Hello, again. It's not even November, but I'm baaaack. Luckily (or unluckily, depends on you readers' point of view), my business trips have been cut short. Yippee! I hate flying anyway, so there.

As per explained in the summary, this fic is the following sequel to 'The Lie' and 'The Deception', the ending to the Broken Arrow trilogy. Honestly, I never thought this would become a trilogy but somehow my plot bunnies never want to let it go. Sheeeesh!

However, I gotta warn you, this fic is a little crazy. No, make that a lot crazy than usual. You will find out why. Hopefully no one's gonna kill me for this. ;)

Summary : Injured by a bomb blast, Sam wakes up in a hospital, only to receive the worst news of his life. Following sequel to 'The Lie' and 'The Deception', the ending to the Broken Arrow trilogy.

"Sammy?"

The familiar voice pulled Sam Braddock back to consciousness. His eyes fluttered open, and he slowly looked around him in an attempt to gather his bearings. Dazed, his head pounding, he found himself lying in a hospital bed. His body was covered by crisp white sheet from toe to torso, an IV line attached to his arm.

"Son, can you hear me?"

Weakly, he rolled his head against the pillow towards the voice. His father was sitting next to the bed, looking at him with great concern. "Hey, Sammy. It's okay, I'm right here."

Squinting against the glare of the light overhead, Sam tried to speak, "Wh…what…?"

General Braddock picked up his son's limp hand and squeezed. "You survived the blast, Sammy. You have a concussion but you're gonna be alright."

Sam blinked, taking in his surroundings once more. "Where…?""

"You're in the hospital, obviously."

Shaking his head, Sam tried again, his voice coming out in a croak, "Team One? Where are they?"

At this, the elder Braddock hesitated and dragged his gaze away, his face a mixture of reactions—fear, anxiety and anger—all rolled into one.

"Dad?" the son asked again. "Where's my team? They got out alright? Are they okay?"

"You need to rest. There'll be time later for—"

"No! Tell me now. Is my team okay?"

When his father turned to look back at him, Sam saw the pain in the old man's eyes, pain that was reserved for him.

"Sammy," Braddock senior paused for a heartbeat before he softly continued, "I need you to be strong."

"What do you mean?" A sliver of dread ran up and down Sam's spine at his father's solemn words.

Sighing, the General gave Sam's hand another squeeze as if the gesture could channel his own strength into his son. "The blast caught your team head-on."

"What are you saying?"

"You're the only one found alive, kid."

His face drained of all color, Sam stared at his father. "What?"

"They're gone. Team One is no more."

Sam continued to stare at the General, still in deep shock. "They are….dead? All of them?"

Braddock senior sadly nodded. "I'm sorry."

Tears were forming in Sam's eyes but he quickly blinked them away. "J…Jules?"

"Jules too. I'm real sorry, son."

"No." Sam shook his head, struggling to push himself upright. "No, I don't believe you."

"Easy, Sammy. You're hurt. Lie back down." Standing, General Braddock quickly grabbed his son's shoulders.

"Get your hands off me!" Sam snapped back, shoving his father away. Yanking the IV line out of his arm, he swung his legs over the side and took a step, only to drop onto the floor in a graceless heap.

"Sam!" The General quickly crouched down, holding his son steady. "You're not supposed to be on your feet yet. Now get back into bed."

Grimacing with pain, Sam hitched up his hospital gown to reveal the bandage wrapped around his left thigh. "What the hell?"

"You got hit by shrapnel. The wound is deep but you're lucky it didn't hit an artery."

"You call this lucky?" Sam glared back. "Where the hell is my team?"

"Sammy…"

Shrugging off his father, Sam pushed against the floor to rise. "Fine. I'll call them and find out myself."

The General firmly wrapped an arm around his waist and yanked him back. "All of them are gone, son! They didn't survive the blast."

"That's impossible!" Sam shouted back, struggling for release. "I saw the bombs. I gave them enough warning to escape."

Shaking his head, General Braddock retorted, "But they were unable to! The explosion brought down the entire building on top of them, Sam. They couldn't make it out in time."

"No…no, no, no…" Crying openly now, Sam pushed and shoved to free himself. "They're alive. My team is still alive!"

