“ArchAngel, this is Silver Fox – Over.”

“Silver Fox, this is ArchAngel.”

“ArchAngel, hostiles have been successfully taken out and hostages brought to safety. Seeking retrieval – Break.”

“Roger, we have birds coming your way now. Arrival around 2200 Hours– Over.”

“Understood. – Out.”

Christian released the breath he was holding as he continued to hide in wait. Signaling to his team about the response, they all fanned out around the perimeter to make sure they kept the civilians safe from another attack before flying them to safety. This was not the first rescue mission he has been on, but most of the time he was sent on black ops to take down specified targets. Something about actually seeing the faces of the people he was saving gave him a sense of pride in his work. Instead of the dull reminder of how easily death can arrive. Quietly waiting in the dark, Christian could feel a slight chill running up his spine while his left eye began twitching. Not overly superstitious, he tried to ignore the bad omens. He could almost hear his mother’s nagging voice speaking to him about taking care to notice such signs. Feeling oddly sentimental, Christian was shocked that he thought of his parents at this moment. Slowly inhaling and exhaling to calm himself down, he waited for the helicopters to arrive. Patience awarded, he could hear the approaching beating noise of multiple helicopters. It was at this moment that he signaled towards one of his soldiers to light the flare. Spotting them, the helicopters all slowly landed as Christian quickly approached the group of locals. Shouting out to them in Arabic, he had all of them quickly file into two of the helicopters while the third was left for himself and his crew. As he was loading the last young girl in, she turned back to face him before smiling and hugging him. The sudden warmth was unexpected, but not disliked. Christian rubbed her head before closing the door shut. Signaling towards his soldiers who were still keeping their eyes out for any hostile parties, they all began boarding the last helicopter one by one while covering each other’s backs. All of a sudden, there was a grunt and the heart-dropping thud as Christian saw one of his men take a head shot.

“Man down, man down! We’ve got enemy snipers!” Calling out to his comrades, he quickly warned them before turning towards the other two helicopters. “Shots fired! Take off now!”

Since they never shut down in the first place, the helicopters quickly rose higher up into the air before starting to take off. Hearing his heart pounding in his chest and his heavy breathing, Christian could feel the world slowing down for him. As usual, his body went into overdrive as he just started acting on instinct. The sniper was quickly taking down the rest of the men. Christian quickly got the helicopter to shine a bright spot light around and he caught the glint of the reflection from the telescopic sight. Shooting towards that direction as a distraction, most of the remaining soldiers were boarded onto the helicopter. Christian glanced to the side and saw that one of the men was shot through the leg. Covering his approach with another rain of bullets, he grabbed onto the young man and started pulling him towards the helicopter. He recognized the young man as the rookie who just joined the team for this mission. The enthusiasm and light in his eyes were already replaced by suspense and fear that every soldier would encounter. Finally, he pulled him close enough so that the other soldiers could pull the young man to safety. The helicopter quickly started up and began to fly, however, Christian could feel his body lurch forward from a hard impact. Looking down, he could see the stain of blood blossom from his chest. Gripping down, he knew it must have been an armor piercing bullet. Spitting out some blood, he could hear his comrades radioing in a request for medical help to be ready. Hard hands were pulling apart his clothes to start first aid.

“Sergeant! Stay with us! Come on, we are waiting on those drinks you owe us.”

“Sergeant… Serge…” Christian could no longer understand the fading words of his soldiers. Was this the end? That moment of your life flashing before your eyes seemed to occur as he watched all his life to this point. All he could feel was contentment. He did his job, worked hard for his country. His only regret was not finding the right girl and starting a family. However, minor regrets did not compare to the feeling of having lived his life fully and happily every day. Randomly, he thought back to that little girl, hopefully she made it back to safety. For the first time, a small smile graced the lips of this stone-faced military man.

…

*Beep**Beep*

Christian could hear incessant beeping next to his ear like the sound of a heart monitor at the hospital. Lulled out of his slumber, he tried to crack open his eyes. The bright white light of the room stung his eyes making him squint as he tried to get his eyes to adjust. His eyes turned towards the woman who was lying at his bedside. Who could this be? He did not remember having any close enough female acquaintances. Opening his mouth, he tried to speak out only be shocked by what he heard.

“Excu – What?!...” Holding his mouth, Christian was positive the voice just now was not his. Instead of his cold and gruff voice, it sounded soft and feminine. Barely holding himself together, he tried taking deep breaths while experimenting once again.

“Excuse me?” Shivering after hearing the change in his voice, he still nudged the sleeping lady trying to make sense of his current situation. The woman finally reacted in surprise. Once her head was up, he could finally see her face which was completely foreign to him. Almost crying tears of happiness, the older woman grabbed onto his hand before shouting in another language. In his confusion, he missed the first couple of words but he soon recognized that she was speaking Chinese. His Chinese was really rusty after his parents both passed away and he stopped speaking it with really anyone except his older cousin when he went to visit her in China during his breaks. After taking a moment to reorient himself, Christian starting to listen closely.
“Doctor, Nurse, somebody come! Xuemei woke up!”

“Xuemei?” Whispering these words to himself, Christian could feel a wave of memories crashing into his brain like a bad movie. A stranger’s life completely laid bare to him. Holding his head to overcome the nausea and sharp pain, he started to massage his temples in an attempt to alleviate the pain. While he was still spaced out in his own world, the doctor with a couple nurses already arrived in the room. The doctor was a kind looking old man who gently approached to get closer.
“Hello, my dear.”

“…Hello…” Slowly, Christian looked up and responded.

“Can you tell me your name?”

“Ch – Tang… Tang Xuemei.” Stopping himself from answering by habit, Christian spat out the new name that appeared inside his mind.

“Good! Good, now, what is the last thing you remember happening to you?” It was now Christian’s turn to think hard about this question. Filing through the chaotic memories, he tried to find the last ones. He could hear some man’s voice…

“Trash like you is not worth it…” Hearing these harsh words, Christian could feel remnants of the heart break that this girl felt. The scene flipped to the top of a building and he could see her tiny feet tipping over the edge. His heart dropping, Christian finally understood what happened.

“I… I jumped off of a building…didn’t I?” His voice tone dropping low, he still decided to answer the question. The room grew silent as the doctor continued with the rest of his checks and standard questions. For the moment, he was cleared as having no abnormalities. Hah. Yeah, no abnormalities, alright. Even all his training could not prepare him for such a strange occurrence like this. How was he supposed to react? Was this some faulty reincarnation? What kind of religion even believes for an event like this to occur?