{Normal POV}

(Sunday, March 5, 2023-6:40 pm)

[Kandahar Province, Afghanistan-Barbarki Base]

Alpha Company couldn't believe it three days ago when Hayden was announced by Donovan Bludvist to be Missing In Action. Right away, a plan was put into motion to locate Hayden by pulling out all the stops to find him. Interfering with radio transmissions from the enemy side, contact and recon mission, search parties, drones, keeping a link open to Hayden's radio channel to see if he was trying to call for help. If there were bodies from those who were captured and killed; Hayden's was looked for. So far, nothing had come up to give a clue as to where Hayden could be or if he was alive. The biggest problem is that suddenly, no one in Alpha Company wanted to return to the Archipelago until they knew for sure what Hayden's status was. Right now, it was MIA, but if something came up that he was captured, he would become POW-Prisoner of War. Or if Hayden was dead; it would be Killed In Action. There was nothing to say what the situation was.

Donovan was in the chow hall with the rest of the Alpha Company, preparing to make a dreaded phone call to Troy to deliver the news that his husband was currently MIA, and Cody was beside him in case Troy wanted specific details about the night it happened. Donovan knew Troy was going to lash out and be furious that it's been four days since the incident, and he hadn't been notified immediately of Hayden's disappearance.

"It's ready, Commander," Cody informed after turning Hayden's cell phone on and thankfully getting into Skype to find Troy's contact and preparing to click for Donovan to contact Troy with.

"All of you, be quiet," the man ordered the Alpha Company. Donovan took a deep breath. "Do it, Lieutenant Kongur…" Donovan ordered. Cody nodded as he clicked the video icon as the call began.

. . .

(2:30 pm-Archipelago Time)

[Haddock-Raseri Apartment]

Troy was finally allowed to be home with a pair of crutches; it happened on Friday, and now everyone was over to visit him and ask how the recovery was going. Troy still had to take it easy, but at least he was getting around without a wheelchair and didn't have to stay in the hospital anymore. There were still physical therapy appointments three times a week, but Troy didn't mind one bit. Even the doctor was amazed how well the healing was going; that Troy could handle all the rehab without much pain and making excellent progress for three months later since the accident.

"Good to be home, Troy?" Cole inquired.

"You have no frigging idea how happy I am to be out of the hospital," Troy relaxed on the couch with his leg up slightly.

"Something bothering you, sweetheart?" Rachel inquired gently seeing her son checking his phone.

"Yeah. I haven't heard from Hayden since Monday when he left for that Special Ops mission…" Troy admitted.

"Maybe he's just busy?" Avery offered.

"This busy?" Troy arched a brow.

"Well, there were times we didn't hear from you two for two weeks," Dustin reminded.

"Perhaps not talking on Skype, but we always sent messages to let you know we'd talk soon. I haven't even gotten that," Troy mumbled.

"Do you think something happened to him?" Rylee wondered. Troy nodded.

"I do. I feel it," Troy replied.

"You don't believe he may have been killed, do you?" Vivian asked nervously.

"If Hayden had been KIA; I would have been notified within twenty-four hours of it happening by a chaplain and notification officer; they show up in little black cars outside the house," Troy explained.

"And if he's been hurt badly?" Shane inquired.

"For anything other than death; I'll get a phone call," Troy assured. As if on queue; his laptop on the table, connected to the TV started ringing. The room went silent. Troy saw that it was Hayden calling on Skype, so he instantly accepted the call. "Do you have any idea how worried I've-," he stopped seeing Commander Bludvist on the screen and not Hayden. "Commander?"

{Hello, Staff Sergeant Raseri. How are you feeling?}

"At the moment, confused. What are you doing calling me from Hayden's Skype?" Troy responded. "What happened to him?"

{We…Don't know.}

Troy flinched a bit, his brows dipping in irritation almost. "What do you mean you don't know? Was he shot, stabbed, run over…What?! What happened to Hayden, Commander? Where is he?!"

{Troy!} Cody's voice cut in as Troy was able to see him. {We don't know, okay! We don't know where he is, if he's okay, or even alive right now. Hayden is MIA}

Troy froze, his eyes widening. Troy sat up quickly. "WHAT!?" Cody and Donovan winced a bit.

"What's MIA?" Tyler asked.

"Stands for Missing In Action, and doesn't get called or made official until someone has been missing for twenty-four hours," Gabriel informed.

