Hector slept that entire day after returning from the mission no one had known about until that day. He never woke up for lunch, and he slept right through dinner. Tallon wanted to wake him but felt he needed the sleep because of everything that happened. First they had that twelve hour guard, then they stayed up until about 2pm, Hector then had that five hour meeting where he didn't return until late. He went right to sleep and woke up around 12am for the missions and proceeded to be gone through the morning and until the next. Over twenty four hours and there was no saying if he got any sleep on the missions-it didn't sound like he did if he was sleeping this much. It worried Tallon that his husband hadn't said a word, he hadn't eaten all day-this was assuming that he never ate breakfast with everything going on. Hector did get up a few times that night-waking up from what appeared to be nightmares. He'd go to the bathroom to splash his face, or it sounded like throw up. Tallon tried to help him but he insisted he was fine, it was just due to lack of sleep. Tallon knew better than that but he didn't want to push his husband, he knew Hector could shut down and Tallon didn't want that so he just reminded Hector each time that he loved him and was there if he needed anything.

When morning came around again, Hector slept until about 8:15am when the others were away at breakfast. He was hungry but didn't feel like sitting with everyone and the constant stares wondering if he was okay or not. He wasn't in the slightest-he couldn't stop seeing what happened before the Americans showed up, seeing his team be executed right in front of him. It made him sick to of seen their fear filled faces, the eyes pleading for help, the eyes that all looked to him and he'd been useless, powerless, and too weak to stop. It was his fault, they relied on him and he let them down and now nine soldiers were dead. Nine soldiers who had to be sent back to their home island, and a representative soldier would be going to each of their families to tell them their soldier was gone. Hector just sat on his bed with his knees up and arms resting on them. Fang was sitting on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. Hector couldn't bear it, thinking about the hurt and pain those families were about to go through all because he had failed to protect them.

(Chow Tent)

Tallon was eating with the others who were all quiet, most of the Dragon platoon was. They were in the barrack with Hector-they all saw him suffering and felt helpless to help him, where did they even begin? How did anyone recover from what he went through-they gave him a lot of credit for holding as well as he was but in truth he wasn't. Tallon knew he it was eating at him, tearing him apart.

"Lieutenant Furysen?" came Gary's voice, Tallon's eyes narrowed slightly.

"What?" Tallon replied-yes, he was still pissed.

"How is...Major Furysen?" Caleb asked coming beside Gary now, his eyes softer and filled with more concern.

"Still sleeping as far as I know. He had a long night of nightmares and throwing up," Tallon didn't bother looking at them.

"I hope he's not getting sick," Harold stated calmly.

"No, it's just the nightmares making him sick. He is reliving everything in his mind, the one place he can't hide from. He watched nine people get shot in the head, forced to watch it and couldn't stop it." Darius stated harshly.

"And it's your fault," Tallon remarked coldly-but showing his glare. It was silent now, no one sure what the could really say.

"PRISONER ESCAPE!" someone outside shoulder, eyes widening the groups grabbed their weapons and rushed outside to see the the man Hector went through Hell to capture making a break for it-what they didn't expect was to see Hector standing directly in his path with his arms crossed over his chest and a less than pleased look on his face. The prisoner hadn't seen him yet, he was busy enjoying the fact the others weren't shooting him. Just as the prisoner turned his head to look forward, he came to a quick halt when Hector had his M16 out and aimed for him.

"I wouldn't if I were you," Hector said coldly.

"Hector..." Tallon whispered in shock to see him out of the barrack-he wasn't even in full ACU, just the boots, pants, and a tee-shirt. The prisoner put his hands out slightly then slowly got to his knees with his hands behind his head, Hector handcuffed and tied his wrists with a rope before forcing him up and his handgun placed barrel to the soldier's back.

"Move it," Hector ordered as the two walked back towards the group, three military police members came forward and took him from Hector with a nod of thanks to him. Hector put his gun away in the holder, crossed his arms over his chest.

"I-I thought you were sleeping still, Love..." Tallon said cautiously stepping towards him.

