A/N: As always huge thank you to queseraone for putting up with me, reading through and editing every random fic I come up with!
This was only going to be a one-shot but is now going to be a couple chapters, unless it flops then it will probably just be this chapter. I'm not entirely sure where this idea came from but I like it and I hope you do too.
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They're driving through the vast desert, a line of green Humvees carrying the 75th Battalion Army Rangers back to their base. Then all of a sudden – with no warning at all – the three large trucks get blown off the ground and flipped over as if they weigh nothing at all.
The next thing Jay remembers is waking up on his side. His ears are ringing and his eyes are clenched shut as he slowly begins to move. He groans as he feels every part of his body ache. When he's ready to look around, his eyelashes blink in quick succession in order to rid his eyes of some of the sand. He moves to crawl out of the vehicle – the glass shards from the windshield slicing into his skin as he practically drags himself out of the window closest to him.
He's temporarily blinded by the sun as he looks around for his friends – the men that have become his family over the last few years.
His chest begins to constrict and the pain in his arm intensifies as he uses the upside down Humvee to pull himself up.
The first thing his eyes land on is the Humvee off to the side of the one he's currently leaning on. The once green vehicle is now a black pile of mangled metal as dark orange flames roar from the windows. His hands stay on the Humvee for support as he moves over to the wreck – wanting to check to see if there's any survivors. He's almost to one of his team members when there's another explosion and his already aching body is thrown back a few feet.
The ringing in his ears returns before everything goes black again.
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It's eerily quiet when he comes to again. The dark green tent above him is the first thing he sees and his eyes stay fixed on the same spot for a few minutes before he finally looks around. He sees other men – some his brothers laying on the cots surrounding him. They're all motionless, some with white bandages covering a vast majority of their bodies and he chooses to focus on them for a while – dreading the moment he looks towards the back of the tent.
He counts them first and then repeats the number in his head. Five body bags. Five men that won't make it home to their families. Five families that will forever be changed. He wasn't a very religious man before he came here, even when his mom tried her best to bring him and his younger brother up to believe in the same higher power she did.
But the first time he saw one of his friends bleed out in his arms, he prayed. And still, every time one of his own doesn't make it home, he prays for their families – prays that they can make it through their loss.
He's so distracted by the black bags concealing those men – his brothers in arms – that he doesn't notice the small furry bundle nestled next to him on his cot. He blinks back the tears in his eyes as he observes the warm fluff ball cuddled in between his arm and side.
He moves his right arm – the arm not wrapped up and strapped to his torso – and clears his throat as he bends his arm to pet the back of the puppy and bring him out of his slumber. "Hey buddy." His voice is weak as he talks to the little dog.
He finds himself thinking that the puppy looks like a baby version of the Belgian Malinois that the military uses as working dogs. And with its black tipped fur that is a reddish color closer to the roots, he wonders if maybe somehow he is the offspring of one of those dogs. He's so lost in his thoughts of the puppy that he doesn't notice someone approach him until she says something.
"Is he yours?" He asks – completely missing her question. She shrugs and he gives her a confused look – silently asking her how she doesn't know.
"Technically no, she's a stray but I have been feeding her and taking care of her injuries." Her eyes are casted down towards the dog as he looks up at her again. She repeats her previous question and he answers, his eyes not leaving the side of her face as she writes down his response. She continues to ask him questions about how he's feeling and make notes before she informs him of what they believe happened and what the extent of his injuries are. She tells him how lucky he is as her eyes fall on the same place he was looking just minutes before.
It's almost as if the puppy senses the mood shift and hops up onto Jay's chest. That's when he notices that she only uses three of her legs. She crawls over to the nurse standing next to them first. Wagging her tail as her caregiver reaches down to pet her and she kisses her hand before turning to move closer to Jay's face. She kisses the thick stubble along his jaw and he lets out gruff chuckle that causes the puppy to fall off the cot but she's caught by the nurse.
"Alright Luna, let's let him get some rest." The puppy responds by kissing her cheek.
"Luna?" His eyebrows furrowed a little and she shrugs once again before nodding.
She lets him know that she'll be back later to check on him before turning around and leaving the tent.
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The following days are long – longer than they usually are out here – and it's quieter too, the loss of some of their men looming over all of their heads. There wasn't really an escape from the nightmare they're living. But then there was Erin – as he later learns is her name. Her dark blonde hair, hazel eyes and irresistible dimples fill him with a new excitement he hasn't felt in months – in years even. And he looks forward to seeing her, to getting to closer to her every morning. Their connection starts with Luna and Chicago and builds from there. And they quickly get to know so much about each other during the few weeks he's in the infirmary.
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Once he's given the all clear to resume his normal duties, he stops seeing her. Not in passing or during meal time or briefing. And his sleep – or lack-there-of – returns to normal, the dreams he'd have of her simply fading away, quickly replaced with his usual inescapable nightmares.
But then one night out of the blue, Luna crawls onto his cot with him. And it seems as though his nightmares disappear, just like they did on the days he spent talking to Erin. At first he thinks it's just a coincidence that the nights Luna sleeps next to him are the nights he's actually able to sleep. But after it happens again and then again, he realizes that it's no coincidence. Both Erin and the shy little puppy have similar but also very different calming effects on him.
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He finally sees Erin a couple days later and he goes to sit with her and their friend Mouse as they eat their breakfast. Both of them ask the other where Luna is, but the fact that neither of them knows causes their stomachs to twist, thinking of the worst as they attempt to finish the rest of their food. After a few minutes of silence, they begin to talk about their favorite things back home – taking their minds away from Luna. They don't know how long they're talking but almost everyone has finished and left the tent by the time they peel their eyes away from each other.
Somehow the topic of Luna gets brought up again, and Erin looks down – but not before he sees the tears that form in her eyes. He reaches across the table and covers one of her hands with his, giving it a gentle squeeze. She looks at their hands before meeting his eyes again. Without words, he tells her that it's going to be ok, but when she looks back down he can tell she doesn't believe him.
Just then someone comes rushing in, telling them that Luna is outside.
They give each other one more worried glance before they run outside and see Mouse squatting in front of Luna. Erin's eyebrows knit together as she looks at the puppy lying on the ground in front of her; she kneels down and cups the underside of the puppy's face as she pants and whines.
Jay approaches the pair quickly and runs his hand over the clearly distressed and exhausted puppy. "What's wrong with her?"
Her voice cracks a little with her guess and as she asks for a canteen. She begins to slowly pour water over the young puppy's mouth before she scoops up the limp puppy and carries her inside one of the tents.
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I hope everyone has a great weekend and Happy Holidays - to those who celebrate of course.