Sorry about that cliffy guys, I couldn't help myself. So here we are, with chapter four, and a very angsty story. Fair warning that this story will start dealing with depression and the like so tread carefully. Thanks to Coffee Monsta, TheShadeOps, and Justagenericusername for your reviews.

Thanks for Reading, Fly High Aim Higher

~Spitfire out

"We had to hold out, we had no choice, had to wait for our ride… There were so many of them, it's impossible to know where it came from…" Jay sighed, "Rhys and I were right next to each other, there was a fallen log between the trees we were taking cover behind. Rhys was trying to get a shot off, but he couldn't so much as peek around the tree without getting shot at, so I stepped out of cover, drew fire to give Rhys and the team a chance to thin them out…"

Prophet noted that Jay's eyes had started watering, he wanted to tell Jay to stop, start somewhere else, somewhere less scaring, somewhere happier, but he'd been explicitly told not to interrupt, so he said nothing and let Jay continue.

"Everything and everyone was telling me to get back into cover… Rhys, Jack, my gut, my head, everything… I don't know why I didn't… I just stood there and kept shooting…" Jay bit his lip, "I don't know if everything stopped or I just tuned it all out, but when Rhys pushed me down… everything got quiet… I heard him hit the ground, I could hear how much pain he was in…" His hands were shaking terribly now, "He took the bullet for me, right through his right lung…" Jay could hear the pain in his own voice, "I looked at him and I couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't think," he shook his head, "It wasn't a panic attack, I've had them before, that wasn't it, it was so much worse… I knew I could save him, if I just moved, if I just did something, I could've saved him…" the tears were falling now, quick and heavy, "But I didn't…"

Prophet swallowed thickly, but he could tell there was more Jay wanted to say about it, he didn't want to urge him to share any more of such a painful memory, but he had to, "And?"

"And I watched him die as Jack dragged me away, kicking and screaming… I fought tooth and nail to stay with him… I wanted to die with him, had hoped they'd put a bullet through me too… but the chopper was there, and the gunner opened fire, pushed 'em back… I was 'safe'… they didn't even let me go back for his body…" His voice broke into a choked sob.

Prophet wrapped an arm around him as his shoulders shook violently. This was a whole new level of guilt and depression as far as Prophet was concerned. Everyone had lost people, all in different ways, some more painfully than others, but Jay's story… it was one of the most painful Prophet could even think of.

Jay got his crying under control and started talking again, "We got back and I went back to mine and Rhys' room… we both left our letters, just in case, but we never thought it would actually happen… When I went in, I found Rhys' letter with a box…" he pulled the worn letter and small, black, velvet box out of his pocket and handled them as if he were afraid they'd turn to dust in his hands as he passed the letter to Prophet but kept tight hold of the box, "He was going to ask me to marry him when we got back…"

Prophet read through the letter, but was caught off guard by Jay's confession even though he'd finished reading. He hadn't thought the story could get more painful.

Prophet swallowed and shook his head, "Y-you don't need to say any more, Jay…"

Jay nodded and bit his lip, clearly trying not to cry. He failed and Prophet pulled him against him and rubbed comforting circles on his back.

Jay's shaking stilled and his erratic breathing and crying eased and softened over the course of an hour or two. Prophet sighed when he'd finally fallen asleep, and eased Jay back onto his bunk. It would take too much effort to get Jay onto his own bunk, he'd end up waking him, and he needed the sleep.

Prophet left the room quietly to go to the mess for a glass of water to set aside for when Jay woke up. He couldn't help but think about how honest and open Jay had been with his story, especially considering how much it upset him. He sighed as he filled a glass with water, he couldn't think of a good reason for someone like Jay to be so open with something like that. He'd figured Jay would have some level of trust issues, given what happened to him on his first deployment, but it didn't seem he did.

"Hey, Prophet, where've you been all day?" Chemo questioned as they passed each other in the hall.

