It was amazing to not have to wake up at strange hours to do a guard shift, rescue a pinned down group of soldiers, or even to do a mission. There were no horns to wake him up where he had to throw on his gear, shout commands, and rush out to defend the the base with his fellow soldiers. Hector loved being home and things were so different than how they were before he left. But of course he knew why if was different-everyone now noticed him and knew he existed. They knew before but now they actually liked him for whatever reason they had. Darius and Heather were proud to let people know that they had a brother in the military. His parents were proud to say their youngest son was a soldier ranked at Lieutenant who already served fourteen months in Iraq. Even his former bullies-aside from Jessie and Skylar were backing off and trying to become his friends rather than his enemy. Hector wouldn't forgive them-not right away and not until he saw proof they were changing. It was like when he had to make his choice about being with Astrid-he had to be sure of his choice.
The two of them were doing great too! Hector and Astrid made a great couple together-they always hung out and watched movies together. Hector had actually taken her out on a few dates already in the last two months. They didn't tell one another 'I love you' because they felt it was too early and honestly they weren't sure if it reached those levels of feelings yet. They'd only been together two months after all-they had time to figure out how deep the feelings ran, also Hector was still hesitant being with her. The fear from two years ago still came forward at times when he couldn't reach her or he felt she was being distant with him. He felt bad that they were together but he didn't really give her his full trust. Hector liked her alot but he felt like something was holding him back from giving his full trust and feelings and he didn't know what it was but it bothered him. Another big thing Hector started doing was working at the auto shop again. Yep. Hector went back and saw Anthony, told him what went down the last year or so and although the army was his job since all he really had to do was drill weekend once a month for three days-Anthony gave him his job back so Hector worked part time for him now.
It was never a lot nor hard but it gave him something to do while his girlfriend and siblings were in school, also his parents were working. Hector couldn't just sit around the house bored all day but he did pick up things he used to do like cook a meal for dinner if he wasn't working or he'd clean the house to save his mother some work when she got home. It did bother Hector that all this didn't really change until he chose to join the military-it bothered him to know that now everyone cared where he was or what he was doing and if he was okay at all. Hector knew why they were all over him too though. Because of what he said the night of his birthday about feeling so alone that he wanted to kill himself at one point. This had been very much true-after the Astrid hurting him situation two years back and all the teasing, being neglected and ignored. He got so fed up with it all that he thought death might be a better option. But that was when he was fifteen years old-right around that time he got the job at the auto shop-just reception at first and ordering parts for cars but then Anthony began teaching him about cars and how to fix basic things, recognize standard problems.
For a while, Hector was okay but then people caught word of where he was working after he was seen driving his own car to school-his parents said the rule was he had to pay for his own insurance and registration, that he had to keep it maintained, inspected, and all the other things that went along with owning a car. His insurance was never terribly high about $67 a month, inspection and registration every two years and bonus that he could keep the car maintained himself because Anthony taught him how to fix a lot of things on his own. Hector replaced the tires on a rotation schedule: the fronts once a year and the backs every two unless he had a hole or one blew out. Hector had it pretty made for sixteen years old-owning his own car that he bought with his own saved money. Hector was always good with money-saving it. From the time he was six he'd been earning a two dollar allowance for helping his mother with basic chores, then as he got older the amount increased. It got to a point where he made ten dollars a week by the time he was nine-Hector saved all that plus what he made when he started working for Anthony.
Working with Anthony-Hector made close to $200 sometimes $240 a week and he put all that away until he was sixteen when he took driver's education-passed his permit test with a ninety-one, then his licensing and road test with a perfect score-he bought himself his own car. Registered it, insured it, and Anthony performed the inspection on it right at the shop. The car was a basic silver four door, he only spend about $800 on it and had money left over. Hector had saved a ton of money so that helped out if his work week was ever really slow-his brother and sister had been pretty jealous when they found out Hector was allowed to drive himself to school. The only other thing Hector had to pay for was his parking pass at school, well that applied when he actually attended Berkian Academy before dropping out in the middle of Sophomore year to join the military. The parking pass was about $60 itself and also the student had to maintain a B average at best. Hector loved having the freedom to drive wherever he wanted to.
