I don't own The Brave! My native language is Dutch and I'm dyslectic so I'm sorry for any mistakes.
Safe?
Jaz's heart was beating in her throat and time slowed down. All she could see in front of her was the big window and she knew what she was going to do. It wasn't going to be fun. As she got closer and closer, she doubted her plan more and more. There was so much that could go wrong and all those scenarios were playing in her head as she closed in. There was a silence on the comms.
'This is going to hurt,' she mumbled as she reached the ten second countdown. She prepared her sprint to the window. She knew what she was facing. The glass would cut her for sure and the couple of feet to the ground would break at least one bone. This was going to suck. It was going to suck so much. Time slowed down even more, even though her pace quickened. She wrapped her arms around herself for some protection, seconds before crashing through the window. Straight away she felt the glass cutting her skin. As she went down, she cursed.
Crack!
Jaz winced at the sound of her bones breaking when she hit the ground full force. Immediately pain flooded her body and her breath hitched. The pain was overwhelming. More curses escaped her lips and tears started to fall. The pain was way worse than she expected. A nauseous feeling came up and she cried out. Black spots formed before her eyes and she could feel herself slowly losing consciousness. She welcomed it. Anything to escape the pain. Her mind started to race. She couldn't move, nor did she dare to. Time had become lost to her. It felt like she had been lying on this ground for hours. She felt wetness around her. Where were they? Where was her team? They should be here to get her out. If they weren't, the jump would have been for nothing. Jaz heard a van approaching and then she had to give in to the blackness.
'Go! Go!' Dalton called out to Preach as the older man backed the van up. They had seen Jaz crash through the window, glass going everywhere. Dalton couldn't help but cringe when he heard Jaz cry out in pain. This was his fault. He had sent her in and told her to improvise. Because of his orders the mission had gone to hell. He climbed over the front seat to the back and opened the doors when they had almost reached Jaz. Time was of the essence right now. He was out of the van before it had come to a full stop. In front of them Jaz lay on the ground. Blood was slowly pooling around her. Her leg didn't look good. Dalton prayed she was going to be okay as he pulled her into the van as quickly but carefully as possible.
'I got her!' Dalton said as he closed the door. Preach didn't waste any time and sped off. Dalton pressed the speaking button on his comms. 'We have Jaz. We are on route to rendezvous point!' He moved over to Jaz and checked her pulse. It was there, which was a relief, but it was fading. He quickly looked her over. She was losing a lot of blood.
'Copy that,' Patricia replied over the comms as Dalton grabbed the medical bag behind him and started to put as much gauze as he could find on the many cuts on Jaz's body. 'McGuire, Amir and Mr. Larijani will meet you at the rendezvous point. What's Jaz's status?'
'Unconscious,' Dalton said. 'Several lacerations on her body. Some are pretty deep. She's losing blood.' A curse escaped his lips. 'I ran out of gauze.' He looked around to find an alternative. 'Her pulse is fading. Her leg is probably broken, but looks like a closed fracture. We're coming in hot in…' Preach held up two fingers. '…two minutes at rendezvous point. McG, are you ready?'
'We're on location and ready to receive you guys,' McGuire replied.
The doors were thrown open and Dalton was faced with Amir and Hossein. Dalton picked Jaz up and carried her into the safe house Hossein had secured for them. McGuire pointed at the kitchen table and Dalton carefully placed her down. The medic started to check her over right away. Sweat dripped from his forehead. Jaz groaned as his hands touched her leg.
'Jaz?' Dalton asked softly and he placed his hand on her head, leaning in. She turned her head to him. Tears were streaming from her eyes. 'It's okay. We got you.' Dalton stroked her hair as McGuire continued his assessment.
'Preach, hold her down,' McGuire ordered. 'I have to set her leg first.' Dalton moved over as Preach placed his hands firmly on Jaz's shoulder. Dalton grabbed Jaz's hand and looked at McGuire, who was standing at the end of the table. The medic took a deep breath.
