Orders

Summary: "Drew stared down at the floor, unable to look at Rick as he once again fought back the whirlwind of emotion in his head. A hand on his chin startled him, especially since he hadn't noticed Rick move. His husband guided his head up, making Drew look at him in the eyes so that he could study him in earnest. Bri may have been placated by his half truth, but there was no way that Rick was. Especially now that he was able to see the emotions in his eyes. "What's wrong?" He asked, and both his expression and tone demanded complete honesty."

A/N: I've been holding onto this story, and a couple other deployment themed stories, for a while given current events, wondering if it was too soon to post it. I honestly still don't know if it is or not, and I don't want to be insensitive so I have streamlined it from what I originally planned to just this. It's set somewhere in 2017/2018ish, so maybe in the future I will post the whole story I had planned but, for now, this is it.

-line-

Drew stood in the kitchen of his home, leaning against the island, shaky hands holding onto a mug of coffee as he stared into oblivion. He wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or cry. His stomach was knotted and his head was spinning with so many emotions, thoughts, and worries. His world hadn't exactly shattered, but he was definitely on shaky ground. He was supposed to work tonight, but had called out sick; something he rarely ever did. Today it was warranted though.

The sound of a Jeep pulling up shook Drew out of his thoughts, making him move. He set down his coffee, hands still unsteady and he quickly tucked away the letter he had been reading under the rest of the mail. Outside he could hear Scout's excited barking, Bri's cheerful voice as she called to the dog, and Rick's laughter chasing it all. Drew closed his eyes tightly, pushing the emotions that were suddenly stirred up back down. He felt stupid, fighting back tears at the sound of his family coming home, but then again, he was a little overwhelmed right now. As the door to the mud room opened and the chaotic clattering of child, dog, and husband broke through the stillness of the house, Drew inhaled deeply, forcing a smile on his face.

"Daddy!" Bri called, excited and happy as she came charging into the kitchen followed closely by Scout. "You're home!"

Bri wrapped her arms around Drew, hugging him tightly, and he returned the hug, "Yeah. I called out tonight," he said as Rick joined them.

"You okay?"" Rick asked, suspicious as he leaned against the door jam.

"Are you sick?" Bri asked, looking up at Drew.

Drew gave her a half smile and shook his head, "no. I'm okay, just kinda tired. Thought it would be a good idea to take the day off." Bri seemed to be appeased by that, but he felt Rick scrutinizing him. "Hey! Did you do all your homework?" Drew asked his daughter, ignoring Rick.

"Yeah, in study period," Bri answered cheerfully.

"So, since it's Friday, and all your homework is done, and I'm playing hooky… why don't you go change out of your uniform and pick a video game and I'll order pizza?" Drew said, receiving a cheer from a very excited thirteen year old.

"Pepperoni? And Halo?" She asked, smiling ear to ear.

"Sounds perfect," Drew confirmed and he fought hard not to squirm under Rick's narrowed gaze.

"Yes" she called, almost triumphant, as she scurried out of the kitchen up to her room Scout barking excitedly after her.

Her absence left a strained kind of hush in the kitchen, one that had weight to it. Drew stared down at the floor, unable to look at Rick as he once again fought back the whirlwind of emotion in his head. A hand on his chin startled him, especially since he hadn't noticed Rick move. His husband guided his head up, making Drew look at him in the eyes so that he could study him in earnest. Bri may have been placated by his half truth, but there was no way that Rick was. Especially now that he was able to see the emotions in his eyes. "What's wrong?" He asked, and both his expression and tone demanded complete honesty.

With a sigh, Drew retrieved the letter from its hiding spot and handed it to Rick. His husband took the seemingly innocent looking paper with a quizzical expression, unfolding it. "Are you fucking kidding me?" He said, not even reading past the first couple lines. He didn't need to, to know what this was. "You just got back from Ranger training," he said looking at Drew, now frustrated, worried, scared, and oh so many other emotions.

"I know," Drew sighed.

"Afghanistan? They're sending you there again? That's…" Rick's angry voice trailed off as the full weight of what was happening hit him.

He turned away from Drew, not knowing what to do. He was angry, he was so damn angry and scared, but he didn't want to take it out on the other. It wasn't Drew's fault. He felt a hand on his arm, felt a gentle tug that turned him back around, and before he could say anything, Drew had wrapped him in a hug. Rick returned the hug, holding onto his husband tightly, as if that could keep him there in Texas. He rested his head on Drew's shoulder, taking several shuddering breaths. "It's combat. They're sending you to combat," Rick said after several minutes of silence.

"Yeah…" Drew said, and he kissed the top of Rick's head. "At least it's only six months this time."

Rick sighed, "Yeah, but they're giving us less than two weeks." Reluctantly, he straightened, stepping back from Drew slightly so he could look at him. "This sucks," he said, "I hate the Army."

Drew laughed, a sort of choked sound as he rubbed his hands over his face. "You're not the only one," he agreed.

-line-

Bri knew there was something wrong. She could tell that both her dads were upset about something, despite them trying hard to pretend otherwise. For one thing, Drew didn't take sick days when he was actually sick, so to just take a day off because he was "tired" didn't seem right. For another, the far away expression on his face while they were eating was way too sad looking. Then there was the way that Rick kept looking over at Drew when he thought the other wasn't paying attention. It was hard to explain, but Rick just looked really worried. It kind of reminded her of the week before Drew left for training.

It was almost nine, and they had stopped playing Halo a little while ago. Now the three were watching a movie, or at least trying to. Rick kept throwing popcorn at Scout, making the dog jump to try and catch the treat. In his excitement, the dog was clumsy, and would often land in a little adorable heap, tail wagging. Both Rick and Bri found this hilarious and laughed as the dog playfully jumped for the popcorn, barking at Rick to demand more. Drew was watching, and though he also laughed, he was definitely much more reserved. Bri didn't like it. If he was going to skip work, he should at least be having fun.

