//------------------------------// // Happy Birthday Marine // Story: A Flower In Command // by spetsnaz pinkie pie //------------------------------// A Flower In Command Chapter 1. Happy Birthday Marine Finally time for some R&R. My squad has been stationed in Libya for the past nine months. Ever since the attack on Benghazi back in 2012 their has been increase in terrorist activity inside the African country. 8 years has passed since the attack on the U.S. Embassy and the war there in Libya has finally started to die down. As of now my squad find ourselves on a plane ride back to the states for some rest and relaxation. Right now the others are talking about what their gonna do once they get back. I wasn't paying much attention but from what I could hear some of them were talking about seeing their wives and family. Some mentioned going out to party and what not. As long as they don't do anything stupid they can do whatever they want. I myself just wanted to get some damn sleep at the moment. But... My soldiers had other plans for me. "Say Sarge you got anything planned for later? We've been talkin about what we'ed been doin and we haven't heard a peep from you? Gonzalez, Jackson, Procter and Washington are heading out to Vegas. Furgetti, Simmons and Skywalker are spending time with the wives. And for me I got my girl waiting for me back in Missouri. What about you? Got a girl waiting back home?" Corporal Zimmerman always the cheerful bastard. Even in the field the guy always had a smile on his face. "No not for me corporal. Nah I'm just gonna head back to Dallas. Birthdays tomorrow. And for what my brother has planned for me. I'm gonna party like a god damn rockstar. Other than that it's just some smooth sailin for me." "You deserve this Sarge. Hell from all the bullshit that has been going on you defiantly deserve this sir." "I wouldn't say that corporal. We all deserve this we fought hard protecting are own. And those rag heads. But right now I'm just worried what my brother has planned for me when I get home." "Hey Sarge if you dont mind me asking? What number you turning tomorrow?" I Chuckled to his question. It's going to seem weird but out of everyone in my squad I'm the third youngest of the group. "Shit Zimmerman nothing wrong with that question. But to answer I'm turning 25." "Wait,wait,wait,wait. Sarge. "Skywalker broke the conversation he was having with Furgetti to address me. "You have been in charge of our squad for the past nine months and your only 24?" I gave a nod back to Skywalker. "Wow. So wait how long have you been a Sgt. Sir?" The others inside the plane broke their conversation to listen in on the Sgt's conversation with Skywalker no one made a peep as the conversation kept going. "To tell you the truth Skywalker I was just promoted before taking command of this squad. The higher up's saw how fast I could identify threats and with my charisma. How easily I could take command if something was to go wrong. Suffice to say I was a great candidate to become a Sergeant." 'Damn' was what the men said before turning back to their own devices. I looked in to my duffel bag that I had on the seat next to me looking for my Zune. 'Huh it's funny. The times have changed and the technology evolved but I still after 10 years I still kept this baby. No matter how many new I-pods and I-pads and what not came out I still use the classics. Plus apple products suck. Anywho. Everyone conversed with one another as I myself decided to get some shut eye. With the headphones covering my ears I decided I wanted to play some Deftones. Which happens to be my favorite band right next to Killswitch Engage back when Howard Jones was the lead singer. If only he wasn't a diabetic. Damn moving on. The plane ride had another six hours of flight before it made it's way into South Carolina. There is where most of Floreal's squad had split. With Gonzalez, Jackson, Procter and Washington heading out to Vegas. Skywalker took a plane back home to Washington D.C. Furgetti himself took a plane back to New York. That just left Zimmerman and Sgt. Guadiana standing at the airport terminal. "Well Sarge I guess this is goodbye. Probably see you on the ride back to Libya huh?" "You know it Corporal. I'll see you again in 2 weeks. Remember have fun this is a vacation." Zimmerman gave me a nod before we shook hands. We both left each other as we made are way to our separate planes. The next plane ride I took was a one way to Dallas. Not much happened. What do you expect it was the middle of the night. It was about 3 In the morning when the plane landed at DFW Airport. A simple taxi ride into Richardson and I was home free. And there it was. A simple three bedroom house. The only inhabitants of this place was my brother. And well me if i wasn't over seas. House was left to the both of us after our mother died. Miss that woman. I made my way inside the house. "Lucy I'm Home!" Nothing dammit Roger must still be at the strip club. As I looked inside the house nothing seemed to have changed since I left. Well except for the new posters on the wall. An even bigger television. Damn thing must be over a hundred inches. And damn! That's alot of consoles, just how much does that asshole make at that club? Doesn't matter, time for sleep. I made my way