Late night, base camp, cold beer waiting for them: the soldiers where finally back, ready to go home, for once all safe and sound.
"We did it!" Sonny said, taking his vest off. "Last mission of the deployment, it's time to party brothers!"
"Hey, hey, hold on." Jason braked his enthusiasm. "Before you do anything you need to take a shower."
Sonny raised his eyebrows, looking at him.
"You stink, man." Trent chuckled, making all the others laugh.
"Yeah, get off that smirk from your face Ray! You are not smelling any better, and I'm not taking a 12 hour flight with you in those condition."
"Agreed," The others said simultaneously, all laughing again.
"Ok, ok, but next time it's your turn to hide in the barn with camels."
"Yeah... no! Not until I'm the boss anyway."
"..."
The light atmosphere was interrupted by the sound of Clay's phone starting incessantly waving from the exact moment he turned it back on.
"Woo, your phone his burning, kid!" Sonny said, trying to peek at it.
"What the..." Clay looked down, noticing he had 23 missed calls.
"Something wrong?" Jason said, changing expression, seeing him growing anxious.
"I'm gonna find out." Clay stepped out to check his voice mail, without even looking at him.
They watched him going out, trying to understand what was going on. Sonny shrugged, as the others did, having absolutely no idea of what could have happened.
...
A few minutes after, Jason found Clay crouched down out the dorms' door.
"Hey, what's wrong Clay?" He approached.
"We are still going home tonight, right? he eagerly asked, barely looking up to his boss.
"Yeah, of course, we take off in less than one hour, just as planned." He looked at him concerned, "Why? Something happened at home? It's about Stella?"
"No, um, I just need to go home as soon as possible." Clay got up, and started to walk away.
"Hey," Jason stopped him. "Come on, tell me..." He faced him, and put a hand on his shoulder, noticing he was quite shocked. "I know it's about those phone calls. C'mon, spit it up."
"My mother, she...she had an accident...a car crush... she..." he cleared his throat. "She is not good."
"Oh, man! Sorry to hear that..." Jason didn't exactly know how to react to the news.
"Look, if there's anything I can do, just let me know, alright?"
Clay nodded, trying to sneak away.
"Wait, why did they directly contacted you? This kind of communications should go through Davis when we're out on the field."
"Yeah, it-it was my mother's fiancé, he didn't know I was out of the country.
"He doesn't know anything about how we work actually..."
"You don't like him very much, uh?"
"Yeah, no... he's ok, I guess." He looked away for a few seconds. "It's just my mom doesn't have the best taste in men, you know..."
Jason was looking straight at him, trying to understand what was really going on his mind, but the kid was a statue.
"I've gotta go now, I have to finish packing." Clay made a step into the dorm.
"Um, hey," he turned back to his boss, "Can you please don't say anything to the others?"
"Well, you'll need to tell this to the commander, and, yeah, Davis should know too, she will help you with communications while we are on move."
"Yeah, I-I'll do, but no one else, please."
"You sure?" He looked at him in the eyes. "You know you can always talk to me, to us, right?
He nodded, "I just need to go back home."
...
As all the passenger where on board the plane was ready to take off.
The atmosphere was very light, with Bravo Team and the support personnel chatting and drinking beer. With the deployment being a success they were all smiles and laughs, all but Clay of course, who settled aside, staring at his phone.
"Hey what's wrong with the kid?" Adam asked to Bravo Team members.
"No idea, man!" Ray glanced Clay. "He's been off since we came back to the base. But he doesn't talk."
"Oh, that's weird," Davis stepped in. "A frogman that don't want to share his feelings."
"He went dark after receiving some calls from home." Sonny intervened. "No idea what that was about though." He started moving toward him to hand him a beer, and tease him a little, but Jason stopped him, shaking his head.
"Leave him alone."
"You know what this is about, don't you?" Ray looked at Jason in the eyes.
"I know that's none of our business right now."
"Not our buis... Are you kidding me?" Ray, "We are family."
"I said not now, ok?" Jason faced him. "We're going home, let him handle things his way, he knows we are right here.
