A/N: This is something I wrote like two years ago so hope you guys enjoy and let me know what you think.

When Jack Fordman came back from the Gulf War he wasn’t really the same of course most people that go to war and come back aren’t but for Jack it was different. The first night home he woke up in cold sweat thinking of all the terrible things he had seen. One thing was at that top of his mind from one of his missions something that was really bizarre. The people of that little town in Colorado thought it was just the war that made him jittery but it wasn’t.

One night while sitting in the local bar drinking a beer Jack heard a voice that was oh so familiar. He looked behind him and saw his best friend who he hung out with all the time before he went to war.

“Hey, Jack, how ya been long time no see.” His friend asked when he noticed Jack.

“Good, Max, just a few nightmares here and there but other than that I’ve been good, you?” He said.

“Cool. You know I’m taking my two boys fishing this Saturday ya wanna come?” Max asked. He was tall with dark brown hair; he wore a white t-shirt with jeans and a flannel jacket.

“Sure I’d love to come. How are Matt and Michael doing by the way?” Jack said thinking how much he would love to see Max’s boys again since he hadn’t seen them for a very long time.

“Good. Matt turned 16, last month and Michael is turning 18 in two months. Oh you remember Kate Halbort from high school?” Max said no matter what, Max could always take the troubles off Jack’s mind

“Yeah, didn’t you go out with her our junior year of high school.” Jack said with a smirk on his face. He and Max had known each other since first grade and had been best friends since then also.

“Yeah, I did. She’s back in town she had been gone for awhile left about five months after you did. Why don’t we go paint her car like we did after I broke up with her so she thinks someone stole it and left another car or we can hotwire it and put it in a parking lot near her.” Max said plotting what to do to Kate for revenge even though the plotting he and Jack were doing was just for fun and that they weren’t really going to do it.

“You know that be so bad but so much fun.” Jack said jokingly thinking of all the bad things he and Max did when they were younger and how he definitely needed something to do other than sitting around doing nothing other than watching TV and drinking beer every night and once in awhile go for a walk around the town. He had been back for a month and this was the first time he had seen Max since he got back. It was good to see him again to take a brake from thinking about war non-stop.

“Well I’d better get home to the boys before they wonder where I’m at.” Max said. He had lost his wife about two years after Matt was born due to pneumonia. Max was in real bad shape for a while after that. Jack had never been married he went on dates but never found that special someone.

“Alright see ya around.” Jack said as Max left the bar and he got up, paid for his beer, and went home to relax; at least that what he thought he was going to do.

That night as he crawled into bed after a long day he thought of his friend Max and their upcoming fishing trip instead of the war for once and how he was glad it was Thursday and that tomorrow was Friday and that is what he fell asleep thinking about.

The next he knew he was on an alien spacecraft being hooked up to wires and being poked by them he knew that it was happening again but this time he was alone and he didn’t have his army issued gun with him all he had with were the pants he had worn to bed that night. He heard the aliens muttering something in their language and he also thought he heard someone screaming somewhere else on the ship but he wasn’t sure. He knew what they were doing because this was what happened to him and his men on that one mission he had gone on. He had been on a mission that was supposed to be so simple, he and his men were supposed to just rescue a lieutenant of another team, well while they were on the mission they were taken by aliens and these aliens did not let the men forget about it three of the seven men that were on the team died. The first two killed each other from delusions the aliens had put in their heads and the third man died of radiation sickness, which meant the aliens had definitely done something wrong with him. Jack didn’t like what they did because it hurt like heck and probably that little fact that nobody liked being poked by someone they didn’t know.

When Jack woke up the next morning he was sore from all the poking the aliens had done to him when they took him last night. Even though he knew what they had done and that they had done it he still felt very confused almost as if it didn’t happen but it been a dream but he knew that it hadn’t been a dream at all. He had known some how that they weren’t done with him after they took him when he was on his mission in Iraq, but he felt that they were done now and that they weren’t coming back ever again.

As he sat there thinking when the phone rang, he jumped and then answered it saying, “Hello, who is it?”

“Jack, it’s me I’ve been calling you for the last six hours where have you been?” The voice on the other line said, it was Max.

“I must have over slept, my clock is dead what’s the clock at your place say?” Jack asked

“Jack it’s two o’clock in the afternoon. Are you feeling alright?” Max said with concern.

