Gobber and the Haddock family consisting of Spencer, Val, Darius, and Heather just witnessed live a dangerous mission based in Iraq-where soldiers were currently deployed. It had been family day at school, more often called Watch Your Kids At School Day. It was a lot like take your kids to work day only parents could come to the school and see their children learning-express concerns and what not. The Haddock's and Gobber had been wondering where Hector disappeared to six and a half months ago back in March-and after months of trying to locate him with no leads or clues-they found him on TV, in Iraq, running the dangerous mission where three soldiers including himself had been shot and they saw it live on TV because the reporter snuck into the chopper just as it took off to get to the mission site. The family and teacher-who was a close family friend couldn't believe it. Hector was in Iraq as a soldier?! They had been wondering who this young soldier was calling all the shots but never saw his face until almost the end of the broadcast and even after seeing him in the flesh-they couldn't believe it was actually him.

"Hector...joined the military?" Heather breathed out in shock.

"He...couldn't have. No-he wouldn't. Not without telling us," Spencer tried to assure her.

"Dad, it was him. You know Hector-and the other soldiers called him 'Haddock' and 'Hector' at separate times-it's gotta be him," Darius pointed out.

"Darius has a point, Spencer. Hector was really quiet right before he left-not telling anyone what was going on and just left one night without a word-haven't seen him since," Gobber added to Darius's statement.

"But...why would he join the military? What reason would...make him make a choice like that?" Val began to cry lightly as Gobber brought her over a few tissues.

"His letter only said he had something to do and couldn't do it here-he said...not to worry about him because he was safe," Darius mentioned.

"Well he isn't safe, Darius. We just watched him get shot, live on TV," Heather snapped quickly.

"How long...has he been deployed for?" Val asked trying to calm down now.

"Well they wouldn't of deployed him or his group without proper trainin' which can last for weeks at a time depending on the job he chose-it's a long process to join," Gobber informed.

"What kind of training are we talking about-what process?" Spencer asked.

"From what I understand these days about the military-it's all paperwork, physical tests, mental tests, and a lot of physical training for unknown amounts of time. Hector is...seventeen so he couldn't of joined without a GED," Gobber said.

"He has it, he said so in his note we found that he'd taken the GED two weeks before he left. So what-that...instantly drops him out of high school?" Heather said curiously.

"Must have. If he got his GED then the school was informed he passed his basic studies of high school and no longer needs to attend and as you know a GED is the high school diploma equivalent so in short terms the Archipelago sees him as an adult now and he no longer has to attend school. That had to of been his first step in joinin'-they wouldn't have let him if he didn't have it or get it. He must of taken the exam through a recruiter office in Berk, it's the only thing that would add up. I heard some of them offer the tests for the GED," Gobber stated.

"What comes after that," asked another student now.

"If memory serves-it's all paperwork and physicals to make sure he'd be able to handle the military lifestyle. It's...sit ups, push ups, runs, evaluations both physical and mental, it can take a week to finish before he'd be sent to his MEPS location and continue the process there," Gobber said.

"MEPS?" Val inquired.

"Military Entrance Processing Station-it's a long day of the same as before. Recruits are taken to the station the day before and start around 5am to get through the mass amounts of recruits joining. At this stage-Hector wasn't even a member of the military yet. After MEPS is over and they've chosen their job, they get sworn in and sign their service contracts. At MEPS its all physicals, testing, evaluations. One of the biggest things he would have had to do there would be take the ASVAB-a military test to see his range of jobs he could do. Depending on his score would have determined the jobs he could do. MEPS can take all day-and if I recall-there was a day Hector didn't show up for class," Gobber mentioned.

"If it was a go the night before and start the next day thing-Hector asked me to tell anyone who asked he was staying at my house," Freddy pointed out now.

"What would be next-obviously he made it through that and got sworn in," Spencer asked.

"Next his ship date would be set for what is called Reception Week. This is when would would have left the house-Reception Week is all about getting their uniforms, setting up their paychecks, and other financial things. Guaranteed here he would have had to pass a physical involving push ups, sit ups, and two mile run in a set amount of time, he'd have to go through dental, medical, and vision tests. They'd get an advance on their paychecks in order to buy anything they'd need to get through Basic. Reception Week can last anywhere from three days to a full week-shorter time if all yer paperwork is in order. From Reception-they get sent straight to BCT or Basic Combat training. Nine weeks of hell as it's been referred to as," Gobber continued.

"What would he have to do there?" said a blond with blue eyes.

