The OP

Chapter 2

It had been a month since Eddie saw the woman-whose real name he never got- and her team in his tent. It caught him by surprise how often he thought of that team, the sudden arrival, and the abruptness with which they disappeared when he ran out to grab some extra supplies.

He was utterly stunned to learn that they had just left quietly. He still had no real clue where they came from or what they were doing in this hell hole, but he knew it was serious, based on the fact that the name 'Viper', was mentioned, which meant that the men with her were her team of SEALs. It led Eddie to believe that they were doing something covert in the area that got bloody real fast.

So much happened on base and there was a constant hive of activity, yet he often would look as the helos taking off and wonder, 'Are you on that bird?', or ' Are you keeping safe?' And these thoughts surprised him greatly and often left him with a twinge of guilt hovering at the edges of his subconscious.

After 2 months, Eddie had all but moved on from the encounter with the SEAL team in med. He knew they were likely already moved somewhere else, as he knew that a team like that went where they were needed and never truly stationary in one location.

So, imagine his surprise when he got called to TOC with immediate yet cryptic orders.

Once he arrived, it seemed like controlled chaos, and at the center was a tall blond woman with a clear and commanding voice, crisply laying out some sort of plan, while her team stood behind her only speaking when required.

"Ah Diaz, good. You are here." Boomer- if Eddie remembered correctly- said, drawing the other's attention.

"Staff Sargeant Diaz. Good of you to join us. Let's begin" Captain Fullerton said as he nodded at Eddie.

"Sir!" Eddie replied stiffly, masking his confusion as he stood at parade once he saluted and was told, " At ease."

Strangely Eddie noted that the SEALs were very laid back and informal. He also noted that they seemed healed, but tired. He wondered what they had been up to the last 2 months.

While he didn't know yet, he figured he was about to find out soon enough just what they needed him for. 

It seemed like a blur to Eddie but within 48 hours of being called to TOC, Eddie was assigned as a medic to the special detachment with the SEALs and flown out with the team to what would be their new base camp for however long this special assignment would take. 

When Eddie had been shown to the area that members of the SOGs often were seen entering into and taken to an area cordoned off from the rest and was clearly used by the SEAL team, he had asked the woman he had learned was actually called Buck- for some reason- why they had asked for him as he was sure there were many other medics who could do the job and were used to the craziness of their missions, he was surprised when the woman told him simply 

"you were chosen for your characteristics, Sgt, I also don't need a yes-mam soldier. I need someone who is confident and strong enough to stand his ground when needed. I also did a background check on you Diaz. You'll fit in just fine." 

"But…" Eddie trailed off, not knowing what to say, and simply watched as the Petty Officer walked off. 

Chuckling drew his attention to his left and he saw that a man about his age was leaning against the wall smirking. "don't worry about her Diaz, Viper takes a while to warm up to people when she's in mission mode. She already trusts you more than most." The man said. 

"yeah? How do you figure?" Eddie asked as he regarded the man and realized that he was one of the men in the med tent that day 2 months ago. 

"Simple. You made it past the gates. Viper and our CO wouldn't let anyone into the group if they didn't see something worth trusting. And she usually has a knack for reading people. Makes her scary in interrogations and planning tactics, but it sure helps when she is assessing the situation, besides, she doesn't let just anyone tend to her when she needs help. And she let you stitch her up." 

"come on. Let's get your gear stowed and I'll show you around and give you the lay of the land. By the way, I'm Dave 'Red' Willis, team medic." the man said as he led Eddie to where Eddie would be calling home for the next however long. 

It had been 2 weeks since Eddie had been assigned to the SEAL team and he was still reeling from it all, the fact that he was here was shocking in and of itself, but he was starting to think that this SEAL team was utterly insane.

In those 2 weeks, he had to watch numerous raids and patch up one team member or the other, and he still had no clue how they operated. It seemed to him that there were times when an entire conversation was exchanged with simple glances.

It was clear to him that their Petty Officer commanded just as much respect as their actual CO… a man who was clearly used to leading from the front, though he clearly trusted his team he remained a specter in the dark.

  Often seen watching his team like a sentry standing guard. He was protective of them and seemed even more so with the Petty Officer, though what their relationship was, puzzled Eddie a great deal, and often left Eddie shoving down a twinge of jealousy. 

"Intel suggests that we have a window of opportunity that closes in 36 hours," Viper said as she looked up from the tablet in her hands, making eye contact with her CO first before glancing at the rest of the team and drawing their attention.

"That's great, Viper, but still doesn't give us much to go on," the man said as he glanced at the room then at the map on the wall and took the tablet from Viper's hands to examine the data on the device.