Hector's depression started when he was thirteen but he'd been being bullied and teased since he was about nine-about the time he met Luna and she became his form of comfort. The bullying started with just Skylar but then as they got older and Skylar met Trent-then Darius me Drew, and Jessie it got all the worse for him. Hector never used to cut or have suicidal thoughts until he was in freshman year when Astrid hurt him with the others in on it. This is when he started working at the auto shop with Anthony and the depression wasn't so bad because he had something to distract him but when it got out where he was working-the bullying got worse and the teasing, constant reminding that he fell for Astrid's game. After the day he yelled at Snotlout he actually didn't want to live anymore, he was so sick of everything: being bullied over nothing, being teased, pushed around, no one liking him, his parents not having time for him, and so much more on the list. But then Hector met Cody and everything changed.
Now Hector was almost two years later from when he signed up-a lieutenant in the military who already served one tour of duty in Iraq, had a girlfriend, the love and support of his family, also the best five friends anyone could ever ask for: Tallon, Thaxter, Evan, Ryan, and Viktor. Sure he had Drew, Freddie, Trent, Carmen, Mandy, Danielle, and Reina but they weren't really friends so much as they were people he could tolerate to be around without wanting to punch out the guys and bitch out the girls. He was better than that and to boot they didn't hang out with Skylar or Jessie anymore-not a lot anyway. But here he was in November-a week before Thanksgiving and he was glad to actually be home for it this year since he missed last years due to being deployed. He'd been to Drill Weekend twice-it wasn't so bad, almost like a review of Basic and AIT. Those weekends he wasn't really reachable but he wasn't alone because he had his friends with him and that almost made him happier. Hector had gotten home from drill that morning and was exhausted. Tonight Hector was relaxing with his family and girlfriend although he seemed to of picked up extra guests when Heather and Darius invited their friends including Jessie and Skylar-there by association that Reina and Skylar were a thing.
It didn't bother Hector, at least they weren't giving him a hard time anymore-he appreciated they were trying but it would take more than smiles and curious questions for him to forgive them for everything before the military was involved in his life. That still irritated him regarding everyone-that they suddenly cared and showed an interest after it came out he joined the army. Not just Darius and Heather's friends-but all of his family who didn't care before the army. What could he do about it now? At least they cared and that was something he had told the guys during Basic, that it wouldn't hurt his family to care for once. "You look tired babe," Astrid said while laying her head on his shoulder now.
"Well, I did just get back from drill this morning at 8am. Sore as shit still," Hector replied lightly.
"Why not take a nap?" Heather offered.
"At 5:30pm? I'll be up at midnight if I do that, nah I'll just stay up and go to bed early or something," Hector shrugged some.
"What was the drill this time?" Val asked lightly.
"Contact, Recon, and Ambush missions. Then standard gun practice and physical training," Hector mumbled.
"Sounds like fun," Drew said.
"Oh yeah-spending hours in the forest watching intently is definitely a blast. You try sitting in a tree for three hour without moving just to observe shit and try to listen in while watching all of your platoon," Hector rolled his eyes as he sat forward and cracked his neck, then back before rotating his arms some and sitting back against couch as Astrid laid on his arm-snuggling up to him happily.
"I really wanna hear you play again," Astrid smiled while glancing up at him.
"Join the club beautiful, I got matching jackets on pre-order when I hit one hundred who tell me that," Hector chuckled.
"But I'm your girlfriend so I should get special previews," Astrid giggled some.
"I don't have anything else finished right now, " Hector stated.
"Wing it then, you're good at that, Hector." Heather smiled now.
"I've told ya a million times-I don't just wing it and I don't show it off." Hector sighed heavily as he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket-he sat forward as Astrid sat up so he could sit up without a problem. "Lieutenant Haddock here," there was a brief pause now. "What do you mean you haven't heard from him since we left Fort Striker? That was...hours ago. He checked in with me-you all do," more pause, "He texted me at 0820 hours saying he was home, why you so worried, Thax?"
"Haven't heard from him soon and we were all gonna hook up to go for dinner but he won't answer," Thaxter informed him now.
"He's probably sleeping. Drill sucked, I know I'm beat but I got company over and it's way too early to sleep," Hector replied now.
