Okay, so the incredibly talented Gib joked about/threatened to hold a chapter of her 'Destruction of Gov't Property' story hostage for another chapter of this story.
-Luckily she released one of her hostages as a sign of goodwill, earlier this morning.

Now, I don't usually negotiate with 'hostage takers' but in this particular case, I figured it was best to work it out anyway… (I mean, there could be more hostages, right?)

He glared down at his right arm, doubt had settled in his mind even before he shipped back to Texas.

The fact that he had a numb patch stretching from his ring and pinky finger, along the outside of his forearm and a little past his elbow rattled him.

The doctor had said it could pass, but that it also could be permanent nerve damage.

The thing that Jack found weird about it was that he could still move the two fingers. –He just couldn't feel anything brush against them.

He looked up again, placing his left hand around the cup of coffee next to him. It had cooled down enough to sip from.

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Nick watched as Jack pushed the eggs and bacon strips around on his plate.

He had couldn't remember the last time he had seen Jack act like this. The guy usually asked for seconds before he had finished up his plate. Now he had barely had half a strip of bacon and just a bit of scrambled eggs. He hadn't even touched the toast.

Nick put down his own fork and knife, and kept watching his twin.

Jack didn't notice.

'Eat something… It'll make you feel better…' it was on the tip of Nick's tongue. But he didn't say anything, fearing that it would push Jack into the same struggles as Christine finally had started to crawl herself away from.

He wasn't altogether sure that Jack wasn't already struggling with something like that. After all, he was a lot skinnier than when he had left about a year earlier. –But that could be all the exercise he naturally got.

Or could it? Jack had always been active. Never really able to sit still for long. He had always eaten more than Nick, but never really been bigger than him because he burnt all the extra calories.

-But he had eaten normally when all of the family had meals together. Hadn't he? He had. Sure.

"You know, and I know, that you will have to talk about this…" Nick sighed.

Jack's head bobbed up and down a little as he nodded. "I know…"

Nick kept staring at Jack.

"-But I don't know how…" Jack swallowed hard, dropping his fork on the table.

Nick nodded, understanding that his twin needed help to touch the subject. No matter how much it would hurt.

"How many times have you thought you were about to die?"

"In total? Or over there…?"

"Over there…" Nick shrugged, "Think I can guess the times you've thought that back here at home…"

Jack nodded, "Maybe 25… -Maybe 30…"

"30 times!" Nick gasped, "But you've only done this for a couple of years!"

"I know…" Jack cleared his voice, "But there's always something happening…"

"Okay, what was the scariest?"

"This one…" Jack sniffled, "Once I knew I was hit, I thought I would die…"

Nick bit his lip, "You were about to search a shack?"

Jack nodded.

"We were a short mile outside a village. Bleached sunny sky. No wind." Jack pressed the knuckles of his left hand against his lips. "Charlie, John and I were walking towards the building. Jerry, Box and Bryan were staying with our vehicle, ready to take out any surprises…"

Nick nodded.

"We were just about to kick in the door when it opened and they fired at full auto."

Nick closed his eyes, but only saw the scene clearer. "How did it go for the other guys on your team?"

"I was the one about to kick the door, so I was straight in front of it. I took the brunt of it." Jack swallowed, "John peeled off some skin near his right elbow, needed a few stitches. Charlie took a bullet in his left thigh, through and through. Didn't hit bone. –He'll be on crutches for a while, but he's optimistic. Says he'll be back in a few short months…"

Nick nodded, slightly worried for their common friend, "And Box?"

"He's doing okay. Physically at least…" Jack tapped his knuckles on the table, letting out an unsteady breath, "I think he also thought I was dying there, for a minute… I've never seen that boy like that…"

Nick sniffed, trying to keep back his tears. His brother didn't need for him to cry. Not now.

"The squads the three of us have been with have suffered so many losses this last year." Jack gritted out, "Figured I wa-"

He was rudely interrupted by a sob rushing past his lips, "-Figured I was next…"

The one sob quickly turned into two, then into more.

Nick pushed himself up, and moved the table enough for him to kneel down in front of Jack. His head almost level with Jack's.

"Hey… It's okay… You're home. You're safe…" Nick whispered as he let his right hand knead the back of Jack's neck softly. His own voice was breaking and tears trailing down his cheeks. "You're safe."

With another hiccup, Jack leaned forward and buried his face in Nick's shoulder. Nick started rubbing circles on the safe side of his brother's back, quietly whispering over and over that it was all gonna be alright.

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"Shhh… Shhh… Shhh… You've got to calm down…" Nick hushed after nearly ten minutes of Jack crying on his shoulder, "Your shoulder is going to be so mad at you for all this…"

But Jack wasn't ready to stop. He couldn't stop.

"Jackie…" Nick murmured, "-It's all gonna be alright…"

'It's all gonna be alright', the only thing he could think of that could possibly console his brother.

Well yeah… I had to read through the whole story to be able to write more on this… I guess the rest of you writers know how annoying it is to read through your own work? It just feels odd, doesn't it? Reading through more than a chapter at a time of your own imaginary world…

And yeah, one note: Due to previous tragic events, the squad Jack, Box and Charlie are with now is fairly 'fresh'.
(Yeah, Gib… I'm borrowing something from you here too!)

Anyway. Hope you enjoyed.

Gib, you happy now? For a little while? *wink*