Three months since arriving to Iraq, and boy, it was as hectic as all the news crews made it out to be. In twelve weeks alone-Hector and the Dragon platoon had been out for at least sixty-five missions ranging from recon to search and attack-it was anything but easy and every time they left the somewhat safety of the base, their lives were on the line. When they left the Dreki Battalion base for any kind of mission, they took with them all their gear. Every time they left base on a mission-they pack in case they were out there for a couple of days just so that they had to hide out and couldn't call extraction to get them out because it would put more people at risk. Their missions thus far were hard and not all successful due to circumstances beyond their control-sometimes they had to be extracted or pull out and retreat or the situation would worsen to levels that could result in someone's death and Hector wouldn't allow that to happen.

He was the Dragon platoon leader on missions and reported directly to Cody who would then inform Alex and Drake of how things were going. Cody left it to Hector's discretion of what situations required the platoon to do whether be extraction, continue, fall back, or have to stay put until it was safe to move again. Cody relied on Hector's word of how things were going for them-he trusted Hector to make the right decision to ensure the mission and the safety of his troops. It was stressful on him and he admitted that many times-merely seventeen years old, a staff sergeant, and leading every mission for the Dragon platoon. It was incredibly stressful but he had to keep a clear head: there would be no mistakes coming from him.

Especially like now since he was on a recon mission but two hours in, it turned into a saving a pinned down squad mission. This mean that friendly forces were stuck in a firefight and needed help due to being pinned down with no escape. Dreki Battalion worked close with the American soldiers who had a base twenty miles South of their own base so when it came to missions they ran into one another pretty frequently and tonight-they were pinned down and Hector's group was closest to help them. "Haddock! If we don't do something we're gonna get pinned down too!" Thaxter yelled at him.

"No shit, Solborg, I'm working on it!" Hector shot back as he reloaded his gun. They had already met up with the Americans-three of them were injured but were being treated and didn't need to be evacuated thank Thor, it wasn't at all safe for a chopper to come in right now. "Hey, Scotts!" Hector called to the leader of the American team they were helping, "What you got for machine guns?"

"Not a lot-wasted most of that trying to get ourselves out," the male, Kyle Scotts replied to Hector now. Their team was twelve soldiers big-Hector's was twenty-four with himself because he took three squads with him from Dragon platoon: Inferno which was his own and then Sharp, Claw, and Howler. "We got about ten frag grenades, our handguns, and M16A2's but running low on ammo. We were only doing a recon mission when we got ambushed," he added.

"Yeah-so were we before we got called to unpin you..." Hector replied as he turned to fire his M16 again. He needed a plan-this was getting out of hand. The three American's who were injured weren't bad now but if they didn't get out soon it could get worse. "Tallon!" Hector called to him,

"What's up, Hec? Please tell me you got a plan to get us out of here, Davis and Pearson just both got hit in the arm. Davis on the right shoulder, Pearson on the left forearm." Tallon informed coming beside Hector now.

"How bad," Hector inquired over the gunfire.

"Nothing critical-girls from Claw got it under control. So plan?" Tallon asked.

Hector tried to think a minute-he needed something fast. "Scotts! Get five of your frags ready to throw! Tallon, get five of our blinders ready and take a place between Scott's frag throwers. Weave yourselves with them-we'll blast and blind em them," Hector commanded.

"Got it!" Tallon nodded affirmatively-Hector just prayed it would be enough to give them a window to retreat far enough back since they were close to the Dreki base-about ten miles from it actually and it was about 2am. They'd been stuck in this for close to an hour and a half. Hector now had two people wounded from his group, and still three from Scott's. He didn't like those numbers and if this didn't work those number could get a lot higher. Tallon returned with four others and placed themselves between the frag grenade throwers.

