Clay peered his head around the corner with his gun pointed toward the doorway. "All clear." He whispered back to his team.

The mission was meant to just be a simple raid. All they had to do was grab a courier and leave, just like they had done countless times before. Everything was going according to plan until they went into that house. They should have known better than to go to a place where ISR couldn't access. To a place that they knew little to nothing about. They should've known.

"Go, go!" yelled Jason from behind his team. They swept the house with unreal precision. Entering and exiting each room with grace. They glided through the rooms killing any armed person who got in their way until they reached the last hallway.

"TOC this is Bravo one. Do you copy?"

"Roger."

Jason responded, "We've cleared most of the house and there's still no sign of the courier. If he isn't in these last two rooms then we're screwed."

"Copy that Bravo one."

They kicked down one of the doors but before anyone could even see if anyone was in there, Ray yelled, "Grenade! Get down!" Everyone dove to the ground but before Jason could react, he was being pushed out of the room by someone.

The grenade went off.

Silence.

Awareness slowly came back to Jason in the form of black spots dancing around his vision. He stood up and grabbed the wall as he faltered slightly. Jason looked around for the rest of his team. He saw everyone except… "Where's Clay?"

"Over here boss!" yelled Ray.

The rest of the team ran over with Jason and saw Clay lying face down on the ground unconscious.

"Oh shit." Cursed Sonny.

"Turn him over." Jason ordered. The team slowly and carefully turned Clay onto his back. There was blood running down his face from a gash on his forehead.

"Clay wake up buddy." Ray shook his body gently. "Come on kid you've been sleeping long enough."

Clay slowly opened his eyes. "Ow"

"You ok kid?"

"Head hurts"

"Yeah I bet." Replied Jason. He keyed his radio while Trent checked Clay out. "TOC this is bravo one. We had a little situation here and Clay's hurt. I think we need to ex-fil."

"No!" interrupted Clay. "I'm fine. Let's just go get that courier."

"Clay, no."

"I promise I'm fine. This is more important than my little headache."

"Trent?" Jason wanted the opinion of the "medic" before he agreed to continue with the mission.

"He seems fine. He should get checked out when we get to base but as far as I can tell he should be able to continue as long as he doesn't do anything extravagant."

"Alright TOC I guess we're proceeding with the mission as planned. Can ISR pick anything up around the house?" asked Jason.

"Affirmative. You've got movement out back."

"Copy. Alright get him up."

Ray helped Clay into a standing position. "You sure about this kid?" Ray was uneasy about the way Clay wavered as he stood.

"Absolutely."

"let's move it." Demanded Jason.

"Bravo one be advised, three men just entered the building to the south."

"Copy that."

They moved through the house and rounded every corner with ease. They had almost cleared the last few rooms when suddenly, "Jas." Jason knew just by the way Clay spoke that something was off. "Jas som-something's wrong." Clay dropped his gun and grabbed his head as he fell to the ground. The team quickly surrounded while Brock kept watch.

"Clay what's happening bud?" Jason knelt next to the rookie.

"I-I don't know. My head hur-Agghhh!" Clay screamed in pain. "Ah! Something's wrong." He was still grabbing his head as he squeezed his eyes shut.

"Guys we gotta get Clay out of here," Trent said. I don't know exactly what's going on but it's bad."

"Ray, Brock, finish clearing the building. We need to ex-fil as soon as possible."

Brock and Ray left with Cerberus in tow and continued to clear the house.

They came back a few minutes later, "house is empty boss." Reported Ray.

"Dammit. Alright Let's go. Clay can you walk?" asked Jason

"I think so." Clay said beginning to stand up. He stumbled as he did so.

"Whoa there, blondie. Take it easy." Sonny said wrapping Clays arm around his neck. Ray did the same on the other side. "Alright let's get the hell out of here shall we."

"TOC, be advised, Bravo six is more hurt than previously thought. We're heading to ex-fil now and we need medics on the ground when we land."

"Copy that Bravo one."

They slowly made their way out of the building with Clay in the middle. He was slowly beginning to lean more into Ray and Sonny's hold as he became dizzier.

"Toc we're two mikes out."

"Copy."

Clay suddenly stumbled and fell to his knees. "what's going on kid?" asked Sonny.

"Everything won't stop spinning."

"We've got to keep going and get to ex-fil." Said Ray. "Come on kid. We're almost there. Just a little further." Ray and Sonny picked Clay back up and continued to drudge towards ex-fil.

