why you're upset, but I have to think of the people in this base. I'm responsible for them and I'm not going to put them in any unnecessary danger. I'll talk to your sister tomorrow and assess the situation then. That's my final offer."

I could see Raine going through what I had just said. "You're an asshole, you know that don't you?"

"So I've been told. I'll see your sister tomorrow. You have my word."

"Fine. But I don't have to like it. And tell your brother to stay away from me. He's starting to piss me off."

"He's only concerned about your welfare you know."

"Welfare my ass. He's just trying to be annoying."

I chuckled to myself. "Raine, I know he's a pain in the ass. I grew up with the dweeb. But at the same time he just wouldn't be Jack if he wasn't the way that he is."

"I'll take your word for it. So, I have your word that you'll talk to Storm as soon as she's awake tomorrow?"

"Yes Raine. I promise. However, on the condition that I get to talk to her alone."

"Fine. But if you upset her then I'll bear down on you like a ton of bricks. Agreed?"

"Agreed. Now go to bed. It's late and I have things to do."

"Good looking and polite. My dream man."

"Bed."

Raine stuck her tongue out as she walked through door. I now knew why I never got married. Women were more trouble than they were worth. Like my Pa used to say. Can't live with 'em, can't kill 'em.

I got my papers together and put them away before going to the civilian sector. I made it my habit to go there every night to make sure everyone was okay and see if there were any things that were desperately needed. Tonight it was more important than most. I needed the normality of routine. I had a lot to think about before I talked to Storm in the morning.

*Storm* I could see my family standing under the old oak tree in our backyard, waiting for me. A picnic had been lain out under the shade of the tree I used to climb so often when I was younger. Everywhere was green; the sky was bright and blue. It was like the war had never happened. I could hear children running through the woods behind our house, playing hide and seek. Laughter, happiness, innocence. Not a care in the world.

I wanted to warn them, my family, and my friends. Everyone. They were coming. Those that spread darkness. That stole the light from the sky and from our hearts. They were so close. I was running towards my family, trying to get to them but they were forever out of reach. Why weren't they listening to me? Why were they leaving me? I was losing them. The faster I ran the further away they got. And then the world was plunged into darkness.

I sat bolt upright in bed sweat dripping down my body. After everything I have seen in this world, not many things frighten me, but this dream had me shaking. It had been so long since I had last experienced the nightmare. Since I felt like my soul had been ripped out from me. I had pushed all emotion aside in the pursuit for Raine. But now I had her safe, now I knew she was with me again, I had let the emotion back in. I was so badly shaken that I didn't ever hear the door to my room open, or the man who had opened it enter.

"Storm? Are you alright?"

My head whipped around towards the voice. I tried to shake myself of the nightmare. Even here it could prove fatal to lose myself to thoughts and feelings of the past. "You must be Sam."

I saw a grin spread across his face. I started to get worried. Either this wasn't the commander or my sister and I were being protected by an idiot.

"Guilty I'm afraid. I'm sure your sister hasn't painted me in the best of lights."

"We haven't really talked about you to be honest. I've been a little bit, well, drugged. I assume you're here to see if I'm safe enough to be released around mankind."

"Well I can see you and Raine are sisters."

"Because of our charming personalities?"

"Yep, definitely sisters."

"Why? Has Raine been giving you a hard time?"

"You could say that. I'm here to give you a chance to prove to me that you won't be a threat to my men or the civilians of this base."

"How kind of you. Look. It's like I told my sister. As long as I know she's safe then there won't be a problem. I can understand why you have me locked up and I would probably do the same in this situation. But my sister is safe. That's all that matters to me and as long as you treat her right we won't have a problem."

*Sam*

I looked into Storm's eyes. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul and I've always found that to be true. The question was did I trust her? The answer? No. But did I trust that the bond between Storm and her sister would keep her in line? I thought it might. So I was willing to give her a chance.

Walking up to the side of the bed, I took Storm's arm in my hand and started to unlock the steel and leather binds around her wrists. The skin was slightly red and chaffed from where the cuffs had rubbed against her. I would have to get Doc to look at that.

"I'm going to trust you here and let you out. Don't prove me wrong about you Storm. We may be the good guys in this war, but I have over two hundred men, women and children down here. I won't hesitate to do what's necessary to keep them safe. Do we have an understanding here?"

"Yeah. We have an understanding. Now if I were you, I'd go and tell Raine that you've released me. Otherwise she'll be tearing into whoever you've got watching her."

"You think so?"

"I'd be doing the same if our positions were switched."

"Maybe I'll wait for a few more minutes then."

"Why?"

I looked at Storm with a grin. "Because it's my baby brother who's watching her."