Jack knocked gently on the door to Nate's quarters and entered. "Hey," he whispered.
Nate looked up from the picture he was holding in his hands and furiously wiped the tears from his eyes. "Uh, hi."
Jack sat on the edge of the bed next to the young man. "Listen, I'm, uh, sorry I came down so hard on you earlier."
"I was out of line, sir. General Hammond explained to me I was putting a major kink in your wedding plans." Nate's eyes dropped to his hands as he fiddled with the picture. "Um, can I ask you a question, Sir?"
"Shoot." Jack smiled at the kid.
"What happened to my little brother?" His eyes were hopeful as he stared at the older man in front of him.
"I'm sorry, Nate," Jack said laying his hand on Nate's shoulder.
"No." His voice hitched with tears as they welled up in his eyes. "No! I mean, no, he can't… how? He wasn't at the restaurant with us. What did they do with him?"
Jack just stared, not sure what to say. "I didn't have much to do with looking into your family, but the General may have some information for you. I only saw the news report and there was no mention of your younger brother."
"He was only a few months old. Mom didn't want him crying and disturbing the other people in the restaurant so she left him at home with the next-door neighbor."
Jack rested his hand on the boy's shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. "I'll look into it personally."
Nate looked up into his eyes, a sadness shining through that he found all too familiar. "Thank you, sir."
"All right. Now I came down here to tell you Hammond's letting you off base until you and Jacob go back."
"When do we leave?"
"We just have to go collect Jacob then we can head out."
A/N: Okay, sorry it's so short and took so long, i've kinda got a little bit of writer's block on this story, but the ideas are flowing for my other one. well if ne body's interested in being a beta please email me, i would just like an impartial party to read before i post thanks!