“I’m fine just a little headache that’s all. What’s up?” Jack said

“Actually I was just calling to see if you wanted to come in for an interview with my boss since it seems you haven’t found work yet and there’s an opening at my work which should hopefully be your work too.” Max said.

“Yeah, I’ll be there in about half n’ hour, see ya then.” Jack said and he hung up the phone. He got out of bed slowly because he still ached and he got ready to go to the interview. Without thinking he put his major’s uniform on. It was what he used put on when he went somewhere where he had to be dressed up and this was the first time he had gotten dressed up since he got back.

The interview had gone well he had gotten the job and he was going to start the beginning of next week.

“Jack, you did really well in there. Congratulations on getting the job. Let’s go celebrate. I’m buying the beers and I don’t want any arguments from you.” Max said

“Since when have you known me to turn down a free beer?” Jack said with enthusiasm in his voice, and he and Max walked to the bar. It was quiet at the bar of course it usually is around four o’ clock in the afternoon.

“Max, if I tell you something do promise not to think I’m crazy?” Jack asked. He was thinking about telling Max about what happened to him the night before.

“Sure, what’s up?” Max asked with concern as got two beers for him and Jack.

“Last night and when I was in Iraq I was taken by aliens. Max you know I’ve never believed in aliens before and there’s no reason I made this up, Max you have got to believe me.” Jack said it with sincerity as he took a sip of his beer.

“Jack, are you sure? I mean I’d like to believe that this happened but I can’t there is just nothing that convince me that this happened. Jack you’ve been through a lot are you sure that this wasn’t just a dream?” Max said concerned his friend may have possibly lost it while at war.

“Max, I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true. You have to believe me. When it first happened I thought that maybe I had gone crazy, but when two of my men killed each other thinking the other was an alien and another one of my men died of radiation sickness in less then 36 hours with symptoms of having been exposed to an extremely high amount of gamma radiation I knew something was wrong and what had happened to me was not a dream or me going crazy at all, Max.” Jack said with sincerity.

“I’ll think about what you said and I’ll try to believe but I’m not sure if I can.” Max said

“You maybe all I need is a good fishing trip with my best friend and his two boys. We’re still on for that tomorrow right?” Jack said

“About that, I meant to tell you earlier, Matt woke up with the flu this morning and I think Michael might coming down with it also. Sorry about that.” Max said feeling sorry that he couldn’t go fishing with his boys and his friend.

“Ok, how about I stop over tomorrow to visit instead.” Jack said

“Sure, that would be great, I’m sure the boys would enjoy seeing you again. They haven’t seen you in two years and I know they missed you popping over our house unannounced all the time.” Max said glad to change the subject

“Thanks, it’ll be good to see them again.” Jack said

“Well, I told Matt I would be home early tonight so I better get going, see you tomorrow.” Max said

The next morning on Jack’s way to Max’s house he stopped by the local convenient store to pick up some beer for him and Max and some Coke for the two boys.

“Uncle Jack!” a tall boy with short dark hair, jeans, and a tee shirt shouted when he answered the door. Both of the boys had called him Uncle Jack for as long as they could remember. Maybe it was because he had known them since the day they were born and was always around, at least until Jack went to war.

“Hey, Michael, man have you grown or what. How you and your brother doing?” Jack said delighted to see Michael again.

“I’m good but Matt’s sick so I have no one to throw the football around with which really sucks.” Michael said

“I have an idea how about I say hi to your brother real quick and talk to your dad for a little while and then maybe I will go in the backyard and throw the football around with you for awhile. How’s that sound?” Jack said.

“Great let me go tell my dad that you’re here.” Michael said and he went to tell his dad that Jack was there.

“Hey, Jack, Michael’s real glad to see you again, told me you were going to throw the football around with him.” Max said.

“Yeah, oh I brought a case of beer for you and I and some Coke for the boys since I know they like it.” Jack said.

“Great. Oh Matt wants you to say hi to him real quick, he’s in his room, unfortunately he is still sick.” Max said and Jack went up to Matt’s room

“Hey, buddy how you doing, I came over and I heard you were sick.” Jack said as he walked into Matt’s room.

“Hi, Uncle Jack, how are you?” Matt said happily though he sounded a little tired which made Jack think he might have woken up not to long ago.

“I’m good how are you?” Jack said.

