The shrill ring of her phone cut through the conversation with her mom. Excusing herself from her family home, Jennifer stepped out on the back porch, sliding the door shut behind her. The cool winds of autumn weather hit her; it was getting colder with each day. Winter would soon be here, with Christmas following. Her eyes lit up when she saw it was a FaceTime call, the foreign number telling her it was John.

Quickly accepting the call, she waited for what felt like a lifetime for the call to connect. When it did, she felt her face might break from the grin she wore. She had never been happier to see his face, even if it was beyond pixelated. It had been nearly two months since she had said goodbye to him at the airport and a couple of weeks since the negative tests told them that there would no babies in their near future.

"Hey baby."

"God, you don't know how good it feels to see your face again." She said to him, wrapping her thick cardigan around her tightly as she sat on the decking outside. The wide grin stuck to her face, making her cheeks hurt.

He looked happy too. His hair freshly buzz cut and his eyes bright. A bit of dirt covered his clothed body, but otherwise, he looked good. "Oh I have an idea, Jenny. I've missed you."

"I've missed you too." She mumbled, "You on break?"

"Yeah, it's my turn. We're back up at the control centre, more civilised up here. The phone signal is better too and we have to share phones that are on private, hidden networks. Complete pain in the ass but it's worth it now." He smiled, the screen going pixelated again as he moved. When his face came back into focus, she saw the smirk settle in. "So about those bra and panties?"

A laugh bubbled from her chest as he wiggled his eyebrows. "Nooo. You have to wait til you get home for that."

There was a distinct pause, before he tried to force a smile, but Jenny saw right through it. "About that... it looks like this will be a 9 month tour, we're just about to start of a new mission." His words drew a deep sigh from her body. "But that means I've only got 7 months to go."

Smiling at his attempt to lift her mood, she knew it wouldn't be a short deployment. He was high up in the ranks, a desirable sergeant with a wealth of experience; he would always be in demand. "That's good."

"Yeah, and what's even better, is that I've got at least 9 months at home after it."

Her heart skipped a beat. "Seriously?"

"Yep, I'm all yours for 9 months."

"That's the best news. Have you told your family?"

"I'll call 'em in a week or so and tell them. Just want to let you know first, beautiful."

"Thanks." A smile took over her lips and she saw John smile back into the camera, his dimples popping into place. She appreciated being told first, after what happened last time, he understood she never wanted to be left in the dark again. Even if it meant disappointment, at least she knew.

"How's the book coming along?"

Her smile vanished and she groaned loudly. "It's not. I've hit a roadblock."

"Come onnn. You need to get it finished by the time I come home."

"Why's that?"

"Because I wanna read it. Plus, you're gonna have to finish it because you won't have time to when I'm there."

He made a valid point. If he had his way, they wouldn't be leaving the house for the first 72 hours. "So 7 months to finish a book?"

"Yep, that's doable."

The eyebrow raise she gave him told him it might not be as possible as he thought. "I'll try."

"Good. Don't give up on it."

"But it's so tempting to sometimes." She hummed. Quickly changing the subject, they spoke about Christmas and what her plans were, how he would be spending it in Afghanistan and how John would be home by the summer. They would be able to spend next Christmas together, celebrating like a real couple should. It made her heart beat faster with the mere thought. She would just have to get through not celebrating either of their birthdays together.

With John being called away, Jen swallowed back the urge to just tell him to come home already and forced the happiest voice she could muster. He would be home in 7 months and then he wouldn't be leaving for at least another 9 months. That was what was important.

Saying their goodbyes, she told him she loved him before hanging up and dropping the phone to her side with a heavy sigh.

It had been so good to see his face, but then it also just hurt even more. It was like when he came home for a couple of days, only to leave so suddenly again. It was dangling the idea of being together before her, only to rip it away and replace it with that familiar loneliness.

"You're being a selfish asshole, just shut up brain." Jennifer grumbled to herself and pulled the cardigan tighter around her. She tried to let her mind go blank as she stared out at the expanse of the backyard of her parents house. She tried to imagine him coming home and a happy 9 months together.

The sound of the sliding door behind her made her sit up straight on the decking. "You okay, honey?"

