Austin was nineteen years old the day that she graduated from Paris Island Marine Training. Gibbs could never be more proud of Austin. He did something right in the short time that he had her. He loved that little girl who stumbled through life, and now, a woman was digging her way to the top. He watched her salute the American flag, and he followed suit. Everyone in the crowded auditorium had a hand over their hearts, and the former Marine's were saluting as they sang the National Anthem.

Tony, Ziva, McGee, Abby, Ducky and Palmer were all there, standing next to Gibbs, each one of them saluting along with him.

When the ceremony was over Austin found the group. It was a massive tackling group hug. Not one of them had seen Austin for six months. They missed having her around. Little did they know, they would have to get used to it.

Everyone was talking at once, and Austin was just grinning as she laughed. She couldn't understand what anyone was saying. She loved those guys anyway, despite themselves.

---

Months flew by. One after the next. Austin was frustrated. She wanted to go somewhere that involved fighting for her country. It was her chance. That's why she joined the Marine Corps in the first place.

"It's not all about fighting Austin." Gibbs said softly, sitting next to an estranged Austin who was sitting on the couch, watching the news. A Marines face had popped up, and the newscaster was saying that this man had died from a bombing in Afghanistan just a few days before.

"I know… but I don't want to sit around watching the news. Marines are dying everyday. I always think… What if I was out there… What if I had known that Marine?"

"You're not there for a reason. Your time will come. Who knows? You may even get a Medal of Honor." Gibbs said nudging her arm.

Austin laughed. "Yeah. Maybe pigs will fly out of my nose too."

---

Another week passed by. It was now February 6th. Austin got a phone call. She was finally being called in. She was headed to Afghanistan. It was a strange part of Afghanistan. It had trees, and it was almost like a jungle in that certain area.

Austin was ready to go. She had packed very lightly, and she was going to Afghanistan.

---

The day that she was going to leave, she was at the airport. Everyone hugged her tightly. She would miss them, and she didn't know how long she was going to be gone. She knew that once she got back she would enroll in a college somewhere, and live a good, healthy, non war related life.

Ziva gave Austin a pocket knife.

"Ziva, how am I supposed to get this on the plane?"

"Act like you don't have anything and wink at the man standing at the metal detector."

"Um… yeah… I would rather not get arrested today."

"Would you like me to mail it to you?"

"If you really think that its necessary."

"Alright. Have fun Austin, and remember everything I taught you."

"Yeah yeah. Duck, punch, kick, knee."

"And you aim for?"

Austin sighed. "Come on Ziva."

"You are not getting on that plane until you tell me."

Austin sighed once again before continuing. "Eyes, nose, stomach, and…"

"And?"

"The no-no place…" Austin said reluctantly and childishly.

Everyone started laughing, even Gibbs chuckled.

McGee walked up to Austin. "Try not to do anything stupid. Alright?"

"Darn… and I really wanted to run into a minefield yelling 'I'm superman!'"

"Haha. You're hilarious."

"No… I'm just loveable… Alright… I am hilarious too."

"Just don't get yourself killed."

Austin laughed a little and hugged McGee. "I wont. I promise. I consider you a big brother McGee. I wont let you down."

McGee smiled. "I'm holding you to that."

Gibbs walked up to Austin. "Be careful…" Was all that he said.

Austin smiled and gave a short nod. She raised her right hand to her forehead, giving him a salute.

"Semper fi." Gibbs said softly.

"Hoo-rah."

Like that, Austin was gone. She was on the plane, on her way to being a hero. On her way to being important. She was looked up to, and nothing could change that.

---

Weeks passed by, followed by a number of months. Austin wasn't getting any of the action she rightfully deserved. The action that she thrived on. People were going out to the battle grounds about to wet themselves. Austin wished that she could go for them.

