Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The sad truth was the worst part of the day wasn't when he was called the wrong name at school or when Crampeltter pushed him down the stairs or even when Ford yelled at him for breaking his science fair project it was when his father revealed to him that as punishment for "ruining your brothers future" was being shipped off to the Vietnam war and all he could do with this information was stammer in shock "b-but why how could that deserve this" he tried to beg and plead that didn't work the next thing he knew he was chucked on the street with a bag and his father stood by stoic as ever "now yer gonna get on the next bus to Vietnam ya hear" and all he did was nod in fear.

….

After an hour he thought his pa would just give up but just as he was about to make his escape the recruitment bus pulled up to the drive oh shit. well here goes nothing there was no point begging forgiveness or trying to run his pa was still faster than his 16-year-old self and at this point, the war was probably better than staying at home and being beaten or being homeless for that matter so he held his breath and waited to be told to board the bus.
"PINES" and that was it. He was on that bus and on his way to a war zone he didn't even get to say goodbye.
…

The bus ride wasn't too bad if he was honest, it was better than the school bus with not too much noise and no one making fun of him or his brother for "being weirdos".

He just sat in silence looking out the window as his childhood home grew smaller and smaller.

He sighed and began to doze off or at least he would of if the lieutenant didn't start barking orders instantly.

"ALRIGHT MEN LISTEN UP WHEN WE GET TO THE AIRPORT YOU'LL EACH BE ASSIGNED POSITIONS AND YOU'LL BE TRAINED ON THAT POSITION FOR ONE WEEK BEFORE YOU GET TO SEE THE REAL HORROR THAT AWAITS ALL YOU MAGGOTS"!!

That definitely got Stan's attention one week how is anyone supposed to train for war within a week and before he even had a chance to ask that question the lieutenant got up and did a headcount and yelled more instructions.

" RIGHT YOU MAGGOTS WE HAVE ONE MORE PERSON TO PICK UP BEFORE WE HEAD TO THE AIRPORT WHERE YOU'LL ALL BE FLOWN TO THE TRAINING CENTRE IN VIETNAM AND WHILE WE HEAD THERE I'M GONNA BE GOING OVER YOUR SKILL SET YOUR PARENTS WROTE DOWN ON YOUR SIGN UP FORMS YOU HEAR"!!
A collective "yes sir" was yelled throughout the bus.

…
within an hour or so they had picked up the last person and were halfway to the airport the new guy who got on the bus was called Evans and he was definitely someone who would bully Stan if they were in school together or at least that's what Stan thought based on appearance turns out this Evans character was a really nice guy and had a bullying problem himself.
He only found out about said problem when he had a brief conversation with him as he got on the bus after that it was radio silence to the airport.

Once the bus arrived they were called off the bus alphabetically and one by one they were lined up and inspected and were told their roles and once the private doing the inspection came to Stan he was told he was gonna be a medic which for once Stan was thankful he didn't have to fight. He quietly sighed in relief and waited for his next instruction.

"RIGHT ALL YOU MAGGOTS TODAY WILL BE THE FIRST DAY OF TRAINING BUT BEFORE ANYONE CAN DO SO WE MUST PREP YOU ALL SO YOUR FIRST STEP TO BECOMING MEN IS FORMING AN ORDERLY LINE OUTSIDE THAT THERE TENT WHERE YOU'LL BE ISSUED A UNIFORM AND YOUR HAIR WILL BE CUT SO AS FOR ALL YOU HIPPIES YOU CAN KISS YOUR LONG LOCKS GOODBYE"!!

So that's what they all did. They lined up and waited to be given a uniform and a haircut though the more accurate wording would be hair all buzzed short and a uniform slammed in your arms to go change into.

So Stan waited till it was his turn and as soon as his hair was buzzed without any questions he went to the changing tent found a corner and changed from his blue jeans and white top to a medic uniform which consisted of a green collared shirt some trousers that got tighter towards his ankles some brown boots and a large green helmet with a red cross on it he was then issued some dog tags and told to line up neatly next to the other medics. As he lined up he quickly put his skivvies in the duffle bag his pa gave him and placed that on his shoulder.