"Sammy, please…"

"Let go of me!" Sam demanded, and swung an elbow towards his father's face.

The General easily deflected it, shouting, "Nurse! Nurse!"

Two nurses and a male orderly rushed inside. By then, Sam's struggle had grown more frantic, arms swinging and legs kicking. It took every one of them to hold him down. Sam's attending doctor also appeared. Looking at his patient's current state, he barked, "Sedative!"

One of the nurses rushed towards the tray in a corner of the room before returning with a hypodermic needle, which she then passed to the doctor who quickly yet efficiently administered the procedure.

As the tranquilizer flowed into his vein, Sam roared to the ceiling. The sound, akin to the howling of a wounded animal, was heard throughout the entire floor. Soon afterwards, his struggling gradually ceased as his eyes glazed out of focus.

"Gone…" Sam whimpered, staring up at his father with tears running down his face. "My whole team…gone…"

Misty eyed, Braddock senior cupped his son's wet cheek. "I know, Sammy. I know."

"I should be dead too…"

His eyelids falling shut, Sam's world turned to dark once more, the darkness so deep it even haunted his subconscious.

Five hours earlier…

Team One started the shift like any others. It was strictly routine, nothing out of the ordinary. Just another day at the office. Two warrant calls and a hot call later, each team member was still on full alert and in high gear, ever ready to take on any tight situations thrown their way. What they didn't expect was to receive a crucial call from General Braddock, a call that would have great impact on the entire team.

Braddock senior reported that General Morrell, the man behind Sam's abduction and torture over a missing nuclear warhead several months ago, had escaped while being transported to a military holding cell in Ottawa. Obviously he had had some outside help. And these supporters of his were willing to help him further, as shown by the scale of the attack and rescue mission which had left most of the military guards dead and the rest close to death.

Everyone's biggest worry was Sam's safety. There was no doubt that Morrell would come after him, either for revenge or to eliminate the only living witness. After Braddock's call, Team One had quickly regrouped inside the briefing room. Within the past hour they had been trying to convince their stubborn teammate to get into the military's protection program, to no avail.

"No way. Out of the question," Sam was saying, a sharp glare aimed at Sergeant Parker.

"Sam, that's a direct order. You must do as you're told," the Sergeant tersely responded, his arms crossed over his chest. "Your father thinks it's for the best—"

"Since when do you start taking orders from the General?" Sam fumed. "He makes you do this?"

"Sam!" Parker shouted, losing his cool. "He and I agree on the same thing. It's for your own safety. You need to stay off the radar until everything settles down."

"I will not go into hiding," Sam shot back. "That's a coward's way out."

"This is not about being a coward, Sam. It's about staying alive," Ed chose that moment to speak. "You have to get yourself into a safe house."

"That's right, Sam. You're the lone witness," added Jules. "They have you on target. You are in danger."

"And you're not?" Sam asked her. "Jules, they would already have figured out by now how important you are to me. They might come after you too."

"They will not waste their time on me. It's you they're after," she said. "With you dead, they won't have a case on General Morrell. He could walk a free man."

Sam scoffed. "This is not a normal public trial. It's a court martial. Morrell is not going to walk free, witness or no witness. The intel they have on him is enough to send the bastard to prison for the rest of his life."

"Yeah, but he's already out there. At large," Spike pointed out. "Who knows where his men is hiding him and what they will do next to even the score. Sam, you gotta have some protection."

"I already have protection. That's what Team One is for," Sam pointed out. "I thought I have you guys covering my back."

"Of course, we always have your back, Sam," Ed said, reassuringly. "But we can only do so much. You know how it is. The team has jobs to do here. We can't protect the public and worry about you all at the same time."

"Oh, so I'm just a distraction now?"

"I didn't say that."

"Then say what you mean to say, Ed! Admit it, you think that I will put the entire team in danger."

Ed scowled. "That was not what I mean."

"Liar."

"Okay, enough!" Parker barked, stepping between the two. He turned to face Sam directly. "You're giving me no other choice, Sam. As of now, you are on suspension until further notice."

"What? You can't do that!"

"Well, I just did." The Sergeant stood firm under the ferocious glare the younger man was sending him.

