Rescue of Master Corporal Samuel Braddock

Summary: The story of Sam's POW experience, the lengths his JTF2 unit will go to rescue him and to help him recover from his physical and emotional injuries. Also shows the General's side of things. There are some descriptions of torture, murder, multiple killings and attempts of suicide. It is emotionally intense and violent in places and therefore may not be suitable for all readers.

Setting: This story is pre-series in my Beauty of Life AU. It is Sam and his JTF2 buddies, the General and all the OC characters needed to round out the story.

A/N: Special thank you to venetiaj for helping me ensure continuity and offer suggestions that helped me craft this story.

Disclaimers:
I do not own Flashpoint or any of the characters from that series.
All lyrics used in this story are the property and copyright of their owners.
I do own my original characters (OC).

Burlap Bag & Gone and Denied

Somewhere in Afghanistan

Sam was just coming to and saw Travis and Murphy running away laughing. He was trying to orient himself and stand up when he was surrounded by terrorists. He was thrown to the ground, trussed up and gagged.

"Hasanana alan ybdw laday 'aleubat jadida. Nahn nadhhab l dik alkthyr min almirah maeaan."
(Well now it seems I have a new plaything. We are going to have lots of fun together) Qasim said as leaned down looking a the blonde soldier.

As the burlap bag was put over his head sounds of disgusting laughter full of malevolence filled Sam's ears. Shit he was just captured by terrorists and was a prisoner.

Sam was wrenched up by his armpits and drug across the ground. It was just his damned bad luck that he was in no shape to get away from them. Damn Murphy and Travis. Part of him was glad they got away. He wondered if they saw the terrorist take him.

Sergeant Gleason would want to know where he was. He could only hope that Murphy or Travis saw and could report it. But then again they were laughing when they were running away. So they could not have known.

Most likely Murphy would report that it would take him a while to pack his gear and that he would be coming shortly. It had happened before. It was just more of the same shit he put up with from Murphy. That man had it in for him since Special Ops training.

Probably had something to do with the fact his father was the General. But most likely it has to do with the beating Matt and several others gave him in training after the cliff incident. Murphy would try to make him look bad with Sergeant Gleason. Murphy tried to do that whenever he was with Murphy's unit. It was the same old shit with Murphy.

When he didn't show Sam knew that the Sergeant would come looking for him. Gleason wasn't a bad sort just not a very good Sergeant or leader yet. He had come into command when the previous CO of this unit and the second in command had been killed several months ago. But Gleason would not leave without him. Unlike Parsons and Nicholls had.

Sam suppressed the groan when he was picked up and thrown onto something hard. Feeling with his fingers he determined it was metal. Then he heard an engine start and felt the vibration. He was in a vehicle. Damn, now it would be difficult to track him.

He tried to remain as calm as he could. He had been trained how to survive capture. The first thing was to remain relaxed and in control of emotions. He knew once Gleason returned to base or maybe radioed it in that he was missing that his unit would come looking for him. He just had to survive until they got to him.

Sam could not stop the groan as an unexpected kick landed in his stomach and then his back. He curled as tightly as he could to protect himself with his arms tied behind his back.

In his mind he called out to Matt "I didn't do so hot watching my back Matt. I know you are coming. I resolve here and now to do whatever I must to hold on until you come for me. But fast would be good. I didn't like the sound of that guy."

A painful kick to the head stopped all thoughts as Sam lost consciousness.

Qasim yelled at the one that kicked the soldier in the head "Mening o'yinchoq o'ldirmang. Men uning uchun yaxshi pul to'langan" (Do not kill my plaything. I paid good money for him.)

Remote Special Forces Base - Afghanistan

Blaze saw the Humvees approaching and smiled. Blondie was back. Matt had been so upset that Blondie had to leave before he returned. It had been hard to distract him from his worry the past five days.

He felt bad that Blondie would not get much of a rest. Winds and Ripsaw had sorted out the essentials Blondie would need and they would take care of repacking his gear and cleaning his rifle for him while he slept. Matt and Mason had packed a care package for him. Matt had brought back a stash of power bars that Blondie liked. They knew Blondie would be tired and hungry but they had to head out on a mission in three hours.

They would make sure he showered then hit the bunk until they had to leave. Then ensure that Blondie rested enroute and ate something. Patch had an IV ready so he could help rehydrate him if he had run low on water. It was quite possible because Gleason's unit had been expected yesterday. They were a day late in returning.

Blaze called out to the tent "Humvees entering. Blondie's back"

Matt raced out with a broad grin. He hated that he had missed Sam before he headed out on his mission. Matt looked down at the jacket he held. He had gotten Sam's new rank insignias attached. Blaze had put in promotions for both of them and both had come through.

His gut had been churning for the past four days. Matt was so glad to see the dust trail of the Humvees as they got closer to camp. He turned to Blaze and said "About time. I was beginning to worry."

Winds slapped him on the back "What do you mean beginning? You've been as antsy as a cat on a hot tin roof for the past few days."

Mason grinned "That's the truth Matt. You don't hide your worry as well as Winds does."

Patch, Mason and Ripsaw laughed at Winds fake scowl. Ripsaw said "But at least you do better than Patch. Patch is an open book."

Shrugging Patch said "So."

Matt wrapped an arm around Patch's shoulder. Whatever he was gonna say never came out as the Humvees stopped in the camp and Gleason's unit got out.

They all saw that Gleason's face was hard, unyielding and beyond angry. He threw a sat phone to the ground shattering it into pieces and stormed towards the command tent.

The guys exchanged glances at the peculiar behavior. They watched the entire unit disembark the Humvees. They were one short. Oh god someone had died they thought. That would explain Gleason's anger.

Scanning the men they all were looking for Blondie. Blaze yelled at the top of his lungs "GLEASON WHERE IS BLONDIE?"

Gleason stopped just before entering the command tent. He was not looking forwards to facing Blaze. His call sign was descriptive. He slowly turned to face Blaze and saw Braddock's entire unit standing and waiting for his answer.

He said "Gone."

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN GONE?" Blaze raged as he and the entire unit moved towards Gleason.

Gleason shouted back "GONE AS IN G.O.N.E. GONE."

Matt was the first one to reach Gleason and grabbed the Sergeant and swept his feet out from under him. Landing on his back in the dust Gleason grunted.

Rage filled Matt as he sat atop Gleason and screamed "SAM'S DEAD. YOU LET SAM DIE!"

Getting his breath Gleason said in a deflated tone "I don't know. All I know is he is gone. When Murphy and Travis went to get him from his perch he was gone. There were signs of a struggle and some blood. His gear was left. Looked like he was dragged off."

Blaze's fury raged "And you did not think you should call that in?"

Mason was pulling Matt off of Gleason while Blaze spoke. It wouldn't do for him to get court-martialed for attacking a senior rank. Matt struggled but eventually allowed Mason to pull him off.

Gleason was rising and didn't bother to even brush off the dirt. He answered "All the damned radios were FUBAR. I tried to call it in. Spent yesterday trying to find a trail. The drag marks ended at some heavy tire marks. Whoever took him drove away. Lost the trail six clicks down the road when it broke off into four different directions. We scouted each direction several clicks but were unable to determine which way."

Looking at the stricken faces of Braddock's unit he said "Sorry for my reaction and words earlier. I'm just so pissed. Nothing went right on this mission. The targets never showed. Then Braddock is gone. We were on radio silence for three days. I have no idea how long he's been gone."

Major Plouffe stormed out of the tent "What is going on here? Sergeant Gleason you are to report to me not Lieutenant Blain. Now get inside. I want to hear your report. You never got your targets. That is not going to go over well with Colonel Sutton. You better have a damned good reason."

Then he looked at Blaze "Lieutenant Blain I do believe you have work to do to prepare for your mission."

Blaze looked at the man with hot fury in his eyes "Did you not hear that Braddock is missing?"

"Yes, yes I heard that. I will assign another sniper to your unit. You can take Corporal Wallen from Lieutenant Chavez's unit. He should suffice" Plouffe gruffed out.

Winds yelled "Braddock is missing. We need to go looking for him now."

Plouffe glared at him "Watch it." Turning to Blaze he ordered "Your mission is your priority. I will communicate Braddock's disappearance and it will be handled appropriately."

Matt stood stunned. He could not believe what he was hearing. It was like Plouffe could care less that one of the men was taken. That he may have been in the terrorist's hands for three or four days by now. A lot could happen to a man in that period of time. Sam could be tortured or even dead by now.

That thought struck him hard and his knees went weak. Matt started to collapse to the ground. Ripsaw and Mason caught him before his knees hit the ground.

Matt's shocked and pained eyes looked at Blaze "We have to find him. We have to."

Blaze was so conflicted. He had orders. He wanted to go right now and find Blondie. Matt's begging eyes and pleading tone tore at him. He turned to Plouffe and stated "I respectfully request that our mission be transferred to Lieutenant Chavez's unit and my unit be put on the rescue mission for Braddock."

Plouffe looked at Blain and answered "Denied." Then he walked into the tent and called out "Gleason in here now."

The men stared at the tent a long time. All were shocked that Blaze's request had been denied so callously and with no explanation.