Smiling softly to herself, she saw a hot cup of hot chocolate appear before her, as her mom dropped down to sit next to her. "Yeah. That was John." She said, accepting the mug and hugging it in her hands.

"Is he alright?"

She nodded, taking a small sip of the hot drink. "Yeah, he's fine. He found out he's gonna be out there for another 7 months maybe."

"Oh, I see."

"Then he's home for 9 months. But all I can think of is how I just want to be selfish and have him home now."

Her mom wrapped her arm around her daughters shoulders, pulling her in close. "That's natural, honey. If you love someone, you want them with you all the time. Especially if they are that far away." She added.

"So it's normal for me to be a selfish raging woman?"

Her mom gave a soft smile, "I'd be worried if you weren't. You love him."

"I do."

Her mom placed a warm hand on her knee, giving it a small squeeze. "He'll be home soon. Focus on the 9 months you'll have together, plan things, make the most of the time together, go out on adventures together... and remember this is a big part of who he is and it was part of his life long before you came into it."

"I know."

"He will be having a hard time adjusting to not seeing you too. He's out there doing his job to the best of his ability and will probably have you on his brain."

Jennifer knew she was right, she always was. "7 months."

"7 months. That's it. You've done it before."

Jennifer sighed, "and that was painful enough."

"At least you'll have the video calls now, sweetie." She knew her mom was right, she usually was, which always irritated Jen to no end. She would look forward to the video calls, being able to see his face and know he was alright.

Never letting his eyes off the target, John reached for a set of binoculars to get a closer look. They were currently lying on their fronts, a row of 3 men, hidden behind a long mound of dirt. They had been there for over 2 hours now, getting the tip off about a possible threat. But so far nothing had come of it, they had the team back at base keeping an eye on it too, but still nothing had happened.

"You think they'll move or... do anything more than play cards?"

Randy's voice was monotone, not hiding how bored he was. He had been fidgeting ever since they had parked themselves on the ground. He was not one to stay still in one position for a long period of time; antsy didn't even cover it. Their guns were poised in the direction of a home, where a set of men were guarding it while playing cards on garden furniture with guns at their side.

"I'm about this close to walking over there and asking to play the next hand with them." Randy tried to joke, Mike sniggering at the end.

But John just shot him an unimpressed look. "Try and have a little bit of patience, would you?"

"Oh, I have patience... Just not two hours worth."

Shaking his head, John chuckled. "How you've lasted this long in Special Forces I'll never know."

"That's easy, I've got you as a boss." Randy gave him a saccharine smile.

"Yeah, speaking of, I've been really impressed with Reigns lately. What do you guys think of promoting him?"

It was John's turn to shoot Randy a bright smile. The stony glare he got in response was worth the teasing.

"Control, come in. This is Hitman 2-1 Bravo, over." John spoke over the machine.

"Hitman 2-1, what's your status?"

"No sign of suspicious behaviour. Suspects are having a card game and haven't moved since we got here."

"That is the location. Stay put until further command. Over." The voice of the sergeant clicked out and Randy and Mike visibly sighed, rolling their eyes.

"Who's up for a game of I Spy?"

"Who's up for a game of Orton Piñata?" Mike quipped and received a solid punch on the arm, but it didn't stop the group for sharing a chuckle. John allowed himself to relax slightly and a smile touch his lips.

They sunk down lower into the ground, still hidden from sight in the distance. Camouflaged from sight, they spoke in quiet whispers, while keeping their eyes firmly on the building and the men outside of it.

Another hour passed, no word from base camp and no sign of movement.

As the next hour crept in, they grew restless although only Randy showed visible signs of it. They were trained for these close contact situations where surveillance was an everyday duty.

When a door opened to the building, all eyes opened wider and their bodies poised ready for any signs of threat. But when a group of women emerged with children, they stilled and their shoulders sunk.

John's eyes narrowed on the women as they nodded to the men playing cards. Something wasn't quite right, it didn't match up. Why were these co-ordinates discovered, why would they be of a random home in the middle of nowhere, which held no obvious threat, but was being guarded by these men?

"Helmsley discovered these points via comms, right?"

"Yeah, heard them over a radio, said it was a base for their weapons... That there was a shipment moving out."

His mind was whirring, thoughts streaming in. There had been hardly any movement at all in the past 3 hours apart from women and children leaving. There was only two men guarding the home and the perimeter. That wasn't nearly enough for a valuable shipment.

