Heart of a Distant Soldier

Hello again, it certainly has been a long time since I wrote for this site, I am slowly trying to get back into it. Anyhow this is a fanfic revolving around Ty and Bay from Switched at Birth, but mostly Ty. Taking place just before season 1, episode 19, "Write a Lonely Soldier," I wanted to try and capture his emotions about Bay, and possible thoughts in the middle of war. I don't know much about war, or the life of a vet so I hope I don't get any angry retorts from any who have experienced it, but they are a bit different when they return.

I was hoping to capture a little of that transformation, or why some do transform from the neighborhood kid, to the proud soldier. I hope I did alright. Haha. Anyway,Ty may seems a little OC since I haven't really mastered his personality, but I hope you can forgive me! Lol. Switched at Birth, Ty and Bay are not my characters, nor do I have anything to do with the production, but man is Blair Redford gorgeous! Of course he isn't mine either, although it would be amazing to see him on the streets of LA.

*Lightning-Storm, the original. :-p

Ty gave a wistful smile as he closed the latest email from the girl he left behind. It had been a little less than a year since he had been deployed to the Middle East, and not a day went by where he didn't think of her in some way, the black haired vixen he met in East Riverside. "Bay," he stated, curious about how she was doing since he had left. Was she still causing mayhem in the the Kennish bubble of perfection? Ty chuckled at the thought. How had she adjusted to her new family? Was she still doing street art? How was her schooling?Ty paused in his thoughts for moment, What of romance? Had she found someone new? Somewhere in the darkened depths of his soul, Ty selfishly hoped she hadn't, so he could return, if he did indeed return that is, and take her into his arms once again. At times it seemed strange that he cared for that girl so much, as he hardly got to know her the way he wanted before he left. Even now however, he thought of the last moment he had seen her, and the tear streaked eyes as she passionately told him to not drop the big L word for fear she might break. Ty had wanted to entangle their forms right then and there and make music together, but Bay had left, asking him to promise that when he returned, he would save whatever he was feeling, whatever he was wanted for that time.

Since than Ty had resolved to get out of here no matter what, but life was unpredictable on this side of the of world. One day it was quiet, and dare he say it, boring whereas the next they were dodging bullets and bombings from an enemy. Why just the other day, two of his closest companion were sent on mission to scout out any enemies, they never returned. A few hours later, his camp had received a report that the two soldiers had been killed by a stray bomb in a former mine field. Death and killing was commonplace here.

Ty closed his eyes as he thought of all the things he had seen and done in this place. Barely 20 years of age, Ty must have seen hundreds of deaths, some that he himself had initiated. Sometimes he thought of home and how he lived in a "bad area,"and a sardonic laugh entered his throat. Though he technically grew up near one of the worst parts of town, the chaos of death, drugs, and crime that Ty had experienced there were minimal in comparison. It was here in which death, drugs and crime were a very real reality. Here is where one learned to appreciate the true meaning of life and death, and just how precious the few good things in life could be. Ty knew that different things held different meaning for different people, but for him, Bay was his best thing. When darkness and chaos was all he knew, she was the one he thought of. Bay seemed to give him hope in an otherwise hopeless world. Despite everything, somehow she had become hid beacon of light. In a place like this, hope was important as each death seen or caused seemed to chip away a little more of the light , pride and optimism that a soldier once held, often replacing it with biterness, anger and disgust. It was no wonder so many who had returned home, could never get used to living amongst the civilians once again. Some were affected more than others, even to point of committing suicide, or going on pointless violent rampages. He briefly wondered what was worst, adjusting to a world of chaos and darkness, or readjusting to one of normalcy.

Ty put on his gear, he was posted on night watch again, scouting this time. He was curious if there would be any disturbances tonight, as there had been reports of an enemy stirring near bye. He hoped not, as the last time that had occurred, he had been forced to make his first kill. His sergeant at that time pushed him hard, and emphasized the importance of staying alert and awake, and he took it to heart. Any wrong movement could lead to their end, but he had been new.

-Flash-

It had been a quiet night, but it was late and Ty began to tire. He than caught sight of a hunched shadow in his peripheral vision. At first Ty wasn't positive of what it was, but as the figure stalked towards him, it was obvious it was a person. Ty glowered. The man was far to close to the tent of one of his companions for his liking, so Ty used the stealth and dexterity he had learned in training to catch the culprit. As he got a little closer, he saw that this person was not his friend. Ty caught sight of a small knife in his hand, and quickly pulled him into a choke hold. "What have we here?" he seethed, his eyes and voice that of a steel so deadly it could make even the toughest soldiers squirm. Startled the man eyes went wide and he dropped the knife he had been holding.

