"Where's my 'go bag?'" Charlie asked as he searched his apartment.

Charlie's phone rang and suddenly he was buzzing around like a bee.

"Why do you need it?"

Charlie sighed and looked behind the couch, "I know what you're gonna say, but I've been cleared for duty. I'm going out."

"On a mission?"

Charlie went to his bedroom and started throwing clothes out of his closet, "My 'go bag?'"

Energy that she hadn't seen for weeks seemed to be escaping from every pore. He hadn't looked this happy since before Hector's death.

"Found it," he said. After a quick look inside, he grabbed both of Sara's arms and kissed her on the cheek. "While I'm gone, you can pack for DC."

"DC?" She was still trying to absorb the fact that he was going out on a mission.

He opened the door to leave. "Yea, your new job. We'll talk about it when I get back," he said and closed the door behind him.

He thought she'd taken the job. How had he found out about it?

She'd been hoping that once Blue got back on his feet, he'd want her to live with him, but apparently she'd only been fooling herself. Now it seemed that instead of living in the same house, they might not even be living in the same city.

Jonas and Bob were already in "The Cave" when Charlie arrived. Handshakes and slaps on the back were followed by Colonel Ryan entering the room and turning on the red light which indicated that a briefing was in progress.

"Gentlemen," the colonel said, "We have a group of soldiers affiliated with a Los Angeles street gang stealing weapons and selling them on the black market. This would normally be a concern for some other branch of the military, but this group has added binary explosives to their inventory. As you know, binaries are easy to transport, and when the two compounds are mixed and heated, they deliver quite a punch. We don't know how much they have or where it's stored. That's where Grey comes in. He's going to infiltrate that gang of soldiers using his former membership in said group."

The colonel stood up and walked to the board where he pointed to a picture. "I know we're pulling you back in a bit early, so I hope you're ready, son, because you're the only one that can do this job. I believe you know Rock Diaz."

Charlie nodded. He hadn't thought about Rock in years. His past was coming back to haunt him.

The colonel continued, "Diaz is running these guys. Your mission is to find the explosives and shut down their contact. Grey will be Staff Sergeant Charles Grey. Jonas, you'll go in as his DI putting the group through physical training updates, and Bob will be on over-watch. Any questions?"

Charlie had plenty, but he kept his mouth shut. If he asked too many questions it might make the colonel think that he was apprehensive. He couldn't afford that. More than anything, he wanted to get back to work. Any excuse, even his former gang was okay with him.

"Gentlemen, wheels up in two hours. Report to Colonel Traverse at Fort Fuller. Good luck."

"Diaz is tough, but we were tight. He won't be a problem," Charlie said confidently when they were on the plane to Fort Fuller in California. What he didn't tell Bob and Jonas was that Rock had seen him through the dark days after his mother's death.

Normally gang bangers like Diaz wouldn't take a scrawny kid under his wing, but Rock knew Charlie from the neighborhood, knew he was loyal and learned quickly. Before long, he became a valued member of the gang. At one time, Charlie had considered Rock a brother until he sensed that his interest in him was more about what he could do for him rather than who he was. Hector had shown him what it was to be a true brother.

"You ready for this?" Jonas asked, but Charlie knew he didn't just mean physically. He was going to have to prove himself all over again not only to his former gang but also to Bob and Jonas. This mission would be a test of whether or not he could handle being a part of this team.

"They'll probably be a line," Charlie said. "It's a kind of initiation that everyone has to pass to join the gang, a physical initiation."

Bob asked. "Is your scar tissue healed enough to take a punch… or worse?"

"It'll hurt like a son of a bitch, but that's all. I'll handle it. The rest I'll take as it comes." He smiled and slipped into the language of the streets, "Ya know what I'm sayin'?" He grabbed Bob's hand and gave it the grip of his former gang. Bob took it so awkwardly that Charlie said, "You've never been on the streets, have you Bob?"

Bob smirked and shook his head.

"Whenever you need to make contact," Jonas said, "just screw up in some obvious way, and I'll do the rest. As your DI, I can find ways to make your life hell." Then he smiled and added, "How do you like the name Susie?"

"Sergeant Susie." A grin spread across Charlie's face. "Has a nice ring."

"Dammit," Mack swore at the ancient lawn mower that was leaning on its side in his garage. "If I ever get the money, I'm tossin' this thing," Mack continued to grumble to himself as he pitched the rag he'd been using to the ground. Money was tight for both Mack and Tiffy since they had separated.

