Tehran

He stood watch over Jaz as Preach carefully applied makeup to her face. She was full of snide comments about his skill with the brush, but he noticed the way her foot tapped the ground, a nervous habit of hers. The team was silent as Jaz read her dossier. All of them desperately wanted to see Jarif dispatched, but all of them desperately wished their teammate wasn't the one taking the incalculable risk. Needing a moment alone to calm his thoughts before sending Jaz out on her own, Dalton stepped out of the room and let out a long breath. There was a quiet click and he knew who had stepped out after him.

"Top?"

He turned around to see Jaz standing behind him, her face contoured to match another's features. The worry in her eyes was all hers.

"If things don't go as planned, I need you to tell them"

Dalton understood immediately when she handed her dog tags to him, and he slipped them wordlessly around his neck, tucking them under his shirt to hang beside his own. Neither needed to say a word, as both understood he would personally make the trip to notify her family if fate decided to turn against her. Dalton had never met Jaz's family, but he understood she trusted him with them. Despite her often turbulent relationship with them, they were still family. He suppressed the urge to give the tags back and tell her it was over, that they would have another chance. But they were so close. Though the mission teetered on the edge of precarious, if anyone could pull this off it was Jaz.

"Are you still sure?"

Jaz looked at him for a long moment before finally expelling a breath with just a hint of a tremble at the end.

"I know you'll have my back, that's what matters."

He wanted to ask again, because selfishly he hoped that she would say no. Dalton tamped the temptation down however, because showing fear for her would imply doubt in her, and that was something he never felt.

"I'm gonna come out through the window."

"No, Jaz, you're not. That's crazy."

"It's what you would do"

He willed himself to remain calm for her.

"Okay I'm looking at a plate glass window that faces the alley. Please don't keep me waiting, 'cause I'll probably have a broken leg"

"Okay, okay, we're on our way. McG, Amir, Hossein, stand by. If you don't hear from us in five, we're gonna rally back at the safe house. Let's go get her."

He felt his heart hammering against his chest as Preach turned the van toward the alley at an achingly slow speed. Jaz's voice was calm, but her uneven breathing belied the fear she felt.

"Okay, stop up here." Dalton said roughly as they approached the alley. The window on the second story was still empty.

"Whoo, this is gonna hurt."

Dalton felt his chest constrict with fear as he saw her figure hurtling towards the window, and then his heart simply stopped when she was suddenly tackled to the side. He was forced to hear her grunts and harsh quick breaths colored with fear. Forced to watch her be pulled farther from him and hear the desperation in her breaths grow. He listened with great intensity to every voice yelling in the background, praying someone would be dumb enough to mention where they were taking her. But nobody would know, nobody stupid enough to speak openly about her destination would know. Her breathing was slowing now. He knew Jaz was well aware she couldn't fight her way out of her current situation so she was calculating, fighting that panicky fear that came with the knowledge that there was no escape. Her earpiece was small and well hidden, but he knew it wouldn't be long until it was found. He could only pray that somehow they kept her alive long enough for him to get to her. Raised voices drew closer. He recognized the voice of Qassem Javad, Jarif's guard.

"I'm sorry Adam" Jaz said on a shaky whisper that shattered him.

"I'm coming to get you, you hear me Jaz, don't stop fighting".

A hand connected to flesh with a sharp slap and he could hear Jaz's grunt of pain. He closed his eyes and prayed that somehow she would find a way to stay alive long enough for them to get to her.

"Who do you work for?"

There was silence save for a slow breath that trembled at the end.

"It doesn't matter does it? Jarif is already dead, nothing you can give us will make a difference."

Dalton heard another blow land accompanied by a gasp of pain. There was a loud gunshot, and a guttural grunt followed by strained breathing. He felt the life drain clear out of him as Jaz struggled for breath. There was silence long before a burst of static severed the connection.

He swore time stopped. The scene replayed in his head a million times, each time slower and with greater was a ringing in his ears and some sort of muffled sound coming from beside him, but all he could hear was his own ragged breath, and feel his heart beating against two sets of dog tags.

