Too Much Time Isn't Good

A/N

Read at your own pleasure. I own Nothing. There is nothing graphic in this but its not light and fluffy like the last one. This has a much more serious tone. All errors are mine exclusively.

Private Mark Hitchcock (Hitch) POV

Time. You usually didn't have enough of it. You scramble out of bed when the alarm goes off. You leave half-good food sitting on your army regulation metal tray as you rush out the Mess tent flap and to your jeep. You scramble and race and struggle to get everything done in time so maybe you can have some time to relax. You usually don't have enough time to do everything you need to do. then you have too much time.

Too much time to think, to brood and brew ideas in your head because there is so much time and nothing to do but wait. I used to groan about not getting enough time to sleep when I had to get up in the morning or we had to go on a spur of the moment mission in the middle of the night. how I wish I could do that this minute; wish I could complain about getting up. But I can't because now there's no one there to wake me up in the morning. No one to tell me to shake a leg cause we were running late.

There's just silence, except for the sound my bare feet make as I pad across my cement floored cell to relieve myself. I have so much time on my hands its suffocating. I hate to admit it, but I would count the minutes, hours until they would drag me back to that tiny suffocating room which had started triggering a tiny bit of claustrophobia in me. It would provide a distraction for my mind seeing how long I could stay silent against the enemy as they grew more and more impatient with my silent impudence.

They would ask questions and I would remain silent counting the seconds as they slapped me and asked again. Over and over this repeated until one day they stopped.

I counted the time, and no one came for me. I guessed that they were letting me stew a while before going back at it. But still I remained in the cell only knowing it was night when the tiny slit of a window I had fell dark and my tiny completely closed off cell fell into darkness. They had taken my boots, my hat, goggles, leaving me with just my shirt which was dirtied and ripped and my pants which weren't in much better condition.

What really irked me though was that they had taken my glasses. I didn't mind the other stuff thy could be replaced except my hat, but I could eventually get over it. The one thing that was irreplaceable to me though was my glasses. I had worn those glasses since I was 12, told my family I was going off to war with them, met Tully and later the Sarge and Moffitt with them on and I was going to be darned if I wasn't going to get out of this mess with them and eventually home with them on my very tan face.

Those glasses had been through thick and thin with me not once breaking or cracking no matter how many times I fond myself falling to the ground from injury they never broke. I had been captured, kidnapped before but not once had they taken my glasses from me. it was making my blood boil just thinking of when they threw me into the cell and then proceeded to come in after me pinning me down and roughly ripping the glasses off my face with a smirk.

I lost control for a minute and lunged at him, but they pushed me down harder and twisted my arm. One of them waved the glasses in front of my face as another twisted my arm painfully behind my back. They laughed in my face before turning heel and leaving me to my own anger at them and at myself for getting caught.

We had been on a mission and were on our way back with the information we needed when we ran into a German convoy. My jeep took gunfire to the engine efficiently killing it. Tully had turned around to get us and me and the Sarge ran to the jeep. I was maybe 100 feet behind sarge when a German tackled me from behind. I heard Sarge yelling for me and i stumbled up and towards them after jabbing the soldier hard in the head with my elbow. Sarge was in the passenger seat beckoning for me and yelling my name like crazy.

I got maybe 20 feet when 2 more soldiers got to me and I screamed at them to go without me. even though I knew I had told them to, and they had to get the information back to camp and I knew that they were going to rescue me after dropping off the information it still stuck my heart like a knife when the jeep roared off over the dunes.

That had been from what little I knew 5 days ago. I unfortunately hadn't been captured by Dietrich's men but by another commander and he wasn't nearly as calm a German as Dietrich. I didn't know his name but the way his soldiers treated me and the one sergeant I saw that didn't care and I figured he wasn't nearly as good as Dietrich was. Sure, the man was a German but personally think if we weren't enemies, we all might have been friends. We're actually quite lucky to have Dietrich as our enemy.

Me getting captured reminded me that we could have a lot worse to deal with than Dietrich. They had given me water once in a while, so I wasn't sure if it was once a day or 2 days and I had only ever gotten a small hunk of a loaf of bread. I tried to make it las t as long as but the last time I woke up I found it was gone. There had been some left and when I looked around the room, I found it had been squished under someone's boot, sand was in pretty much every molecule of the bread, and it was completely obliterated.