"START TALKING, NOW!" Troy ordered.

{Raseri, please, calm do-}

"Don't you dare say for me to calm down when you just told me my husband is missing in action. When?! Yesterday? How long? What happened? You give me details, or I'm on the next flight to Afghanistan to get it from HQ!" Troy glared.

{It happened on Tuesday morning…}

"Hayden has been missing since the 1st of March, and I wasn't told about this immediately?! It's the fucking 5th!" Troy raged.

{You know there is a lot of paper-}

"If you tell me that paperwork took precedence over Hayden's life; I'm going to come down there and raise Hell. Stop beating around the bush! Tell me what happened! Everything, now." Troy demanded.

{Cody, tell him; you were with Hayden when it happened.}

{Aye, sir. Troy; I will tell you whatever you want to know, but you gotta relax a little and stop cutting us off, okay?} Troy closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down. {Hayden and I were on a Special Ops mission with four others. Alright? It's a level nine operation, so I can't go into detail on that other than it was for Recon Infiltration. I'm led to believe that we were discovered by the enemy and they dropped a grenade where we were. Wanting to maintain cover; we all just scattered to avoid the blast. I and the other five reached the meeting point we selected if such a thing were to occur, but Hayden never showed.}

"So Hayden didn't make the meetup? What happened after that?" Troy asked, trying not to let his anger and concern get the better of him.

{Instantly, we started searching for him; making our way around the location twice, but there was nothing. All we had were assumptions that maybe Hayden got caught in the blast and died, or possibly knocked out, hurt…We don't know. We couldn't find him, and there was no answer on his radio. There were more guards out scoping the area. To avoid being found; we aborted and returned to Barbarki…}

"You left him there?!" Troy's eyes narrowed.

{Raseri, stop. It's not their fault; they did the right thing. It was a level nine operative for Recon Infiltration. You know what those are and how carefully they have to be handled. We gave it twenty-four hours, and there was nothing from Lieutenant Haddock-Raseri. HQ called it on the 2nd that Hayden is MIA. Everything is being done to find him, I promise…}

"You promise? You swore to me at the CSH that Hayden would be HOME IN JANUARY! It's fucking March, and Hayden wasn't due home until AUGUST because of these Special Op missions. Now, he's frigging MIA while you and the rest of Alpha get to come home!" Troy yelled.

{Troy, please…I-I'll be staying to help in the search.} Cody informed.

{This could go a lot faster if we were helping too!} Nicole remarked coldly.

{Sending small teams of Special Ops apparently isn't working.} Theodore huffed.

{Enough, Inferno. This is not a job for any of you because the nature of the conditions in which Haddock-Raseri went missing is Special Ops qualified only.} Donovan stated with a sigh.

{Hayden isn't just Special fucking Operations, Commander Bludvist! Hayden an Infantry Marine too, like us! Would you expect us to sit around and do nothing if this were a regular mission?} Harvey stated.

{Of course not. We'd all be out there trying to-}

{THEN WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE NOW!? Hayden is a part of Alpha Company; we should be allowed to take part! Running contact or recon to see if anyone has heard or seen something! Troy is right, this isn't fair that we get to go home tomorrow while Hayden is one of ours and MIA.} Seymour raged this time.

{Alpha Company, there is nothing I can do. It's not my call; I don't run these matters…}

{Hayden is the Inferno Platoon leader, Commander. And he would never leave one of us behind if the tables were turned! Hayden would stay and fight to bring us home, and he's proven that more than once! We should be fighting this!} Ethan said.

"Inferno Platoon. Shut the hell up! That's enough!" Troy shouted as they were quiet.

{Yes, Staff Sergeant Raseri.} The members of Inferno replied.

"Cody," Troy said as Cody looked at the screen now. "What happened with the blast? How close was it to Hayden when it landed, and how long until we went off?"

{I-I…Want to say it dropped to the ground between the six of us. Perhaps a little under three feet away from Hayden. It went off within two to three seconds. I and one other jumped back into the alleyway, then ran for the other side. The other three ran for cover across the street. Those two stated they say Hayden go the opposite direction the five of us did towards the location we were trying to get into.}

"Did you catch a glimpse of the what kind of grenade it was?" Troy inquired.

{M67, definitely dropped down, not thrown.}

"How close were you to the location?" Troy wondered.

