TITLE: Love At War

CHARACTERS: Bo 'Chop-Top' Sawyer, Kevin Williams

PAIRINGS: Bo Sawyer/OC (Kevin)

NOTES: Got inspired late at night. Wanted to do something with Chop-Top. Came up with this. Sorry that it's a bit rushed.

DISCLAIMER: Bo and any others are not mine, nor do I claim that they are. Kevin is mine.

The year was 1973. The Vietnam War was still in effect. A new shipment of recruits had arrived just months earlier. The United States troops were tired of fighting. It had been close to fifteen years now. They were tired of this war. But there was one of them who was fighting his own war. This is his story.

Kevin Williams was twenty eight, a ten year veteran of the war, when he met young Bo Sawyer. The kid was fresh out of high school, eighteen, when he arrived in 1973. He seemed like a nice enough kid, if a little eccentric, when they first met. Kevin took Bo under his wing and taught him to be a real cadet. He was proud of his effect on the young man. But, after spending months together, almost inseparably, Kevin found himself wanting more. He wanted more than just Bo's companionship. He wanted Bo. Plain and simple. So it happened that one night, he entered Bo's tent as the younger man was sleeping.

"Bo?" Kevin Williams pushed aside the flap of the small tent and ducked inside. "Bo, you still sleeping?" He could hear the boy's soft breathing, and began to feel bad. He was going to disturb what little sleep Bo would be getting. "Bo, it's Kevin."

After a moment of shuffling, a figure sat up in the cot. "Kevin? That you?" A sleep-harshed voice asked. "What do you want?" The question wasn't asked in anger, just curiosity. "It's late."

Kevin took a deep breath and advanced further into the tent. "Nothing, really. Just…wanted to see you." He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably and stopped a mere foot from the end of Bo's cot. "Have you been sleeping well?"

Bo's head cocked to one side, his messy mop of dirty blond hair falling over his shoulder. "Yeah, I guess. Just getting woken up in the middle of it." He chuckled. "Lay down." He patted the spot next to him, smiling. "I won't bite."

Kevin felt his chest flutter. He wanted to pinch himself to see if he was just dreaming. He wasn't. "Okay, Bo." He crawled up next to the boy and exposed his chest. His young friend immediately latched on, wrapping an arm and a leg around him. The feel of his grey cotton tee shirt was heavenly against Kevin's side. "Hey, a little cuddly, aren't you?" He grinned. Bo didn't seem to mind at all.

"Just getting comfy is all." Bo replied with a smile. He laid his head on Kevin's shoulder. "You know, you're the only person I really know here. Sure, I know my platoon fine, but you're my only friend." He sighed happily and snuggled closer. "I'm glad I met you."

Kevin couldn't believe his luck. Maybe Bo felt the same way. The kid may be excitable and overly affectionate, but he had a chance. Bo might be looking for a relationship with him, as well. That was, until the logical side of Kevin's mind broke in. 'You're ten years his senior. You're his commanding officer. You're not fit to be in a relationship. It's against code to have a homosexual relationship in the army. You sick fuck, he's just a kid! He's too young! Leave him alone!' No matter what Kevin did, he couldn't seem to quell the thoughts. He wanted so badly for them to leave him alone, at least for the time being. He wanted this chance. "Bo, do you have anyone back home waiting for you?" He asked finally.

Bo seemed taken aback by the question. "Well, uh, there's my Pa. And my little brother, Bubba; he was a real wreck when I left. My twin brother Nubbins is back there, too. And Grandma and Grandpa." He was cut off momentarily.

"No girlfriend? No fiancée?" Kevin broke in. He wanted to be sure that he could act without consequence. This was his only hope.

"Girlfriend?" Bo replied, almost as if he had never heard the word. "No, I've never had a girlfriend…" He smiled. "That's part of the reason I'm out here. No one to get in my way."

Kevin felt a blush rising in his cheeks. "Me too." He smiled. He wanted so badly to kiss Bo right now, but he didn't know how easily the boy would go for it. His thin, wiry body felt right in Kevin's arms. "Bo, do you…do you think you'll ever get with someone?"

Bo closed his bright blue eyes. "Nah, probably not. At least no one back home." He blushed. "I have a bad reputation there."

