I'm Back! With a new story (again focusing on Sam)

This story is based off of Sam's past, his time during Basic Training, Special Ops Training with the Canadian Forces, his deployment to Afghanistan and Kandahar and all the funny moments in between, before he left to join the SRU.

I don't own Flashpoint, or Sam Braddock… sadly. Any characters you don't recognize are mine. Like Alice… and Howlett.

I hope you enjoy this story and many thanks to Tinkerpanda for her revisions and encouragement!

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Chapter One: Introduction

Clear blue eyes looked up from the book in his grasp to the airport full of people. Feelings of excitement and apprehension were clearly hanging in the air around him as the blonde soldier sat on the floor, propped up by his bag, beside the large fountain in the middle of the waiting area…

Sam Braddock looked over his shoulder at the water display, frowning. What the hell was a fountain doing in the middle of an airport anyway? With a sigh the blonde returned his attention and thoughts to the large group of men and woman standing around waiting for their flight. A flight that wasn't scheduled to leave for another two hours. He let his gaze travel over the dark skinned man who was the size of a body builder, sitting in one of the plastic chairs across the room talking loudly on his cell phone with someone who Sam presumed was his wife or girlfriend by his tone.

Letting out a bored sigh he turned to watch a tall lanky man leaning against a wall a few feet away from him. The blonde raised an eyebrow at the obviously dyed white hair and gray eyes that were staring at a small group of woman beside him. Earrings decorated both his ears and Sam almost had to chuckle at the ripped jeans and leather jacket. That kind of dress wouldn't be allowed for much longer. And on the subject of not allowed, he figured if it wasn't for the no-smoking sign directly about his head, the twitchy fingers at the man's side would be holding a cigarette.

Following the white haired mans line of vision to the small group of three women Sam broke out in a small smile. He could instantly tell two of them were sisters, both having the same brown hair and the identical hockey jackets. The taller green-eyed girl's jacket was emblazoned with the name L. Wagner; the shorter of the two, whose hazel gaze Sam could only describe as overly protective, had the name K. Wagner on the sleeve.

But what made Sam smile to him self, wasn't either of them, it was the blonde they were talking to; the only familiar face in the crowd. What should have been long blonde hair had been cut and pulled back into a bun on the top of her head and bright green eyes sparkled with amusement as the taller brunette cracked a joke.

Alice Ingram, his friend since he had met her on an international base where both of their fathers worked when he was six. She looked over at him for a moment, giving him a smile that warmed his heart before turning back to the other two women. That was something about Alice he adored, where most of the women in his life had just wanted to use him for their own sake or for the sake of being able to say they slept with the Colonels son; she wasn't like that, she never had been. As a little child she had become his friend before she even knew who he was, and even now he valued that friendship over everything else.

Sam jumped as a green bag was dropped in the floor beside him. Blue eyes looked up at the man who collapsed onto the seat on the fountain ledge next to him, taking in the tired brown eyes and ruffled brown hair. Raising an eyebrow the blonde flipped his book over on his knee to keep his page marked. "You okay?"

The brown haired man looked down at him giving him a quick glance over before leaning forward to rest his head in his arms on top of his knees. "M'fine."

The blonde blinked before understanding. "Let me guess, early flight?"

Brown eyes rose a bit to look at him. "Two a.m. in from Newfoundland."

"Ouch." Sam winced digging into his pocket and holding out a package of Trident. "Piece of gum? Minty fresh." He saw the other man look at him out of the corner of his eye and Sam shook the package lightly. "We have two more hours of waiting, might help wake you up."

The brown haired man grimaced and took the package, popping a piece into his mouth with a smile. Flipping the cardboard package around in his fingers the man shifted to hold his hand out. "Name's Matt."

Sam laughed under his breath before shaking hands with the man. "I'm Sam, nice to meet you."

Matt nodded passing him back his gum and Sam moved to pick his book back up. "So what are you in for?" the brown haired man asked.

Blue eyes looked back up at the pair of brown that was still focused on him. "Pardon?" Sam blinked; slightly surprised the man was still talking to him, usually people just tended to ignore him… wow… he needed more friends. "Oh uh, Army."

The Newfie smirked. "Awesome, me too."

"Oh yeah?" Sam put his book back down. "Why the army?" Then as if an afterthought, added. "If you don't mind me asking."

Matt snapped his gum a thoughtful look crossing his slightly rough features. "I just needed a better job."

Feeling the brunettes reluctant to talk on the subject Sam just nodded and went back to his book. After a few moments of silence between them a murmur seemed to ripple through the group of new recruits and the two of them looked up to see a tall lanky man with sandy blonde hair and large round glasses walking next to an older man with several decorations on his shoulders, showing him as a ranked Colonel.

Sam winced and slid down a bit hiding his face behind his book. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Alice straighten up and salute both men, who nodded at her and continued on their way. He was thankful that Matt was watching them and not him but Sam raised an eyebrow when he saw the look of clear distaste on the brown haired mans' face. "Something the matter?" he asked.

The Newfoundlander glanced down at the blonde frowning when he had to look down a bit farther then before. "Nothing it just pisses me off." At Sam's confused look he sighed. "I heard a rumour that Colonel Braddock, the guy who just walked by, his son is supposed to be in this group for training. Guys like that make me angry, the brat probably didn't have to do any of the tests to get in or anything, just let daddy do all the work for him. Walk right through the system so he can scoot by on his father's reputation and not have to do any real work. Jerks like that annoy the piss out of me."

The blonde bit his lip at Matt's remarks, the idea of them being friends quickly vanishing into thin air. "Oh…" he trailed off watching his father and the man he recognized as Captain Mike Howlett, pause a few feet away from them and start to look through the crowd. Sam had to repress the groan that wanted to escape him when Howlett finally landed his sights on him.

"Hey, Braddock, get over here a second!" The Captain shouted waving at the blonde and Matt's head swung around so fast Sam was surprised he didn't get whiplash.

Squishing the annoyance running through him, Sam heaved himself to his feet, brushing the dirt off his pants before grabbing his bag and slinging it over his shoulder. Finally looking up at the mortally embarrassed Matt, the blonde smiled weakly. "Well, Matt, it was nice to meet you anyway."

With that Sam walked off towards the Colonel and the Captain leaving the brunette sitting there with his mouth hanging open.

End Chapter one.

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Hope you enjoyed it. Things will be getting more clear later on, as we put names to character descriptions and so forth.

Thanks for reading!