"On what grounds?"

"Insubordination for one, your safety for the other."

Sam saw red. "This not an insubordination and you know it, Sarge."

"Fine. So you agree to get yourself into a safe house as per ordered at your own free will?"

Cursing under his breath, Sam whirled around and stalked towards the window. He stood there, his body shaking with barely controlled rage. Jules went to him and put a calming hand on his back. "Sam, you've got to think this through. Your safety is far more important than anything right now."

"My job is also important, and so is the team." He rounded on her, his lips pursing. "Besides, we are one man short. Now that Raf has left, Team One cannot afford to lose another member. You guys need me out there."

"We can manage," Parker interjected.

"With only four of you? That doesn't bring much assurance, don't you think?"

"Sam…"

The Barn's siren suddenly whooped, accompanied by Winnie's urgent yet steady voice, "Team One, hot call. Shootings reported in an abandoned shop lot at Adelaide Street in Fashion District."

Sighing, Parker strode out of the briefing room towards the dispatcher's station. "Winnie, we're in the middle of something and it might take a while. Send Team Three as primary. We'll join them soon after."

"Team Three is still wrapping up the scene at Riverdale."

"How about Team Four?"

"Already out, Boss."

"Damn. Why today of all days?" The Sergeant sighed again with a roll of his eyes. He then beckoned his team over. "Alright, guys. You heard her. We are on."

"I'm coming too," Sam declared, rushing alongside Spike and Jules. "Don't you dare try to stop me."

Parker frowned in disagreement at this, but Ed quickly placated him. "Greg, it's not ideal but Sam is right. We're already stretched thin with one man short here. We need him."

After a brief deliberation, Parker nodded in resignation. "Okay, fine. He can come."

Wagging a finger at Sam, the Sergeant added, "But this discussion is not over, you hear me? We will pick this up later. And, technically, you're still suspended. So you'd better do everything I say."

"Yes, sir." Sam grimly nodded before he went to join the rest of the team at the gun cage to collect their gear.

Within minutes, Team One was on the road. Riding shotgun with Ed, Sam checked and rechecked his weapons as their procession sped towards the target building.

Ed glanced at his teammate. "You're good, Samo?"

"Yeah, I'm good," was Sam's easy reply.

"Sure you can do this?"

"I'm on the job, Ed. Nothing's changed."

"Okay. I believe you. Just try and keep a cool head, okay?"

"I will."

Team One reached the abandoned shop lot under ten minutes. They had been fed additional info from Winnie on their way over, and now Sergeant Parker went through them again with his team.

"The shop has closed down over a year ago, no current tenant or owner available for further comments," he said through his com link, climbing out of the truck. "The sound of rapid shooting of a machine gun was heard by some passersby around the area. No subjects have been seen leaving the scene so they might still be in there. And nobody dares to go inside the building to check, which is smart of them."

"Yeah, all we need is the public turned vigilante," Spike said, shouldering a standard issue backpack filled with all kinds of assault gadgets. "Instead of just a firepower discharge to investigate, we might also have murder or a hostage situation to deal with."

"Hopefully it won't come to that," said Parker. "Ed, what's your take on this?"

"If not for the machine guns, I would say the subjects are just kids getting excited with guns. There have been various reports of wayward youngsters loitering about in there." Ed looked up at the top of the shop lot three floors above. "Kids are strangers to machine guns, however, which means something bigger is at play here. So use extreme caution. Sam, find a sniper perch. You're Sierra One."

"Copy." Snatching his Remy from the back of the truck, Sam loped away towards the building next door.

"Jules, Boss, take the back. Spike and I will go through the front door. Let's go guys."

They quickly fell into formation, as they had done a thousand times before. Moving with stealth and speed, Team One made their entrance, keeping their eyes out for any hostiles. So far, everything was still and quiet.

Meanwhile, Sam took his position on the rooftop of the neighboring building. He sat balance on one knee as he aimed his rifle, squinting through the telescopic sight. He could easily see the inside of the target building through the numerous broken windows.

"I see no sign of movements," he reported. "Level one and two are clear. Ground floor is in my blind spot, though."

"Copy," Ed responded. "Level ground, clear. Now climbing up to upper level."

