Disclaimer: Adam and David belong to Patricia Briggs, no profit is being made from this work of fanfiction.

A/N: Just a short little story about Adam's time in Vietnam, and the events that lead to him being changed into a werewolf.

Read, review but most of all enjoy!

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Welcome to the Jungle

Vietnam, 1973

It had been raining for two weeks straight as the small reconnaissance unit moved silently through the overgrown jungle of Southern Vietnam. The water drizzled off their camouflaged helmets, running down their necks and soaking their clothes. The men shivered uncontrollably, but kept walking without complaint.

As they were trained to do.

The cold and wet conditions didn't slow them down, they had a job to do, and they were the only ones that could do it.

There was a reason their unit was chosen. They were the best of the best. The US Army's top recon unit. Their commander, Adam Hauptman was a young man who stopped at nothing to achieve his objective. He was smart, brave and he actually cared about the men who served under him. They followed him, not only because they were trained to do so, but because they wanted to. Unlike many who made the rank of Sergeant, Adam was driven by the desire to see his mission through, and his men safe, he didn't care about the status, or power his rank gave.

A howl came from the jungle in front of them and Adam stopped, holding up his hand in a silent gesture to remain where they were. Minutes passed, the only sound was the rain beating down on the plants around them.

His second-in-command, a big, black man named David looked around, his eyes scanning the jungle. He turned his head and looked at Adam, "Sarge," he said quietly, "I might be mistaken, but I swear that was a wolf we heard."

Adam frowned, he had thought the same thing.

"There aren't any wolves in Asia," answered Tom, a young private. "Are there?"

Adam shook his head silently before motioning to his men, and they started to move forward. David took point, his eyes sweeping the jungle, not missing a thing. Richard, an older man with 20 years in the military took the rear guard.

Slowly the jungle started to clear, the trees and vines becoming sparser as the jungle opened up into a small clearing of waist length grass.

In the middle of the clearing stood a small, wooden shack. From this distance it looked abandoned but Adam and the others knew better. It was the hideout for a powerful warlord, and their target.

Adam motioned to his team and the five men gathered around him, David kept his eyes on the shack as they all crouched down out of sight.

"Ok men," Adam said in his southern drawl. "We know our mission, in and out, no casualties."

"Capture or kill?" Tom asked quietly.

"Kill," Adam said without hesitation. "This warlock has killed too many of our brothers, with him dead we'll make a dent in their intelligence operations and give us the best advantage we've had since the start of this war."

He looked around. "I'll take point, Richard, you take the rear. Shoot to kill." He stood up, and holding his M16 out in front of him walked slowly through the tall grass towards the shack, his men fanning out and following him.

They hadn't quiet reached the building when a loud growl shattered the silence. The men froze, weapons at the ready as the door to the building slowly opened and a young man stepped out. He was smaller than they expected, with wide cheekbones and short, straight black hair. He grinned at the soldiers standing in front of him, no fear in his gaze.

"Gentlemen," he said in heavily accented English. "I've been looking forward to this meeting for a long time."

Adam held the gun steady, pointing it right at the young warlock standing in front of him. "And why would that be?" he asked.

The man smiled again and took a step closer.

"Stay where you are, or I'll shoot." Adam called, his voice ringing through the clearing as he held the gun pointed at the warlock's chest.

The man ignored him and took another step forward. Unwilling to risk the safety of his men to this known killer, Adam responded by firing a few quick rounds into the man's chest. The warlock staggered back, but kept on his feet. He raised his head, blood running down his chest.

"You shouldn't have done that," he said with a growl. He took another step forward, his eyes turning yellow. Slowly his body started to twist and reform as he tore at his clothes. Adam took a step back, his rifle dropping to his side as his eyes widened in horror.

"What is it? What is he doing Boss?" Tom yelled, an edge of panic in the young private's tone.

Locking his jaw, Adam raised the gun again and pointed his semi-automatic rifle at the Warlock and empties the magazine into the man's chest. When all he did was stumble and growl some more Adam knew he had to change tactics. The Warlock wasn't human. He turned "Go," Adam yelled to his men, waving his arm in the direction of the jungle. "Go, now."