When Sara drove up, Mack said, "Well, look who's here, if it ain't the little nursemaid. How's Charlie?"

"Doing too much," she said. "Is Tiffy here?" She'd been hoping to talk with one of the Unit wives about Blue. She desperately needed some advice.

"I guess you didn't know that Tiffy's in the hospital." Then he added, "Remember, I'm not allowed in my own house when Tiffy's here, Colonel Ryan's orders. Too many domestic disturbance calls."

Sara ignored his sarcasm. "Is she all right?"

He just shook his head. "Gotta get her out of that hell hole."

Sara looked at him questioningly. "She and Annie got in a wreck outside the Capri Isle, some customers givin' her a hard time." He grabbed a wrench and continued working on the lawn mower, quickly changing the subject. "Why do you think Charlie's doing too much? Don't you think he knows what he can and can't handle?"

Mack's voice was started to get louder, so Sara said, "I'll just go over to Molly's or Kim's."

"They're at the hospital visiting Tiffy. You didn't answer my question. What makes you a better judge than Charlie of how much he can take?" Mack had a temper, and it was starting to ignite.

"I just meant that he's pushing himself pretty hard." She was starting to get nervous.

"You don't think we have to push ourselves?" When she didn't answer, he said, "You're not in the military and you've only been with Charlie a few months. You really have no idea what it takes to do what we do." Mack threw the wrench and it hit the side of a trash can, the echo deafening in the small space.

Sara had never felt Mack's full intensity before, but as his eyes bore into hers, she suddenly understood what made him such a good soldier.

"Okay, maybe I don't exactly know what it takes, but I care about Blue, and I don't want to see him end up like Hector."

It was the wrong thing to say. In almost a blur, Mack was right next to her forcefully grabbing her arm. He yanked hard until their faces were mere inches apart.

"What do you mean by that, missy?"

It was time to leave. Mack's anger was more than she was prepared to handle.

"Let go, Mack. You're hurting me."

Some of his anger dissipated when he saw the red impressions the tight squeeze of his fingers was leaving in Sara's arm.

"You're naïve, Sara. You don't get what we have to do."

She was feeling raw. It was the first time that she'd sensed disapproval from any of Blue's team. She wanted to be the right woman for him. She wanted to understand.

"Molly told me once that you all have to make choices that no one should ever have to make. Is that what happened the day Hector was killed?"

"Leave it alone, Sara. You know we can't share mission details."

Sara could tell she was on the right track. Mack was filled with anger, and Blue had been keeping her at arms' length.

"What impossible choice did you all have to make that day?" What would be the toughest choice they would ever have to make?

But then she knew.

"You would have left Blue there, but it was Hector who wouldn't leave. You blame yourself for not making him go."

Mack sighed, surprised by her intuition. "None of us wanted to leave Charlie, but our mission was complete. Extraction was all that was left, but Charlie couldn't make it. Eventually we wouldn't have had any choice."

The walls began closing in and the room started to spin. Sara put her head in her hands. "Blue told you to leave too, didn't he, but he couldn't convince Hector."

If Mack hadn't had a good hold on her, she would've collapsed on the spot. He eased her down on a workbench at the side of the garage.

"Hector jeopardized your mission. He made the same choice I would have made, but for a soldier it was the wrong one, and he paid for it with his life."

Mack nodded and released her arm. "Weren't you the one who just a few months ago begged 'Blue' to leave you in Korea to die?"

She looked up at him incredulous that he would compare the two events. "That was different. I was depressed and thought I'd lost everything. How do you make life or death a conscious, rational choice? How do you live with yourself when you don't get it right?"

"It's part of what we do. We're all trained for it. Charlie deals with it just like the rest of us. The question is can you live with a man who regularly has to face decisions like these and accept the consequences?"

Could she? In her mind, Hector made the only possible choice, but Mack and Blue thought he made the wrong one. Bob and Jonas probably did too. Sara remembered Blue's story about selection to the Unit and how even then, Hector's devotion was unshakeable.

Just then Mack's phone rang. "Yes, sir," he said. "I'll be right in."

He looked at Sara.

"Just go, Mack. I'll lock up."

After that, Mack left in a hurry. Sara sat there in the garage thinking about what Mack had said. He was right. She didn't understand. How could anybody ever be trained to leave someone they loved behind to die?