"Adam."

"What?"

"Are you Adam Torres?"

Adam stood in front of the two soldiers, covered in dirt and towering over him, they looked at him with intimidating expressions.

"Y-yes."

"Good." They took him outside of the building, it was pitch black out, even the moon's dim light wasn't helping. There, he saw Drew, bound and gagged to a flag pole. He started to panic,

"W-What is this-"

The man rested, or slapped, a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down."

The other man walked up to him, he had a knife to Drew's neck, apparently knocked out. There was another man, he had some sort of gun in his hand along with a gasoline tank,

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING-"

"Choose!"

Adam stopped, there was no point in fighting against the 6'7" man. He didn't want to know what he meant, "What?"

"CHOOSE!" he yelled more harshly.

Adam knew what he meant, but he didn't want to know.

"Choose what?"

"BURN OR SLASHED? Either you choose one for him or its both!"

Adam felt his knees crumpling, he began to sink to the floor, "I cant choose…" he began to scream, "I CANT CHOOSE!"

"Fine! Do it both! Now!"

"NO! Slash! Slash him!" it would be quick and painless he hoped. He watched the man slice Drew's throat open, bleeding out, Adam was unable to pick himself back up.

Then a phone rang.

It was broad daylight, Adam was hanging off the side of his bed, his sheets had been knocked all around and his pillow was damp with sweat. He looked around at the room for a second, then he heard the house phone ring a second time before hearing Cathy answer it. He sat up, wiping the sweat from his hair and he got out, remaking the sheets.

It had been a week since Drew left. And each dream kept getting worse. This one in particular was the worst. To choose how his brother would die? Adam swore he would've urinated himself. They hadn't heard anything from Drew, which was a good thing in the army. He knew Drew better than that, he would not let anything stand in his way. He sat on the bed and kept thinking about the nights dream, he told them to slash Drew.

He was in a panic he kept telling himself, it had been so vivid, he felt the fear, he felt the sand of the ground when he fell. He wished he hadn't looked when he cut Drew's throat…even his own subconscious mind had disturbing fears.

He heard Cathy walk in, "Your awake?"

Adam rubbed his eyes, "Not yet…"

Cathy could see it in his eyes, he didn't sleep at all the night before. She didn't say anything. Adam stood up, trying to smile "I'm gonna take a shower, is Emily up?"

"No, not yet." She fumbled with her finger nail.

Emily hadn't been napping as much as she should, ever since Drew left, she bubble and giggle every here or there, but no where near as much as she used to. He scrubbed himself clean, although he kept spacing out. He always spaced out when he was tired. The hot water didn't make a difference. After a short, 4 minute shower he stepped out, he could hear Emily's giggling as Cathy picked her up out of her crib. He dried himself, throwing on some fresh day clothes, the long sleeved shirt and jeans he'd wear in New York's freezing weather and did his usual morning hygienic routine, the one that used to bug the shit out of Jeff.

When he got down, Emily was in her high chair, picking at her little bites and Cathy was stirring the coffee beans. He knelt down at Emily,

"Good morning sweetheart."

Emily had a little piece of her treat in her hand, she started bouncing in excitement, giggling at him,

"Want coffee Adam?" She was about to grab a second cup,

"Yes, thanks."

It was so weird, living with a girl and baby as if it was his family. Good practice he supposed, but he kept telling himself he loved those people, so therefore, they were his family. Emily wrapped her tiny hand around Adam's index finger. She held out the treat in her hand to him. He was confused.

"What?" he asked, tickling her neck. She crooked her head down laughing. She still held the treat to his mouth. Now he got it.

"That's yours." he playfully stated, tickling the other side of her neck, she laughed even more. She still held it out, wining a little.

He snickered, "Ok, ok." he took it from her, "Thank you." he stood up, he heard Cathy pouring the coffee, he held the treat out in front of her, "For you." she held it in two fingers as Adam took his coffee.

Emily played all morning while Cathy typed out the manuscript of her next story, The Afterlife. It was the story of a man who makes a deal with the devil to return to the land of the living in order to be with his wife. His fate is to exist as a hell spawn until he finds 'the ultimate weapon' for the devil himself. Adam insisted the title be "Spawn" after she told him this, unfortunately, her editor always told her, once she has a title, that's the title.

Adam laid on the couch with Emily on his chest as she fumbled around with one of her toys. He was watching the news, mainly about politics and the latest disappearance of a young boy in Minnesota. He kept getting distracted and forgot Emily was there until he heard a baby noise from her every now and then. Adam had been keeping a good eye on her. She seemed to enjoy Adam's company, as he was the closest thing to her dad. She never wined or complained when Adam was near, however she never did anything of the sort when anyone was near, but show off how cute she was.

