AN: I was reading another author's story and I saw in the comments that they wished there were more AU written. At first, I didn't really like the idea. But then, it was like "lightbulb". With AU I can do whatever I want. Cool! And my muse said, Very Cool and off we went. :) I will go back to my other story Fires of the Past, but I'll probably crank out some more chapters for this one. Enjoy! And please review to let me know what you think so far!

"Hey bud," he narrowed his hazel eyes at his blonde counterpart, "what's up?" He looked down, skimmed the dead bugs off of the rainwater bucket and splashed some of the clear cool water over his face. The damned sand was everywhere. He ran a hand through his dark locks and looked back at his friend, who he realized had not answered him. He could see that his friend was deep in thought. He stepped closer and punched Sam in the arm. Bad idea. Three seconds later his back was on the sand and he was trying to remove the hand from his throat.

"Dammit Matt. How many times do I have to tell you?" Sam huffed, his blue eyes were dark with anger. Matt knew he hated to be touched but he couldn't help pushing Sam's boundaries.

"I'm a slow learner." Matt said through a gruff voice, then smiled up at Sam.

Sam released his hold and shook his head. He stepped back slightly, put his hand out and helped Matt up. He sighed, leaned in a little and patted Matt's back before releasing the other man's hand.

That was new, Matt thought. "Sorry man. I was just trying to get your attention." He gave Sam a knowing grin. He knew Sam hated being touched, but he tested it every once in awhile. He understood why Sam was the way he was, they'd been friends for several years now. They'd spent many nights under the stars talking about their lives. He knew Sam trusted Matt with his life and vice versa, but the trust did not include anything besides handshakes or fist bumps. And now it included pats on the back. That was awesome.

It made him sad, although he never told anyone, when he heard Sam crying softly in his bunk. It was rare for Sam to let any emotion show, he had trained himself over the years to remain stoic. But Matt heard the soft sobs and he wished he could at least put a hand on Sam's back in a gesture of comfort. Instead Matt lay in his cot, let Sam know he was there and listened.

"You wanted my attention and now you aren't listening?" Sam threw up his hands in frustration, walked the few steps to their unit tent and entered. He sighed angrily and paced in the small space. The other unit guys were at the mess, finishing their first real meal in a week. He hated to do that to Matt, but it irked him when Matt decided to try to touch him. He stopped and harrumphed as Matt emerged through the door. He was already irritated, why did Matt insist on poking the bear, he groused.

"Ok, ok. I can see you're already pissed and I didn't help," Matt put his hands up, "I'm sorry."

Sam took a deep breath and released it. He looked around the tent, walked past Matt with a pointed look and back outside. A minute later he returned.

"AC up in this joint?" Matt asked their coded question and waited. It sounded like a jovial question to anyone that was listening.

"Cool and breezy." Sam answered with fake cheer in his voice and stepped closer to Matt.

Matt nodded and stood still. It was safe for them to talk. He watched the fear enter Sam's eyes and his stomach fell. Shit this was bad.

"He's here." Sam said softly.

"Fuck. When?" Matt asked in the same volume.

"Yesterday. Flew in for an important meeting." Sam sneered the last word. He started pacing again. His mind was racing. Why couldn't he leave well enough alone, he thought. "Always has to make sure I feel his presence."

"So, what do you want to do?" Matt asked seriously, although it was still a whisper. "He knows your tricks. Our tricks."

"I know. And we're on rest and training rotation so.." Sam paced for several minutes, trying to think of some way to get out of seeing his tormenter. How the man ever made Colonel with his, tendencies, Sam will never know. He'd hoped that when he joined JTF2 that he could get out from under the man, but he wasn't that lucky.

When the War on Terrorism started, he was almost glad. He and his unit would be out in the field for long stretches which would keep him out of the Colonel's hands. He was extremely glad when his and several units were ordered to set up a temporary base 30 miles from the main base. It was a remote area and only accessible by stealth helicopter. An expensive way to visit a remote base without good reason. And now he found a reason, dammit, Sam kicked his foot locker.