"Everything combat related. They live and breathe military there and follow a strict up at 5am-go to bed at 9:30pm schedule. Most of it is training for different things. Physical with runs, push ups, sits up. Then there would be...shooter practice, gas chamber, mission scenarios both done at day and night, team builder exercises, confidence courses. It's hard work-pushes the recruit to the limits and beyond. Basic is where civilians become soldiers. After BCT ends-they are considered the rank of Private and then they'd move on to AIT or Advanced Individual Training. Depending on his chosen job would of determined how long his AIT was, the most common job soldiers choose is Infantryman but you had to get a ninety or higher on the ASVAB to pick that job because infantryman is a soldier who fights the front lines, I believe the trainin' for that job is four weeks of AIT," Gobber sighed.

"So...that right there is...fourteen weeks from Reception, through BCT, and AIT. Did he ship right from that-that reporter said that Hector's group arrived three months ago-so...he left in July." Darius said.

"That would be correct. He probably had a week off between BCT and AIT because the each AIT is stationed somewhere in the Archipelago-any other soldiers for Infantryman would have been at the same place as Hector and the reporter said they came from Fort Striker-that's...two hours and forty-five minutes away from here. And likely he didn't receive the deployment orders and just go-they have to give the soldiers time prepare and pack. If the timeline is right then he left for Reception in early March, then to BCT and nine weeks from that would put him at BCT graduation early May. AIT with four weeks would put that at middle of June-then he shipped in July so they gave him a couple of weeks before he left." Gobber sighed.

"And how long can deployments be?" Val asked nervously.

"That's hard to say-the soldiers deployed work on rotations. Some come in for a while-then rotate out. They can last any where from six months to eighteen months, and even if that-he could be instantly shipped to another war zone given that there are more than one goin' on right now," Gobber looked down.

"Spencer-do something! My baby is in Iraq, find him!" Val insisted.

"I'm trying, Val. It's not gonna be easy to get a hold of him when he's that far away. Iraq is...three hours ahead of Berk time. It's...1:45pm for us so it's...4pm for him and he got hurt, he's likely to be getting treated right now and resting." Spencer said with his phone out.

"You'll have to call Fort Striker-they will have to radio to Iraq and connect you that way and the reception probably won't be great either," Gobber stated. Spencer nodded-it wouldn't be hard for him to get to Fort Striker, it'd be getting through to Iraq that would be complicated and that was even if Hector would talk to them. He'd shut his phone off and told them not to find him-well it wasn't their fault he ended up on TV.

"Hello yes, this is Mayor of Berk, Spencer Haddock. I'm looking for my son-Hector Haddock the Third. I know he's stationed in Iraq-is there a way you can connect us?" Spencer said when there was an answer finally.

"Put it on speaker phone, I want to hear my baby boy," Val demanded as Spencer sighed and did so.

"I'll see what I can do for you, Mr. Haddock. Please hold a moment," there was a brief pause before static was heard, {Fury base, Fury base-this is Striker. Do you read me? Over.}

{Striker this is Fury. We read and copy three outta five. Go ahead. Over}

{I got the mayor of Berk looking for his son, Hector Haddock. Over.}

{Hang on. I'll send you to his CO, Striker. Over.} After about ten minutes of sitting on hold and listening to the radio going back and forth-the person who had started the call returned, "Mr. Haddock-I was given instructions for either your son or daughter turn on their Skype and your soldier will call,"

"Thank you," Spencer said as he hung up and looked to Heather and Darius who got their phones out.

"Wait kids, I have my laptop-sign in on there and I'll hook it up to the screen," Gobber offered. Darius nodded and got up to sign in with his as Gobber plugged in the HDMI cord and the Skype screen came up on the drop down screen as Hector's Skype name: DragonRider01, showed he was online. Not more than two minutes later-a call came in from him and Gobber clicked it as it connected slow and was incredibly laggy and grainy as his face came on to the screen.

=What?= Hector stated coldly.

=Oh my baby! Are you okay?!= Val said quickly with tear filled eyes as they saw Hector face palm with a sigh.

=Mother, please. I'm fine, safe and sound just like I said I was...So, how'd you find me?= Hector asked calmer now.

=Because you were on TV! And how are you safe, Hector! We saw you get shot! We saw the entire mission!= Heather said with worry.

=Figures. Don't worry about me being shot, it's happened before. Well, fine, you found me-now what do you want? I got shit to do,= Hector sighed.

=What the hell are you doing in the military, Hector!= Spencer asked quickly.

=Uh...working, it's kind of my job, Dad.= Hector replied.

=What do you mean you've been shot before! You've only been there for three months,= Val exclaimed quickly.