'Hold her firmly,' he instructed Preach. 'This will hurt, but she cannot move.' He reached in his bag and held up some kind of leather strip. He handed it to Amir. 'Fold it up and place it in her mouth. It should muffle the screams…' Amir gave a short nod and whispered a quick explanation to Jaz before placing the leather in her mouth. Jaz bit down on it straight away. Dalton gave her hand an encouraging squeeze and he felt an faint one in return. McGuire took another deep breath and looked at the other men.
'Are you all ready?' he asked and they all gave a short but firm nod. 'I have to go slow, to make sure the bone is set right. It will be painful, but it's important she does not move. The bone could shift and cause more damage than it already has.' Preach gave him another nod. McGuire shot a quick glance at Dalton.
'Do it,' the team leader answered. It was now or never. Right now they hopefully had the advantage of not having too many Revolutionary Guards surrounding the streets around them, in case Jaz did scream too loud. Dalton took a deep breath as well, preparing himself. As soon as McGuire took hold of Jaz's leg, she tightened her grip on Dalton's hand. When he started to move it slowly, she struggled against Preach's firm hold on her shoulders and bit down hard on the leather, while trying to suppress her screams.
'Keep holding her,' McGuire said as he concentrated.
'Just a little longer, Jaz,' Dalton whispered to her. Tears were streaming down her face. She gripped his hand so firmly, he thought she might crush it if it continued any longer. He just wished it was taking away a little bit of her pain. As long as it helped her, he could handle it. He looked up at McGuire and suddenly Jaz's grip disappeared. Dalton turned his head, worried.
'She just passed out,' Preach assured him.
'Probably from the pain,' McGuire said. 'Probably for the best.' He maneuvered her leg a little more and then slowly put her leg down again. 'Amir, hand me the pieces of wood we prepared. I'm going to need to splint her leg.' Amir hurried into the adjoining room. McGuire looked over at Dalton, as he still held on to her leg. 'I need to set up a transfusion after I'm done with her leg. She lost quite some blood.' Dalton gave him a short nod. He had no problem with giving his blood. He would do whatever was needed to make her better.
Dalton ran a hand over his face and took a deep breath. He was feeling weak after the transfusion. He really wanted to close his eyes for just a moment, but he knew he wasn't going to get any sleep. Not while McGuire was still working on Jaz, who was still unconscious. They had moved her into the bed in the adjoining room. The medic had gotten rid of the cut-up dress and the pants, leaving Jaz in just a tank top and underwear. It gave him room to clean the cuts and dress them. Now that he was stitching up the last couple of cuts, he had put a blanket over her. To keep her warm and somewhat covered. Dalton looked at the medic when McGuire sighed.
'Okay, I'm done,' he said and he took off his gloves. Dalton glanced at Jaz. She had mainly minor lacerations on her face and neck. One cut on her left cheek was sealed with butterfly bandages but the rest had only been cleaned. On her arms were a couple lacerations that McGuire had had to stitch up. The rest of her body had mostly minor lacerations as they had been protected by her clothes.
'How is she?' Dalton asked.
'Well, first of all: how are you doing?' McGuire asked and he checked Dalton's pulse.
'I'm fine,' Dalton answered, brushing his hands away. 'Just a little tired, but I suspect everyone is. Can you tell me now how Jaz is doing?' McGuire raised his eyebrow but didn't comment on it.
'Let's go into the other room,' he said while he stood up. 'Preach, Amir, Hossein and Command probably want to know as well.' Dalton slowly got up. He had to take a moment for the dizziness to go away. When he opened his eyes, McGuire looked worriedly at him. Dalton ignored the look and walked into the living room. Amir, Preach and Hossein immediately turned to them.
'How is Jaz?' Preach asked. Dalton saw Amir typing on a laptop, calling in Command.
'Her leg is broken, but I think I managed to set it properly,' McGuire started as soon the connection with Command was set up. 'I got rid of any glass and cleaned the lacerations. Several of them had to be stitched. I gave her some morphine against the pain. Currently she's still unconscious. I did as much as I could do here, but she needs a proper hospital.'