"I've been awake since 8:15am, I heard the call so I came out to deal with it," Hector stated calmly.

"How...are you feeling?" Tallon asked him.

"Better now that I've gotten some sleep," Hector offered a small smile before wrapping his arms around his husband and laying his head on his chest. Tallon hugged him back right away, he knew Hector wasn't okay but at least he wasn't pushing him away.

"I'm glad to hear that babe," Tallon smiled as he pulled back a bit and kissed Hector's lips softly, Hector returned it lovingly. It only lasted a few seconds before they broke it, Tallon wrapped his arm around his husband's waist and they faced the others.

"Good to see you're awake, man. Had us worried when ya slept so much," Ryan told him now.

"Yeah...well, I didn't really sleep on the mission. It was kind of watch situation, move accordingly and hide." Hector shrugged a bit. "That and the fact, I didn't sleep after that guard shift we had either. I was up from when I left to when I got back and went to sleep. Definitely beat my record of staying up for twenty-four hours," he chuckled a bit.

"You know you still have to tell us what happened, Major Furysen..." Keith Bailey-the Lieutenant General reminded quickly.

"Pretty sure I explained all that when I got back," Hector's eyes narrowed a bit.

"No, you kinda just yelled at, Robinson," Caleb mentioned as Tallon glared a bit-warning him to stop now. Caleb understood the look, Hector was actually okay at the moment and not to trigger him so soon. "But you did tell us what happened. I think he did more than enough gentleman, why not...give him some time to relax?"

"All we want to know is what happened when they were captured. We understand the two ambushes, and everything else," Major General, Harold Moore asked now. That shifted Hector's whole mood, and Tallon could tell when Hector stepped away from him, eyes closed.

"Drop it. I told you already, hours of torture. That's all you need to know about it," Hector retorted coldly.

"You're getting very defensive about it, Major Furysen. We all know what they are capable of when it comes to torture-we just want to know what happened you and the other soldiers. Are you okay? Do you have injuries that need attention? You know protocol after missions, you have to tell us what happened." Gary Robinson informed.

"It was torture, not sure how many languages you'd like for me to say that in," Hector snapped now.

"Fine. How long did the torture go on for then? How did the others take it? How badly were they hurt, were any of them raped or molested?" Reggie asked him.

"The torture lasted from arrival to when I broke us out. 1900 to 0100. The others were fine, none of them were hurt, raped, or molested," Hector replied.

"And how would you know if you were all tortured at different times?" asked Ralph Murphy, the Brigadier General.

"And who the hell said we were all tortured?" Hector inquired calmly as Tallon looked at him now.

"You...did, yesterday when you got back. You said hours of torture when captured." Reggie reminded.

"No. I said: We were captured and aside from hours of torture, I, figured out a way to get everyone out. The others weren't tortured, just me," Hector crossed his arms over his chest.

"Are you certain the others weren't harmed when you being tortured. As I said, you're...quite defensive on the subject," Reggie asked.

"I'm certain the others weren't harmed because they tortured me right in the cell when they were there. I told them they could do whatever they wanted to me, but leave my team alone. I took all the punches, kicks, slaps, burns, whippings, cuts, so on and so forth." Hector informed.

"I have to ask this because I feel it's why your defensive. Since you're the one who took all the torture, were you molested or raped, Major Furysen?" Gary asked as they all looked at Hector now, he only put his hands in his pockets with his eyes closed.

"No, I didn't let it get that far, " he said before turning his head and returning to the barrack. Tallon just stood there, processing the words his husband had said and then it hit him like a pile of bricks as he rushed towards the barrack after Hector, leaving the others confused and they followed him.

