Author's Note: I whipped this Bonus Chapter up a little while ago. Please note that this little incident takes place about two or so days before Chapter One.

Hope you enjoy it ^^

Kyle sighed as he laced up the strings on his right boot, mumbling obstinacies under his breath. Pulling the string through the final lace, the First Lieutenant – by habit – double knotted his boot string and stood up, twisting his ankle a bit to test it's comfort ability. Satisfied with the boots, he began to go to work on his tactical vest.

"Yo Lieutenant, you've got a call."

Surprised, Kyle turned around and faced Gunnery Sergeant John Thompson who was standing in the doorway.

"Excuse me?" Kyle blinked.

"I said you got a call, Lieutenant. It's your Mother."

At this, the First Lieutenant frowned. Mom? What's she doing calling me now? On the outside, however, Kyle didn't show his confusion and concern. He only nodded in response. "Yeah, alright. I'll be there in a second."

With a grunt, the Gunnery Sergeant disappeared.

"Mom…" Kyle whispered to himself. A small sigh passed his lips as he shrugged off the vest, which had remained undone, and placed it back inside of his locker.

With haste, the soldier closed the locker door and exited the room, making his way down one of the long hallways of the military Head Quarters. It was a large, square building, eight stories in height. Nobody besides high-ranking soldiers would get past the third floor though. Kyle himself had barely achieved clearance to be up there.

Quickly, Kyle spotted Thompson standing near one of the large pay phones that had been set into the wall. Nodding, the Gunnery Sergeant turned and walked away. The First Lieutenant picked up the black plastic phone and placed it to his ear.

"Hello?" Kyle said.

"Hello? Kyle?" The sound of his Mother's voice was easy to recognize.

"Yeah, this is me Mom." Kyle chuckled in response.

"Oh Kyle!" She sounded happy. "Oh, my baby, how have you been? I haven't been able to get a hold of you for three weeks! And you haven't called, I told you to call!"

"I'm sorry Mom. I've just been busy with work." Kyle answered half-truthfully. Kyle had indeed been busy. But in reality, he hadn't been so busy he couldn't take or make a call. To be completely honest though, he'd been screening calls left and right and purposely neglecting to call everyone that had been trying to get in touch with him – not just her.

"Oh… It's alright sweetie, I understand. Life has been a bit rough since...." She trailed off.

"Yeah…." Kyle said, kicking himself seconds later for sounding to pathetically weak. "Um. Anyways…. Why're you callin' Mom?" The question and tone had both been a bit more rude than he'd intended.

"Well…. I just wanted to hear your voice hun. It's been such a long time since I've seen your face. When are you coming home?"

"I don't know, Mom. Things've been hectic lately. Ever since I came back into service, they've had me working non-stop. I've been filling out paperwork, attending meetings and they even had me training some recruits for a bit." Once again, Kyle was only giving her half-truths. There were things he couldn't tell her.

Like the fact that there was a lot of hush-hush bussiness lately. Soldiers were gearing up and the men and women in the reserves were being pulled in for intense training and were to become full fledged soldiers as soon as possible. Higher ranking commisioned officers were talking about things too; secret code words, talking amoung themselves, orders from unknown uppers. There were secrets in being kept from most people and Kyle was one of them. He didn't like it.

The First Lieutenant couldn't help but wonder about the test he'd volunteered for almost two months earlier and if it had any connections to the current happenings. Probably not.

"Oh my. That's new." His Mother said, amused.

"Heh…. Yeah." Kyle nodded, scratching the back of his neck.

"Oh? Huh?" Kyle could hear somebody say something in the background. "Oh. Frank says hello, Kyle."

"Tell him I said Hi back." The soldier gave a small smile.

Frank Ambrose – Kyle's step-Father. He was a good, hard working man. Although he wasn't Kyle's real Father, he was much better. He truly did love Kyle like a son and the Lieutenant couldn't help but return the feelings. But – as much he hated to admit it – Kyle still did love his bigological Father. He always had despite the way he had treated both him and his Mother. They'd rekindled their relationship a bit just a few days ago. Kyle thought about telling his Mother about that call, but decided against it.

Unlike Kyle, she despised that man with every fiber of her being.

And she had every right.

Benjamen Ambrose had caused a lot of grief for Kyle and his Mother. Things had started out well and been well until Kyle was seven years old. That's when his Father began to drink heavily and became an alcoholic. Physical and verbal abuse soon followed and it took over eleven years for it all to stop. On Kyle's eighteenth birthday, Ben had come home a bit more sober than usual, but still drunk enough to fight. That night, after a scuffle, both Kyle and his Father spent the night in jail.

The next day, his Mother began filling out the divorce papers.

"We're both worried about you…."

"Yeah, I know Mom. I'll be home as soon as I can, okay? Gimme maybe a week or two. A month at the longest."

"You promise Kyle?"

"Yes Mom, I promise."

"Oh Kyle…." He heard her giggle. "I'm so glad."

"Me too, Mom."

"And me three." Kyle heard Frank from the background.

"You've got me on speaker?" Kyle asked.

"Well, I do now. I put you on after Frank said Hello."

"Ah. Well, how've you two been lately?"

"Wonderful dear, just wonderful." His Mother said.

"Oh yes, just great." Frank agreed. "Wanting to see you of course though, Kyle."

The First Lieutenant cringed. That was one of the only things that bothered him about Frank. Not once in his life had he ever called him 'son.' It wasn't the fact that they didn't have that bond or that either of them didn't want that. It was more about right. As much as he wanted it, Frank wasn't Kyle's Father. And he never would be. Therefore, he had no right to call him 'son.' And that fact pained them both.

"Yeah, I wanna see you guys too." Again, another half-truth. "Like I said, just gimme a bit of time."

"First Lieutenant Ambrose."

Kyle turned and laid eyes on Brigadier General Davidson.

"Sir." Kyle blinked, straightening up.

"At ease, soldier." The General looked him up and down then grunted. "We've got a meeting in two minutes. Hurry it up."

"Yes, Sir."

The General gave Kyle a nod before turning and walking away.

"Hey Mom, I've gotta go." Kyle said hurriedly.

"Oh, alright sweetie…." His Mom said, deflated. "You'll be home soon right?"

"Yes, Mom. I promise."

"Thank you, Kyle. Good bye, sweetie. We love you."

"Good-bye Mom, I love you both too."

And with this, Kyle placed the phone back on it's hook, allowing a soft sigh to escape his lips. He brought his hand to his eyes, taking a few cleansing breaths before turning and walking in the direction General Davidson had gone. So many things he hadn't been able to tell his Mother and Step-Father. The hush-hush bussiness, the call from his biological Father, anything about Angie's death. Ever since her death, things had been hard for him. He'd been close to his baby sister and now she was gone. And he had nobody to talk to; nobody who would understand. At least, that's the way he felt.

And that thought hurt him so much.