Hector spent most of the day with his family the day before his birthday, he did enjoy it and was grateful they didn't ask him his reasons about joined the military. Hector wanted them to figure it out-for them to think about everything and figure out that he joined because he felt like his life wasn't going anywhere, that he never felt like he was enough, that no one liked him to a point that for a short period of time-he felt so depressed that death might have been a better option. Hector wanted them to realize it was their neglect that made him make the choice. And not just with his parents but his siblings too, that they hurt him a lot by being cool at home but hating him in school just to be a part of the in crowd with their so called friends who bullied him constantly. Even Tallon didn't know about some of Hector's old depression that still lingered within him but didn't spark often-not since joining since he actually had friends now, ones that would have his back and actually cared.

That day finished off with Hector and Tallon in the basement playing a few games or listening to music and talking among themselves-they did talk to their friends for a bit trying to play out what they were going to do when they hooked up and at what time too. They decided on 11am because it gave them a few hours together and then all gathering at his parent's house for the party to follow. The school was actually shut down for a week to repair the vent that Hector had to cut to get into the cafeteria, also the window he'd smashed to unlock the lock down system. Hector offered to pay for the damages but Miss. Santiago-the principal, had said not to worry about it because he'd only done it to save them so she wasn't worried about the fact he'd damaged a few things in order to do just that. Tallon and Hector went to bed around 11:30pm-admitting they were both exhausted from all the traveling, mainly the three hour time change from Iraq to Berk.

(Next Morning)

Hector and Tallon woke up around 8am-got some coffee from upstairs then Hector let Tallon shower first before himself. Hector was of course greeted with a happy birthday from both parents and then his siblings after he'd come up for coffee and before the shower. The two ate breakfast around 8:30am and relaxed for about two and a half hours until 10:30am when they prepared to load up in Hector's car to meet up with their friends. They decided to meet up at the shooting range just to have some fun-but then they'd be going out to lunch together-by then it'd be time for the party and if not they'd just hang out somewhere until it was time for the party. "'You ready, Tal?" Hector asked him.

"Yep," Tallon responded as he slipped his phone in his pocket and got off the couch to follow Hector out.

"Be safe boys! See you at three," Val called.

"Got it, Ma." Hector called back as he grabbed his keys and wallet.

"Where you going?" Heather asked,

"Shooter range-fifteen minutes from here," Hector smiled.

"Sounds fun, see you later big brother." Heather waved to them as they headed out and closed the door to the house-then walked down the path to Hector's car and got in.

"Gods it feels good to be in here again," Hector stated as he started it up after putting his seat belt on and Tallon did the same with his own.

"First car?" Tallon asked as Hector nodded to him while putting the car in drive and then headed down the road. "Sounds nice,"

"I keep her in pretty good condition, haven't driven her since I left though. I'm glad the harsh winters doesn't affect it a lot," Hector said while driving. He hooked his phone up to the AUX cord at a stop light and played some music while driving after it turned green.

"I think you should invite your brother's and sister's friends over for your party tonight," Tallon suggest as Hector nearly slammed the break to stare at him.

"Have you lost your fuckin' mind? I can't stand them-Tallon they were my bullies for years, no way." Hector stated.

"You didn't hear me out though. You didn't see it but Evan and I did, those guys are wicked jealous of you. You had their girls drooling over you and all you did was take your shirt off in front of them. You wanna get back at them for giving you hell for years, be the bigger man and do something they wouldn't expect. There's no greater revenge than proving them wrong," Tallon stated.

"I'm not about revenge," Hector sighed.

"But you so enjoyed seeing their faces of shock when they saw how awesome you really are. They got jealous with you and me hanging out as if we'd known each other for fuckin' years-you know you wanna see what happens when all of Inferno is together. Do it, Hector. Invite them over tonight-let's show 'em who you really are," Tallon told him.

"Oh it did feel good. I'll think about it," Hector nodded as he pulled into the range parking lot and saw the others there and waiting against their cars-he was sure some of them carpooled.

"Hey, hey! There's the birthday boy-oh, excuse me, the man!" Viktor smiled as Hector got out of the car after turning it off. He slipped the keys into his pocket and got hugged by them all or highfived.

"Happy birthday bro," Ryan stated.

"Thanks guys-so we ready to shoot?" Hector asked them as they cheered and headed inside only to find that Darius, Drew, Jessie, Skylar, and Trent were there. "Oh you have got to be kidding me," he groaned almost.