Sound came back with a rush.

"Jesus, oh Jesus Top" McG's voice was strained over the coms.

There was nothing from Ops, and the silence on the line was more deafening than the shot had been. He couldn't move. Training told him to gather his team, regroup, remove them from danger. But he could only stare up at the window where Jaz had been moments before.

"Amir, McG, rendezvous at the safe house" Preach's voice was heavy as the car began to roll forward.

"Dalton we're arranging for a flight now. Have your team ready to go within an hour" Patricia's voice was flat as it returned on the line.

"I'm not leaving her"

There was weighted silence on the other end.

"Dalton go to a private line"

He turned off his connection to the rest of the team and waited for the connection on his sat phone to go through.

"Dalton, every moment you spend in that country your team is in more danger. The loss of Sergeant Kahn is a tragedy I cannot even begin to make sense of now, but I need you to bring your team home"

"There's no proof of death" Dalton bit out

"Adam" Patricia's voice gentled "Adam your team needs you to be strong. You did everything you could to get Jaz out of there."

Dalton's put a hand to his forehead, fighting the raging grief in his chest. He felt the warm weight of Preach's hand on his shoulder.

"I'll get the team back safely, but I'm staying behind. If she's still alive and I left her-" Dalton covered his mouth with his hand.

"Adam, they have no reason to keep her alive, you-" Patricia stopped mid sentence as Hannah's voice cut in.

"She's ali-" Patricia hung up and Dalton sat up so fast Preach swerved slightly.

"What is it Top?"

"She's alive"

Preach's head snapped around.
"What? But the shot,"

"I don't know, but I heard Hannah say she's alive before director Campbell cut the line"

Two Humvees whizzed past them and Preach pressed on the gas. Dalton gripped the door handle and suppressed the urge to tell Preach to turn the car around. He needed to pull back on the emotion that sent his thoughts racing. He punched Patricia's number in the phone. After he re-dialed a third time his phone went straight to an automated voicemail. He slammed it shut in pulled up to the safe-house and rushed inside. Dalton was met with McG's ashen face.

"I should have stayed up there, we could have gotten her out." McG said dully
Dalton shook his head and strode past him.

"If anyone's to blame here it's me, I made the call". Guilt was already ripping at him.

Amir stood stiffly with his back to the group.

"I have reason to believe Jaz is alive" Dalton said finally, and Amir spun around and looked at him, fists clenched. McG stared at him with the same ashen expression as before.

"I'm staying behind. Preach you, McG, and Amir need to get on that plane and out of this country before everything goes to shit."

Their voices tumbled over each other in protest and Dalton held out a hand.

"All I have now is a hunch. Deputy Director Campbell wants the team back at the air base asap. That's a direct order. Disobeying would be a career ender"

"You know I've been thinking about retirement lately." Preach said smoothly

"I'm not leaving Jaz" McG said hotly, while Amir nodded curtly in agreement, his movements stiff as he moved about the room.

Dalton opened his mouth to argue but the loud chirp of his phone interrupted him.

"Dalton" he snapped

"Based on all your calls I'm going to assume that you overheard Miss Rivera."

"Director, I respectfully ask for the right to stay."

There was a pause

"We think they faked her death to keep her in the building. Moving her would risk interception by our team, so there's a strong chance she's being held in one of the rooms. Faking her death would keep anyone from coming after her until they can assemble a safer route of transport to a holding facility."

Dalton fought to keep his voice steady "Where there signs of life?"

"No." Another pause "But Noah enhanced the audio and we overheard enough to at least know they planned a last minute fake out."

Dalton walked out of earshot of the rest of the team.

"Are we on a private line?"

"Yes"

"I'm cashing in my favor"

"Keep the favor," Patricia said briskly "I want Sargeant Kahn back just as badly."

Dalton gave the fear just a moment to penetrate.

"I- I heard her die Patricia"

"You heard the result of a calculated move, one we would have missed if it weren't for Noah's extraordinary attention to detail. I am certain she is alive, for how long I'm not clear, but I'm going to get you the best resources I can without starting another global war."

