March 8th 1969, Saigon, South Vietnam.

I woke with a jolt. On instinct I tried sitting up, but immediately laid back down after feeling an immense pain in my chest.
First, I examined my surroundings. I was laying on a hospital bed in what appeared to be one of those military hospitals in Saigon, surrounded by other beds filled with other injured men.
Next thing I did was look down at my chest to find that it was all bandaged up.

Then the events of the previous day flooded back into my mind. The jungle, the ambush, the gunshot, the evac chopper. I had been on patrol with my platoon somewhere near the Ho Chi Minn trail, Goddamn 'Cong ambushed us, but luckily we managed to mop them up easily, not before taking a few casualties of our own though, one of them being me.
Got shot square in the chest, but am somehow not in a body bag.

I tried sitting up again but the pain returned.

This time a medic came over to me and said "Easy now Corporal, don't try sitting up just yet."

I obliged and got myself into a good resting position and asked him about my injuries. "Well luckily the bullet didn't go too deep or hit any vital organs, all it did was break a few of your ribs" he said.

I groaned at the news. Now believe me, I'm extremely thankful I didn't get killed or wounded worse than I already was, but goddammit, broken ribs are a bitch to heal.

Which means I'll be out of commission for a while. Hell, maybe they'll even send me home.

"In the meantime, just rest up. You'll need it" the medic said.

And I did just that.

Now, I don't believe I've properly introduced myself yet. Name's James. James Outlaw. I'm a Corporal for the Marines, currently serving in Vietnam if you haven't already guessed.

I'd been in the hospital for about 3 days now. The hospital wasn't that bad actually. Bed was comfy, definitely beat the hell out of a bedroll on the jungle floor. Food was good, better than those damned C rations. They even had a tv (even though nothing good was on most of the time), and it was air-conditioned too which, let me tell you, was a godsend.

Now, on the 3rd day of my stay at the hospital, I got something I didn't expect. A visitor.
It was a man, dressed smartly in a charcoal grey suit with sunglasses and a pompadour haircut.
He walked over to my bed "Outlaw?"

"Yes."

"Agent Wilson, CIA. I'd like to have a word with you." He was saying it in a calm and cool, yet intimidating manner.

First thing that popped into my mind was "G-man". Second thing was wondering what I had done to get the feds on my ass and how much trouble I was in. As if he read my mind (which he probably could've somehow), he said "Don't worry, Corporal. You're not in any trouble or anything. In fact, the reason why I'm here is because I have an offer for you."

"Offer? The hell are you talking about?"

"An offer for a new assignment, somewhere away from Vietnam."

"And where would this be exactly?"

"My apologies, corporal. But I don't have the liberty of giving many details, due to the secrecy of this assignment." he looked around us "Especially since we're surrounded by others. But if you're interested in this new assignment I'm offering, I promise I'll fill you in on the details in due time"

I thought about it for a minute. I'd been in 'Nam for over a year now. Arrived here in late '67. I'd been through my fair shares of battles, skirmishes and firefights and all that crap. Ended up becoming a Corporal about a month or so ago.
But still, being out in the hot, muggy, rainy jungle and getting constantly shot at ain't exactly the funnest thing to say at the least. I knew that whenever I'd get all healed up, it was back into that godforsaken jungle yet again.
So I asked "Well if I may ask, wherever the hell this new assignment is, is there any jungle?"

The G-man chuckled a bit and then replied "Don't worry, there's none of that where we're going."

"Now you're talking. Yeah, I'm interested."

"Good" he purred. "Unfortunately, this is all the time I have. Rest well, I'll be back tomorrow."

He started walking off when I asked him one more question. "Wait, why was I picked for this operation?"
"All in good time, Outlaw" he said as he started walking off.
As soon as he walked out, I laid down and tried to get some sleep. Tomorrow was probably gonna be a long day.

I woke up the next day, finding myself in a different location. I had been moved to a private room while I was asleep. I assumed this had something to do with my G-man friend.

I ended up being right, as not even a few minutes after I finished my breakfast Mr. G-man came in, shutting and locking the door behind him. This time he was wearing a slate grey suit but still had the sunglasses and pompadour haircut. He sat in a chair across from my bed and I was fixing to ask him about the sudden room change, when he again, answered it before I even asked (I swear this guy had some sort of mind reading device).