"What's up?" Tallon asked as Hector motioned to them.

"Fuck 'em-we aren't here for them," Thaxter grinned patting his shoulder as Hector nodded and they approached the counter.

"Licenses and qualifier badge?" the clerk said. The six guys pulled out their licenses and showed their paper permit from their gun qualifier at BCT as the man nodded and got them everything they'd need and led them to the range-they were right next to the other guys. "You guys got access to anything on the shelf," the clerk said as he smiled and stepped back.

"Alright boys-what's first?" Hector asked.

"Duh-what don't we have right now?" Evan chuckled.

"M16's..." they said together as the headed to the wall to get them-they lined up as they loaded them and stood ready in stance as they had in BCT.

"What the...you guys can use those?" Darius asked.

"Of course-we're qualified to. This is gun we learn to shoot with in Basic," Ryan stated.

"That thing packs a serious punch-it always knocks me back," Trent remarked.

"Probably because you don't stand right," Tallon stated as he lifted the gun and fired at the target hitting it a few rings from the bulls eye.

"Close, Tal-nice shot though," Thaxter patted his back before Tallon stepped back and let Thaxter in to take his shot although he didn't do much better. Ryan and Ethan went next-none of them could hit the target.

"Guys, really? None of you hit it-you're outta practice. And shit-Thax and Tal-you two made expert on the qualifier, what gives?" Hector chuckled.

"Oh yeah, let's see you nail it first shot ya cocky bastard," Viktor crossed his arms over his chest. Hector rolled his eyes now as he took his position while the rest watched curiously. Hector took one shot and hit the bulls eye dead on-and the reason they knew he did was because an alarm sounded anytime someone hit it perfectly-some kind of pressure plate behind it. Hector leaned against the wall with a grin.

"Dick," the five guys from his unit groaned.

"Bet you can't do it with the handgun?" Tallon challenged as he grabbed one off the wall and loaded it before tossing it to Hector who had put the M16 down. Hector caught it with one hand-span it around his finger once, held it steady with the one hand and looked to the target before firing and the alarm sounded a second time.

"At least challenge me bud." Hector chuckled.

"I give. Haddock is still top shooter in Inferno guys," Thaxter smiled, "Nice work. Least you ain't outta practice-looks like we gotta work on ours," he added.

"It's still early-it'll kick in for ya." Hector smiled back, "So what brings you lot to the range?" he asked looking at Darius and his friends.

"Skylar's idea. His dad has been teaching him how to shoot so they can hunt together," Trent shrugged.

"Shooting with a designated hunting rifle and shooting with an automatic are two completely different concepts dude. Automatics have a bigger kickback," Tallon remarked.

"I know Skylar hunts with his dad-what are the rest of you doing here? Darius-you've never held a gun let alone shoot one," Hector pointed out.

"I just came because I was bored at home," Darius shrugged.

"Whatever then-come on guys. We still got an hour in here," Hector told his unit as they took a different spot and kept shooting. They stopped every few minutes to take a break or reload but otherwise they all had a great time with using the different kinds of guns-laughing it up when the others were able to start hitting their targets again. When the hour was up they put everything back the way it was supposed to be and headed outside.

"Alright it's like twelve-going for lunch or you guys wanna do something else?" Tallon asked.

"We had a late breakfast so we're not hungry right now-and we'll be eating at the party I assume so let's just go find something else to do?" Thaxter offered.

"Well what does Hector wanna do-it's his birthday," Ryan stated.

"I'm good with anything-I'm just glad I get to hang with you guys," Hector smiled.

"Arcade then?" Evan suggested.

"Let's hit it!" they cheered piling into their cars and heading off out of the range parking lot. Darius and his friends came out mumbling and felt his phone vibrate in his pocket-he pulled it out to see a text there from Hector.

[U can invite those guys, the girls, and Freddie to the party 2nite-they don't gotta bring anything for me. They wanna be my friend, I'll give 'em a chance -Hec]

Darius was a little surprised to see the message from him. He was inviting Drew, Jessie, Trent, Freddie, Reina, Mandy, Carmen, Danielle, and Astrid to his party tonight? After saying to keep their friends-meaning Heather's and his own away from him?