Dalton nodded and listened as she briefed him on the plan.

Jaz woke with her cheek pressed to carpet. Male voices were muffled behind the door. There was a burning on her shoulder like a brand was being pressed to it. Sensation slowly returned and she began to make sense of the hard plastic of industrial strength zip ties biting into her wrists and ankles. Her throat felt bruised and raw, and a faint metallic taste in her mouth told her she had most likely been sedated with something. The drapes had been drawn over the window. She had some vague memory of fear and a need to escape, but her thoughts were muddled and she felt overcome with grogginess. Jaz let her cheek press heavily into the carpet and was about to close her eyes when black fabric caught her eye, and suddenly she was having a flashback of Dalton tucking a stray strand of hair back into her hijab before they stepped out of the plane this morning. Her body reacted before her mind could, and her heart was racing as she lay unmoving on the floor. She sat up as fear began to course through her veins and clear the last cobwebs from her mind. Memories rushed back with great clarity, and the various aches on her body faded to the background. She strained against the bindings on her wrists, but they refused to budge even as her skin began to tear. She scanned the room for something sharp to try and break the bonds, but the door suddenly burst open. Javad strode in.

"Well, I see you're awake."

Jaz gazed past him, willing the adrenaline to settle.

"Ignore me if you must, your people are not coming for you, I have infinite time on my hands"

She smirked.

"You laugh, but the man with the pale hair and glasses looked quite distraught when I shot you"
Her jerk was involuntary, and completely obvious.

"No one will come for a dead woman"

Jaz continued to look past him, but now dread began to coil in her belly. That was why she'd been willing to jump out of a second story window. Because she knew she would be killed almost immediately. Or thought she would be killed almost immediately. The pain in her throat brought back a memory of a hand lightly brushing the earbud in her ear before someone shot a bullet into her arm and landed a sharp blow to her throat that stole her breath. There had been a sharp shooting pain in her neck and then she'd dropped to the floor before her vision had started to grey. If her team thought she was dead she might as well be dead. There would be no escaping on her own, and she knew that despite years of training, with enough pain and mental torture she would spill even her deepest secrets. Death would come when there was nothing left but desperation

Javad pressed a finger to the bullet wound on her shoulder and she grit her teeth through the pain, shaking as he pushed harder. A muffled scream escaped her lips and he released his grip immediately.

"Ah there, see? You make a sound, I stop. Now the next one will not be so easy. I will need you to tell me why your brother sent you to kill Jarif"

Suddenly the pieces began to fall into place. They thought Nasser Hareb had sent her to betray Jarrif, and they were keeping her alive in order to suss out any information they may need to defend themselves from an inter-sect war.

"My brother thinks Jarif did not serve Allah, but himself. He fights to clean this world of men like him." she spat.

A slap across her face sent her tumbling to the floor.

"Jarif served Allah, he was faithful!"

Stars swam in front of her eyes as she was hauled up and thrust onto a chair. She had a moment to think that the plush chair was weirdly at odds with her current situation when she felt a sharp jab on her unharmed arm.

"I'm going to enjoy this" He said while slowly depressed the plunger.

Fearing a inhibition lowering drug Jaz rolled away and felt the needle shift in her flesh.

Javad laughed and pulled her up just as every muscle in her body turned to water. She felt every touch and heard every sound as they pulled her back onto the chair, but she couldn't open her eyes. Panic coursed through her veins and her lungs burned but she couldn't take a breath.

"They say it's like drowning" Javad murmured softly. "Succinylcholine, a favorite of Jarif's."

She was completely paralyzed, and a panic unlike any she'd ever known gripped her as she felt her body screaming for oxygen.

"I do hope I haven't misjudged the dose," Javad said, and laughed delightedly when Jaz stiffened suddenly and drew in a breath like she'd been held underwater for the past thirty seconds.

"Ah, well it seems I have a good eye for dosage then"

"My brother will send men if he does not get a call from me" Jaz spat, still violently gasping for breath.