And within a few minutes, the head medic came over and inspected them and for the most part, he seemed fine till he got to the end of the line and took a step back "listen up you ten you're all gonna be medics which means your all gonna be responsible for keeping the rest of the men alive". He paused "Which means no slacking off or being stupid ya hear you're not with your mummy's where you can just get away with being irresponsible no your in the military and there's a damn war going on which means you have to stay alert"
But before the head medic could finish his pep talk the lieutenant came over "ATTENTION NOW ITS TIME FOR THE REAL FUN TO BEGIN YOUR JOB MEDICS TO RETRIEVE YOUR FALLEN SOLDIER PINES EVANS YOU'LL BE LEADING THIS DEMONSTRATION"!! "SIR YES SIR".

" NOW EVANS YOU GO RUN OVER THERE AND SIT ON THE GROUND AS IF YOUR INJURED AND PINES WHEN I SAY GO YOU RUN AFTER HIM THAT WAY WE CAN TEST HOW FAST YOU ARE WHILE RUNNING TO THE VICTIMS AND GO"!!

So they did. Evans ran and faked a shot to the knee and Stan ran as fast as he could with the first aid kit and patched up the fake injury within 30 seconds flat; it was impressive by Stan's standards anyway.
"Impressive time pines but did you do well at dressing the wound," said the head medic and after a straight minute of inspection again he got a solid good job and was sent back into line till everyone was done.

"RIGHT MAGGOTS THAT WAS A GOOD FIRST SESSION HOWEVER THERE'S MORE THAN WHERE THAT CAME FROM FOR NOW THOUGH AS IT'S GETTING DARK YOU'LL EACH BE ASSIGNED A BUNKMATE AND SENT TO YOUR RESPECTIVE TENTS TO SLEEP"!!

Stan held his breath he hoped to whatever gods in the sky that he was paired with someone who wasn't an asshole. Thankfully he was paired with the other quiet kid on the bus so he and the other boy just got in their sleeping bags and went to sleep well the other boy slept however Atan stayed up staring at the ceiling of his tent thinking about everything that happened that day the shock of everything and what could possibly happen next though he knew he couldn't stay awake forever so eventually he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Chapter Text

When Stan woke up it was 5 am he had only had 4 hours of sleep at most but he was here he might as well see it through and being a medic couldn't be that bad.
He got out of his tent and got in his uniform, applied some deodorant and left his helmet behind for later and headed straight to the mess tent to grab breakfast.
The only other person awake was the lieutenant and Evans though he decided that being sat across from Evans would be a better idea.
So he went up to the cook and asked for eggs no bacon "you sure you don't want bacon hun it comes free with the eggs" to which he replied with "no thanks mam I'm trying to stay kosher" the cook looked a bit confused but just nodded "okay no problem son" and Stan was off to sitting across from Evans eating his eggs quite happily in silence that was until Evans decided to pipe up.

"Wait your Jewish" "uh yeah does it matter" Evans shrugged "no not all I'm just surprised you're so beefy without eating fatty meats like pork".

"You'll be surprised how well eggs actually help with that according to my brother",he mimics Ford "eggs are an excellent form of protein Stanley if you wanna stay fit you should eat more protein filled meals"
This causes Evans to chuckle "your brother sounds like my mum always giving me advice".

"Hah yeah Ford likes to do that he also likes telling me when he's right" he started to look sad after saying that he did feel like he was never gonna see Ford again.
He sighs heavily at that thought and continues eating his eggs as Evans rambles on about his home life though Stan doesn't mind.

…

The conversation goes on like that for a while one rambles, the other listens and vice versa till before they know it is 6 am and everyone else is being woken up by the lieutenant.

"UP AND ATOM MAGGOTS IT'S TIME TO EAT THEN BACK TO TRAINING".

