Hero

"Dear God, I don't know how much longer I can hold on, my faith to you is slowly fading. Why aren't you by my side when I need you the most? I need someone to save me, someone to save my life. Who will fight for the weak, who's gonna make them believe? I need someone who will fight for what's right, someone who will help us survive, someone who's not afraid to give his life. Someone who will safe us just in time... Amen."

My hands were folded as I whispered my prayer. I had to be quiet, the last thing I wanted was for them to hear me. Those, who didn't believe in God. Those, who had killed so many people and only spared a few lives for reasons I couldn't even tell you. It nauseated me just thinking about it.

I got up on all four and threw up what felt like the last of my stomach acid. It burnt in my throat and I felt the consequence of not eating for days as my stomach contracted, forcing another jet of puke out. I had no sense of time, no idea of how long I had been trapped behind enemy lines. Only thing I knew, was that we needed help... We needed help immediately.

"Guys, she puked again!" a young man in a black, sleeveless t-shirt shouted to his teammates. I looked up at him with vomit dripping from my chin. He wasn't looking at me, he was still talking to some of his so-called "friends."

I studied him from head to toe. His loose, black jogging pants didn't cover his dark red underwear entirely. He had a red piece of cloth tied around his head. I took a second to study his face closer. A black line was painted under both of his eyes. His skin was so smooth, pure and young looking, no wrinkles or scares, only a few pimples on his forehead. The short, dark brown hair was messed up and pointed in every possible direction. His eyes were sky blue and appeared so innocent. He was young, he was just a kid like all the others. No one ever thought they would take it as far as they did. Everyone underestimated them, including me, and now we had to pay.

"Shut up, Jack! I feel like having fun, hold the fort, will ya'?"

"Sure, but save something for the rest of us, Cody, that blond bitch is hot!"

The boy, who's name was Cody, turned around and faced me. A disgusting laughter escaped from between his lips as he sent me a teasing smile: "Ready to have some fun?" he chuckled and winked at me. I crawled backwards, my lower body dragging along the ground and his eyes staring into mine.

"Please... I can't... I can't," I whispered. I had seen them do it to all the other women so many times before. I knew it would be my turn eventually, "Please, I... I..." I couldn't get the words over my lips. I was believing, I had always stayed true to my faith. God wanted me to wait, so that was what I did. Marriage first, then came...

"But sweetie, you're the only one I haven't done yet... I wanna try something new," he laughed and licked his lips, "I'll give you water and food, if you lie still and don't make a sound," he bit his bottom lip and knelt beside me.

"Please... Please... I beg you," I sobbed, feeling the hardened mud on my cheeks turning wet again.

"I won't hurt you... unless you want me to," he grinned caddishly, pushing me on the chest, forcing me to lay down. I shut him out, pretended he wasn't there, as he continued. I couldn't look st him, so I looked at all the lifeless bodies lying around us, thinking I would rather be one of them.

Dear God, let my voice be heard, please, help me. I'm dying and losing my faith to you.

Somewhere near by

"We're almost there, Sir, what do you want us to do?" an experienced Private, called Mizanin, asked his superior. The short haired blond locked eyes with his subordinate with a dead serious look plastered to his face.

"We're gonna storm their camp tonight, the Serenes won't be expecting us, since Sergeant Cena's red herring was successful last night," the blue-eyed Sergeant Major said, observing the deserted landscape as they drove by.

It was a nice quiet night, no one was looking forward to ruining it. They were ready to fight, but also scared that they would never return home to their wives and kids. The only one who didn't show the slightest sign of fear, was the man who led the mission. He didn't have any kids he could watch grow up... He didn't have a wife, who would be waiting for him at home. He once had a girlfriend, a woman who had meant the world to him, but then one day she was gone. The Serenes had taken her before he had had the chance to do anything. He remembered the night like it happened yesterday. He came home after a long meeting with his division, eager to hold his girlfriend in his arms again, when he entered his house, seeing that the old bookcase, he had inherited from his grandmother, was fallen and books were lying all over the floor... But that wasn't all, the couch had been knocked over, broken glass were everywhere and all of their valuable belongings where gone. Including the most valuable person in Chris life... Ashley.

