{Normal POV}
(Monday, October 3, 2022-4:30 pm)
[Berk Transportation Center]
The wedding or Troy Raseri and Hayden Haddock was officially four days away. Of course, the boys were supposed to be home two days ago on the 1st, but getting out of Afghanistan had been a chore. Hayden and Troy left Afghanistan very early this morning, and technically back there; it was 9 pm. There had been three layovers, and a massive storm to wait out. Otherwise, Troy and Hayden would have been home four hours ago. Needless to say, they were exhausted. Finally, though, they were back on Berk and already from the docks; the two lovers were able to see their family and friends waiting for them. Troy and Hayden held hands as they walked together inside the building and were met with cheering and applause.
"Oh, welcome home, boys!" Rachel and Vivian squealed with joy, instantly hugging their sons. Spencer and Dustin were next, followed soon after by Cole and Gabriel. Troy and Hayden shook hands with the males, hugged the girls and little Evelina, who was now a year old. Troy and Hayden weren't able to be home for Cole and Rosanna's graduation, but that because they set their time off to be for the wedding in four days. However, Hayden and Troy managed to get just enough time to see it through Skype, but only the part where Cole got called up to receive his diploma. Everything else was seen by pictures that had been e-mailed to them.
"Thanks," Hayden said as Troy locked an arm around Hayden's waist and they shared a kiss.
"Well, let's get out of here, shall we?" Troy suggested. Not long after, they were all outside and loaded into their vehicles to go to Troy and Hayden's apartment, knowing that the two would want to see their cat, Sharpshot.
. . .
[Troy & Hayden's Place]
Minutes later, everyone was there. Troy and Hayden unlocked the door as Sharpshot launched himself at Hayden and meowed happily, nuzzling his face to Hayden's.
"Awe, hey boy. We missed you too," Hayden giggled a bit, scratching the cat's neck and top of his head. Troy tried to pet the feline but got hissed at.
"Hmph. Well, I can see who the favorite is," Troy remarked, but smiled.
"Be nice to Troy, Sharpshot; he's the one who said we could get you," Hayden chuckled a little as Sharpshot lifted his head and rubbed it against Troy's arm, purring a little. Troy pet along the animal's head to it's back as Sharpshot then returned to giving all his love to Hayden. Troy shook his head some, then set his and Hayden's bags in the bedroom.
"Make yourselves comfortable," Troy told the friends and family. Hayden set Sharpshot down, he and Troy went to change out of their DTU's. Fifteen minutes later, both males returned freshly showered and dressed in something to remain comfortable.
"Happy to be home?" Rylee questioned.
"Glad to be out of that gear…" Troy and Hayden said together. The others smiled, it was nice to have them both home now.
"So, what will you two be spending the next four days doing?" Cole inquired. Sharpshot jumped up onto Hayden's lap, cuddling up there. Hayden began to pet the cat and then laid his head on Troy's shoulder; closing his eyes and relaxing.
"Double checking the wedding things, and waiting for Friday," Troy stated gently. "What do you want for dinner, babe?" No answer. "Babe?" Troy shifted a bit and looked down to see Hayden's eyes closed and his breathing even.
"I think he's out," Avery blinked. Sure enough, Hayden was fast asleep.
"I guess he was tired," Troy chuckled. "Well, we did have a long day; I'm gonna take him to bed," Troy carefully moved, then picked Hayden up in his arms bridal style. Hayden smiled softly and snuggled into Troy's arms. Troy carried Hayden to their bedroom and set him on the bed, then covered his fiancee up. "Sleep well, Love," Troy kissed Hayden's forehead, then exited the room. Troy returned to the living room and sat down as Sharpshot now chose to sit with him. "Oh, he's asleep, so now you love me?" Sharpshot licked his cheek affectionately Troy chucked a little, then relaxed on the couch.
"Is there anything left for you boys to do before the wedding?" Rachel wondered.
"Not really. Hayden and I will probably make the phone calls tomorrow to make sure everything is ready. Hayden will pick up his suit, I'll make sure mine is cleaned; we'll double check the reservation for the hotel Friday night. Everything is taken care of, don't worry," Troy smiled.
"Well, we're just glad you two are home," Gabriel informed.
"And we're taking ya out for your bachelor parties!" Drew high-fived Shane and Tyler.
"Oh, no. Not doing that again," Troy stated.
"What do you mean again?" Hailey asked.