“Other than being sick I’m good. Uncle Jack, you know I have a girlfriend now. Her name’s Samantha, but everybody else and I call her Sam or Sammy. You have to meet her Dad likes her and Michael thinks she is good for me.” Matt said glad to talk about his girlfriend.

“Well, if your dad and brother like her she must be nice. I would be more than glad to meet her.” Jack said, “You know I better get down to your dad and I promise I will come back and say god bye to you, alright.”

“How’s he doing?” Max asked when Jack came into the living room

“Good. He told me about his girlfriend. She sounds nice. How’s Michael doing by the way, you said that you thought he might be coming down with the flu also.” Jack said.

“Yeah I think she’ll be good for him, maybe she’ll help him get better grades. He’s not getting the best grades in the world, and Michael I thought he was because he was really tired yesterday but he seems fine today. I don’t if he is just faking that he is well because he has a big football game coming up or he really is fine but he won’t let me know.” Max said. Max and Jack talked for about an hour before Michael came in asking Jack to come outside and throw the football around.

“Want to come out with us Max?” Jack asked.

“I love to, but I better stay in here in case Matt needs me. Sorry.” Max said apologetically.

“That’s alright we won’t stay out to long.” Jack said.

Jack and Michael had been out for about twenty minutes talking and throwing the football around when Jack seemed to notice that Michael was looking more tired than usual, but he knew that Michael didn’t get tired after twenty minutes of only throwing a football around.

“Michael, are you feeling alright? You look rather tired.” Jack asked concerned

“Just a little tired. I’ll be fine, Uncle Jack.” Michael said.

“Maybe we should just go in I’m sure your dad wouldn’t want you out here if there’s that small little chance you are sick and I know I wouldn’t want you out here if you were sick, not saying that you are.” Jack said, and he and Michael went inside.

“You’re in sooner than I thought is everything alright?” Max asked concerned when Jack walked into the kitchen were Max was.

“I’m not sure. Michael looked really tired when we were throwing the football and from experience of playing with him he doesn’t get tired easily it takes about an hour for him to start to get tired.” Jack said, and Max walked into the living room where Michael was sitting on the couch looking at a Sports Illustrated magazine.

“Michael, are you feeling alright Jack here told me you were tired.” Max asked concerned.

“Just tired and a little headache. That’s all Dad nothing else.” Michael said as his Max felt his forehead to see if he may have a fever.

“Michael, I hate to break it to you but I think you have what your brother has so why don’t you go up to your room and I will be right there to check on you and your brother.” Max said.

“But Dad” Michael was about to argue.

“Michael go.” Max said and Michael got off the couch and went up stairs.

“ Good bye Michael. I better get going Max, but before I go I have to say goodbye to Matt because I told him I would.” Jack said

“Alright.” Max said and Jack went upstairs to say goodbye to Matt, but when he got to Matt’s room Matt was asleep so all he did was go in the room and fix Matt’s covers and he left.

“Bye, Max, see you Monday at work oh Matt is asleep by the way just to let you know.” Jack said when he got down stairs and found Max at the dining table looking at bills that were all over the table.

“ Thanks and I guess I’ll see you at work then. Bye, Jack.” Max said as got up from the table to let Jack out.

Jack left feeling happy that he had seen the boys again. As he drove home that day he saw a man on the side of the road that looked really familiar, but he couldn’t place where he had seen the man before and by the time he got home and he was in his house he remembered, it was Lieutenant Mathers from his team from when he was in Iraq. The thing that bugged him was that he was the one who had died of radiation sickness. So how could he be here I must have imagined him or did I maybe I should go back and check just to make sure Jack thought to himself and as he stepped out his front door to go to his pickup truck Lieutenant Mathers was standing right there in front of him.

“Um, Mathers, what are you doing here I thought you were dead. Actually I am positive you are dead I watched you die.” Jack said a little frightened since he knew very well that Lieutenant Mathers was dead.

“Come with me Major Fordman, I have something to show you. I know you are going to like what I have to show you, sir.” Mathers said with only one expression in his face, eyes, and voice that was the expression of fear.

“You know I think I would rather stay here because you know what I like my house just fine.” Jack said almost scared himself, scared that what he was seeing was a hallucination or a ghost or maybe an alien even coming to get him to do some more experiments on him.