"Well, why don't we give you a few hours to ponder then" Javad said, and though she tried her best to buck off the hands that held her down she felt a sharp pain and then her muscles betrayed her again, stealing the breath from her body.

She heard footsteps retreating from the room and a part of her that she was afraid to face willed the drug to last just long enough to stop her breathing forever. She didn't need long, just a minute or two and oxygen deprivation would take her. Fear crawled over her skin and if she could she would have wept. The fight drained from her and she sat in the paralyzing darkness, waiting for her heart to stop. Except it would not. It beat defiantly in the silence, and her mind replayed Dalton's last words to her. I'm coming to get you, you hear me Jaz, don't stop fighting.

Dalton relayed instructions to the team as they drove back to the hotel. They stopped a mile away in the darkness and proceeded on foot through back alleys and along silent roads. A fleet of drones flew above them, reading heat signatures around them. OPS fed instructions to them as they moved ahead. Even Patricia sat in on this one, leaving her usual post to man a drone of her own, her steady voice guiding Dalton through the streets. They wouldn't risk entering the hotel until they could try to at least figure out on what floor they were keeping Jaz. The team slid into a dark area and everyone but Preach, who was furiously trying to hack into the hotel's video feed, pulled out a small screen as the drones began scanning the floors. Dalton scanned the floor slowly with his drone, pausing by each heat signature to try and determine what was going on in each room. Although the sun had set, the concrete walls burned orange, and he had to spend several minutes adjusting the infrared camera to get the right view inside the hotel. Several figures began to appear as he found the right setting. His heart beat erratically every time he was able to make out a small female frame, and then dropped in disappointment when the form moved freely about the room, or sat casually at a chair.

"I think I have a possible location" McG said suddenly, and Dalton stepped over to look at the figure lying awkwardly on what seemed to be a chair.

Another figure stepped up and caressed the small figure's cheek, and suddenly the two embraced.

"Nevermind" McG muttered in frustration.

Dalton could see hope beginning to falter as the team steadily scanned up the walls of the hotel a second time.

"The haven't moved her, OPS has had satellite imagery covering the exterior all day. Keep scanning for irregular movement."

"I'm into the security feed" Preach murmured, and Dalton paused his scan to glance at the monitor.

"Check out the 12th floor, we've got a lot of activity up there" Preach said suddenly, switching between 12th floor feeds.

Dalton scanned the faces of the guards and stiffened when he saw Javad step out of a room and wipe his hands on a towel. Red smears marred the crisp white towel and he felt the slow build of rage flicker in his chest.

"They have her in room 1267" He said roughly, eyes glued to the screen. He didn't need to direct McG and Amir to move their drones back down to the 12th floor.

"Confirm heat signature" Patricia ordered.

"Seventh room from the left, two windows per room, that's windows fourteen and fifteen" Noah said over the coms.

Dalton swung his drone up and scanned the two windows. The room was empty.

"I can't get a heat signature." His voice was laced with frustration.

"Wait, wait no they recently remodeled. I have a remodeled suite up on their website. It has a total of five windows, check windows seventeen and eighteen." Hannah said breathlessly

Dalton moved the drone over three windows and he knew instantly that the glowing form on his screen was Jaz. How often had he stared across the room at her sleeping form as he himself had been trying to fall asleep while they were on mission.

"Can confirm heat signature, it's Jaz. Ready to move out."

She wasn't lying curled on her side as she usually was, instead she looked like she'd been dropped onto the chaise, her arms bent awkwardly behind her.

"You're going to have to scale the neighboring building and reach the roof by zip line. Preach you're going to need to freeze security cameras on the left side of the building. Dalton, your team needs to move fast. Once you breach the room you won't have more than a minute to get Sargeant Kahn out. I'll have a chopper in the air and ready for takeoff. I can't stress the time limit enough. Any longer and Javad's team will be mobilized and your chopper will be shot out of the air."

"Copy" Dalton said, signaling for his team to move up the fire escape on the neighboring building.