"Well looks like that's my queue to finish getting ready for the day nice talking to ya Evans"

"You too and by the way the names Paul"

"Okay see ya around paul"

"See ya Stan"

And so Stan was off.
There was a corner tent that had no floor and a hole in the ground that was considered the bathroom so Stan went back to his tent grabbed his wash kit and headed to the "bathroom" to brush his teeth and once he was done he returned his wash kit to his bag and put on his helmet and lined up for inspection.

His shirt was tucked in, his trousers lay flat over his boots and he looked neat and tidy. The last thing he wanted was something to be out of order and yelled at by the lieutenant, not that the lieutenant was ever a quiet person that is.

The inspection happens like this: first the foot soldiers were inspected then the air cadets and then the medics.
So Stan waited and stood as tall as he could outside his tent. He had tidied his sleeping bag and made sure his duffle was in the right place and also quietly tidied the quiet kid's side without him knowing just to be sure they would pass inspection.

And by the luck of whatever it was that watched over them they passed inspection "oh thank Moses" Stan whispered to himself as the lieutenant approved their tent's care and appearance.

Once every tent was inspected each group was given their set of training for the day for Stans group they were given the task of threading a needle one-handed in case it came to the medics needing weapons though so far in the war it hadn't come to that but just in case they were prepared for any situation.

They were also taught basic first aid which although Stan didn't say he had basically mastered most of it from being in an abusive home you tend to learn how to apply bandages quick and secure in that situation but he kept his mouth shut and just followed along like everyone else.

…

The next few days went by quick and Stan had gotten into a routine
Wake up, have eggs for breakfast, brush teeth, get dressed tidy the tent and get through the training day till one day the week was over and they were all getting ready for the day trip to Vietnam by plane, which Stan wasn't too stoked about.
Heights were never his friend but he had to stomach his fears when it came to going on that plane.

"ALRIGHT MAGGOTS TODAYS THE DAY YOU ALL BECOME MEN AS TODAY WE ARE FLYING TO NAM AND WE ARE NOT COMING BACK TO THIS COUNTRY UNTIL WE'RE ALL DEAD OR THE WAR IS OVER SO SAY YOUR PRAYERS AND GRAB YOUR THINGS WERE GETTING ON THAT PLANE"!!

Oh boy, here we go, Stan grabbed his duffel and got in line for the plane, his heart pounding in his chest, his hands shaking with fear but he had to do this so he swallowed his fear and got on the plane.

Once he was seated and secure on the plane he closed his eyes and said a silent prayer to himself "Baruḥ ata Adonai Eloheinu meleḥ ha'olam hatov v'ha'meitiv".
Once he finished his prayer he looked up to see everyone looking at him like he was some kind of maniac " what am I the only person who is praying for good luck you know just in case something goes wrong before we land or. When we land"?
Evans spoke up "oh trust me I'm also praying for a safe landing I guess not many people here have heard Hebrew before".
The lieutenant spoke up and for once he wasn't yelling "well you see son we don't get many Jewish soldiers on account of the last war being extremely traumatising for them"..."you're the first one in my memory actually".
"Oh" that's all Stan said to that so he silently sat on the plane just waiting for them to get to Vietnam.

Chapter Text

Once they landed in Vietnam Stan got out of the plane as fast as he could and took deep breaths trying to calm his heart which had been pounding like a drum the entire time he was on the plane.

After a while, he calmed down and the next thing he heard was Evans saying his name "Stan stan you okay".
He jolted his head towards Paul "yeah I'm okay now we're on the ground".
"good any way you should go follow the other medics who were told to follow the head medic who came with us"
"Shit thank you".

So Stan ran and eventually caught up and thankfully no one had noticed he was missing from the group.
…

He followed till his name was called by the head medic "Pines, Jon's, Smith, Peterson and Davis you five will be in this medic tent and will be trained by the head medic of this faction Daisy.M.Mcgucket.".
"I'll leave you to it Mcgucket, the rest of you worms, follow me"!

