Sam walked into the barn like he had never left. In truth he had been gone for over a year. He had gone back overseas after the incident with Darren Kovacs.

Winnie froze when she looked up and saw him; she had heard they were bringing someone in to replace Leah after she had left. She never dreamed it would be Sam. "Sam?" she questioned softly.

Sam smiled but it was an empty smile, one that didn't quite reach his eyes. Winnie could tell almost immediately that Sam had changed and she shuddered at the thought of what could have changed him. She watched silently as he headed towards the locker room where she knew all the guys were and wished she could be there to see how everyone reacted.

x.X. Flashpoint .X.x

"Come on Greg, you gotta know who it is! They wouldn't bring someone in and not tell you. It's someone from Guns and Gangs isn't it?" Spike pleaded.

"I'm telling you Spike, I have no idea. They just told me he is the man for the job, nothing more." Greg sighed. Spike had been asking him the same question since they heard they were getting a new team member a week ago. "Anyways, he is supposed to start today so we will find out soon enough."

"Come on Boss, just give me a hint." Spike begged.

A short laugh sounded from the entry way and the four men in the locker room wheeled around to see who it was. They hadn't heard anyone come in and were surprised to see their old teammate leaning against the door frame.

Spike's mouth dropped open as he pointed at Sam and looked at Greg, "You cannot tell me you didn't know it was Samtastic." Greg looked as shocked as the others.

Ed was the first to address Sam, "Sam buddy, nice to see you. So I guess you will be joining us again."

Sam nodded silently. Spike surged forward and hugged his friend. "God I missed you man." Sam flinched slightly at the contact. Spike didn't seem to notice but Ed, Greg and Wordy did. The three men shared quick glances before they moved forward to pry Spike off of Sam.

"Whoa Spike, let the man breath." Wordy said, grabbing Spike by the arm. Sam shot him a thankful look when Spike finally let go.

"I guy leaves for sixteen months and the first thing you do when he gets back is try to crush him to death. Thanks Spike." Sam said with a hollow chuckle.

"Well maybe you should have at least written or called, we missed you. I didn't have anyone to talk girls with; these guys are either too old or married, or both." Spike replied with a laugh of his own then ducked as three towels were thrown at his head.

Sam smiled as he walked over to his locker. He opened it and quickly unpacked his bag. He turned and pulled off his shirt, exposing his back to the others in the room. They were shocked to see the myriad of scars that now covered almost every inch of exposed skin. Sam winced as he heard the gasp followed by the whispered questions. He ignored them in favor of quickly changing and heading to workout, where he knew he would run into Jules. That was something he wasn't looking forward to.

Sam knew the guys were watching him as he started his routine. He ignored them and listened for Jules entrance.

He heard he soft footsteps before she entered the room even though his back was towards her. "That the new guy?" She asked having not seen his face yet. He was surprised she didn't know it was him, but he did have more muscle now, having just come off a tour and his hair was a few shades lighter and his skin tanner due to the bright desert sun.

Sam heard a soft, "Not quite," from Ed and slowly turned to face Jules. He saw the confusion on her face turn to recognition and then anger. She walked up to him and attempted to slap him but faster than anyone could see; Sam gently slapped away her hand and moved back. That seemed to make her even madder and she took a swing with her fist that Sam caught easily.

The rest of the team seemed surprised by his speed and the fact that he had just stopped a punch from Jules as he were shooing away a fly. Before anyone could say anything Winnie announced a hot call and everyone hurried to gear up.

x.X. Flashpoint .X.x

The hot call only added to everyone's questions about Sam. They were called to deal with a soldier who had just returned home to find his wife with another man. The soldier had been holding both of them at gunpoint and was threatening to shoot them on the front lawn when the SRU had arrived. As the man caught sight of Sam he paled and immediately surrendered his weapon. As he was being cuffed he turned to Sam and apologized. He also spoke to Sam as if he were talking to a man he was in awe of.

Everyone questioned Sam for days after but he refused to answer any questions and skillfully changed the conversation whenever they started discussing anything on the topic.

Weeks went by and the team was noticing the changes in Sam's behavior. No matter where he was, he made sure he had full view of any and all exits. He did maneuvers none of the other had even heard of before. He always stood at attention or in a parade rest position and sat in a similar manner. He shied away from any form of physical contact not necessary to working a call. But perhaps the most disturbing was his smile never seemed real and his laugh was always forced. Sam tried to act as he had before he left, teasing and having fun, but he never seemed to really be into it.

x.X. Flashpoint .X.x

Sam walked in one day almost two months after his return and was stopped when Winnie called his name. "Sam, this letter is for you. A guy in uniform came and dropped it off half an hour ago. Said to make sure it got to you."