"Working," Prophet answered simply and kept walking, as far as he was concerned, he was still working.

When he entered the room again, Jay was still asleep and hadn't moved. Prophet left the glass on the nightstand and left again, he had work to do after all.

"Maya?" Redheart waved her hand in front of the other woman's face, "Maya?!"

Dash jumped and looked at her, "What?"

Redheart raised an eyebrow, "I've called your name like five times now. Everything okay?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Dash chuckled sheepishly, "I must've spaced out. What is it?"

"I was asking how training went today?" Redheart asked, leaning back on her bunk.

Dash shrugged, "It was good, I kicked ass, as usual. That Archer guy was kinda a dick though…"

Redheart chuckled, "Lemme guess, you shot like crap on his range?"

"His range?" Dash questioned, "Oh right… he's a Lieutenant… and a sniper… Yeah, I wasn't doing so good with the rifle they gave me. I'm better with a shotgun up close and personal."

"Uh-huh," Redheart responded with a grin and shook her head, "Subject change: What had you so distracted?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing, I'm ADD, it happens," Dash shrugged.

"Uh-huh," she responded skeptically, "You sure you weren't thinking about Owen? I've seen you two talking a lot."

"Owen?" Dash wracked her brain, "That's… Meat, right? Yeah, no, he just wants pointers after I kicked his ass in a sparring drill."

Redheart rolled her eyes with a humored smile and went back to her book.

When Prophet returned to his room to check on Jay he was only slightly surprised to find Jay thrashing and whimpering in fear in his sleep. It was how he'd woken up every night since he'd gotten there, and Prophet believed it was how he woke up nearly every night since Rhys died. He pinned Jay down carefully to keep him from hurting himself and waited for him to wake up on his own.

Jay jumped awake after only a moment and Prophet caught his arms carefully, "Hey, hey, easy, it was just another nightmare," he spoke softly.

Jay looked at him for a moment before dropping his head on Prophet's shoulder, taking heavy breaths. Prophet simply rubbed soothing circles on Jay's back as he caught his breath.

When Jay calmed himself down he moved away and Prophet let him go, "Why don't we head down to Mess and get something to eat?" he suggested, checking his watch, "It's around dinner time now."

"Yeah, sure…" Jay answered quietly, his voice barely above a whisper as he avoided looking Prophet in the eye.

By the time they arrived in the mess hall, everyone was already there. Prophet was glad they seemed to go unnoticed as they entered, got their food, and sat down. Jay chose to sat a ways away from everyone else, but Prophet followed and sat across from him. Jay looked at him curiously, but said nothing as they ate.

The runner entering quickly to speak with MacTavish and Ghost did not escape Prophet's attention. He could see the tension in the Captain as the runner delivered his message. Prophet got the feeling that they were going to be deployed awfully soon.

He was proven right when the Captain stood and clapped his hands together loudly, bringing a sudden silence as everyone looked to him, "Briefing room in ten minutes! That means everybody, rookies too!"

Prophet looked at Jay and he could hear murmurs of encouragement and good natured teasing aimed at their other recruit. Jay was already standing up to get ready to head to the briefing. As ready as the young medic looked, Prophet could see the tension in his face.

…

…

…...

"We're the only ones that know it was Makarov's op. Our credibility died with Allen."

[Match Found - Place of Origin: Brazil]

"Follow the shell."

The map tracked two positions in Rio de Janeiro.

"Alejandro Rojas."

"Never heard of him sir."

"You know him as Alex the Red. He supplied the assault."

"One bullet to unleash the fury of a whole nation. Which means…"

"He's our ticket to Makarov."

So sorry this took so long. Dash is a problem child. I ended up with a month's worth of Writer's Block just trying to write that itty bitty conversation with her. I might have to write her out of this, she causes too many problems… Well, here you go, a feels trip among other things. Enjoy. Let me know what you think please.

Thanks for Reading, Fly High Aim Higher

~Spitfire out