(Barrack A)

Tallon got inside and saw Hector sitting on his bed, knees over the side of it, elbows on knees with his head in his hands. He walked in front of his husband and crouched down a bit so his head would be level with Hector's. "Babe?" Hector lifted his head a bit and Tallon saw the tears resting in his eyes, threatening to fall down his cheeks. "They didn't rape or molest you-but they tried, didn't they?" Tallon stared into his his lover's eyes while Hector began to shake and his bottom lip trembled a bit. Tallon already knew the answer as he got on his knees and wrapped his arms his husband tightly, his arms on his shoulders, a hand on his back, another on the back of Hector's head. Hector started crying in his palms. The Dragon platoon, Caleb, and the higher ups had been in there when Tallon asked that question, seeing Hector's reaction-it was easy to figure out the answer. Tallon put a finger to his lips to have the others stay quiet. Tallon knew Hector needed cry-he always knew when Hector needed that because he'd been holding it in, it would consume him, destroy him from the inside.

Tallon wouldn't let this destroy Hector, no, he would be there for him. He knew how to break through, and this was always the first step. Hector just letting go of trying to be so strong, and crying. The others just made their way to their beds and stayed quiet while Hector cried, they wouldn't judge him for it. The whole mission had been Hell, and this made it worse than that. Tallon just held him, rubbing his back, and whispering that it would be alright-that he was safe. It seemed to work because after twenty minutes, Hector's cries lessened to sniffling, and a few coughs in between.

"I don't like seeing you hold this in, babe. You know it's not good for you and you know it only hurts more. I won't make you-but I am asking you to please tell me what happened on that mission. We can go for a walk, we can stay here, I can make the others leave for a little while...whatever you want, just please, talk to me?" Tallon said gently when he saw Hector pull back some to wipe his eyes. "And I want to see the extent of that torture, I can see it on your face already and I saw the wrappings yesterday when you went to sleep-if that's not too much to ask?"

"I'll tell you-but only if we're alone," Hector told him softly.

"Chow tent is empty right now, and I think you should get something to eat, Hector. You haven't eaten since yesterday," Darius offered to them.

"Why can't we know what happened?" Gary huffed a bit as Tallon's eyes narrowed now and he stood up.

"BECAUSE IT'S YOUR MOTHER FUCKING FAULT THIS HAPPENED!" Tallon yelled, "That was not a mission that should have been done with only ten people, there should have been a back up team with another way out. Another person with a radio who could've let you know they hadn't checked in and something was wrong. Anything was better than leaving them utterly fucking defenseless to be captured, then executed! Now my husband is the one suffering the most because he was the one to take the torture to keep his team safe, he's the one who nearly got molested and raped because of your poorly planned mission! You stay away from him." he snapped angrily.

"Not our fault that he ran his team right into the ambush location-which happened to be a chopper that they left unguarded for hours and was hidden terribly, it's not our fault his team got killed execution style." Douglas remarked, "That's his fault since HE was leading the mission," at this, the entire room gasped in shock of what he had said.

"Hill!" Caleb said quickly, "What are you saying, it's not Hector's fault. How could he of known their hidden chopper was found while they were captured and then set up as an ambush that would leave them stranded." Hector's eyes widened as something suddenly came to mind. Hector finally stood up with narrowed eyes, he pulled his gun from the holder and pointed it at Hill.

"Woah...Hector...I know things are a little heated right now-but that's going a bit too far..." Tallon said quickly.

"You were the one with all the updates, weren't you, General Hill? Every meeting since I got brought in on this, it was you who had the information. You were the one leading a team for the recon missions, gathering it all and reporting it back to Robinson to tell me. Correct?" Hector asked.

"Yes?" Douglas answered.

"So tell me then. You're the one who told us where the target would be, you're the one who gave us that information. How did the enemies know where my team and I would be, that we were at a fake location, a house with an innocent family in it that got bombed to ambush us, then trap us in a severely outnumbered firefight that we stood no chance in Hell of winning?" Hector asked. The others stopped now, wondering what Hector was getting at. Hill was quiet. "Also...I'm curious to know how you knew about our chopper being hidden when I never told you that fact," the eyes in the room widened a bit as the officers stepped off to the side looking at Douglas, "How did you know about the chopper being an ambush location when I never said we were ambushed. In fact, all I said was that the chopper exploded and we searched for another way out, spent three minutes on that before enemies rushed us-but I never said we were ambushed, so how did you know that we were?"

"You...did say it. Enemies rushed you, that's an ambush." Hill retorted.

