Iraq

Outside Najaf

Six months previous...

Corporal Robert Perry squinted as he looked up to the hot desert sun. Dust stirred as a Humvee passed down the street. Several soldiers in full tactical gear walked past him. He retrieved his camcorder from the pocket on the side of his leg. He pressed the 'on' button before turning the lens toward himself. "All right, sweetheart, we are near Najaf, I'm not allowed to say exactly where." When he saw one of his friends attempting to sneak past the camera's view, he turned the camcorder. "Hey, Dwight, say hello to Jenny."

Losing his shyness, Dwight lunged forward, wearing a goofy grin. "He's cheating on ya!"

Perry laughed. "Nice,"

Dwight's smile grew as he leaned closer to the lens. "With a camel. A drunk, slutty camel,"

Perry turned the lens back to himself. Grinning, he played along. "All right, it was one time, okay. And the camel's been texting me, but it's over. I promise."

Dwight slapped Perry's shoulder before pointing to the loading dock across from them. "Hello." Perry looked in the direction Dwight pointed. "PSD," Dwight said.

Perry pointed the camera at the covered truck and the several men in black uniforms standing guard. The Castleman insignia was painted in stark black against the tan cloth covering the shipments. A tall man on top of the platform barked orders at his subordinates. Perry began giving his own commentary. "See those guys?" Perry asked. "Private contractors. They make seven hundred bucks a day." He repointed the camera at himself. "I make seven." he deadpanned.

"Yeah, but you know what they gotta do?" Dwight pointed at the men in question. "They gotta-"

The roar of automatic gunfire sliced through the air. Dwight jerked back as several bullets riddled his upper torso and arms. "Shots fired!" Perry yelled. "Shots fired. Go, go! Go red!" Perry careened backward, a sharp pain darting through his gut. He collapsed to the ground, his camera falling from his hand.

-O-

Los Angeles

Rehab Center

Present…

Static filled the laptop screen as the video ended. Nate rewound the video to the moment the shooting started before clicking Pause. Nate stared at the screen before turning to the wheelchair-bound Perry. "Jenny your fiancée?" he asked quietly.

Perry looked to the side. "Well, she was but…"

Nate nodded, realizing. "Oh," he replied. "Oh, I'm sorry,"

Perry shook his head, giving a small smile. "I'm not mad, it happens." he tapped his fingers against his chair's armrest. "Look, I don't want charity,"

"We are not a charity," Nate replied.

"I just want my rehab. You know, if I'm gonna work-and I want to work-" Perry explained. "Dr. LeRoque says I need another year and a half of hardcore rehab, maybe two more surgeries." he glanced at his paralyzed legs. "Castleman shot me up. I just want them to pay my bills, no more, no less,"

Nate gave a considering hum. He surveyed the room. A physical therapist talked with a soldier with a leg amputated above the knee. Another veteran moved across the parallel bars on the other side of the room. Resolve began to build the longer Nate studied his surroundings. "The army investigation determined, what? That you were hit by insurgents?"

"Yeah, that's because Castleman refused to cooperate in that investigation," Perry replied heatedly.

"And they can do that?" Nate asked.

Perry leaned back in his chair. "Nobody's stopping them. They're cowboys, they go off all the time, boom, boom, boom." he reached for his laptop on the table, pulling out the flash drive. "I just want them to do right by me,"

A female doctor approached the two of them. "Pardon me, Mr. uh?"

Nate stood to his feet. "Oh, uh, Nathan Ford. You're Dr. LeRoque?" he offered his hand. She quirked a brow before pointing to the exit, leaving Nate to awkwardly retract his hand.

"Can I talk to you outside?" she said curtly.

Perry turned his head to look at her. "Doc, he's cool, I found him on the internet,"

LaRoque scoffed. "Yes, that never goes badly," she commented wryly. She turned her glare to Nate, saying, "With me." she turned on her heel, expecting Nate to follow her.

He watched her go before looking at Perry again. "I'll be in touch." Perry handed Nate the flash drive as he followed after the irate LaRoque. Perry closed his laptop

-O-

Nate remained mostly silent as LaRoque berated him, only speaking up when she got a fact wrong. When they reached the door and exited the hospital, she yelled: "You can't just come in here and get his hopes up!", changing any of his ideas of passivity.

"I'm just here to provide options," he defended, stopping a few meters outside the door.

Appearing as though she was ready to rip out her hair in frustration, she whirled around. "There are no options!"

"The Veterans' Hospital-"

Doctor LaRoque quickly interrupted. "is 400 miles away and has a five-month waiting list. Everybody in that rehab room is a reservist." she said, pointing to the hospital entrance. "When reservists get out, they get sent home. No matter where home is or how far it is from the treatment they need. Nobody thought this through." she explained. "We're not a rich hospital, I cashed in every favor I had to take care of these kids for as long as I could but-" she glanced to the ground for a moment, centering herself. "I have to go back in there and tell Perry we can't treat him anymore. I have to do that." she pointed to herself before stalking back to the hospital, throwing over her shoulder. "Run your scam on somebody with money,"

"It's not a scam. I'm here to help," he said.

LaRoque barely prevented herself from rolling her eyes. "People don't just show up to help. That's not the way the world works," she insisted before pivoting on her heel and returning through the hospital doors.

Nate shook his head, not watching her leave. He retrieved his cell phone from his pocket, dialing a newly familiar number. The dial tone had barely rung once before the young man picked up, "Hardison," he said. "Call them,"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Author's note: I'm bbbaaaccckkkkkk! So we're on the second episode, The Homecoming Job. I thought I should mention that I'm doing these episodes in the order that they appeared on air on television. Anyways, thanks for reading! You guys are the best! : -)

Hannahgrace4545: Hey! Thank you so much for reading! Aaahhhhh! I can't believe you like this! Anyways, I'll just be dancing after reading your review!