=For the love of...I'm in Iraq, it's a war. Part of the job. Are we done asking obvious questions?= Hector sighed.

=You come home this instance, Hector. You are not staying in the military,= Spencer demanded.

=How about no. Sorry, Dad. Doesn't work that way. I can't just quit and come home because you want me to. I didn't join part time. I'm signed up full time-active duty. Plus, I'm currently deployed for...well, not really sure. Guess til they say it's over,= Hector informed.

=Haddock! Medic says you're cleared to return to your barrack now. You know the rules, mandatory-=

=Yes I know, Greysen. Mandatory three days rest after GSW. How's Soborg and Cortez?= Hector asked as a male stood beside him now.

=They are fine thanks to you-ballsy move going in after Solborg with no cover though. You could have been killed,=

=No soldier left behind sir,= Hector smiled.

=Good lad, now off with ya. Come back if that arm start hurtin', hear me?=

=Loud and clear, Captain,= Hector replied lightly as he got up and the others could see him moving outside of a tent, =Fuck that's bright...Ugh,= he groaned putting his hat on and start walking.

=What does GSW stand for?= said one of the others in the room.

=Gunshot wound. Mandatory three days rest then I can return to missions,= Hector said calmly.

=So how long until you come home then?= Darius asked curiously.

=Beats me. I just go where I'm told and right now-that's here.= Hector responded reaching his barrack and walking in, =Hey boys, guess who is back?=

=HECTOR!= they shouted as the students noticed Hector put the phone down and they were able to see a lot of the other soldiers rush towards him. The one known as Tallon hugged him and Hector cringed a bit.

=Tallon! For fucks sake, arm! I don't wanna spend more time in the med tent if it's all the same to you, jackass.= Hector chuckled now.

=Sorry dude-had us worried when that enemy tackled you down. Glad you're okay man-and really with the RPG launcher? The SAW would have been enough,= Tallon remarked.

=Hey. When you run the missions you can make the calls. I'm the Staff Sergeant so I call the shots. That's why I'm platoon leader, appointed by Greysen. We'd been at it for thirty minutes-no way I wasn't gonna scatter them. Needed to push 'em back enough to get Solborg out.= Hector said as he took off his jacket leaving him in a gray t-shirt.

=Crazy mother fucker. Girls been worried-should let them know you're okay-who you talkin to?= said another one of his friends.

=Apparently my old classmates, siblings, and parents. They saw the broadcast live and called Fort Striker to get in touch with me. Got 'em on Skype right now. I'll let the girls know I'm good,= Hector said as he grabbed for the phone then went back outside and walked to another barrack then knocked, he walked in about ten seconds later.

=Sergeant Haddock-thank Odin you're alright,= said one of the girls rushing towards him.

=Aren't I always? I've been shot like five times-unless I get hit in the heart or the head, pretty sure I'm gonna live, Private Coleman.= Hector chuckled.

=It's not funny, Hector!= Heather screeched with worry.

=Oh come off it. This is my job-I'm gonna do what I gotta do even if I get hurt a few times.= Hector mumbled, =See you girls for dinner in two hours,= he told them before exiting the barrack and returning to his own.

=Hot out there, Haddock?= asked one of his men with a snicker.

=Yep, about ninety-eight I'd say. Can't wait for winter to hit and we drop to the thirties,= Hector grinned while sitting down. =Gods I've missed my bed-so much better than that shitty cot,=

=Language son,= Spencer sighed.

=Oh right, you're still here...So what do you want?= Hector sighed.

=Why son? What made you do this-run off and join the military without a word to anyone. Do you have any idea how worried we've been! And you said you were safe-you're not safe right now. You're the farthest thing from it!= Val sobbed.

Hector sighed heavily now as a seriousness took over his face looking at the screen while the barrack seemed to quiet down, =I don't expect you to understand why I did what I did. And I'm certainly not getting into it over Skype. I stand by what I said in the letter I left: it's something I have to do.=

=But Hector...= Gobber started now.

=No. I'm not gonna hear it, this is exactly why I didn't tell anyone because you'd all get like this. It was easier to just sign up and bail without anyone knowing until I was already gone. I planned on telling you when I got back but since you found out on the news then cats outta the bag now. Yes, I joined the Archipelago Islands Military-Berk Army division as an Infantryman back at the end of February. I left for Reception Week beginning of March. BCT was from March 10th to May 8th and then AIT was from May 16th to June 16th. Shipped to Iraq July 1st and I will be here until further notice. Look-I'm exhausted right now. I'm not gonna take the time to explain the last almost seven months to you so I'll tell you what I'll do okay? I'll send home the DVD of my BCT and AIT. Shows everything from arriving at Fort Striker up until AIT ended and we graduated, should be there in about a week or so. I gotta go for now, I'll see ya when I can.= Hector responded.

