The Tarp, Safe House & Anything for Ben

Two Hours Prior – Isolated Warehouse Complex

Assaf Murad was standing with several other men as Abdul Khaliq Mousa ranted at them. He had been with Daphne at the farmhouse when SRU had taken her. He had breathed a sigh of relief.

Daphne had to get out; it had become too risky for her and boy. She had stayed much longer than Assaf had wanted. Their work was important and many people had been saved over the years by their mis-direction and destruction of intel but it wasn't worth risking Matt's life. The boy was an innocent and needed to be protected. So they had quickly found a way for her to leave without raising too much suspicion.

But now she and the boy were in danger again. Somehow Mousa had discovered she was in the custody of the Army. He had to get a message to her somehow. But how?

He had limited options. Just after the SRU left ten of Mousa's men showed up and dragged him back here. He saw the plastic tarps out on the floor. This was not good, not good at all.

People were dying today, the tarps always meant that. He hoped it wasn't him. Hoped his profile was low enough. But you never knew what would set off Mousa. He was an irrational and deadly SOB.

Mousa yelled "Where is Assaf?"

Assaf flinched as he looked to Mousa.

Mousa stared at Assaf and said harshly "Kneel there NOW!"

Assaf moved forward and knelt on the ground in front of him with his head bowed down. Shifting nervously around the two stood nearly forty men. Mousa began shouting at Assaf and continued for several minutes. Assaf tried his best to placate and apologize but it was falling on deaf ears.

Mousa lifted the gun he held and placed it at Assaf's temple.

Assaf bowed his head and thought forgive me Daphne I can't protect you and Mattie now.

Mousa shouted "You failed me. You were asleep when they came and took Daphne. I do not accept failure." He fired the gun and Assaf dropped dead on the large plastic tarp. "Remove that useless waste of skin."

Several men rushed forward to comply, rolling Assaf up in the tarp and dragging him out of the room.

"As for the rest of you, fail me and that will be your fate. Do you understand?" Everyone nodded yes. Mousa pointed the gun at another "Raashid, there now." Mousa motioned with the gun to another plastic tarp as he said "Did you find out anything yet?"

Raashid glanced at where Assaf had been as he hurried forward and knelt on the plastic tarp where Mousa had indicated. He was petrified but glad he had information to share; otherwise he would definitely meet the same fate. Mousa was in an extremely volatile state today.

Bowing his head Raashid hesitantly stammered out "I could find no information on Daphne, she does not exist under either Hunter or Duncan names. But I did find information on Matthew Benjamin Hunter."

"There was an obituary a few years ago. He was a Master Corporal in the Army. He wasn't married; it didn't list any children or other family. So Daphne was not his wife. There were no details what so ever available on his death. His death certificate did not even list cause of death. So I assume Special Forces" Raashid shared then blew out a shaky breath as he saw in his peripheral vision that the gun slowly lowered a bit.

He lifted his head slightly so he could see part of Mousa's face as he continued "I researched SRU teams based on the descriptions Yassin provided. It appears to be the one they call Team One who took them. It is the only team that has one blonde guy, two women and two bald guys on it."

"I investigated the team members and one is ex-Army, Samuel Braddock. Yassin said there was only one blonde at the farmhouse so I assume the Blondie comments made by the two Army men were in reference to him. He joined SRU shortly after Hunter died. Again, based on Yassin's report of all he saw and heard, I'm assuming that Braddock killed Hunter. But I could find no details on how or why."

Mousa was nodding his head.

Raashid was beginning to relax just a bit and sat back on his heels. Looking up now at Mousa he said "I also found out that a General Braddock is in charge of Special Forces and that Samuel is his son. So like I said, I assume those that took her are Special Forces."

"I was unable to locate any details on the Army personnel; call signs and first names are not helpful for that and Yassin did not send pictures. Yassin also indicated none of the men had names on their uniforms, another indicator they are SF. So we need to assume the men that have Daphne are extremely well trained and prepared appropriately. It will not be easy to get her back."

Raashid finished and waited to see if the gun rose. He was in silent prayer when he remembered another small tidbit. If he did not tell all and it came out later he would be dead.

He sucked in a breath then stated "One last thing and I was not able to discern which one is Daphne's brother, other than it is not Braddock. He had two sisters, one died long ago; the other looks nothing like Daphne. One of the other SRU or Army must be related but without last names or pictures I cannot tell you."