[Call it a change of heart. They get one chance. And don't tell them I said that-let's just see how it plays out, see ya in a few hours -Hec]

(Haddock House; 3pm)

After an hour or so of bowling, a beer each to celebrate Hector turning eighteen, then some bar snacks-they all sat around in the bar to relax and talk. It killed the rest of the time until 2:45pm when they loaded in their cars and reached Hector's parent's house for his birthday party. Pulling on the side of the road in front of the house Hector was able to see that everyone was already there-including Gobber who Hector couldn't wait to see again. They'd seen one another briefly when Hector made it to the school to help them after the storm but they didn't get to talk much and Hector really missed his unofficial uncle like crazy-the last time they'd talked was right before Hector was deployed. Evan parked behind Hector and he was carrying Thax in his car. Viktor and Ryan were in their own car parking behind Evan.

"And here we go," Hector sighed as Tallon put his arm over his shoulder and smiled-which made Hector smile. Yep-he was blessed indeed. Hector opened the door to see the living room slightly rearranged to accommodate the amount of people in the house for this birthday party.

"Happy birthday, Hector!" the room called to him as he smiled and waved getting a hug from his mother, sister, father, and brother-the of course Gobber who just about crushed him with his arms.

"Gobber-need air to breathe..." Hector gasped out as the man let him go now and Hector caught his breath.

"Sorry lad, I've missed ya!" Gobber smiled.

"Missed ya too," Hector replied to him. The girls meaning Astrid, Carmen, Reina, Mandy, and Danielle approached him now smiling.

"Happy birthday, Hector," Astrid said as she hugged him-Hector forced himself not the flinch and hugged her back, the last time they'd ever had physical contact was the day she pretty much shattered his heart.

"Thanks," Hector said as the other girls did the same and now it felt awkward for him. The guys made it worse by offering handshakes or fist bumps-maybe this wasn't the best idea after all.

"So is this the famous Inferno?" Heather asked.

"Yep. Everyone this is Thaxter Solborg-battle buddy to Evan. Then these two brothers here are Ryan and Viktor Grimborn. You know Tallon already," Hector smiled, "Inferno, meet the family. My mother Val, father Spencer, sister Heather, brother Darius, uncle Simon, aunt May, cousin Skylar. You know who the rest are-showed ya before." Hector introduced. "And this nut job right here is Craig Borksan-better known as my unofficial uncle Gobber,"

"Pleasure to finally meet Hector's family," Thaxter stated.

"It was odd having him meet ours but we never got to meet you all," Viktor smiled.

"When did he meet your families?" Carmen asked curiously.

"Family day during Basic-it was the day before graduation and Hector's first promotion. All families were allowed on base to watch it but Hector never told anyone what he was doing so you didn't know but he met our families that day," Ryan stated now.

"So no one was there for him?" Heather frowned lightly.

"Course there was-me." came Cody's voice as Hector whipped around to see him standing there.

"Hey Cap, what brings you by?" Hector smiled wide as he hugged him.

"You think I wouldn't come see you on your birthday boy?" Cody chuckled hugging him back, "Well, I came for other reasons too but mainly your birthday-brought ya something," he smiled.

"I didn't need anything-family and friends is more than enough but thank you. So what else did ya come for?" Hector asked bringing him inside now-then noticed the six other soldiers following him.

"Well, didn't wanna bring doom and gloom on your birthday but-you needed to meet your new troops," Cody stated softly.

"New troops?" Hector arched a brow.

"Replacing...the ones you lost. All privates: Cooper Varraso, Austin Bennet, Clay Lakins, Josh Powell, June Delgado, and Amy Perez. Holgerson asked me to bring them to you and see if you can work with them-I know how your platoon is and you run a pretty tight ship if it can be said that way, if they won't work with your mold or not." Cody said.

"I'll be the judge of that. Let's see them follow basic instruction," Hector stated as his unit stepped aside from him grinning.

"What's he gonna do?" Astrid asked.

"Just watch-you're gonna see him in action," Tallon remarked as Hector fell into parade rest as his face went serious while the room went quiet.

"Soldiers! Fall in!" Hector commanded firmly as the six before him moved into a two by three line standing at attention as Hector walked around them inspecting almost before returning in front of them, "Hand...salute!" the soldiers brought their hands up in a salute then returned their hands to their sides. "Parade rest," he ordered as they stood like him, "At ease," their stances relaxed a little as Hector nodded, "As you were privates," he stated as they relaxed completely.

"They pass?" Cody chuckled to him.

"As long as they can follow orders. I assume these six are already partnered with their battle buddy?" Cody nodded to him. "Good-then I'll stick them in their unit now. Listen up because I hate repeating myself and the day I have to you'll gonna find pretty quickly that I'm not as nice as I look, we clear on that privates?" he said firmly.

