As always, I own nothing but my mistakes.

I am splitting the Prison episode in half because otherwise this is going to turn into a 6000 word monster.

For those that may have noticed the quotes heading up the chapters which are usually directly tied to the underlying feelings running in the background. In this one, I thought it was worth clarifying that even though these two have some things to work out, when things go off the rails one certainty is they can count on each other no matter what. Job comes first because their sense of duty means everyone comes home. That will come into play later.

So, who do you think is going to figure this out first? Cat remains in the bag right now, but it's not going to stay that way forever...

"Ok, Jaz. I need you to find a tower and set overwatch."

It was barely passed 0500 when Dalton's sat phone started to rumble on the table beside his bed.

He groaned at the intrusion, but promptly turned to grab it in the hopes that he could enjoy the soft little kitten beside him before she woke up and fell back into her standard full tiger demeanor.

Admittedly, that was kind of hot, too. But this side was a well kept secret that he had only witnessed once before and he really didn't have the time to enjoy it with the awkward "biological" intrusion.

It was a side of her that he knew only he had seen, one that he was sure he'd never get enough of.

This time would be different as a phone call from Deputy Director Campbell was sure to quell any urges that might have risen to the surface.

"Deputy Director." Dalton answered as he rubbed his beard and attempted to sound half awake and a little less guilty.

He was fairly certain he flat out failed at one of those two things as he made the mistake of looking at the pint sized ninja currently burrowed into his side.

He should have gotten up, but the idea of disturbing her wasn't high on his list because he knew she'd head back to her own room as soon as she thought anyone else might be awake.

Selfishly, he wanted a few more minutes to hold onto before they flew off to whatever hell hole Patricia was planning to send them to.

Apparently his inner musings took a bit more of his attention than he'd intended because Patricia was impatiently calling out to him on the other end of the line.

"Dalton. Hello...Dalton. I know it's early, but I need your team wheels up by 0700. Do you think you can manage that?"

"Yes. Of course Deputy Director. I'm sorry, I'm just a little tired this morning."

"Well, you've got just under five hours of flight time to catch up."

Patricia took about ten more minutes to get Dalton up to speed before she let the cat out of the bag and blew his guilty conscience out of the water in one shot.

"I'll see you at the prison."

Dalton did the best he could not to choke on the breath of air that caught in his lungs, but he failed miserably which inevitably had Patricia wondering what the hell was going on and a very sleepy Jaz about to protest the sudden movement.

Just as the words were about to slip free from her pretty mouth Dalton gently put a hand over her and abruptly ended the call while muttering some incoherent excuse.

Surely, that wasn't going to come back to bite him in the ass later.

"What's going on." Jaz asked as he removed his hand from her mouth.

He didn't answer her, instead he leaned in and delivered a kiss that should've been illegal on several continents.

While she certainly hadn't been hooking up like McG did on occasion, she hadn't exactly been celibate either, but kissing those men hadn't even been in the same league as kissing Adam Dalton.

She'd never felt like she'd been deprived of such an experience, but in this moment she knew she would measure anyone that came after him against it. Even in her very brief experience with Dalton, she was pretty sure no one was going to measure up.

He moved with unspoken discipline as he brushed his nose lightly against her upper lip, begging entry which she willingly gave. As she opened to him, he savored her lips as if she'd been the finest wine he had ever tasted. All the while, his calloused hands were anchoring hers to his head board as he stretched out above her never allowing his full weight to land on her even though her whole body was practically begging for him to do just that.

Dalton quite literally had her purring.

His lips graced every inch of skin that her tank top would allow and perhaps infringed just a bit before returning to her neck being careful not to mark her up, if only because they were going to have a captive audience for the next few days. As it was her lips were already kiss swollen and abraded from his beard.

He was praying that a shower and a little makeup would cover that up, but the reality was makeup on Jaz heading into a mission in an Afgahn prison would be more telling than a little beard burn.

He knew that he had moments before she'd have to leave him and they almost certainly wouldn't be able to do this again for several days. So, even with her currently warm and willing in his arms right now, he already missed this.

He had yet to tell her that Patricia was going to be meeting them in just a few hours.

And damn if that thought wasn't all it took to lay waste to this perfect moment. That single thought being the ice bath that it was.

"Fuck." He muttered into her neck.

"What's wrong?"

"We have to be wheels up in...less than two hours." Dalton said as he blew out his frustration.

"What, why didn't you lead with that?" She practically shouted as she jumped up and started for the door.

Dalton stopped her just before she could escape and whispered, "I just wanted one more minute before I gave up the fantasy where we could stay in bed all day."

She smiled and he wrapped an arm low around her waist as he leaned in to steal one more kiss before he opened the door and glanced toward the kitchen trying to determine if anyone was up yet. When he decided that it was clear, he stepped back and watched as Jaz made her way back to her room, then he made his way out towards the kitchen.