He nervously awaited Mousa's reaction to his news. He hoped he would not die because he had to make assumptions instead of knowing for sure and did not know everything Mousa had told him to find out.

Mousa stared at him with a hard look raising the gun again "Assumptions are dangerous."

Terrified Raashid instantly bowed his head and started praying. He knew just knew he was a dead man now. Sweat drenched him and dripped from his forehead as he waited for the cold metal to touch his temple.

It didn't come and after a few moments Mousa said "But yours are erring on being more cautious. I was thinking Special Forces too." He tucked the gun in the back of his pants and motioned Raashid to rise and move away from the plastic tarp.

Raashid did not need to be told twice. As he scrambled to rise and comply he looked down at the front of his pants embarrassed. He needed to change, he was soaked and it was not from sweat.

Mousa paced back and forth. He had to think. Raashid was right; it would not be easy to get her back. He would need to send more than just Yassin, Syed and Fadel. There were six potential Special Forces men watching Daphne. He would need to send a small army to deal with them. He knew many of who he sent would be dead before the day was out but he did not give a damn; they were a dime a dozen. They could all die for all he cared so long as he got her back.

Turning to the group of men Mousa said "I want both the woman and the boy brought here alive. I want everyone watching her dead. She may have already shared information and we cannot have that. I will give you orders where to go once Yassin reports in. For now arm yourselves fully and be ready."

He turned and stalked out of the room as he brooded. Damned woman, he would have no problem torturing her for the information he needed from her. She could not have acted alone for all these years. She had to have had inside help.

Mousa figured he had another traitor and he needed to find out who it was. But it wouldn't be physical torture; he couldn't wait to see the pain he inflicted on her when he threatened to hurt and kill the boy. She would talk quickly then.

He needed to set things up here to make the threat real. So pulled out his phone "Qasim, I need your skill set. Within the next hour I expect you to be ready. I need you to get some items and set up …"

Safe House – Flashback 1 Hour Ago

Blaze hung up the phone as he entered the kitchen of the safe house. Russ and Daphne were busy making simple peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for everyone. Peanut butter was a staple in safe houses, jelly was a treat left by the last occupant.

He spared a quick glance into the family room. Ben was sitting on Winds lap watching the Disney channel. Damn Winds, he found a Donald Duck cartoon. Blaze thought he was gonna find a way to get back at Blondie.

He turned to Daphy and said "So Daphy, the debrief team is expected to be here in two hours."

Daphne turned to look at Blaze "Ok Donald" she giggled at the scowl he threw her way. "I promise I'll stop calling you Donald. Soon" and she giggled harder.

Blaze glared at her, lifted one eyebrow and said "You better or I'll resort to calling you Daffy Duck again."

Russ ducked his head hiding his mirth. Blaze would find a way to make him pay if he saw him laughing. He couldn't contain himself as he thought Donald Duck and Daffy Duck; those two were quite a pair. A small laugh escaped and he quickly tried to cover it up by fake coughing several times. "Sorry, ugg, em something caught in my throat."

"Yeah if you're not careful it will be my foot" Blaze growled out and thought again damn Blondie. He continued more reasonably "Russ after you grab a bite, I need you to relieve Angus in the observation perch. With this heat we need to rotate more often, but maybe you can pull a double shift if ya don't quit laughing."

Russ wiped the traces of laughter from his face, grabbed a sandwich and headed out. No way in hell he was pulling a double shift in this heat.

Blaze watched him go and smiled and thought good that shut him up. He turned to Daniel who was seated at the table and said seriously "This safe house is way out of date in surveillance cameras. Nothing updated in over ten years since the last time I was in this place. Same poor camera positions. Too many fuc..."

Daphne pinned Blaze with a look and declared with authority "Watch your language, Matt, um I mean Ben is in the other room. That little boy is repeating everything, and I mean absolutely everything he hears lately. I don't want him starting in with foul language so early. Got it."

Blaze smiled at his sister and nodded. She had changed in many ways in the past five years. From what he had observed in the short time they had been together today she had matured, was less reckless and looked to be a great mom. So he cleaned up his language as he continued his conversation with Daniel "Too many blind spots."

Daniel looked up from the blueprints that he had spread out on the kitchen table and said "Blaze, I've determined where we should position ourselves. It is not good by any means; as you said way too many blind spots. Wish we would have had time to grab civies to change into. Think we drew too much attention arriving in our uniforms."

