The movie had been downright hilarious to watch-even all the sexual references and dick jokes it produced. It had Hector and his five friends laughing incredibly hard the entire time, Each of the guys went through about two beers each. Anyone driving stopped after two because they ended up doing another shot when the movie was over just to help loosen Hector up a little because when it ended and he remembered everyone was still there-his mood began to decline again. The others who had stayed quiet could see how much of an impact Hector's friends on him-sure they were drinking but they kept it controlled just to let Hector know they were there for him and didn't care about anything else other than letting Hector have a good time on his birthday. They knew how to calm him down and get him to relax again-how to smile, they really were his best friends. Hector could be himself with them-they didn't judge him and they didn't harp on him about mentioning the depression or suicidal thoughts from earlier.

That worried everyone-even if Hector wasn't that way now, he was still that way before and it was because of all the bullying and neglect. But his friends didn't care about that-they just wanted to make him feel better so they used what they knew about him to draw him out. It was about 6:30pm now-the movie had ended thirty minutes ago, Val and Spencer brought out the food which was pizza, chips, and dip. The guys snacked but didn't really eat that much and they kept to themselves with talking or laughing about the movie, repeating quotes. "I owe you guys for this," Hector sighed.

"Don't even mention it, Hec. No way we were gonna let you have a miserable birthday," Ryan smiled to him.

"Not even my birthday-everything. I haven't had a single dull day since I met the five of ya," Hector stated smiling now.

"Well, we feel the same about you, master prankster of A barrack," Tallon chuckled out.

"You guys are so easy to prank," Hector said. They had music going-it was mainly Hector's laptop which was still hooked up to the TV but the slideshow was going of apparently all pictures from when joined the military but then it stopped on one that had a play button.

"Hey-what video is that, Hector?" Heather asked pointing to the screen as Hector turned and looked at it now.

"Huh. Don't know actually-that was during Basic I think," Hector moved to his laptop now and pressed the button as the music seemed to pause in order to let the video sound come through without an overlap. The video started with the Inferno group sitting on the ground near their bunks in a circle.

"Oh Gods-I remember that night. Hector, that was truth of dare the week you got sick with the stomach bug before AIT started. You were at the medic getting checked out to make sure you were cleared for AIT," Thaxter pointed out.

"How are you so sure-it barely started," Tallon asked.

"Because of what happens right about...now," Thax grinned as Hector looked back at the screen.

~Alright, Tal-truth or dare man?~ came Thaxter's voice over the TV.

~Dare.~ Tallon replied to him.

~I dare you to kiss, Hector. On the lips and hold it ten seconds.~ the other guys started laughing thinking there was no way he'd do it but Tallon just shrugged and got up as Hector came inside the barrack to ask what was going on but Tallon just grabbed his wrist gently and brought him against his figure and before anyone knew it-the barrack fell dead silent as Tallon pressed his lips to Hector's in light kiss and held it the entire ten seconds.

Everyone on the living room had their mouth agape at the sight. Tallon actually kissed Hector and he didn't fight it at all. Hector just stood there in shock for about six seconds then for the last four he closed his eyes and honestly looked like he enjoyed it. They watched Tallon break the kiss and both of them blushed at one another. Hector paused the video and stared at them now, "I'm gonna kill one of you in about five seconds if you don't fess up to who was recording that,"

"It was Evan!" the guys ratted him out.

"Oh calm down, Hector. You know you liked it," Tallon chuckled at him.

"I never said I didn't but why the hell is it on my computer?" Hector grumbled.

"I put it there, thought you'd like the memory of your first kiss with me," Tallon told him as Hector nearly choked on his beer.

"Don't choke, Hec. Unless you want my lips on yours again because I have to preform CPR on you?" Tallon teased.

"Are you two like a thing?" Astrid asked.

"Nah-we just screw around a lot. And I didn't mean that in the sexual manner-we're both bi and single so it's whatever and no harm done," Hector shrugged.

"So if he kissed you right now, you wouldn't care?" Carmen question.

