The Xioniams are huge blue and gray creatures, with long snouts, and even longer talons. With their humped backs, and snouts dragging on the ground they're not the prettiest things to look at. Being stuck on Jupiter as general of the armies, I wish almost constantly I had become a cloud designer or even a biologist. Anything to get me away from the nightmares and cries of men.

The pain pelts down, it hits me and my men from every angle. Jupiter is a warm place and everyone sometimes wishes that the rain storms that occur fairly often would sometimes turn to snow. It splatters from the ground and hits us in the face. The cold doesn't help. It chills us to the bone making us all sluggish and chilly. The sound of the bugle rings around the camp, making the soldiers run to the mess hall. With a sigh of defeat I roll up the map I'd been working on, stick it under my arm and follow them.

Men dressed in dark green and tan race past me, running as fast as they can without slipping on the wet ground. I smirk as some glare at me as I walk slowly after them, hands in my silk lined pockets, and follow at my own steady pace. More men pass me, all of them giving me a quick glare, before continuing to rush on. I watch faintly amused as a few of the men those their footing and fall to the ground. I give two of the men a hand and turn to face the third one, only to find them all standing. "Scarlett!"

I pause in the middle of the mud puddle and wait for my second in command Lieutenant-Colonel Rogers to join me. "Brandon." I nod in greeting as the man slows to a stop beside me, his boots sending up a small splash of muddy water.

"Scarlett, have you been penned in your map room all day again?" Brandon runs his hand through his thick brown hair.

I smile apologetically and pull the map out from under my arm. "I'm almost done this one. It shows were the enemy's position was, tells us where they had their bunkers, their trenches, everything! I'm just glad my plan to get the spy into the enemy camp worked, I never thought it would. And it wasn't until this morning that we finally-"

"Scarlett!" Brandon covers my mouth with his right hand cutting of my steady stream of words. "Jeez your madder then a fox in a fit."

I glare at him and shove the map back under my arm. Brandon removes his hand ever so slowly ready to clamp it back down in case I start blabbing again. I start walking through the rain again leaving Brandon to catch up to me. "So are we going to do inspection inside or outside tonight?"

I look up at the over cast sky and frown, even to the densest man it should seem pretty obvious what I'm about to chose. "Inside tonight. Don't want any of the boys catching colds on us."

Brandon nods, and walks to the front of the rows of men. "INSIDE YOU YELLOW SKINNED BASTARDS!"

"SIR YES SIR!" The men scream in response and in unison they start marching into the mess hall. I've taught them well. I smirk at the thought and with a faint smile on my lips I follow them, my eyes on constant alert for anyone out of place or doing anything wrong.

"ATTEN-HUT!" Brandon yells again making all the men stand straight as a board, as I walk into the mess hall.

"At ease." I call, my voice soft and low after Brandon's screaming. I rub my left ear drum with my free hand and scowl at Brandon. "Good God, must you always break my ear drums?" I grumble walking past the men to stand beside Brandon. The men place their hands behind their backs, and move their foot so they're shoulder width apart. "Alright men, I'm sure the rumors have reached your ears."

My men smile. a few of them nod, someone even cheers in the back. "Well I'm hear to tell you that ALMOST every single one of them is true." I emphasize the word almost, and hope they get the drift.

The tension in the room grows as I walk over and stand in front of the men. "The human race is leaving Jupiter. We have won the battle, as you all know, but we sent out geologist and unfortunately there is no place for us to grow crops, and build cities. We are going home to plan our next move against the Xioniams."

The men exchange glances with each other, and start whispering to the people around them. "What exactly do we plan to do?" A voice calls from the back.

Frowning I cross my arms and try to pinpoint which person said it. "After Jupiter we plan to see if Saturn could be of any use to us."

The men freeze and stare at me with undisguised surprise. "Saturn?" A man shouts in surprise.

"QUIET!" Brandon shouts making the men jump. "PRIVATE JONES!"

"Yes sir?" Jones steps forward a little, a worried glint in his eye.

"WHY THE HELL WERE YOU TALKING?"

"I-I don't know s-"

"DO YOU KNOW WHY YOU'RE HERE?"

"No sir. I don-"

"IT'S BECAUSE THE DOG BEAT ME INTO THE BEDROOM!"

Jones visibly flinches and I can't help but feel pity towards him, I've had the same thing said to me. Though it hasn't been from Brandon, and being the good guy he is it must be a harsh feeling. "Lieutenant-Colonel Rogers, that is enough." My voice is soft but it carries a dangerous edge to it. Brandon lowers his head, accepting my authority. Nodding in satisfaction I turn back to the men, and smile. "Because of our victory we have been given a few things. One of them being beers, and another being good warm food, made by cooks from Earth."

The men cheer throwing their hats into the air and hugging each other. "ATTENTION!" I shout making the men jump to a stand still. "We leave in three days, now usually you'd get the 'drink responsibly' lecture, but I'm sure you've all heard it enough, besides on the ride home I'd like some peace and quiet after living with you for three years."

The men chuckle slightly as I take a step back. "Adieu gentlemen and have fun."

