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brUTUS

“S o what’s the surprise?” Linda asked.

From his driver’s seat, Brutus looked over, smiling mysteriously. In the Thursday afternoon light, he looked youthful and happy, like a man at peace.

“You look like the cat who just ate the canary. Seriously, what’s up?”

“I was just… it feels good to be with you again,” Brutus said, still smiling faintly. “How was your Thursday?”

“Typical Sergeant’s Time,” Linda replied, leaning back in the passenger seat. “Sergeant Lincoln had the platoon working on first aid and evacuation. A refresher course really, everyone in the platoon’s already a combat lifesaver.”

“So you can patch yourself up?” Brutus asked, and Linda nodded. “How much?”

“Just basic first aid, enough to patch ourselves up until the medics arrive," Linda said. "The only thing really specialized is dealing with lung punctures.”

“Sucking chest wound?” Brutus asked, and Linda nodded. “What’s that?”

“A lung puncture... it's nasty. You can't breathe. Hopefully, with the body armor we're issued, that won't happen.”

Brutus’s smiled dimmed, and he shivered at the thought. “Grisly.”

“We even practice IV drips on each other,” Linda said with a chuckle. “One time, there was a mix-up, and someone got a glucose drip instead of saline. He was bouncing off the walls!”

Brutus laughed. “That didn’t cause diabetic shock or anything?”

“Nope, medic monitored him, showed us how. If there’d been any risk at all we’d have pulled the line. So where are we going anyway? This is just a regular neighborhood in town.”

That was an understatement. They’d been driving past house after house, plainly designed suburban houses that didn’t look at all remarkable except in their overwhelming plainness.

Brutus knew it, but got even more excited though as made one more turn. “It is… and here we are.”

He pulled up to a stop in front of a house, shutting off the engine.

It was another cookie cutter house, with tan vinyl siding and white trim that reminded Brutus slightly of a gingerbread house, a slightly upward slope to the driveway to what looked like a single car garage that was next to what looked like a small cupola type construction, and solar panels on the roof.

“Welcome to my new training camp headquarters.” Brutus looked at Linda with a hint of nervousness. “Like a boxer leaving the house to go somewhere where he can focus on nothing but prep for an upcoming fight, I’m renting this place for the next six weeks until training camp starts.”

“You-”

“I know it’s smaller than my place, and I’ll have to do all my own housekeeping, but that’s okay,” Brutus said, eager to get Linda on board with his quickly put together plan.

He was jumping into the deep end with both feet, but in his gut it felt right.

“Really all I have to do all day is train, do some studying for the online courses I’m taking, and rest. I figure I can spend an hour a day doing housework.”

“But… when boxers do that, they’re isolating themselves, right?” Linda asked. “What about this? I mean, your home-”

“Come on, let me show you.” Brutus held out a hand. “Trust me, it’ll be okay.”

Linda nodded, biting her lip as she gave his hand a squeeze. Getting out, he went around to her side of the truck, opening the door for her. He was a little nervous, he wanted her to approve of this surprise so badly.

“Let’s start in the garage.” He hit the button on the opener in his pocket.

The door trundled open quietly, revealing a plain concrete floor, a washer and dryer, and two exercise machines, a rower and an exercise bike.

“As you can see, my morning cardio is well taken care of. I even moved my cardio equipment from the house, and I've arranged to use the heavy bag at a local gym.”

“I see.” Linda looked around. “What else?”

“Well, as you can see I’ve got a washer and dryer, although if the weather’s nice there’s an old fashioned clothes line out in the back yard that I think I’ll use,” Brutus said.

“Most of what I packed is old team gear, and they’ll replace all that for me as soon as training camp starts.

So if some old shorts or t-shirts get a little sun faded, who cares?

I like the smell of line dried clothes more anyway. ”

The kitchen was small, and Brutus suspected that the house would normally be labeled as a ‘starter’ home by most real estate services.

There was enough room for a small three or four person dining table, but really that was about it in the cupola, and the stove had a quirky three burner design.

The fridge was shorter than Linda, and as she ran her hand over the door, he knew what she was thinking.

The place was tiny.

“I wouldn’t expect you to whip up three star meals with this, but it looks like you’ve got the basics.” Linda looked around. She looked through the pass-through to the living room, nodding in approval. “Nice recliner though.”