"Probably not," Hector said calmly then saw Tallon standing right in front of him as he felt the heat rise to his cheeks, "What are you doing?"

"Well I was gonna kiss you but you won't make it easy for me, are you?" Tallon stated with a grin.

"Nope. Gotta earn it," Hector chuckled.

"Alright then. Let's make a wager out of it, interested?" Tallon stepped back casually.

"Hell yeah!" Viktor, Thaxter, Ryan, and Evan cheered.

"I'm listening," Hector remarked.

"You and me. I pin you then I get to kiss you." Tallon offered.

"And what do I get if I pin you?" Hector asked crossing his arms over his chest.

"You can kiss me," Tallon grinned.

"You get kissed either way-how is that a win for me?" Hector blinked.

"Because you'd be in control and can do whatever you want," Tallon whispered to him as he rolled his eyes. "Deal?"

"You're so on," Hector and him shook hands. The rest of the unit cleared the living room of obstacles that could get in the way and left Tallon and Hector a fair amount of space to wrestle in while both boys took their shirts off and stood in their readied stances. Thax stood between then.

"Alright you two-military rules. No weapons, no nut shots, nothing that will result in hospitalization. First one pinned with arms over their head and back flat to the ground loses. Ready boys?" Thax asked.

"Ready." both replied nodded. Thax brought his arm down and backed up. Hector and Tallon charged at one another but Hector got low and turned to elbow Tallon in the stomach making him gasp out and stumble a bit as Hector turned around and got clear-now behind his friend. Tallon recovered and the two went at it again-this time, Tallon dropped low and swept Hector onto his back hard and tried to hold him down by sitting on his midsection and forcing his arms down for a pin but Hector fought back while everyone just watched.

"Give in, Haddock. You've never been able to get out of this one-your arms always give out after two minutes," Tallon grinned almost. Hector's fierce look faded to one of worry almost-he closed his eyes tightly flashing back to something from one of the missions. "Hector?" Tallon asked seeing the facial change. Hector panted heavily before narrowing his eyes.

"Not this time," Hector let his arms give out as Tallon fell forward at the lack of force he'd been using to hold himself up-Hector headbutted him then lifted his legs to Tallon's stomach and kicked him off and over his head on to his back hard as Hector rolled over and stood up again while Tallon only stared in shock.

"How in the...You've never gotten out of that pin before!" Tallon said.

"I learned a few new things," Hector replied as with a hand on his neck-it looked like he was rubbing it almost while trying to take a few deep breaths. "Ready?"

"Hold up. Seriously-how did you get out of that pin? When did you learn how to escape like that?" Tallon asked.

"It's...nothing. I've been watching videos is all," Hector stated looking off to the side a bit as Tallon stood up and approached him now.

"Time out," Tallon told Thaxter who nodded and he faced Hector again. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Nothing is-I'm good. Why do you think something is wrong?" Hector smiled at him.

"Because I know you. I've been your battle buddy for a year-we've trained together: sparred, wrestled, fought...I know when you're training and when your actually fighting. You know this is just us messing around-why'd you react like you were actually going to get hurt if you didn't get out of the pin?" Tallon asked firmly.

"I knew I wasn't gonna get hurt, Tal. I thought of a way to get out so I used it-is that not how we train? To get better and do the things we couldn't before?" Hector responded.

"Not with you, Hector. You couldn't get out of that pin in BCT, AIT, or even when we trained in Ira-" Tallon stopped as he looked at Hector's face and it made sense. Hector reacted to something that had happened in Iraq-that's why his face flashed from determination to fear and he thought he was in danger or would get hurt if he didn't get out. "Tell me."

"Tell you what, Tallon. I figured out how to get out of your pin," Hector stated crossing his arms over his chest. Tallon's eyes narrowed as he grabbed Hector's wrist and practically pulled him behind him to the basement and then down the stairs.

"I'm very confused," Trent said.

"No...something is wrong. Hector's hiding something. Stay up here-boys..." Viktor stated as they followed after Tallon who was pulling Hector down with him. Last one on the stairs shut and locked the door-once at the bottom and in Hector's room, Tallon let go of him.

