"The Letter."

Mystic25

SUMMARY: Response to the TBW Awards Round Three Challenge about writing dead letters home. Zack is a lone wolf and a solitary protector. So who would he write to before he died?

RATING: PG for language.

A/N: Don't anticipate anything about this, it might surprise you.

A/N #2: Please don't leach of this idea, intriguiging as it is. It was created for a fan ficiton challenge and isn't mine, therefore I can't rightfully allow anyone using it. If you want to use this idea please enter the "The Broken World Round Three" contest.

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I never been one for writing letters, pretending that there are some things worth putting down on paper. But seeing as how I'm about to die I highly doubt anybody's judgment, even my own, against it will matter worth a crap anymore.

I've been a leader my entire life, I pretty much had to be because there was no other choice that presented itself after where I and my family came from. Being the oldest sibling, the oldest brother, I didn't expect anyone else but me take the responsibility of looking out for them all. I had to protect them so I didn't have the luxury to consider things about myself, my personality.So I'm sure, hell I know, you canunderstand then how hard it is for me to say that I owed much of my leadership ability from you. You never allowed me to take the pussyfooted way out or deny my own strengths. Had it not been for you I would've been the prepubescent kid everyone else on the outsidesaw in me at first glance. Some little punk who didn't understand the value of the life he was given. You allowed me to reach my fullest potential and protect all I had to so that we all could survive. I had my part in it, but you were the initiator.

There wasn't a day that went by in Manticore that I didn't think of you. You had this permanent effect on me that I could never deny. All the days of torture never made me think of you as any less then what you were, of what you meant to all of us. That's one of the reason's I escaped. I got out of Manticore because of you, to live the life that everything you did for me was leading up too. Because of you, I understood life to it's utmost potential, even living it on the run. I learned to take every moment as it came and work it to my advantage, to never quit fighting for my stand in this god-forsaken world.

I wish I could watch your face as you're reading this because I know that I've never told you this before. Of course now it's pretty damn well too late to tell you this, when I'm six feet under, but there are some things that I can't control.

I'm the person that I am because of you, strong, intelligent. In those hell filled hours it took me to die, I held onto the satisfaction of knowing that you would find this on me andknow everything I didn't have time to tell you.

Thanks for the memories.

Zack.

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"Sir," The Delta team soldier stood in front of Lydecker's desk to get his attention.

Deck looked up from his laptop on his desk to stare up at the man. "What is it?"

"We found this on him." The soldier handed him Zack's letter. "It's addressed to you."

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Did I surprise anyone? Thought that the letter was for Max? Nope. Also Zack wasn't being kind, he was being sarcastic and real.

R/R please

Mystic