Adam was nothing like that as a baby according to his mother. Always reserved and quiet, in large companies, Adam's mother would hold him the entire time as Adam had his head down no matter how people adored him. He'd only smile at his family.

Drew however, was the showoff of the family. Like Emily, always giggling at everyone, showing how cute he was. At times however, people found Adam's shyness much cuter, and much to Adam's surprise, Drew at one point was jealous of Adam. However at the same time, Adam envied Drew's ability to speak to strangers, which he later grew into later in life.

Adam felt the softest smack on his cheek, he forward, Emily's pacifier slowly falling out with the biggest smile on her face, he could dare anyone to try and not to smile right then,

"What is it?" he lifted her above him, she squealed in delight, moving her arms and legs around. He sat upward, holding her close to his chest. She seemed to embrace him, arms reached out with her hands trying to reach his neck. He lifted her a little more, bouncing her on his knee. Then she got the look on her face, her mouth quivered, he stood up confused, she was happy just a second ago,

"What's wrong?" she began crying, "It's ok…shhh," he gently rocked her around. Cathy walked out from the office and Adam continued to rock her, "Is that a wet cry or a hungry cry?" Cathy rubbed her head,

"It's a tired cry, she needs a nap." She went to grab Emily but Adam backed away,

"Oh no, I'll do it."

Cathy winced, "You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna have my own one day…" hopefully.

After Adam walked upstairs with a crying Emily to the nursery, she worked more on the manuscript, getting writers block every few seconds. She finally gave up, giving a headache. She went out into the kitchen with the glass of sweet iced tea and took two of her ibuprofens, (her pain killers). It may have taken her five minutes to realize but Emily's crying had stopped. She quietly walked up the stairs, peeking into the nursery, Adam was in the rocking chair with her wrapped in her favorite blanket, he held her closely she heard him singing softly,

"All my life to sacrifice…Hey oh, this is what I say oh, I got your hey oh, now listen what I say oh,"

She remembered on the three's last car trip to the grocery store, that song came on, and Emily burst out into giggles. She was surprised how Adam could turn a soft rock song into a lullaby. Emily was fast asleep, her soft tummy slowly rising and falling. She watched as he laid her down in her crib, kissing her head, Cathy wanted to see if he scared easily. She scooted down the wall in the hallway and waited until he closed the door just a crack, she snuck closer,

"How hard was that?" she asked jumping her voice, Adam's head flinched over to her, proving her point. He smiled,

"Actually, not as bad as I thought."

She smiled, "You deserve a Grammy." she joked.

"I'd like to thank the academy and Emily Torres." he snickered. Cathy's smile faded, "What's wrong?"

"How have you been feeling?"

Adam tried to act confused, "Fine why?"

Cathy crossed her arms, not doing much due to the fact Adam towered over her. "I heard you screaming in your sleep…I thought you were possessed-"

"Wait, I really did scream?"

He saw a cocky grin on her face, "No, but now I know something's up." she put her hands on her hips. They sat down in the middle of the hallway, leaning against the wall, Adam finally explained the past few nights to her,

"Then, that's the end of that one. But last night, I swear to god it felt so real."

Cathy leaned forward, "These two soldiers have Drew kidnapped and, they tell me, either they can light him on fire and let him burn or they can cut his throat. The catch, its up to me." She flinched, "I had to choose how my brothers supposed to die. Otherwise they were going to do both.

"My god, the phone woke me up this morning thank god. I was drenched in sweat."

"Thank my editor." she smirked. Adam tried to smile, but went back to talking,

"I know he's ok…but I keep worrying."

She put a hand on his shoulder, "Because you're his little brother." Cathy stood up, "In fact, when Emily gets up, lets get out mind off things, I have the perfect idea." She walked into the master bedroom to get dressed.

Later in the afternoon when it was cooler, they drove down to the beach. They could see everything out there, a few airboats flying by slicing the water in half, kayakers and small schools of fish out in the water. The sun hit their faces as the three looked out in amazement. Emily squealed excitedly over and over, waving her arms out towards the ocean. Adam held her up higher,

"You want to go?" Emily giggled, which was baby for 'yes'.

Cathy grabbed his shoulder, "I don't know Adam-"

"C'mon be adventurous!" he walked out just where the tide came in. He knelt down, letting Emily's feet touch the wet sand. She flinched it upward, but did let her foot down again, laughing. He looked over at Cathy,

"She loves it!" he called. She smiled, walking over. He was holding Emily around her waist, her feet playing around on the water as the waves came in. Cathy smiled when she saw Emily laughing. She took out her camera she brought, taking a picture of her,

"Drew would love to see pictures of her."

Adam picked her up as Cathy backed up, Adam didn't realize she was taking a picture and lifted Emily in the air as she smiled in delight. He brought her back down, lifting her up and down playfully.