“Sir, you have to come if you don’t you will die so come on.” Mathers said pulling on Jack’s sleeve. When Jack looked down at his sleeve to shove the lieutenant’s hand off he noticed that he wasn’t wearing the plaid jacket he had had on and the jeans he had been wearing, but had on his army fatigues the ones he would wear when he was in Iraq fighting. “What’s going on?” Jack said all of a sudden scared.

“Sir, we’ve got to get you out of here now.” Mathers said and he knocked Jack out.

“Colonel, he’s coming around.” Jack heard a faint voice say as he started to come around feeling rather confused. When he woke up he noticed that he was in some kind of army infirmary.

“Hello, Major, how are you feeling? We thought we had lost you there.” The colonel said to Jack when he opened his eyes.

“Sir, where am I? I was at home in Colorado not to long ago. Why is Mathers alive I thought he was dead I watched him die of radiation sickness after we were taken by aliens?” Jack asked feeling very confused, not knowing why he was back on a base in Iraq when he should have been at home.

“Major, I’m afraid you were never home, you were never taken by aliens, and Mathers is very much alive other than a bruise here and there. What happened was you had a bad case of Malaria, which caused you to have a delusion that had you sleeping for a very long time, Mathers told us that if you hadn’t been talking at all he would have thought that you were in a coma or something, you had your whole team scared to death that you weren’t going to make it. Mathers told me that you talked about a fishing trip, a guy named Max, and his two boys Matt and Michael. Mathers stayed with you the whole time while your other men went to get help. You are very lucky that we found you when we did or you might have died you had an extremely high fever that we weren’t sure if you were going to even make it when we found you, also if we hadn’t found you when we did you would’ve been considered missing in action.” The colonel said.

“So I was never home? How did I get Malaria? Are Elman and Micks alright?” Jack asked wanted to get some answers. Elman and Micks were the two men Jack had thought killed each other.

“Slow down, Major, no you were never home, you got malaria because you had gone in a thing a water to rescue a little boy and you were bitten by an infected bug and you got sick, you did rescue the boy by the way, you got sick fast I think you forgot to get your malaria shot, and as for Elman and Micks their fine they just a few scrapes but nothing a few stitches can’t fix.” The colonel said to Jack.

“Yeah I knew there was something I forgot to do.” Jack said in a joking voice.

“Sir, I think he should get some sleep now if you want him completely better.” The doctor said.

“Right, doctor. Get better soon, Fordman, because when you do you are going home and maybe then you can go on a fishing trip with that guy you talked about, when you were delusional, and his boys.” The colonel said to Jack.

“Yes, sir.” Jack said and he closed his eyes glad to be allowed to go home to his friends, and the colonel left. Before he left for home though he made sure all his men got a metal for their bravery. Micks and Elman for going to find help and Mathers for staying with Jack the whole time and taking the chance of possibly getting captured along with Jack if Jack got captured.

When Jack got home, he saw Max, Matt, and Michael waiting for him in side the airport.

“So good to see you guys again.” Jack said as he gave them all a hug.

“Good to have you back, Jack, the boys and I missed you.” Max said.

“It is so good to be back.” Jack said happily.

“Did you get shot or anything, Uncle Jack did you get shot or captured at all?” Matt asked eagerly.

“No but I did get malaria and I had a really weird dream when I had it. Do you want to here about it?” Jack said.

“I’m sure we would all like to here but I’m sure you are really tired from your trip so why don’t we take you home and then we’ll pick you up around six o’clock and take you to dinner, my treat.” Max said before Matt could say anything as they walked to Max’s car. Matt looked a little upset about the fact that he had to wait.

“That’s a good idea, Max. It’ll give you something to look forward to at dinner.” Jack said when he saw that Matt was kind of upset.

At six o’clock Jack heard a knock on his door, it was Michael coming to get him to take him to the restaurant.

“Dad wanted me to pick you up because Matt had a little bit of a report to finish that he forgot to tell Dad about, so he’s going to meet us there.” Michael said.

“Alright. So where are we eating at.” Jack asked very curious as to where they were eating.

“Dad says I’m not aloud to tell you because it’s a surprise.” Michael said with a smirk on his face Jack noticed.

“So how’s school going? You’re a senior in high school right?” Jack said when he was sitting in the car as Michael drove.

“Yeah I’m a senior, and school’s going good. I kind of broke up Janet Mallen about a month ago.” Michael said, giving Jack an update on his life.

“Why did you guys break up I thought you guys were good together before I left for Iraq.” Jack said.