Left all alone was worse than the interrogation room. It left me to think with all the time in the world and I could only stand so much time. I had thoroughly examined my cell in the first 10 minutes of when I was first thrown into it. There was no escape. The only exit a metal door with a lock on the outside and 4 concrete walls around me. Inside the room there is only a dirty and frayed blanket on the floor for a bed and a bucket in the corner that that they dump put when I'm asleep.

With nothing to do I slept mostly. I tried to get some time to sleep between interrogations and when they stopped coming to get me, I slept more. I had tried to stay awake and alert for when the Sarges' and Tully rescued me, but I got too tired and every time I woke up at a noise hoping it was them it never was. soon it got harder to get off my blanket and move around. There was no point since they didn't seem to be coming. When you're asleep time is oblivious to you.

You don't have to worry about anything or do anything or worry about doing nothing. Your unconscious to the world I hated that I was starting to like it. It must have been my 6th day like I said before I wasn't sure of it or anything really. I had dragged myself off the blanked part of the floor and was relieving myself when I saw my arm. I suddenly felt tingles go up and down my spine.

Needle marks.

Not one but 3 marks were at the crook of my elbow…

I racked my brain frantically trying to remember when they had done it to me, but I got nothing. The Germans had been sticking me with needles and drugging m and I had no memory whatsoever of if happening. A hazy memory slipped into my mind as I went back to the blanket and slid my back down against the wall putting my head on my knees an wrapping my arms around them as the memory took over my mind and I felt nothing but fear as it played out across my closed eyelids. When had my eyes closed?

They had had just dragged me back to my cell. They hadn't hit me too hard; they never did but I still hurt and knew that I had a new bruise to add to my small but growing collection. They left and I had just lay down letting myself relax for a minute to get a grip on the achiness I felt all over my body even where they didn't hit me. I ached partly from the bruises but also because my heart ached for my unit.

For Tully and his quiet reassuring ways reminding me that I was indeed a good friend and telling me to ease up on myself when I pushed myself too hard. Sarge and his crazy schemes and the way he'd call me by my nickname softly when I had done and got myself hurt again. Even for Moffitt though he hadn't been with us for more than 3 months. The man was growing on me and I hoped I was on him.

He could go off in long rants about something the doctor in him taking over for a minute, but I found myself not hating the long lectures though I kinda dozed through them. Occasionally something he would go on about would interest me and his face would kind of light up like a kid at Christmas and he would launch into an explanation that half went over my head, but the other half went to my heart.

I missed all of them so bad that it was starting to make me physically sick. Was debating whether I felt bad enough to go to the bucket or ride it out when the lock turned, and they came in. there was another man with the 2 soldiers I had seen regularly when they had dragged me to interrogation. They held me down and the third man came closer to me saying with an evil grin in his eyes "Bald werden alle deine Geheimnisse unser Schwein sein."

(Translation= Soon all your secrets will be ours swine.)

He jammed the needle in my arm and all that greeted me was blackness.

The memory faded and I pulled into myself tighter. I didn't want to be drugged, didn't want to know what the man had told me and definitely didn't want to be here. They must have come back in 2 more times to drug me and I had no idea what they had done to me after I had blacked out. A sudden panic overtaking me I frantically started checking myself over for physical injuries. A moment later I stopped and relaxed a bit. There were no other injuries except the bruises from interrogation.

What sort of drug had they forced into me that I couldn't even remember it happening? A knot of cold fear knotted itself around my heart and I struggled to stay calm. They came into my cell later on and this time I saw the needle coming and I fought, clawed, bit, and did everything to get away from it and the unknown dangers it held. But I had been weakened by the drugs, the lack of food, water, and they held me down on my blanket with sickening ease.

Pushing the tiny twinge of pride, I got when I remembered the German I had been brushing up on before I had gotten captured. The man with the needle got closer and I cried out my vocal chords cracking somewhat as I had not used them in what seemed ages ago. "Was machst du mit mir?" (What are you doing to me?) The man looked startled for a second from my sudden knowledge of German and that I had spoken. He grinned slyly and uttered in a scarily calmed and downright creepy matter in perfect English.

"Why, you want the time taken away don't you? I'm just giving you freedom from thinking too much. I hear that too much time isn't a good thing." He grinned again as I yelled when the needle went into my arm again but this time as the darkness started to grab at me and pull me back to its safe cavern of rest, I heard a commotion outside the doorway. Several people burst into the room just as the soldiers let go of me and the darkness's claws claimed me for a while.