“Yeah, that was a lucky find,” Brutus admitted, looking at the brown leather recliner next to the pass-through.

“I asked the host, and they said that this house belonged to their parents, who downsized after his father retired. Apparently the old man’s dream retirement was to have a leather recliner and be able to watch all the football he wanted. ”

“Sounds like you renting the place is a bit of an homage to the man’s memory,” Linda said, and Brutus shook his head. “But he-”

“Moved into a retirement home after breaking a hip in the bathroom,” Brutus said.

“Apparently the old man likes his new chair more than this one, and so they left it here. I did promise the house owner a signed jersey though as thanks, if he keeps it mum who he’s renting the place to.

Not that I won’t be recognized, obviously. I don’t plan on being a hermit.”

“What is your plan?” Linda sat down at the kitchen table.

She looked so comfortable but also out of place in her uniform while sitting there, Brutus had to pause. He shook his head, and took a deep breath before going over and sitting down across from Brutus.

“Brutus, is this your way of asking me to move in with you or something?”

“Linda, I rented this place because I want to be near you,” Brutus said.

“I don’t want to waste one more minute than I have to driving to see you, or only being able to see you on weekends.

We’ve been doing that for a while now, and while it’s been good…

I want to have you near me more. Now, I’m not forcing anything.

I understand if you want to tell me to piss off, or you’re tired from work and just want to crash in the barracks and enjoy the mess hall food. ”

Linda chuckled. “Well, lunch today was cheeseburgers. Pretty good,” she teased. “But what about you, Brutus? How will you train?”

“I spent the last day getting things arranged," Brutus said, gesturing around. "I've got a great gym nearby for lifting, and Dr. Caster will continue our physical therapy sessions by Zoom.”

“So you’ll stay here…” Linda looked around. She got up and went into the living room before walking through the rest of the house. “What about me?”

“It’s simple, Linda. I just want to be near you,” Brutus replied sincerely.

“After the mission, and then that bullshit with the media leak, it makes me sick to my stomach knowing I can only see you for one, maybe two nights a week. Even then you’re tired a lot of Fridays, for good reason.

I definitely don’t blame you for it, I’m damn near a zombie most Mondays.

So totally your choice, this house is open to you.

The bedroom’s got a king sized bed, and while I haven’t slept a full night in it yet, I did give it a test drive of just laying down and taking a nap this morning in it.

It’s comfortable enough, better than what I had in the barracks.

But this is totally up to you, Linda. If you want to stay here with me, every minute you want to be here, I want you here. ”

“Are you flexing your wallet?” Linda asked wryly.

Brutus laughed, shaking his head.

“Good. I don’t care about your wallet, Brutus.”

“I know that, but if I can use my money to make time available for us, then I will. So… yeah, I hope you want to stay here as much as you want for the next few weeks.”

“And afterwards?” Linda asked. “Do you want to move in together or something?”

“I’ve thought about it,” Brutus admitted.

“But I know that during the season, it’s going to be impossible.

The distance is just too much, and we’re going to have to have some discussions about that.

My days off during the season during regular weeks are either Mondays or Tuesdays.

That’s… tough. But we’ve got some time to talk, to figure it out.

In the meantime, you can stay over however company policy is. ”

Brutus’s heart hammered in his chest as Linda thought about his offer.

Finally, she nodded, looking around.

“We’re well within recall distance of post,” she said, “so staying over isn’t a problem that way. I’d need to make sure Orkin and Linc know that I’ll be staying off post some nights, but… I’m pretty sure I can stay over at least three nights a week. As long as you don’t mind me waking up early.”

Brutus crossed the room, sweeping her up into his arms and wheeling her around before kissing her soundly.

“It’ll be good for me too,” he said as he set her down. “Training camp starts practice at six in the morning to avoid the summer heat. So having a little extra motivation to drag my happy ass out of bed at five isn’t a bad thing.”

Brutus proudly showed Linda what little was left of the house, both of them laughing over his total lack of military style to his bed, which was a cover sheet, plenty of pillows, and a light blanket tossed on the bed.

“Is this how you sleep at home?” Linda asked. “Your housekeeper doing it for you?”