"This neighborhood is more spread-out than most but with all those people out front five houses down having that picnic when we arrived. It concerns me; it might be a problem if things go sideways here. Hard to keep our actions quiet if you know what I mean. We need a change of location before tonight. We need something more secure and less dangerous to the civilians."

Blaze nodded "Thought the exact same thing. I have a gut feeling about this place. It is not good. Too open, too accessible, not secure enough; called it in already. Colonel Sutton is due to get back to us with a new location before tonight. Said to sit tight for now. So show me what you came up with; we have to work with what we got for now."

The two reviewed Daniel's plans. Blaze agreed it was not good but it was the best they could do given the circumstances.

He rose and said "After you grab a sandwich, inform the others and execute the plan. Winds and I will be primary in the house with Daphy and Ben."

Daphy handed Blaze sandwiches for Ben and Winds. As he entered the family room he stopped and looked at Ben. He was an Uncle and that felt awesome. He never thought he would be one.

When they thought Daphy had died all hope of ever being one had disappeared. All family had vanished. For so long it had just been the two of them. Then he had lost her too and he was alone; that had hurt too much.

He had just turned eighteen the week before their parents died in the car crash. Hit by some idiot teenager drag racing. Daphy was only seven. They had no other family so he had become her guardian and raised her.

She was a hellion growing up and they fought like cats and dogs but he loved her dearly. They were all each other had. So when he lost her it felt like he lost both a baby sister and a daughter.

His mind drifted back nearly five years as he remembered how badly he had broken when he thought she was gone.

His and Blondie's roles had been reversed the night Blondie realized how acutely the loss had impacted him. Blondie became the father figure, care taker and he became the kid who needed help.

Without Blondie he would not be here today. He was in such a daze that night he didn't even realize he had not properly secured his parachute and if he had pulled the line the chute would have been ripped from his body. He would have free fallen to his death.

They were the last two to make the jump that night. The rest of the unit had already exited the plane. Just as he had jumped Blondie saw it was unclasped. Blondie tried to grab him but missed by a hairs breath. So Blondie jumped straight after him in a dive position.

When Blondie reached him, Blondie wrapped his arms and legs around his body. It had surprised him and he reacted by trying to throw Blondie off. That caused them to start tumbling head over heels as they plummeted towards the ground.

Blondie had yelled at him to be still then buckled the clasps properly as fast as he could. It was difficult because they were tumbling but somehow Blondie did it. Then Blondie pulled his line for him and released him. Blondie pulled his own line shortly after.

They had been knocked way off course and were both so low when the chutes opened it was a fast, hard landing. Blondie had located him within five minutes and determined that Blaze had broken his leg, cracked several ribs and dislocated his shoulder. Blondie sat up with him all night helping him manage his physical and emotional pain before the rescue team found them in the morning.

He had cried all night long in Blondie's arms as the pain of losing Daphy engulfed him. It wasn't until after they returned to base that he even knew that Blondie was hurt badly too. The kid had a broken arm, cracked ribs, bruised kidney and a concussion but he gave no indications of pain as he had cared for him all night.

Blondie never told anyone in the unit how badly he had broken, never shared that he had cried like a baby on his shoulder all night. Said it was private, that he understood the pain. He had never asked what Blondie meant by that, too embarrassed by his own actions to bring the subject up again. It wasn't until the night they rescued Blondie from the ravine after the gang war that he understood how Blondie understood his pain of losing a little sister.

Blaze shook himself out of the memory. He was an uncle. Awesome! Because of Blondie he was here to be an uncle. He decided that Blondie was safe from retribution for the Donald Duck name.

He grinned as he watched Ben emulate an angry Donald Duck. Damn the kid was cute; he had claimed a huge chunk of his heart in just a few short hours. He walked the rest of the way in and gave the sandwiches to them.

Winds looked at him and said "I never realized that you do actually sound like and resemble Donald Duck when you rage."

Blaze slugged him in the arm.

Rubbing his arm and laughing Winds said "Watch it or Daphy will tell you off for demonstrating bad behaviors in front of Jr. here."

Blaze plopped down on the sofa and Ben crawled into his lap.

Ben looked up at his uncle and with a mouth full of peanut butter and jelly sandwich said "I like you Unca Donald Duck. Unca Sam said you would keep me safe."

He kissed Blaze's cheek leaving smears of PB&J. Then Ben pounced into Winds lap just as Winds had taken a bite.

Winds nearly choked on the bite.