'Very well, McGuire,' Patricia said over the video link. Dalton noticed that she was toying with her necklace and knew that she was tense. Just like them. 'We're working on getting all of you out of Iran, but it will be difficult to move around Iran unnoticed. Especially now that there is so much attention on Jaz. It's not just the Revolutionary Guard looking for her. We found chatter that Jafir's men are also looking for an injured woman. For now you will have to stay put until we acquired safe exits. We'll try to get you all out and Jaz to a hospital as soon as possible.'
'Okay, we'll stay put,' Dalton replied. 'Keep us posted.' After a nod from Patricia, the connection was ended. He sighed. Bad news was not what he wanted to hear, but he had expected it. He knew they were in a difficult position. He looked at his team members. 'Take some rest. We'll convene later to discuss a plan.' He turned to Hossein. 'Hossein, go back home. We can take it from here. You have done more than enough for us.'
'Don't you worry about me,' Hossein told him. 'It was no trouble. Take care of yourself and of Jaz. I will come back in the morning with some more food.'
'Thank you,' Dalton said and he offered the man a weak smile. They shook hands before Hossein left. Amir went outside with her to do a perimeter check. Dalton walked back to Jaz and sat down in the chair at the foot of her bed. She was still out, but looked relatively peaceful. He took a deep breath. This was one messed up mission. He turned around when he heard someone entering the room. McGuire came in holding a tray of food.
'Eat something,' he said. He cut Dalton off before he could object. 'Doctor's orders. We can't have you passing out as well.' Dalton nodded shortly and took the tray. McGuire crossed his arms and Dalton took a bite of the bread.
'Happy?' he asked while chewing the bread.
'Very,' McGuire smiled. 'And take some rest, Top. She will be out for a while and Command will take some time as well to come back to us. Just take some rest, like you told us to do. We're okay for now.' Dalton gave another nod and McGuire walked away.
Hours had passed slowly and the night had fallen. Dalton was still sitting at Jaz's bed, trying to keep his mind occupied with some book he had found. The house had gone quiet over the hours, as everyone took the moment to rest. When he heard movement from the bed, he put his book down. Jaz was awake and tried to push herself up. Dalton rushed over and gently pressed her down again.
'Take it easy, Jaz,' he told her softly. She pushed his arm away and rolled to her side, throwing up at the side of the bed. Dalton quickly kept her hair out of her face and called out for McGuire, who came rushing towards them. Dalton helped Jaz to roll back.
'Hey, you,' McGuire greeted her with a little smile. 'How are you feeling?'
'Crap,' she answered curtly and she frowned. 'What happened?' McGuire started a quick but thorough check over.
'You jumped through the window, remember?' Dalton asked and Jaz nodded slowly.
'You broke you leg when you hit the ground,' McGuire said. 'I managed to set and splint it. You have several cuts from the glass. I treated them. Some of them I had to stitch up. I also gave you some morphine for the pain, which could explain the vomiting.' Jaz slowly nodded and stared at the ceiling. Dalton notices she was struggling to keep tears in. He put his hand on her head.
'Hey, you're safe,' he said softly and he wiped away the tears that escaped. 'We're all working on an exit. You can…should rest.'
'You're a wanted woman in Iran now, Khan,' McGuire joked and he smiled at her. Jaz returned the smile half-heartedly. 'Are you in pain?' She nodded and let out a sob. Dalton stroked her head while McGuire grabbed another dose of morphine.
'Just rest,' Dalton told her while McGuire administered the pain medication. 'We'll find a way out. Don't worry about it.' Jaz gave a slow nod and closed her eyes. Dalton gave her shoulder a squeeze and returned to his chair. He leaned back as Jaz drifted back to sleep. McGuire turned to Dalton with a worried look on his face.
'What's wrong?' Dalton asked.
'We're running low on morphine,' McGuire told him. 'I'm already trying to spread it out as much as possible, but she is in quite some pain. I'm not sure whether she's vomiting from the morphine or from the pain. Or both.' Dalton nodded while he looked at a sleeping Jaz. They needed to find an exit quickly.