“Well, she kind of cheated on me with another guy and when I first found out I talked to her and she told me she would stop seeing the guy because she didn’t want me to break up with her because she loved me to much and of course I believed because I did love her so when my best friend Joe told me that she was seeing two other guys of course when I heard that I was about ready to kill someone the day I found out she was seeing two other guys I broke up with her right away, yeah I talked to her about her cheating on me again but I knew that if I didn’t do it now I may never do it, so yeah that’s how it happened.” Michael said sounding a little sad.

“Sorry.” Jack said, “I’m sure you’ll find someone that is right for you. You’re a good kid, Michael.”

“Thanks, Uncle Jack. Oh there is Dad and Matt looks like Matt finished his report. You know that little brat is always doing his homework at the last minute, I don’t know how he does it.” Michael said as he parked the car and got out.

“You know I know a certain guy who use to that, you the guy, he was about your brother’s age when he did that.” Jack said smiling as he walked over to Max and Matt.

“Oh, yeah I kind of forgot about that. Maybe I do know how he does it.” Michael said laughing.

“Hope you like the place we chose to eat at.” Max said smiling when Jack and Michael walked over.

“Mick’s Hamburgers you have got to be kidding me. This place is still here. I thought it would have been gone by now. No wonder it had taken about an hour to get here.” Jack said happily. Mick’s Hamburgers had been the ultimate hang out place when Jack and Max had been kids/teenagers. The kids back then said that if you didn’t hang out there you were definitely uncool, so even the geeks hung there in hopes of staying out of their lockers, but there were a few odd balls who decided not to hang out there, those people were usually the kids who had been home schooled all there life and didn’t really have a social life outside of their house.

“I thought you would like the place.” Max said

“Are you kidding me Max, I love it. Max the last time you and I were here was…” Jack decided not to finish when he saw Max giving him a look that meant he was not aloud to talk about it in front of the boys but Max definitely knew what Jack was talking about though. He had gotten that look several times before at Max’s house when he was talking about stuff that was to adult for Michael and Matt.

“Uncle Jack what about that dream you had and the malaria. You said that you would tell us.” Matt said eagerly after they had sat down and ordered, hamburgers of course and two cokes (for Michael and Matt) and two beers (Jack and Max’s of course).

“Yeah, I almost forgot about that; I can always count on you to remember stuff like that, Matt. Well it is pretty boring basically. I was with my team on a mission when I saw this boy in the water drowning I went to save him I got bit by something and got malaria, actually the boy looked a little like you Michael. While I was delirious I had a dream that I was back here and that while I was in Iraq I was taken by aliens from outer space and that that happened after I got back. You and your brother were both sick and then when I got back to my place after I visited you guys a guy from my team who in my dream died woke me up telling me that help was there and then I went back to my base camp in Iraq, got better, and came home and now I’m here having dinner with you guys. See not much to it. Sorry it was a little boring, but at least I am home and my time is up in the service.” Jack said.

“That sounded cool. You know I’m glad your time with the service is up. Are going to still work with Dad though and stop by our house all the time because we’ve really missed you coming over.” Matt said.

“Well, I’ll only work with your dad over here if he is still willing to allow me to work with him and you can always count on me stopping by your place all the time, I love doing that and seeing you guys about every week.” Jack said as he looked at Max to get an answering about work. Max worked at a steel mill and was kind of the headman the boss really and every body looked up to him when they needed direction on what to do. Jack actually had been kind of like the second boss before he went off to war. It had helped to be Max’s best friend.

“I think we can work something out for you at work, Jack. I know my secretary Miss Jane Hillock sure did miss you.” Max said smiling. Before he left, Jack had been seeing Max’s secretary (she was really just someone who wrote down the things they had done that day) and he had almost proposed to her but when the night he had planned to it came she had been to late on getting to the airport and they never really got a chance to say a goodbye to each other and Jack didn’t get a chance to propose either, so Jack planned that he would do it on the first day he got back to work.

“Great!” Matt said

“Hey, thanks man I really appreciate that. You know I wasn’t even thinking about what I was going to do for work until you brought that up but now I don’t have to even worry about it.” Jack said and everybody finished eating and they all went home and slept without worrying about whether Jack and everybody finished eating and they all went home and slept without worrying about whether they would make it through the night without being captured or if their best friend/ “Uncle” would come home safe.