With nothing to lose, he was ready to go to the war.

Back at the Serenes' camp

Cody stepped out of the huge military tent they had stolen from the military along with a bunch of other tents, weapons and all that kind of stuff.

He put on a wide, self-satisfied smile when the others from his group looked up at him.

"How was she?" Jack and Zack asked excitedly in chorus. Cody laughed viciously and sat down around the bonfire where the rest of his group were waiting impatiently for him to pour out his newly gained experience.

"It was awesome! I would have done her a long time ago, if I had known she was a virgin," he said proudly, picking up a twig and started poking around the burning wood.

"Man, why do you always get the good once?" David Hart grumbled and kicked the twig out of Cody's hand.

"What the hell?" Cody said, jumping David and began to wrestle him. Everyone was laughing and having a great time, not knowing that someone was watching them from behind rocks and bushes.

"Do you want me to give the signal, Sir?" Private Mizanin asked Chris, who was staring intensively at Cody. He was the reason why all this had happened. He was the reason for this war. He was the reason why all the young men and women of The United States had taken part in that ridiculous riot. He wanted him dead and he wanted him dead now.

"Give the signal... But Private?" he said and looked at Mizanin, "Rhodes... is mine."

I woke up when I heard someone screaming outside my tent. I didn't remember going to sleep, so I figured I had passed out, which didn't surprise me, since it wasn't the first time. Long, hot days without food and water wasn't exactly the best cocktail.

"Die, you motherfuckers!" Jack screamed as he shot a Private from Chris' division, just to receive a bullet in the head from one of the division's sharp shooters.

"Where the fuck is Rhodes?" Chris screamed as he shot another Serene, looking around to find who he really wanted.

"I don't know, suddenly he was gone?" Mizanin yelled, trying to drown out the loud noises from their weapons and the screams.

"Damn it, he got away again!" Chris tried to calm himself down as he hid behind a huge rock to avoid getting shot. Cody always did that, he fled whenever the shit hit the fan, "I'm gonna go look for hostages, keep the flag flying, okay?" Mizanin looked his superior in the eyes as he nodded. He thought it was an honour to be in Jericho's division. He only wanted the best, so whenever he recruited new rookies, he expected them to be the best from the very beginning, training or no training.

I tried not to sob loudly, when I finally understood what was going on outside my tent. We were under attack and I didn't know who was attacking us. Was it the good guys or just another intruding group?

God had left my side a long time ago, I just didn't want to realize it. It wasn't someone who tried to rescue me. It was just another group, who wanted to be bigger and more powerful than the other. God hadn't sent someone to rescue me.

I sat on my knees, bent forward and hid my head under my arms, even though I knew curling into a ball wouldn't save me from a bullet.

Tears ran down my cheeks. I missed my home, my family, friends... and mostly... my boyfriend. I would give anything to go back in time, just so I could share one last kiss with my loved one.

A chill ran down my spine and I screamed when I suddenly felt a hand on my back. I curled up even more and started sobbing loudly: "Please don't hurt me, please!" I cried, my body shaking with fear.

"It's okay, don't scream... I'm here to rescue you," a soft voice whispered. I knew that voice, I had heard it before and there was only one man it could belong to.

"Chris?" I whispered, slowly uncurling myself and turning to face the man who was finally there to rescue me.

He looked shocked, like he couldn't believe his own eyes. I stared into his deep blue eyes, but I was actually getting doubtful. It couldn't be him, they told me he was dead? I hadn't seen him for so long, it just couldn't be true.

"Ashley?" he was just as stunned as me, he probably thought the Serenes had killed me a long time ago, "Is it really you?" I couldn't prevent the tears from falling when I saw his glossy eyes.

