Okay… Here comes another chapter. Jake is about 19/20 or something in this one… He's on his first tour…

"Grandpa…?" Jake exhaled into the phone, his voice shaking a bit. "Grandpa?"

"Ace… How are you doing son?" Jack greeted on the other end of the line. He noticed how fragile Jake's voice seemed through the static of the phone.

"I'm good, Pop…" Jake answered, but it was merely a reflex. Like he had rehearsed those words over and over again.

"Sorry to break it to ya, but you don't sound good. Hell, you don't even sound fine…" Jack truth-bombed, "Kid, how's it going over there? Are you sleeping any? Remember to eat? Need me to come over and kick some ass?"

Jake let out a short laugh at the offer. The thought of his 75-year young grandpa coming over to fight for him, it was comic. That being said, Jake was sure Jack still could kick some decent ass. He sure as heck didn't want to go up against the man himself, and not because he could end up hurting the older man. No. Because he was afraid to get his ass handed to him in the most painful way.

"No, nah… It's fine…" he finally pressed out, "Thanks for the offer, but I think they need you back home…"

"You sure?" Jack asked, "It's a long time since I saw any real action…"

"Yeah, I'm sure…"

"Okay, good…"

"Good..."

"So, what's eating ya?" Jack pressed, "And don't say nothing, cause I've been where you are. And I've seen what you see…"

"Okay…" Jake answered in a shaky voice, "It's just that… Yesterday… -Let's just say an OP went sideways…"

"Oh…" Jack almost whispered, before he found his voice again. "How bad?"

"Three casualties in my team, four more hurt. Me and Kessler were the only two not to get injured."

"Kid, there is no such thing as an uninjured soldier…" Jack sighed, pressing the knuckles of his paralyzed hand against his eyes. The fixed wrist allowed him that. "You might not have a scar to show for it, but… Sometimes that would have been better…"

"You sure about that?"

Jack chuckled grimly, "Yeah, at least that's my personal experience…"

The static in the phone kicked up a notch then settled again.

"I hear the phones over there hasn't been updated since my first tour…" Jack baited, hoping to hear his grandson laugh. If only for a couple of seconds.

"Nah… Still the same old relics…" Jake smiled, "Wouldn't be surprised if these things were used when Fred Flintstone ran around in his foot-driven car…"

That made Jack laugh, "It's three more months? Right?"

"Yeah, Gramps…" Jake sighed, "Three more months, and right now three more hours seem too much…"

"I know…"

"How many tours was it you did?" Jake asked, "It was a bunch? Right?"

"Counting tours that were cut short too?"

"Yeah…"

"32… Most of them were 6 months at a time, and I never stayed home long…"

"Why?" Jake asked, "How did you do it? I'm barely making it through my first…"

"Yeah, I struggled during my first one too… But then I got home, and I signed up for another tour…"

"How could you even consider that? Didn't you remember all the shit that went on?"

"Yeah… Yeah I did…" Jack sighed, memories starting to flood his mind. "But I also remembered my brothers, and I remembered the rush… And I felt like I owed it so someone…"

"To who?"

"Still not sure about that…" Jack admitted, "Now, on my second tour, I got injured. Physically. And it was pretty bad…"

"What injury was that?"

"Got shot five times in the shoulder… FYI, that sucked!"

Jake chuckled lightly, "You don't say?"

"Yeah…" Jack grinned into the phone, "I was shipped home. Once I healed, I didn't feel like I fit in with anyone… I couldn't go out for drinks with my buddies back home, cause… At that point in time, I couldn't hold back… I ended up drinking too much, and I had episodes…"

"Episodes like…?"

"Like I didn't know where I was, loud music wasn't music and I held one of my friends in a choke-hold…"

"Ouch…"

"Yup…" Jack groaned, "One night, I went to a bar. Alone. I ended up sitting down with this real old dude, a veteran who had taken part in pretty much all the wars between WW2 and Vietnam…"

"He must've seen some shit…"

"That he had…" Jack nodded, "We sat and talked for hours upon hours. And he said this one thing to me… One thing that really stuck. He said that his worst problem was coming home, that his greatest problem was living peacefully. After a few too many rounds in the fire, that was all he knew, and that was where he thrived. I remember I didn't believe him then, but I signed up for another tour…"

"And?"

