Chapter 1

Present Day*

Emma used to dream about what her life would look like at the age of 25. In her imagination, she would be a college grad with a double major in political science, and environmental studies. She would be settled into a great job where she would be protecting and saving the world, one crusade at a time. She would live in a shiny new house with a beautiful shiny ring on her finger. She would imagine how she would feel coming home from a fulfilling day at work, be greeted by a springer spaniel named charlie jr, and go next door to the auto shop she was a partial owner of. She could picture it perfectly, her standing in the doorway, absorbing the most beautiful sight imaginable. The love of her life would be totally engrossed in the engine he was elbow deep in, and all of the sudden he would look up, as if he could feel her gaze upon him. Their eyes would meet, and he would give her the most amazing, world-shattering, loving, dimpled smile. The reality was so far from that dream, that she seldom thought of it anymore unless she found herself desperately needing that ray of potential happiness to cling to. It just so happened that this dream was precisely what Emma was currently trying to use to distract herself at this very moment, in an attempt to drown out the sounds of gunfire exploding all around her. It wasn't until she heard her best friend shout her name that she was pulled out of her land of fiction, and the reality of the moment came crashing into her.

Emma looked over to where Jay was standing, and a knowing smirk appeared on her face. She knew that the next thing to come out of his mouth was going to be a disastrously bad idea, one that would most likely land the two of them in deep shit with their command staff if it went wrong. That always seemed to be the way that this went, although she could admit that with the exception of only a few times, his plans had a way of working out precisely the way they needed it to. When they had joined up together, it had been both the scariest and most exciting day of their lives. At first glance, most people were confused, wondering how and why two people who look like complete polar opposites could be best friends. But as soon as you saw how they interacted and looked out for each other, you could see that they were clearly a matching pair. Jay looked on at Emma with a knowing smile. He could always tell when she was thinking about a certain boy from their childhood, no matter how well she thought she was hiding it. She also seemed to get this glow about her and this sparkle in her eye. It broke his heart knowing that she would never get to have the type of life she had always dreamt about, mainly because it was pretty much his fault. How she ever found it in herself to forgive him for the crimes of his past, he couldn't fathom. But he couldn't imagine his life without his stubborn, smart-mouthed, best friend. "So here's what I think we should do," Jay stated and began to explain his plan to Emma.

They were currently on what was supposed to be a quick reconnaissance mission when their frontmen in their squad wandered into a firefight with the locals. Emma usually stayed back on these types of missions, where action wasn't anticipated. This was mostly because she was their medic, and it was easier to have her a safe distance behind, in an easy to locate position should anything happen, but it also had to do with a recently healed injury from a previous mission gone wrong. And of course, wherever Emma was, Jay was also to be found. As much as he sometimes felt bad for leaving the other guys behind, he knew he would be distracted worrying about her if he didn't stay with her. Jay still had nightmares about the way she had come back from that massive failure of a job. Never again would he let anything like that happen to her. He had enough sins in this life to atone for without adding letting something more happen to her on the list.

Jay and Emma first met at Degrassi Day School. Back then she was a know it all, holier than thou, princess. Or so he had thought. Jay was a good-for-nothing punk, with a bad reputation and an even worse temper, at least that was what Emma had initially thought. They almost instantly hated each other. In fact, some might have even gone as far as to call them mortal enemies. It was sometimes unimaginable how these two people who used to hate each other with such passion, were now closer than family. They had been with each other through so much and seen both the highest highs and lowest lows since becoming friends. And now, here they were, living and working together, and no foreseeable plans for that to change. Jay and Emma both decided to enlist in the military 5 years ago, after a not to be spoken of incident at the school that left Emma being expelled. Jay was already in that boat, and when they were approached by a recruiter while they were loitering around the mall in the middle of the day, they realized that while they may not be able to have the futures they had once dreamt of for themselves, they could still have a future. And so together, they signed a 6-year contract with the armed forces and found themselves being whisked away to adventures unknown. Much to Emma's surprise, she took pretty well to the military lifestyle. Never could her younger self have imagined her actually enjoying this type of work, but it suited her more than she could have anticipated.

After basic, she was slated to go to combat medic training, while Jay was sent off to train to be a weapons expert. Those 12 lonely weeks were the only time in the last 5 years that they were separated. A part of their deal when they joined was that they were to do a buddy enlistment, meaning that they would be together for all duty stations and deployments. It was a tactic they employed when enlistment numbers were low, and they didn't have enough personnel to fill the needs they presently had. Usually, the commanders and senior leadership were not big fans of getting a pair, as they tended to be a pain in their ass, and usually one of the two got tired of the other, and the paperwork alone to change their contracts was more headache than it was worth. However, the commander of the fighter squadron they were assigned to, realized just how lucky he was to have them. Never before had he seen a pair work so effortlessly together, and almost always come back with a favorable report. Not only that, but they made their squad better. While Emma often pushed the rest of them to be the best they could, even if they never before realized how much they had to offer, Jay taught them how to relax and let the small stuff go. Over the years that they have been serving under him, they have had some pretty impressive successes and minimal losses. It was those very two people that the commander had sitting in his office right now, trying not to let them see the smile he was trying to keep contained until this meeting was over. He couldn't count the number of times that he was in this exact situation, attempting to admonish them for their reckless, unauthorized behavior when it had been that very behavior that had saved not only possible casualties but also the success of their missions, which directly affected his name and ratings with his superiors. " I'm sure I don't have to tell you exactly how wrong this could have gone if whatever entity that watches over the two of you hadn't been doing its job so damn well." Commander Donaldson said, his voice dry and matter of fact. He paused when his eyes made contact with the thin still healing scars maring Emma's face. In a more gentle tone, he continued on, " that being said, good job out there today. Your quick thinking and precision are the only reason I am not in a teleconference with the stateside command explaining why we had civilian casualties in a country we aren't even supposed to be in." He held their gazes each, in turn, ensuring they could see the unvoiced thanks he was trying to convey. They both nodded to him in turn, with only the slightest flicker of a grin before schooling their features back into the blank mask that was expected of them. He dismissed the pair with a nod but stopped them as they reached for the door to his office, " One more thing," the commander said, his voice sounding almost sad to Emma's ears, " everyone else will find out soon enough, but given how closely we have worked together for the past few years, I wanted you two to hear it from me, my application for extension has been denied. I'll be leaving back for the states as soon as this mission paperwork it finished up. Your new commander will be here within the week. I don't know much about him, other than he is young, and fresh, and has moved up through the ranks pretty quickly. He will be looking to prove himself, which means the levels of your missions are sure to raise. He will probably be running a pretty tight ship, so the shit the two of you do may not be something he is going to look very kindly on, so maybe just watch your six, and give the rest of your squad a heads up too, things are probably going to be changing a lot in the coming months."

Jay was the first to speak up, as he felt like it was his job to make sure they never went into any situation blind, " what's this prodigal son's name?" he asked with a hint of annoyance making its way into his voice. " His name is Major Cameron, if I remember the personnel file correctly, he's from your neck of the woods, from someplace up north called Wasaga Beach". The two other occupants in the room were too stunned to say another word as the news hit them.