=Can we all watch it?= Gobber asked.

=Sure, knock yourselves out.= Hector mumbled.

=When...will you call again? I mean we don't even have your number bro,= Darius said.

=I don't know. When I get the time to. My cell doesn't really work out here anyway-you can find me on Skype but I won't always be able to answer or call. So don't be shocked if ya don't hear from me for a month or two. Right now-I want a shower and go to sleep before dinner at 1800,= they arched a brow at him as he facepalmed, =Military time. Twenty-four hour clock. 1800 is 6pm. Talk to ya next time I can,= after that, the call ended quickly.

"Wow. That's all I gotta say is wow." said one of the students, "Hector up and joined the army and is deployed,"

"I want our son home..." Val whimpered a bit.

"I know, Val. I know. I do to but you heard what he said-he's under contract for the next six years and he doesn't know how long he'll be there for. Even as mayor...I can't override this one-we have to wait and hope it's soon," Spencer held his wife close while Darius and Heather were just sitting in shock still-staring at the Skype window open on Hector and Darius's IM screen. One thing popped up on the screen from Hector before he went offline: -Sorry if you don't like this but it was my decision and something I had to do. I don't expect you to understand what that means but you will one day. Until then, know I'm over here keeping you safe.-

"Maybe...we'll see him again on TV?" Heather said finally.

"Probably not for a while-I don't think the reporter is gonna wanna get anywhere near Hector after he yelled at her for endangering his troops. I gotta agree with him too-he got distracted finding out she was there and he needed his focus on the fight. As soon as he found out-one of his men got hurt and he broke out a pretty big weapon to get his comrade out safely, even as far as rushing in with no cover on himself," Gobber sighed.

"What was that thing, the...RPG launcher I think Hector's friend called it?" asked one of the girls.

"RPG stands for Rocket Propelled Grenade. It's fifteen pound, thirty-seven inch grenade launcher. Pretty powerful," Spencer said.

"And what is a SAW?" Skylar asked. Given the computer was still hooked up to the screen-Gobber pulled up the Wikipedia page to show them the RPG information, then he pulled up the SAW info and their eyes widened seeing the screen-the picture of the gun itself and reading about it.

"The M249 light machine gun (LMG), formerly designated the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW). The weapon was introduced in 1984 after being judged the most effective of a number of candidate weapons to address the lack of automatic firepower in small units. The M249 provides infantry squads with the heavy volume of fire of a machine gun combined with accuracy and portability approaching that of a rifle. The M249 is gas operated and air-cooled. It has a quick-change barrel, allowing the gunner to rapidly replace an overheated or jammed barrel. A folding bipod is attached near the front of the gun. It can be fed from both linked ammunition and STANAG magazines, like those used in the M16 and M4. This allows the SAW gunner to use a rifleman's magazines as an emergency source of ammunition in the event that he runs out of linked rounds." Darius read off the screen.

"Holy crap-Hector can use that thing? It's beast," Trent remarked.

"Check out it's stats: seventeen pounds empty, twenty-two pounds loaded. It's a forty inch gun with a eighteen inch barrel." Gobber pointed out. "Well this has been an informative day," he added with a sigh sitting down at his desk after closing the laptop and disconnecting the wire and putting a hand to his head. The door opened as the principal walked in now.

"Heard a lot of noise from this room," she began.

"Kids were watching a live report from Iraq-reporter snuck on the chopper and followed a group of soldiers to their mission site. We found Hector, Miss. Santiago." Gobber informed.

"Found him? I knew where he was," she stated now as Gobber and the Haddock's looked at her, "I wasn't permitted to tell you his location. It was in the agreement, he set it up with the military. His family wasn't to know what he was doing or where he was. I was sworn to secrecy to deny knowing what happened. He was a dropout a week after his birthday when I received word he passed his GED-I allowed him to kill time here until he left for his Reception Week at Fort Hellion on March 5th." Miss. Santiago. Hector's family was in shock-so the principal knew where Hector was all this time and couldn't tell them because of an agreement Hector setup that what he was doing wasn't to be told by any means necessary but since they knew what happened now-she revealed that she knew the truth. The Haddock's sighed heavily-so Hector was in the military and stationed in Iraq for an amount of time he didn't know. What more could they do but just wait it out until he either called home or came home again? Nothing so they'd wait and hopefully get their answers when they saw him again.