It had been two weeks since everything happened. Doug had been taken back to the Archipelago to face a court for his crimes, and Hector spent a majority of his time letting his body heal and deep in thought about everything. It bothered his friends and husband because he still wasn't allowed to tell them what was going on. All they knew was that Hector was taking orders from the president himself, and the mission wasn't over-that he had to finish it still. This worried them-he went through Hell already just capturing one target-it was the assumption that this prisoner was a key to finishing the mission and that's why he was needed. Tallon didn't like that Hector said the mission was only going to get harder and more dangerous, he didn't want Hector to get hurt or killed-he wouldn't know what to do with himself anymore.

Today, Hector was sitting on his bed with his phone in front of him as if he were waiting on a call. It was just after dinner time, the clock on the wall read: 6:15pm. The barrack was pretty quiet at this time, they knew he was working on something in his head. Hector was a deep thinker, he figured out a lot so easily with only his mind. The other officers, and even Caleb hadn't come near him since two weeks ago when he said for them to remember who was taking orders from who. Hector sighed out and then his phone rang, it came up as 'restricted'. Hector put it to his ear and stood up.

"Greetings, Mr. President." the others fell silent looking at him. That's who he was talking too?! The president of the Archipelago!? "Thank you for your concern, but I am fine." he added after a moment. "I've been ready for a week to complete the mission. I was awaiting your orders," Hector stated calmly. They couldn't hear whatever the president was saying to him but it had be serious. "Prisoner is still in lock up, heavily guarded. He refuses to talk." more silence. "I suppose I can give it a shot. I got free reign?" Hector asked curiously. "Well then, consider it done. I'll have your information by sunrise, Archipelago time." a pause, "Don't you worry about what I'm going to do, Mr. President. I'll get him to talk." Hector was about to hang up when he stopped, "I did have one question..." silence. "Yes, it's the same one I asked last time we spoke," more waiting, "I understand. Thank you, I'll contact you at 7am your time." after that he hung up.

"More orders?" Tallon asked calmly.

"Yeah..." Hector sighed.

"And you still...can't tell us, can you?" Darius asked.

"If I get what I'm looking for tonight, then I can tell you tomorrow." Hector stated.

"Wait, you mean you can tell us?" they asked quickly as Hector was getting his gear on.

"I said, IF, I get what I'm looking for tonight. Those are my orders. I get the information, I can tell you what's going on. It's a security thing. I trust you understand?" Hector informed softly.

"Of course we do, it's...really classified stuff. I'm...guess you have to go get information out of that guy you captured? That's why he was needed alive, right?" Tallon questioned.

"Yes. And thus far he hasn't responded to anyone else trying. I was asked to try and use any means necessary to get it, could be an all night thing, so don't wait up, kay?" Hector replied as he kissed Tallon gently.

"Alright, Love. Good luck," Tallon responded after they broke the kiss. Hector smiled and headed outside the barrack and towards the prison hold. The others could only pray Hector got the information he needed, if that happened then he had permission to tell them what was going on. If not, then they were still in the dark about it. That was the last place they wanted to be with all this going on. When 11:30pm hit, Hector still wasn't back but they knew that could happen. Deciding they couldn't do much else, they got ready for bed and went to sleep.

(Next Morning; 10:30am)

Hector was gone sixteen hours straight. They didn't hear him come in at all, and didn't see him when they woke up at 6:30am. Even though breakfast, he didn't show up. Sitting in the barracks-the door opened and Hector walked in with a heavy sigh. "He didn't break, did he?" Thaxter asked.

"Wow. Doubt me that much? I feel the confidence guys." Hector rolled his eyes.

"You got him to talk?" Tallon asked jumping down from his bed. Hector grinned now.

"I did not stay up sixteen hours for nothing. Yes, I got him to talk." Hector chuckled.

"That means you can tell us now?" Ryan asked quickly.

"Right after I call in and take care of a few things," Hector stated while getting his gear off and cracking his back, neck, and arms. Hector got his phone and pressed a single button-the put it to his ear. "Hector Furysen for President Jasper Morgan. Patch me through, he's waiting on my call." he stated firmly. "Good morning, Mr. President." a pause, "Target location acquired, sir. Ready to commence mission on your command," the others just stood there waiting for him to get off the phone. "Well, that's gonna be a problem sir. I am down nine people and the rest didn't pass the training," Hector flinched a bit. "All do your respect sir, that's going to be a fucking shit-show massacre. Those soldiers couldn't even make it to week three of that training." he yelled. Oh this didn't sound good anymore, "There isn't another option. You know how it's going to have to be," Hector sighed. "No. I refuse to do that, sir. I'm sorry-but I will not needlessly endanger anyone else. One of the others will update you. I'll be prepared to leave tomorrow night. And do not inform my family either," they saw Hector closed his eyes, "Appreciated but my decision is final, Mr. President. Until we speak again," Hector then hung up.

"Hector...what's going on?" Tallon asked concerned now-that conversation sounded anything but good.

"You're gonna wanna sit down for this," Hector told him, Tallon did so as did the others as they looked at him with worry when he pulled his radio out and pressed the button on the side.