"Inferno Platoon split up to throw Hayden and me our bachelor parties on our three-year anniversary," Troy enlightened. "No drinking, strippers, or crazy acts. Just some friends hanging out; they wanted to do it since they are deployed during the time Hayden and I are getting married,"
"I imagine you couldn't do all that stuff while deployed," Tyler laughed.
"Hayden and I wouldn't want to anyway; it's not our style to party hard no matter what the occasion," Troy shrugged.
"Why did they choose to do it on your anniversary; that's a day for you two," Dustin reminded.
"Every day is one for us, Dad. July 16th this year was a rollercoaster of emotions for the whole company," Troy sighed.
"What do you mean?" Shane inquired.
"Well, the morning started okay; breakfast, little working out in The Lounge's weight room, which is connected to the Chow Hall. All six of the platoons for Alpha were busy after that. We all finished at different times, but one of the platoons had a KIA. As we always do now, the company gets together in our sector to hold a small memorial with the Battle Cross put-," Troy began.
"Uh, sorry. What's the Battle Cross?" Cole questioned.
"It's a setup members of the military created to honor our fallen," Troy said as he turned on the TV, then connected his laptop and pulled up a picture that he was referring to. "A rifle with a bayonet knife on end is put into the ground to symbolize that the serviceman or women were killed in action. A helmet is placed on top to represent the person it once protected. The boots at the base signify this member of the military has marched their last battles, and the dog tags hang to identify the fallen. This picture was taken when Kody Nyght got killed on the first tour. Ever since then; we've been holding ceremonies for anyone in Alpha who dies in combat. Thankfully, nobody has passed away since starting this deployment in January. If memory serves, we've lost thirteen on this one so far. The day we were at nine was mine and Hayden's anniversary,"
"Oh, that's awful," Rylee, Avery, Hailey, Rachel, and Vivian frowned.
"Tell me about it, but Hayden and I still planned to enjoy the night with a quiet dinner in the barrack when the rest were in the Mess Hall. However, the Code Black alert was called and had everyone on edge," Troy continued to explain.
"Code Black? If I'm not mistaken; that's the alert for enemies invading the base, correct?" Gabriel arched a brow.
"That's right. Six enemies snuck in dressed as Marines, by the time orders reached Bludvist, four of them had already been caught, but two still loose in a massive central operating base. And ya know, it's the weirdest thing. Just as the ceremony was starting, before the Code Black was called; Hayden was on edge, looking around and saying that something didn't feel right. I knew better than to question him, but less than a minute later, Code Black got called. Hayden was up with the other platoon leaders to speak to Bludvist, and Hayden found one of the enemies and killed him second later," Troy informed.
"Instant kill?" Dustin blinked.
"Those were the orders. Kill on sight," Troy stated. "After that, the ceremony continued until someone yelled grenade, and Hayden found who threw it right away. Hayden shot that guy, then Bludvist told us to take cover because the projectile was going to land where all of us had been gathered up for the memorial. However, Hayden; the crazy-ass that he is decided to keep the grenade from hitting the ground…" he mumbled.
"When you say crazy-ass?..." Shane began.
"I mean Hayden did something incredibly dangerous, stupid, and crazy…But it worked, and he saved a lot of people from getting hurt or possibly killed…" Troy mentioned. "Hayden flipped his rifle around and used it like a baseball bat to make sure the grenade would go off while it was in the air,"
"You mean he hit the projectile as if it were a baseball?!" the group shouted.
"Yep," Troy crossed his arms over his chest with an affirmative nod. "I have proof if you don't believe me," Troy pulled up a video, and let it play for them as it shows the events Troy explained.
"Wow, and that's scary because Hayden sucked at baseball," Avery stated.
"Yeah, but he did it. Even Donovan commended him on a job well done for feeling something was wrong, finding both enemies, and protecting the entire company with a split-second decision. Which seems to be what Hayden is really good at doing in situations where a lot of lives are on the line," Troy said.
"Thought you said it was one of the things you loved about me," came Hayden's voice as Troy whipped around.
"I do, and I thought you were out for the night?" Troy chuckled.
"Woke up when everyone yelled, and now I'm hungry," Hayden smiled. Sharpshot got up and jumped into Hayden's arms, nuzzling against him.
"What do you want to eat?" Troy asked.
"I dunno, something easy," Hayden shrugged.
"Pizza?" Troy suggested.
"Eh…" Hayden trailed off. "Can we do Chinese?"
"Sure. Any specific reason you want that?" Troy wondered.
