"You can't!" Victoria gasped.
Gabriel was leaning over the table, reading her enlistment paper before the registrar snatched it away.
"Good, she put down her nursing training. I'm a well-apprenticed doctor, and that should get us assigned together, shouldn't it?" Gabriel demanded.
"I–I'm not in charge of that aspect of things," The man stuttered, clearly unprepared for this turn of events.
"Gabriel, you can't–" Victoria began, but he interrupted her.
"You're not going to claim to be in charge of me, are you?" He challenged, grabbing the writing implement off the table. "Where do I sign?"
"Right here," The registrar moved a paper across the table to Gabriel while Victoria stood in shock.
He signed with a flourish, and turned to face the woman he'd known for more than a decade.
"You don't believe I care enough for you to stay, but you can't stop me from going along."
"Mama and Papa will be upset," Victoria fretted. "To lose both of us, again."
"They'll be happy I'm not letting you go off alone to get yourself killed," He insisted.
"Why are you doing this??" She asked in exasperation.
"Here's your uniform," The registrar interrupted again, handing a stack of clothing to Gabriel. "You can change in the other room, and someone will come to escort and assign you both."
Gabriel nodded as he took the clothes, and turned to Victoria, who was turning red in the face.
"I'm doing this because you drive me absolutely crazy, and this is where insanity has brought me." He stared at Victoria for a moment and then walked away, leaving her behind to go change.
Closing the door into the other room, he took a few deep breaths and waited for the inevitable regret that should follow such a reckless and impulsive decision. None immediately came. He took his time changing, putting his normal clothes aside.
The uniform fit passingly well, and when he emerged, Victoria had calmed somewhat. She was asking questions of the recruiter that apparently she hadn't asked before, and he was answering as best he could.
"... we really haven't had a woman volunteer in a while, so I'm not completely sure." He was saying. "I don't think you train normally with the male recruits, but don't quote me on that later…"
"If I wouldn't be with the male recruits, where will I be?" She asked pointedly. She hadn't seen Gabriel emerge in her focus on interrogating the poor registrar, and he took a moment to observe her.
She could talk anyone's ear off given half the opportunity, but he liked the fact that she held up her end of a conversation without demanding too much input from him all the time. She knew him well enough to generally fill in what he was going to say anyway, saving him much of the effort he would normally have to put forth.
Then again, she knew when to be quiet and draw him out during serious talks.
At the moment, she was leaning across the registrar's table, her palms flat on it as she pulled answers out of him. The uniform she wore was male clothing, and it was a different experience to see her dressed in such a manner.
The dresses she wore daily were whimsical, some years old and reminiscent of their childhood. Flouncy and pretty, like a little girl might want. A doctor's daughter was apt to get all sorts of messes on her clothing and so she did not often buy new clothes or go for new styles.
The way she was now, in pants and a man's shirt, he saw how much she'd grown into a woman without him entirely realizing. He gulped, and frowned. The young male recruits were bound to notice her figure and her pretty face. He didn't exactly like that.
"Ah! You're ready," The registrar turned his attention to Gabriel, and Victoria flushed. With irritation? He couldn't quite tell.
"Yes, what's next?" Gabriel smiled, ignoring the woman's darkening expression. When he'd done his year of service, he'd gone on one of the days where they gather a large group of recruits, and they had been herded to the barracks and then off to training.
Individuals who came at random times, he wasn't quite clear on the protocol.
"Here are your orders," The registrar said. "Normally there would be an escort to take you both to the front gate immediately, but everything is stretched a bit thin at the moment, including manpower. You will be directed by the Captain on duty there to the training camp outside the city."
"Thank you, Sir," Gabriel saluted the man, now that he was back in uniform and under the purview of the army. "We will go immediately."
Victoria's expression rippled between conflicting states. With a halfhearted glare at Gabriel, she followed him out of the office.
"You didn't leave a note for Mama and Papa," She complained.
"I'll send one when we arrive." He replied.
"They'll probably figure out what happened before then," Victoria rolled her eyes, "but it was terribly unkind of you to leave them without enough help."
A wave of shame washed over Gabriel, and he pursed his lips. "I'll add my apologies in the letter. Dr. Sherman is overworked already…"
"You can still turn back!" She said. "You already served your year. You aren't bound by the new one!"
"You didn't read what I signed," He countered. "I'm in this as long as you are."
She heaved a breath.
"I can tell you're not happy about this, and I'm sorry for that," Gabriel said, "but it seems to be my fault. All of it. You left impulsively because I said the wrong thing before, and now you've left your family to join the army because I was living there."
"I'm an adult, Gabriel," She said. "I make my own decisions."
"But if not for me…"
"That's not a helpful line of thought," Victoria glared at him. "But if you think it's your fault because I'm trying to get away from you, why won't you let me?"
"I can't let you go into danger with no protection," He said firmly.
"Your job will not be to protect me, but to serve the army." Her eyes went to the road in front of them as they walked.
"A doctor often needs to multitask," He tried to tease, but it fell a bit flat.
"You may not even be assigned anywhere near me. You've done a stupid thing, Gabriel. And for what? What are you gaining with this gesture?" Her voice was quiet now, and he considered the question carefully before he answered.
"More time with you, for now," He replied. "You can't leave me while you're under orders to walk alongside me, at the very least until we reach the training camp or receive other orders."
"Again, completely counter to what you believe my goal is in all this." She looked away.
"If and when you find someone better qualified and more devoted to protecting you, I'll leave you alone," He said seriously.
"You've taken this 'overprotective brother' thing way too seriously," She whirled on him. "I don't like it. I don't want it. You've said you're not my brother. I've told you what my feelings are. Don't you understand how much it hurts to be around you now? How every moment is the pain of all those unreturned emotions? Stop! Just leave me alone!"
She ran ahead, and he gulped. He'd made it worse. Again. He followed behind her towards the gate, letting her have some space but still unwilling to let her out of his sight. Why couldn't he do better?
He'd tried proposing, tried proving the strength of his feelings, but apparently none of that was enough. And now he'd damaged the trust between them. Even if he came to the honest conclusion that he loved her, truly loved her, would she even believe him?
He shook his head. He would cross that bridge when he came to it. For now, he just had to keep her safe and alive despite her quest to get away from him. She ran from safety into danger because of him. Maybe, if he went to danger, she would run away from him into safety?
But then, it wasn't her choice for the next year. She would be under orders. He sighed, wondering if he would need to ask Riley to directly interfere and make her assignment the safest possible one. It was underhanded and Victoria might be even angrier at him if she found out about it… but at least she had a better chance of staying alive!
Victoria arrived at the gate ahead of him and apparently located the captain in charge. By the time he reached them it was clear she was trying to talk the captain into sending her somewhere separate from where Gabriel should be assigned.
Her face bespoke triumph, until the Captain turned around and Gabriel greeted him warmly.
"Hello, Captain Napier! I didn't realize you'd been reassigned here!"