Hunter's family, friends, and girlfriend were worried about Hunter after he got called to duty so quickly after they finally got the chance to talk to him for more than ten minutes. Thus far, it had been two weeks since they heard from him and normally that wasn't anything to be concerned about but this time Hunter didn't have to go because of the bad connection, it was due to Hunter being needed for a battle. Audrey had been clutching her phone the rest of that day hoping to hear something on the news about what was going on, though, no such luck happened. When it got late everyone left, and all they did was pray Hunter was all right. Now, they were in the month of July, two weeks after that situation occurred. In the last two weeks; there had been no calls, no instant messages, no e-mails, or letters.

The time now was 5 pm as Audrey and Shane were over at the Haddock residence. Renee, Travis, Fisher, and Heather were on their way between Drew and Eddie's vehicles. Viola was a mess with worry and Caitlyn wasn't far off from becoming hysterical with tears for her older brother.

"Hunter never goes this long without an update..." Caitlyn nervously bit her nails, "You don't think he could have died?"

Viola whipped around quickly. "Caitlyn! Don't say such things! Hunter...is not dead. I'm sure he's just...busy, like always,"

Salvatore sighed heavily as he went to answer the door when the others arrived and let them in. "Settle down, Vi. You too, Caitlyn. Now as a former military man myself, I can assure you that if Hunter had passed away overseas, then we would have received a personal visit from a notification officer and chaplain to tell us. Unless a black car pulls up outside the house carrying two people in formal attire, then Hunter is still alive," Sal informed as everyone else was sitting down.

"I'll take it that none of you have heard from him either then?" Fisher asked as Audrey shook her head. There was a group sigh, and then the sound of a Skype call was heard from the computer desk. Their eyes widened as Sal hurried over and sat down to see a call coming in from Hunter. Sal accepted it and then waited for it to connect fully.

"Hunter?" Sal asked as the picture became clearer.

"It's Treyden actually, Mr. Haddock. Hunter fell asleep trying to wait for a good signal to call with," Treyden replied in a whisper as his face came on screen.

"Why is he sleeping so early in the afternoon?" Audrey inquired.

"Hunter's recovery is taking a lot out of him, and he asked me to watch for a signal and keep trying to get through, then wake him up if I managed to," Trey informed.

"Recovery? What happened to my baby?" Viola questioned quickly.

"Happened two weeks ago on that mission we had to rush out for, Hunter got hurt on it," Treyden explained.

"How hurt?" Caitlyn jumped in now.

"Nothing life-threatening, thank the Gods. Hang on; I'll wake him up for you so he can explain," After that, they saw the camera move slightly and face towards Hunter's sleeping form. "Hunter...hey, wake up," Treyden whispered and shook Hunter a bit as he groaned and shifted but remained asleep. "Hunter! Wake the hell up!" That time, they saw Trey shove Hunter's right side, and it forced Hunter to snap awake and sit up while holding his right side and cringing from pain.

"Why did you go for the right side?!" Hunter panted a little.

"Oops. Sorry man, I forgot which side you got wounded on. Are you okay?" Treyden asked, though, the family couldn't see him. Hunter moved his arms and lifted his shirt a little, and that's when the others were able to see the wrappings around his midsection.

"I'm...fine aside from the pain. You didn't bust the stitches, so we're good. Now, why did you wake me up again?" Hunter asked.

"I got through to your family for you," Trey reminded while placing the laptop on Hunter's bed.

"Oh, thanks. Where is everyone else?" Hunter asked looking around the room.

"Probably heading to dinner. You joining us or should I bring you back some grub?" Treyden smiled.

"I'll come after I get off Skype," Hunter nodded to Trey as the two connected hands then Treyden left as Hunter turned his attention back to the screen. "Hey guys," he greeted.

"Hi, son. What happened to you?" Salvatore asked after putting a hand up to make Viola and Caitlyn be quiet from freaking out.

"Just a couple battle wounds, Dad. I'm okay, don't worry," Hunter offered a smile to him, but of course, his father knew better.

"You mentioned having stitches, and we saw your midsection wrapped, that's not a few battle wounds if it happened two weeks ago. Come on, son. I know when you're holding back information, out with it," Sal stated firmly as Hunter sighed heavily.

"Can't I just...call you later and tell only you because Mom, Audrey, and Caitlyn are going to wig out and cry..." Hunter asked, but Sal shook his head. "Fine. I cracked a rib and...got shot in the side,"

Not more than a moment after he said it, Viola began with the tears while Audrey and Caitlyn looked horror-struck at the information. "I told you something happened to him!" Caitlyn cried.

