He Belongs

Arriving at SRU HQ

Sam coasted the last bit of distance still enjoying the cool breeze on his face. He was looking forward to this day he repeated to himself for the umpteenth time. He hadn't seen any of the team for four months. He popped the bike up on the sidewalk and hopped off pushing it to the rack. He locked the bike and removed his helmet.

Taking a glorious deep breath with no pain and blowing it out he looked up at the barn. Here, this place is where family is and it felt so good. Here he could continue to see the beauty of life. Here with his family he belonged. He truly belonged.

He felt that sense of belonging when he had come by yesterday to do his requalification tests. They were done by Commander Holleran and Sergeant Cray yesterday while Team One was busy on a hot call. Sam couldn't wait to see Ed's reaction on his times. If he was pissed before about him breaking his time record by five seconds it was gonna be fun to see how he reacted when he found out how much time Sam had shaved off the record now.

He opened the door and strode confidently in adjusting the gym bag slung over his shoulder. He stopped at the front desk and saw Winnie was engaged in a call. He stood there calmly waiting until she finished. She finished but was still looking down at the paperwork on the desk so he softly said "Good morning Winnie."

Her head shot up in a flash surprise in her eyes. Sam grinned mischievously and put his finger to his mouth and whispered "Shhh I want to surprise them, are they in the gym?" The team was unaware that he had requal'd yesterday and he asked Holleran and Rollie to keep it secret. He wanted to surprise the team today.

Winnie nodded yes, smiled broadly and whispered back "It is so good to see you. Welcome back Sam."

Sam gave her a huge grin "Thanks." Then he stealthily moved toward the gym.

She watched as he walked towards the gym and thought I've never seen him look so well.

SRU HQ – Gym

Out of eye sight of anyone in the gym Sam overheard normal banter complaining about Wordy's choice of DVD.

"We have had to watch that too many times in the past months. Why do you keep picking it?" Spike complained.

Wordy responded "Because I like it."

"You like a Disney movie? I thought it was because your girls liked it" Greg said.

"I just like it okay. It reminds me of …" Wordy didn't complete his sentence.

Jules interrupted "Leave him alone. I like it too. Wordy can choose it any time" as she mock threatened to hit Spike.

"Okay, okay. My arms can't take anymore. They are black and blue" Spike said as he backed away from Jules.

"At least you don't bruise as vividly as Sam. He looks like a melted box of crayons when he bruises" Lou laughed. They all laughed.

Ed piped in with sarcasm "Shhh Shhh, Oh goodie it's starting" as the first strains of Snow White started.

Sam stepped into view and said "So you're not watching Napping Beast" and gave them his WOW smile.

His eardrums were blown away by Spike's screeching and the yells of "Sam" from the others as he was engulfed in hugs from all six of them. After several moments they settled back down.

Greg noticed the bag slung on his shoulder and was the first to speak. "You're back?"

Sam smiled broadly the light reaching his eyes "Yeah, I passed my requals yesterday. The Commander and Rollie took me through them. Wanted to surprise you all."

From behind him Holleran said "Passed them with flying colors. We got some new records. Welcome back Sam."

A course of welcome backs came from the team along with more hugs and backslaps. The team felt complete.

Ed asked "So you requal'd? What was your time on the course? I distinctly remember telling you that I'd bench you if you didn't requal with a better time on the course."

Sam looked directly at Ed with a cocky tilt of his head. Then with self-confidence exuding in his voice he gave Ed a lopsided grin and said "Can't bench me, shaved three minutes off the best time."

The team looked astonished and congratulated him.

Ed looked amused and thought damned cocky kid. But Sam had a right to be cocky, he had pushed himself hard to get back. Most would not have made it at all. And those few that did would certainly not have done it in four months' time and returned in better shape than before.

Mirroring Sam's stance and tone Ed said "We'll see about that Braddock. Just remember when you're the democratically elected leader you get to make autocratic decisions." They both laughed and Ed gave him several shoulder pats and added "Good work Sam. So glad you're back. I need you to help me whip these guys into shape."

"Sounds good. Just gonna go get changed for workout" Sam said as he headed for the locker room.