Sam walked up and took the envelope. He quickly read it before dropping it in the trash and walking away while pulling out his phone.

Ed and Greg witnessed the strange behavior. When Sam walked down the hall to talk on the phone Ed retrieved the letter and looked it over. He was surprised to see it was an invitation to an award ceremony with a list of service medals attached that were to be awarded to one Sam Braddock.

Ed handed the letter to Greg, whose eyes widened upon reading the list. He handed the letter back to Ed and walked down the hall closer to Sam and heard his side of the phone conversation.

"Sir, I thought we discussed this. I don't want those medals." Sam paused, listening to the other man speak.

"I know Sir, but I was doing my duty not…" Sam stopped mid-sentence.

"Yessir, I understand Sir." Sam replied curtly.

"Sir, does it have to be a public ceremony?" Sam questioned hopefully.

"I understand Sir but if you insist you know I won't show up. I don't want that everyone knowing what happened over there." Sam explained, "A ceremony will mean press and I don't want to deal with them digging into it."

"Thank you Sir I appreciate that. I'll see you in a few days." Sam finished as he hung up the phone.

"Everything alright Sam?" Greg asked causing Sam to whirl around to face him.

Sam managed a weak smile and nodded before continuing on to the locker rooms.

x.X. Flashpoint .X.x

Several days later they had just returned from a hot call when they noticed to men in dress uniforms standing in the briefing room. Sam walked up to the two men and shook their hands. He turned to the older of the two gentlemen and said, "It's nice to see you General Braddock." The team did a double take, suddenly realizing that this man was Sam's father.

The General turned to the shocked team and addressed them, "If you would please come in, we have a ceremony to conduct."

Sam froze, "Must they be present Sir?"

General Braddock's face changed to one of a stern but concerned father and he quietly said, "You haven't told them?" Sam shook his head and the General sighed. "They will find out sooner or later and since you somehow tricked my psychologist into signing off on you with only a single session I'm ordering you to do this." The General's voice grew hard as he issued the order and several member of Team One cringed at his tone.

Sam looked down avoiding his father's stern gaze. After a minute he raised his head and replied, "I'll tell them after this is over Sir."

The General nodded and motioned for the team to sit. The ceremony went by quickly but every team member except for Ed and Greg sat listening with wide eyes at the awards being bestowed up their fellow SRU officer. After General Braddock handed the medals to Sam he placed a comforting hand on his son's arm and left with an encouraging nod.

Sam stood looking down at the medal for a moment before setting them on the table and slumping down in a chair. For the first time since his return, Sam didn't look like a soldier; he looked like a broken man.

Jules reached out and placed a hand over Sam's in a comforting gesture. His head snapped up but he didn't move his hand. He gave Jules a sad smile before standing and walking to a window. He looked out silently for a few minutes before speaking.

"When I went back, I didn't go back to Special Forces, not exactly. I was placed with a group of guys that made my old unit look like infantry. I can't really tell you where we went or what we did because most of that was beyond top secret." Sam sighed and turned back to the table.

"We were headed out on assignment when our convoy came across some IED's. We lost everyone in the first Humvee. I was in the second with three other guys. Our Humvee caught fire and one of the other guys and I had to pull out the driver and the navigator. The rest of the convoy made it out safely but before they could get to us we were surrounded by hostiles. We couldn't leave two wounded men behind so the four of us ended up being taken captive."

Jules gasped at the thought of Sam being in enemy hands. Spike and Wordy stiffened in anger at their teammate being abandoned by his unit and Greg shared a sad look with Ed. Having seen the freshly healed scars on Sam's back, both older men knew where the story was headed and it wasn't pretty.

"I was a POW for six months." Sam admitted softly. "I must have said my name, rank and number so many times it became reflex. When I got out I had to stop myself from saying it every time a doctor or CO asked a question."

"It wasn't bad at first; we were trained to resist water boarding and taught techniques to manage pain. They never did any serious damage; it was always just flesh wounds and such. One guy had a thing with whips, but they fed us and cleaned our wounds. One of the guys died of an infection three months in, they made sure that didn't happen again."

Sam paused, sat down and ran a hand over his face. Ed's heart broke at the pain he saw in the younger man's eyes.

"They dropped his body off at a hospital with all of our dog tags. My father said they had to dig up dental records to find out which one of us it was. Apparently they burnt his body." Sam stopped as tears came to his eyes.

