"Germany, can you believe it?" Kris said. She was sitting on my couch, snuggled up with her mission file.

"What, you mean you've never been?" I asked as I flipped the grilled cheese sandwich over in the skillet. Cooking wasn't my specialty, but Kris had always loved the way I made them. As if a second slice of cheese somehow made it a genius creation.

"And you have?" She looked up from her file.

"Warum sollte ich sonst fließend Deutsch sprechen?" I replied with a smile. Her mouth hung open for a moment before she replied.

"Of course you know German. I guess that means you visit often?"

"Only when the mission requires it," I said, turning off the stove. The sandwiches had the perfect golden brown color to them.

"You should teach me a little before we leave." She went back to studying her file. I shoveled the sandwiches onto plates and carried them over to the couch, placing them on the coffee table.

"It's not a rescue mission, so you won't have any need for it. But if you insist, I'll oblige." I sat down next to her. She grabbed a sandwich from her plate and bit into it hastily. Her eyes rolled back as she sighed happily. I couldn't hold back my laugh.

"Let's run through the mission again," she said after devouring the entire sandwich. My file sat on the coffee table, but I didn't need to look at it. I had already memorized every detail of it during the briefing.

"It's a typical search and destroy. We get in under the cover of nightfall, find the secret research, and destroy anything we can't take with us," I said, leaving out the take no prisoners, leave no witness' part. Kris never cared for my bluntness about taking human life.

"Right, but I still want to run it through step by step," she replied. I sighed, but I was happy to go over the file as many times as she wanted. It was a relief to be able to talk to her about my secret missions.

The evening flew by quickly. We had gone over the mission dozens of times before calling it a night. I let Kris have my bed, while I slept on the couch. She was the only person I'd ever give my bed up to. Of course she insisted the bed was big enough for both of us, but I didn't share a bed with anyone, not even her.

We were up early the next morning. Wearing the typical army greens we reported to the hanger for our flight. To avoid suspicion the members of over team were divided up into pairs for travel. We'd all meet up at the USAG Grafenwoehr base come night fall. Until then we were to blend in with the other soldiers at the base.

Kris and I drew the short straws so we had the earliest departure time. I didn't mind though, getting to Germany early meant we'd have a little free time to visit the village. Kris had never been so I figured it'd be fun to show her around.

They flew us out on one of the stealth jets, so it only took a few hours to get to Germany. Unfortunately when we arrived there was a welcome party waiting to take us on a tour of the base. The tour last for four excruciatingly long hours. We saw the barracks, the food court, the training grounds, and the armory.

The base could be walked across in ten minutes flat, but the soldier giving us the tour wouldn't stop blabbering. He told us all about the history of the base as well as the daily schedules and routines. I tried my hardest to cut him short, but Kris kept feeding into his ridiculous flirting. She basically had the poor boy eating out of her hand when we circled back to where our tour had begun.

"So much for visiting the local village," I said as the tour guide walked away.

"There's a village nearby?" Kris asked. I shook my head. She definitely would've enjoy a visit.

"Doesn't matter now. We need to catch some rest before our meet. It's our duty to be in top form come time for the mission," I replied.

Kris sighed in disappointment. "I know. Lets hit up the barracks. We can find some cots to borrow."

We walked through the field of tents that made up the living quarters for the base. After asking around we were shown to an unoccupied tent where we could rest. Inside there were four cots, two along each side.

Wasting no time I threw myself onto a cot, laying on my back. Kris laid in the cot next to me. I stared up at the tan lining of the tent and was lost in thought. Every mission could be my last. I knew the deal when I signed up, but a lingering thought still plagued me.

Will this be the night I don't come back home?