Sunday Snippet: Promise to Keep

A great week with a busy schedule. The end of the school year is always jammed up with concerts, graduation parties, and last-minute final projects. Never boring.

Good week in television. Watched a little more Classic Who with The Daleks: The Dead Planet and The Survivors. Also caught another episode of Midsomer Murders. Watched the second episode of Constantine and, honestly, I'm enjoying the show. Definitely a good thing to get a better feel for the character since he'll be on Legends this fall.

Gotham continues to be a super-great pleasure to watch. I'm almost caught up and can't wait to see how this season ends. I'm a little on the fence about R'as, but we'll see what happens.

Watched Chicago Fire and Chicago PD. I'm still loving Chicago Fire. Chicago PD not so much. The whole Woods going after Hank thing is too contrived and using one of Hank's people as a mole has been done. Also, the never heard of before sister is too damned convenient. Right now… I'm done. I'll catch up on marathons later. Blindspot, however, is holding my interest. Even if I'm kind of "meh" on Roman being the new instigator, I love the team's new interactions.

The Flash is almost over for the season and I'm ready. DeVoe is becoming my least favorite villain of all time. I'm ready for them to move on and get someone new to be the bad guy. In contrast, Arrow's season finale ended up being one of my favorite episodes. I'm a little bummed Diaz got away. Seriously, I wanted him to either die in a fire or end up behind bars.

Started a new-to-me show on Netflix with Sense8. I'd started this a long time ago and finally finished watching the first episode. I'm now hooked and can't wait to follow the series. I also caught the next to last episode of Riverdale's second season. The reveal of the Black Hood was incredible. Cheryl and Betty teaming up made me happy. I'm ready for Hiram to get what's coming to him in a big way. I'm curious about who the hell attacked Archie and Fred and having a sneaking suspicion Hiram's dirty handprints will be all over that deal. FP carrying Jughead broke my heart. I'm so ready to watch the finale now!!

Caught another episode of Krypton and, holy hell, the maneuvering and shifting allegiances is kind of fun to watch. I'm excited to see how the rest of the season goes.

Started The Batman season three and thoroughly enjoyed the show. Also caught another episode of Ghost Squad and still enjoy how fine a line Amy has to walk to get to the truth of corruption. Her interaction with Pete is also a lot of fun to watch. On tap for today is another episode of Endeavor and probably some additional Classic Who.

Whew! That wraps up television for this week. Tonight's post is from Promise to Keep, a novella that might not end up seeing the light of day. The ending isn't altogether happy.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Two elite marines try to forge a relationship during a time of war. But when a worse than usual dangerous situation ups the ante, a promise is made and must be kept, regardless of the personal toll. After all, the marine motto is anytime, anyplace, always ready.

And a sneaky peek…

A laid-up Makepeace hated the fact Doc Certifiable decided to keep him overnight for observation.

Hell… not first time he’d been shot. Probably wouldn’t be the last, either.

He had a wounded leg! Not like the bullet hit vital organs or anything. Stupid fucking doctors, ordering a marine to bedrest, dammit. A marine. The proud. The strong. The kick-ass elite.

Mathison nodded briskly toward Illiana when the medic exited the alcove assigned to Daniel Makepeace. Jillian waited until Layne rounded the corner then pulled the curtain around for privacy—a bit of a risk… but she thought it worth the trouble.

She’d want a fellow grunt to do the same for her. Nobody liked being out of commission.

Checking the closure of the curtain, Mathison turned to meet the hopeful gaze of Makepeace. She almost laughed, but stopped herself, not wanting to draw any undue attention from the staff.

Nodding his head, he greeted his visitor. “Gunny.” He quirked a brow, probably hoping his counterpart didn't just come to wish him well.

Mathison rolled her eyes at his inside joke. Because their ranks were the same he’d started referring to her as "Gunny" whenever he bumped into her on their downtime until it developed into a kind of "thing" with them. Gunnery Sergeant Daniel Makepeace might be from Pegasus and might be typically rough and ready but he had a wicked sense of humor. And Mathison liked that in a man… this one in particular.

Not missing a beat, she followed with her usual response. “Gunny.” Glancing around to make sure they were well and truly alone, she pulled out the bottle of home brew she’d stashed in her fatigues.

With a smirk, she held it up, shaking it a little to show the jar was full. “Thought maybe you could use a drink.” Placing the container on the bedside table, she carefully unscrewed the lid.

Groaning in appreciation, Makepeace's head hit the propped up pillow. “Thank the gods.” He licked his lips before grinning ruefully. “R & R sure went to shit.” Now that was an understatement… he’d lost men… but at least he’d pulled Carnage's ass out of the fire. As a pilot, her skill went unmatched. As a ranking officer in an unforeseen hostage situation, well, not really her fault things didn't go to plan.

Mathison smiled sadly. Marines were never really "off duty" as the situation on the Mary Jarvis proved.

And they’d lost enough people. She’d bet her next pay grade that clawed at him more than the leg did.

Shooting a glance his way, she commiserated. “Yeah. Heard that.” Sliding the bottle in front of him, she watched him swallow at least five times before stopping. Her kind of man.

It took a second to recover from the liquid burn in his throat, but as soon as he could speak, he rasped. “Much appreciated.” Handing the jar over, he grinned when she raised it in mock toast then knocked back a healthy portion herself. His kind of woman? She hoped so.

Nodding at the chair beside the bed, Makepeace asked, “Keep a guy company?” He looked like he'd love to get to know her better. And maybe he hated to drink alone.

Jillian pondered the invite for all of two seconds. What the hell? She didn’t have any place she had to be.

Winking, she decided to run with it. Turning the chair around, she dropped down on it and leaned her arms on the backrest. “Thought you’d never ask.”

A weird place to advance a friendship into something deeper, but she could roll with the idea.

The dynamic between Dan and Jillian is fun to write. I like these characters so much.

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye