A/N: I've rewritten the story to adapt it closer to the show but with a few more AU twisties. So if you've read the previous story. Forgive me and please reread the first chapter! Hope you all enjoy and any reviews will be greatly appreciated :)

Chapter 2

"All right. The fight pit's here. Nora Pula's this way." Tom said drawing a map on the dirt floor of the building they were hiding in. This was not the reunion he had expected with his old friends and comrades. If he could call them 'friends' given how they believed him to be an asshole who walked away with no word for 16 months. If only he could tell them the truth but he had orders. He also couldn't help but notice the new faces; he wondered which one of them replaced him. "Where are your rally points?" Tom asked looking to Sasha.

"Rally point Alpha is here." Sasha spoke first, she marked out on the rough map on the floor. "Abandoned square outside of town, 2 clicks west. Helo's still doing racetracks." Sasha told him.

"Should've only taken him, what, 15 minutes on foot?" Burk estimated as he and Danny looked down at the crude map on the floor.

"He's gotta be hurt." Danny said, Tom kept silent as he and Danny seemed to feel an underlying guilt at not following procedure. They should have frisked Lucia for a weapon, one of them should've gone with Mike as back up. But heat of the moment and so many decisions to make, it was only hindsight that made them feel guilty for their choices.

"Or they already found him." Burk said, pointing out something they all thought but weren't ready to acknowledge.

"No, I don't think so, there's still too many bad guys out there looking." Wolf said as he walked over from the window he'd been peering through to join them.

"Uh, RHIB's parked at rally point Bravo, on the beach." Sasha said marking out the other exit point they had off the island.

"It'll be crawling with Giorgio's men very soon. We took his yacht into town." Tom said to them, he was surprised at how it felt like no time had passed at all. But at the same time there was was this wall that seemed to isolate him from the group.

"Diaz, this is Green. Be on the lookout for the CO on E&E." Danny said into his radio, he and the others shared a look as Tom wondered what the response was. He despised not having comms as it was a physical wall of separation from the group showing he wasn't one of them. But he didn't have time to dwell as Sasha turned her attention to him.

"How many men does Giorgio have?" Sasha asked him.

"Dozen or so fighters. His personal detail." Tom answered, it was enough men for a proper search but then those men weren't all military trained, so their search would be erratic.

"Omar travels with an army." Burk said in a resigned manner, Tom gazed at the man wondering if he was ok. He got a real sense the man was exhausted; not a physical exhaustion. Tom looked at the others wondering if they were just as battle weary but they didn't show it.

"Streets are getting hot. We gotta move." Miller said from his post as he stood at the window watching the streets.

"All right, we break up into small teams. Hit both rally points simultaneously in case-" Tom started but one of the two newest member of Vulture team cut him off.

"Split up? We're already outnumbered. We stay together, we stand a chance if things go south." He argued, Tom narrowed his eyes at the man. He knew he had good intentions but he clearly didn't understand how the US Navy operated.

"Who are you?" he demanded, he turned to Sasha. "Who is he?" he asked her, gesturing back at the asshole who thought he had a right to question Tom's motives and suggestions.

"Part of the team that's been saving the world for the last year."Sasha told him curtly as she looked just as peeved as the other guy. It was clear in her features that she wasn't amused by him or him crashing their party. He knew they all had a right to kick him out but his friend was lost with the seeds and possibly injured because he hadn't thought to frisk Lucia for weapons. His sloppiness was the reason for this mess. So he was going to prove to them that he wasn't leaving and he was going to get his best friend back.

"Captain Slattery is on evade and escape, operating in the blind. No comms, no weapons, possibly injured, and carrying what seems to be the most important thing in the world.

Since we know where he's heading, we have an advantage. Small groups means more flexibility, the ability to move faster and possibly hopefully find him. But that's just my opinion. I'm new here. It's your show." Tom said arguing his case. He was the one in the group who knew Mike the best. He waited for James to argue, he waited for Sasha to take James' side as she clearly trusted him over Tom.

"We split up." Danny said making the decision. The others nodded and started moving out, Tom watched them all go; feeling thoroughly on the outside even though they were with him. The other newest member came up to him.

"It is an honor, Captain Tom." She told him with reverence. He looked at her for a moment before she walked away, he turned and looked at Sasha. She just shook her head in clear disappointment of him. It was exactly the reception he expected from her and the others. Even though he had expected, he hadn't counted on it hurting as much as it did. He wanted to explain, to tell them all why he hadn't contacted them in over 16 months but it wasn't the time or place.

"Hold." Sasha called out to the others. She tapped her radio. "Go ahead." She said, Tom watched as the others listened to their radios.

"What's going on?" Tom asked.

"Mother, what's his distance from us?" She asked over her radio.

"Has Mike shown up?" Tom asked, she held up a finger at Tom telling him to be quiet.

