Orphans of War by Morgan (R)

[dawnchsr.livejournal.com]

Fandom: Tour of Duty
Characters: Zeke Anderson/Rusty Wallace
Length: 5144 words
Author on LJ: No LJ
Author Website: Notes From the Underground
Why this is a must read:
Morgan has written a rare pairing in Sgt Zeke Anderson and Capt Rusty Wallace. She shows a side of Zeke we rarely see: vulnerable, shaken to the core by the loss of an infant in his care. Wallace tries to reach out to Zeke with limited success. A moving exploration of the relationship between a commander and his sergeant, who’ve moved beyond professional respect to friendship and more.

Excerpt:
Rusty crouched beside his sergeant and surveyed the damage. Physically there wasn’t much to see. He was cleaned up. The bullet graze on his arm wasn’t much more than a scratch, they’d closed it with a few stitches. The leg wound was hidden under clean fatigues. It was only a flesh wound, he’d been told.

That would all be encouraging, except for the sight of Zeke’s face. It was chilling. Like waking up and finding himself on the dark side of the moon. Somewhere cold and barren and most frightening of all…

Alone.

If Zeke checked out, Rusty would be alone.

Orphans of War