back to my room. Last door on the left. As I opened it I flicked on the lights and... Nothing changed. Everything is the way it was when I left. My books, my posters, my gaming area, hell my guns were still safe and sound in my gun safe. Everything was the same. And then there was my bed. My queen sized bed. The blankets still smoothly sit on top as the the few pillows it held at the back of the head board. Then there was one last piece that completed my room. The final piece that made everything else in the room insignificant. I'm talking about my Fleur de Lys plushy that sat down on my bed right where I left her. (What a marine can't have a plushy? Hell I dont see anything wrong with having one.) I didn't bother in putting any of my gear away from my trip. I flung my duffel bag into my closet and stripped myself until all I had on was my boxers and my dog tags. I crawled into bed with Fleur laying right next to me. I closed my eyes letting comfort of my bed wash over me as I fell asleep remembering the reasons why I made my Fleur plushy and the reasons I fell in love with such a pony. (Yes I admit Fleur is best pony.) ------------------------------------------------ It must have been maybe 2:37 in the after noon when I woke with my arms wrapped around Fleur. Hell that's what the clock on the wall said. You know that has got to be the best sleep I have had in a very, very long time. Spending long days out on patrol is normal when you in the hottest parts of Africa and just being here at home is a damn luxury for me. "OH FUCK YOU I KILLED YOUR BITCH-ASS!!!" "What the fuck?" The hell was that? Wait just one cotton picken minute. That god damn voice of course. As much as I would like to stay in bed just a bit longer there is a certain brother I would like to punch in the face... Maybe. I went ahead and placed Fleur to my side as I picked myself up off the bed and made my way for the door. "DUDE THIS IS FUCKING BULLSHIT KILL THAT MOTHA FUCKER!!!" I haven't seen this guy in over a year and back then he wouldn't rage this much. Someone's been rustling his jimmies. I walked out the door finding my brother sitting on the couch staring at the overly large t.v. as he plays his video game. From what I can tell he's playing one of the newest Battlefield games. I walked closer to the couch as he played. Him not even batting an eyelash for every step I took. "YEAH BABY OVERKILL BITCHES!!!" Damn that is still getting to me. I walked over to the other side of the couch and sat down. Three minutes passed of him playing and still he hasn't noticed my return. "COME ON GUYS ONE MORE ONE FUCKING MORE." I watched as he scoped in with his sniper rifle and waited for one of the enemy team members to mess up. A single soldier ran out into the open where he was visible of being shot. That moment was all Blake needed for him to give that bastard a bullet in his head. "YES FUCK YEAH BABY WOOOO!!!" Well can't really deny saying he won the match hell with that head shot and the score to go with it yeah he defiantly won. Score total 100-67. I quickly adopted an announcer type as my brother finished his cheering. "Congratulations Blake you won the match! What will you do next?" I never seen my brother whip his head around so fast before this day. He sat there on the couch staring at me as if I was a ghost. "Dude. DUDE! FUCK MAN YOUR BACK? I DIDN'T THINK YOU WOULD GET HERE TILL LATER TODAY!" He threw down his controller and hugged the ever living crap out of me. "Well it's good to see you too bro." I said to him giving him a hug back. We broke off the hug giving him the chance to punch me in the chest. "Ow! What the hell man!?" "The fuck bro you didn't call me when you got back!?" his face was torn between a scowl and a smile. One from seeing his brother again and the other from well you know. "Blake, dude I didn't get here till three in the morning man. Just chill alright." In all the 24 years of my life I have never and really mean never seen him like this for something so trivial. Well can you actually say coming back from war trivial. Not really no. "Floreal I'm really glad your back man shit's been fucking boring around here ever since you joined the Marines." "Well I was here last year but you were out touring with the other strippers so by the time you got back I already left back to Africa." "Hey! I know I didn't get to see you when your were last on leave. But shit I made money you know how much those woman paid for my sexy black ass?" "They paid to see or touch?" He punched me in the arm and smiled playfully as he picked up his controller. "Dude you know what the hell I mean. So tell what was like over there man? The hell did you do?" My brother shut off the t.v. and his console he seemed interested in some of the things I did over there in Libya. The next few hours passed as I recounted the many missions and patrols my squad as been on. The firefights my squad went through during our time there. My promotion to becoming a Sergeant impressed my brother greatly. Around seven we were starting to get hungry and I can tell my brother had something up his sleeve for tonight. "Floreal what you say we go celebrate tonight man you turn 25 in a few hours." Honestly that sounded good to me. One thing I wanted once I got back here was a burger but