A/N: If anyone reading this is against the War In Iraq, I'm sorry, I don't mean to offend anybody. And I hope our troops come home soon. I hope you enjoy the storyanyway.

July 2002, Just outside of Baghdad
"ADVANCE TO THE REAR! MOVE! MOVE!"

Colonel Brigman shouted the order to the remaining members of his squadron. The squad began retreating. All around them, there were bullets flying and grenades exploding.

One soldier, Sgt. Miles Tuck, was rolling his eyes as he ran.

"Why doesn't he just call it what it is?" he complained to himself, "A retreat."

But he knew Col. Brigman was a proud man who didn't like to admit defeat. Fortunately, he was not willing to lead his men into a fight that couldn't be won, and have them fight to the death.

The day before, HQ had received word that Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, was being moved from to an airstrip outside the city. From there, he would be flown to a safer location. The prospect of capturing Saddam was too much for General Davis to pass up. He immediately appointed his good friend, Col. Brigman to lead the operation.

Col. Brigman recruited 15 volunteers for this mission, including Sgt. Tuck. Miles was one of the bravest and smartest soldiers that Brigman had ever met. But unbeknownst to anybody, Miles also had another special quality. He was an immortal. The 212-year-old and his family had drunk from a magic spring near the small town of Treegap, Connecticut in 1825. The Tucks didn't know it for several weeks, but the spring water had caused them to stop aging instantly. They were also immune to any kind of physical injury.

The transformation seemed to have the biggest impact on Miles. His wife of thirteen years had walked out on him when she found out, and took the kids with her. Within a few weeks, the whole county was out to get them. Rumors of immortals had grown into rumors of witchcraft. The Tucks spent the next few decades hiding from the world. Miles never completely got over the loss of his family, and enlisted in the army. He saw war as a way to vent his anger. He had fought in many wars since the Civil War.

Now, here he was in Iraq. Unlike many of the men and women he served with, he knew without a doubt that he would be coming home. He always did.

The squadron had to move out early in the morning. By 0530 that morning, they were hiding in a ditch, a hundred yards from the airstrip. There, they waited, until 0600 when Saddam's armed escort arrived at the airstrip. Brigman gave the order, and the squad moved out of the trench and up to the fence. Brigman ordered five soldiers to wait here and to keep the exit secure.

After cutting through the wire fence, the remaining ten men, including Miles and Brigman, crept slowly onto the airstrip.

"In two minutes, ladies and gents," whispered Brigman, "I want us outside the hanger, ready to take the prisoner. He's probably rushing to catch his flight as we sp-,"

Suddenly, there was a loud crash. Pvt. Anne Sawyer had bumped into a stack of crates and had knocked them over, making a crash. Sawyer looked embarrassed.

"Ah, crap!" muttered Brigman.

Suddenly, searchlights were being pointed in their direction. A voice came over the loudspeakers, shouting what the team believed was "Intruders" in Arabic. Soldiers charged out of the shadows, shooting they're automatic rifles as they ran. Miles watched as two men were shot dead before his eyes.

Brigman ordered the men to take cover. They ran and hid behind a truck and some crates.

After several minutes of trying to hold off their attackers, Brigman finally gave the order.

"ADVANCE TO THE REAR! MOVE! MOVE!"

Miles saw at least two or three men fall during their escape, but he kept running. If they were dead, then there was no point in going back for then. Sometimes, he wished he could die (Immortality was a heavy burden after all), but he couldn't, so he kept running.

By 0700, the remaining eight soldiers were back in the trench.

"Is everyone okay?" asked Miles "How many did we lose?"

"Seven," answered Pvt. Knoll, "Compton and Buckman were the first two shot, and we lost five in the escape."

"Knoll," said Brigman, hanging his head, "Get on the radio. Inform HQ that this mission is a bust, and inform them of the casualties."

