He'd been in Iraq for over eight months when the call came.
Lee should have seen it coming. No one was immortal, after all, and the old man had his share of troubles since his career-ending injury. But he hadn't seen it coming--he'd been knocked on his ass by the news, blinking dimly at the tent wall and vaguely glad no one was there to see him.
His father had seemed too...too something to die. The words kept circling around, but he couldn't land on any one of them. Stubborn? Evil-tempered? Strong? Cruel? Eternal?
"Yeah, sure," he said, feeling strange, then, "Yes sir." Because his father had been the kind of man who inspired Colonels to take time out of their busy schedules to call up distant sons with the bad news.
Everything happened too fast after that. His team was excused back to base--Tampa, to the old family home he hadn't seen in years. Flights were arranged. Leave was granted, and when Lee tried to deny it, forced upon him. The next thing he knew, he was standing at the end of the walkway staring up at the house he'd left behind ages ago. Feeling the strange mix of defiance and queasy acquiescence that fired his blood since he was a kid.
Lee dropped his duffel into the grass and walked away, pocketing his aviators. He drew a deep breath, all of it sinking in--hitting him hard. Ross wasn't there yet. His brother wouldn't be there for awhile.
And there was no fucking way he was spending the night in his father's house.
He turned on his heel and grabbed his bag, slinging it over his shoulder. The cell phone was out as he strode down the street, dialing information. The sun was hot and bright overhead.
And they were shooting a skin flick three houses down.
Lee slowed to a stop, closing the phone with a click. He blinked at the set, tucked away but impossible to miss. He'd seen some pretty fucked up things in his life, but that spread-legged chair was something else entirely.
"...huh," he said, blinking owlishly.
Then he kept walking.
**
Name: Lee Wilder / Lee Adama
Domain of: Hathaway
Library Section: Television
Power: Persuasiveness and charisma: Lee can make people believe what he tells them, make them believe in him, but only when he feels strongly about the subject/issue.