Warning: Should mention, this chapter is deemed M-rated. Reader discretion is advised.

Location: Baltimore, Maryland 4:00 PM:

"We can give him something for the pain, ma'am, but I'm afraid there's nothing more we can do."

Julia slammed her first into a metal supply crate, leaving a sizable dent, "Fuck no! All you can do isn't fucking good enough!" She shouted at the medical technician.

They were 30 miles northwest of Washington D.C. in Baltimore, Maryland.

All of the local medical facilities had been immediately taken over by the military for treating wounded from D.C. and surrounding areas. Civilians and soldiers alike were constantly being airlifted to Baltimore and every other major city with medical facilities on the East Coast. Over 5,000 wounded civilians and over 7,000 injured soldier's had arrived to Baltimore alone. Some wounded were being evac'd as far Maine for treatment.

Connor and Tye had been airlifted to Johns Hopkins Hospital, the only facility left in Baltimore with some capacity to take in more patients.

"Julia, they're doing all they can," Aaron said calmly, though privately, he felt about as panicked as her.

"Ma'am, I know you're upset, but you need to calm down. This is a stress free facility…"

Julia deadpanned at that comment, and the temptation of pulling out her MARS carbine and blowing the med techs face away was overly tempting.

Unfortunately, they located in the Children's Hospital and not the main hospital campus… thus the staff here were not completely prepared to deal with a full-scale alien invasion or the massive influx of causalities caused by such an event. The young med tech was resorting to her training as a child-care specialist, but Julia wasn't a child, she was a very pissed, fully armored and equipped Marine with a brother dying; and the med tech was acting like she was two.

Gritting her teeth, Julia tried one last time, "Fine… at the very least, may I see him?"

The med tech shook her head, "I'm so sorry, but no-one besides medical personnel and immediate family members are allowed in the critical care unit."

It was Aaron that answered first, "With all due respect ma'am, we are his family." He turned to Julia and said slowly so as there would be no confusion, "she's his sister and I am his brother."

Aaron may not be Connor's blood brother, but brother-in-arms he certainly was.

The med tech looked unsure, but instead of waiting for her to make up her mind, Julia forcefully barged past the annoying girl and pushed open the double doors to the critical care unit, with Aaron in tow.

Inside, it was ordered chaos. They may have just come in from the war, but there was as a different one raging in here.

Nurses and Doctors ran about, new patients were wheeled away to surgery while others retuned, patched and fully sedated. Rows of portable beds lined the hallways, as personal care rooms overflowed. Many adult size beds had been brought in for those who weren't kids.

Children were crying, men and women sobbing, or moaning. A few were muttering nonsense to themselves. But there were just so many children.

It was ironic that the ones predominately silent were the kids. One girl being tended to by a doctor who looked like an adolescent himself, Julia noticed. Completely covered in blood, her eyes were the only thing not stained red.

Julia took a stabilizing breath before grabbing the arm of a passing doctor.

"Sir, do you know where Lance Corporal Connor Black is? He was scheduled for surgery but… but I've been told he's not going to make it."

The doctor frowned, and looked as if he was about to ask why they were in here, but another glance at their weapons and he decided otherwise.

"I'm sorry, ma'am but the name doesn't sound familiar," he quickly walked over to a patient's bed and grabbed a tablet, and with a few quick keystrokes he looked up, "He was scheduled for surgery, but he, wait a sec. Look, I'm sorry. He's critical. There really is nothing more we can do." They both heard it, the change in his tone which only meant one thing.

Resisting the urge to punch something again, Julia feigned a smile, "Could you stay here for a second?"

The doctor frowned, "I really should be…"

"Stay," Aaron said firmly, tapping his carbine.

While Aaron kept the doctor in place, Julia placed her helmet on and phoned a friend. An overly annoyed Trevor picked up on the other end.

"Make it quick."

"Connor's dying Trevor," Julia stated plainly, "The doctors won't help him… Trev, we… I need your help."

Static through the comm, then, "Jules, if the doctors can't…"

"Trevor, I swear, it's CONNOR!" He heard the desperation in her voice.

"I'll see what I can do? Kelly out." The line went dead.

And that's when all they could do was wait.

Letting the doctor go, Aaron and Julia made it to a quieter corner of the critical care unit.

"I just can't stand here and do nothing," Julia said impatiently pacing in the confined space.

"You know, Julia, the doctors have a point. Maybe Connor would prefer to," he stopped thinking of the correct words to say without sounding harsh.

But she knew what he was saying and swung around in Connor's defense. "Aaron, don't even go there," she said slowly, "I was always taught, where there is life, there is hope."

Aaron swallowed the words and stood at parade rest. It was the only thing he could think of to do in such a situation, and mentally berated himself for even thinking that death was a better option.

Julia's emotions were getting the better of her. She'd had a tough life, growing up in poverty with her older brother in Ohio; getting married at eighteen, then promptly divorcing months later when she realized her husband cared more about her looks than her personality. That had hurt… she'd thought she was in-love, even Connor had been convinced, but in reality, she was still learning the difference between real love, and physical attraction. A tough lesson to learn at the cost of matrimony. She even kept the guy's last name, as a constant reminder of that mistake.

Connor was furious and tried in vain to keep her on the straight and narrow. He constantly stood beside her, even when he'd been deployed overseas, he would keep in contact. Always on her back to try and better herself, rise from the hole she had dug herself in.

It was 4 months before her 19th birthday when it had all come crashing down.

Julia had met another loser, this one with dangerous ramifications. Sitting at the bar she had flippantly popped a white pill, and to her brother it was the last straw. Launching himself off the stool he grabbed his little sister and took her outside, pushing the drunken boyfriend to the ground with one arm as he held Julia with the other. The fresh air hit them both in the face as he slung her around and yelled.