He took a breath and continued. "Some time during the sixth month the guy who brought us our food accidentally dropped a wire of some kind. It took me almost two weeks but I managed to use it to unlock our shackles and pick the lock on the door. After that it was only a matter of getting some weapons and carrying my guys out of there."

"They were both worse off than I was at that point. They thought it would be easier if they had us take turns undergoing interrogation and I was supposed to go the next day." Sam explained.

"I had almost no hope of getting out of there but I managed to get my hands on an AK and a Ka-bar. The team that went back after we escaped said the place looked like a massacre, they said there were almost seventy dead and not one of them was one of my guys." Sam looked down, ashamed of what he had to do, of the men he had to kill. Men that probably had families, friends, and people that loved them. Greg placed a comforting hand on Sam's forearm, encouraging him to continue.

"I got my guys into a jeep that was sitting outside the compound and drove until it ran out of gas. We could see a camp in the distance but they hadn't seen us yet. Only one of my guys could walk at that point so I carried the other one the rest of the way."

Sam paused then said, "You remember that guy from the first call we took when I came back?" The others nodded and Sam continued, "He was in the patrol we ran into. I never really spoke to him but at that point I was the only one of the three of us that understood what was going on. We probably scared the guys in that patrol half to death with the way we looked, covered in blood and grime, one guy being carried and another looking like he had drunk every bar in the country dry." Sam chuckled dryly.

"They led us to the med tent but I wouldn't let them touch my guys. I even checked the doctors' dog tags before they bandaged us up. Still didn't want them touching me though, at least not till I knew the others had been seen to. A few days later they had a chopper fly us to the nearest fully functioning Army hospital. The General was there when we arrived; he told me he was proud of me. First time in my life he has ever said something like that and all it took was going MIA for a couple months an about five dozen dead enemy soldiers. If I had known that I may have done it years ago." Sam's voice dripped with sarcasm at the last statement.

Sam stood silently and turned to leave, "If you guys don't mind I'm going to head home. I just need a little time to clear my head. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Sam walked out, leaving a stunned Team One sitting in the briefing room. They were quiet for a while after he left, each person taking the time to absorb everything that happened.

"Are they bad?" Jules asked breaking the silence.

Everyone turned to her a Spike asked, "Are what bad?" Jules shot him a you-know-what look. Spike sighed, "Yeah, well at least what we saw of his back is. He changed his first day back right in front of us. His back looked like a roadmap of scars."

"Why didn't you guys say anything? You all knew but no one thought to tell me that Sam's body looked like it had been through hell?" Jules asked angrily.

"It wasn't our place Jules," Wordy said, "You know it wasn't, and we had no idea where they came from. If we had told you then we may have pressured Sam into telling us before he was ready. That may not have ended well for any of us." Jules knew Wordy was right and sighed.

"Well," Ed said after another long silence, "I don't know about you, but I don't think Sam should be alone right now. He needs to see that we don't care what he did over there and that he has people that care for him." Ed stood and headed out calling over his shoulder, "You guys coming or what?"

x.X. Flashpoint .X.x

Sam was sitting on his couch when he heard the knock at the door. He wasn't expecting anyone so he laid his hand over the knife he had hidden ready to use it if necessary. He cautiously opened the door and was surprised to see his team standing in his doorway. "Wha…" was all he managed to get out before they rushed in.

"Samtastic! We brought beer!" Spike called out as he set a case on the counter then jumped on the couch.

"And pizza!" Wordy called out as he walked in with a large box.

Sam looked amazed at his friends. He hadn't expected them to come see him. Greg and Ed seemed to know exactly what he was thinking and each grabbed an arm and led him over to the couch where Ed said, "You didn't think we would leave you all alone after that did you?"

Sam was speechless. Greg continued, "We have always been more than a team Sam, we are family. We are always here when you need us."

"Yeah Boss over there is like your batty old Grandpa, Ed is the Dad and Wordy is the fun Uncle." Spike called out from his seat on the other end of the couch. Greg sent him a glare as everyone laughed.

"Watch it Spike, Grandpa might just give Babycakes away to the tech on Team Three." Jules laughed and watched Spike's face become a mask of mock horror. This set of another wave of rowdy laughter that Sam joined in whole-heartedly. Jules smiled to herself, happy to hear Sam laugh again, God how she had missed that laugh.

The night went on like that for several hours. Eventually everyone had left but Jules. She was just about to head home when Sam walked over to her and hugged her. She smiled softly and heard him whisper, "Thank you."

x.X. Flashpoint .X.x

A/N- I've been wondering if I should write a prequel about what happened to Sam. Let me know what you think and if I do write one I'll make it long and detailed so it isn't just a repeat of what Sam said.

So review and tell me what I should do.