Just then, there was a loud whoosh. The squad looked up and saw Saddam's chopper flying away. Sawyer started crying. "This is all my fault. If I had just been more careful…"

Brigman shook his head. He wasn't fond of crying in the military, but he was a little more easygoing to the women. He gently put his hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

"It's not your fault," he said, calmly, "We knew this would be a risky operation. I guess we just bit off more than we could handle." Sawyer started to calm down.

Just then, Miles radio squeaked on.

"Hello?" shouted a voice, "Is there anyone there?"

Miles took his radio. "10-4!" replied Miles, "Thornburg, is that you?"

"Sure is!" replied Thornburg.

Upon hearing that there were more survivors, the squad gave a small cheer. Miles turned back to his radio. "Thornburg, what's your twenty and status?"

"Well, I'm in a small hole in the ground along with along with Spears and Hansen. Spears took a shot to the arm, and Hansen twisted her ankle jumping into the hole. As for our position, Hansen's sending you that right now."

Miles put down his radio and peered over the edge of the trench. As he quickly looked around, he saw a helmet on the end of a gun sticking out of a hole a few feet away.

Just then, there were some shots fired. The enemy hadn't forgot about them. Miles ducked back into the trench as some shots hit the ground just a few inches from his face.

"We would appreciate a little help here," Thornburg continued, as Miles picked up his radio.

"We'll be right there. Give us a minute."

"10-4."

Miles turned to Brigman. "Sir, permission to-,"

"Denied!" answered Brigman. The squad turned to him in shock.

"I'm sorry, but it's 'no man's land' up there. If you go up there you'll get shot before you make it ten feet."

"But sir,"

"I'm sorry!" said Brigman in a more forceful tone, "It's not that I don't care. I do. If we could help them, we would. But they're pinned down pretty hard. We need to concentrate on getting whoever we can out of here. End of discussion!"

As Brigman sent his orders to Thornburg over the radio, Miles sat in his corner, thinking. Although he trusted Brigman's judgment, he wasn't about to leave his friends to die. A split-second after making his decision, Miles jumped out of the trench and charged toward the hole.

"He's a dead man," muttered Brigman.

Although Miles was immortal, it didn't mean Miles couldn't feel pain. As he ran, he felt the sting of hundreds of bullets hitting him all over his body. At one point, he thought he felt one go through his head. To make his gambit less suspicious-looking, at one point, Miles dropped to his stomach and crawled the remaining ten feet to the hole.

"Tuck?" exclaimed Thornburg, as Miles crawled into the hole, "How did-,"

"Not the time!" stated Miles before Thornburg could ask how he got here without a mark, "Just be ready to move!" He pulled two grenades from his belt.

"Can you stand?" He asked, turning to Hansen.

"I can limp," she replied, "Does that work?"

"It'll have to," answered Miles.

Peering over the edge of the hole, Miles tossed the grenades toward a group of oncoming soldiers. The following explosion sent most of the soldiers flying in all directions.

"GO!" he shouted. As the three scrambled out of the hole, Miles drew his gun to provide some cover fire. Once they were out of the hole, Miles climbed out after them. He continued to provide cover fire until they got back to the trench.

The trench was deserted when they got back. As they started to wonder if they'd been left behind, their truck drove up, with Knoll behind the wheel.

"Let's go!" he shouted.

Miles and the others hopped into the back, and the truck sped off.

During the trip back to HQ, Brigman turned to Miles.

"Sgt. Tuck," he stated, "What you did back there was reckless, foolhardy, and somewhat idiotic! Care to tell me what you were thinking?"

Miles hung his head and sighed. "I just couldn't leave a man behind, sir."

Brigman nodded. "Well, I just have one more question?" Miles sighed.

Brigman smiled. "Are there more people out there like you?"

As the squad began applauding his heroic attempts, Miles smiled. He didn't smile very often. Since his wife and kids had died, he didn't have a lot of reasons to smile.

Miles spent most of his life wishing he were dead. But it was moments like this that made his life worth living.