"Nightmares are often a common symptom of PTSD, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Those suffering will often wake up suddenly from their nightmare with shortness of breath, cold sweat or their heart pounding in their throats. These nightmares normally replay the traumatic event that caused the suffering and have a profound effect on the quality of life of those living with PTSD. Often times those who suffer will toss and turn or even try to avoid sleep due to these nightmares. It causes them to lose focus at times and even lash out at others."

- Dr. Lane Webb, ONI War Trauma Specialist

Chapter 3 - Nightmares

Wind blew on the tall grass in the twilight hours,
the orange in the sky setting an eerie cast on a figure standing in the field.
The figure's dark dress flowing in the wind as the woman waited for something.

A child stared out at the woman for a few moments before recognizing who she was. She began running
through the tall grass in excitement as she hadn't seen her for months.

A strange female voice began calling her name softly as it echoed in the wind "Sofia... Sofia.."

Getting closer she reached out and grabbed hold of the figure's arm. The woman stood facing away from
her for a moment before turning towards her abruptly. A shriek escaped the lips of the child as she looked
upon the faceless woman.

Suddenly frozen in fear, she stood unsure of what to do.
Upon trying to back away, the no-face grabbed her by both arms and tried to force her closer.
Hawk struggled to stay away while kicking and yelling as she was held up. Planting a foot straight into
the creature's head caused her to be dropped onto the ground. Scrambling to her feet she ran as
fast as she could away from the figure.

The voice of a familiar man called through the air much like the female voice "Where are you going?"
The voice was the voice of her father as it echoed through the air. It was followed by the
woman's voice "Come back". Looking back she saw fog rolling through the field toward her.

Just then she slammed into something hard, looking up it was the spartans that saved her life. Their voices
echoed all around her "Hurry...""We have to go..." "I'll call you Hawkeye..." "Nothing more we can do..."
They began reaching for her as they began shifting into the giant alien creatures.

The only difference was they still had
the helmets and they had long claw like hands. When the nearest one touched her shoulder there was a
burning feeling accompanied with it. Ducking away from them she ran as fast as she could towards a grove of trees.

Upon ducking behind some large bushes she let out a sigh of relief. She was safe for the moment.
Her heart raced as voices called from everywhere around her.

One voice was closer than any of the others, it was warm, gentle and welcoming, "Hey little one, you okay?".
Turning around she stared at the ODST that saved her in the museum. He had holes in his chest with blood
dripping down his armor. Unlike the others he was the way she remembered him when he had died.

There he stood staring down at her as he held a Magnum in offering to out she brushed
her fingertips along the cold metal. Taking hold of the gun carefully she examined it
making sure it was ready to use. Looking back up she saw that the ODST was gone without a trace.

Loud echoing voices brought her back to her present issue, the creatures. Walking a few steps she was in a
dimly lit room with a table and a chair on either side. After examining the table a loud thud came from the door behind her.

The metal bent suddenly from something on the other side trying to get in. She jumped slightly
as another dent appeared, they seemed to want her badly.

Fear coursed through her as she stepped back into the corner. The door didn't hold as a final blow threw it into the room.
Those eerie voices were starting to sound angry for her backing into a corner.

"Run away!" "Get out!" "leave!"

It wasn't until that moment she realized it was all a game.
They were all feeding off of her fear, wanting her to keep running for their sport.

The child straightened her back and stood defiantly, facing down the demons, "No more running! If you want me, come get me!"

She raised the pistol that O'brien gave her, ready for the demons to make their first move. Someone to
her side put an armored hand on top of the pistol gently lowering it.

"It's okay, Trainee. It's over."

Looking up she saw the MJOLNIR armor of her commanding officer Kurt. Glancing back to where
the monsters were she found them gone. Everything faded to black and now she could only feel
a throbbing headache. Pretty soon she opened her eyes and found herself in the Onyx medical station.

"Have a good nap?" A young, 10 year old boy asked as he noticed her awake.

Putting her hand on her head she grumbled in pain, "Not really, What happened?"

"You were knocked out cold by a D.I." He said standing up from the chair next to her, "You've been out for hours."

She watched him a moment as she worked a few things out in her head, "why are you in here?"

He ran a hand over the black stubble on his head, "Well, You missed the team assignments. So, I figured I would come check on you."

"Thanks" She said before the medic walked over and began checking on how she was doing.

The boy looked at the medic and back to Hawkeye, seeming very interested in her, "Well, I'm Kyle, We are assigned to the same team."

The medic looked at him with a frown "I will need you to leave while I check her over, Trainee. You can speak with her when she has left the infirmary." With that Kyle got up and left the room quietly leaving the medic to his duties.

The next day she was introduced to the other two trainees in her squad. The first was a boy named Jason
and the second named Sean. She found it peculiar of how his name was spelled as people pronounce it
as Shawn. Jason was a taller boy with green eyes and military cut blonde hair. Sean however was
around her height with a defined male jaw even in his young age. His short hair was black and his eyes
almost a light grey, his features were interesting to say the least.

The two stared at her quietly as if thinking of how to trade for someone else. They didn't seem to much like
the idea of having a girl on their team. It could've been because she was knocked out by the D.I. and deemed a weakling.

Jason finally broke the awkward silence, "Listen Hawkeye, I'm sure you are a great girl. Thing is, you aren't
cut out to be a spartan." He said is a condescending tone and confirming her suspicions about how they felt.