"I like you too Unca Windy but you talks a lot. Is that why they call you Windy?" His little hands smeared PB&J across Winds shirt as he climbed up to kiss his cheek too.

Both men turned and smiled at each other. Damn the boy quickly embedded himself deeply into their hearts. So like his dad. God it felt good to have a little piece of Matt again.

Present Time – Enroute to Safe House

Ed called out "Sam, you okay for this? I gotta know truthfully."

Sam had clamped down his emotions and locked them away. He pulled on his soldier persona knowing he had to remain detached. He could not afford emotion right now; too much was riding on him performing his job. Steel toned all business he replied "I'm good. Spike any details on the location, blue prints, etc.?"

Ed heard the tone of the response and glanced at Greg silently questioning if Greg agreed with his assessment not to sideline Sam.

Greg nodded agreement that Sam was good to go, not to sideline him, for now.

Ed said simply "Good to know Sam. Spike, details?"

Spike had waited for Ed to acknowledge Sam's response. The whole team was worried how Sam would handle this call. But he just said he was okay and they knew he wouldn't put the team at risk if he was not.

So he responded "Police have a copter over with video. Tapped into the feed. Shit, it is a mess. Looks like units have cordoned off the neighborhood as best as possible." The scene he was seeing unnerved him "So many bodies on the ground. It looks like a friggin war zone."

Greg interrupted "Spike just details we can use." He was worried about upsetting Sam with Spike's unguarded commentary.

"Right Boss, sorry. Looks like it would be best if we came in from the North and West sides. I count eight subjects moving in on two unit guys. Can't tell who they are from this angle just see the uniforms" Spike reported.

Sam wished he was not driving so he could see and assess the situation better. Next time Leah drives. Jules nearly always drove when they were partnered for just such a reason.

Spike continued "One block up turn right, three houses down should be the best place to stop and gear up."

Sam hoped so.

Safe House

The team arrived and geared up fast. Ed directed "Sam take Spike and Leah, Bravo team, take north. Jules we need intel, just who are these people. See if any witnesses can give us anything to go on. Wordy you are with me, west."

"Copy" sounded off from all.

Greg had been on the phone with the senior unit officer on scene for some time before they even arrived getting details and coordinating the scene. As they started to move Greg halted them and added "Go careful, take shields. Unconfirmed reports from uniforms but they may have armor piercing rounds. Active shooting you have authorization for lethal force. But we need information to locate Daphne and Ben so if we can we need them alive. It's a puzzle why they are still firing when they have already abducted them."

Russ was in the perch and cursing under his breath. He was nearly out of ammo; only had two more shots and eight targets. This was a fucking war zone. He had already taken out ten targets. He was concentrating on provided cover fire for his injured mates who were down and could not protect themselves, especially Angus and Daniel.

Dammit there were just too damned many hostiles, what the hell was he gonna do when he was out of ammo? Russ had counted about thirty initially as they had swarmed the area. But some had left when Daphne and Ben were taken.

His eye caught a flash of black and gray. Oh thank god, SRU was here. Russ took aim on another target approaching Angus and Daniel from behind. He was about to fire when the man dropped. Russ adjusted his scope and saw it was Sam that took him out from a distance. In short order SRU had managed to take out or contain the remaining seven targets.

Leah, Greg and Jules were now in charge of the five subjects still alive. Most of them were injured in some way. It seemed no one wanted to be taken alive, preferring death to capture.

With the help of several uniform officers they had them all cuffed and secured. Jules and Greg were questioning them to try and determine who they worked for and where Daphne and Ben had been taken. The rest of the team was busy securing the scene and assessing who was dead and who was alive and needed assistance. There were bodies everywhere.

Russ was the only uninjured JTF2 guy. He dropped from his perch and rushed to Hal, because he was closest, as soon as he saw the SRU team had the area of operation in control. He was trying to stem the flow of blood from Hal's leg while Hal was trying to do the same for his own arm.

Ed rushed up to them and called out "EMS south side of exterior, one injured." As he knelt down and took over applying pressure to Hal's arm he looked at Russ checking to make sure he was not injured.

Russ quickly responded with contained fury in his voice as he gave Ed a necessary report seeing as he was the Team Leader "No harm. I was in the perch when it all went down. Counted near thirty at outset. We were outnumbered near five to one. They swarmed in from all the god damned blind spots."

"This safe house sucks. How the hell do they call this location a safe house? Dammit they got Daphne and Ben. How the hell did they even find us? There was little we could do when all hell broke loose."