'Maybe Hossein can help,' Dalton suggested. 'Ask Amir to go see him in the morning.' McGuire nodded and left the room again.
A hand on his shoulder made Dalton jump awake and he looked at Jaz right away. She was still asleep in the bed and looked okay. He turned to his side. Preach stood beside him, with an apologetic look on his face.
'Sorry, Top, but Command is calling in,' Preach explained. 'Director Campbell wants to speak with you as well.' Dalton nodded and stretched before getting up. Perhaps Command had come up with a plan to get out. He rubbed his face to wake himself up some more. In the living room Amir handed him a cup of coffee.
'Dalton,' Patricia greeted him on the screen. She stood with her hands in her pockets. There was something determined about her stance, which didn't sit well with Dalton. He no longer expected good news.
'What do you have for us?' he asked. Their boss took a deep breath and took a quick glance to her sides, where Dalton knew Hannah and Noah were typing away on their computers and listening to the conversation.
'It's going to be difficult to get you all out of the country,' Patricia started. Dalton knew she was talking about Jaz. 'With both the Revolutionary Guard and Jarif's men it is near impossible.' She fell silent for a second and her hand moved to her necklace. 'We did manage to secure exits for the rest of…'
'No way,' Dalton interrupted her and he heard similar sounds around him from the other team members. Patricia looked annoyed. 'We're not leaving Jaz behind in Iran.'
'There doesn't seem to be any other option, Dalton,' Patricia said. 'Not for now at least. Mr. Larijani and his brother can take care of Jaz. Make sure she is safe. When she's better and the dust has settled, we can look into another exit.' Dalton snorted and glanced around. 'Dalton, I warned you at the start of the mission: don't get caught.' Dalton shook his head.
'Jaz didn't get caught,' he replied. 'She escaped. We're not leaving her behind. We're a team and we're sticking together, especially when the times are tough and we don't have the backup. You have to get us an exit, with Jaz.' Patricia sighed and looked to her sides. She then gave them a nod.
'We'll continue to look into it. Ask Mr. Larijani to do the same. Perhaps he can be of help.' Dalton gave a firm not and then the connection was cut.
'She's going to kick your ass when we return,' Preach told him with a smile.
'Nah, she wants Jaz back as well,' Dalton assured him. 'She's going to put on a show, but it will be okay. And if she has to, let her. As long as we leave Iran as a team.' He patted Preach on the shoulder and returned to Jaz's room.
'Sounds like you're going to improvise.' Dalton smiled when Jaz spoke. The smile, however, wasn't returned. She looked at him with a serious face and he realized that she had heard the conversation with Patricia. He pulled his chair to the side of the bed, so he could sit face to face to her.
'What else am I supposed to do?' he asked her. 'I promised you that I would get you home and you will kick my ass if I break that promise.'
'Maybe later,' Jaz replied and she groaned as she shifted. She glanced down at the gauze and the cuts on her arms and at her leg. She glanced away. 'I'm sorry.' She spoke so softly that he barely heard it. He frowned and leaned in closer.
'Why are you apologizing, Jaz?'
'I messed up…If I had…' Dalton shook his head.
'Missions turn in different directions all the time,' he interrupted her and he put his hand on hers. She turned her head back to him and her eyes were filled with tears. 'You improvised, just like I told you, and you completed the mission. You got out. Don't ever apologize for that. That is an order.' He gave her a wink and Jaz smiled weakly at him. 'Try to get some more rest and try not to worry. We'll handle the exit.'
'She could be right, you know,' Jaz said and Dalton frowned. 'Director Campbell. Maybe you and the rest of the guys should leave Iran right now. I can follow later.' Dalton shook his head right away. Why did everyone want him to leave her behind. That wasn't going to happen.
'You know that we don't leave anyone behind,' Dalton told her. 'You didn't with the Mongolia mission and we won't do it now. Understood?' Jaz nodded slowly, while tears were rolling over her cheeks. Dalton gave her hand a squeeze. 'Hey, don't cry. We're gonna make it happen. Try to rest some more.'