SRU HQ – Locker Room

As Sam opened his locker and looked at the only picture attached. It was of Matt and him. He smiled and wordlessly mouthed 'miss you, thank you buddy'. He turned and opened his gym bag and withdrew several pictures. As he attached them to his locker he felt glad that he had decided to stay at home the entire recovery time, it allowed him to get to know his family. He missed the team badly and was very happy to be back to this family too. He was so lucky to have so many people who he cared about and who cared about him. Life was good.

He attached one of him and his dad and smiled. The General had returned to work as soon as they had arrived home but Sam got to see him frequently as he did not have to be out of the country. He enjoyed coffee with him most mornings. Sometimes they talked but mostly sat in silence reading the newspaper and enjoying a closeness they had never known before.

The cousins and his mother were conspicuously absent for morning coffee. They must have known it was how father and son were trying to reconnect. They also enjoyed playing chess together. Evenly matched they both loved the strategy needed to play well.

It wasn't all pie and ice cream though. They were both stubborn men with strong ideas and found that they still clashed loudly over some things. But they had developed a true sense of respect and regard for one another. Now any heated argument was mended after one or the other had calmed down sufficiently to be reasonable.

Next he added one of him and his mother. Sam thought reconnecting with is mom was easier. She beamed at having a house full of guys. But most of all she loved having Sam home. They spent time nearly every evening talking and laughing in her sitting room.

Her brightness and sense of humor helped pull him out of some very black moods. Late in the third month he had confided his feeling for Jules to her and the obstacles to having a relationship with her. She had been contemplative and said that it might take time but if it was meant to be it would happen.

He added two more pictures. One was of him and his five cousins. They all had huge smiles on all their faces and arms slung over each other's shoulders. The second was all the Braddock men, fathers and sons plus Blaze and Winds.

Both pictures had been taken last weekend after a paintball war of epic proportions. The Braddock Boys took on a team consisting of all four of their fathers, Blaze and Winds. They had spent the entire day there and played five games. The 'boys' had barely won three to two against the 'old men'.

In the fifth game, the last two players left had been him and his father. They fired at nearly the same time but Sam was a fraction of a second faster and his aim was truer. Sam's shot was a solid heart hit and his father's shot had barely grazed Sam's left arm.

His dad had looked at the paintball stain on his chest and then called Samuel Badass 2.0. Everyone burst into laughter that did not quit for quite sometime. On the way home Kyle had suggested that they make it an annual event. Sam liked that idea. Next year he might invite Team One. It would be interesting with three teams going against each other.

He grinned. The inside of his locker now looked like the other guys. He had pictures of family now. The only one that was missing was one of Team One. He planned on making sure to get a picture next weekend at the Team BBQ picnic.

Shel and Sophie had been so happy to be able to finally pick a date for the picnic. Wordy told him that Allie talked non-stop about Uncle Sam coming home. Sam reached into his bag and withdrew a colorful drawing and attached it too. Looking at it made him happy.

His phone call with Scott rolled through his mind and a thought struck him. One day he hoped to add more pictures. He stood there imagining a picture of Jules taped to his locker and maybe sometime later pictures of and artwork from a son or daughter.

Scott was right. He had it bad for Jules and they would make a good match. He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Time. Just need time to make that work and grinned.

Realizing he had taken so much time reminiscing he was now late for workout. He quickly changed and headed to the gym.

SRU HQ – Gym

Sam walked back into the gym taping up his hands heading for the heavy bag with the grin still plastered on his face.

Ed looked at the clock five-twenty am. He piped up in a mock serious voice "Hey Samo, you're late."

Without missing a beat Sam laughed and replied with a solid smile "Sorry boss, won't happen again."

The room erupted in laughter.

Wordy, Greg and Ed, shared a quick glance with one another. The entire team was smiling and laughing. It was so good to have Sam back. The rest of workout was spent in happy banter and teasing.

When Sam went to the weight station and began to workout Jules could not keep her eyes from roaming back to him. His chest and arm muscles were huge now and he looked so well.

Sam caught Jules checking him out and smiled and winked at her.

Jules quickly looked away and started talking to Wordy about Allie. But her internal monolog said 'he is under my skin, wish I could kiss him again, damn better get myself under control'.