"Sarge, what is he?" another of his men asked as they turned and ran back into the jungle.

"A monster," Adam gasped harshly, shouldering his weapon and following his men, making sure they all stuck together. Behind him the sounds of ripping flesh and howls following them through the trees.

Adam knew the monster would follow them, and he chambered a new rounds into the M16's magazine as he ran behind his men, protecting their back. In front of him Tom stumbled over a vine and tumbled to the floor. Adam grabbed the younger man under the arm and hauled him to his feet. "Run!" he shouted, shoving him in the back to make him run faster.

Behind them a wolf howled.

"Go, go!" David yelled pelting through the jungle. The men ran as fast as they could, but the werewolf quickly gained on them. Following their sent and the sound of them crashing through the underbrush.

It came upon them fast, muzzle dripping with saliva, its yellow eyes bright and crazy. Adam heard the wolf come up behind them. Pushing Tom in front of him he stopped and turned. He looked down his sights and let a bullet fly, hitting the werewolf right between the eyes.

The werewolf didn't stop, its momentum propelling him forward, he jumped and landed on Adam, sending him falling to the floor, the werewolf above him. The rifle when skittering away as the werewolf lunged for him, ripping into his flesh with a savage growl.

Adam screamed, trying to fight the wolf off, but he was losing blood quickly as the wolf put a great paw on his chest and ripped his ribcage apart.

"Hey!" a shout sounded and the wolf was blasted off Adam as another bullet entered its brain. The wolf growled, shaking its head. The bullet slowly pushing back out of its skull and the skin healing visible fast.

The werewolf turned its head and growled, launching itself at the man who had shot him. The soldier screamed hideously, falling under the wolf's claws.

One by one each man in Adam's team fell under the monsters teeth and claws. Adam lay motionless on the ground, his heart beating weakly. His fingers twitching as each man screamed, wanting to help, but unable to move.

The sound of the wolf eating filed his ears. It's my fault, he thought as he heard David yell and another shot echoed in the jungle. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, feeling his heart start to slow as he lost more and more blood. Then the weird things started to happen.

He started to feel better. His breathing became easier. He could feel his fingers and toes again. Maybe he wasn't as wounded as he thought he was. With a moan he rolled onto his side.

He looked down and put a hand on his chest. Four, deep gashes covered his chest. Perhaps he had imagined the feeling of his ribs being torn apart.

He could hear the wolf a short distance away, the sound of it feeding surprisingly loud in the deep jungle as it started to rain again.

He took a deep breath and shook his head, slowly, painfully he got to his feet.

The rain masked the sound of his movement's as he picked up his gun and slowly moved through the jungle. He stopped when the wolf came into view. The ground was covered in blood, his men lay unmoving on the soaked ground.

Movement out of the corner of his eye drew his attention. It was David, his chest slowly rising and falling as he struggled to breathe.

Adam turned his attention back to the wolf, back to the Warlock they had been sent to kill. Slowly he raised the rifle to his shoulder and looked down the barrel.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, pulling the trigger as his lungs prepared to fill again. The bullet hit the wolf in the middle of its head, the downward momentum sending it deep into the beast's spine. The wolf crumpled to the floor. Paralyzed.

Running forward Adam grabbed David under the arms and hauled him to his feet, putting his arm around his waist and taking most of his weight. Behind him the wolf growled, still alive. Adam slowly turned and looked the wolf in the eye. He reached for his belt and unhooked his last remaining grenade, pulling the pin he tossed it casually towards the wolf. He rushed out of the clearing, pulling David with him.

One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi.

BOOM.

Adam and David were blasted off their feet as the jungle behind them shook as dirt and trees were blasted in all directions.

Adam groaned, everything hurt. He looked over, David was unconscious again but at least he was still breathing. Overhead he heard the unmistakable sound of a Cobra and breathed a sigh of relief. Backup had finally arrived.

His men were dead, the mission was a bust. But at least he was alive.

That was the important thing right?

A/N: Thank you all for reading. I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I did. I'm looking forward to writing a few more short stories about some of the other characters in the Mercyverse.