"You missed the first three questions, you're dodging. It's in your eyes-you're nervous. How were you the only one with information about that mission? How did enemies know where we would be when that bomb went off? How did they know there would be only ten of us-and the brought fifty in perfect formation to make us surrender? And why did you say the chopper-that I didn't tell anyone was hidden, was an ambush location? Not even that, you said the ambush location instead of an ambush location. That implies you knew it was one," Hector asked again, Hill never said anything, "You know what you did, Hill. Every time I said for me to take a team in for recon, you didn't want your operation blown so you insisted only you and your team go. I do recall there being a contact mission just before this one, a mission where an Afghan friendly had information for us-but that contact was killed before we got to him and it was your team that went. Admit it, you know you're caught. You sent us right into a trap that you planned out, you just didn't think I'd survive. Right?"

"Fine. Yes, I did. What are you gonna do, kill me? You'll go to prison for killing an officer," Hill remarked.

"I would if I was killing an officer. However, I won't for killing a traitor of the Archipelago who just openly admitted in front of fifty four people that you sent a group of soldiers to their deaths and didn't anticipate one surviving and figuring out what you did," Hector stated.

"Go ahead, kill me then. But know if you do that-you'll never figure out what I did to your friend in Iraq," Doug smirked. Hector's eyes widened. Iraq? That's where Alex was right now! Hector's eyes narrowed as this time, he cocked back the chamber and put it to Doug's head.

"What did you do, Alex!" Hector yelled.

"You are a sharp one, I didn't even have to say a name and you figured out who I was talking about. I'll hand it to ya, Hector. I never believed anyone when they said you were a Major for your outstanding heroism, courage, loyalty, quick thinking. I kept wondering, I gotta see this soldier in action-that's why I did it. I wanted to put you in a dangerous situation that would test all your skills, your willpower, and determination." Hill informed Hector, Tallon and the rest of Inferno were pissed, so was the rest of the platoon in there.

"I wanted to see how many things I could have done to you before you broke. I know all about your depression-you growing up with no friends, no real family. Daddy and Mommy never having time for you? Cousins who gave a shit less, beat you up, called you names with their friends. The suicide attempt, the fact playing your guitar and singing is an outlet so you don't break down when you're upset. I honestly figured the rape would set you over the deep end but clever boy you are, slitting their necks and scaring the rest off-then faking your own death to break the others out. But you still ran into the second trap, an ambush where you were forced to watch nine soldiers get shot execution style. And yet, none of that broke you. Bravo-you really are as strong as they all say. Bravo for figuring it all out, good on you lad," Doug mentioned as Hector started shaking.

"Answer me, what did you do to Alex?! I swear to the Gods, I will kill you if you hurt him!" Hector yelled.

"Is this what it took to break you? Wondering if I hurt Alexander Holgerson? Member of the Phoenix unit along with...Drake Bludvist, Asher Peyton, Raymond Vasquez, Sean Svendson, and who was that last member...Oh right, Cody Greysen. The man you considered to be a father to you," Doug grinned as Hector was having trouble holding the gun steady. "Want to know a little secret? I killed them." he chuckled, "Sean died a hero, saving a group of others. Cody and Drake in the ambush I set up right after you left. Peyton and Vasquez were supposed to die too but they weren't in the same location and I didn't have time to take them out,"

"Shut up! Shut your fucking mouth!" Hector yelled as the tears formed in his eyes.

"It's too bad you won't make it in time, Hector. You're just too far away from him to save him. How does it feel to be able to do nothing again? Just like they always used to say. You're not a killer, you won't shoot me...I'm the only one who can call off the attack on Alex. But I'm not gonna, let's see how far you're willing to go to save a friend," Doug said. Hector closed his eyes and lowered his gun to his side and hit his knees with his head down.

"Don't hurt him, please!" Hector pleaded taking his friends by surprise, Hector never begged. Not for anything. "Please...I'll do anything. What do you want, Hill? What's it gonna take for you to call off the attack on Alex?" Hector asked in defeat.

