Edit: I changed up a few details to match a seperate story and to be more realistic. Nothing big.

"Hey, what's true? Roach? Oi, Bug!" Toad snapped Master Sergeant Gary "Roach" Sanderson out of his dreamy stupor.

"Fucking A, whaddya want Toad?" The tired sergeant grumbled, keeping his eyes closed.

Mactavish chuckled, ignoring his own exhaustion. All of the 141 were gathered in the rec room, making it uncomfortably warm. Roach and MacTavish didn't mind, however, especially after coming from an Ultranationalist base near Siberia. The men teased the FNG relentlessly. "What, Bug? You stay up all night sexting your girlfriend?" Rook teased as Roach rubbed his eyes.

"Nah, just yours. God, just came back from fucking freezing my ass off and running and I get this shit." Roach replied smoothly.

"Oh snap, the bug has some bite! Maybe you should be Mosquito or Spider, not Roach." Archer laughed at Rook's expense.

"Speaking of which, back to the original question. Roach, did you get your call sign because you're hard to kill or because you're creepy?" Toad asked.

"Because I can survive a few weeks without my head. Can I go to sleep now?" Roach asked impatiently.

"Not til you answer the question. What the hell kind of name is Roach?" MacTavish said.

"Ugh. Fine." The American sergeant pushed himself up. "Now shut up and pay attention, I won't tell the story twice. I first got called Roach six years ago, on my first deployment to Iraq with Delta..."

Six Years Ago...

Private Sanderson and Lieutenant Jason "Grizzly" Micheals lay on a roof overlooking an Iraqi city. Grizzly was looking through the scope of his favorite rifle, a .300 Win Mag, observing the surroundings around the Ranger regiment moving through. Sanderson sat next to him, a SCAR-H propped next to him. "Stay to the far right 75th." Grizzly murmured into the comms.

"Rog'. Thanks for the overwatch."

Sanderson groans quietly. "Fucking rookies. Put a sniper overhead and they feel invincible."

"Make them feel invincible and they are. Aren't you a rookie, Private?" Grizzly laughed quietly, never taking his ever watchful eyes off the street.

"Nah man. Old man was Delta. I got me some experience."

Grizzly rolled his eyes. "Sure... whaddya do? Go hiking?"

Sanderson adjusted and put his rifle in his hands, unconsciously becoming tense. "He made me dig trenches in the pouring rain. Then fill them so base security wouldn't fine him."

"Bullshit."

"No shit."

"Damn."

They became quiet once again. Grizzly watched as the group breached a house and he heard yelling on the comms. "Don't come out dead, boys." He whispered.

A small scratch came out from the doorway leading down from the roof. Both men jumped slightly, the veteran of the two not moving his rifle a bit. "Go check it out, rookie."

Sanderson was already on it. Allowing his rifle to lead the way, he checked his corners and moved into the dark house. Straining his eyes, he walked forward, tense. Seeing a flash of movement, Sanderson swung his rifle around, aiming at the shadowy figure. A strangled meow came out of the shadow and Sanderson grinned. "Just a fucking cat."

"Hey, sniper team. Get your asses down here. HVI in custody. We're Oscar Mike." Corporal Foley's voice sounded in his ears.

"Rog'. Moving." Grizzly replied, coming into the same room as Sanderson.

"Good day?" Sanderson asked.

"Not enough targets." Grizzly smiled.

Sanderson motioned for Grizzly to lead the way out the door and Grizzly complied. Age before beauty, he guessed. Or rank before beauty.

As Grizzly began to open the door, Sanderson saw another flash of movement, similar to a rock breaking a window. The "rock" landed near the supporting pillar and for Sanderson, time slowed to a screeching halt. Almost as if he was in a dream, the 19 year old private pushed the stunned 26 year old lieutenant out of the house, yelling, "GRENADE!" Then, all time ceased to exist as the explosive went off.

Present Day

The 141 was quiet as Roach cit himself off. He pointed to a scar on his eyebrow, grinning. "What happened next?" Worm asked, completely enthralled.

Roach chuckled quietly. Nothing like a war story to capture the attention of soldiers. "This part is blurry for me. I had a concussion and the blast completely knocked me out. Grizzly told me what happened next."

Six Years Ago

As the blast went off, Grizzly yelled for his spotter. (At this, Toad and Archer shared a knowing glance. The bond between a sniper and his spotter is strong.) Watching in horror, he watched the pillar collaspe, bringing the structure down on top of Sanderson. "SHIT! 75Th, get your asses over here!"

Swinging his rifle around, Grizzly searched desperately for the inurgent who threw the grenade. The street, however, was empty. "What's going on Granite?"

"Grenade brought the house down on Sanderson! Bring your medic!"

A Ranger whistled when he saw the debris. "Only a fucking cockroach coulda survived that."

As Grizzly was outside of the wreckage yelling, Sanderson was slowly coming to. The first thing he noticed was it was completely dark. The second thing he noticed was his head really fucking hurt. Groaning, he called out for help. However, only a croak came out. He could faintly hear Grizzly calling his name. Sanderson tried to sit up so he could respond better but quickly hit his head. A strangled gurgle escaped him as he tried not to scream and cry at the same time. Putting his hands out, he found that he was in a small hole just big enough for his body. On top of his hole was a slab of concrete (or whatever they used for their homes), sealing his hole like a coffin. Suddenly feeling rather claustrophobic, Sanderson began desperately shouting for help. His voice steadily grew stronger and stronger as his hysteria grew. Pushing on the slab with all his might, he managed to move it just enough to form a crack at the far left wdge of his coffin. Some daylight began to stream through. The rest of his energy expended, Sanderson passed out.

Grizzly heard Sanderson's shout and he quickly shut the Rangers up. Pinpointing the source, he saw a large rock slab move a slight bit. "There!" He pointed.

The sniper quickly rushed towards the slab and began throwing debris off of it. Desperately reaching for his brother, Grizzly tried to heave the rock off of him. Unsuccessful, he ordered for the other Rangers to help. "On three. One, two, three, heave!"

Together, the group moved the slab. What Grizzly saw shocked him. If the Private had been any bigger or had been in a different spot, he would have surely been dead. "Damn kid. Fucking lucky as shit."

Preent Day

"Because of that Ranger's comment, some of the guys began calling me Roach. The nickname further stuck when a year later, I survived that nuke that went off, despite being in the blast radius. No radioation posioning either. So Roach it is. You can't kill me, just like a damn roach."