"What's wrong daddy?" She asked as the laughter lulled.

Drew sort of shook himself out of his thoughts, giving her a half smile and saying, "nothing. Just tired."

Bri didn't buy it, and she said as much. "It's gotta be more," she said, "because you're both acting like the week you left for Ranger school. Something's going on."

Rick laughed, leaning his head back against the couch and looking at his husband. "She's got you," he said, and though he was smiling, it was a sad expression.

Drew sighed, pausing the movie as he tried to gather his thoughts. It took him a couple seconds, and he could feel Bri staring at him while he tried to figure out what to say. Rick took his hand, squeezing it to offer reassurance and encouragement. It helped. "I got orders from the Army in the mail today," Drew began, keeping his voice as even as he could, "and they are sending me back to Afghanistan for six months."

There was a pause for a moment as Bri processed the situation. She sat very still, eyes wide, staring at her dads trying to make sense of what Drew said. It wasn't so much that she didn't understand the meanings of the words, it was more she didn't want to understand the implications. "No," she finally said after almost a minute, "you can't go". Her tone was dead serious, but her voice shook a little and her eyes were starting to water. Drew going to Ranger school had been easy to understand. It was just a few months and he wasn't in any danger, not really. But her daddy going over to Afghanistan, where there was still fighting and where he had been hurt before for half a year was too much. Especially when he had only been home for a month. "Tell the Army you can't go," she repeated.

"I wish I could," Drew replied with a sad smile, "I don't want to go, but I have orders and I have to follow them."

"But why? Why can't you tell them no?" Bri responded, as a tear escaped her eye.

Drew looked at Rick for a brief moment, attempting to refocus because the grief on his daughter's face was too much for him. Rick gave him a reassuring half smile, and reached out to stroke Bri's hair. "Your daddy signed a contract with them, he gave the Army his word that he would follow their orders. In return, the Army trained him, paid him, and allowed him to become a doctor. Now they are giving him orders," Rick offered, trying to give Drew a reprieve.

Bri looked at him, tears still falling, "but he just came home!" Then, quickly turning her head to look back at Drew, she almost demanded, "When are you leaving?"

"Three weeks," Drew replied, voice soft.

There was a pause again, and then Bri buried her face in her hands, now crying in earnest. It was a lot for a thirteen year old to take, especially given this was the first time she had ever had to face a deployment. Both Drew and Rick had grown up with their father's constantly being shipped out for, basically, their whole childhood, and thus were semi-desensitized to Bri, this was all new and all horrible. Moving from the couch to beanbag chair that Bri was sitting on, Drew enveloped the girl in a tight hug and rocked her slightly for several minuets as she cried. It was taking all of his self control not to cry himself, and he looked up at Rick and mouthed this sucks. Rick, again, gave him a reassuring half smile, as he watched his family. For his part, Scout had come over to check on his little human, whining and pawing at her with concern. Several times he managed to get his snout between Drew and Bri, giving him the chance to lick her. This would eventually be what got Bri to open back up.

"You're going to miss Christmas," she sobbed quietly, as she pet Scout, but refused to move away from Drew.

"Yeah," Drew confirmed, voice choked, "But, I am going to be home for your next birthday."

She looked up at him, "Promise?"

Drew paused for a moment, knowing damn well he couldn't make that promise but wanting to with every beat of his father's heart. Taking a deep breath, he said to her what his father use to say to him and his sister, "I don't know what the future looks like right now, so I don't want to make you a promise that I can't keep. But, what I will do is promise to try. I promise to try to make it home in time for your birthday. I promise to try and call you twice or three times a week. I promise I will write you and dad a letter everyday. I promise that I love you and will always love you."

It wasn't perfect, and it wasn't exactly what Bri wanted, but it seemed to work. She hugged him tightly and buried her face in his chest, "I don't want you to go."

"I know. But it won't be so bad… at least, not as bad as you think. You've got your dad, Grandma, and Pops. You've also got Aunt Jordan, Aunt Krissy, Aunt Mollie, Uncle Topher, Uncle Kenny, Uncle TC… And so many people who love you and will help you. You know that right?"

She nodded, now sitting up straight and wiping her eyes. "Will you send pictures too? So I know you're okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. I'll see what I can do," Drew answered with a smile.

Bri, looking slightly less miserable, looked over to Rick and asked, "are you okay?"

Rick gave his daughter a smile, always amazed by her compassion for others even when she was hurting. He whipped his own tears from his eyes, shaking his head, "not really, but I have experienced Drew going over before and my dad being deployed. So, I promise, I will help you when it gets hard. Okay?"

Bri nodded, getting up to hug Rick. He held her tightly for a long moment before pushing her back slightly and, with a mischievous smile, said, "Think we can convince him to play hooky from work tomorrow too?"

Bri, with an equally mischievous look, tilted her head to the side and responded, "Well, he has to follow orders right? So, if we give him orders to play hooky…."

Rick's eyes got big and he made a 'ohhh' sound and looked over at his husband who was laughing and shaking his head. "Hey! Soldier boy! I order you to play hooky from work tomorrow!"

Drew, still laughing, replied, "I hate you both…."

"But you're gonna do it, right?" Bri asked, eyes shining.

Drew nodded, "Yeah. I'm going to do it."

Both she and Rick cheered, and Scout barked, for now the grief of the situation passing. It was going to be a hard three weeks for the family, and an even harder six months, but they were going to get through it. For right now, however, living in this moment with a bouncing thirteen year old and mischievous husband already excitedly working on the details of an impromptu camping trip for tomorrow night was all the anchor that he needed.