{Caleb. Bring the others to Barrack A, on the double. I won't hear excuses either.}

{Yes sir. Orders understood and confirmed.}

Hector lowered the radio with his eyes closed, "I'll tell you once they get here," he told them as he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. Ten minutes later, Caleb arrived with the others. "You're late." Hector remarked.

"Sorry sir..." they replied standing at parade rest after offering him a salute.

"Just stand there and shut it. For starters, you should know why you are here. I said I'd contact you when I received my orders. Phase two will be executed tomorrow at 2100 hours. I'll be needing a ride in, and a distraction before drop off. Are those orders understood?" Hector asked firmly. The others didn't understand, why was...Hector giving his commanding officer's orders to execute a mission.

"Orders received and understood, General Furysen." the group replied. The others eyes widened at the name as Hector noticed the shock wash over their faces.

"Get to it then. I'll be finalizing details with you later," Hector motioned with his head for them to clear out. The officers saluted and left the barrack. "I know how confused you must be right now,"

"Confused?! When the hell did you become a General? I mean...they've...been calling you Major up until today." his guys yelled in shock.

"After I captured the first target and exposed Hill as a traitor. I took his place as General. I told you, there were things I couldn't tell you. But I also made a promise that if I got the information I needed from that target, I'd tell you what's going on." Hector told them calmly.

"I can see why you order the others now but...you're still ranked under the General of the Army, why...are you commanding him?" Tallon asked.

"Presidential orders tops General of Army. Morgan put me in charge of this mission anyone involved in it is under my command right now. Please...let me explain everything because I have a lot to do before tomorrow night," Hector asked, they nodded at him.

"I heard you the night I got back, one of you wanted to know why this target was so important. Without him and his information, the second phase couldn't start. This is a very...time sensitive mission and has to be handled with the utmost care and secrecy, all of it right now falls on me. My stress level is sky high right now. The truth about this target is that he is the key to finding another very imperative target," Hector informed.

"That's...why you had to interrogate him all night, isn't it? To find out information on this new target?" Thaxter asked.

"Not information on him, his location." Hector replied, "Information that I now possess and plan to use to find the bastard who started this war and take him out," their eyes widened now.

"Wait. What do you mean the one who started the war?" Tallon asked.

"The one who started the attacks on us first, the reason we're over here fighting. The target my team and I were sent in to capture works for him directly, he knows where his boss is. And now, so do I. Phase two of the mission is to capture...then kill the Afghan leader. That's why I said it wasn't over yet, and phase two gets carried out tomorrow night." Hector said firmly.

"You have to find, capture, and kill him?" Darius asked.

"It's the laws they live by, a lot of them don't want to fight anymore. That's why we have some of their soldiers on our side, the contact and recon missions-it's all been part of this. Links to the chain leading to the leader. When they got the information about the target my team and I were sent to capture-that's when they started working on finding a group of soldiers to carry out the mission. That was all the training, weeding out the ones who wouldn't be able to handle the stress of the mission. Ten survived that, myself included. The reason this mission is so top secret is because with the leader of the Afghans dead," he paused now, "the war can end. Peace will return, it won't be instant but a lot of soldiers get to go home if this runs smoothly. Their leader wants war, and the soldiers follow those orders to fight and attack. The leader goes, the rest can stop."

"So it's...an assassination mission, to restore peace and end the war. No wonder it's been so on the down low..." Drew remarked.

"Yes and I hope you understand why I wasn't allowed to tell you anything until now. It couldn't be going around and getting out of a possibly war ending, wrong person knowing would change everything. We knew there was a traitor among us. They've been looking for that traitor since Cody and Drake died. I've been aware of that too-they felt I was a target of the traitor because of everything that happened somehow affected, were people close to me. They knew I'd pass the extra training, they didn't have a doubt about it. They put me in a position that would draw attention to me to pull out the traitor." Hector said.

"They purposely endangered you just to get the traitor to come forward?!" Tallon said quickly.

"They didn't do it without my consent. I agreed to it so I endangered myself, babe." Hector told him.

"Do you have any idea how worried I was when you left for that mission and we knew nothing? Hector you were ambushed, captured...you were molested while captured, then ambushed a second time!" Tallon stood up now.

"Well, none of that was supposed to happen. The original mission was find the first target and hope to catch the traitor with him. We had a feeling they were working together. All that shit happening wasn't part of the plan-that was Hill working from behind the curtain, and then fucked himself by not watching his words. Either way, traitor was caught and the first target captured. Now we move to phase two," Hector said.

"So what's the plan then?" Trent asked.

"Get back in there and take out the leader," Hector stated.

"We'll be ready then," Viktor said as the others nodded.

"Ready for?" Hector asked curiously.

"We're going with you," Ryan smiled.

"No." Hector replied taking them by surprise.

"What...do you mean no? Who is going with you then, another team?" Jessie asked.

"You're not coming with me. That's what I was discussing with the president. He wanted to know how I was going to run the mission since my team is dead, the team of the only soldiers who passed the training...the ones trained for this type of mission. He suggested pulling from the list of soldiers who were picked to take the training, and I said it wouldn't work because they wouldn't be able to handle it. Then he suggested I take my own group, meaning you guys and I said no to that as well." Hector told them.