A blinking red light at the third floor suddenly caught Sam's eyes. "Wait, hold on."

After adjusting his scope to a specific distance, Sam could fully determine the source of the blinking light. It was a digital timer, attached to a bulk of brown package which sat behind a pillar. And it wasn't the only one. Sam noticed a similar package on the south side of the floor.

"Shit," he cursed. "Team One, fall back. It's a trap!"

"Come again, Sam?"

"A trap! There are explosives right on top of you," Sam shouted, already packing up his rifle and running down the stairs. "You have less than fifteen seconds. Get out of there now!"

Team One wasted no more time to dispute. Aborting the mission, they made a run for it.

"Move, move, move!" Ed was heard yelling, followed by no other voices except for the sound of their heavy breathing as they rushed for the lower level.

"Team One, status!" Sam yelled the moment he emerged into the streets.

"Almost there," Parker said, between pants.

Instead of keeping his distance, Sam ran straight for the abandoned shop lot, towards his team. "Hurry, guys, hurry! It's gonna expl—"

BOOM!

The massive shockwave from the blast flung him backwards about ten feet in the air. He slammed down to earth amidst flying debris, hitting his unprotected head against something blunt and hard. And then he knew nothing more.

Present time…

General Braddock gazed down at his sleeping son in total silent. Sam looked peaceful and innocent lying there, golden hair tousled and features relaxed. The sedative had worked so fast that he drifted off within seconds. After they lifted Sam off the floor and returned him to bed, the nurses had attempted to place him in restraints, in case he woke up screaming and trashing again.

"No, he doesn't need to be tied down," Braddock senior had interjected, refusing to have his son treated in such a way. "He's no harm to anyone. He'll be alright."

If only he could believe his own words. The General never questioned his son's utter resilience. He knew how tough Sam was, physically and emotionally. And yet every man has his limits. Even the strongest person would break under too much pain, too much hurt.

Reaching down, he squeezed his son's left foot. "I'm sorry, Sammy. I really am."

Throwing the sleeping young man another concerned look, Braddock senior then stepped out of the room. He walked down the hallway before entering the waiting room next door. Four pair of eyes stared back at him in great anxiety.

"It is done," the General told them. "There's no turning back now."

With Sam's pitiful howl still ringing in her ears, Jules' face crumpled and she promptly broke down. "I think….maybe we've gone a bit too far."

"Easy, Jules. Sam can take this." Trying to console her, Sergeant Parker rubbed her back.

"This is a bad idea. I shouldn't have suggested this."

"We all agreed to this, Jules. This is not on you alone."

"It's just that….this is wrong. Cruel, even. We're playing with his feelings."

"Yes, it is cruel. But he gives us no choice. There's no way Sam would gladly go and place himself under protective custody. You know how stubborn he is," said Ed, sporting a bandage on his temple. He and the rest of Team One were able to leap through the back door when the bomb detonated. They were thrown clear, completely knocked right out of their feet. Except for some scrapes and bruises, the team managed to escape without any serious injuries.

Ironically, the teammate who had warned them of the danger in the first place, was the only one now lying in a hospital bed, believing that his entire team had died in the blast.

Shaking his head, Spike wrapped a comforting arm around the still trembling Jules. "So, what do we do now?"

"We carry on with the charade," said General Braddock. "I'll make sure Sam disappears immediately. His transport to the safe house has been arranged. My men will take him away soon after he feels better enough to travel."

"And we will continue to investigate the deadly trap that almost kill us all," Parker said, his face grim. "We shall learn whether it has anything to do with Morrell, or if it were a separate case entirely."

"I'll tell my team to give you guys a hand. If you need to crosscheck anything, let me know."

"Thank you. We will keep in touch." There was regret in the Sergeant's voice when he said next, "I'm sorry we have to put you in a difficult place, General. Asking you to lie to your son in our behalf, that wasn't right."

"As if I hadn't done that to him before," Braddock senior responded with a wan smile. "At any rate, shits are gonna hit the fan when Sammy finally finds out the truth. May God forgive us all."

TBC…

I apologize for the crazy chapter. Don't know what has gotten into me. I'll go get my head examined now…