"I already got what I wanted. Your surrender, everyone says you never back down but you just gave up and gave in, just to save your friend. Maybe you aren't so strong after all. I'll spare your friend, only because you begged and look so pathetic there on the ground," Doug chuckled as he got his cell phone and dialed a number, "Shut down operation: Annihilate Holgerson. He finally broke," Hector clenched his fists tightly until they cracked. "Awe, don't feel bad now lad. You did what you had to do to save your friend and now he's safe," Tallon and the others glared now as the man chuckled and crouched down in front of Hector, lifting his chin a bit. "You're still a depressed little boy trying to be tough. You're nothing more than a weak, worthless, useless, nothing, nobody, Hector...don't forget your place in the world,"

That did it. Hector pulled his chin away from Doug, then punched him right in the face which knocked him on his ass. Hector stood up slow with his eyes closed and the gun in his hand. Doug went for his phone but Hector shot it-rendering it unusable, then he turned the gun on Hill. "You killed Sean, Cody, Drake, all those other people. You tried to kill Asher, Raymond, and Alex. You had me tortured for six fucking hours, thirty minutes of such they tried to molest and rape me. You seem to know a lot about me, I'll give you that. You knew enough about me to know that I can't stand losing people and I'll do anything in my ability to protect them. However, there's something you don't know about me," he paused cocking the gun back and holding it steady.

"N-now...Hector...let's not...do anything crazy..." Doug said quickly, fear rising in his eyes.

"Crazy? Oh no no, Doug...Never. What you don't know about me is that when you push someone past the limits of their very sanity-there's no going back and there's nothing to hold them back. What's wrong, Doug? Isn't this what you wanted? Me broken, because this is what happens when I break. I stop caring. I bet you were expecting me to hit the ground, crying, mad at myself, right? You thought I'd be scared of you? No. So good on you for being the one to get me to this point. But do you want to know a little secret of my own?" Hector paused now as Tallon looked his way, worried and so did the others. "You can't break what is already broken. I've been broken for a long time. Although I'm very interested to know the answer to this question, since you look so scared," Hector chuckled darkly with a smirk playing on his lips while the others in the room just watched, Hector...wouldn't really do it it, would he?

They were watching from a side view, Hector having his gun pointed at Doug, "Who is really afraid of who?" Hector fired again, the bullet shot right past his head and into the floor. Doug panted as he looked back at Hector. "Get this traitor out of my sight, because the next shot won't miss..." he ordered cocking his gun back once more. The higher ups handcuffed Doug and dragged him out. Hector dropped his gun on the floor and Tallon moved in front of him.

"Babe...baby, talk to me?" Tallon said with his hands on Hector's shoulders-concern in his eyes.

"He...killed...them..." Hector hit his knees again, Tallon went down too and pulled Hector close against him.

"Ssh...ssh, it's okay baby...I know...I know he did. And he won't get away with all he did to them and you...we'll make sure of it." Tallon soothed him. Hector didn't move, he just cried there for awhile in Tallon's arms. The others didn't know what to do-this had to hurt Hector a lot knowing what he did, on top of everything else he just went through because of that mission which was only a trap set up to break him spirit. Now they were all wondering if Hector could recover from this. At some point, Hector fell asleep-just the crying alone made him tired, along with the stress of everything. Tallon picked him up and laid him in his bed.

"I really don't know how much longer my sanity is going to hold, guys...I can't...bear seeing him like this. It happens...constantly-where he gets hurt in the worst ways. He's so strong but so frail too because of the past...Every time I think it'll get better, this shit happens and he gets hurt again," Tallon admitted.

"We'll get him through it-just like always, Tal. Don't worry, Hector is strong because of us. He told us that, as long as he has you and us then he'll always be okay. This is just another obstacle we face together," Viktor told Tallon.

"I hope you're right," Tallon replied as he looked back at Hector who was asleep on his bed, Fang was curled up next to him. What was sad was it wasn't even 10am yet and all this had happened. Why couldn't they just catch a damn break and be happy just one time. So much had happened in only three days, and all Tallon wanted was to see Hector smile again. Was that so much to ask?