"Something doesn't feel right, Hector...I got a bad feeling about it. He was pretty miserable when we were all leavin. You left first but we were with him until his Dad showed up and the two looked like they were in a pretty heated argument. His phone just rings six times and goes to voicemail. Ev, Ry, and Vik are with me, we're worried. Can you call him and see if he'll answer for you?" Thaxter asked curiously.
"I'll try but no promises. I'll let ya know," Hector said calmly before ending the call.
"Something wrong son?" Spencer asked.
"Guys can't get a hold of Tallon-says he won't answer his phone," Hector stated as tried to call Tallon but after six rings it went to voicemail. Hector tried texting him but after five minutes there was no response still. Okay, maybe something was wrong. Next he pulled up his and Tallon's Skype conversation on his computer which was hooked up to the flat screen before putting his fingers on the keys to type a message to him: ~Tal. Inferno worried for ya. What's going on?~ Hector pressed send and watch it come up on screen. It showed that Tallon was online recently as in the last ten minutes-so far there was still no response and Hector was starting to get worried for his friend. It wasn't like Tallon not to answer calls, especially from him. The ding of a reply brought him from his thoughts as he looked back to the screen now and saw only six numbers there.
~851216~
That was the response? Six numbers? "Maybe he's busy?" Astrid offered.
"No. No, he's not busy. Something is wrong...eight, five, one, two, one six," Hector continued to repeat the numbers in a whisper almost.
"Maybe he just doesn't feel like talkin'" Skylar remarked.
"It's code. A sequence of numbers to relay a message when there's a delicate situation at hand and can't disclose information. Each number represents something...and none of those letters make sense unless..." he paused a moment then his eyes widened, "Eight. Five. Twelve, and Sixteen. That's...distress code for help. God damn it, why didn't I see it sooner!" Hector typed back. ~151423125~ then he got off the couch as he grabbed his wallet and keys off the table which were sitting next the laptop. Hector moved to the door and slipped on his sneaker-he rushed downstairs for only about ten seconds before returning with his handgun while placing the clip inside and loaded it by pulling back the top chamber load.
"Where are you going and why with your gun?" Val asked quickly.
"Never enter an unknown situation unarmed. Eight. Five. Twelve, Sixteen represent a letter from the alphabet. H. E. L. P. Tallon is in trouble and I'm going to help him. Stay here, I won't be gone long." Hector stated as he put the safety on his gun and placed it behind him-tucked into his pants and shirt covering it so it wouldn't be seen. Without another word said, Hector headed outside and to his car then he was gone fifteen seconds later.
"So Tallon sent him a code asking for help?" Jessie asked.
"Evidently. You heard Hector-they must use codes in the military if there's a situation where they can't talk normally," Darius informed.
"What did he type back then?" Drew questioned.
"If each number represents a letter from the alphabet then...his reply was on way," Astrid stated after writing it down on a piece of paper to figure out what each number represented in Hector's reply. They all looked at one another a moment then sighed-all they could do was wait for him to get back to find out what happened.
(An Hour Later)
They heard a car pull up and shut off, one door opened and then another a few seconds afterwards. It wasn't much longer before the door opened and Hector walked in with Tallon beside him-holding onto him for support almost. Hector eased him down onto the couch before going back outside and returning a minute later with a infant car seat-child present and asleep in seat, and diaper bag over his shoulder. Hector put it down carefully and then finally closed the house door and moved beside Tallon. "I...owe...you," Tallon said weakly to him.
"You're my best friend, of course I'm gonna come running when I know you need help bud. How bad you hurt?" Hector asked him.
"Got grazed on the side-the rest is...just...a few cuts, bumps, and bruises," Tallon cringed.
"Let me see the graze," Hector told him as Tallon took off his coat and lifted his shirt for Hector to clearly see the graze of a handgun bullet-it wasn't bad but still needed treatment regardless. "Stay there and don't move," he ordered as he got up and moved into the bathroom to get a few things from his first aid kit and then returned. Hector cleared the blood from the wound before applying some ointment over it. He applied a large patch over it then used some gauze to wrap it in place.
"Thanks, Hec..." Tallon smiled a bit.
"Anytime my friend. I got your back," Hector told him as the two linked hands firmly.