"It's one of the few things we can't get in Afghanistan," Hayden laughed a bit.
"True. You want your usual?" Troy inquired. Hayden nodded to him as Troy grabbed his phone and went into the kitchen to find the number for the place they typically ordered from. After six or so minutes, Troy returned. "Should be here within in thirty to forty minutes," he said sitting next to Hayden again who was messing with something on his phone and computer. "What are you doing?"
"Working on lyrics to a song idea," Hayden admitted.
"Type of idea?" Troy questioned.
"Something for our fallen friends, and any we may, but hopefully don't, end up losing because of the war," Hayden said. "And military personnel in general. I don't know. I guess it doesn't really have a set meaning, just military related,"
"Stuck on the lyrics part?" Troy wondered.
"No, have them all, just not sure if they work or not," Hayden shrugged.
"Well, why don't you test them out? You know; if you have the music all set up. You can see how it sounds and change if something doesn't sound right?" Troy offered.
"I suppose I could," Hayden mumbled.
"What's with the mumble? You sing good," Hailey pointed out.
"I don't like crowds," Hayden said.
"The guys and I heard you singing The Warrior Song in the shower when we were deployed," Troy reminded.
"I didn't know you all huddled up around the stall to listen!" Hayden countered.
Troy crossed his arms over his chest. "And you sang Hallelujah on Skype with us there, and fully aware that we were,"
"That was different, and I was singing with my grandfather," Hayden argued.
"Then there was The Warrior Song at the beach," Troy continued.
"You, Vincent, and Ryan were singing with me," Hayden mentioned.
"And then later on with your Here For A Reason," Troy grinned.
"I didn't realize I'd been singing out loud," Hayden muttered.
"So, close your eyes, get comfortable, and just do it again," Troy suggested. "Come on, I wanna hear it,"
"Fine…" Hayden sighed as he pulled up the music version, which showed on screen as; I Just Came Back From A War. Hayden pressed the spacebar, then the tune started. "The first thing I did when that plane finally landed was kiss the ground. The next thing I did was to go find my friends down at the old hangout. We drank some beers and talked a lot about old times, but when the booze finally hit Billy-Joe Grimes; he said I don't know what it is, but you seem different to me,"
So far, it sounded amazing. Hayden had his eyes closed. "I said I just came back from a place where they hated me, and everything I stand for. A land where our brothers are dying for others who don't even care anymore. If I'm not exactly the same good old boy that you ran around with before; I just came back from a war."
"The very next morning, I took a walk through the neighborhood. I thought; it's been so long since I been in a place where everything is good. People laughing and children were playing. And as I watched them, I found myself praying; Lord, keep them safe here at home in the land of the free!" he held the note a bit. Troy smiled; he loved when Hayden sang because so far, it seemed that Hayden used the music to express however he was feeling.
"'Cause I just came back from a place where they hated me, and everything I stand for. A land where our brothers are dying for others who don't even care anymore. If I'm not the same little freckle-faced boy that grew up in that house next door; I just came back from a war…" it was just music for a few seconds.
"I hope you cherish this sweet way of life, and I hope you know that it comes with a price!" Hayden sang out, then it slowed a bit as Hayden took a breath. "Because I just came back from a place where they hated me and everything I stand for. A land where our brothers are dying for others who don't even care anymore. Chances are I never will be the same; I really don't know anymore. I just came back from a war. I just came back from a war! You don't know me, you don't know me, you don't know me anymore. I just came back from a war," Hayden finished as the music faded out, and he stopped it before anything else could start.
"I think that covers just about everything you mentioned before, babe," Troy said softly. "Talks about those of us who go off to war, and come home glad to see everyone so happy as if the world is right; we get to feel like we had a part in that joy. Also, you mentioned our friends who were killed fighting for the same happiness and peace by people who don't care who lives or dies. And, if nothing else, you stated about how we come home, and things are different after seeing all that we do,"
"Was trying to capture all the elements we deal with," Hayden shrugged.
"Well, I believe you nailed the target, Hayden. I bet the guys will agree," Troy leaned in and kissed Hayden deeply. Hayden blushed afterward as Troy lifted his arm for Hayden to leaned against his figure. "Either way; it was a fantastic song,"
"Thank you," Hayden replied as he relaxed again. The night had been perfect thus far; getting home, hanging with friends and family, and knowing that soon, Troy and Hayden would be married to one another. Neither of them could wait; only four days to go.