"We'll figure it out." Matt assured him. He stood staring into space, trying to think of something they hadn't done before. Sudden assignment wouldn't cut it, especially now that they were rotated out. He knew better than to suggest sickness, the time they tried that it had been disastrous. No, Sam needed to be able to defend himself if needed.

A knock at the door brought them both out of their reverie. Sam looked at Matt and then said, "decent!"

Lieutenant Bahl Mumberg stepped into the tent and paused to let his eyes adjust to the dimness.

Sam and Matt moved easily into line, saluted and waited.

"At ease gentleman." Mumberg watched them move to parade rest and smiled. God he loved being saluted. It was such a rush to know he had the power to tell these men to do something and they had to do it. He sniffed and just looked at the two of them. I should've left them saluting, he thought.

After several moments, Sam left his gaze shift to the Lieutenant. What was Mumbles doing? He smiled internally at the nickname the Lieutenant had been given by the men. It wasn't meant to be mean, the man just tended to mumble when he talked. He was constantly being asked to repeat himself. He could see that Mumbles was enjoying his power over them, making them wait until he was ready. Jerk.

Matt worked his jaw as they waited silently for the Lieutenant to speak. He was such a dick. He was about to speak when Mumberg finally broke the silence.

"Braddock." Mumberg handed the envelope to Sam. "Wheels up in 30."

Sam took the envelope then saluted. Matt followed. They stayed like that for several beats before Mumberg smirked, turned and walked away.

As he exited the tent, Mumberg looked around and seeing no one, adjusted himself. He needed to find an Afghani woman and show her who was boss, and soon. That thought made him adjust again and he headed towards his private tent.

"Good timing?" Matt looked expectantly at Sam. God he hoped it was just the General calling Sam for a mission briefing.

"Maybe." Sam breathed. He opened the envelope and pulled out several papers. He gave an audible sigh of relief as he started to read the mission information.

"Personal mission briefing." Matt nodded and sat on his cot.

"Looks like." Sam looked up from the papers and nodded.

"Been awhile." Matt said pointedly.

He raised his brows and sat on his cot next to Matt's so that they were facing each other. "Yep." Sam said resolutely.

"Kinda the lesser of two evils."

Sam scoffed and raised a brow. "Kinda?"

"You're just too alike is all." Matt shook his head.

"You know it's more than that." Sam gave him a hard look.

"I know." Matt nodded. I wish you could just tell the General, he thought. If he knew, the General would've stopped it, would stop it. But too much is wrapped up in it now. It is a tangled web the Colonel weaves.

With a sigh, Sam stood, folded the papers and put them in one of the big pockets in his pants. He went to his footlocker and packed a bag for up to three days. After he was done, he turned to his friend. "At least you won't have to lie for me." He said darkly.

Matt stood and gave Sam a half-smile. "You know, I'm pretty sure I heard Finkey say he was planning a poker tournament. Those can take hours, even days." He winked.

"Damn. Wish I wasn't missing that. Good luck and watch your back." Sam said sadly, then his voice got serious.

"I will brother, you too." Matt put his fist up and he smiled when Sam bumped it.

Sam nodded and left the tent. He stopped under the small canopy and let his eyes adjust for a moment before he headed to the helicopter.

Peach, Zona, Hound and Trip were talking loudly and laughing as they made their way to their unit tent. They turned down the row of tents and stopped three down on the left.

Hound looked up and narrowed his eyes at a figure at the end of the tents. Is that? He looked at Trip, their medic, then lifted his chin at the retreating figure. "Tod?" As the Sergeant of this team, he should know if a member is sent somewhere. It irked him when Lieutenant Mumbles did this shit.

Trip turned his head to look and frowned. Now where was he going, he thought irritably. Their sniper always seemed to disappear for no reason. Although, he considered, his father is the General. An impromptu meeting isn't always a bad thing. He wondered about Tod's relationship with his father. Whenever the General was mentioned, Tod clamped his jaw hard and a fire lit his eyes. He looked back at Hound and shrugged.