"Yeah, of course." Ray glanced at the kid. He seemed so lost that Ray clearly felt something serious was happening with him, but decided to respect his boss orders, and leave him alone, at least for now.
Clay was still staring at his phone, not looking away even for one second, when Cerberus approached, and put his snout on his knee, so he had to start petting him.
"Well, at least one of us is allowed to sit near him." Davis said to Ray, trying to relive the tension.
...
"It's not gonna ring just because you stare at it, you know right?" Davis sat near Clay, handing him a bottle of water.
"Yeah, I know..." He looked up at her, "I can't help though..."
He took the bottle form her, and she took advantage of the situation to put her other hand on his.
"I'm sure she will be alright," she tried to reassure him.
"If she is strong halves her son is, you have nothing to worry about." She smiled at him.
"It's just... I wasn't there for her when she needed me..." he took a deep breath.
"Man, I'm just like my father..." He put his hands on his face.
"You couldn't know, incident happens Clay."
"She tried to contact me... she tried to tell me, and I didn't answer the damn phone." He looked around, realizing that talking that loud would draw attention on him.
"What does that mean, you said she had an accident, didn't she?"
"I-I don't know," Clay eagerly got up. "I'm sorry, I-I need some space." He walked even farther from the rest of the soldiers, leaving Davis sitting alone, sighting.
Jason watched the whole scene, and made Davis a sign to reach him.
"Hey," Jason drew Adam's attention, making him following them in a more private section of the plane.
"You served with Ash Spenser, right?"
"Yes." Adam raised his eyebrow. "Why?"
"What you know about his ex wife?"
"Clay's mother? Not so much..." He looked at him perplexed. "They were already divorced when I got in the picture."
"Something happened to her?" He glanced at Clay, "Is that why he is this low now?"
"Just curious." Jason wanted to respect the kid's privacy.
"Yeah, curious. about his mom. right now." He stared insistently at him.
"Alright, I'm too worried to care about Clay's confidentiality," Davis stepped in,
"Although, you are part of the family too..."
Jason looked at her for a few seconds, then he nodded to her.
"What exactly did the kid tell you?"
"That his mother had a car accident, and that she is in a coma, and the doctors don't know what to expect."
"Oh man..." Adam whispered.
"Guys, I have the feeling he suspects it was not an incident..."
"What?" Jason looked at him, frustrated he couldn't open up to him.
"That fits..." Adam said.
"What you mean?"
"It fits with what Ash told me about her." He lowered his tone, to be sure no one else could hear him. "For what I know, after the divorce she was completely broken. Ash said she started drinking, and taking pills."
"God..." Jason whispered, "I had no idea." He looked at Clay, who was aimlessly walking along the tail of the plane.
"I don't know how much Clay can remember about that time, but it appears she was a real mess. And that's why her parents took the kid away from her, and raised him for a good period."
"That's definitely no good." Davis exhaled, heartbroken.
...
As soon as the plane landed, Clay jumped out, and rushed through the parking, toward his car.
He felt his teammates' looks on him, but he didn't care, all he knew was that he needed to reach is mom.
As usual Davis was the last one to get off the plane.
Checking the compartment she noticed Clay left his bag there.
She tried to reach him out, knowing that if he was going to spend the night at the hospital he would probably need it.
"Damn it!"
She found Clay unsuccessfully trying to start the engine.
"Damn it!" he yelled, punching the wheel.
He eagerly got out, and started looking under the hood.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Davis noticed he was panicking.
"This damn car decided to stop!" He kicked the tyre.
"Ok, I got you, let's go," she made him a sign to jump in her car, and he didn't make her say twice.
The whole ride to the hospital was completely silent, with Clay trafficking with his cell phone, unable to say a single word.
As they got there, Clay jumped out of the car, and got in, again leaving his bag behind.
...
"How's she doing?" Clay asked to the man sat near his mother bed.
"They managed to stabilize her, but she still has a long way to go." The man got up, and faced him.
'Damn, she is so pale,' Clay looked at her, she was intubated, and had all sorts of other tubes and wires going into her body.
"What the hell has happened? Where you with her?"
"No, why would have I?" the man answered, irritated.