Austin laid in her thin, uncomfortable cot, staring up at the tent ceiling. Her eyes started to close until she felt something fall hard on her stomach. She jerked up to a sitting position and looked around. To her surprise she saw Rachel. Rachel was many inches taller than Austin and she had Austin's sense of humor. She was the kind of person that Austin could talk to, and Austin would make jokes about Rachel's height and Rachel would just call Austin short. When Austin saw Rachel she found that she was smiling at her, laughing a little with another girl named Megan.

Austin looked down at her stomach, finding a pack of peanut butter crackers. Austin laughed and grabbed the crackers and made her way over to Rachel and Megan.

"Hope you like peanut butter." Rachel said without any introduction, or even asking Austin if she wanted to join in. Austin guessed that by walking over that she had accepted the slightly different invitation.

"You kidding? I live on peanut butter." Austin responded.

"Good, you can have my share then." Megan said with a smile.

Austin sat on the ground, the three of them forming a triangle on the sandy ground. They talked for hours, each one of them laughing until they cried about different stories and jokes each other told. Not to mention a few of Austin's random comments.

---

Back in D.C Gibbs and the team were investigating a murder of petty officer Brian Voltz, who seemed to have been tortured violently until finally put out of his misery by a lethal injection to the heart.

Gibbs was talking to a slightly disturbed Ducky, who was examining some type of scarring on the man's left arm.

"Jethro, look here." Ducky said with his thick accent.

Gibbs looked to where Ducky was pointing and raised an eyebrow. "Bite marks." Gibbs observed.

"Precisely."

"What kind of animal?"

"Well Jethro. Due to the lining of teeth on the upper jaw, making a crescent shape on the man's skin… one would also have to account for how deep the teeth had dug in."

"And?"

"The animal that created these bite marks was 100%… human."

---

Austin was now making tons of friends. One of them included a man named Jack Gregory. He had a blond buzz cut and was also very muscular, with an almost angelic finely toned face. His voice was deep and soothing, almost complimenting all the time.

He wasn't at all Austin's kind of guy, but Megan didn't know this. Megan adored this man, and this man adored Austin. Austin was oblivious to everything. She just wanted to be a good Marine.

Megan had to get Austin out of the picture. Megan was a fellow Marine, who knew exactly how to get rid of another.

---

Austin's team was finally called out to battle in the middle of the forest area that had been dubbed by the team as "Hell's Toilet". There had been some extreme activity and their mission was to storm the campsite and kill anyone that was within a 20 meter radius of it.

Austin was giddy with excitement as they grabbed their gear, guns hanging on their shoulder, ready for battle. The troop left at 10:45 when it was completely dark. To top it all off, it started to rain. This was probably the only rain that they had throughout their stay in Afghanistan. It rained hard.

No one was quite sure when this happened. They had walked about a mile away from the base. No one heard the first shot because it was drowned out by the intense pounding of the rain on their helmets. But all the sudden, individual Marine's started dropping, blood pouring from fatal hits. Everyone ducked in cover, taking careful aim and firing a couple rounds.

Many of the soldiers had split up and now Marine's were everywhere. Austin finally heard a loud, booming voice that was her commander yelling, "Fall back! Fall back!"

Austin knew this was because they were outnumbered and weren't at a good enough angle. She listened to the commander and soldiers from all over the forest started to move back to the base. Austin looked around from face to face. Something was wrong.

"Sir! Sir!" Austin shouted taking cover.

The commander heard her, and he knew Austin always had something important to say. Whatever she had to say now probably meant life or death. "What is it?!" The commander shouted, taking cover next to Austin.

"Jack, Megan, Rachel, Wilson and Sawyer are all missing sir!"

"I'm sure they will turn up Marine!"

"No sir!" Austin screamed over the shrieking of the gunshots. "They moved too far away. This place is easy to get lost in!"

"Soldier! I don't have time for this!"

"Its peoples lives at stake sir!"

"Damn it Austin!"

"Sir! Give me the chance to find them sir!"