{I don't know. A street away, Hayden was on a corner, observing things and seeing what we would be dealing with as far as guards. I guess you could call our position…Triangulated. Three in one spot, two in another, then Hayden at the front.}

"Did he have anything to hide behind or would he have to run to locate one?" Troy questioned.

{The closest would have been our target location across the street, if not that, then Hayden was in the open. Why are you asking all this stuff?}

"Because unlike all of you who sit and wonder, I consider facts. M67 blast has an injury radius of at least forty-seven, but a fatality one of sixteen…If Hayden was close enough to that location when the explosion went off, then it's probable the force pushed him into the building and knocked him unconscious. And if the grenade landed in a prime location to get all of you, then those enemies knew you were there. In short, if Hayden went unconscious while enemies were looking for potential intruders…They could have found him," Troy remarked.

{Are you suggesting that Hayden has been taken as a prisoner and now being held captive?} Donovan asked.

"I'm advising that it's a possibility, Commander. Cody said that Hayden couldn't be found, and wouldn't answer his radio. If Hayden knocked out, then he couldn't answer, and if he didn't return to base or make contact for twenty-four hours, then it's likely he might have been captured by those enemies guarding a location that requires a level nine operation to do reconnaissance and infiltration. I'm not saying that's the case, but I'm telling you to check facts and consider all possibilities. You've been looking for him since the 2nd?" Troy asked.

Donovan and Cody nodded.

"Using the typical methods for MIA searches? Leaving one or two radios on Hayden's channel in case he comes through? Drones? Search parties? Contact and Recon missions? Scoping things out? Listening to the enemy transmissions?" Troy continued.

{Yes, all of it. Even checking bodies of civilians or other captives who were killed and tossed.} Cody enlightened.

"If Hayden were dead, they would have left his body alone. And if Hayden were hurt, he would have radioed in or taken shelter until he could communicate without blowing his cover. However, if he knocked out while those assholes were patrolling, then he might be hurt and captured right now," Troy stared gravely at the screen. There was silence on their side of the screen, but in Troy and Hayden's apartment, everyone was worried about the news. Troy was livid, but keep calm to figure other things out about the situation. "Find my husband and bring him home,"

{T-Troy, you know we can't guara-}

"I did not ask for an excuse," Troy's eyes flickered to a dark glare. "Hayden is a fighter. I know my husband is still alive; I feel that. So you will continue to search for him until proof is given that he is not. Am I understood?"

{Yes, Sergeant Raseri.} Cody nodded firmly.

"Good. I want updates. You will find my husband, and return him home. Or when I recover fully, if he has not been located; I will recover him. That is all I have to say at this time," Troy then ended the call before either of them could say another word. The room was quiet; nobody knew what to say or do. Troy's expression couldn't be read as he was a jumble of emotion with learning what he did; Hayden was MIA as of March 1st, and could possibly be a POW. Nothing confirmed, of course, but the possibility, thanks to Troy's breakdown of information gave them an idea that it could have happened.

"Son?" Dustin said softly. Troy's head was down, his eyes closed.

"I'm upset, terrified, pissed off, and Odin only knows what else.…I want and need to be alone to think and get my head together, so I don't snap on anyone…" Troy said as calmly as he could manage.

"We understand, Troy," Rosanna said gently, picking Evelina up and Cole standing behind next to her.

"If you…need anything, you call, okay?" Drew offered. Troy managed a nod, but he made no other effort to stand up to say goodbye to them.

"W-Will you…Let us know?" Spencer asked him. Again, Troy nodded. Soon, everyone was outside. Dustin was the last one to look at Troy, who had his face in his hands, starting to cry with worry for Hayden. Dustin closed the door quietly, making sure it was locked from the inside.

'Hayden…Please, don't give up. Keep fighting, and come home…' Troy said. There was nothing more he could do; he knew that regardless of threats made, he wouldn't be permitted in Afghanistan to find Hayden. In fact, going against such an order would ultimately get him discharged and maybe even crimes charged against him. Troy wasn't usually one to cry, but he felt this was more than a reason to do so. Hayden was missing, could possibly be a captive with enemy forces. All the while Troy was useless to do anything in helping because he was still wounded. Troy just wanted to know if Hayden was okay, and that would be enough for him. Such was not his luck, and he could only pray to the Gods for his husband's quick and safe return to him.