not any burger. A triple meat triple cheese with bacon. It's been two years since I had one from Whataburger and tonight I'm gonna get one. Although I'm going to have intense pt in the morning but fuck it it's my birthday. "You know what bro that sounds like fun and I can defintly go for some fun. Question is what the hell are we gonna do?" Blake just gave me his best shit eating grin and told me to take a shower and get ready because tonight is the night bitches die. He was not really serious about that though. We left the house around 8:30 and made our way to downtown Dallas. I didn't know where we were going but honestly I just hoped it had food. "So where are we going bro?" Blake didn't say anything as we made our way down the highway he kept his eyes on the road but handed me a bandana. I looked at it quizzically for moment before I asked what it was for. "So ugh. What do you want me to do with this?" "Just put it on you fool I've got a surprise for you." his brow was furrowed and he had a big and I mean Pinkie Pie big smile. "Dude honestly I appreciate the thought but I don't really want a hooker right now." If he wasn't so focused on driving I swear he would have run off the highway with what I said. "Ah man you ruined the surprise. What if I got you two hookers would that change your mind?" I turned towards him and give him my 'are you fucking kidding me face.' "I guess that's a no. Ugh! Fine. I'll choose something else but go ahead and put the bandana on it's your birthday and I'm still gonna surprise the hell out of you tonight." I sighed and placed the bandana over my eyes waiting for what my brother has in store for me. "Honestly Blake this place better have food I haven't eaten since the plane ride to Dallas." My brother gave a hearty laugh as for what I can tell we exited off the highway. "Don't you worry about food brother with this new place I have in mind I believe your going to be in heaven for tonight." I chuckled at his words as we drove down the city streets. It was stop and go for a while till from what I could tell made got to our destination. "Alright were here." I began to remove the bandana wanting to see where we are and honestly hoping there were no hookers here until Blake spoke up. "Nope don't think about removing that blindfold till I say so." Dammit. "So where the hell are we." I stepped out of the car and onto the pavement of wherever I was. I could hear the sound of music playing from inside a close building. "You brought me to a club? Seriously? I expected something you know more up class then some random club." My brother huffed in annoyance as he walked closer to me. "Will you shut the fuck up I know what I'm doing and no I did not bring you to one of those piece of shit clubs and brought you someplace better." He began to push me forward, closer to the building that was blaring the loud music. Closer we got the louder the music became. "Hey you guy's cover charge is ten bucks each." a gruff voice sounded in front of me. "I talked to the manager earlier today. Their should be name there on your clip board under Blake." I'm not sure of what was happening but from the sound of the rustling papers I could hope it was good. "Ah yes here it is. Wait right here for a moment and let me talk to my manager." With that the gruff voice left Blake and I by ourselves there in front of the building. A few minutes passed and the music from inside abruptly stopped playing. Blake began pushing me forward again and the once hard pavement that was stepping before now became a soft squishy carpet. I could feel someone standing right next to me it wasn't my brother he still had his hands to my back. The person next to me moved closer to me and I could feel there breath moving slowly against my ear. "Welcome." A seductive feminine voice came from the person next to me. "Welcome Sergeant Floreal to Cabaret Royale." My bandana was Immediately snatched off my head letting the lights from the club blind me. It didn't take long for me to refocus my eyes letting me see inside the club at for the best part seeing the beautiful strippers that aligned them selves against the bar. "Happy birthday 25th Birthday Sergeant Floreal!" The strippers cheered as I walked further into the high class strip club. "This is going to be the best birthday ever!" I cheered myself to everyone inside. "Alright everyone." My brother got the attention of everyone inside. "In about five minutes is when this soldier here will finally be able to rent a car. So go ahead and give this man the most expensive drink you got. Hell bring the bottle I'm buying. "One bottle of Louis XIII de Rémy Martin coming right up." The bartender yelled as he opened the door to a locked room. I looked back to my brother and give him a worried glance. "Dude are you serious Louis XIII is over 2 grand a bottle are really going to spend that much on me?" Blake walked over to me and placed his arm over my neck and hugged me close. "Floreal your my brother and you are all I have left in terms of family. I love you man and I would do this again in a heart beat just to see my little bro smile." And that's what I did I smiled one I haven't rightfully done in a long, long time. This is going to be one kick ass birthday. The finest of alcohol, the finest food sitting