"Something happened in Iraq-didn't it." Tallon stated firmly.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Tallon-seriously." Hector repeated.

"God damn it, Hector. I know you! I've put you in that pin so many times and you never reacted like you did tonight. You always keep a firm face trying to fight back until your arms give out and you sigh heavily in defeat. You didn't do that tonight-your face changed and I watched it happen. It went from firm and determined to worry. You closed your eyes and started breathing heavily before opening them before you fought back as if you were in danger. I know that look-it was a flashback to something that made you have to fight if your life depended on it. Come on, Hec-it's just us now. Me and the guys, you can tell us." Tallon stated again.

Hector stood firm a whole five second before plopping down on to his bed with a heavy sigh, "It happened two months before we came home. Remember that mission where I disappeared for ten minutes until you found me holding on to a tree and looking like I'd seen a ghost?" Hector closed his eyes.

"Yeah-you said you had to hide to avoid the enemy...unless that isn't what happened," Evan stated as Hector didn't answer, "What happened, Hector?"

"Most of what I told you was true. I was hiding until I found an out or could call for back up-but I got found and tackled down. My gun got knocked from my hand-the guy was a lot stronger than me. He could hold both my arms with just one of his. I got pinned like that and couldn't get out when he was pulling his hand gun to shoot me in the head-I panicked and let my arms drop so he lost his balance. I headbutted him and it worked enough that I could get my legs up and kick him off. I rolled away and to my feet. Just as he turned to shoot me...I shot him in the head with my M16...I've...never done that before-shot someone in the head, blood splattering everywhere, his eyes still open...I've...wounded people and killed before but..." he clenched his fist.

"You've never killed and seen it with your own eyes like that before. We didn't see a body when we found out, Hector-what happened?" Ryan asked.

"I felt sick to my stomach-I threw up for five minutes before forcing myself to move to the spot where you found me. I felt so...weak and sick after it happened," Hector closed his eyes again.

"Alright just settle down, Hec. It's okay. It...happens. You did what you had to do in order to survive. If you didn't do that-you would have been killed," Tallon said sitting beside him now as Viktor came back in the room after getting Hector a water bottle.

"Being pinned like that-" Hector started but Tallon shook his head at him.

"It's okay. Stop thinking about it now. If I'd known about this then I wouldn't of suggested a pinning battle-do the officers know about it?" Tallon said.

"They all do. That's why I didn't come back to the barrack that night-I had to go through eval because it was the first time I'd ever seen something like that. I cleared it and it didn't bother me until tonight when I got pinned the same way. I'll be okay-I just...still soon ya know?" Hector looked at his friends.

"We understand. You sure you're okay?" Thaxter asked him and Hector nodded.

"No nightmares or flashbacks aside from tonight, right?" Evan asked.

"No-nothing. It was just the pin is all, same exact way. It only scared me because I knew from training I'd never been able to get out of the pin before so I thought I was dead that night-something snapped and I got away. When it happened tonight-it was like reliving it minus the guns," Hector explained.

"Okay. No more pinning matches for a while-not til you're okay on this. And Hector, don't keep something like this from us again. We're not just your friends, we're your team. We work together to keep each other safe and we can't do that if we don't know about situations like these where you almost got killed. The only reason we found you is because you responded to the flashlight code. If you had...blacked out from the shock or another enemy showed up-what would we of done? We gotta know about stuff like this so we can be prepared if it ever happens again," Tallon told him firmly.

"I won't keep it from you-I just...I'm sorry, I wanted to forget about it." Hector admitted.

"It's okay. You scared us up there, Hector. I knew something wasn't right and I brought you down here because I could tell you didn't want to talk about it in front of them. And that's what we'll tell them when we go back up. Classified information," Tallon hugged him with one arm while Hector nodded. They took about ten minutes down there before Hector took a deep breath to compose himself and they headed back up the stairs-Hector unlocked the door and they all came out laughing acting like it'd been fine the whole time.

