Riley lifted his hand to rub the sleep out of his eyes before he looked at Sam whose cot was empty, he had woken up 5 minutes ago and is getting dressed for the assignment. He rolled his eyes fondly before slipping on his shoes, he makes sure they are laced up because the last thing you want to happen is to fail because your shoes aren't tied enough.

He yawns as he stands up and starts to walk out of the shared tent, he finds Sam in front of the little stove making some coffee. "Here," Sam says breaking Riley out of his thoughts, he raised his brow at Sam before looking down at the steaming hot coffee that was shoved into his hands. He smiles before bringing it to his lips, he winces when it burns his tongue but ignores it as he looks at Sam who is watching him with a fond smile. "What?" Riley asks looking at Sam confused.

"Just love you, today's gonna be a good day. I can feel it." Sam said bumping his shoulders against Riley's who chuckles at his boyfriend's antics. "As long as this mission goes okay, then we get to go home, and hey maybe for our good efforts we can get home early." Riley wiggled his eyebrows at Sam who rolled his eyes. "Are you guys ready to ship out?" Lina asks as she was walking over to the two of them. "Yes, both of us are pretty confident. The radar still isn't showing any RPGs or anything that can harm us so we presume that he's going to come out willingly, at least we should get to the Bakhmala drop zone safely." Riley placed his now empty coffee cup onto the table that the three of them were standing by.

"Diaz! Wilson, come here." Palmer gestured for the two of them to come towards his trailer. "This is it, we'll see you when we back," Riley says to Lina who nods and wishes the two of them luck. Sam gets to the tent first and pushes the curtain away so Riley can walk into the tent and Sam follows making sure the curtain falls back into place for privacy. "Okay, so let's go over our plans again shall we?" Riley could see that Sam was resisting rolling his eyes, they've been through this at least 3 times already but Riley doesn't mind Palmer wanting to be extra prepared.

The two of them take a seat while the pilot is standing at the end of the desk on Sam's left. "So, Casey is going to fly you two here." Palmer points to an x which is a few miles away from Bakhmala. "This is the safe zone, you both are going to jump out of the helicopter and fly into Bakhmala where Khalid Khandil is hiding. Remember, alive is preferred but the U.S told me to do whatever it takes. I want you both to come back in one piece so if Khalid has to be dead for you to be alive, I don't care. I want you two to make it home, okay?" Riley nodded at Palmer, he looked at him and saw a dark look in his eyes, Riley sighed and he glanced at Sam who suddenly looked serious before reaching up and fiddling with the cross necklace that was still hidden under his shirt.

"We will do everything we can to bring him back, we got this Sir. We won't let you down." Riley stepped and nodded at Palmer who rolled his eyes slightly before waving them away. "Go get the EXOs on while Casey is fueling up the Helicopter." Palmer gestured toward the open crates, Riley took a deep breath before rubbing his hands together as he walked over to the one that had Falcon Diaz on it, he smirked as he ran his fingers crossed his embossed name before grabbing the EXO Falcon out of its box and swung it onto his shoulders.

Sam helped him push his arms through and made sure the straps around his middle were fastened before he moved on to fastening the one around his waist. "Does it feel secure?" Sam asks Riley as he steps back to look at Riley suited up. "It does." Riley makes sure all the straps are on tight even and laying flat on his body before he walks towards Sam's box and helps him the same way he helped him. "You look good, it fits you." Riley admires Sam once he was finished suiting him up.

Sam scoffed but he had a smile on his face. "Quit flirting, the helicopter is ready." Palmer butts in making Riley jump as he forgot he was still in the tent. "Sorry, sir," Riley mumbled before walking out of the tent with Sam following him as he was laughing. They saw the helicopter off to the side of the camp and started to walk towards it, they saw that Casey was fiddling with some controls in the cock pit. "Are you ready?" Sam asks as they're getting closer to the helicopter. "I am, are you?" Riley sucks his teeth as he looks at Sam waiting for his response.

Instead of replying Sam nodded as they reached the helicopter. Riley huffed as he climbed into the helicopter, he strapped in as best as he could with the EXO-falcon on his back and grabbed the headphones putting them on wait for Sam to do the same so they could talk to each other. "We should reach the point in no time, the plan is for you Wilson to go first, and then Diaz can." Sam looked like he was about to protest at Casey's orders but Riley shook his head and spoke into the mic. "Sounds like a plan Casey, just let us know when we're close." Riley licked his lips and turned his head so he was looking out the window.

"Will do." Casey's voice came through the headphones. They spent the rest of the ride in silence, Riley could feel Sam's eyes staring at him but they couldn't say anything because Casey could hear them so it was risky for them to do any flirting, Riley looked at Sam and gave him an encouraging nod one that Riley hoped conveyed that they can do this to Sam, Sam smiled and nodded back at Riley before giving him a wink telling him that he understood.

They were interrupted by Casey's voice to come crackling through the headphones. "Okay, we're here. Wilson, you go first." Sam nodded as he unbuckled himself and carefully walked to where he was in front of Riley, he opened the helicopter door. "See you soon," Sam said through the comms on his suit, Riley shook his head fondly at Sam as he watched him jump out of the helicopter and open his wings so he could soar through the air.

Riley's face morphed into horror when he saw his worst nightmare coming true. "RPG!" Riley yelled knowing that Sam could hear him along with Casey. Casey pulled up and started to fly away trying to get away from the RPGs. "I see them, just stay safe," Sam ordered as Riley watched him dodge the RPGs in the air. Riley could feel his heart beating quickly as Casey flew further away from Sam trying to find a safe place so Riley could jump out. "I'm on the ground, it looks clear," Sam said through the comms.

"Copy," Casey says as he slows down before he steadies the helicopter in the air. "Alright, we gotta do this quick- oh my god." Casey was cut off quickly by an RPG that was headed right for them. "Sam! Sam! I love-" Riley yelled through the comms as Sam watched in horror as an RPG hit the side of the helicopter and the comms were cut.

"Hello! Riley! Come on baby, talk to me." Sam pleaded into the comms, but all he was met with was crackling, his heart sped up as he watched the helicopter twirl out of control in the air before falling into the sand below, Sam flinched when it exploded again once it hit the ground. "No no, Riley! Talk to me damn it!" Sam yelled as he kicked the sand in frustration, he could feel hot tears running down his face but he didn't bother wiping them away.

His knees hit the burning hot sand, and he screamed, Sam screamed until he could no longer. He grabbed the sand and squeezed until his hand went numb, his knees ached when he finally stood up. Sam was numb, he felt broken. Now only one thing was on his mind, Sam has to complete the mission, not for himself but for his world that just fell from the sky, Riley Diaz.

NOTES:

I'm sure some of you are not surprised given his name, It was my plan from day one to kill Riley Diaz, and let me tell you. It hurt writing this, I went back and forth if I wanted to actually do this it hurt a lot but I did it.

One more chapter and 'You Were The First' will officially be over <3