As my lids slid shut, I thought I recognized the army regulation helmet sitting atop a tuft of blonde hair but for all I knew it was the drugs taking affect.

When I woke up, I felt sick to my stomach I tried to roll over and start to drag myself to the bucket but my roll was stopped but gentle hands holding me in place and a far off voice saying something to me. I couldn't understand what it was saying but the urge to throw up my stomachs meager contents was getting stronger. I tried to get away, but I was held in a stronger grip. I heard the voice again and it slowly got nearer and clearer as I regained my senses. It spoke again and I realized it wasn't talking to me but rather a different person.

"He's…need to…might be…." I only caught snatches of it as my stomach reminded me painfully that I needed to get to the bucket in the corner of my cell. I jolted slightly as something stopped moving and only then did, I realize that I had been moving in the first place. Dragging my lids open against their will I tried to sit up and was greatly surprised to feel the two hands that had held me down gently guide me up and stabilize me as I tried to get everything into focus.

I felt hot and when I squinted up, I saw a bright orb in the sky that I would have sworn was the sun except it couldn't have been because the slit in the wall of my cell was too small and narrow to look up at the sky. "Hi…H…tch…Hit…Hitc…Hitch…Hitch!" I shook my head at my name and blearily looked up into the face of a worried Tully. The shock was the last straw for my stomach, and I tried to stumble up and ended up falling off the jeep into the hot sand below.

I got to my hands and knees and let my stomach have full control as I heaved up what little water I had in my system. I dry gagged for a bit and as it slowed down, I felt my back being rubbed ins soothing motions and to my surprise Moffitt's voice by my ear.

"There you go Hitch. It's probably better to get it all out now then later on when you have food in it. I bet that would not be a very pretty site. Especially since i believe that today is supposed to meatloaf." I dry chuckled a bit at that and leaned back a bit into the touch reveling at the warmth of the hand on my back and how good it felt. I felt safe and I had missed that feeling but it didn't last as the German's had left me with a present.

And it was a mind that wanted to believe so badly that I had been rescued but was more terrified that I hadn't been rescued and was safe to believe the truth. I found myself jerking away from the soothing touch on my back and stumbling away from the people I called my friends. I whirled around at them and warned them when they tried to come closer "Stay away from me."

I saw the shocked look on their faces. The look of hurt on Tully's face and the look of questioning on Moffit's. I jumped at the sound of Sarge's voice coming from a few feet beside me and I scampered away from him for a few feet eyeing him warily. He had his hand sin front of him showing me he wasn't going to harm me. his voice was soft but as calm as ever as he said "Woah, easy there Hitch. We're not going to hurt you I swear. It us. It's me Mark."

I shifted nervously on the sand cause I wanted so badly to believe that they hadn't forgotten me and left me with the Germans. That they had indeed comeback for me because that is what their unit did. They always came back for each other. ALWAYS. But my mind kept bugging me saying 'then why didn't they get you sooner? They left you Hitch get over it. He got tired of your uselessness and left you. They weren't even worried about you spilling your guts to the Germans cause they know you don't know anything cause you worthless useless'.

The voice had changed to my fathers reminding me all too much of how he had said those words to me all the time growing up. I had always been worthless in my father's eyes but that had changed when I had been put in this unit. In this unit I was worth something. In this unit I mattered.

I sank to my knees blinking away the tears and absently wondering when they had filled and started spilling over my heated cheeks. I looked up at Sarge who had come closer and was kneeling in front of me. "Why didn't you come for me?" My voice cracked pitifully as it strain of it not being used even for a week at most had apparently taken its toll. Sarge's face showed a look of horror before he rushed to tell reassure me that they had started looking for me the very next day but hadn't found me until today.

I just stared at him as he reassured me over and over that they hadn't abandoned me. "I-I was scared Sarge." I didn't know what possessed me to say that, but it was the truth and I cried harder not caring that Moffitt saw me. Tully had already been my steady companion when he would find me outside on several occasions crying because I had nightmares of my father and his words that still haunt me to this day.

I felt myself being pulled into an embrace and I cried into he grimy shirt with everything that I had. I finally tapered off and I heard Moffitt say "From the looks of the drug I saw that they were giving him it was some concoction for a truth serum. I fear a few more doses and our friend there wouldn't have been able stop from singing like a canary.