"Sir, yes sir!" they replied respectfully.

"Perez. Delgado. You just became members of Spike unit. Powell and Lakins you are on Blaster. Varasso and Bennet you're on Sharp. Got it?" Hector informed them.

"Yes, Staff Sergeant Haddock!" they responded to him.

"So came for this and my birthday?" Hector asked turning his attention to Hector now.

"Well, one more thing too-but you have to open what I brought you first," Cody smiled handing it to him. Hector rolled his eyes as he noticed it wasn't wrapped but had the crest of the Archipelago Islands Military on it. Hector untucked one of the flaps on top then opened the top as his eyes widened a bit.

"Cody...what's this?" Hector asked staring down at it.

"I was given the honor of giving it to you but gotta follow protocol so go change," Cody told him as he took the box and Hector headed downstairs after nodding to him firmly.

"What's up, Cap?" Tallon asked.

"You'll see, Furysen." Cody told him as Hector returned upstairs wearing a very formal uniform now. Black dress shoes, gray pants, green undershirt with a black tie, and over that was a black coat with gold buttons going down the front. On his left side upper coat pocket was his expert shooter pin then on the right was a black name tag-outlined in white reading 'SSG Haddock', to top everything off he was wearing a beret on the top of his head. "Attention!" Cody commanded firmly as Hector snapped into position. "Hand salute," Hector saluted him formally. Cody now took two objects out of the box holding them in his hand but no one else knew what they were. "State your rank, name, position."

"Staff Sergeant Hector Haddock the Third. 82nd Nightwave Company-4th Dragon Platoon-Strike Squadron-leader of Inferno Unit, sir." Hector recited in a firm and formal tone.

"Well done, Hector. Never matters the situation-you live and breath the military as if you've been doing it all your life. You have more fire, brains, skill, and wisdom than some of the fully grown men I know. You are one of the youngest soldiers to ever join this military and make the rank of Staff Sergeant in only fourteen weeks. You are loyal, selfless, firm, courageous, honest, strong bodied-minded, and heroic-I could go on and on but it's all things you heard before so I'll keep it short so you can enjoy your birthday. Hector Haddock the Third-it gives me great pleasure and honor to be the one standing here today to promote you to Second Lieutenant and you join the ranks of the Commissioned Officers of the Archipelago Islands Military." Cody stated pinning the two pins on his collar to represent his new rank-and then also he removed the old name tag and put the new one in it's place as it read: Lieutenant Haddock. Cody also removed his beret and was placed an officer's hat on his head. "Congratulations son-you've earned it," he added with his hand out.

Hector was still in shock but shook Cody's hand. "But...I thought I couldn't hit officer ranks until after first tour was over?" Hector asked now.

"You been there long enough and more than show you got what it takes to join the officer ranks lad. This was decided on when you saved Cortez and Solborg from certain death-the day you yelled at that reporter that her story wasn't worth your soldier's lives being lost. You showed the drive and leadership of a Lieutenant and since that day you saved so many other lives with your quick thinking and tactic in the face of the enemy and chaotic battle," Cody explained. "Oh and one more thing-you now command the entire Dragon platoon-I'm still there too but it's your call for everything as long as you let me know what's going on so I can report it to Holgerson and Bludvist,"

"But I already command them?" Hector stated.

"No-you take different teams out but never the whole platoon. Now, you can take the entire platoon out for missions-the officers know you're ready to handle it." Cody smiled with a hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you, Captain Greysen," Hector said smiling back.

"Don't thank me, Haddock. You earned this. Keep it up and you'll make Captain like me or maybe higher than that-you got no limits and nothing to hold you back anymore," Cody chuckled patting his back, "Now go on and enjoy your party-see you at 0700 in eleven days?"

"Yes you will." Hector replied nodded as Cody took the privates and left the house as Hector slowly faced his family, friends, and...maybe new friends with a look of shock on his face.

"What the fuck, Hector! You made Second Lieutenant!" Thaxter beamed as they rushed over to congratulate him. Hector couldn't believe it-he was told he couldn't make a commissioned officer rank until after serving one tour and yet here he was only seven months into the first and had made the rank of Second Lieutenant-promoted by Cody himself. He was beside himself but he couldn't help the absolute joy he felt over it and now his birthday was going to be even better than he originally imagined.