"She crashed her car toward a tree," he took a deep breath, and made Clay looking him straight.
"They analyzed her blood, she was drunk, Clay!"
"What?" He looked at his mother, incredulous.
"Sorry I..." Davis unintentionally interrupted their conversation, approaching with Clay's bag in her hand.
"It's ok." Clay he took the bag from her. "Thanks
"Um," he cleared his throat. "Thank you for the ride, but you don't have to stay here... I can take care of myself now."
"I'm not staying any longer, you could use a friend." The man advised him.
"What do you mean, you're not staying?"
He shook his head, "I have a life things to do."
"I'm Nolan by the way." He turned to Davis
"Lisa." she shook his hand.
"Um, right...he is my mother's fiancé." Clay was still trying to understand why he wasn't going to stay.
"Ex." Nolan stated.
"Excuse me, what?" Clay looked at him confused.
"I'm her ex fiancé, we broke up a couple of weeks ago, but apparently I still am listed as her next of kin."
"Wait, I didn't know... she, she didn't tell me..."
"Of course, you are never around, just like you father, uh?"
"What did you say?" Clay faced him.
"I'm not surprised she did this." Nolan refused to let go.
"What do you mean by that?" Clay's tone was getting more and more rude.
"I mean this is no accident Clay! And you would know if you were around lately."
"What?" He lost control, completely.
"Say it again!"
"Enough guys!" Davis interrupted them. "You have more important things to care about right now."
Clay exhaled, staring at his mother.
"I really have to go now... take care of her..." Nolan stepped out.
"Yeah, go ahead, run..." Clay follow him out of the room, and punched the wall.
"Hey, hey, hey, calm down." Davis put a hand on his back.
"Sit down, we'll figure this out Clay."
...
As soon as Clay managed to calm down he turned back to Davis.
"Really, you don't have to stay here..."
"I'm not leaving you alone in this." She reassured him.
"I'll not be alone, I texted Stella. She will be here soon, so..."
"Ok, I'll wait for her then." She firmly stated.
He looked away, desperately needing someone to hear him, but too afraid to say things out loud.
"You..." he cleared his throat, "You heard what Nolan said, about my mom, didn't you?"
"About her being drunk," she looked straight at him, to catch his reaction. "Or the part when he hinted she crushed on purpose?"
He got up, looking out the room.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so direct..." she apologized, getting by him again.
"But you think he was right, don't you?" she looked him in the eyes, "You said that to me, back on the plane."
"I don't really know... all I can think about is that it's all my fault..." he looked away again, staring at his mom. "I should have been there, I should have answered the damn phone."
"Hey, don't go there," she faced him. "Don't do this, ok?"
"You don't know what really happened."
He sat back, keep staring at his mom.
"She tried to call me, and I didn't listened to her."
"It's ok, you will talk to her again, she is not going anywhere."
"What if she is?" Clay pointed out, looking at her.
"Hey," Stella sneaked her head into the room, "Can I come in?" she said, interrupting them.
He stood there, not able to say anything, so she just got to him, and hugged him.
"I leave you two alone, now." Davis timidly said, not wanting to disrupt them. "Let me know if you need anything, alright?"
"Thanks," He sniffed. "Really," he looked at her while she went out.
Stella stared at the woman in the bed.
"How is she doing?"
"She is holding up, for now..." Clay's voice was so full of pain, that made Stella's heard clench.
"And you? How are you holding up?"
"I'm just glad to be back." Clay had not the strength to go onto a deeper conversation.
"And glad you are here with me."
"I am too." She smiled at him, and they just sat there, waiting.
...
"I'm sorry for this," Clay whispered at Stella, while she was falling asleep on his shoulder.
He knew he needed to rest too, but the concern for his mother's safety was overcoming the exhaustion.
He was staring at her motionless corpse, when his phone started waving, making him winch.
"Shh it's ok," He softly said, as Stella muttered something. "Go back to sleep."
Then he looked back at his phone, Jason kept calling him.
'I'm sorry Boss, I can't do this right now.' He thought trying to control his breath.