'Top, we have a way out,' Amir announced as he walked into the bedroom, followed by Preach and McGuire. Both Dalton and Jaz turned their heads to him. 'Hossein said he called in a favor from a border control officer he knows. He works at a small border crossing into Turkey.' Dalton glanced at Jaz, who looked hopeful.
'Is this man to be trusted?' he asked.
'Hossein assured me that he wouldn't have tried otherwise,' Amir assured him. 'Hossein will travel with you, McGuire and Jaz to the border crossing, making it a business trip to Turkey. Preach and I will go with one of the exits provided by Command.' Amir then looked at Preach and McGuire, who gave him a nod. 'There is only one problem…' He glanced at Jaz. 'It's about a ten hour car ride and it will probably be uncomfortable, if not painful…'
'I can do it,' Jaz said, determined.
'What about the morphine?' Dalton asked, looking hopefully at McGuire.
'Hossein managed to get some,' the medic answered. 'But I'm still running low. I'm pretty sure there won't be enough to last the whole car ride.
'I can do it,' Jaz repeated and she looked at her team. 'We have to do it. We probably won't get another chance.' Dalton looked at her. She looked determined to leave, so he gave a nod.
'Okay, carefully,' McGuire said once again while they tried to get Jaz into the car as smoothly as possible. 'Watch her leg!' Hossein had come in first thing in the morning to pick them up. Amir and Preach were leaving a couple of hours later by train and plane. Dalton had positioned himself in the car, so he could pull Jaz in. McGuire kept an eye out on her leg and helped her in. Amir and Preach were keeping an eye out on the street. Luckily it was still early and dark outside, so no one was outside.
'You okay?' Dalton asked when Jaz was seated. She took a deep breath and winced as McGuire moved her leg.
'Uhm, okay enough,' she said. McGuire handed her a blanket and Dalton helped to cover her splinted leg. Hopefully no one would look too closely into the car on the way. The blanket covered most of her body and her headscarf was covering her neck, but they couldn't cover the cuts on her face. McGuire also held up a syringe.
'Last morphine we have,' he told her and he injected it. 'It should last for about four to seven hours…so not enough for the entire car ride. I'm sorry.' Jaz gave him a nod and then took a deep breath.
'Are you two ready?' Hossein asked Dalton and Jaz when McGuire sat down in the passenger seat. They both give him a nod.
'We'll see you in Turkey,' Preach said, leaning into the open window, and he patted Dalton on the shoulder. 'Take care.' Dalton gave him a nod and Jaz smiled weakly.
Jaz tightened her grip on Dalton's hand when the car hit another bump. Hossein called out another apology to the back seat. Dalton was glad that they were nearing the border, because it had been a long and painful ride. Jaz had been able to get some sleep, but the morphine stopped working after six hours or so. But she barely let out a sound, even though Dalton knew every bump had to be excruciating.
'Almost there,' Hossein said over his shoulder before turning his gaze back on the road. Jaz let out a relieved sigh, as she rested her head against Dalton's chest. Nerves were creeping up on him now that they approached the border crossing. He trusted Hossein with his life, but knew nothing about his contact.
'Top, approaching,' McGuire said a couple of minutes later and Dalton looked out of the window. It was indeed a smaller border crossing, like Hossein had shown on the map, and there were barely any cars. Hossein drove up to one of the officers and greeted him warmly. The officer glanced into the car with a suspicious look.
'Get out of the car,' he then said in Arabic and he took a step back. His hand rested on his holster. Hossein shot a quick glance at McGuire and Dalton before getting out of the car. Outside they started a heated argument. Judging from Jaz's tightening grip on his hand, Dalton was aware she was watching it as well. Dalton prayed that Hossein managed to deal with the officer. They had gotten this far.
'Top…' McGuire said when Hossein's contact angrily gestured at the car several times. Dalton felt Jaz's breath quicken and he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Hossein stayed calm, with his hands slightly raised, and he kept speaking to the officer.
'Just wait,' Dalton said. 'Let Hossein handle it.' Then his heart started to beat faster as the officer walked over to the car, followed by Hossein who was still trying to talk with the man. The officer opened the door to the backseat.
