Disclaimer: Purcell, Kuslits, Doc Hock, Griner, McKay, Johnson, Ruiz, Taylor, Anderson, and Goldman are not mine. The rest are.
Author's Note: More Au: You know in season 1, Purcell got that "Dear John" letter from his girlfriend? (to peeps who watch TOD). Well, in this universe, he never got it…and he and his girlfriend were engaged too.
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Purcell cleared his throat slightly before shaking his head, wiping away the tear angrily, and looking up at his new squad. "It doesn't matter why I signed up for a second tour. I guess I just had nothing to go home to, really. It doesn't matter. As I said, my name's Danny Purcell, and you guys are…?"
The four guys finally seemed to snap out of the little trance they had fallen into. The redhead gave a little smile before speaking up. "Sorry. We seems to have forgotten our manners. I doubt these guys had them to begin with, though." He said, indicating the blond and black guy. "My name's William Houser, but you can call me Bill. If ya want to. You don't hafta. Just that everyone calls me Bill, ya know?"
Purcell nodded and mentally stored the name. Redhead – Bill. He looked to the blond guy expectantly.
"Oh, you want my name now, do ya? It's David Alfonso Irizarry-Acevedo. Say that ten times fast." The blondie flashed Purcell a lopsided grin. Oh great, he thought, I'm never going to remember that. I'm going to end up calling him "hey you" or something. Why do people have to give their kids such long impossible-to-say-and-remember names? Why can't they just name them Joe or something, and have a nice last name like Jones. It would be so much easier for everyone.
The black guy jabbed Irizarry-Acevedo in the ribs and then turned to Purcell. "Don't worry. You don't hafta remember that name. We dudes all call him "Ick". Because he's icky. Or Dave. Or Loser. You know, whatever works. And you can call me Guy. 'Cause that's my name. Guy. Forgot my last name. It doesn't matter though. I didn't need a last name anyways."
Purcell raised his eyebrows and looked at Bill, who was rolling his eyes. He smiled slightly, then glanced down at his magazine. This is really weird. They all go by their first names. In the old squad, we all went by last names. He looked up again and said, "Well, I guess you can call me Danny then. What about that guy?" He pointed to the man with the goatee, who was lying back down on his bunk again, still dressed in his boots and dirty uniform. Everyone looked to where he was pointing. Nobody said anything for a few seconds, then Bill grinned and got up, walking over to the guy and slapping him hard on the back.
"This here's Ray Miller. He's a real party animal, this one. Aren't you, Miller?" Bill leaned over Miller's still form, but jumped back when Miller's hand shot out, desperately trying to slap Bill away. Bill just chuckled, but walked away, and Miller became still again. Bill came up to Purcell and sat down on the bunk beside his. He leaned in close and lowered his voice to a whisper, meant for Purcell's ears only. "You should probably just leave him alone. He's our medic, and he's kinda having a bad time over here, ya know?"
Yeah, Purcell knew. He wasn't exactly having the best time over he either. Memories of his drug addiction came flooding back. Memories of screaming and shaking and sweating and throwing up and, most of all, memories of pain. He remembered exactly how it happened, every last detail. Taylor, Ruiz, Johnson, and Doc Hock had tied him to his bunk with rope, which cut through his wrists and made them bleed. They had talked to him, tried to help him, but he just insulted them and screamed at them in his hysterical state. The pain seemed to be entirely in his chest and stomach, squeezing around his heart and suffocating him. One moment he would be fine, and then the pain exploded in his chest and burned up his spine, leaving him screaming and struggling for breath. Then the seizures would leave and he would be fine again. This had lasted for over a day, an incredibly long day, and through it all, he remembered Doc Hock was at his side, never leaving, always talking to him and trying to help him. He had hand-held Danny through the worst of his withdrawal. He wondered where Doc Hock was now.
The hootch door slammed open and Danny snapped back to reality. He looked up and saw Sergeant Nelson walk in, a cocky grin on his face. Purcell closed his magazine and quickly stood up, the rest of the guys following except Miller, who seemed to have fallen asleep. The Sarge walked slowly into the room and stopped in front of the small semi-circle of guys. "Well, looks like you guys already met Purcell here. That's good, 'cause I hate doin' introductions." Nelson smiled and the other guys chuckled, obviously remembering some past event. Purcell felt suddenly lonely and longed to go back to his old squad, to see all his old buddies…but he pushed those thoughts out of his mind. He was in a new squad now. He would just have to get used to that fact. He concentrated on what Nelson was saying. "I just thought you'd all like to know that we got a mission in a few days. But until then, you can pretty much do whatever your twisted hearts desire."
The guys murmured some few things excitedly, but Purcell wasn't paying attention. Well, that's that. My first mission with the new squad is coming up. These guys seem kinda rowdy. They better act like adults in the bush, 'cause I don't plan on getting killed out there by a bunch of kids!"
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