"This isn't right."

"Please don't tell us that now after we've been here 3 hours under Helmsley's fucking command."

Ignoring Randy's comment, John reached for the radio and pressed the line number. "This is Hitman 2-1, come in, over."

"Hitman 2-1, come in."

"Something's not right, Serg. This doesn't feel right. The co-ords you gave us... they don't add up to the holding."

"Stay put until we say, they could be waiting until night to get the weapons out." Sergeant Helmsley ordered.

"They're not. But the only way of knowing is going in now."

"Not until I give the order."

John sighed, shaking his head. "Copy that."

"Stay put—" The Sergeant was cut off when they heard static. "We don't need another repeat—" He was cut off again, but this time there was no static, just an empty line. Clicking onto a different line, they heard the same silence on each one.

"The signal."

The pieces came together like a jigsaw, as they thought out the mission they were on. It was a simple one, not dangerous to say the least, but it was never meant to be. It was meant to be a test and a distraction to say the least.

The opposition had got into their signal and compromised it. They had hacked it and destroyed it.

"Bomb." John said, moving the gun from the mound and their hiding spot. "We're moving out. The only other way they could fully wipe out our signal is a bomb. A shot wouldn't take that thing down."

As quietly as possible, they moved out of their spot together, shuffling back down the hill back to their Humvee. It was in the exact same spot as it had been, with Ziggler and Rollins inside to keep it secure.

"Any luck?" The bleached blonde man asked as they opened the doors and started the engine again.

"Nope. It was a test and we failed." Mike answered for John as the Californian jumped in the drivers seat. Relaying the message back to Dolph and Rollins just made this exercise even more painful and embarrassing.

How could they not have clocked this? Yes, they knew where the messages came from, but not once had they entertained the thought that it could be the opposition planting the information.

Not once had they thought it was their way of getting a couple of large specialist teams out of base camp to make it weaker.

Not once had they thought the signal would be compromised. It had been reinstated a few weeks ago for family communication, but had otherwise still been used for months. That was it; the new open line of communication had been the cause of it. John knew in that moment that comms with a home line would once again be a thing of the past.

Rubbing his forehead, John kept his eyes on the road and his hand on his gun as they drove back through the desert. It was a long drive back to base camp, one Mike knew like the back of his hand. They gave two sets of co-ordinates and with the signal down, John couldn't even let the other team know that their location was a dupe, a set up and an absolute waste of time.

Their lives could very well be at risk if they stayed into nightfall, which was in about an hour.

As base camp came into view, nothing looked amiss, but as they entered the gates, people were running around and as they turned a corner, the devastation came into sight as their signal tower was collapsed and destroyed.

It seemed the opposition were out to weaken them and they had succeeded this time.

As night loomed, they had ensured the safety of base camp, secured the perimeter and every person in uniform was on guard and alert. Godfather was furious, Helmsley was combing through data and co-ordinates like no tomorrow, but it was a difficult feat when the signal tower was destroyed. But before anyone knew it, he already had another plan of action in the works.

But that all seemed to fall to the side as a rumble on the gravel drew everyone's attention to the front gates. There were no headlights on and everyone waited on baited breath as the scouts moved the Humvee into camp. It was the second car that had gone out on the mission, the one everyone had been waiting to hear from.

But they didn't come with the good news they were all hoping for. As AJ stepped from the drivers seat, Rickes jumped down at the same time from the back door with his head lowered, and with one shake of the head, they all seemed to understand...

It hadn't gone to plan.

The crowd seemed to grow closer to the Humvee as a groan came from the front seat. Matthews was injured, his hand clutching his shoulder, blood spreading through his uniform. His breaths were slow and his mouth parted as he breathed out, but the blood didn't stop. As the cadets rounded up to help move the soldier to medbay for treatment.

John knew that next time, they might not be so lucky… next time, they could lose someone to a plan that wasn't thought out well. But next time, he wouldn't agree to a poor plan. He and Orton would be going back to their old ways of planning for days before even thinking of leaving; he wouldn't stand for anything else.

He couldn't risk another life like that, even if it meant sacrificing his talks with Jennifer.

A/N: I promise not to leave it so long next time :)