"They hit Angus and Daniel first. They need help. Someone has to get to them. They're in the back. Angus is in real bad shape. Blaze is in the house. I know he's hit but not how bad. But it's gotta be real bad if he didn't pursue them."

Finally taking a breath, Russ continued "Saw Winds get hit. Shoulder I think. But he managed to follow when they left with Daphy and Ben. About ten hostiles left with them too. Dammit Ed, it all went sideways so god damned fast."

Ed called out "Sam, find Blaze. Russ says he is in the house. Wordy and Spike find Angus and Daniel in the back. Winnie, we need more EMS, four unit men down, at least five subjects injured."

Winnie acknowledged him and set to work.

Ed then rapid fired questions at Russ "Which way did they leave? What did they leave in? How did Winds follow? Other details?"

Russ answered just as rapidly the tail-ends of adrenaline rushed through his body "East. Large white moving van, black sedan and red SUV. No markings on the van. Winds left on an acquired motorcycle. Could tell they were mostly speaking Farsi but too far to make out what they were saying. They tried real hard to kill us but they failed. Glad you arrived when you did, only had two bullets left."

He sagged after spilling all that information. A wearied and worried look crossing his face as he looked to his friend and mentor lying bloodied on the ground. He should have done more to protect the unit, Russ thought.

Hal saw Russ sag and he glanced around at all the dead bodies. It was a heavy burden that kid would carry. Russ had a difficult time after taking lives and today he had counted at least ten the kid had to take to save them.

He grated out slowly trying to hide his pain but not quite succeeding "You did good kid. Thanks for keeping us alive. We will be okay. You saved our asses many times over today."

Hal then winced in pain as pressure was increased on his leg to try and stop the bleeding. A paramedic raced up to them and Ed backed off to allow him to work.

Ed nodded to Hal. Then he patted Russ on the shoulder to get his attention. When Russ looked up to him Ed said "Stay with Hal until he leaves for the hospital, then find Parker. He needs your details. I need to check the rest of the scene."

Russ nodded and Ed trotted off to find the senior uniform officer to ensure the scene was fully contained.

Daniel was with Angus. He ignored his own arm, shoulder and head wounds and was applying pressure to Angus's more serious stomach wound. Within seconds of Ed's call out Spike and Wordy found them on the ground in the back just behind a short hedge that had provided them a small amount of cover.

Spike nudged Daniel away and took over applying pressure to the stomach wound. It looked bad, real bad. Angus was unconscious. With one hand he checked Angus's pulse; weak and thready, not good. Spike called out "Need EMS now in the back two injured one critical." Spike looked at Angus and thought you better make it buddy. Who else am I gonna talk bomb tech with.

Daniel sat on the ground next to Angus and Wordy was trying to stop the flow from his shoulder wound which was worse than the arm wound and the graze on his head. Daniel was dizzy from loss of blood and was wavering back and forth sitting there.

Wordy noticed and said "You need to lay down now before you add concussion to your injuries."

Daniel reluctantly complied with Wordy's help. Wordy was about to ask him a question when he saw Daniel's eyes roll back and close. The man had passed out.

Spike looked to Wordy and said "I wonder how he stayed with it for so long? He lost so much blood, his shirt is soaked."

Wordy replied "They had a hell of a fire fight on their hands that's for sure. Shit! None of them is even wearing a vest. Never have I seen anything like this."

On Ed's order, Sam had gone directly into the house to find Blaze. The war zone scene outside had thrown Sam deeply into soldier mode where all senses where heightened and all emotion was wiped away. He was focused on only necessary actions. He had to clear the house to ensure no hostiles posed a threat. After clearing the bedrooms and family room where he found three dead subjects he found Blaze on the floor in the kitchen.

Blaze was semi-conscious, but not really registering anything around him. He was in a large and growing pool of blood near two dead hostiles. Sam wasn't sure how much blood was Blaze's or the hostiles as the pools had combined. He checked to make sure the hostiles were indeed dead and kicked their weapons away.

Then he slung his MP5 over his back out of the way and knelt down to check on Blaze. As he dropped to his knee he called out in calm all business tone "EMS needed in the kitchen one down, urgent, significant blood loss." He checked Blaze's pulse first. Steady but weakening.

Sam pulled out pressure bandages and applied them to wounds in Blaze's hip and thigh. He only had two hands so he repositioned himself so that his knee could apply pressure to the leg wound and he could move one hand to apply pressure to the shoulder wound. He did a quick assessment. Blaze had lost lots of blood.