I was speechless, words couldn't describe the way I was feeling at that exact moment. I threw myself in his arms and began sobbing loudly again. He held me tight for a couple of seconds, before he gentle pushed me away, so he could look me in the eyes,"I've got to get you out of here. I lost you once and that won't ever happen again!" he said, letting a tear travel down his cheek. I flashed him a illegible smile. It was a smile filled with sorrow, happiness and fear all at the same time. He didn't mind though, he just smiled back and helped me get up on my feet. I would have fallen, if he hadn't caught me the second my feet collapsed under me: "Looks like I'll have to carry you... Hold on, darling," he whispered as he swung me into his arms and carried me out of the tent through a crack he had cut in it earlier.

He brought me to one of their military trucks, which were parked behind some huge rocks a fair distance away from the Serenes' camp. He placed me inside the truck and wrapped a blanket around me quickly. He looked at me for a moment without any of us saying anything. I knew what he was about to say and even though it didn't thrill me, I had to let him go.

"I'll be fine, you should go help your team," I whispered, sending him a small smile.

"Are you sure? I can stay here if you want?" he sounded like he didn't want to go back at all, but I knew he wanted to and it was his duty to go back and help, so I nodded.

"You should go.. Don't forget, there's still some women who needs to be rescued," he took my hand and kissed it, sending me one last smile before returning to his group. I couldn't see them from where I was sitting, so all I could do was wait.

An hour later

I woke up when I heard laughter. I sat up and looked around, but I couldn't see anybody. My instinct told me to stay in the truck and hide, but my curiosity took over. It was my Chris who was on his way towards me, it had to be.

I jumped out of the truck, but didn't have enough strength or energy to move my feet. I supported myself against the truck and scouted for the source of the laughing. That was when someone came in sight. My feet and fingers tickled as I watched a group of men dressed in military uniforms stroll towards me with their leader in front.

I waved towards them as they came closer. Some of the men were carrying wounded and starved women, while others just fooled around and congratulated each other on their huge victory... The only one not doing anything near that, was Chris. As he led the way of his soldiers, he smiled wide and waved back at me... Right until something caught his eye. Suddenly he became serious and began running towards me. I didn't understand, he wasn't looking at me, who was he looking at and why was he suddenly so serious?

I turned to look in the same direction Chris was, seeing something that made me let out a terrified scream. Cody was running towards me, staring with those burning eyes. It wasn't until I looked at his hand I finally realized how serious the situation was. He had a knife.

He was so close and I couldn't move my feet. My whole life passed before my eyes and I figured it was time for one last prayer: "Dear God, please let Chris live happily ever af..." I didn't get to finish because I was pushed out of the way. I looked up just in time to see the love of my life get stabbed in the stomach.

"Chris!" I cried out, tears already flowing down my cheeks.

"I will die in piece now that I know I was the last thing you saw before you died," Cody whispered in Chris' ear, right before Private Mizanin shot him several times. The worst enemies ever dropped dead beside each other.

I couldn't believe my own eyes. Chris, my Chris was dead. He was killed before my very own eyes.

I screamed with horror when I realized what had happened. I was inconsolable, no matter who or how much they tried to comfort me, it wasn't working. God didn't exist, he never had. The world we were living in was cold and had no mercy. God didn't save me, Chris did.

Chris Jericho... My hero.

Ashley's prayer in the beginning is kind a borrowed from the song: Hero, by Skillet.
- I changed it a bit.. So in a way it belongs to Skillet.

I promised Pixiella a song fic (Hero – Skillet) a long time ago.. Sorry girl, it wasn't supposed to take me so long to make it :(.. But I hope you enjoyed!

Oh, and I saw that you wanted a story with Chris as an agent.. Well.. He's not an agent, but a soldier.. Hope it works for you too...

I hope everyone enjoyed the story..
I'm not completely back yet, but there will be another one shot coming soon :)..

Hope you all had an amazing Christmas and I wish you all a happy new year :D!