"I'll be back." Hound turned and headed towards Mumbles' tent, hell bent on finding out the situation and why he wasn't informed.

"Mumbles is gonna get it now." Peach lifted his eyebrows twice at Trip and Zona before they headed inside their tent.

"Where's Tod off to?" Zona asked as he walked past Linc to the last bunk and flopped down on it.

"Mission briefing at the base." Linc said matter of factly, walked to his cot and stretched out. He looked to his left and felt a small pang at Sam's empty bed. He wished he could've gone with, but he knew his mission was to keep the unit as far from the Colonel as possible. The Colonel had too much over Sam's head already, Matt wouldn't let Sam's fiends become a target. At least the rest of them.

#####

Hound heard some heavy breathing coming from Mumbles' tent as he got to the door. Was he exercising? Or? The units here were almost all men, they understood the need for privacy once in awhile. He stepped back as the panting got louder and tried to think of something else to do for a few more minutes. He made do studying the few clouds overhead.

"Sergeant?"

Crap. There's no way the Lieutenant missed the voice so close to his tent. Hound turned and looked at the Lieutenant's assistant. "Yes Corporal Fanning?"

"I, uh, are you ok Sir?" Fanning asked meekly. It looked like maybe the Sergeant was lost or something, he thought.

"Five by five Corporal." There was a pause as Hound took in the pale, freckled face and red hair of the kid in front of him.

"Good Sir." Fanning stood his ground.

"Was there something you needed Corporal?" Hound asked, annoyed.

"Yes Sir. I, uh, brought the paperwork for Master Corporal Braddock's departure today Sir." A small arm stuck out and held one sheet of paper out.

"Thank you Corporal. I was just coming to ask the Lieutenant why I wasn't notified." Hound looked over the paper and grumbled.

"Yes Sir. I apologize Sir. I had to make a pit stop on my way here with the notice. Won't happen again Sir." Fanning saluted and answered with a slight shake in his voice. Sergeant Francis "Hound" Housemen, only those with a death wish called him Francis, had a reputation for being a hardass and expected perfection. Any small infraction was dealt with promptly and severely. He steeled himself for whatever came next.

Hound pulled himself up to his full height and looked down at the kid. He's trembling, he thought. Guess my rep proceeds me. He didn't mind being known as a hard ass, but he was also fair. The kid had to pee, can't punish him for that. He let a small smile play on his lips as he said, "at ease Corporal. I have the information now. Thank you." He gave a small nod to Fanning, turned and left.

Fanning watched Hound leave, stunned. He didn't get dressed down for not making the notice a priority? Huh, he smiled to himself, maybe Hound wasn't so horrible as he'd heard. He turned to see the Lieutenant standing just outside his tent door.

"Well, aren't we just proud of ourselves." The Lieutenant cleared the distance in three steps.

The Corporal snapped to attention and held it. He'd already learned that the Lieutenant loved the little power his rank held. When he forgot to turn the lights off one night and the Lieutenant found them on in the morning the Lieutenant had made him stand at attention for 2 hours. He was drenched in sweat and almost didn't make it to the bathroom. He knew this was a fairly new assignment, but he hoped maybe he could move somewhere else.

"I thought you knew your priorities." Mumberg paced back in forth in front of his employee. "Meet me in my office," he turned and smiled as an idea formed, "with the 2016 operations manual and tactical practices manuals."

With a nod, Fanning turned and headed to the office. Damn! Those manuals are very thick and very heavy. This was going to suck big time.

#####

Sam was walking past the temporary hangar when he heard a voice that stopped him dead.

"You didn't really think you could slip away so easily did you?"

To some the voice was smooth as silk, but to Sam it was like nails on a chalkboard. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from swearing and looked towards the voice. "I know better than that." Sam said flatly.

"Ooh. Yes you do." The Colonel purred, and his lips slipped into a Cheshire grin.