"Please!" the man begged, fear in his eyes, "I have a wife, and a son!" and the Ty's eyes softened just a tad, "They need me!" Oddly enough, a vision of Bay entered his thoughts, and Ty loosened his grip on the man, mistake. Using Ty's actions to his advantage, the man quickly got over his act, grabbed his knife and went for Ty's heart. The soldier barely managed to dodge out of the way as a searing pain struck the side of his rib cage. Warm, sticky liquid seeped from his wound. The look of compassion Ty once held returned to one of steel, and he furiously swooped around, grabbing and disarming the offending hand as he did so. "Idiot!" he hissed. Ty knocked the soldier to his knees and taking the knife he had confiscated, gripped the man in a death hold and slit his neck from ear to ear. The man fell into a limp heap below Ty's boots, dead.

At this, the pain in Ty's side burned a little more and he fell to his knees, hand gripping his side. The other on duty watchman, had seen the scuffle, and after dealing with his own victim, hurried to Ty's side. "Mendoza," a distant voice breached the fog in his mind, "Mendoza," the voice became clearer and the crazed looked which had been in Ty's eyes moments before evaporated into nothingness,as he realized what he had done . He just killed someone. "Your wound?" the concerned voice breached the fog again, and Ty blinked his eyes as the face of his companion came into focus. Glancing at the badge on the uniform, "Allen?" he asked, and his companion nodded as he pulled out some bandages the address the wound. Ty took out the ointment, and began wrap the wound he had received, "I killed," he said, not quite believing what happened.

The soldier momentarily guffawed at this reaction, they had trained for this for months. Then noticing that Mendoza's tag's were newer, "First?" and Ty turned away and nodded slightly. A brief understanding flitted across Allen's eyes, and he awkwardly placed his hand on Ty's shoulder and patted his back in efforts to comfort him. "It gets a little easier with time." he said, though the distant look in his eyes seemed to say otherwise. Allen quieted down and helped Ty move the body of the dead soldier away from the tents. After a quiet moment, Allen cut the silence with his voice, "You have an hour or two left," he stated, "Think you can handle it," he smirked.

"I'm fine," Ty said shortly and quickly cleaned and resumed is duty. His ally smiled bemusedly and returned to his own post a little ways away.

-End Flash-

At that time, Ty hadn't known the soldier all that well, but they soon became fast friend's. Shortly there after, Ty found that his ally's name was Justin, and he lived near Ty's neighborhood. Justin also had someone he looked forward to speaking with back home, his mother, and a younger sister named Mary Beth that he adored. Ty shook his head and smiled. As he headed out for his duty, his first taste of death still haunted him. Since that time he had seen much more pain, suffering and death, but as predicted, it did get much easier to perform or handle. Every incident he saw and did, shaped him into the man he had become. As of right now, the responsible, protective and somewhat mellow Tyler Mendoza of East Riverside had been replaced by Ty Mendoza, protector of kin, soldier of war, killer of men or hero of America, and he always would be.

Sometimes, when his work affected him particularly negatively, he would pray for lost souls, and wish for simpler times, when all he had to worry about was himself, his friends, his car and his neighborhood, and of course, later on Bay. Spoiled rich girl, turned irritant, turned lover, turned friend. Ty gave a short laugh. He still had no idea how she had gotten into his head, and there were times he wondered if he had as strong as an impact on her, as she on him."Mendoza, " he heard from outside his bunker, and Ty quickly put down pic of him and Bay, he had been admiring. If he chose too, he could have spent all night thinking about her emails or viewing her artwork, but he had a duty to perform and thinking about those things wasn't going to make his night, or his tour end any faster. Removing all reminiscence from mind, Ty left his bunker and perched himself just outside of camp. He glanced at his fellow watchmen and scouts.

"Mendoza," one of them said, and Ty looked towards him, " Remember the drill." Ty nodded curtly. Because of the rumors of an enemy encampment nearby, he and some other soldiers had been sent to scout the night, while a few other men were requested to stay behind to give and receive signal if anything went wrong. Ty knew that it would be a long night, as he was asked to take a more active part in the next fight. A strange tension had littered the surrounding territory as they left. The night was far too quiet and still for his liking and Ty briefly wondered if he would make it through the night. The soldier quickly scolded himself for that thought and said a silent prayer for himself and his companions. He would make it through the night and out of this tour. He would make it home to his friends, and to Bay, even if things weren't the same. Just as he made that resolve, Ty looked up at the night sky and watched as shooting star winked and raced across the sky. Suddenly Ty smiled, he had a feeling that everything would be okay. The bright stars above seemed to smile at him and wink in agreement.

-Fin-

This is technically supposed to be the beginning of a short chaptered story, but since I tend to be so bad at those, I wanted to make something that could also stand alone. Tell me what you think!