"On my signal throwers-aim for their their heavy artillery line. The rest of you-get ready to book it towards Dreki base as fast as ya can. We only got one shot at this," Hector ordered. The wounded were prepared to be carried-the others who weren't wounded or carrying someone got ready to run. "Ready! Aim!..." Hector said as the grenade throwers took their stance and got ready to pull their pins on the grenades, "FIRE!" Hector yelled out-they pulled the pins and tossed them right towards the main line of soldiers. The plan was frag and illumination grenades to go off together in front of the enemies-enough to force them back and stop to avoid being blown up or blinded. As soon as two of the four seconds were up, Hector faced his troops, "Let's move!" and just as they booked it in the direction of the base-the grenades went off in sequence and Hector heard a lot of yelling and the words to retreat. He took it upon himself to learn the language-they did work with Iraqi friendlies so it paid off to know their language.

With them now making their war farther away and the enemies retreating as well-it worked out and Hector sighed in relief almost, "Thanks for the save, Haddock," Scotts said to him.

"No problem, be glad we were close enough to help," Hector replied as they all slowed down now to catch their breath.

"We should...radio...Greysen and let him know...we're on...our way," Evan panted slightly.

"I'll take care of it-you just drink some water before you pass out," Hector remarked as he pressed the button on the piece connected to his ear. {Fury base, Fury base this is Dragon one. Do you read? Over.}

{Fury base to Dragon one. We read you. Over.}

{How copy, Fury? Over.}

{Copy four out of five, Dragon one. Go ahead, Over.}

{American friendlies freed with enemies retreating. We're two miles from previous location at last check in an hour and thirty minutes ago. Over.}

{Good work, Dragon one. Any injuries? Over.}

{Five total. Three from American friendlies, two from Dragon one. No litters-but treatment needed on base. Over.}

{How close are ya to base?}

{Eight miles. Could use a pick up three miles East from previous pin location. Over.}

{Understood. Sending M35A2 to your location. ETA ten minutes. Fury base over and out.}

Hector turned the radio down now and sighed heavily as they just sat there for ten minutes until the truck arrived-Hector had the wounded get in first and then the rest of them took a seat as it was headed back to Fury base. Hector couldn't wait to get out of his gear and just go to sleep-he was exhausted. Reaching the base-the wounded were taken for better treatment and a team was there to pick up the American's and within about thirty minutes they were gone. By this point it was nearly 3:30am when Cody approached Hector.

"Good work tonight lad," he patted his back. "Go get some sleep-all of ya earned it after this," Hector nodded to him as he started following his teams back to their barracks, "By the way-there will be a news crew here. Archipelago president ordered it-update on situations and what not,"

"That's just great," Hector groaned shaking his head as he walked off-that was all he needed. For now though-he just wanted to sleep.

(A Week Later; Berk)

Being October now-the student had returned to school at the beginning of September, the start of their Junior year at Berkian Academy but for Heather and Darius, it was just another reminder their brother wasn't there with them. They didn't even know where he was or if he was okay. Spencer and Val felt the same too-they just wanted to see him and find out what happened to make him just take off without a word to anyone. He was nowhere to be found-Spencer talked to everyone he knew but Hector was just gone off the grid it seemed. Where ever he was-he was damn good at hiding out in their minds now. Today was a day where parents got to come in and see their children in class-how things were going, what they were learning and more. So today, Spencer and Val were at Berkian Academy-sitting in Gobber's classroom to see how Heather and Darius's normal school day went. It was just after lunch hour and time for World History. The current topic in class was military-how it evolved from the beginning to present.

"Today class since all week we've been going over past military related articles, watched a few movies-I thought today we'd watch something more present," Gobber began after the bell rang while wheeling in a large TV on a stand. "With permission from our principal-we'll be watching live coverage from Baghdad, Iraq." he got the TV on and changed the channel to the news channel: EAN or Eyewitness Archipelago News-a major station that covered a lot of the hot spots for wars around the world. The program began from the news desk and then changed to Iraq where a woman with caramel brown hair and blue eyes stood in front of some barracks wearing a tan dress and some protective gear-obviously required for her to be there.