As they finished the workout and the team headed for the locker rooms to shower and change into uniforms Greg called out "Briefing in twenty minutes. We have protection detail at the Royal York hotel today for David Graham, billionaire human right crusader and his wife."

He got a chorus of "Copy that" back.

"Hey Eddie, hold up a second" Greg said wanting to get Ed's input on today's call.

"What's up?" Ed asked.

Greg rubbed a towel over his head and said "I'm truly glad that Sam is back but the timing is bad. Tomorrow would have been better" Greg said.

"You're worried about the location. You think it will cause a problem for him?" Ed asked seriously.

"I don't know? I spoke at length with his therapist when he completed the mandatory sessions and she assures me all is okay. Not sure if the Royal York will bring up bad memories. I couldn't bear it if it caused him any more pain. I had wanted to ease him back into the team" Greg responded with concern in his voice.

"The Royal York has bad memories for all of us. I'm sure he can handle it. It is just protection detail. Should be a no brainer, all the reccy was done for us. But why don't you just make Sam your second today. That way you can keep an eye on him and make sure he is okay" Ed suggested.

"That sounds like a great idea. I'll see you in about forty-five minutes. I know you have to head home to grab a suit." Greg smiled as he headed to the locker room and thought damn glad Sam made it back to the team, to the family, he truly belongs.

.

AN: If you enjoyed this story you might enjoy the Beauty of Life world of my own creation. I have completed and published the first book in my Beauty of Life series and I'm halfway through writing my second book Solace. My Beauty of Life series somewhat follows the world I have created here with necessary changes, NEW content, and NEW twists and turns.

FORSAKEN: On the Edge of Oblivion
Beauty of Life, Book One
by Laura Acton

Is now available as an ebook or paperback on Amazon.
(note: Kindle ebooks can be read on computers, tablets and phones with a free reader app from Amazon - NO Kindle required.)

Come meet Daniel William Broderick, Alexandra 'Lexa' McKenna, Jonathan Hardy, Nicholas Pastore, Dante 'Loki' Baldovino, Abraham 'Bram' De Haven, Raymundo Palomo, Tia Walsh, Walter Gambrill, Brody Mikhail Hunter and the rest of your favorite characters (the General, the Broderick cousins, Blaze, Mason, Patch, etc.). Delve into a complex world of courageous men and women riding a roller coaster of emotions and danger. Explore the nature of relationships and bonds developed and strengthened in the face of adversity.

Forsaken Summary:

Dan Broderick is on the edge of oblivion. After a friendly fire incident, his heart and soul were ripped to shreds. He chose to leave Special Forces when his unit, men he considered brothers, turned their backs on him. Dan returned to Toronto where he hoped to find the beauty of life and make a difference as a sniper for the Tactical Response Force. Will his new team pull him back from the edge or be the reason he slips into oblivion?

Alpha Team is the elite team of Toronto's Tactical Response Force. Five men and one woman with a rare familial bond, help each other cope with the dark side of humanity as they keep the citizens of Toronto and each other safe. Their team balance is knocked off kilter when an unwanted, new teammate is forced on them. Will Alpha Team's resentment of the new member prevent them from recognizing the wounded soul in their midst before it's too late to save him?

FORSAKEN contains 80% new content combined with some tweaked/expanded parts of previous stories. Forsaken begins with Dan's meeting with the General to exit the military. There is an all new way that Dan first meets the team and Lexa (JAM fans should like this way a lot).

Continue reading for a sneak peek of FORSAKEN: On the Edge of Oblivion ...

Chapter 1

July 10
Afghanistan – General's Office

The barren, brown landscape within his view, exactly matched the wasteland where his heart used to be. He was an empty, scarred shell of desolation. Everything worth anything in him had been blown away on May twenty-sixth.

He couldn't bear the pain of living with what he'd done. After weeks of investigation, the review board had cleared him of fault, but he would never forgive himself. It was his fault no matter what anyone said. The guilt and remorse weighed heavy on him.

Brody was dead and it was his fault. His bullet had blown away the person that meant the most to him in this world. His best friend, his brother, the man that saw him for who he really was and accepted him, faults and all. The man that had saved him countless times and wouldn't let him fall into darkness was now dead, at his hand.

Master Corporal Daniel William Broderick stood at rigid attention before the General's desk as he waited for the General to join him in the office. The window to the outside world was the only place he allowed his eyes to go.

