A/N: I wrote this story after watching the second last episode of the season. I hadn't seen the finale until just before I finished writing this, so I decided that, rather than re-writing the whole story, I was just going to leave it the way I had originally imagined things would go with Jason.

Jason groaned as he heard more people entering the farmhouse. He couldn't see the newcomers, but he immediately recognised Ray's voice. He listened hard to what they were saying as he tried to stand up.

"Want to bring us up to speed?" Ray was asking.

Jason heard Clay's voice answer. "We took five casualties between the ambush and the crash."

"Any KIA?"

"Yeah."

There was a pause before Jason heard Ray's next question. "And Jason?"

Again, it was Clay that answered, just as Jason stumbled to the door. "Jason took a hard hit."

"How hard?"

"Not hard enough," said Jason as he finally made his way into the door frame. He groaned before saying, "hey, it took you long enough."

"We ran a mile uphill to get to you, and that's the welcome we get?" Ray asked in a gentle tone as he and Jason grasped hands.

Jason let go of Ray's hand and grabbed hold of his vest instead, using it as support. "What's the status of the QRF?" he asked, almost desperately.

Ray watched for a second, concerned for his best friend's safety and health. "Circling. No-one's coming for us until we clear the mountain of those SAMs that took you guys out."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Sonny as Jason stepped backwards and grabbed the door frame for support.

"Can we exfil on your bird?" Jason asked.

"Like I said, the area's too hot right now to land. Boss, are you sure you're alright?" Ray asked in concern.

"What's the status of the QRF?" was Jason's reply, and it was clear he didn't know he had already asked that question.

Clay shook his head slightly as he saw Ray start to ask a question. Jason had stopped paying attention and was bent double, clearly exhausted and in pain.

"Bravo two, this is TOC," came Lisa's voice from Ray's radio.

As Ray answered the radio, Clay took Jason's arm and led him back into the other room of the farmhouse. He gently sat him on the ground.

"Stay here, Jase. I'll let you know when we're leaving," he whispered before returning to the front room.

Jason wasn't sure how long he had been sitting against the rotted bathtub when Ray returned. He had vague memories of them talking to each other, but he couldn't remember anything that had been said. Truthfully, he could remember very little at that point about their situation- he was too tired. He felt like he had been dreaming when he had spoken to Nouri Halani on the hillside. He wasn't really sure how he had gotten back, but was sure that Ray had helped him. There was no way he would have gotten back alone.

"Jason, time to go," said Ray as he bent next to his boss.

Looking up, Jason realised that his vision was blurred. Ray's face was swimming in and out of focus.

"Did you hear me, Jase?" Ray asked.

"Where's the QRF?" Jason asked yet again.

"It's outside, waiting to take us home."

"I'm tired, Ray," Jason said as Clay entered the room.

"Since you haven't rested like we told you to, boss," said Clay, "that makes sense."

Jason looked at Clay, who was holding out his hand to help Jason up. After a moment, Jason grabbed Clay's hand and struggled into a standing position. With Ray leading the way, Jason and Clay ran for the waiting helicopter.

The helicopter was almost on the ground when Ray noticed that Jason's head was on Clay's shoulder. He watched for a moment, but their team leader didn't move.

"Clay?" Ray shouted over the noise of the helicopter. "Is Jason awake?"

"I don't think he is," Clay shouted back. "I can't get a response from him."

"Damn it!" Ray exclaimed as they touched down. He jumped out and turned to Clay. "Help me carry him..."

"Ray?" Jason mumbled.

"Wake up, Jase!" Ray said as Clay gently shook his arm. "I need you to walk."

There was a pause before Jason nodded. Ray breathed a sigh of relief and helped his friend out of the helicopter. Together with Clay, the three of them walked slowly towards the waiting doctors and nurses outside the field hospital's emergency doors.

"Who has the worst injuries?" one of the doctors asked, eyeing Jason in concern.

"Definitely Jason," said Clay. "After the helicopter crashed, we found him unconscious. He hit his head pretty hard."

"Where was his helmet?"

"It must have come off in the crash. It wasn't on his head when we pulled him out of the helicopter."

"Any other injuries?"

"His leg was stuck. After we pulled him out, he was having trouble walking. He's had three doses of morphine in the last ten hours."

"Is he having trouble with his memory?"

Clay glanced at Jason, who was now clinging to Ray's vest again. "Yes. I think it's his short term memory. I don't know if it's the concussion he definitely has or if it's something else."

The doctor nodded. She had also noticed the way Jason was clutching Ray's vest like it was a lifeline. "Okay, I'll take him from here. You," she said to Clay, "need to be examined too. A nurse will get you settled somewhere until a free doctor can look at you." She turned to Ray. "Are you injured, sir?"

"No. I was in a second helicopter," answered Ray.

"Right. If you can help me get Jason inside, that would be great."

"I'm staying with him. Trust me, you don't want him to realise that he's alone."

"Okay."

Ray was surprised at the doctor's readiness to allow him to be with his friend, but chose not to question her. Jason was starting to slip towards the ground, pulling on the vest, and it was painful. He hoisted Jason back onto his feet with the doctor's help, and they walked through the doors into the emergency department.

The doctor was talking to him. Jason could hear her, but he was too exhausted to pay any attention to what she was saying. He wanted to sleep, although he knew he probably shouldn't if he had a concussion.

"Jason?" asked Ray.

Jason looked up. "Ray," he whispered.

"Can you hear the doctor?"

"Yeah..."

"Good. You need to let her do her job."

"I am."