"it gives us enough Smooth Dog, its gives us a starting point for where to search. Its more than we had a few days ago. With this intel we can run the grid, head into over the wire and scour the ground, use our informants." Viper argued. 

The CO, Smooth Dog, gazed at the maps on their peg boards seeming to assess the intel and what he knew of the information they had, and gave a nod at Viper.

"Alright, you fill the team in and pull a plan together. I'll run this up the chain, then when I get back, we can run through the plan and iron out the details." Smooth Dog stated as he turned on his heel and headed out of the tent. 

It seemed to Eddie that this team operated on one speed and that was rapid fire. 

As soon as they got the green light from command, they had plans drafted, equipment prepped, and were ready to go. Something else that Eddie noticed was that this team was more outside the wire than they were inside the wire. 

And he was pulled into the fray with them. Not that he minded, per se. He was a combat medic and trained for this, he just never anticipated that he would see so much combat in such a short time frame.

14 hours later

The heat of fire and the haze of smoke seemed to suffocate Eddie as he took cover behind the corner of the wall of a derelict building that had clearly seen better days.

It had all been relatively simple when the team rolled into town. It was quiet, something Boomer had commented on and said it felt off. A thought that was echoed by most of the team, all agreeing that something felt off. 

"Viper, what do you have?" Smooth Dog asked as he peered around the edge of the wall he was taking cover behind, firing off two shots and ducking behind the wall again.

"Nothing. Yet. I need to head down one more street." Viper told them in their comms as the team kept firing off shots and taking out enemies as they bought Viper and Columbus some time to find where their informant was being held.

It was something that had made Eddie nervous for both Viper and Columbus as soon as he heard that they were going to split up from the main group, because he knew that this area was known to be very hostile, especially to American individuals.

It took another 10 minutes for the team to take out men firing at them and a further 15 minutes before there was a squawk from their comms as Viper's voices came over the line.

"Splinter 2 to Splinter 1. Respond".

  Smooth Dog keyed his mike "Splinter 1 to Splinter 2, we are Oklahoma. SITREP?"

"Splinter 1. We have jackpot on the prize. Vectored in at route I-55. The package seemed a little dinged but still good for transpo." Viper responded. 

"Copy Splinter 2, ETA to I-55 30 mikes. How copy?" Smooth Dog said.

"Good copy Splinter 1. See ya in 30. Splinter 2 out."

45 minutes after the initial firefight Eddie and the remaining team of SEALs were gathered around a man in his 40s, Eddie tending to his wounds. Fortunately, the man only seemed to be bruised and had a slight concussion but otherwise was unscathed.

"Abadi, what happened? You were supposed to wait for us. Viper was on her way to you?" Smooth Dog said as he looked at the man in question.

"I do not know what happened friend, they came out of nowhere. I was waiting at the minaret for your friend. The next I know there are gunshots and many screams."

"he's good to go," Eddie said as he got up from his position in front of the man.

"He has mostly some bruising to his torso and face, head lac wasn't too deep. And a small concussion. He's gonna be sore and tender but he'll live."

"Good. Cause we gotta hustle and get out of here. Picking up chatter from TOC. Bogies heading our way and there are a lot of them." Red reported, holding a hand to his hear, while his other hand twitched on his weapon.

"Copy. Let's hustle ladies:" Smooth Dog said, pulling his weapon to his chest and moving to the door, the team stacking up behind him in formation.

It took the team an hour to reach their RZ, and Eddie could tell that the team was on high alert for any more attacks.

Eddie could only sigh in relief when he heard the whop-whop of helicopter blades in the distance and heard Smooth Dog order "Pop smoke".

"Popping smoke," Viper grunted and tossed a can about 20 ft in front of them, green smoke drifting up to the sky.

"Do you have smoke Comanche?" Red asked into his comms.

There was a moment of tense silence as the team waited for the response from their extraction helo.

" I have green smoke. I repeat Green smoke" the pilot replied as he banked east, heading for the team.

"Copy green smoke. that's us" Red responded as the whole group readied themselves to get on the helo.

Once the helo landed, they hustled Abadi to helo, and was in the air in seconds. Everyone let out a sigh of relief, it might not have gone as planned and they might still be in the hot seat, but they were heading to the base with minimal injuries beyond some bruises. So that was a win they would take.

"Alright folks, we are RTB. ETA 20 mikes." the pilot said and took off.

'One half of the mission was completed now to complete the rest. And stay alive' Eddie thought as he glanced at the blank faces of those around him, eyes lingering on Viper a moment longer.