"Spit that shit up. NOW!"

"Fuck off."

He didn't need to say it twice. He moved so fast she didn't have time to react. Opening her mouth he stuck his finger down her throat, activating her gag reflex which produced a stream of fluid along with the contents of her stomach.

Both remained in the cold, heaving from the exertion.

"This stops. Tonight. You got that? TONIGHT!"

She'd agreed.

It was time to grow up.

He was the one who talked her into joining the Marines as he'd done two years before. She'd agreed, it was a welcomed distraction, and gave her something to live for, serving for others when she couldn't serve herself.

Given her looks and her slight frame, no one thought she would last the distance, and that, along with the failed marriage and the blind faith of her brother to succeed had spurred her forward.

Of course, she'd never even considered the possibility of being able to serve alongside Connor. He was part of an elite Marine squad, and she was just a boot** from the Midwest in basic training. Besides, the Military didn't allow siblings to serve together, too many families had lost ALL their children that way.

But even if she didn't know it at the time, Connor was working to fix that, he wanted his sister by his side, so he could look out for her as he'd always done.

It was a military oversight – her ex-husbands surname had done her it's one and only favor.

Trevor hadn't known, until it was too late. Connor had proved himself a capable fighter and a trusted squad member in quite a few firefights, Laos, the Maldives, and Cape Town to name a few. But still, when Trevor realized what Connor had done to slip his sister through the system, Trevor had the mind to refuse outright. But he couldn't deny how important this was to the young Marine.

"I don't like this Connor, not one bit, it's not how the Marine's work. You could be court-martialed for the shenanigans you pulled off. But, you have proven to be one of the best Marines in Delta, of that I have no doubt. So, if your sister is even a quarter as good as you, she's someone I want watching my back. I'm giving her one chance, and one only. I'll send her packing if she's not up to scratch and if I see it affecting your performance."

Connor had been all smiles leaving his CO's office that day. He had succeeded in saving his sisters life.

Now it was time for her to return the favor.

**exclusive Marine term for a greenie/newbie. (Like the clones term, shinie.)

4:16 pm:

Thankfully, for Julia, calling her Sergeant had done the trick. Trevor had pulled through.

"Jules, I've taken care of it."

She knew by his rushed tone and the background noise he was heading back into the thick of it.

"Copy that."

"Kelly out."

Julia gave a silent prayer, before taking off her helmet and giving Aaron a smile, "Hope prevails."

Reentering the busier section of the critical care unit, they happened upon he same doctor as before. The doctor, seeing them, tried to avoid the Marines, but didn't get very far.

"Sir," Julia stepped abruptly in front of the doctor's path, "Would you mind checking on Connor's status again?"

The doctor, eying her weapons wearily, simply nodded and retrieved another data pad. After a few swipes, a sudden look of surprise came across his face, "Interesting, yes, it seems Lance Corporal Connor Black has been green-lit for surgery after all. He's been transferred to the ICU at our main campus, across the street."

"Do you know when he'll be out of surgery?"

The Doctor frowned again, looking at his data pad, "Interesting… very interesting, and unnecessary… considering the circumstances…"

"Doctor, how long?" Aaron interjected, the man was obviously fascinated by something.

Looking up, the Doctor feigned a smile, "It seems he's been scheduled for a 6 hour-long surgery. I must say though, considering the circumstances it's a waste of resources, but someone high up is definitely watching out for your friend."

"Brother," Julia stated coldly, "And he's not a waste of resources."

If looks could kill, the Doctor would have been dead.

"If you want to see the pati... I mean you're brother in pre-op, I would hurry over to the main campus now," the doctor quickly added, trying to atone for his previous comment, before leaving the Marines with haste.

Swiftly leaving the critical care unit, Julia turned immediately to Aaron outside, "Thank god, I was afraid Trevor might not have really pulled through, that what he said was a bluff… but god, Connor's going to live!"

She was ecstatic, but Aaron was weary, "It's good news, but just be aware that… well," he didn't want to finish the sentence, not when Julia was suddenly so happy.

Julia however, got the hint nonetheless, "I know Aaron, but after everything that's happened, Tibet… I can't believe we went through all of that, just to have Connor… just to come so close to losing him in the end."

"I know Jules," Aaron patted his squadmate's shoulder for comfort, "He'll make it, I was wrong to have doubted that, before and now. As you said, wherever there is life, there is hope."

Julia smiled and nodded, and with that, they started the short trip to the main campus building. With any luck, Julia would be able to see her brother again before his surgery.

Story Note: Notice the time... this chapter takes place about an hour or two before Chapter 33 Scout's Honor. Just in case anyone was wondering...

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed the update. We finally get to see where Julia and Aaron went, and what's become of Connor. As always, I have to thank my fearless, brave and always faithful Beta, MS CT-782 for the excellent job she did on this chapter… wouldn't have been posted without her.

And in case you were wondering why the chapter was somewhat short, it was originally longer, but I wasn't happy with the second half. Once I re-work it and add some more content, I'll post it. Spring break is in a few weeks, so don't expect an update until then (especially since finals are just around the corner).

If you haven't noticed, I'm trying (and somewhat failing) to tie up loose plot lines in the story. I'm bringing everyone, or almost everyone, back together for some up and coming events. What those events are and what they entail for the rest of the story are heavily encrypted Republic secrets… so much so that even a Republic Commando or even a Null would have a tough time gaining access. : )

So, I thank you all for your patience with the story, your reviews and input are greatly appreciated, and if anyone has any ideas, feel free to tell me, they may just end up being incorporated. (Gamble Squad, and Clone Troopers Hawkeye & Nonah were reader suggestion that I've incorporated into the story so far...)

Till the next update,

-Sly