A/N: Hey guys, I'm sorry it took me so long to get this up. I'd had the ending of this chapter planned out before I finished the last one, but I couldn't figure out how I wanted them to get there. Plus, I've been working extra shifts, and took a short vacation for a friend's wedding, so I haven't had a lot of time. But I finally worked it out and was able to finally sit down and write it out today! And be glad my insomnia kicked in, otherwise you'd have had to wait another day or two for an update.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and those still reading! I promise I'm still working on this story!
Enjoy!
1969
To say things had been tense in the hooch was an understatement. Combs and Murdock seemed to be the only ones whose opinions of the new lieutenant hadn't changed since the revelation about his age and involvement in drug dealing. BA could barely stand to be in the same room with him, and only did so under Hannibal's orders. Still, he spent the whole time glaring and growling if he wasn't trying to ignore the kid. Reyes wasn't just ignoring Peck, he had simply been keeping to himself more. And Ray was trying to process it all. He'd known about the kid's drug dealing, but he hadn't realized that he really was just a kid. He knew Hannibal was right, but that didn't ease his concern any. Peck had been surlier than usual, ignored all Murdock and Combs' attempts at socializing, and stayed out of the hooch and away from the team as much as he could. Where he went and what he did, other than drink, was a mystery to the rest of them.
With their new mission, Hannibal knew he had to get them all on the same page, at least when it came to the job at hand. So, once again he'd brought out his own version of team building exercises. He was happily surprised when they all worked together to complete the exercises. Granted, there was still a lot of sniping and glaring at each other, especially between BA and Peck, but they still got the job done. The colonel knew BA would do what he had to do to get the job done, at the very least because Hannibal told him to, but also because that was just who he was. Peck, on the other hand, was still a mystery, but Hannibal had the suspicion that the kid knew this team was pretty much his last shot at not ending up in a prison cell stateside.
0
"Hey muchacho," Murdock greeted cheerfully when he finally found the young lieutenant behind a storage shed at the edge of camp, chain smoking with a now over half empty bottle of whisky.
Peck's annoyance was obvious; with the long-suffering sigh and exaggerated eye roll. "What the hell do you want flyboy?"
"You're not sharing," Murdock said, imitating a patronizing teacher, as he plopped down next to the kid and grabbed the bottle out of his hand.
"Hey!"
Murdock matched Peck's glare with a wide grin after he took a swig of the alcohol.
"You shouldn't have a hangover on the mission tomorrow."
The pilot's seriousness was a stark contrast to his previous teasing, and something the lieutenant hadn't really seen before now. Still, he rolled his eyes petulantly, grabbed the bottle back and retorted, "Thanks Mom, I'll try to remember that."
Smirking at the sarcasm, Murdock shook his head. The kid still didn't get it. Before the whole team knew about his age and involvement with drugs, the pilot had thought Peck was starting to relax a little, not a lot but it was something. Now, it seemed the kid was reinforcing the already dauntingly high and sturdy walls that he'd built around himself.
"Why does it matter?"
Peck paused in lighting his cigarette, and looked over at the captain; confusion written over his face. "What?"
"What does it matter if the team knows you're only eighteen and used to sell drugs?" Murdock elaborated.
The kid stared at him for a minute before turning his attention back out across the wire. Lighting his cigarette, Peck took a long drag before shooting back quietly, "Why don't you ask them?"
Murdock watched the kid, and replied honestly. "Because they're not the ones that keep running off and trying to drink themselves into oblivion."
"I'm n–"
"Then why do you keep avoiding everyone?" Murdock interrupted the denial, raising his eyebrows in challenge.
Peck looked away again.
"You wouldn't get it."
The pilot almost didn't hear the quiet answer. But he did. And retorted, "Kid, you don't know me."
The lieutenant didn't reply; wouldn't even look at the captain.
Murdock sighed. "Look, kimosabe, I don't know what happened to ya, but don't go thinkin' you're the only one with issues." He stood up, and pulled out a cigarette of his own. After lighting it, he looked down at Peck again and said, "You can bury yourself in a bottle if you want, just don't do it when the rest of the team is relying on you to not get them killed. Don't take them down with you."