"Hector, are you okay?" Astrid asked softly now.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Tal is just pissed that I learned how to get out of his pin," Hector chuckled as he looked at the TV to see his laptop screen still up and the Skype icon flashing red which mean there was a message for him. Hector sat down as he brought it up and saw it from an unknown contact not in his list which made him curious while he accepted the friend request. Not more than two second later-a video call came in from the contact he'd just approved. As the screen came on-it was lagging and grainy but he saw Major Holgerson on screen.

=Major Holgerson?= Hector asked a little surprised.

=Lieutenant Haddock. How are you?=

=Um...fine, sir. What's going on and why are you calling me on Skype?= Hector inquired-it was odd that he'd call on Skype instead of his cell phone or the radio.

=I can see you're not alone right now-did I interrupt anything?=

=We're celebrating Hector's eighteenth birthday, Major.= Ryan responded.

=My apologies lad, happy birthday to you. Would it be possible for you get on your cell phone, Lieutenant Haddock? Bit of private...matter,=

=Sure, gimme two seconds and thanks, I think...= Hector said as the he saw the Major nod and hang up. Hector pulled out his phone as he saw a few missed calls from-who he assumed was-the Major's number so he called it back. "What's up, Major Holgerson?" there was a bit of silence now as everyone was waiting to find out what was going on. After only a moment, Hector's eyes closed slowly with a sigh before he looked the others who were waiting on some kind of an answer, "Yes, Major Holgerson, I understand sir." more pause, "I'll be there." after that he lowered the phone from his ear and slipped it into his pocket.

"Hector-what's going on?" Tallon asked quickly.

"We're going back," Hector said.

"Well, we knew that already. In eleven days," Viktor said but Hector shook his head.

"Tomorrow morning. 0600 at Berk Airport. Get your sleep guys-we're going back tomorrow. Set to land at 6pm back at Baghdad Airfield on Iraq time." Hector said slowly.

"But-our two week leave, it hasn't even been three days yet!" Ryan said right away.

"Look-shit went real bad and we gotta go back. There's nothing I can do about it. Get home, spend time with your families, and pack up. I'll see you all BA tomorrow morning around 0500-need to be there an hour before board time." Hector said firmly now.

"Something happened, didn't it?" Thaxter asked slowly.

"Svendson is dead," Hector clenched his fist tightly.

"Svendson is...What the hell happened!?" Evan said with wide eyes.

"Holgerson didn't go into detail. Bad attack-Svendson died saving twenty others and...no body to recover or bring home. Cody is taking over Wolf platoon and I'm just became full leader of Dragon...I got a lot of calls to make and packing to do. Go on home," Hector walked away from them and outside after pulling out one of his cigarettes and lit it, after maybe ten seconds of silence they heard something hard hit the side of the house, "FUCK!" Hector yelled out. Tallon looked out the window to see Hector crouching down with his back to the side of the house-head tilted up and facing the sky. Cigarette between his fingers and though hard to see-Tallon saw it: Hector was crying, there were silent tears falling from his eyes.

"I don't...understand what's going on," Val said.

"Our leave time just ended-we have to go back tomorrow morning because one of the platoon leaders was killed in action. Hector has the rank to take over as a platoon leader now and they need us back so Cody can run the platoon that needs a new leader and Hector has to take full command of ours. You heard, Haddock guys-lets get ready to go back. Tal, keep an eye on him okay?" Tallon nodded to Thaxter as the group of them grabbed their things and left the house quickly. After ten minutes-Hector came back inside and shut the door.

"Party is over-I got a lot of shit to do suddenly. Stay if you want-I don't care," Hector stated pulling his phone out and began making calls. It was nothing they wanted to hear or accept but they knew arguing with Hector right now wasn't going to be a good idea. They said they'd support him so they had to even if they felt it was unfair that the two weeks he was supposed to have just ended and he had to leave at 6am tomorrow morning. The others just sat around quietly listening to him making calls and Tallon went in to help him. It didn't matter what they wanted. These were their orders.