"It's nothing against you, its just that we don't want you slowing us down." Sean chimed into the conversation needlessly.

With a soft chuckle Jason continued, "Face it, you're a girl. Girls drop out of the program cause
they can't handle it. It's because you're weak, you're not meant to become an elite soldier. You were better off being
killed by the covenant than coming here."

She swiftly grabbed Jason by the collar of his shirt and forced him against the wall.
"I will tell you once and only once, If you do anything to try and ruin my chances at graduating, I will kill you." She spoke in
a harsh but quiet tone so as to not attract the attention of the Instructors.

Kyle pulled Hawk off of Jason "Knock it off guys! We need to work as a team if we are to succeed at all during these
missions." He looked at Jason and Sean and then to Hawk, "That means not being at each others throats, okay?"

Hawk leered at Jason and Sean before looking back at Kyle, "Fine, but don't get in my way."

=============1 Year Later============

Hawk stood perfectly still in attention as she waited in Kurt's office for him to arrive. Mendez sat in the chair
reading over a data pad that most likely contained the details of the simulation. He glanced up at her a few times before looking back at the pad.

She had done everything right or at least she felt that way. The simulation was a success, so
why was she in trouble? The minutes felt like hours as she listened for the door to open. Mendez looked
at his watch and as if like clockwork the door opened a few seconds later. Kurt entered the
office and walked to the desk, holding his hand out to Mendez.

In turn the man handed over the data pad, letting Kurt look it read over the file on the pad
quietly, making Hawk even more uncomfortable. Was there another parameter to
the simulation? Had she missed something? Her mind raced as she thought about what the problem was.

It took almost everything she had to keep all her worry from showing on her face. Mendez got out of the
chair, grabbing his hat from the desk before walking out and shutting the door behind him.
Kurt looked up at the young woman with a blank expression, he watched her for a moment as he
set the data pad down.

"Teamwork is the most important thing you need to learn" He said in a calm, composed manner.
"Your squad comes first, they are your only family now. Protect them and they will do the same for you."

The room was quiet for a few moments as her mistake sunk in on her. They were evaluating teamwork during the exercise. How had she been so dense? They only had a certain number of slots for Spartans and she was close to being cut. All because she refused to work with her teammates.

"Have you ever been alone in the woods, Trainee?"

"Negative, sir."

"I'm giving you one more chance to work with your team. Your team will report to the airfield at 2300."

"Understood, sir"

"You're Dismissed", the man said as soon as she acknowledged the order.

"Sir!" She responded before turning and walking out of his office.

=====Later that night=====

On the airfield, the team stood in formation awaiting their instruction. A Pelican flew overhead and slowly
landed nearby the team. Once on the ground the bay hatch opened and Mendez looked at them, "ARE YOU WAITING FOR A GOLDEN INVITATION?! GET INTO THE PELICAN, TRAINEES! MOVE IT!" He screamed while motioning to get aboard the Pelican.

They swiftly ran to the dropship as per what he had ordered. Once on board Mendez radioed to the pilot while he closed the back hatch, "We are good for take off!" A sudden lurch could be felt as the pelican lifted off quicker than it landed. The four took hold of the mesh on the side of the pelican for support.

Once in the air, Mendez pointed to 4 packs on the wall, "You are dropping into enemy territory to retrieve
a high priority package! Once you have retrieved it you are to make your way to the extraction point! Extraction will be in 4 days at 2300! If all of you don't make it to the extraction point with the package you will all be leaving this program! These are your parachutes and survival gear! Get them on and secure them properly!"

The team quickly and quietly grabbed their packs while Mendez continued, "On this mission if you don't work as a team you will die! You all have survival rations to last you for a day. After that you will be on your own to find food!"

Each Trainee finished putting on their pack and fastening it snug and secure as they double checked each strap on the harness. They finished tightening straps and rode in silence for about 45 minutes to 1 hour

He hit a button and the hatch began to open "This is your drop point! GO GO GO!" He yelled motioning them to exit the flying pelican.

Kyle went first, Sprinting to the hatch opening and leaping into the dark night. Jason was next followed by Sean, watching each of them jump she felt a bit of fear tug at her. When her turn came she pushed the fear out of her mind instantly as she sprinted to the opening.

As she jumped out of the pelican she felt the calm a quiet of all emotions for just a moment before getting pulled into the wind. It pulled and tugged at her as she began falling through the sky. She straightened herself out into a Flat Flying position and scanned the area for her teammates. Once locating them she began calculating how far the ground was from them and with this assessment she waited a few moments before pulling the ripcord on her pack.

The parachute flew out of the pack and trailed in the wind before catching the wind and filling with air. The change in speed caused a sudden jolt and almost felt as if she was being pulled upwards momentarily. She hung by the body harness a moment before taking hold of the parachute handles and steering towards an opening in the trees.

As she got closer she had to tuck her legs up towards her chest as she brushed the top of a tree. After passing into the meadow she steered tighter to a flat point to drop her chute. As the ground came up she once more tucked her knees in a brace for landing. Finally she dropped her feet and ran the momentum out while dropping her Black chute. Looking up at the sky she looked for her teammates dark silhouettes.

=====Next time on Unfit for Duty=====

"We have a problem" "What is it?" "3 drill instructors are dead"

"Her plan is crazy but if we do nothing then we're all gonna die."