shirleyann66

Challenge:  love_bingo   
Rating:  PG to PG-13
Words:  677
Prompt:  LO1 - I Just Called to Say I Love You
Warnings:  Nothing too explicit but will warn for violence/implied torture in a couple of the later parts (I'll post a specific warning on those posts). Everything in the series and comics is fair game, so spoilers ahoy!  

Disclaimer:   I do not own, nor am I affiliated with, CBS or Jericho or...whoever else may actually own this show.  I just like to take the characters out to play.  I put them back, mostly unharmed...although not always...this is for fun, not profit and no copyright infringement is intended.

--------------------------- 

Heather was hard at work, bent over Charlotte's engine, when there was a knock at the entrance to her garage. She glanced up, startled, to see a fresh-faced young man standing in door. It was one of the soldiers, a corporal, Beck had left behind over six months ago. The young man was carrying a cell phone.

For a moment, Heather's stomach dropped to her knees - but she forced herself to relax when she realized the corporal looked nervous, but not worried.

"Ms Lisinski? The Major would like to speak to you when you're available."

Heather gaped at him. "The Major?" she repeated blankly, her mind racing, wondering if it was Major Velazquez, who'd inspected Jericho last week with a suspicious frown and cynical eyes.

"Yes, ma'am." The young man glanced around, then came closer and lowered his voice. "Major Beck, ma'am."

 Heather's jaw dropped even more and she took a step towards the corporal before she stopped herself. She didn't want to scare the man by tackling him to the ground to wrest the phone away from him. Her eyes were riveted on the phone as she reached for a rag to clean her shaking hands. Her blood roared in her ears and she took a deep breath before saying, with a shaky smile, "Is he on hold?"

"No, ma'am. I'm to call him when you're ready."

"I'm ready now," she said and now her stomach was full of butterflies. They hadn't spoken since he'd left, although Dale had delivered a letter to her last week. It had been written a month after he'd gone east and it showed signs of rough handling and hard travel. She wondered how many more were out there, trying to find their way to her. She realized that having her birthday gift get to her on time was a minor miracle.

Heather took the phone from the corporal, and closed her eyes when she heard Beck say her name in that special, low tone he seemed to reserve only for her and which she hadn't heard for so long. She was vaguely aware of the corporal fading away.

They spoke about nothing - he asked her what she was doing - she asked him how he was. She knew better than to ask where he was or what he was doing - he wouldn't be able to tell her anyway. She told him she'd received his present and one of his letters. He told her he'd tried to write to her each week. She told him it had been too dangerous to write to him, even in the black market, there were those who believed him to be a traitor and would have denounced anyone trying to send a message to him. He told her he hadn't expected her to get word to him.

She didn't tell him about Hayes.

He didn't tell her any specifics about what he'd been doing.

Neither one said they loved the other. Their voices said it for them.

All too quickly, Heather sensed time was running out. 

"Is everything all right?" she finally asked cautiously.

"Yes," he said softly, "everything's fine."

"You sound -"

"Everything's fine," he repeated.

Heather sighed, and knew that whatever was going on, he wasn't at liberty to say. "I wish you were here," she said softly.

"Me, too. I'm sorry - I have to go. I just...I just wanted to hear your voice. And..."

"And?" she prompted afer a long moment of silence.

"And...to tell you that I'm thinking of you."

Heather swallowed the sudden rush of tears. She knew why he'd called, why he sounded the way he did. Her stomach once more knotted in fear.

But all she said was, "I - I'm thinking of you, too. Please be careful."

They couldn't make themselves say the word good-bye; instead they promised to see each other soon and disconnected the call.

Two days later, rumors began about the last-ditch offensive Columbus was launching against the ASA - the offensive everyone knew would end the war.

One way or the other.



Part 11          Part 13