"Will you three cut it out? Unfortunately, it's just another event that can happen in war. I'd like to know how it happened and I can't hear with the crying," Sal remarked as the three women attempted to control themselves. "Tell me what happened, Hunter,"

"You know I can't go into a lot of detail because of security reasons, but the allowed version is that I went into a building to save a little kid, got shot in the side, and then two RPG's hit the building and buried us under the rubble. Thankfully, it fell in a way that was over us rather than on. The guys pulled the kid and me out, and we returned to base where I was sent directly to the support hospital for treatment," Hunter explained.

"Hunter Haddock, I don't like this anymore; you were shot and almost buried alive just to save one of those people! Now enough is enough, I won't allow you to do this anymore, and I refuse to keep supporting it. You come home this instance!" Viola demanded. The room was quiet after Viola said she wouldn't support Hunter's choice anymore and all anyone was able to see was Hunter's eyes go from calm to cold in a single blink.

"You don't have a say in what I do, and there isn't a thing you can do to stop me. This is my life and my choice. I refuse to have the argument again. Thanks for finally showing your true feelings on the matter, though. I had hoped t wouldn't come to this but as usual, getting my hopes up with you is as effective as hoping my friends who have died will come back to life. Knowing what I do, well, I just don't feel like talking anymore so I'm going to go and you probably won't hear from me until I get my leave. And even then, it's likely not worth my time to see someone who doesn't give a damn. When everyone wonders why they haven't heard from me, it won't be because I'm too busy or a shitty signal; it will be your fault this time," Hunter ended the call a second later before anyone could protest.

The group watched as Hunter's online status went to offline after his status message changed.

I never imagined my mother could hurt me in such a way. I guess it's true what they say, the worst part about betrayal is that it never comes from an enemy.

"The sad part is that you never got this way when I was in the army, Vi. I've been shot, stabbed, and much more but you always stood by and supported me because you loved me and knew I would keep doing what I loved to do. Why couldn't you just do the same for our son? And now we have to hope and pray that he calms down and decides to call again," Sal got up from the desk and walked away with his eyes closed.

(Thursday; September 14th, 2017-Camp Draconia; Iraq)

Two entire months had gone by, and Hunter refused to call home because yes, he was still upset with his mother for what she said that night when Hunter revealed why he hadn't called in two weeks due to being injured. Hunter received instant messages from Skype even being his online status was set to invisible-appearing offline to others. Hunter got e-mails from Caitlyn, Audrey, and his father practically begging him to make contact because they still supported him and not everyone should have to suffer because his mother decided to go back on what she said. Hunter knew they were right, but he also was aware that his mother would likely just be waiting for Hunter to call so she could apologize and take it back. Hunter would not fall for it again, he gave his mother many chances to support him, and he believed her the once during the family day, there wouldn't be a second chance for him to get hurt.

The Hooligan platoon noticed his shift in moods when they returned from dinner and asked if Hunter was still in the Skype call, but Hunter only shook his head and said he wouldn't be calling home for a while because of his mother. Trey, Theo, and Andrew understood what it meant because they remembered how the family day had gone when Hunter said if his friends and relatives wouldn't support his choice then they could leave because this is what he wanted to do. Hunter didn't eat that night, he just took a painkiller and went to bed early. After Hunter was cleared for full duty again, his mood lightened a bit and was somewhat back to being himself, but they knew that Hunter's mother had hurt him and that would always bother Hunter in one way or another.

So here the soldiers were in the second week of September. Ten of their eighteen-month tour completed and only a small fraction of the members of Plasma Fire had gotten to take their leave time. Some went for a week, others for two. Hunter was actually kind of glad that his requested time never got approved for July because he was not ready to go home and deal with everything yet. Right now, Alpha Hooligan was on a contact mission at 8 pm, and things had gone from good to bad in only an hour with one member of Striker One killed in action; Private Elizabeth Campbell who was stabbed in the neck and bled out in mere seconds. Nikolas and Conner wrapped the wound even though she couldn't be saved and took her off the battlefield to be brought back when this was over.

Danielle was a mess at the loss of her battle buddy, and Hunter removed her from the fight because she wasn't able to focus. Hunter had to get them out of this mess, it had been an ambush, and the contact was killed after Hunter got the information they were meeting up for.

"What's the plan, Hunter?" Treyden asked while they were taking cover behind a wall.

"There isn't that many, and this isn't a close range fight anymore. We already lost Liz, I won't lose anyone else, so let's use a few grenades as cover and make a break for our choppers out of here," Hunter stated while turning the corner to peer around for enemies, a shot snaked the cement and nearly got him in the arm. "Woah!"

"They have to be taking shots from the rooftops to be able to see us enough to shoot," Conner mentioned.

"That puts a hold on your idea," Zander stated. "If they see us from above, the grenade won't matter,"

"A regular one won't but what about a flasher?" Treyden offered.

"That's...crazy enough to work. A flasher can blind them for a minute, then use a regular one and escape through the smoke," Theo added.

