It was official. Two days from now, they would be back in the states and headed their separate ways. Preach home to California with his wife and daughters as he was well on his way to a full recovery. McG back to the wide open space in Montana. Amir would be in D.C. before heading to Lebanon to visit his family. Top and Patton home to his rustic cabin in Pennsylvania. Jaz couldn't help the emptiness she already felt in her stomach. Quickly pushing the sappy thoughts out of her head, she continued packing up her things that she wouldn't need before they departed the bunker. Normally they would be debriefed in D.C but after the Alex Hoffman debacle, Patricia had pulled some strings to have everything finalized before they left Turkey, knowing the team would want to stay with Preach until he was discharged from the hospital. Pulling the last of her clothes from the wardrobe, Jaz dropped everything on the bed needing to decide what to pack in her go bag for the long flight home.
Being a perfectionist, she neatly folded everything, systematically placing each item in her large duffle. Reaching for the last two shirts, Jaz froze as her eyes took in the soft gray Army tshirt. For a simple piece of cotton, the intense emotions it made her feel brought her both great comfort and even greater fear.
To anyone else it was just a standard issued PT shirt, but to her it had become a lifeline. Her head was screaming at her to refold the shirt and return it to his room, but her heart was overriding her normally detached self. Jaz closed her eyes willing herself to walk out of her room, down the hall and put it back in his room, but she couldn't. It meant too much to her. In the past two weeks, she had faced the harsh reality that his once unwavering faith and trust in her no longer existed and she had no one to blame but herself. It becoming crystal clear to her the second Top took her shot before they rescued Varina.
Quickly refocusing back to the task at hand, Jaz shoved her current emotions down into the dark place that held everything else in her life that never had a chance: a father who never wanted her, a mother who couldn't love her, a friend who died in her arms and now a man who had saved her in ways he would never know. Whatever it was between them that had been building for the past three years, was now just a commanding officer and a team member.
Checking the time, she had a little under an hour to finish packing and meet everyone for dinner at the hotel on base. With a final inventory of the basics needed for the flight, she zipped the small carry on bag and place it by the door, with all her other personal items ready to be loaded on the plane.
Just forty eight more hours and she'd have the distance needed to let go of Adam Dalton.