The food provided was better, we were given cleaner and more comfortable sleeping accommodations, the Praetorians were much more casual around us, and we were invited to dine with Caligula himself on a few occasions. It was also the only time I could remember ever having a two week furlough without the risk of being spontaneously summoned by the Navy. The longest leave I’d ever had since the war began, the time recovering from my wounds notwithstanding, was five days, and that was to pay my respects after my mother’s passing, and included travel time.
The best part though, was that we were finally allowed full access to the entire city of Rome. Every morning, Helena and I would go for a morning jog. We took it easy at first, rehabilitating her leg and ankle with walks and light jogs. Helena still had a bit of a limp, even by the end of the second week, but she was getting stronger. By the end of the first week, while not quick, she was at least nimble enough to sneak away from our Praetorian escorts with me.
Once away from their watchful eyes, we’d wander around the city for a few hours every morning, becoming very familiar with its narrow corridors and back alleys, as its residents became with us. Wearing our combat boots, shorts that hung above the knees, and tank tops, hers exposing her toned stomach, we stood out like a sore thumb.
Over the course of a few days, I noticed a few women gathering together on a street corner, giggling and pointing as I ran by. Their numbers grew as the days went on, and I always made sure to smile as goofy a smile I could, and wave. Some of them were fairly attractive, and if not for my overly protective and combative swim buddy, I may have made a pass at one or two of them. As we made our way around their corner, Helena would always glare at me.
Hypocrite. She didn’t have a problem with any of the guys who ogled her, of which there were many.
Vanity aside, our runs were really just a good way to pass the time. With little else to do after our daily calisthenics, Helena and I would head to those public baths I’d been dreaming about earlier, but we always kept our distance from each other. I hoped to avoid any inevitable awkwardness, which was always hard for me. After a scrub down with scented oils, and a quick dip in warm then cool water, we’d rendezvoused at the entrance, and head back to our small building.
The rest of the team would be there, but not for long. We spent plenty of time in each other’s company throughout the day, but some went out to explore the city on their own time. Generally, we all made it a point to gather for lunch, dinner, and Latin 101, but other than that, the day was ours. After dinner, Helena and I would head out and explore the sights, continuing our exploration. I always brought my camera along, and took pictures that would have historians drooling all over themselves to get a look at.
Occasionally, Santino would join us, “chaperoning” as he put it.
The truth is, despite his antics, charm, and pleasing disposition, Santino didn’t really fit in. Surprise, surprise. Most people could only take him in small doses, but I loved being around him. We gelled wonderfully.
Besides, Wang wasn’t really in the mood for jokes, Vincent had to remain distant from the rest of us, and while Bordeaux had a good sense of humor, Santino didn’t dare cross the big Frenchman. That left just Helena and me, which was fine by me.
Helena, on the other hand, was as uptight as they came around people like him, which only gave us the openings we needed to really piss her off. It didn’t take her too long before she realized it was all in good fun, and began a practice of slugging me in the arm to deal with her annoyances. Girls always thought it was cute to punch guys in the arm, but I never understood what was so fun about it. I didn’t mind too much, as long as she stayed away from my face.
Her childish antics notwithstanding, on the twelfth day of our vacation, I finally found the nerve to tell her my “nurse” story. I was starting to feel like I could truly trust her, and even though I’d been hesitant before, it was a story I’d been longing to get off my chest since the day it ended between the nurse and I. So, as we sat on the Capitoline Hill, with the Temple of Jupiter behind us and the Tiber River running south in front of us, I recounted my sad story.
With my first words, stating bluntly that the nurse who’d taken care of me happened to be very attractive, Helena rolled her eyes and turned away. We were seated on a low wall, with our feet dangling beneath us, a thirty foot drop below that. She used her position to kick my knee.
But not that hard.
“If this is going to be one of those ‘wild romps in the nurses’ ward’ stories,” she said in annoyance, “I’d rather not hear it. I’ve had enough of that from Santino.”
“It isn’t,” I said quietly, but she folded her arms in doubt anyway.
When I began the story, her interest level seemed low, but as the story slowly developed, just as it had in my head back in the HMS Triumph, her attention started to grow. Her look of disinterest quickly left her face, to be replaced by one of concern, and something else I couldn’t quite place. She seemed surprised at how close I’d grown with the nurse, and almost shocked at the revelation that I’d thought about proposing.
As I completed the story, just as the nurse and I had failed to find words as we parted, Helena and I couldn’t find any as well. But again, just like the nurse, it was Helena who spoke first.
“What was her name?”
It took me a moment to answer. “Cassandra.”
Helena paused a moment, giving me a chance to recover from the very personal story. She took my hand in her own and gave it a slight squeeze. “If it’s worth anything, Jacob, I think you handled the situation as well as anyone could have. It couldn’t have been easy.”
“Thanks,” I managed softly.
“Sounds as if we both come from depressing love lives,” she commented distractedly. She looked regretful for a moment before fixing her attention back on me. “I think it’s good that you told me. Thanks.”
“Want to know the worst part?” I asked with a frown.
“What’s that?” She asked, genuine concern in her voice.
“She looked exactly like you.”
She reeled back slightly, releasing my hand, and stared into the best puppy dog eyes I could muster. I almost felt bad using her memory that I resembled her late fiance, but it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. My lips must have cracked a bit, because her eyes quickly narrowed, and she looked very angry.
“Wait a second,” she started.
I started to chuckle. I had a horrible poker face. “I’m kidding. She looked nothing like you. She was blond, five and a half feet tall, and you get much cuter when you’re angry.”
It felt so good to have the story off my chest that I couldn’t help but laugh. The rage in her eyes only made me laugh harder, but it faltered when I saw her eyes still ablaze in fury a minute later.
Settling down, I apologized. “Look, Helena, I’m sorry. It was a bad joke. I didn’t mean to bring it up again.”
Her mouth twitched, and her look softened, a smile spreading across her own face.
“You’re so gullible, Lieutenant,” she said slyly.
It took me a minute before I smiled as well. “Oh… oh, you’re good.”
After that night, the two of us never hesitated if either one of us needed to talk.
As for the team as a whole, we spent our nights going through our gear and cataloging it. Needless to say, there was a lot of it, much more than we originally thought. If the situation called for it, we could spend most of our lives working as a private mercenary group, and never need to pick up a shield and sword. We’d be pretty expensive too.
I was also very pleased to find at least some of the Future Force Warrior gear I thought I’d never see again hidden in one of the containers. While we all still had our eye pieces and computer systems, the only other gear we brought with us was on our backs. While the traditional BDUs we found were nice, the other clothing item we discovered inside was a godsend.
There was no official name for what they were, as far as I knew, but I liked to call them combat assault fatigues. Both pants and jacket sets had numerous pockets festooned over them, and were camouflaged in multicam, useful in almost any terrain environment. We also found duplicate pairs, colored and patterned in dark gray and black, meant for night operations. Because its defensive abilities required tight contact with the skin, each set seemed specifically sized for each of us, with a left over set for McDougal.