"Adam!" she walked over, holding the camera in front of his face, in the picture, was a close up of him holding Emily up right when he first lifted her, she was smiling perfectly. It was one of those pictures that if he tried to do it again for a picture, it wouldn't be the same.

Adam held her closer, still reaching to go back in the water, "Drew would love that…if it was him holding her up…" Cathy frowned and the two became tranced in the picture before she shook her head,

"No! We're here to have fun! To-to relax for a day." Adam nodded,

"Right!" The three walked back out to shore once again, letting Emily dip her feet.

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-X

Out in Afghanistan, it was 1 A.M. no one out on the streets, only about 3 stores open. Silence was peaceful but frightening at the same time for the troupes, they stood guard on high alert. They all whispered in fluent Persian. Some of the troupes not speaking English, they had to have Persian as they're absolute second language. It took Drew two years to master Persian. It was simple memorization. However he wasn't among the guarding soldiers although he was supposed to be. He was behind the guard railing outside his shelter, laying, in a dream.

It was a dream of holding Emily, back in the comforts of his living room, the beautiful dark haired woman that was his wife, in a beautiful, white-silk dress made the dinner as he did. Emily's beautiful smile as he bounced her. He told Emily he's home, everything was ok now. She giggled just as he thought she would…

"Torres."

The picture wavered, starting to break up. He tried to hold on to the beautiful image.

"Torres."

The picture began to darken as the voice began to slice its way into the dream.

"Torres!"

He jerked up, "What? What?" he was awake, unhappy that in 10 minutes he wouldn't remember his dream.

"Wake up."

It was the Sergeant Cassel. 6'7", muscles that could intimidate the Hulk and a voice so deep that it made the others like they were still going through puberty. Drew didn't mean to fall asleep, he lifted himself up, not even daring to try and size up to Cassel,

"I'm sorry-"

"Just don't do it again…if we were attacked you would've been the first to go." He pushed him to the others at the base on the other side of camp, "Now maybe they'll keep you awake." the others laughed as Drew joined the guard,

"Tired Torres?" his partner and arguably, closest friend since boot-camp Turner mocked. The other two laughed as he elbowed Drew, "Come on! You gotta stay up. The Libyans made it to the country lines half an hour ago."

Drew had to get it out, all the melting feelings inside him were too much on top of all this, "Do you have a kid Turner?"

The others stopped laughing as Turner turned to him rather than the blackness of their camp, "Not yet-"

"I do." he looked at him, "She's 3 months old and the most beautiful girl you'll ever see. I'd do anything to be home and to have her in my arms right now."

Turner looked away in both guilt and sympathy, the others went back to keeping an eye out for Libyan troupes. One of the five of them couldn't keep their mouths shut,

"Just wait until she's 16." all except Turner laughed. Drew still had his temper, he beamed the back of his helmet with the nose of his rifle.

"Ow! Ok I'm sorry."

"Your just lucky this thing isn't cocked." Turner snickered at that.

In Toronto, it was now 7 at night, the three had just arrived home from the beach. Emily had so much fun, Cathy finally decided she'd send Drew the picture of her holding a seashell. She was asleep in her car seat as Adam quietly unbuckled her, carrying her in with her head on his shoulder.

"I'll put her to bed." he whispered walking upstairs.

That night as he was in bed however, he turned and tossed around in bed, breathing heavily, "Wha-wa-where's…where's-where's my brother?" he mumbled in his sleep, sweat seeped through his night clothes, "No-no…he's-" he was dreaming of shoving through crowds of people, trying to find his brother, "He's not dead…no!" he was about to fall off the bed, in his dream, he could no longer understand their language, suddenly he heard crying, snapping him out of his dream. He sat up, slowly realizing it was over. He realized Emily was crying.

Cathy was slowly pulling herself out of bed, she woke up when she made it to the nursery. She found Adam there, holding her and gently rocking her back and forth, "Shh…its ok…" he realized it was his yelling in his nightmare that woke her up, he figured he should do the honors, "I'm sorry…" he whispered, "Uncle Adam just had a bad dream." The crying began to tone down as Cathy watched from the hallway, he kissed her head as she finally stopped.

Now it was time to get her to sleep, he thought Cathy was still in bed, and sat down in the rocking chair singing softly,

"Come to decide that things that I tried…Were in my life just to get high on…When I sit alone come get a little known…"

Cathy listened in to his soft, peaceful singing as Emily was lulled to sleep. She hadn't heard him scream in his sleep downstairs, but for one thing, she knew he was just like his brother…and he was going to make a great father some day.

XFurubaX: This is all for the second chapter! =) If anyone wants to know; the song Adam is singing is called "Snow (Hey Oh)" by The Red Hot Chili Peppers