0
BA had been keeping an eye on McKinney since Murdock had suggested, and Peck reiterated, that the other sergeant was using drugs. If he was honest with himself, BA knew it would explain a lot. Didn't make it easier to accept though, especially knowing he'd missed all the warning signs that had been right in front of his face.
He waited until he could confront the other man without witnesses. He wanted to be a friend first.
"Are you usin'?"
The blunt question barked at him, when he hadn't heard anyone approach, had McKinney nearly jumping out of his skin.
"Jesus BA! You 'bout gave me a heart attack!"
"Just answer the question," BA growled.
The other sergeant chuckled hollowly, shifting slightly. "Uh…what are you talking about?"
BA stared him straight in the eyes. "Are you usin' drugs?"
McKinney swallowed, but tried to smile. "I d-don't know what you're talking about BA."
But the big man had his answer. Sighing heavily, he placed a hand on McKinney's shoulder. "Look man, you need to quit. Do it yourself, or get some help. Because if ya don't, I'm going straight to Captain Higgins."
0
2 days later…
The mission had been to blow a bridge to disrupt the Viet Cong supply runs. That part had been a success. Unfortunately, the extraction hadn't gone as planned.
Once they'd all reached the rendezvous point, Charlie had been on them. They'd made a run for the pickup point, but somehow in the midst of the ensuing firefight the team had gotten separated.
The split up had made it easier to lose the VC, as they too had split up, but now the team were in different parts of the jungle, in enemy territory, with no way to contact each other.
"Anything?" Peck whispered.
The sergeant shook his head, lowering the binoculars he'd been using to scan the jungle for signs of their pursuers.
Closing his eyes for a minute, the lieutenant leaned his head back against the tree whose low-hanging limbs and underbrush they were hiding beneath. He knew he needed to gather his thoughts and find a way out of this mess. But this was one of those times he seriously regretted faking that year of college on his records that got him into OCS. Right now he really didn't want to be the highest ranking officer, or in this case the only officer, especially not with his current companion.
"You got a plan?"
"Yeah. Get the hell out of here." Peck knew his snarkiness wasn't appreciated, but he couldn't help it, especially after the skeptical question.
The lieutenant knew the only reason the scowl he received in response wasn't accompanied by a growl or threat was because of their current predicament. They both knew that they were going to have to work together to get back to camp, and that there were VC hunting them so they had to be extra careful and not give away their position.
Unfortunately, night was falling. They couldn't risk any form of light, so reading the map was out of the question. And neither knew enough about the terrain or their location to have anything other than a vague guess about which way they needed to go. At night, in the dark, trying not to leave a trail, it would be nearly impossible.
Peck let out a small, almost imperceptible sigh.
The sergeant knew it meant they were thinking the same thing. "Wait till light?"
Nodding once, Peck whispered back, "Gotta." After a long pause, the lieutenant opened his eyes. "Might as well stay here. We're pretty well hidden. Got a good view of any possible approach. And any attempt to change position could be overheard by Charlie."
BA didn't want to admit it, but the kid was right. Hell, the lieutenant just said what BA was thinking. Still, he knew it was going to be a long, tense night and however long it took them to find the rest of the team or make it back to camp.
"Take shifts?"
Peck nodded.
When the kid closed his eyes again, BA fought the urge to sigh. Looked like he was taking the first shift.
0
It was pitch black. With the clouds, and the heavy forest, the moon was hidden, along with any light it may have provided. The jungle was eerie. Despite the bugs, and other animals, the stillness was suffocating.
The first couple of hours, BA had heard the distant sounds of the VC searching. According to Peck's report when he woke BA up to switch watch, they had been silent after the first hour of his watch. And it had stayed that way.