He didn't dare look at the desk. It would be a reminder that he had no one now. No one. He was alone again. Not that he needed a reminder, it was an ever-present thought in his head. One that was unrelenting, mocked him and demanded that he end it all.

No one would mourn him, like they mourned Brody. The world would be a better place without him. He was a failure in all ways that mattered. He failed to protect Sara, Brody, Ripsaw, Yankee, Shy, Buzz, Dutch, Gambit, Unicorn and a host of others. They were all dead because he failed.

The past six years had been purgatory, but at least he hadn't been alone. Brody and the unit had made it bearable. Now that was all gone. Brody was dead and his unit brothers had turned their backs on him. Not that he blamed them. He had committed the greatest sin of all, he'd killed one of their own.

He was back to being alone in this world. Everyone and everything he ever cared about was ripped from him once again. The first time it happened, he was only nine years old and his whole world changed one summer afternoon. Dan had lost everything dear to him in a blink of an eye when he failed to protect his little sister Sara. His parents abandoned him. His father wished it had been him that died instead of Sara.

And … for the past six years, his father had tried to kill him—of that he was sure. It was only through the efforts of his unit that he'd survived.

The deep aching pain of Brody's death threatened to overtake Dan again. He wished that he had access to a weapon, any weapon, so he could end the pain. But he'd been locked in a cell for the past six weeks which was devoid of anything he could use to end it. He'd also been watched by guards around the clock.

When in his cell, he was allowed nothing more than his t-shirt and shorts. There was only a mattress on the floor—they didn't even give him a cot. He was given only things that could be eaten without the use of utensils. His cell didn't even have a toilet. He had to ask to use a toilet and was escorted to the facilities by four armed soldiers who always looked at him with disdain.

He'd tried to escape once, hoping that they'd shoot him, but they only tasered him. They took joy in taunting him, calling him killer and murderer, and zapping him so many times that he'd blacked out. When he woke up, he was back in his cell. There was a new set of guards after that.

The new guards also looked at him with disdain. It was also mixed with pity. Disdain he could handle, he deserved that for what he'd done. Pity, on the other hand, he could not handle. Pity dredged up so many more horrific memories for him and made him want to kill the guards with his bare hands.

Dan pushed back down the memories of his three months of torture at the hands of terrorists that pity evoked. Those memories had been locked away for four years and needed to stay that way. Brody had helped him lock them away in a special place and move forward. The unit had helped too. Especially his unit Commanding Officer, Blaze.

Blaze had been the embodiment of a father that Dan so desperately wanted. It had taken time to build a bond and trust between them. Trusting was never easy for Dan after being discarded by his natural family. But he'd come to trust Blaze and thought of him as a father figure. The bullet that had blown away Brody, had also severed that bond of trust.

When Dan woke in the hospital six weeks ago, Blaze wouldn't even meet his eyes. None of the unit would. After confirming that Brody was dead, no one spoke a single word to him. After the first three days, they never came to visit him either.

Dan had felt a connection with each of his unit buddies. They were all brothers, their bonds forged in the fires of hell. Bonds that Dan thought could never be broken—but they had, his bullet blew those bonds away.

Everyone had deserted him again. And it was all his fault, just like before with Sara. His natural family and now his chosen unit family were gone. There was nothing left for him here. Nothing. He needed to leave—to go far away.

Dan clamped down on his deep, aching pain, grief and shame. He firmly affixed his mask. It wouldn't do to let anyone know the pain and guilt he felt—not that anyone would give a damn. But he needed his shields firmly in place so his weakness wouldn't show. Especially not to the General.

He could never allow the General to see his vulnerability. The man would use it against him. The General had been making his life hell for six years and Dan knew if he showed weakness, the General would twist the knife in deeper.

The General wanted him dead and had been trying to kill him for six years now. Somehow, he had always managed to survive, even when the odds were against him. General Broderick wanted him to die in service to his country so the General could maintain the illusion of family honor.

That fact was one of the reasons Dan wasn't dead yet. Oh, he wanted to die, there was no disputing that fact and he would eventually find a way to die and end his pain. But before he did that, Dan wanted to stick it to the General first—cause him some pain of his own in return for all the pain the General had caused him over years.