"No, you aren't. She asked you to take off the vest."

Jason frowned. He didn't remember being asked to remove his vest. "She did?"

"Yes." Ray frowned as well. "Are you alright, Jase?"

"Tired."

"Okay," said the doctor, "the quicker you take off the vest, the quicker you can get some sleep, Jason."

Jason nodded. He slowly undid the buckles on the sides of his vest, but made no further movement to take it off.

"Do you need some help?"

"Okay," said Jason.

The doctor reached forward and tugged the vest off, pulling it over Jason's head carefully. She handed the vest to Ray, then turned back to Jason.

"Okay, let's get that head looked at first," she said as she started to wipe off the blood. "Does this hurt?"

"A bit," said Jason through gritted teeth.

"You have an open wound on the side of your head. It will probably only need to be cleaned up, and it might need some butterfly stitches to keep it shut. It shouldn't be too painful, but if it is, let me know." The doctor continued to clean off the dry blood, finding little scratches beneath as she went.

"That hurts," said Jason when the doctor ran her wet cloth over the cut on his head.

"Okay. I'm almost done. Has anyone given you painkillers yet?"

Jason looked confused. "I don't know."

"He's had three doses of morphine, each of them are two milligrams," said Ray.

"That's not a lot. Jason, I'll give you another dose of morphine after I'm finished. That should help you sleep." She began gently pressing on the cut. "It's not bleeding anymore, so I'll give it a clean and close it with the butterfly stitches. First, let me finish your exam. Can you follow the light, please?" she asked as she turned on a penlight.

After another ten minutes, the doctor stepped back. "Okay. I'll give you some morphine and then close that cut."

Jason nodded slowly. He felt his muscles relax as the morphine kicked in only a minute later. His eyelids fluttered, then he was asleep.

Jason groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. His head was pounding, thanks to his severe concussion that he didn't need a doctor to tell him he had. His body was sore, no doubt from being thrown around inside a crashing helicopter...

"Jason? Are you okay?" asked a familiar voice.

Jason blinked a few times to clear the sleep from his eyes, then looked around. He found Ray sitting beside the bed, looking at him in concern. "I'm fine," he mumbled as he moved into a more comfortable position. "When can I get out of here?"

"I don't know, but I doubt that it will be any time today. You've only been here for a few hours."

"How long is a few hours?"

"About five."

"It feels like I've been here longer than that."

"Probably because you're in pain, Jase. Are you sure you're okay? I could call a nurse to come and give you more morphine."

"No. I'll be fine once I find a better position in this uncomfortable bed."

Ray laughed. "Maybe you should try going back to sleep? You seemed pretty comfortable while you were sleeping." He grinned. "And you were much quieter, too," he added cheekily.

"Shut up, Ray," laughed Jason. "Don't make me laugh- it hurts."

"Sorry. I'm serious though. Go back to sleep or I'll call a nurse in to give you morphine."

Jason smiled. His eyes closed a moment later, and he fell asleep again.

Two Days Later

"Ready to go, Jase?" Ray asked as he walked into the hospital room.

"Definitely. I need to get back to work," replied Jason as he got off the hospital bed.

"Blackburn doesn't want you back at work for another couple of days. Besides, we're going home in three days' time."

"Home? As in DC?"

"Yes."

Jason sighed. "Thank god for that. I miss my kids so much."

"Me too. My kids, I mean. Not yours."

"Gee? Really?" laughed Jason.

Ray shook his head as he led Jason out of the hospital and to his car. He had missed his friend over the last two days.

"Hey, Ray?"

"Yeah, Jase?"

"Is your shoulder okay? You've been favouring it lately."

"It's fine." Ray started the car and they drove off. It wasn't long before Ray pulled over at the side of the road, though. "Jason?"

"Yes?" asked Jason.

"I lied before. About my shoulder," he added when Jason looked confused.

"It's hurting you, isn't it?"

"No, but it has been sore during these three months."

"You told me the doctor cleared you for deployment."

"That wasn't true... I... I didn't see the doctor. My shoulder was fine, I thought I could work around it. I guess I didn't think when I threw the grenade that ended up killing that kid. My shoulder was sore from busting down a door on my way to that rooftop. I should have let one of you throw the grenade or used my other shoulder, but I didn't think about it at the time. All I could think about was getting the guy."

"You deployed injured? And you didn't tell me about it? I thought we had an agreement, Ray? You promised me that you would always be honest with me."

"I know I promised that. You had your own stuff to deal with before we deployed, so I didn't want to worry you. Then, after we arrived here, we were so focused on avenging Echo Team and I wasn't sore, so I forgot that I needed to tell you."

"Ray..."

"Please don't give me a lecture. I know I did the wrong thing."

"I'm not planning on giving you a lecture. First, it would just give me a headache, which is the last thing I need right now. Second, you know what you did wrong. You are responsible for the death of an innocent child, and you know it. You have to live with that. It's punishment enough. However, I really need you to remember that I am not only your friend, but your team leader. You need to be honest with me about these things. It isn't just your safety that's at risk. It's your team's safety too."

"I know that."

Jason paused for a moment, looked at Ray, and knew that his friend understood the consequences of his actions. "Good. When we get home, you will be getting shoulder surgery. And, during recovery, you can help out with green team training. I don't want to hear any complaints, understood?"

"I understand."

Jason nodded. "Alright, then. Let's get back to base. I want to tell my kids that I'm coming home soon." And, with that, Jason sat back in his seat and closed his eyes, imagining all the stuff he wanted to do with his children.

The End