Kevin didn't know whether to be happy or sad about the news. "Well, would you ever get with someone you met over here?" Now he was really pressing matters, but he had to know.

Bo shrugged as best he could in bed. "Maybe. Depends on how well I know them." He looked down before glancing back up into Kevin's dark green eyes. "Are you flirting with me, Kev?" He asked finally.

Kevin's face flushed in embarrassment. "No! What makes you say that?" He looked away from Bo for a moment and glanced back. Bo had a grin on his face, as if he had just solved a puzzle. "…was it that obvious?"

"Yeah." Bo replied sympathetically. "Listen, I don't think nothing bad about it. I'm…flattered." He smirked. "I've been waiting for you to flirt with me for months now." He pressed his lips to Kevin's heatedly. "I've wanted you since I met you."

Kevin was delightedly surprised by the information. "You did?" He didn't even give Bo time to answer before pressing him roughly into the cot, kissing him for all he was worth. "I've wanted you, too."

Bo groaned when Kevin's teeth nipped at his exposed neck. "Hurry." He bit his lip. "Hurry."

Kevin knew that they wouldn't be dragging this out. He wanted it so badly, and he knew he would have time later to explore Bo's thin, handsome body, but for now, they were both going to need a quick release. "You got it." He pulled down his pants and underwear, tossing them, along with his shirt, to the floor. He rid Bo of his clothes just as quickly. Saliva was a quick substitute for lube, and he made use of it.

Bo cried the first time they made love. More in pleasure than pain. He was a crier. His blond hair became Kevin's constant form of amusement. He made sure to sniff or brush it with his fingertips every time they passed in front of everyone else. He pulled it when they were alone in bed.

Kevin's back had become a patchwork of criss-crossing scratches made by Bo in a frenzy of pleasure. Every time he saw them, he prayed they would never fade. He loved seeing Bo's handiwork on his body.

But then came the day they were forced into close battle with the enemy. Bo and Kevin were side by side. They exchanged a hot kiss on the battlefield. Both of them wanted to throw the other down and make love in the dirt, but they knew that wouldn't happen. They wanted nothing more than to express their love for each other.

Kevin smiled as he reached out to the side of Bo's head, threading his fingers through the long locks of blond hair. "I love you, Bo." He said happily as he nudged the boy's helmet off. "You're the only one for me."

Bo grinned back, letting his helmet fall into the mud. He knew how much Kevin liked his hair. "I love you too, Kevin." He turned back when he heard a whistling noise. Moments later, there was an explosion about thirty feet in front of them. "Shit, Kev! They've got shells!" He looked over his shoulder. "We have to retreat."

Kevin shook his head. "Don't worry, Bo. Nothing's going to happen. They won't reach us." But he wouldn't know how wrong he was. In less than ten minutes, a shell landed in range of he and Bo. Both of them had been convinced that it wouldn't happen. "Fuck!" Kevin shouted. He grabbed his walkie-talkie and ordered his troops to retreat. Bo went to follow when he noticed Kevin running towards the bomb.

"Kevin!" Bo shouted in a panic. "Where are you going?"

"Go back, Bo!" Kevin replied loudly, firmly. "Go back and get safe!"

"I won't leave without you!"

"Listen to me, Bo, you have 5 seconds before this thing goes off, go back to base!" Kevin was already smothering the bomb with his body. "I love you!"

Bo didn't listen, he ran close enough to kiss Kevin one more time. "I won't go without you! I love you, too!" Moments after those words left his mouth, Bo was propelled backwards by the blast. He struck the ground hard, and then saw only black. The color reminded him of Kevin's hair. Black. Soft. Sweet.

Months later, he awoke, in a rundown hospital in Texas once more. They had flown him home. He couldn't remember much of the war. His skull had been broken open. His father had them replace the missing piece with a thick plate of metal. He lost all memory of his love in the war. All he remembered was the darkness. And screaming.

Now, Bo doesn't even remember his own name. He goes by the one his little brother gave him. Chop-Top. He accepted it when he came home from the hospital. He doesn't remember Kevin, or making love late at night in the tent. He doesn't remember his long, blond hair, or Kevin's warm lips. But sometimes, at night, when he sees the dark, he is reminded of the war. And sometimes, he still remembers the smell of Kevin's cologne.