"How's...Jade?" Tallon asked.
"Still asleep-don't worry, she's alright. She didn't get hurt now are you gonna tell me what the hell happened?" Hector asked him.
"Simple fight turned into a shit show. Dad and Tori started fighting, Jade started crying which ensued more fighting about who took more care of her. I got fed up so I went to take care of her-she calmed down so I put her back in her crib then heard a loud smack. Dad was drunk-he hit Tori, I went to make sure she was okay and Dad had his fucking hand gun out. I tackled him down to get it away-we fought for about twenty minutes before he got the gun again and fired it which caused this whole thing," Hector saw Tallon motion to the graze on his side that had been treated, "I heard the Skype message go off and while I had Dad semi-retrained, I told Tori to message whoever messaged me the code for help. Dad and I fought longer then you showed up ten minutes later...you know the rest from there...I owe you my life because he might have killed me..."
"I didn't even know something was wrong until the guys messaged me saying they couldn't get a hold of you all day and when you didn't answer me-I knew you were in trouble. Glad I got there when I did and I'm glad I brought the gun too..." Hector mumbled.
"Um...why was it good you brought your gun? You didn't...shoot his father, did you son?" Spencer asked, Hector glanced back quietly.
"I didn't have a choice. It was that or Tallon getting shot in the head, I didn't kill his father. I only hit him in the arm to catch him off guard and get his gun away from him. Told you, never enter an unknown situation unarmed. I didn't know what the hell was going on-I just knew my friend needed help. Not like I'm proud of it but hey often the things we do that we had no choice on are things we aren't proud of. When's Tori coming?" Hector asked Tallon now.
"She's at the station right now-then she'll come for Jade and go stay at her parents or sisters for a while. Dad got arrested-sure I'll have to deal with that in court now-and probably you too. I'm sorry, I shouldn't of dragged you into this..." Tallon looked down.
"Hey, stop that shit right now. Listen to me, Tallon. You're my best friend okay? We have been since Basic-I got your back no matter what it is. I know you didn't want to involve me but you did because you knew I'd come and help you. If you hadn't called for help-tonight could have been a lot worse and I don't know about you but I don't want to get a call saying my best friend was killed by his overly drunk-gun wielding father. Stop beating yourself up that you got me involved. I could have called the police myself from here, I could've done a million other things that didn't involve me showing up there but that's not what I did. You're my friend, my teammate, and if some shit is going down involving you or any of the others-bet your ass I'm coming in person to fuck up whoever is fucking with you guys. You didn't tell me to come-you just said help. You didn't tell me to bring my gun-I chose to. And you didn't tell me to pull that trigger, I chose to. I made those choices-I involved myself. So if you gotta deal with this shit-then so will I," Hector told him with his hand up and a smile.
Tallon sighed and smiled as he brought his hand up to connect their together. "You really are my best fucking friend in the entire world, Hector. Thank you for tonight," he said softly.
"We fight side by side and remain brother for the rest of time," Hector told him as Tallon nodded.
"You're more than welcome to stay with us, Tallon while all this gets sorted out," Val offered lightly.
"Thank you, Mrs. Haddock. I appreciate that-even though your son beat you to it and basically ordered in the car that I was staying here," Tallon replied to her with a nod. The next two hours went by rather quickly-police came by to get statements from Hector and Tallon, Tori picked Jade up and thanked Tallon for protecting her, and then thanked Hector for coming as quickly as he did. The police informed that Tallon's father was locked up looking at two attempted murder charges, domestic, unpermitted gun on premises, also reckless endangerment of a minor. Hefty charges that could have his father away for a long time but Tallon didn't care-tonight crossed the line for him. Maybe some time in prison wouldn't straighten him out. They were given the arraignment date and the police left, Tori with Jade not long afterwards. Tallon was already set up to be on Hector's couch downstairs again and for a while this time-Tallon wanted no part of going back to that house or staying with his mother. Given by the time all that was over it was close to 9:30pm and the others went home-Hector promised to hang with Astrid more the next day. Both Hector and Tallon just wanted to sleep the rest of the night and recover from drill weekend and now this night that went from calm to crazy in only a few seconds but one thing was for sure that Hector would drop everything and rush off to help a friend in need.