Nights like these were always the hardest for the sergeant. The total darkness and silence creeped him out. He was from Chicago. Nights outdoors with trees and stars had taken some getting used to, but he'd learned to like it. The silence, on the other hand, he didn't think he'd ever stop being unnerved by. He was used to hearing cars, trains, sirens, people laughing and yelling, and all other kinds of sounds throughout the night.
He knew he was only halfway through his watch, and that the night wasn't even half over yet, but that didn't stop BA from wishing time would speed up.
A sudden crack had the sergeant gripping his pistol tighter and glancing around quickly, trying to find the source of the noise.
"Just a monkey."
Looking over, BA saw the young lieutenant hadn't moved from his position leaning back against the tree, and his eyes were still closed.
"They were off to the east in the trees. Sounds like they found an old branch."
"You sure?" The sergeant didn't know where the kid was getting this, he hadn't even opened his eyes, and until a minute ago BA had thought he was asleep.
The smirk was the first sign BA hadn't been just imagining the lieutenant was awake. "You sure you've been in these jungles before?"
BA glared at the wry retort, and countered, "How d'you know so much?"
He knew the kid had only been in country for a couple months, so he was curious how the lieutenant seemed so sure about the sounds of the jungle.
Peck shrugged. "I know what an old branch breaking off a tree sounds like. It's different than someone stepping on a branch."
The reply was simple, but BA furrowed his brows in confusion. "Thought you was from Los Angeles?"
A soft, quiet chuckle escaped the kid. "We had trees in LA." Opening his eyes a crack, he smiled at the sergeant. "What? No trees in Chicago?"
BA rolled his eyes, not responding to the jibe.
It was a few more minutes of silence before either spoke again.
"Why aren't you sleepin'?" BA wondered. Peck had closed his eyes again, but the sergeant had been watching and realized what he hadn't before; the kid's breathing never changed, never relaxed the way it would've if he were asleep.
"Don't sleep much." It was a simple answer. "Want me to keep watch so you can get some sleep?"
The casual, but sincere, offer had the sergeant furrowing his brows in confusion again. He didn't understand the lieutenant. Most of the time he was a grade A pain in the ass, he'd sold drugs, and acted like he didn't want anything to do with being part of a team. Yet, he got the supplies, and extras, they needed for missions, not to mention getting the supplies for the motor pool just because BA had asked, and here he was offering to take over BA's watch so the sergeant he was always a split second away from being in another fight with could get some extra sleep.
"Why'd you do it man?"
Peck opened his eyes and sent BA a bewildered look at the abrupt question. "Do what?"
"Sell drugs."
The sergeant watched the kid's face shut down immediately upon hearing those words. Those blue eyes went from curious to blank in an instant. It was almost as unsettling as the night. But BA wanted an answer.
"You said ya know how bad drugs are, so why sell 'em?"
Turning his gaze back out to the jungle, the lieutenant sighed.
At first, BA didn't think the kid was going to answer. But just as he was about to ask again, he heard the barely audible reply.
"Because people aren't going to quit using drugs. By selling them the drugs, I could control how much they got – how much they used."
BA thought about that for a minute. Then he remembered what the lieutenant had said. "That why you cut McKinney off?"
Peck looked over at the sergeant. Seeing an understanding forming in the man's eyes that hadn't been there before, he nodded.
Taking a deep breath, BA asked the other question that had been bugging him. "So what did ya mean when you said it was how ya'd got here?"
There was a flash in the kid's eyes that made the sergeant realize Peck hadn't been aware he'd said that part loud enough for the others, or at least BA, to hear. But it was gone in an instant, and the lieutenant looked away. "Nothing."
BA frowned. "'s not nothin'."
Squeezing his eyes shut, Peck took a breath. There was a long moment of silence before he finally sighed. "I killed someone."
A/N: Hope you liked this chapter! No guarantees when I'll be able to work on/post the next chapter, but I'm crossing my fingers it doesn't take as long as this one did. I wish I could just keep writing and at least start on the next chapter, but alas I picked up a shift on my day off so my alarm is going to be screaming at me in less than four hours and I need to get a couple hours of sleep.
As always, reviews are greatly appreciated!