"What's his condition?" She asked, a second later she nodded. "Copy that, we'll assess onsite and give a sitrep when we have more information, Vulture team out." She looked to Tom and others. "We need a new plan." She told them in a matter of fact tone.

"You're giving him too much blood." Elias told her, Naz's head swam as he was right but the man needed it. He needed to survive as she couldn't live on as she was. She needed him to take her away.

"It's not real." Naz murmured, the lines blurring between reality and her mind. She closed her eyes and for a moment she drifted into her memories. Elias holding her close, kissing her neck in the warm afternoon sunlight. The Nostos she had drank at the fighting pit still coursing through her veins.

"I may not be real but your blood loss is. Naz, please. He needs you alive and functional." Elias said, she rested her hand on his; a complete illusion that her mind and the Nostos allowed her to believe was real. They pulled out the IV clear of her arm and then wrapped up her forearm in a bandage. Once it was patched up, she rose to her feet again. The room grew cold as she remembered reality.

The radio squawked "This is Mother, Charlie Oscar do you read?" a female voice demanded. Naz was glad the voice wasn't dragging her into her fresh memories of involuntary military service. As they had checked in at regular intervals; demanding information and her physical descriptors so the team coming to get them wouldn't kill her. At least that was the hope.

She wavered on her feet but he was at her side, Elias didn't steady her. He just watched as a witness to her folly and agony. The useless hallucination that he was. Yet, she couldn't let him go.

She picked up the radio, "Charlie Oscar is resting. This is Plus One, what is the ETA of medivac?" she asked.

"Soon, what's your sitrep?" they asked, Naz moved to the window and peered out the corner of the closed curtains.

"Omar's men are closing in for a second sweep. There's a cathedral tower, north east of our location. Could your helo pick us up from there?" She told them, she waited for a response, it felt like forever.

"Our people are heading your way. Remain where you are." the voice told her firmly, Naz shook her head as Elias was outside the house signalling for her to run. He was right, Omar's men would find them.

"Too late. Have them meet us at the tower. I'm going radio silent for 10 mikes." She told them. She turned off the radio and picked up Mike's bag; stuffing the radio inside and her IDs, she just couldn't leave them behind. She rushed into her bedroom and pulled out a suitcase from the closet.

She threw it open and pulled out the kevlar vests, gun and thigh holster. She pulled off her jumper pulled her vest on, before strapping her Glock 20 service weapon to her left thigh and stuffing ammo clips into her vest. She swung the bag across her chest and pulled the jumper back on and took the other vest with her.

She pulled out an old jumper of Elias' that looked big enough. At least she hoped so as they needed to conceal themselves as locals.

"Hey, Charlie Oscar." She said tapping the man's face. He blearily opened his eyes. He smiled at her as if she were someone else. "Hey, I need you to put on this vest. We need to go." she told him.

"Let me grab my keys." He slurred at her. He reached up, his hand cupped the back of her head, he brought her face to his and kissed her.

It was a soft and slow kiss; one meant for another woman. She should've pushed him away but allowed herself a moment of physical contact with another human. She gently pulled her face away from his, wishing she felt some guilt but couldn't as today was the first time in years she had felt something genuine. Something that wasn't trickery of Nostos. He smiled at her for a moment and reality sank in, his expression grew confused and upset he was no longer in a place he considered to be home.

"We need to go now."She told him, he gave a nod as he understood where he was. She helped him into the kevlar vest. It had been her comrade's in the war. It hadn't saved him, but then a bullet to head had been his cause of death. She had kept it as memento, something she couldn't reason with but right now was happy she still had. She was happy as this man was possibly the only one who could save her.

"Oh, ah.." he groaned in pain as he got to his feet. He stumbled but Naz helped to steady him. It was a task given he was solid man. "My bag." He said as she helped him pull on a black lightweight jumper. It would cover the blood on his t-shirt from prying eyes.

"I have it. Come on." She told him as she pushed him out the back of the house.

"All teams, be have Charlie Oscar's location. He's at the cathedral with one friendly. Nasrin Khan, female, 5ft9, mid 30s, brown hair, brown eyes, slim and armed with Glock 20." Kara's voice said over comms.

"Copy that." Sasha replied, she heard the other teams and diverted their course in the direction of the cathedral. It wasn't far from their location and it meant they were ahead of Omar's people as they would find the house that Mike had been hiding out in.

"Where are we going?" Tom asked her, he watched her jaw tense in annoyance.

"Cathedral, they are taking higher ground." She told him, she knew she should turn her radio onto speaker so he could hear but she'd spent the last ten minutes having him step over her toes and undermine her position as team leader. So she wasn't inclined to help him usurp her entirely.

"They?" Tom asked confused. "He's being assisted by a local called Nasrin Khan. Do you know her?" She asked him.

"No, this is the first time I've been to Sardinia." he lied.

"Well, stay behind me and try to keep up." She told him as she took point. Tom looked to James wondering if the man was just as perturbed by his presence but James wore a neutral expression; giving away nothing.