"You have to let me look at your arm, Staff." The medic yelled over the noise of the Black Hawk.

Scream didn't listen. He looked over at Dim, who was still unconscious. He heard Tariq wheezing as he inhaled and faced the young Soldier. "Hang in there, pal."

"Sergeant!" The medic yelled. "I need to look at your arm!"

Scream glared at the medic. "Pay more attention to my Soldier and less attention on me. I'll be fine."

"You could lose your arm."

"Better than my life! NOW PAY ATTENTION TO MY SOLDIER!" Scream lived up to his nickname.

"Sarge?" Tariq's voice was raspy and barely audible.

"What is it, Tariq?" Scream leaned down to hear Tariq's words.

"When Dim wakes up, tell him it's nothing." Tariq smiled.

"You ain't dying, Ahab." Smoke held his hand tightly.

"It's nothing, Smoke." Tariq squeezed Smoke's hand.

"What you mean it's nothing? I can't lose you, man. I promised you I wouldn't let you die." Smoke's eyes filled with tears.

"It's okay. It's nothing." Tariq's eyes looked around the helo.

"When we're home, I'll take you out for a drink, Ahab." Smoke ignored Tariq's words.

"My name's Tariq." His eyes stared up at Smoke, but saw nothing. His labored breathing stopped and his hand suddenly laxed, falling out of Smoke's grip.

Smoke tried to drink the coffee given to him, but found it undrinkable. He sighed, wishing Dim made the coffee. "Boy could make a mean cup of coffee, I'll tell you, Mamasia." He looked at DoubleWide.

She smiled. "He could do a lot of things well."

"Except hide his feelings." Mrs. B traced the top of the styrofoam cup her coffee was in. "It was like he wanted everyone to know to not ask him how he was doing, you know?"

Angel laughed. "Yeah. But, somehow, no matter how pissed off he was, Tariq was always the one he talked to."

"Tariq was just that way." DoubleWide nodded and sipped her coffee. "He and Mrs. B and I would just talk."

"So why do they call you 'Mrs. B'?" Tariq sat on the sand next to DoubleWide.

DoubleWide smiled. "She's a bitch."

Mrs. B glared at DoubleWide. "It's cos someone told me one time I had balls of steel."

Tariq smiled. "That you do. I'd say you have more balls than some of us." He looked down at his crotch. "Including present company."

Mrs. B laughed. "I'm not so sure about that. You've got balls to stand up to Smoke."

"Smoke's a puppy, really." Tariq grinned. "He just puts an act on that he's tough. He's soft."

Smoke smiled. "Really?"

DoubleWide patted his knee. "Yeah. He always thought that you were really a nice guy who grew up thinking that you had to show you were tough because nice guys didn't live long."

Smoke wiped a tear. "And how harshly I judged him."

Angel smiled. "Yeah, but I think other than Dim, we all judged him a little harshly. Think about it. He replaced one of us. Dim was the only one that reached out to him first off." His smile faded as the realization that he judged Tariq hit him. "He really taught us a lot."

Scream nodded. "Well, I'd love to just sit here and bullshit, but that would make you all think I care."

"If you didn't care, Sarge, you wouldn't be here." Mrs. B quietly pointed out.

Scream stopped and faced her. "You're my team. I'm your goddamned Platoon Sergeant. I have seen first hand what happens when Platoon Sergeants care too much about the team they're leading and..."

"It's okay, Sergeant." Captain Baron put his hand on Scream's shoulder. "This isn't Storm. These young Soldiers obviously care a great deal about you, so why not care a greater deal about them?"

I'm going to fucking die! Scream thought to himself. The ambush left him buried under some rubble. He couldn't breathe very well and he couldn't see much.

"SARGE!" Scream barely recognized Tariq's voice. He made a slight movement and saw light as Tariq lifted a few bricks. "You okay, Sarge?"

Scream took a deep breath, feeling the pain in his ribs. "I'm fine, Tariq." He looked up at Tariq, who was throwing rocks and bricks off of Scream. "I can't really breathe." Scream laid his head back down and tried to inhale.

"Medics are on their way." Angel joined Tariq in moving bricks. "Just stay as still as you can, Sarge." Scream just glared at Angel and Angel smiled. "At least he can't scream at us if he can't breathe." He winked at Scream.

Scream painfully laughed. "Don't make me laugh, Angel. One, I DON'T laugh and two, it hurts too goddamned much to."

Tariq grinned as he helped to gently pull Scream from the rubble. "I do believe, Sarge, that you'll be back screaming your lungs out shortly."

Scream inhaled deeply, despite the pain. He hadn't died and the two young Soldiers smiling at him made sure of it.