As soon as they got there, the helicopter was just touching down. "Come on Spenser just a little further." Ray and Sonny were basically dragging him now.

They all jumped in as Jason provided cover. "All right let's move!" yelled Jason as he jumped in the helicopter.

Clay was trying to keep his eyes open but he was just getting so tired. "No, no, no, come on kid! Stay with me." Jason shook Clay awake.

"How's he doing boss?" asked Ray.

"Not great. We've gotta get him on base. He can't keep his eyes open."

"Son of a bitch." Cursed Sonny.

The remainder of the ride was full of moans from Clay and worried glances between the teammates. When the helicopter touched down, the medics came rushing over. Clay was helped out of the helicopter by Jason and Ray but as soon as his feet touched the ground his knees buckled and his eyes rolled into the back of his head as he collapsed. Luckily Jason caught him before he hit the ground.

"Let's get him on the stretcher," yelled one of the medics frantically. "What happened?" he asked as they rushed to the infirmary.

"We don't know. He was knocked unconscious by a concussion grenade but then he was walking and talking. One minute he was fine and the next he collapsed on the floor screaming and grabbing his head." Ray filled in the medics.

"Do you have any idea what's going on?" asked Brock

"Unfortunately, I won't know much until we do some scans. I'll let you know as soon as we get the results." With that they wheeled Clay off through the doors while the team was left to just sit and wait.

30 minutes later the doctor walked back into the waiting room. The entire team stood up. "What's happening doc?" asked Sonny.

"I've got some bad news. You all might want to take a seat."

"Will you just tell us what's going on!" blurted Jason. "Please," He added softening his voice.

"Well, we did a CT scan and as it turns out there is bleeding in his brain. That's what's been causing the Migraines. We are prepping him for surgery as we speak. It's a rather risky surgery but we are hopeful that he'll make it through just fine. Other than the bleeding he has several superficial wounds that will heal with time. I'll be back when the surgery's over. I would suggest you go shower, eat, and get some rest. It's going to be a long night."

"Thanks doc." Said Sonny.

The doctor nodded and walked back towards the operating room.

"holy shit." Cursed Jason as he sat down and put his head in his hands.

No one took the doctor's advice. Instead, they all stayed in the waiting room, too anxious to leave even for a second.

The entire team paced around for hours. They all had "what ifs" going through their head. What if he doesn't wake up? What if he can't come back to the team? What if…?

The doctor finally walked back into the waiting room after 4 hours. Everyone stared up at him as if he were an angel. No one had the courage to ask how Clay was. They were all too scared of the answer. "You can all take a breath…he's going to be just fine."

There were sighs of heavy relief and silent prayers of thanks throughout the whole room. "Thank god," everyone whispered, but they were all wondering the same thing, "Can we see him?"

"Yes, he's in room 312 just down the hall. He is still heavily sedated so I wouldn't expect him to wake up for another hour."

"Thanks doc." Sonny said as he shook the man's hand.

They all walked down the hall in silence and slowly piled into the crowded hospital room. Clay looked even worse than they originally thought. He was as white as the sheets he was laying on and he looked exhausted. He had a large gash on his forehead which had now been stitched up, and he had several cuts and bruises along his arms and torso.

"Jesus kid." Jason took a deep breath as he took in Clays appearance.

They all sat quietly, lost deep in their thoughts about what had just occurred. Clay moaned and everyone immediately jumped up and surrounded the bed. His eyes began to flutter open and he became restless. "Hey kid, calm down. You're ok." Said Jason quietly as he walked to the side of the bed.

"Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital blondie. Do you remember what happened?" Sonny asked.

Clay shook his head and immediately regretted it. "gah!"

"Yeah, maybe don't move your head around too much right now."

"All I remember is being knocked out by that grenade and then we were looking for the courier when I felt a shooting pain in my head and I could barely stand."

"Yeah after that we dragged your ass back to ex-fil and when we got to base you took one step and collapsed."

"Turns out you had a bleed in your brain caused by the grenade blast." Added Jason.

"Woah," Clay said, astonished by all he had just heard. "Well, thanks for saving me…again."

"Don't mention it kid. But next time you get knocked out and say your fine I'm going to tell you to shut it and drag you back home." Jason was glad Clay was ok but he couldn't help messing around with him just a little bit.

Clay smirked and laid his head back on the pillow as he yawned.

"We're glad you're ok, kid. Now get some rest and we'll be back later."

The team filed out. They each gave Clay a fist bump as they left. Clay closed his eyes and was grateful he had his team to look out for him.