"Come on, open your eyes mom," Clay whispered, really starting losing it.
'Oh God, I hate sit here on my hands.' He looked down to his hand, they were shaking, and he couldn't control that.
...
"Tanks Ash, let me know what you discover." Adam hung up the phone.
"Any news on the kid's situation?" Jason approached him.
"Not really, no." Adam shrugged.
"He is not answering my calls."
"Yeah, it turned out Ahs didn't know anything too. Clay is probably gonna kill me for having called his father."
"He'll kill us for letting you know in the first place," Jason said, shaking his head.
"I don't think he is really expecting us to keep the secret." Davis stepped in.
"No change in the situation, by the way," she added, "He just called in to ask for a leave, he is not coming to work today."
"Of course, I totally get that."
"You get what?" Ray got in the room. "What are guys up to?"
The three soldiers looked at each other, not knowing how much they should tell their friends.
"Yeah, I know I'm late, again..." Sonny said, interrupting their thoughts.
"Hey, was there some kind of meeting I wasn't invited to?"
"We were about to ask the same question," Trent and Brock popped up from their cages.
"Wait a minute, where's Clay?" Sonny looked around. "There's no chance he is running later than me."
"He is not coming today." Davis said, resolutely.
"I knew something was off with him." Ray pointed out, thinking about the day before.
"Ok, you are making me nervous. Did something happened to Stella?" Sonny's eager attitude showed up.
"No, not her." Jason took a deep breath. "It's about his mother, car crush."
"How bad is she?"
"All I know is that she successfully passed the night, but she's not out of the woods yet." Davis added.
"That's not all, am I wrong?" Ray looked straight them.
"No" she paused. "You're right." She soundly exhaled.
"It's not clear how the crush happened".
Silence filled the room, with that thought making their blood run cold.
...
Clay was napping on the chair, he never left his mother side all night long.
"Why didn't you call me, son?" Ash entered the room, making him jump on his feet.
"Pops? What are you doing here?" Clay tried to restore his cool.
"Oh, man, I thought I asked Stella to not inform anyone..."
"It wasn't her." Ash glanced at his unconscious ex wife. "It was Adam Siever."
"Wha? Adam?" he looked at him confused.
"Davis..." he whispered, shaking his head, helpless.
"What happened here, son?"
"That's none of your business, dad, you left her long ago, why are you interested in her all of a sudden?"
"Hey, don't you talk me like this again," he faced him, and they stared at each other for a good minute.
"Sit down, and talk to me."
"I'm sorry, I'm just tired..." Clay sat back completely out of strengths.
"You just got back from a mission, right? How long since you have slept?"
"It doesn't metter, you...you don't understand I have to be here.
"I can't risk she wakes up all alone, I don't know she could do... she needs me."
Ash soundly exhaled, "Hey look at me, this is not your fault."
"So who is it? Nolan? Or maybe you? You where there when it all started."
"Stop right there, son, you don't know what you are talking about.
"This thing comes long before you can remember.
"You think I don't remember?" He noticed he was raising his voice too high, and stopped, taking a deep breath.
"You were so young, you can't understand." Ash tried to justify himself.
"Oh, no. I get it, she was broken, and you left her there, alone taking care of me."
"That's not that simple, with your work, you should know.
"And I wasn't the only one to let you down in that period, keep that in mind."
"You think I don't remember all the times she let me have cereal for dinner, because she was too tired to cook for me?" He faced his father.
"Or all the times she forgot to peak me up at the preschool, pretending to just be 'a little late'?
Oh, to not talk about the time she forgot me at the supermarket, you think I can forget?"
Ash sighed, not knowing exactly where he was going to.
"But she tried hard, and she recovered, and took me back.
"What's your excuse?"
"Why are we talking about me now?"
"Yeah, you're right," Clay looked away.
"Listen, you should go..." He got up, showing his father the way.
"Please, just go."
As soon as he was alone again, Clay turned to his mom.
"C'mon mom, open your eyes. Tell me this is all a big mistake, tell me you didn't do this."
...
"Hey," Davis reached Jason in the parking.