Dalton was sure he was the first one up, but apparently Jaz wasn't the only one with ninja skills. Preach was standing next to the sink with a knowing look and a pot of coffee that had some strings attached.

"Preach, just give me the damn coffee. We have to be wheels up in just over an hour now."

"Mmmhmm. I heard the sat phone almost an hour ago. Care to explain why it took you so long to get out here and tell me?" Preach said with a smirk.

Dalton gave him a look that clearly stated he had no intention of explaining shit to him, so Preach made sure to get the last word in.

"Ok, well, I took the liberty of waking the team. Except for Jaz, I couldn't find her. Any idea where she could be?"

Preach was eyeing him up good, and when he recognized the guilty puppy look that his kids gave him he had the audacity to laugh out loud.

"Top, you are about to get yourself in a world of trouble. You know that right?"

"I do."

"Just gonna to march right into the fire then, are you?"

"Can't think of a better way to go down." He answered as he poured a cup of coffee and jogged back to his room to catch a shower and gear up.

Preach laughed and shook his head as he watched his friend disappear.

This was going to be fun.

Jaz took the bit about Patricia meeting them at the prison well. That is if abject horror was a good reaction.

"What the hell Top. She's totally going to know something's up. I'm already sure Preach knows something."

"Oh yeah, he totally knows."

She didn't get a chance to respond as the rest of the team was rolling up on the tarmac essentially ending their discussion. Dalton was laughing, but Jaz was completely freaking out. It would take the full five hours in flight for her to settle down, and the tension was certainly not lost on the others.

"What's going on with you Jazzy, you've said like three words all morning." McG said.

"I'm sorry it was about five hours too early and I'm still about three cups of coffee short of the threshold required to be stuck staring at your ugly face."

"There she is. I was beginning to think Top broke you." McG mused.

Both Jaz and Dalton had a look of panic before Amir jumped into the fray.

"Geez, you two need to lighten up, whatever it is that you two were arguing about I'm sure it's nothing." Amir added as he gawked at the two of them.

"You two really need to get laid or something, it's bad for your health to be coiled so tightly all the time." McG offered.

"Yeah, maybe you two should get on that. McG can be your wing man." Preach joked.

"Not. Helping." Dalton said with an uneasy laugh.

"What about you Jazzy, what's your poison? Tall, dark and dangerous? Athletic?" McG asked oblivious to the can of worms he was spilling all over the place.

"Let me guess, blonde, blue eyed, and broody." Preach whispered for her ears only.

In that moment, she realized that he did totally know and Dalton had been aware of that fact.

"Payback is a bitch pretty boy." Jaz shouted towards her CO as the tension finally started to ease back.

Or at least it was until Dalton responded.

"Counting on it." He shouted over the hum of the engines before he gave her a wink.

Jaz glanced around, but only Preach seemed to be in on the joke. McG was already plotting out a trip to a some red light district in the first real city they landed in.

"Ooh, maybe we'll get sent to Paris or Amsterdam. Bad stuff still happens there, right?" McG threw out with a little too much enthusiasm given their general reasons for travel.

"Seriously McGuire. Paris or Amsterdam are the best places you can think of to find a hook up?" Dalton wondered aloud.

"Right, and when was the last time that you've even had a hook up, Top."

Dalton caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye. She looked horrified at the prospect of being outed, but Dalton wasn't too worried about the team. Sure, he knew McG would have a field day with the information, but he knew deep down the team would be fine with it provided they kept things PG-13 and that they were both happy. Of course, there would be the concern for if shit went sideways, but Dalton was fairly certain they could handle whatever came their way.

Besides, his only plans for things going sideways with Jaz involved a bed and a whole lot more privacy.

For now, he would play along with their banter until he'd had a chance to discuss things with Jaz.

"You're absolutely right McG, I defer to your superior knowledge on sketchy hook up locales around the globe."

"See, now that's all I wanted."

With that, laughter flowed and Jaz started to forget that Patricia Campbell could sniff out lies like a bomb dog in three seconds flat.

At least the whole team would be there, hopefully McG's constant banter with himself would dull her spidey sense, or at least get her to tune out.

"So, did you get the house rules." Preach asked as Dalton came back to the group after speaking to the man in charge of the prison.

"Yep. Hands outside the cages at all times. I want you three on the outside. McGuire, you'll be with us. Side arms only." He said as he walked over and placed his gear on the bed of the humvee and cast a reassuring glance in Jaz's direction.

She was still listening, but the chorus of "well this could go fifty shades of fucked up" was running in a loop the whole time he spoke. She wasn't sure if her weariness was over the idea of Dalton and McG in there with a master interrogator, or if it was the fact that the three of them were going to be in a prison with some of the worst men The Taliban could offer, which is truly saying something.

Both were terrifying, but Patricia had a slight edge.