"This is Emilee Rosewood reporting live from Baghdad, Iraq. Behind me are the barracks belonging to the Nightwave Company who arrived here just three months ago for fourteen month deployment from Fort Striker. We're hoping to get a talk to some of the soldiers," Emilee said as a bunch of soldiers were running around-orders were being shouted.

"Let's move boys and girls! We got a pinned down squad under heavy fire! Units: Inferno, Blade, Blaster, and Howler-time to go, the rest of you stay in case of back up needed!" yelled one of the soldiers who they couldn't see the face of.

"Looks like it's a pretty serious mission-hopefully their commanding officer, Captain Cody Greysen here can give some insight," Emilee said moving beside another man now.

"Ain't much to say. Pinned down squad fifteen miles away under heavy fire and I'm sending out the best platoon in the Nightwave Company to handle it," Cody stated to her then he rushed off.

"This is pretty cool-sucks we can't see the mission though," Skylar remarked sitting back in his seat.

"Ssh," Gobber hushed him. The next thing they noticed were the soldier getting loaded up in a large chopper and the reporter Emilee and her cameraman trying to get closer-they actually snuck inside through the back and kept things rolling as one of the soldiers pulled the side door shut and gave a thumbs up to the pilots. It seemed the flight was mostly quiet with one man giving orders and positions for when they arrived. It seemed like the squad was was only made up of about ten soldiers and they were pinned down so it was the Dragon platoon's job to get them out and to safety.

"How many soldiers make up a unit, Mr. B?" asked one of the student curiously.

"I believe between four and twelve. Looks like this platoon-made up of sixteen to fifty soldiers is only sending out four units that are six soldiers a piece and that man given orders is platoon leader. Right now it appears they got twenty-four soldiers heading out," Gobber replied firmly while the students continued to watch as not much happened until they hovered just slightly and finally landed down.

"Let's move! Take up your positions and get ready to fire on my signal," the male ordered them.

"Yes sir!" the group replied as the doors opened and they all filed up-the camera watching everything but the reporter wasn't saying a word and probably because she knew she wasn't supposed to be there and if caught-in a lot of trouble. The male giving orders jumped out last but they could still only see the back of him. The students just watched closely as things picked up-gunfire and explosions, orders being called. The fight went on a good thirty minutes and the camera person had zoomed in when a soldier got shot in the leg and hit the ground yelling out.

"Sergeant! Cortez is hit!" called one of the men who rushed to the soldier. The male in charge rushed over-ducking to avoid being hit.

"We gotta move him! Can ya move on your own?" the male in charge asked. The soldier seemed to shake his head while cringing. "That's a no. Vik! Ry! Get over here!" the male shouted over the gunfire. Two other moved closer, "Get him to the chopper for treatment! Left leg, upper thigh. No exit wound-move it!" he ordered as the three soldiers now moved the male known as Cortez towards the chopper. It was now when the reporter was spotted to be there.

"Hey! You shouldn't be here!" one of the males yelled. "SERGEANT HADDOCK!" before the person in charge could turn, another rushed up to him. The name alone took a few people by surprise but there was no proof that it was the guy they were thinking of. Spencer had to assure Val that there was no way Hector was in the military, that it was just a coincidence-she nodded and they all continued to watch.

"We got them free-enemies getting closer for hand to hand. Engage or no?" asked the male with black hair near the male in charge.

"Push the fuckers back! We gotta get outta here-Cortez got hit pretty bad in the leg!" the Sergeant yelled then all of a sudden enemies raced in and hand to hand began-they watched the sergeant grab his gun and whack an enemy in the face and then kick him back. "I've had enough of-"

"Sir, we got a civilian problem. The damn reporter and cameraman are here! They hid out on the chopper," said one of the males who had taken the wounded soldier to the chopper, it was now with the zoom in of what the students saw for the first time-the person calling the shots for the last half hour and it turned out to be exactly who they first thought of. Hector Haddock-Spencer and Val's youngest son, Heather and Darius's cousin but brother when they were adopted into the Haddock family.

"Haddock! Solborg got hit in the chest-we can't get to him!"came another voice.