of yonder, oh and not to mention the sexiest ladies here in the DFW area. The bartender came back out of the back room holding the one most expensive cognac that will ever get the chance to taste. He placed a glass on the table in front of me and poured the beautiful golden cognac into it only giving me at least 2 oz before taking the bottle away. "Alright ladies get ready only 30 more seconds." My brother said to the strippers. I took the glass of cognac into my hand and started to swirl it around a bit until the ladies started counting down. "10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!" I places to cognac to my lips ready to taste the expensive drink I always wanted to try. That is until I felt everything around me come to a sudden halt. ------------------------------------------------ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ANGER ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ "...Your militia is no more!..." ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ RAGE ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ "...Your lover is dead..." ~ ~ ~ HEART BRAKE ~ ~ ~ "Five score, divided by four..." ------------------------------------------------ "...o!? ...ro!? BRO!?" I heard my brother yell at me. I whipped my head to the left and I could see Blake standing next to me with a worried look upon bid face. "Floreal what the hell happened? You just spaced on us man you had me worried." I took a look around to see that everyone my brother, the strippers, the bartender, the security a few patrons and the manager were all staring at me. "Dude what the hell happened to you?" I wasn't sure what happened it was weird I just felt? I don't know. "I'm not sure man I just... Blacked out for a bit but I feel better now." "Alright man that's good come on sit down." He ushered me to a well padded seat and sent a few of the strippers my way. "Alright man I want you to choose which girl you want for your lap dance?" There were four girls that came up to me one just as beautiful as the other. Except for one she just took the cake in my eyes. "You." I pointed to ever so kind looking woman. "What's your name?" I asked her. "My name is Lily Sergeant." She spoke with a sexy posh voice. Looks like a made up my mind. I gave her a smile telling her that she was the one I wanted. "Sorry girls but I'm going to start him off tonight." The others started to walk off when the music started to play and Lily began dancing for me. The night was filled with merriment for the birthday Marine. A night filled with hot women, expensive alcohol and great food. It was a birthday for the ages. BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!!! ------------------------------------------------ Then next morning came quickly and I could feel my head trying to split itself in two as the morning sun crept in to the window. "Ugh what the hell did I do last night? And why do my hips burn?" I muttered in only a whisper to myself. I tried moving but I felt my self being weighed down by something. Maybe someone please let that be it. I opened my eyes slowly but hurriedly closed them as the morning sun shined right into my eyes elevating my hangover to scale of over 9000. Dear god release me from this hell. I slowly opened my eyes again but braced myself for the shining sun. I slowly began to lift myself up until whatever was holding me down decided to shift to the side. I slowly got out of the bed and stood up to my full height of 6,4 towering over my bed. I starting walking to door till I heard the sound of someone moaning in my bed. And that's when my eyes flared open. There in my bed two women were lying there naked cuddling each other. If I wasn't so hung-over right now I would get back in that bed. As hot as it was watching those two cuddle each other I had to get rid of this damn hangover. I found my boxers and pants lying on the ground in front my bed along with my socks and shoes. I decided to only put on my boxers and pants and made my way to the kitchen. As I walked out I passed my brothers room. Him being well him left his door open and as I peered inside I also find him with two girls in his bed. "That must have been the best birthday ever." A little detour to the bathroom was what I needed to relieve myself from the heavy drinking of last night. I dropped my pants and began doing my business. During mid flow I felt an itch coming from my thigh. I began to scratch but the more I scratch the more itchy it became. Even after I finished doing my business no matter how much I scratched it wouldn't stop bothering me. Just to piss me off further my other thigh started to itch like hell and still no matter how much i scratched they still itched like hell. I tore my hands away from both my thighs to see just what in the hell was making me so damn itchy. And then that where I saw them. Three Fleur de Lis covering my thigh. Two of them smaller and purple and under them was one golden Fleur larger then the pair. I was dumbfounded at the sight I quickly looked to my other and I found the same three Fleur de Lis standing out just like the others. There was many thoughts going through my mind at the moment and the hangover wasn't helping them one bit. But for now I just have one question. "What the fuck happened last night?"