"Then who is going with you?" Darius asked, Hector didn't answer at first.

"No one." Hector responded.

"Hector, no! No way, absolutely not. You are not going by yourself!" Tallon exclaimed quickly in fear.

"I won't needlessly endanger all of you. This mission...it's not like the others. This took...serious, hard, training to prepare for and unfortunately, I'm the only one left who can do it. It won't take long, few hours." Hector said.

"We can handle it. You can't...go by yourself! What if you get ambushed, or captured, you don't have any cover if you go alone. Please...please reconsider. At least take one person with you!" Darius said now, agreeing with Tallon that Hector shouldn't go alone for a mission of this magnitude.

"I SAID NO!" he yelled this time taking them by surprise then took a deep breath and lowered his head. "I'm sorry," he began slowly in a quieter tone, "but I can't lose anyone else. Not after last time, I can't...bear that happening a second time. So please...don't fight me on it. I'm running the mission solo and that...is my final decision," with that he turned and left the barrack without another word. The platoon couldn't even process everything Hector had told them. He was a General now, and about the run a very dangerous, highly classified mission that could end the war if successful by himself. Tallon didn't like it in the slightest, none of them did. Hearing how Hector put it before leaving, they understood why he wanted to go alone but that was suicide. No soldier could do something like this alone, it just wasn't possible. Everything they trained to do it was for teams that could offer cover fire, pull someone out if they got hurt, but running a solo mission: Hector wouldn't have that and if he got hurt...they couldn't help him.

They saw where he was, standing outside the barrack and smoking a cigarette quietly. Hector was just staring up at the sky, it was only 11am or so, and in twenty two hours, he'd be leaving for the mission. What bothered them the most is that they knew he wouldn't change his mind about the subject, he didn't want them to get hurt or killed because having to see that again would destroy him. Tallon understood but it didn't stop him from worrying about his husband. Yet, he knew what he had to do to set Hector's mind at ease. Hector was likely going to come back inside, shower, then lay down for awhile because he was up all night getting information-he had to be tired. They all broke apart from their group around Hector's bed and then went back to their own bunks, worrying for him. Hector finished his cigarette after a few minutes and came back inside, he grabbed a tower and prepared to make his way to the shower.

"Hector..." Tallon started as Hector looked back at him. "Are you sure this is what you want to do?"

"Yes," Hector replied to him with a nod.

Tallon took Hector's hand in his now and pulled him close to his figure in a tight but loving embrace, "Then I support your decision." Hector flinched a little at the words, his eyes widening in a bit of shock. "I am your husband, and I love you. We got married in March, and when we did, we took vows to always stand by one another no matter what. I may not want you to do this alone, and I really don't like it. But," and now Tallon pulled back some as he left Hector's chin up and stared into his eyes, "I will stand by you, and support you."

Hector could have cried, he felt the tears forming. Tallon leaned down and kissed him deeply, passionately. It only lasted a few moments before Tallon broke it and offered Hector small, "You don't know what this means to me, babe,"

"I know what it means to you, Love. You do what you have to do, and we'll all be here waiting for when you get back." Tallon told him gently.

"Thank you," Hector said as he leaned his head on Tallon's chest before letting go, "Alright, I need a shower and then some sleep. I love you, Tal."

"I love you a lot more," Tallon replied as they kissed again before Hector went to the bathroom to shower. Once it was turned on the others looked at Tallon like he was crazy.

"You did not just agree to let him go by himself!" Darius said quickly.

"Enough. Of course I don't want him going alone, it's dangerous and life threatening. But I will continue to stand by our vows we took. They wouldn't have send him to do this if they doubted he could, they made him a General from the rank of Major-which he only just made back in February if you recall. They gave him that for capturing a key target, and discovering who the traitor was. He endangered his own life and went through Hell to do those things, and it was all part of something big. This missions could change everything, it could end the war. That is huge because it would mean a lot of us get to go home and not have to come back, ever. They wouldn't of put just anyone in charge of something like this. They chose Hector and you know that he will follow orders-he made the choice to go alone, and I will support that choice. I know it doesn't make sense to you but I did what I did for a reason," Tallon stated.

"And what reason would that be?" Jessie asked.

"He needed to know we weren't against him for doing it. He needed to know we're on his side and that we'll be here when he gets back. He's only trying to protect us, protect anyone who would have gone with him. Hector knows what he's doing, so I will support him. It's just like what he said to Evan on the first leave...the true soldier doesn't fight because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him. He needed to know that we stand behind him that way he won't forget who he is fighting for." Tallon stated calmly.

"Tallon is right. Hector is stressed out and scared enough as it is. The best thing we can do to quell that fear and stress is support him so that's what we're gonna do and I have the perfect way to make sure he knows that it's not just Tallon supporting him," Thaxter smiled as he brought them all in for a huddle to discuss it. When Hector came out of the shower, he was in his sleepwear and laid right down on his bed to go to sleep while the others worked on their plan to help him be ready for his mission. They knew he needed support and confidence, and that's exactly what they were gonna give him.