The hip and leg wounds likely incapacitated movement. The position of the entry in the leg looked like it hit the bone and it might be fractured. The hip was harder to tell what damage may have been done. The shoulder was high and looked through and though. Thankfully nothing looked life threatening, except the blood loss. Blaze should make it if EMS got here soon.

Sam then tried to rouse Blaze "Hey buddy you with me? You're gonna be okay. Medics on the way. Hang on buddy. Stay with me."

Blaze roused slightly at Blondie's voice.

Sam saw him blink trying to focus on his face.

Blaze weakly said "In through blind spots. Too many, over twenty. Armed to the teeth, out gunned." He stopped to breathe.

"It's okay Blaze. Russ gave a report. Just rest now" Sam instructed.

Blaze paid no heed either not hearing or years of training and ingrained behavior taking over and needing to report as he continued "Got Daphy, Ben. Angus and Daniel hit bad. Hal and Russ status unknown. Winds hit, don't know how bad. Managed to follow I think. Saw him on cycle after van. Tried to follow but hip, think broken."

He grimaced as Sam put more weight on the thigh wound that continued to bleed.

Sam saw the grimace and the effort talking was taking "Sorry I gotta stop it bleeding. Know it hurts. Save your strength. No report necessary right now, later Blaze."

But Blaze continued speaking "Winds has no coms, his phone on counter, he will com if he can."

Sam thought Blaze is damned stubborn as he continued to talk. So he listened quietly. Maybe Blaze had a piece of information that would help locate Daphy and Ben.

"Angus, Daniel watching Ben run off energy before debrief team arrived. Daphy needed him to sleep, didn't want him overhearing, repeats all he hears. Unsafe for him to hear debrief. Out back when hit, were speaking Farsi" Blaze got out slowly and with difficultly as the loss of blood made him more lethargic.

Blaze blinked several times and gathered a bit of strength before he said "Blondie, call it in, left pocket, distress code Garfield."

Sam removed his hand from the hip wound and retrieved Blaze's phone and put it in his pocket then went back to the applying pressure. The short release of pressure from the wound had allowed the blood to flow quickly again.

"Okay, I'm serious, stop talking now. Save your strength. I have your damned phone. I'll call it in. Just stop now man. I need you to make it. So please just stop talking." Emotion had finally crept into Sam as he pleaded with Blaze to save his strength, he was losing him. Blaze was bleeding out right in front of him and there was not a damned thing he could do about it.

Blaze's face was so pale and his voice barely audible as he said with anguish "Blondie, get them back. Please. All the family I have. Can't survive if I lose Daphy again. Oh god Ben, his screams, haunting me." Blaze looked directly at Sam and used the remainder of his strength to whisper "Ben screamed and screamed for me to save him. I tried, I tried so hard. I failed Ben just like I failed you and Matt. Blondie, please save Ben." Tears slipped from Blaze's eyes.

Sam could see Blaze's emotional pain was so deep, it mirrored his own. Blaze was getting so close to losing consciousness and giving up. Sam needed him to fight so he said firmly "Don't you dare give up. Fight dammit, fight to hang on. You did not fail. Hear me, you did not fail!"

His voice demanding but full of emotion Sam continued "You did all you could. Stay strong and fight. They need you. I promise I will do whatever I have to do to save Ben and Daphy. But you promise me you will hang on. You can count on me, my life for theirs any day. They are special to both of us. Promise me you will hang on."

Blaze barely nodded before his eyes closed and he succumbed to the blackness.

Sam was feeling panicked he could not lose Blaze, not like this, not right now. If he lost Blaze now he might fall apart and that would not help save Ben. Where the hell was the medic?

He was about to call out again for the medic when the paramedic rounded the corner. Sam looked up and tried to mask his feeling but it completely crumbled and fell away when he saw it was Jim. With cracked emotion in his voice he said "Jim, he just lost consciousness. He's lost so much blood; shoulder, hip and thigh wounds."

Jim took in the whole scene and immediately set to work. Blaze needed him but so did Sam. He saw the panic; he knew it would be close for Blaze because he had taught Sam how to assess. He moved quickly and called out for a gurney.

"Sam, keep pressure for me until my partner arrives" Jim requested firmly giving Sam something to focus on, a job to do.