"HECTOR!?" shouted Gobber, Spencer, Val, Darius, and Heather now. It really was him-he was on the TV! He was in the army? He was in Iraq? He was on a very dangerous mission! They watched as Hector pushed his teammate out of the way and used his gun to hit the enemy in the face who was trying to hit the soldier from behind then rushed over to the chopper and pulled out a different gun and hauled it over his shoulder-they watched Hector take a knee and put his finger on the trigger while aiming.

"You crazy son of a bitch, Hector! I think that's going a bit overboard!" one of his teammates called to him with wide eyes as the others were getting out of range.

"Fuck you, Tal. I call the shots here and overboard is needed right now-we gotta get out here! NOW FALL BACK!" Hector commanded firmly as his soldiers ran past him and ducked down while he pressed the trigger and the RPG was released from the front-a burst of fire from the back and Hector barely even flinched from force alone. The RPG hit the enemy side-scattering them in the explosion. "Get on the chopper! I'm going in for Solborg!" he yelled reaching for his M16 then rushed forward. For about five minutes they didn't see or hear anything other than gunfire-no sign of Hector or the man he went in for. After the seventh minute-the noise seemed to stop as the four that Hector told to cover him ceased fire on the order of the one Hector had called 'Tal', Hector emerged from the smoke carrying a male on his shoulders-his arm between his friend's legs while the friend held the arm of the Hector that was between his legs and Hector's other arm was on the soldier's arm that crossed his chest.

"YEAH! There he is!" the soldiers cheered as Hector offered a smile and walked over to the chopper and laid his friend down.

"Load up!" Hector commanded as the troops loaded into the now two helicopters-a second arrived to take back the ten soldiers who had been pinned. Hector used his finger in a spin fashion to give the chopper the command to head up as he went to climb inside but was pulled back by an enemy.

"HECTOR!" the male known as Tal yelled in fear almost, the soldiers who were closest to the door got their guns ready, "Don't shoot-you could hit Haddock..." the male warned as they watched Hector rolled around with the enemy on the ground.

"G-Go!" Hector commanded as the chopper began to lift up. The enemy punched Hector in the face then got up preparing to fire at him-Hector adjusted his leg and made the soldier lose his stance as the gun fired and Hector was hit in the shoulder. He yelled out at the pain he felt but glared as he forced his arms over his head and kicked the soldier off and back from him. The enemy went to fire again but Hector already had his sidearm out and shot the enemy in the upper chest then kicked his gun away from him as he gripped his now bleeding arm tightly and panting.

"Come on, Haddock!" two of his friends leaned over the side of the chopper to pull him up into it but the force on his arm was too much. The chopper was too high for them to lift him up, one of the guys lowered the rope ladder and Hector jumped on it and held on with his good arm.

"Just...go! I'll be fine," Hector yelled up to them coughing a bit and cringing at the pain, closing his eyes.

"You need your arm treated, stupid!" yelled his friend.

"I'll fucking live until we get to base! GO! That's an order!" Hector glared-without much more argument the chopper lifted higher and headed back to base. When it landed after a very silent flight-Hector was first to let go and drop to the ground holding his arm. Two of his friends went right to him while the others split off and the medics came rushing forward. The reporter stepped out now and faced Hector who looked less than pleased. "I don't know what the fuck you were thinking but you're not permitted to leave this base! I don't care if the president ordered you to be here for the sake of updating the rest of the Archipelago. If you ever step outside of this base again-I'll remove you from this location personally. Your little stunt could of screwed my entire mission and gotten a lot more of my team hurt or they could have been killed. If you ever endanger their lives again, you and I will have a serious problem. My troop's lives are more important than your fucking story! " Hector scolded harshly while holding his arm before walking away with the medics and the other two soldiers who had been hurt. The area was actually a little quiet as the camera just cut out and returned to the news station. Gobber at this point turned it off and the room was silent. The Haddock family and Gobber beside themselves at what they'd just seen. They'd finally found him after he disappeared in March and now here in October, Hector was in the military and currently in Iraq on deployment.