"I didn't sing Sarge. I kept my mouth shut tight." I let go of the Sarge's shirt and wiped my eyes then looked at him to make sure he knew I hadn't given the Germans any information. Sarge looked at me kindly and said.

"Never doubted it for a minute kid." I smiled somewhat before dropping my eyes and timidly whispering.

"You guys really came for me, right? This is real? I'm not with the Germans anymore?" I heard someone drop next to me and looked into Tully's face. I knew whatever Tully said was going to be the truth. The man had never lied to me before and I knew my best friend wasn't going to start now. He only said two words. Two words that look less time to say than taking a long gulp of water. 2 words that broke down all my doubts and mad me believe again.

"I'm here." That's it. That small statement that Tully was there just broke me completely. He drew me in before I fully understood what was happening and I cried all over again clinging to his shirt and burying my face into he neck. He held me tight and never said a word. He didn't need to. He was there, I knew he was there, and with that came the knowledge that nothing bad was going to happen to me while he was there.

I had been rescued and I was safe. I must have fallen asleep because when I opened my eyes, I had my head in Tully's lap as he tried o keep me from jostling too much on the jeep. He looked down at me and smiled when he saw I was awake. I smiled a small smile back and gratefully accepted the few sips of water he gave me. I fell asleep again only waking up when the jeeps stopped.

Sarge told me as I gently got off the jeep that it was going to take 1 to 2 days to get back to camp. I nodded and waited by the jeep while the rest of them set up camp for the night. even though I had just woken up I was exhausted. Tully brought some food over to me but after a bite which my stomach wanted to throwback up, I looked at Tully and he nodded in understanding before taking my bowl for himself not letting any food go to waste.

Sarge decided to take first watch and Tully set out a blanket for me about 5 feet away from his. I eased myself onto it and quickly fell asleep. I awoke screaming during the night the man with the needle coming at me again and I was filled with a shaking dread that made me tremble. I hear the others jerk awake at my scream and Sarge came running over to me quickly asking what was wrong.

I shook my head and managed to gasp out a week "N-Nightmare" Sarge looked at me with sympathy and understanding before patting my knee and telling me to try and get some sleep. Moffitt nodded his head at me and smiled kindly before going to relieve Sarge's watch. I heard Tully moving around but I kept my eyes on the blanket as I tried to get my hands to settle down. I jumped a bit as he sat down right beside me and I saw that he had laid his own blanket down beside mine.

I looked at Tully confused but he just smiled and patted my own blanket. I lay down finding out that ours shoulders were about an inch from touching each other and heard Tully start drifting off to sleep. I could hear his breathe going in, out and it was soothing. I lay there and looked up at the sky. So much time had passed since I was captured and yet it felt so little now that I was back where I belonged.

I knew it was going to take a while to get back to normal, but I understood right then as I lay listening to Tully breathe, Sarge snoring lightly a little off the ways and the occasional mumble from Moffitt as he talked to himself, If I could have all the time in the world at my disposal that I would spend it with my friends and my closest friend Tully. Time had gone, time was continuing, and there was time to come but I had already found the time where I belonged.

That time was here and now. I fell asleep and dreamed again but this time there were no more nightmares about what had happened to me. No more Germans, that man with the needle, or that darkened room. No, all there was, was friendship. I woke up the next morning to an embarrassing sight as during the might I had rolled onto Tully's shoulder and was now cradled against his side, the side of my face buried into his shoulder and my blond hair brushing against his chin.

I immediately sat up and mumbled an apology to Tully who blinked his eyes open wider and said with a yawn lazily, as if waking up to your friend sleeping on your shoulder was a completely natural thing to do, "Morning Hitch." I relaxed and said good morning to him too. He sat up and after a minute looked me straight in the eyes and said "I'm always here for you Hitch. I don't mind you sleeping next to me if it makes you feel safe. I'm more than happy to be your human safety pillow."

I gaped at him and grinned hugely before lightly punching him in the arm. He laughed aloud and sauntered over to where the Sarges' were breaking down the camp and getting the jeeps ready to go. Grinning I got up and followed Tully. Time was beginning to look once more like a friend than an enemy.

A/n hope ya'll like it! Please comment and let me know what ya'll think! BTW I don't know what Hitch's family was like or his father and their relationship. That part was all just stuff I made up on the spot for the story.