Remaining in place applying pressure, Sam nodded while Jim worked to stabilize Blaze. He could hear some of the questioning and it sounded like Sarge finally got one of the subjects to start talking. He hoped it wouldn't be long before they had information they could act upon. The emotion getting a foothold had him thinking somewhat irrational that he needed to do something now, right now making him want to run off half-cocked. But to where he had no idea.

Jim could see Sam getting antsy and he had to help center him. He did not know the situation beyond the many injured and dead at this location but he did know that this was a safe house. Blaze, Winds and he had used it once nearly ten years ago.

So Jim asked "Who is Blaze protecting here?" He didn't really expect an answer knowing it was probably classified. He was just trying to draw Sam into conversation to redirect his thinking.

Sam hesitated whether he should tell him or not. Then he decided he could skirt protocol by using only her nickname. "Someone very special to Blaze. We found Daphy this morning. Someone took her from here. I just promised Blaze I would do everything I could to get her back if he promised to hang on."

Jim looked at him sharply with questioning and shock. "Daphy is alive, hot damn! Blaze had to be beside himself. She was … Crap … someone took her from here. My god!"

Sam nodded then added "Yeah and they took Ben too. I promised to get Ben back. I would gladly give my life to save Ben."

Jim heard the icy dead seriousness in Sam voice. Sometimes he sounded as scary as the General. "Who is Ben?" Jim asked starting the IV.

"That would be Matt's and Daphy's son, Matthew Benjamin Hunter Jr." Sam grinned slightly at Jim's shocked expression.

"No friggin way! I knew they were an item before she left. Shit!" then Jim laughed.

It was Sam's turn to be shocked "What's so funny?"

Jim had just finished taping off the IV and reached to set the drip wide open because Blaze needed lots of fluids now as he said "Well the night before Daphy left on assignment Matt came to me all flustered and beet red. You know how he got when he was embarrassed about something."

"Took a bit but he finally asked me if I had any protection. I asked why. He stuttered out that he wanted to have a special night with Daphy. I teased him a lot before I finally told him sorry I didn't have any. Christ I think he was too embarrassed after that to bother asking anyone else. Don't think he was a kiss and tell guy. I think the only reason had the courage to ask me was I was the unit medic."

Jim grinned at Sam "I guess they had the special night without protection."

Sam was always amazed at how quickly Jim could work and still hold a conversation. Jim had the IV all set, vitals taken and recorded and had just moved Sam's knee aside and was working on the thigh wound applying a tighter pressure pad that finally stopped the bleeding.

Blaze was nearly ready for transport. Sam shook his head at Jim realizing that he had just treated two patients at once. One physical and one emotional. That small bit of conversation had helped disperse his panic and allowed him to get his emotions clamped back down.

Sam was calm again as he said "Thanks Jim I really needed that. Oh you are right Matt never was a kiss and tell guy. He said he was gonna wait for the right woman. I'm glad he didn't ask anyone else that night. Ben's the spitting image of Matt except he has jet black hair. Just wait til you meet him."

The gurney arrived and Sam helped Jim and his partner get Blaze onto it. As they left Sam called out "Take care of Blaze, please. His family needs him."

"Got it. Be safe. Make sure I don't have to take care of you later." Jim called back.

As he rushed out with Blaze he had many thoughts. First was that it was a good thing that he was able to settle Sam down. Sam needed control if he is going to handle this. Then he thought it was good to hear that Daphy was alive and Matt had a boy. He couldn't wait to meet him.

Jim trusted Sam would get them back. Then Jim shuddered as he registered all the sheet covered bodies on the ground as they made their way to the ambulance. Too damned much like over there.

Sam was alone in the kitchen and he muted his headset. He pulled out Blaze's encrypted phone and dialed from memory. When it was answered he said "Master Corporal Samuel W. Braddock B23-509-653. Garfield."

["Roger. Standby."]

["Verified. Status?"]

"Unit four of six down, one pursuit of targets, injured, no com. Package two of two taken. Hostiles unknown. SRU Team One on scene, clearance code AA-T1-SXP."

["Standby, five."]

Sam paced while he waited for five minutes as the operator indicated. He wanted to be able to take action now. He needed to save Ben now. But there was absolutely nothing he could do at the moment. The best way to help Ben and Daphy was to stay detached and treat it like a normal call.

Team One was the absolute best at tracking abductions. Let the Boss, Jules and Spike work their magic and get info to locate Ben and Daphy. Then Ed and he could define a plan to extract them and the whole team would execute the plan. Ben would be safe and sound soon with Team One on it. He breathed a deep sigh of relief.