I leave the mess hall as the men begin to line up for beers. The dark clouds that pelted the rain at everyone earlier have moved off allowing the sun time to peek out and show us the sunset. Humming softly to myself I carefully pick my way over the soggy ground to my cabin. Animal calls and the laughs from the men echo around the almost silent vicinity. Smiling I open the door to my cabin and slip inside the warm, humid building. "Home." I murmur longingly as my eyes fall on a picture of my friends and family.

"Do you miss it?" Dropping my map I whirl around and pull out my pistol from my coat pocket. Brandon's eyes widen and he raises his hands in a gesture of peace. "Easy now! You're not going to shoot your best friend now are you?"

I mockingly look around the room. "My best friend doesn't appear to be here."

Brandon flinches and lowers his hands. "Fair enough," He murmurs walking closer, "Shoot me then."

My hands start to shake as he gets closer. Smiling weakly I look at his shoulders, anywhere but his face. "Why would I do that?" I ask him lowering the gun.

"Isn't that just what you were about to do?" He challenges grabbing the hand that holds the gun.

My eyes travel over his scarred neck and checks, looking into his blue eyes I shake my head. "No."

Brandon's eyes search mine. "I don't want to lose you when we get back to Earth."

"You won't." I declare dropping the gun on my bunk.

"Liar." Brandon's warm calloused hands encase my hand . The smell of beer and alcohol reaches my nose.

"You're drunk." I accuse trying to pull away, my voice shakes a little as I look at the man.

"A little, but sober enough to think straight." Brandon's hands readjust themselves.

"Oh," I lower my eyelids and try pulling away again. "What are you thinking about?"

Brandon lets go of my hand. His hands cup my face as he leans in. "Do I even have to tell you?" He whispers his warm alcohol and mint breath washing over my face.

I swallow hard and look into his blue eyes. Brandon's lips lightly brush mine. I close my eyes and try not to fling my arms around him and pull him into a deeper kiss. He pulls away after a second and presses his forehead to mine. "Do you really hate me that much?" He asks pulling me into a hug.

"No." I whisper clenching my hands. Shit, shit, shit! How do you weave this spell around me? How do you send me into more of a panic then even the Xioniams have managed?

"Then how do you feel?" One of Brandon's warm calloused hands cups my chin and raises my head.

"I-." Taking a deep breath I let my eyes go fuzzy, and drop my voice to a whisper. "I love you." My voice shakes a little as I confess my feelings to the mountain of a man.

Brandon's face lights up with joy and he pulls me into a bone crushing hug. I inhale the scent of him, breathing in the mix of alcohol, and the smell of the Jupiter atmosphere. "Would you believe me if I said I've loved you since the first time I saw you?" Brandon's breath tickles the nape of my neck, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

"I might." I tease melting into his arms. Brandon chuckles, his deep chuckles shaking us.

Brandon's hands slide down my back and cup my bottom. I stiffen and shift a little, feeling a

ball of pressure form under my navel. "Scarlett." A husky whisper escapes from Brandon's lips making me shiver.

Brandon's hands travel back up to my shoulders. He leans forward just a degree and smiles at me, that one smile so full of lust it scares me. My eyes widen and I push him away. "Wait! The men will be coming back soon!" My eyes dart towards the door, then back towards Brandon.

"We can lock the door and close the blinds." Brandon grabs one of my hands and drags me over to the door. He clicks the lock in place and pulls the curtains over the windows closed. "There. We're all alone."

I smile and lean against the wall pulling Brandon by the hand and standing him in front of me. "Well then," I purr tracing his chest with my fingertips. "Where were we?"

Brandon's lips tug up at the corners and even in the dim lighting I can see the wicked, almost predatory grin on his face. His lips connect with my neck, and slowly travel downwards nipping and sucking. I moan with pleasure and lean into him, my body crying with want. He lifts the bottom of my shirt halfway up my torso, disconnects his lips from body and then pulls it off altogether leaving my standing in my undershirt.

One of the straps slides off my shoulder and falls halfway to my elbow. Brandon smiles and leans in, his lips trace their way from shoulder to shoulder making me shiver in delight. Brandon's hands grab my wrist ever so gently and he leads me over to my twin sized bed. "Scarlett promise me, you'll never leave." Brandon's lips connect with my neck. Nipping and sucking.

A faint moan escapes me, making me flinch a little. "I-I..." I try to calm my breathing but as Brandon's lips travel lower, my heart starts to beat faster and faster.

Brandon's brown eyes gaze up at me as he disconnects his lips from my body. "Promise me Scarlett. Promise me you'll never leave."

My eyes met his and the only thing I can feel is the warmth of his love. Smiling down at him I nod and push him onto the bed. Slowly I crawl over him, until I'm straddling him. "I would have thought, me being around all the time a given." I tease kissing his nose.

Brandon's slow sure smile, surprises me and in the blink of an eye, he rolls us over so that he's over me. "I love you."

Smirking I run my fingers through his hair and whisper, "I thought I already said I love you too?"

"It's just so good to hear those words come from your lips." Brandon confess leaning closer.

"I'd be lying if I didn't say, I was glad to hear it."

Author's note: I have a mild case of writer's block, so I wrote this to see if it would help. Not sure where I got the idea, must have just been stuck there for a while... Reviews are love! Or at least that's what I hear ;)