'Get out of the car,' the officer ordered in English and Jaz stiffened. Dalton glanced down at her and she gave him a nod. He slowly got out. 'The woman as well!' The officer's agitation rose, while Hossein was still talking to him in fast Arabic. Dalton quickly glanced around to see who was near them. Fortunately for them no one seemed to be paying attention to him. He turned to Jaz to help her out of the car. McGuire also hurried over to their side. Dalton made sure she was putting all her weight on him instead of on her leg as they stood beside the car. Jaz bit on her lip to keep herself silent as Dalton could see the pain in her face. Tears were slowly rolling over her cheeks. He rubbed her arms gently.
'This was not the deal!' the officer said angrily as he pointed at Jaz. 'Do you have any idea how many people are looking for her?! I'll get in a lot of trouble if they find out! I will get punished, not just fired! You spoke of friends! Not of this woman!' Dalton could hear Jaz softly growling and he couldn't help but smile a little. He gave her arm a squeeze before giving McGuire a nod. The medic handed the officer an envelope.
'Maybe this will compensate for your trouble,' he suggested. The officer quickly and not even very discretely counted the money inside the envelope and then gave a short nod. He took one more look into the car, for show, and then gestured for them to get back in the car. Dalton and McGuire helped Jaz back in the car. She needed a moment to recover from standing up straight. When all four of them were back inside, they took a relieved breath.
'Let's go,' Dalton told Hossein, longing to leave Iran for a long time.
Once again Dalton was sitting on a chair at Jaz's bedside, watching Jaz sleep, but this time he was more comfortable. They had all managed to leave Iran. Not long after crossing the Iran-Turkey border, they were met by a helicopter that took Jaz, Dalton and McGuire to a hospital. Once they arrived, Jaz was taken by the doctors straight away and Dalton and McGuire could only wait on news. They had gotten the chance to take a shower and eat some food. Amir and Preach joined them not long after, joining them in the wait for Jaz to come out of surgery. Hours had passed and then the doctor had come out to tell them surgery had been a success and most importantly Jaz was going to be okay. They had all visited her, but as Jaz was still asleep, Amir, McGuire and Preach had left for the base. Dalton was left behind in his chair, once again waiting for Jaz to wake up.
As Dalton watched her sleep, he realized how close they had gotten to losing another member of their team. To losing Jaz. And that would have been on him. He had sent her in and had told her to improvise when needed. Most of the mission had been improvisation from the moment they had missed their shot at the tea house. But the mission had been personal for all of them. He had heard it from Jaz when she chose to go in. Jafir had planned an attack on them and innocent people. They weren't going to lose him. They just hadn't thought about the cost…
Jaz stirred and Dalton was pulled from his thoughts. He sat up straight and watched her slowly open her eyes. She looked around in confusion until her eyes landed on him.
'Top,' she sighed and he smiled at her. Her eyes went to her leg. 'How is my leg?'
'You and your leg are going to be just fine,' he told her and he pulled himself closer to her bed. 'The doctor put some pins in the bone to keep it in place and he is confident it will heal just fine. McG even got some compliments on his stitching.' Jaz nodded slowly and Dalton suspected what he said wasn't really landing. She looked around and he noticed she looked at the water at the table. 'Are you thirsty?' When she nodded, he helped her sit up and take a couple of sips of the water. When she lay back down, she avoided eye contact with him.
'What about the job?' she asked softly.
'What do you mean?' He had a suspicion what she was asking him, but he had to be sure before giving her an answer.
'Will I still be able to do my job?' she asked. Dalton took her hand and she turned her head to face him.
'The doctor said you're expected to make a full recovery,' he assured her. 'So your job is safe. You will be going back to the States once you get released. You're going to need physical therapy. And once you're cleared by medical and passed the psych test, your spot will be yours. I promise.'
'Thank you,' Jaz whispered and a couple of tears rolled over her cheeks. 'For everything…'
'No problem. I couldn't lose my best sniper, could I?'
The End.
A big thanks to my sister for being my beta!