Then it hit him hard. Aw crap he shouldn't have called in. Should he hang up now? No, that wouldn't change the outcome now because the distress code was already given.

Shit, shit, shit! God fucking dammit, he hadn't thought fully through the consequences of doing as Blaze asked. He chided himself that he could be so fucking stupid sometimes. Sam was pulled from his mental cussing fit as Colonel Sutton came on the line.

["Braddock, Colonel Sutton. Details."]

Sam launched into the details "Sir, Blaze, Daniel, Angus, Hal all alive but out of commission, all enroute to St. Simons. Russ no harm. Winds unknown, last seen in pursuit, no comlink, I have his phone and Blaze's. Both packages taken. Sir it's a blood bath here approximately twenty dead. So far media kept at bay but damage control is needed. SRU Team One on scene and have five subjects in custody. Sergeant Parker interviewing. Instructions Sir?"

Sam knew protocol. He damn well knew he was not going to like Sutton's instructions. But a very small part of him hoped with the earlier clearance for Team One and the fact they were already on scene it would make a difference.

["Stand down. This is a JTF2 matter and I will be sending another unit to handle the retrieval" Sutton told him.]

Shit, shit, shit, dammit, exactly as he expected. But he tried anyway "Sir, I respectfully request that SRU Team One be allowed to handle this. SRU is fully equipped to handle this situation. We are on scene and we were cleared to assist with obtaining the packages this morning. We are well trained to deal with abductions. Clearance should still be active."

["Braddock, you will stand down now. Given that the package identity is confirmed it is now a matter of national security and JTF2 has sole jurisdiction" Sutton stated even though he hated to do so.]

One last ditch effort, Sam said "Sir, I need to speak to the General."

[Sutton barely stopped himself from sighing. He said "You know nothing changes. The General has to follow protocol. This is a JTF2 matter."]

"Yes Sir, I understand completely. Just transfer me to the General please" Sam requested respectfully.

["Standby" Sutton responded. Then he placed a call to William. This was a no win situation and he hated to be the one to connect Sam with William.]

Sam paced. He did not, emphatically did not, want to do this but he had no choice. He paced as he waited. Sweat dripping from the heat and from the action he was about to take.

As he waited he listened a bit to Jules, she was getting nowhere. They refused to speak to a mere woman. That made him laugh. Jules was no mere woman. Jules was the best. Just hearing her voice soothed him. He hoped she would understand and forgive him for what he had to do. He literally snapped to attention as the General's voice came on the line.

["Samuel, Colonel Sutton briefed me. You know protocol. This is a JTF2 matter and therefore out of SRU jurisdiction. Son I know it is difficult but you and your team must stand down now. It is out of your hands. A JTF2 unit will be there in about an hour to begin the search retrieval process."]

Sam took a deep breath and said steadily "Sir. SWB-B23-509-653-hell-just-froze-over."

[The General was stunned speechless for a few moments but recovered quickly "Samuel you are doing this voluntarily?"]

"Yes Sir, but only on two conditions. You must allow me to lead the unit in charge of rescuing Daphne and Ben. And you must allow me the bandwidth to use whatever resources I deem necessary for the mission" Sam clearly and firmly stated.

["And after this is over? You know I have limited pull if you do this, protocol. Samuel are you sure?" William asked again.]

Sam squeezed his eyes shut, inhaled deeply then opened them as he exhaled slowly to calm himself and ensure his voice was completely steady before he replied. "Sir, I fully understand the consequences. You know my feelings on that matter. But if you will agree to my conditions, I will abide by whatever decision is made when this is over."

[General Braddock had very mixed feelings as he stated "I agree to your conditions. Voluntary reactivation to full active duty accepted. Master Corporal Braddock you are in charge of the mission. Standby while I inform Colonel Sutton. Then we can discuss your needs for the mission. I assume it will include clearance for Team One."]

Switching back to military lingo Sam answered "Roger."

Sam paced to the family room while he was waiting. His mind was racing with strategies but was halted instantly when he saw a piece of paper on the floor. He bent down and retrieved it.

It was a child's attempt at drawing a duck. A single tear escaped and slipped from his eye before he clamped his emotions again and hastily wiped it away.

He would do anything to save Ben. Even if it meant giving up his life in exchange.

Sam folded the drawing and put it in his left vest pocket close to his heart. He whispered to the empty air around him "Ben hang on little buddy, Unca Sam is coming to save you."