Ending his military career would be the first step in doing so. Dan would throw back into the General's face all that the General held dear. He would break with generations of family tradition and leave the military. The fact he was doing so under the cloud of being the one responsible for the death of a soldier in a friendly fire incident was simply icing on the cake. It had actually facilitated his early exit from Special Forces and the military.

As he continued to stand a rigid attention, Dan wished the General would hurry up and get in here. The faster he got this over with, the faster he could leave this place. He needed to leave and he needed to shed this tan uniform. A uniform that had renewed his life ten years ago—when he met Brody in boot camp—but then ended it six weeks ago when he killed Brody.

General's Office – Outer Office

General William Arthur Broderick strode into his outer office where all his staff were located. He'd been delayed by a critical meeting with Colonel Thomas Sutton. He disliked making Daniel wait but there was no way around it.

Everyone stopped what they were doing when the General strode in. What was happening today would be food for the gossip mill. Several of them thought they were lucky enough to have first row seats and were looking forward to the many beers would be bought for them tonight as they would recount what was about to happen.

For the past six weeks, gossip regarding the friendly fire incident that resulted in the death of Master Corporal Brody Hunter was rampant. It had shocked the Special Forces community. So many wanted to see Master Corporal Broderick brought up on murder charges and felt that Dan Broderick was being given special treatment because he was the General's son. Others were more compassionate. They were quick to defend Broderick's actions as an unfortunate accident.

It was clear from all accounts that Broderick had been given the all clear to fire. The only unknown was the how and why of Hunter's presence in the target zone. Many who wanted charges filed believed that Dan should've noticed that he was firing on a friendly. Especially since Hunter and Broderick were in the same unit.

Stopping in front of Corporal Merrill's desk, the General asked, "Do you have the paperwork ready for Master Corporal Broderick?"

"Almost, Sir," Corporal Cody Merrill stated as he stood. He held out the file to the General. "It has been prepared exactly as you requested. I just need to finalize the voluntary reactivation paperwork. It will take me a few minutes."

"Is the Master Corporal waiting in my office?"

Corporal Merrill nodded. "Yes, Sir. Been there for about twenty minutes."

General Broderick reached for the file.

As the General took the file from him, Merrill relaxed a bit, but only a bit. The General was an imposing man. He wasn't nicknamed Badass for nothing. The General was the epitome of military bearing, through and through. He was a hard man from everything Merrill could see and knew about the man.

His face didn't show his years, the chiseled angular lines and firm square jaw still attracted attention from females. Even in his mid-fifties, the General's military-cut hair was still golden blonde. Merrill thought that gray and white hairs were probably afraid of General Badass, so didn't dare try to sprout on his head. The General's eyes were a deep shade of sapphire blue that could, when the General was angry, freeze a soldier in his place with the piercing intensity. When the General dressed-down soldiers, his voice alone could cut a soldier to shreds, it could be icy and unyieldingly hard.

No one doubted the deadliness of General Badass. His physique was still muscular and well-toned—nothing had gone soft on the General. It was suggested he could probably still best many of the younger soldiers in hand-to-hand combat. General Broderick had been a Special Forces sniper before he was promoted to lead Special Forces. His record for distance, accuracy and speed had only been supplanted by his son, Master Corporal Broderick.

Merrill knew that General Broderick had come up through the ranks rapidly and became a Brigadier General at the age of thirty-four and a full General by forty. There was talk that his path had almost been guaranteed with the connections of his late father, Brigadier General Arthur Broderick.

The General looked a lot like his late father, just like the Master Corporal looked like a younger version of the General with a few slight differences. Merrill knew this because he had done his research and because the Broderick family was well known in military circles. They were a military family and were in every branch, Army, Navy and Air Force. For at least eight generations back, maybe even more, every Broderick male joined the military. They served with honor and distinction and either died in the field or were eventually forced to retire.

Not a single Broderick had ever left the military when they were still able bodied.

Until now.

Corporal Merrill watched the General head towards his office. The General's son was breaking with tradition and leaving the military. Merrill was glad of that. It resolved his problems. He wouldn't have to deal with Major Plouffe anymore. Cody was glad to be finally free of that man's machinations.