"I know you're probably wondering about the sudden change of scenery." He opened his jacket, pulling out a pack of Salems and a matchbook. "I had you moved to a more secluded area of the hospital. So I can go more into detail about this certain operation."
"Plus I wanted a place where I could smoke." He said while taking a out cigarette and lighting it. "Could you believe they wouldn't let me smoke in the main part?"

"Right" I said, unsure how to respond.

"Anyways" he said while taking a drag on his cigarette. "I'm able to tell you more about this little project, now that you're on board. So feel free to ask anything you'd like to know, and I'll answer to the best of my ability."

I was a bit wary of his last statement, but I just shrugged it off. The feds work in strange ways so I just decided to ignore it for now.
"Like I was saying yesterday, why was I chosen for this assignment?" I asked.

"Good question." The G man said while blowing out a cloud of smoke. "You see, we need a good amout of manpower for this operation for... reasons you'll soon find out.
We wanted to take men with good skills in fields like fighting, leadership, medical, mechanical, and so on. So a list was made of potential soldiers and operatives that would be selected which was made in a way to where we could get the amount of men we require, but without detracting too much from the frontlines. This means you've been observed to possess qualities good enough to get you on the list."

I'll admit, I was a bit stumped at this. I mean, I knew I was good at what I do, but not that good. I didn't ask any further though, and just nodded.
"Where is this operation located?" I asked.

"Specifically? Hell, not even I know. But what I do know it's somewhere in the mid-northern Atlantic."

Great. I was gonna trade in a hot and humid climate for a cold and dry one. Still beats 'nam I guess.
"One last thing."

"I'm listening." He said while blowing out a puff of smoke.

"When will we be heading out?"

"2 days, they're trying to get this operation going as quick as they can."

"Wait, but it's gonna take at least a month for my ribs to heal."

"Don't worry Corporal, we already have that covered." He said as he got up and walked over to me.

"What do you m-" right when I was saying that, he pulled a syringe filled with this green liquid out from his breast pocket and stabbed it into my chest, injecting me with the strange liquid at a speed I still can barely comprehend I tried to yell or scream, but he held my mouth shut saying "Easy now, it won't last long." I felt myself convulse while my vision went red and blurry, then I blacked out.

Coming back into consciousness, I felt oddly peaceful and relaxed.
That is until I saw him, sitting at the chair at the end of my bed smoking and reading what looked to be a magazine of some sort.

"Ah finally, you're up." He closed his magazine and snuffed out his cigarette. "About time too, I was about to run out of reading material."

Then the memories of him stabbing that syringe into my chest and injecting that strange liquid resurfaced.
I sat up while yelling "YOU SON OF A BITCH, WHAT THE HELL DID YOU-" but then I stopped.

I realized. I sat up.

I hadn't even felt a thing, no pain no discomfort, nothing.
Hesitantly, I looked down at my chest while pulling down the sheet that was on me.
I gasped. The bandages and the wound were gone.
Not as if it had healed, but like I had never got shot in the first place. There wasn't even any scar tissue.
"Wha... How..." I managed to stutter out.

He just grinned and took out another cigarette. "Yes?"

"How long was I out?"

He checked his watch. "I'd say 2 hours and 30 minutes."

"What the hell was that stuff?"

He chuckled. "Amazing stuff, wish I could explain it more, but not quite yet."

I was getting real tired of how little he was telling me, but what could I do? So I just went along with it.

"Anyways, We leave in 2 days. Tan Son Nhut Airport, 0400 hours. Be there."

I nodded in acknowledgement.

"Also one last thing." Taking a very serious tone. "You are not to discuss this mission nor any details you've heard of it under any circumstance. If you do, you just might end up KIA."

I nodded again, nervously.

"Good. I'll see you in 2 days, Outlaw." He left the room while lighting the cigarette.

I thought about what had just happened. A G-man had injected me with some sort of CIA superdrug which completely healed my gunshot wound and broken ribs, and then threatened to kill me if I told anyone.

What have I gotten myself into.

Author's Note: Alright so, this is my first fic. I've been thinking this one up for about 3 years or so, and just now decided to actually right it down.

Alright so, feel free to leave criticism and all that. I'm open to improvement.

Chapter 2 is where things will really take off, so hold on to your hats.

**Edit: Fixed a few grammatical and spacing errors**