Sam could feel the heat radiating from Falcon from a foot away. Falcon was in bad condition, he hadn't fully healed from the burns he received during their capture about three months ago. Several days before, he went through a particularly brutal session with their interrogator and had since contracted an infection.
Sam stared at his friend feeling useless. He had nothing to help with the infection and it seemed their captors had no inclination to provide anything useful. Sam wanted desperately to help but even if they had medicine, Sam knew it wouldn't be much help at this stage. They were being forced to watch their friend die, slowly and painfully.
Sam huffed inwardly and thought how this was the worst kind of torture to be put through. They were all strong men of action; they could handle knives, burns, beatings and all forms of physical torment. What they couldn't stand, was the helplessness they felt being right next to their friend and unable to even ease his suffering. They had all taken turns beating on the door or yelling for someone to come and at the very least give the man pain killers so he didn't have to die in pain. It had proved useless, the one man who had come to the door laughed and walked away.
Sam watched as Falcon's chest rose and fell, and then it didn't rise again. Sam moved forward, "Falcon?" Red's head snapped up at Sam's voice and Shift moved towards their friend. Red pulled on the shackles on his ankles in an effort to be near his fading teammate.
Shift leaned down over Falcon. "Falcon, come on man, don't do this." Shift looked up at Sam, "No pulse and he isn't breathing." Sam lunged forward and started chest compressions hoping in vain to bring their friend back. He felt Shift's hand on his shoulder and turned to look him in the eye. "He's gone Sam. You can't do anything."
Shift began to pull Sam away when Red shouted, "That's it? You're just going to give up on him? How could you? He's your friend!"
Sam turned to Red, "Shift is right, Red. I could resuscitate him if I tried hard enough, sure, but it wouldn't help. It would just prolong his suffering. I couldn't do that to him just so we could have him around for a few more minutes or an hour."
Red looked at Sam, his eyes showing a fading anger, he knew what Sam said was the truth. He didn't want his friend to suffer for his selfishness.
Suddenly the door was thrown open and men rushed in, dragging Sam and Shift across the room and chaining them to the wall. They yelled in protest as they saw more men come in and carry out their dead friend.
As quickly as it started, it was over. Sam, Shift and Red sat in the silence and looked at the spot where Falcon had been moments before.
x.X. Flashpoint .X.x
Several hours later, the door swung open. The man who Sam assumed to be the leader walked in holding four pairs of dog tags. "Now, I just thought I should let you know, we are returning your friend to your military but it might take them awhile to figure out who he is so…"
"What did you do to him?" Shift spat out angrily. Red's eyes darkened and Sam let out a low growl.
The man smiled sickeningly, "Just made it hard to identify him without dental records." His smile widened as the three bound men hurled insults at him. As they quieted he said, "Now I was thinking of giving them a bit of help but at the same time I can't make it easy, so whose dog tags go with the body? Now I could send Andrew "Red" McCarthy, your mother would be devastated, Christopher "Shift Blackwell, how is that sister of yours, or Samuel Braddock, maybe I could drop them on your father's doorstep."
Red froze when the man mentioned his mother. Shift frowned because his sister had died years before in a car accident. Sam looked defiant and determined to not give the man the reaction he was looking for. "Send mine."
Red and Shift's eyes widened when Sam spoke. The man who asked the question had a similar reaction, he clearly hadn't been expecting that. Sam inwardly smiled at having caught their captor off guard.
The man recovered quickly and said, "Seems we have a volunteer, now that would just be too easy. I think I will send them all, gift wrapped with a bow. How does that sound?" They glared in response.
x.X. Flashpoint .X.x
Sam heard chains rustle from where Shift was. He turned his head as he heard, "They have old intel on us." Sam raised an eyebrow. "My sister died a few years ago, car accident. But he didn't seem to know that."
"If they have old intel, maybe they don't know my mother's new address. She moved last year." Red said, the hope evident in his voice.
The room is silent for a while before Sam speaks up, "I caught him off guard. I think maybe we stand a chance of getting out of here if we play our cards right. One of them is bound to slip up eventually and give us the opportunity we need."
Red shook his head in agreement. "We just need for the rest of us to stay alive till that happens."
"We will, for Falcon. We have to survive long enough to make them pay for Falcon's death. We will get out of here and we will honor our friend." Sam said confidently.
Shift looked at Sam and smiled, "Well, said Sam. We will get out of here for our fallen comrade."
The room grew quiet as the three men sat with their thoughts. Sam looked at the two men left with him. They had skill, they had hope, and now, they had purpose. Sam was sad that a man had to die to give them that purpose but now there was no way they could fail, they couldn't, not with the weight of Falcon's death on their minds. It was like he said; they would get out, for Falcon.
x.X. Flashpoint .X.x
A/N- Ohmihgawd this story has over 3k views! That's like the most any of my stories have ever gotten! Thank you for reading my wonderful readers. Hope you like the chapter. And don't forget to review please!