"And then I signed up for another 29 tours after that… Until CIA offered me a job. Then I worked for them for a few years. Until DXS, Phoenix Foundation, hired me…"

"Didn't you and my dad meet when he was in the military?"

"Yeah, we did…"

"But he was there in the early 2010's, and you started with the CIA before that…"

"Yeah, well… I did a few missions with the Delta force after I started with the CIA, but I wouldn't call it real tours… I was just hired in for certain ops by then…"

"Aha…" Jake nodded, "And if you count all those ops too? How many tours would that be, total?"

"Heck… I don't know…" Jack shrugged, "Many…"

"Was it the right thing to do?"

"Whaddayamean?"

"Do you ever regret?"

"Yes and no…"

"Okay?"

"When I wake up and my heart is racing like a jackrabbit on ecstasy, I'm sweating like a beast and I can't shake these images… Sure, I wish that I could forget or that I never saw it in the first place…"

"But I feel a but coming?"

"…But… Everything I've done... I believe I've made a difference, and all those tours led me to where I am today. I never would have met Mac if it weren't for the military, and I wouldn't have met Diane if it wasn't for the CIA…"

"You wouldn't have met Momo if it wasn't for the CIA?" Jake asked, more than a little confused.

"I met her in the café below my apartment where I was stationed. If it weren't for the CIA, I never would have been in California in the first place… I never would have met her, I wouldn't have met Ri… I wouldn't have become your grandpa…"

"So you think I should sign up for another tour?" Jake asked.

"Bear… That's for you to decide. Come home, stay a while… Try out a few odd jobs, then decide."

"Any word of advice?"

"Come home first, before you start making those choices…" Jack spoke softly. "We all miss you much…"

" 'kay…" Jake smiled, "I miss y'all too…"

"We know…" Jack smiled too, "You come home in one piece now, you hear me?"

"I'll do my best…"

"I know you will…" Jack said as he sat back in the kitchen chair he was sitting in, the half empty coffee mug in front of him was no longer steaming. "Hey, you want pancakes when you get home?"

"Only if you make them…" Jake chuckled.

"Of course I'll make them… I'll make a ten-inch stack if you want one!" Jack grinned.

"Can't wait!" Jack chuckled, then his tone fell a little. "I can't wait…"

"Hey, you'll be fine… I know it's rough, but if you need someone to talk to… I'm just a phone call away…"

"I relied on that…" Jake smirked, "But I kinda have to go now, it's dinner time here… And even though most of what we get here tastes like play-dough, you've ordered me to eat, right?"

"That's right son…" Jack chuckled, "Eating keeps your energy up, keeps you going…"

"Sir, yes Sir!" Jake chuckled, "Okay… Tell Momo and the rest that I love them…"

"I will…"

"Bye Grandpa…" Jake sighed, "Like always, I don't know when I'll be able to call again…"

"I know, Bear… Take care…" Jack nodded, feeling a ball form in his throat. "Love you, bye…"

Okay… So… Hope you enjoyed!
Man, it's hard to keep ages in mind. Cause… How is a 75 y.o.? I've never been one… (Well, duh…) And All of my grandparents (those who are still alive) bears their age excessively well. (My 90 y.o. Mormor (Grandma, mother's side) has first NOW realized that MAYBE, just MAYBE, she shouldn't do too much heavy labor, like chopping wood and sawing down threes… Besta (85 y.o. grandmother, dad's side) looks better than she did when I was FIVE! That's almost 20 years ago! –Man, I hope I inherit some of their genes…)

My mom, she'll turn 61 in about a month… She's badass! I took her out on a couple of big hikes last summer, and we only needed a few mommy-breaks for her to catch her breath. She makes me proud sometimes!