"Just got a text from Stella, she is stuck at work, and she is worried that Clay is all alone at the hospital..." She looked at him.
"The thing is, I'm stuck here too, can you..."
"I'll go check on him, of course," Jason didn't let her finish the sentence.
"I'm coming too!" Sonny pooped up from nowhere.
"I'll behave, I promise."
"Alright, let's go to see our kid." He nodded to Davis and got on the car.
...
"Look what we have got here, the famous Jason Hayes" Ash voice drew Jason attention.
"Well well, Sonny meet the legendary Ash Spenser!" Jason turned to him.
"You're here to check on my son, aren't you?"
"We are," Jason looked around, "Why are you not inside with him?"
"He kicked me out." Frustration transpired from his voice.
"But you still here."
"Yeah, what can I say, I'm a caring man."
"Of course you are..." Jason said, walking away from him.
"So that was him, uh?" Sonny asked entering the hospital. "I imagined him a little more..." He interrupted, as they got by Clay's mother room.
"We need those documents, sir." A nurse was telling Clay.
"I don't know where they can be."
"You need to find out, very soon, I'm sorry." She firmly said.
Clay watched her getting out, and noticed his two teammates standing by the door.
"Hey," Jason asked getting in.
"What are doing here?" Clay was visibly shacked, exhausted, and confused.
"What was that about?" Jason completely ignored Clay's question.
"Um, there's some insurance paper missing," he paused looking at his mom. "They... they can't keep her here if..."
"Damn bureaucracy!" Sonny stepped in, trying to empathize Clay's feelings.
"I think she has it, but... I can't leave her alone."
"Your father is still outside, did you know?" Jason suggested.
"He is?" Clay was totally incredulous. "But he can't go to my mom's apartment, he will just mess things up."
"But he can stay here with her, and we can drive you where you want." Jason looked strictly at him.
Clay turned again at his mother, unsecure about what to do.
"You need a break Clay."
"Ok, ok..."
...
Despite all Jason's and Sonny's attempts to make Clay talk, he didn't say a word during the whole ride long.
"Come in, it will just take a minute." Clay opened the door, and made his teammates a sign to enter with him.
Sonny was looking around, when he saw a piece of paper hanged on the fridge.
He got to it, curious, and started reading.
"Oh, Lord, please, don't let it be what I think it is."
-Clay, dear son, I'm so sorry...-
"Clay, you need to see this..." He regretfully show the paper to his friend.
The two soldiers watched Clay reading the paper.
The kid started shaking like a leaf at the exact moment he put his hands on the letter, tears filled his eyes, and he could barely stand.
When Clay finished reading, Sonny made a step toward him, and put his hand on the kid's shoulder, but he retracted.
"Let's go," Jason made Sonny a sign to leave him alone.
"We'll be right outside, kid. Take your time."
Clay didn't respond, he didn't even move a single muscle.
They reluctantly went out, and settled on the porch.
After a few minutes of complete silence, they heard Clay crying loud, yelling, and throwing things around.
"He doesn't have to be alone, Jace." Sonny wanted to go back in.
"Yes, he does." Jason stopped him. "He was keeping it all to himself, he needs to blow it off.
Sonny sat down again.
"Let him do. He'll come to us when is ready."
They had no choice but waiting patiently there, till Clay finally got out of the house.
His eyes were red, and still full of tears. They looked down seeing he was holding some papers in his trembling hands, and they noticed his knuckles were wounded.
Clay passed by them, without looking at their faces, and got in the back of the car, without making a sound.
The other two looked at each other, completely heartbroken, and followed him.
The ride back to the hospital seemed to be as long as one of their flight, but with deafening silence penetrating deep in their hearts.
"Team is the only family you need..." Clay decided to spoke up, just when they arrived at parking lot.
"Sorry, what?" Jason turned to him, as the kid's voice was trembling, and his tone was low.
"That's what Adam said to me once: Team is the only family you need."
Sonny looked at his Boss not understanding what was all that about.
"I feel you, guys, I really do..." he sniffed, trying to not let the tears go down his cheeks.
"You are always there for me, as I am for you... but what happen when the people you leave here are the one who need you?"