"All right, here's what we're gonna do. We need to run straight ahead, and we've got enemies on our left, right, and above. You six throw flashers in each direction except straight, and you six use regular grenades. I want three in the same direction the flashers went, then three dead ahead of us and we'll run," Hunter instructed.

"Got it, Sergeant. Who is...gonna carry Liz?" Andrew asked after they all nodded in agreement to the idea.

Hunter was quiet a moment. "I will," he finally said.

(Fifteen Minutes Later)

Hunter's plan worked perfectly! As soon as they had the cover of the grenade smoke, they ran out of sight to escape to their helicopters to get back to the base. Liz was laid in the back and covered up then Hunter did a roll call to make sure everyone was there. Hunter went through Striker Two first and then onto Striker One. Liz was there, though she had passed away.

"Michaels," Hunter called. No answer. "Private Michaels?" Nothing again. "Jay?" Silence as Hunter looked back to where they had been. Hunter heard gunfire and doubted it was the enemies attacking one another.

"Hunter, no! The last time you tried to go back into a fight we escaped from, you almost got killed! Not again!" Treyden stopped Hunter from leaving the helicopter when he saw Hunter about to leave.

"We don't abandon our friends, and no one gets left behind. Now I'm the leader of this platoon, and whether Jay is alive or dead, I'm bringing him back with us," Hunter pulled away from Treyden and ran towards the sound of the gunfire. Ten minutes had passed before Hunter was seen making his way towards the chopper, the firing had stopped, and Hunter had his head down while walking. Over his shoulders laying motionless, there was Jay Michaels, the battle buddy of Zander Radco. Hunter put Jay's body next to Liz's and covered him as well before holding the pole. "Return to the base," he said in a soft tone.

With nothing else said, the two choppers took to the night sky and headed in the direction of the Draconia base-a twenty-minute flight of silence. Upon arriving, Hunter got out to meet Andersen on the pad.

"Welcome back, Sergeant Haddock. How did the mission go?" Harry asked.

"I got the information from the contact before we were ambushed. Contact dead, Privates Jay Michaels and Elizabeth Campbell as well. Both bodies recovered and in the back of chopper two," Hunter said to him.

"I know it's not easy to lose your friends, but we all know the risk of being soldiers, Hunter. Relay me the contact information, and then you're free to return to your barrack and get some sleep. We can hold a ceremony in the morning after breakfast for Michaels and Campbell," Harry put a hand on Hunter's shoulder. Hunter gave the nod and Harry motioned for four soldiers to come over and take the bodies away. Hunter gave Harry the information he wanted and then, sure enough, Hunter returned to the barrack for a shower and then climbed into bed, falling asleep by 10 pm.

(Friday, September 15th, 2017; 5:45 pm)

The ceremony for Jay and Liz went the same as any other soldier who passed away from Plasma Fire. Not every company did this; some only held a memorial once a month to honor any who died in action but not Plasma Fire. No, they held a ceremony the next day after losing someone. It took place after breakfast, and the Harry allowed his group to grieve the remainder of the day. When dinner came around, Harry located Hunter sitting with Treyden, Theo, Andrew and the other members of Striker One.

"Sergeant Haddock, may I have a word with you outside please?" Harry asked. Hunter nodded as he got up and exited the chow hall with Harry. "As you know, the fallen soldiers of yesterday are being sent to Archi Island Sunday morning at 0300 hours. Normally, this is not done. However, it was a personal request of Private Michaels's family that you and the rest of Striker One present for the burial. I know we can't do much in these hard times, but we do try and grant the grieving families their wishes,"

"Are you sending Striker One back to Archi for the purpose of fulfilling this desire?" Hunter asked calmly.

"Yes. So, tomorrow night you ten will also be flying to Archi Island with the bodies of your fallen friends of Striker One. The families of Jay and Elizabeth will be at the airport for the dignified transfer from plane to funeral car. You are to dress in your formals and follow protocols. The funeral is to be held on Sunday, September 17th at 4 in the afternoon," Harry explained.

"Orders understood, Major Andersen. Anything else?" Hunter asked formally.

"Just one thing. I'm aware that you and Striker One have not been granted your leave and seeing as you will all be in one spot for the funerals, you are allowed the 18th through the 22nd for grievance, and then from the 23rd of September until the 6th of October, you are permitted your two weeks leave. On the 7th, you will fly back here for the rest of the tour," Harry informed.

"Thank you, sir. I will tell the others, and we'll be ready for Sunday morning departure," Hunter saluted. Harry nodded as Hunter returned to the chow hall and told Striker One what Harry had said about the funerals, and then two weeks leave time to follow it. Understanding that it was more of a direct order, they couldn't fight it and more on that, they didn't want to. Losing Liz and Jay hurt them and they needed time to heal from that, what better way than being out of the way for almost three weeks? Of course, the ten soldiers of Striker One also knew that before their leave could begin, there was a mission to complete; a mission to say goodbye to two of their friends.