The commander hesitated, obviously not liking the idea.

"Let me do this! If anyone can find anyone its me sir!"

The commander looked at Austin. He knew that she would not give up on those five soldiers. Finally he nodded and ran off, back to his team, letting Austin do her thing. It was impossible to send another Marine out to help her because more than one would mean certain death for both.

Austin took off. She wasn't letting those men and women die just yet.

---

Austin found Rachel in a matter of minutes. She was lying on the ground, bleeding rapidly. It didn't look like she was breathing. Austin kneeled beside her and put her head down over her heart, listening for any noise at all.

There was nothing.

"C'mon!" Austin shouted. "Please don't make me kiss you!" Austin added as she put her hands over Rachel's heart and started to put quick pressure repeatedly. She counted to 10 and finally she got a response. She sighed in relief, overjoyed that she didn't have to put her lips on Rachel's.

"And you live to eat peanut butter another day!"

Rachel was gasping in air, wincing as her lungs stung from lack of oxygen.

Austin kneeled and lifted Rachel up on her back, Rachel's blood staining her clothes. She started to sprint. Just up ahead she saw Wilson and Sawyer and sighed in relief. The two of them were best friends and wouldn't leave each other. "Sawyer! Take Rachel back to base! Wilson, go with him!"

The two men nodded, seeing the urgency in Austin's eyes. At any other order she gave they would have laughed at her, but this was a war.

As the three were leaving, Austin thought she heard Rachel's voice whisper, "Thank you."

Austin didn't take time to think about that right now. She ran off, looking for Jack and Megan.

She found Jack after running for a while. He was in the fetal position, rocking back and forth behind a thin tree. Austin put a hand on his shoulder and comforted him. Eventually he stood up.

"Listen Jack. You need to go back to the base! Do not look back at all costs! Do you understand me?!"

Jack just nodded fearfully and started to make his way back to base.

"Megan?!" Austin shouted, the gunshots drowning out the yelling.

Austin saw a slender figure up ahead. She started to run towards them, knowing that it was a woman due to the gracefulness in the way she moved. She was certain that it was Megan.

It wasn't until that she heard her name from behind her that she realized the woman she was chasing after was not Megan at all. That sent a shiver up her spine as she spun around, seeing Megan.

"Austin!" Megan shouted, gripping onto her.

"Are you alright?"

"No! Gibson is out there somewhere!"

Austin's heart felt cold. She knew Gibson very well despite his calm quiet exterior. "All right! I'll find him! Go back to base! Sprint! There is no time for jogging!" Austin said, knowing how lazy Megan sometimes got, even in this kind of mess.

Megan nodded and started to sprint away. Once she was out of Austin's sight she smirked and started to jog. Gibson was at the base, safe and sound. He didn't even come because he was sick with a fever of 102.4.

Austin had saved five lives that night. She attempted to save an nonexistent sixth. It wasn't until that she heard a loud crack of a gun that was only a few feet away from her and felt a severe, violent pain in her back that she realized she had been fooled. She jerked her head around, seeing Megan, a gun raised, pointed at Austin.

Her breathing was getting shallow, and her balance started to leave as she fell to her knees, her arms at her side. She felt the blood seeping from her back and stomach, staining her clothes with the crimson liquid even more. The bullet had gone all the way through her body.

Her hands clasped around the would on her stomach, putting pressure, getting déjà vu all too clearly. She went back to when she was fifteen years old. A confused kid. Shot in the abdomen. The pain was unbearable but the fear was worse.

She fell the rest of the way, her face nestling in the warm mud. Everything started to fade away as the cold rain pounded against Austin's soft, but strong face. Blackness engulfed her vision as she felt the warmth of her own blood surround her. Right then and there she felt the same fear that she had when she was fifteen. This was what war was. This was it.

Austin lost consciousness in the midst of the battle, in the midst of the double cross. The enemy had not pulled the trigger, but a friend.