Stan just stood in silence as the other medic left and the new one introduced herself.
"Howdy, y'all m'names Mcgucket. Mrs Mcgucket to be exact now I'm gonna teach all of y'all everything I know".
Stan just followed and listened. Usually, when someone tried to teach him something new like in school he would zone out but this new head medic was so nice and friendly that he just felt he had to listen.
The group was shown everything in the tent from the scalpels to the flashlights they use when a soldier is injured at night there was even a cpr dummy to teach the newbies how to correctly perform CPR though thankfully Stan and the rest of group already knew how to perform it from the first aid training they got back in the old camp.
"I've been told a lot about you boys from the lieutenant, he's actually very impressed" she then whispered, "even if he does show it by yelling at y'all".

After the tour of the Medic tent, they were shown who they were paired with and given a set of directions on how to get to camp.
Though Stan stayed around a little longer in hopes of getting some questions answered like what to do if there's a bomb that blows up the medic tent or what if… but before he even had a chance to ask Mrs Mcgucket was running and he followed grabbing a med kit on instinct.

When they got to the injured soldier Stan was in terror the poor guy had been shot in the stomach and there was blood gushing out like a geyser.
But like a puppet on a string instead of running away or calling for help, he did what he was trained to do.

He applied pressure to the wound using one hand and dug through the med kit with the other till he came across the bandages and he wrapped them around the soldier's stomach like there was no tomorrow he didn't even hear Mrs Mcgucket yelling at him to "get back to the tents" and "your not ready".

He just continued wrapping the bandages till they were taught and the blood had slowed down and before the stretcher could get there Stan had lifted the injured soldier fireman style and ran back to the Tent and put the poor man on one of the hospital bed while the on site doctors got prepped for surgery to remove the bullet and waited for Mrs Mcgucket to yell at him for being stupid.

But to his surprise, he was called a hero and was praised.
"That was one of the most gosh darn brave things I've ever seen your a hero pines"
"Your a hero" sounded good to him and in his 16 years of living he never thought anyone would call him that he almost teared up but stopped himself when he saw everyone looking at him.
"Thank you so much" was all he could say.
…
A few weeks had passed and Stan had gotten into a good rhyme he would wake up brush his teeth, get dressed eat breakfast (sometimes skip breakfast if there was an emergency straight away) and prepare himself for whatever injury he had to patch up and so far the only injures he got were little pricks from the needle while quickly sewing up a soldiers wound.
However today was not like any other day today everything changed.
He was on his way to a casualty and everything was going smoothly. He had his fully packed first aid kit and a rucksack full of supplies but when he went to tend to the casualty he went to put his first aid kit down and BOOM! a land mine blew his left arm clean off and the last thing he saw was his left arm flying up in the air as blood spit from his remaining left arm and his world went black.
…

When he came through he was on a hospital bed his torso and left arm were covered in bloody bandages he could see the blood seeping them.
The light felt way too bright and standing above him was Daisy mcgucket and the lieutenant as well as some of the boys he trained with.

"What happened, why am I here?" he spoke with shaking breaths.
The lieutenant gave him a sad look "You were blown up by a landmine son and once the bleeding slows down we'll -we'll- you are going home"

"W-what"?

"You're getting an honorable discharge, your plane arrives in three days. I'm sorry but you were a great medic"

It took a minutes for everything to sink in Stan was laying there felling shocked and useless why did he have to hit that fucking land mine why was he stupid enough to not check "this is what you get it's what you deserve" an evil voice said in the back of his head.
And all he could do was cry.

…..

After a few days went by he was told he had stopped bleeding enough to go home and was sent on the plane dressed in his uniform ready to go home though when he got on the plane he told the pilot his home was Gravity Falls Oregon 618 Gopher Road.

Eventually, they landed and Stan was on the step of his brother's house duffel on one shoulder and helmet in his right hand the pilot knocked on the door for him and left.

The door opened.