Author's note: Thanks for the reviews! It's probably gonna be a couple days until the next post. I'm gonna try and hurry to finish it up but I have a few commitments that will take up most of my time. Thanks and enjoy!
Over the next few days they continued to run drills. The days would always start the same, Jaz was up and gone before anyone else stirred. By the time she returned to the hut, Amir would have breakfast on the table. He always set out two eggs and cup of coffee for Jaz and made some type of gourmet breakfast for the rest of them. They would all head out to the training ground and complete their exercises before heading back to the hut for lunch and afternoon strategic planning. The team liked to have multiple scenarios mapped out so they were ready to go for whatever situation they ran into.
Jaz was starting to pick up so notoriety around the base. She was already admired for being one of the best snipers out there but that notoriety picked up as other servicemen would walk by the team training. She was kicking butt in everything she did. Dalton wasn't sure how it was possible but she managed to be an even better shot now than she was on their last deployment.
She understood what it meant to be part of a team so when it came down to the drills, she simply played her part. But Dalton took notice that even within the confines of her role she was executing on a level he hadn't seen from her before. She seemed to be laser focused on a mission that even he couldn't see.
Dalton was well aware of the talk on base. He would hear whispers of talk about his team and the badass chick on it. He would also hear them speak about how smoking hot she was. He didn't like it when he heard those conversations and even would interrupt them to put a stop to it. She wasn't a piece of meat, she was a soldier and a damn fine one at that. He didn't feel that he just had an obligation to protect her, but she was a part of his team and her value went far beyond her gender. She was the best person for her role and it was becoming more obvious every day.
He was slightly concerned she was going to run herself ragged though. Every day he tried to get her to slow down just a bit, not because he wanted to hold her back, but because he wanted her to play the long game. Deployment isn't a sprint, it's a marathon. Dalton tried to talk to her about her morning runs and disappearing in the evening, going who knows where. He suspected she was working out somewhere but she had been mum on that point. Although he couldn't argue with her about the results, she couldn't afford to lose much more weight. Yes, losing a bit because of her lifestyle change would be a natural side effect, but Jaz didn't have any extra weight to lose so that concerned him.
He didn't know how to broach that topic anymore, each time it was met with a wall she put up. He was going to keep an eye on her, not just because she was a member of his team but more so because he truly cared for her. Although he knew as long as Jaz wasn't put herself or anyone else in danger, he really didn't have a leg to stand on.
Jaz walked into the quonset hut, returning from whatever workout adventure she just complete. Dalton was sitting at his desk filling out paperwork. There was always paperwork with the job. He caught her out of the corner of his eye. She was a ninja but he was waiting for her return so he kept an ear out for her.
"Jaz, we need to talk"
Jaz sighed. She was tired and just wanted to shower and take a nap. The team was going out tonight and she wasn't sure she'd have the energy if she didn't nap. Today she had felt more exhausted than normal, she must have run a bit too long or didn't get quite enough sleep last night. Either way, she didn't want to have whatever conversation Top had in mind.
"Yes, Top?" She turned to look at him clearly not amused.
"Sit down. Let's talk.
Jaz sighed and popped herself up onto the table. "And what are we talking about?"
"Jaz, you're a little bit crankier than usual."
She raised her eyebrows daring him to continue.
"Maybe if you ate a bit more, and exercised a little less, you would be a little more pleasant."
"Really Top? Maybe I'm cranky because I have to deal with all the nonsense. If I were a male, we wouldn't be having this conversation. Have you not seen me out there? I'm on top of my game. I have never been better than I am right now. I'm sorry that you think you need to fix something but there is nothing that needs to be fixed. I'm fine and all this time you're spending focusing on me instead of getting our team prepared is going to put our missions at risk."
"My job is to make sure my team is ready any time duty calls. Yes, I know you are performing well in training but you need to slow down a bit. You can't keep this up for the entire deployment. I'm worried about you Jaz." He ended his sentence softly.
"Top. I'm fine." Jaz emphasized every word. "Did I not pass my physical?"
Dalton sighed. This was not going to go anywhere. "Yes, Jaz, you did."
"Ok. Then let's table the conversation." She stated as she got down off the table.
"Jaz." Dalton paused. "Just take care of yourself. We need you."
Jaz walked out of the room to take her shower. She didn't want to hash out that conversation anymore. Although, if she allowed herself to really think about it, deep down inside she could agree with Dalton on some level. She knew she had been pushing her training and cutting her calorie intake slightly. But she would never admit that to anyone not even herself.
Amir heard the tail end of their conversation. After Jaz walked out of the room he entered and walked straight to Dalton.
"What are you going to do about that?" nodding in Jaz's direction.
Dalton looked up from him computer and sighed. "I'm handling everything I need to handle. Last time I checked, I'm the commanding officer." He tried not to sound perturbed.
Amir and Dalton had come a long way since the last deployment but he knew Amir still questioned a lot of things. Sometimes he'd get so focused on solving the puzzle in front of him that he wouldn't look at the bigger picture.
"You know this could get really serious before you even know what happened."
"Amir. I know you're concerned. I'm monitoring the situation."
Amir wanted to say more but he knew he couldn't question Dalton further, he was his commanding officer. He knew this wouldn't be the end of this conversation. No, he knew it was going to come up again, he just hoped that the team wouldn't be in jeopardy when it did.
Life continued on in the same manner. Jaz got up every morning for her run, the team ate breakfast together, trained, strategized, and hung out as a unit in the evenings. Two weeks after arriving in Turkey they were called out on their first mission. They had a target to quietly kill in Armenia. Intel provided showed he was building a new terrorist network and he would be in Armenia for meetings. They needed to get in, take him out, and quietly slip out of the country.
Within an hour of the mission briefing they were wheels up. It didn't take long for them to set up the shot once they landed. Jaz had her eye on the target and executed like planned. A 438-meter shot and the target was down. Just as quickly as they arrived, they packed up and headed back to Turkey. It was one of the fastest missions they had. They were back in Turkey four hours after getting the call.
After that first mission, it felt like the SAT phone never stopped ringing. They were racking up successful missions faster than they ever had before. Most of them thanks to Jaz, she was clearing targets and executing her tasks faster than she had ever done before. She cleared paths for her guys to get in and out as quickly as possible. Whether on overwatch or as an undercover operative, she was performing her roles on an expert level.
The guys couldn't argue with her results. As long as she was successful on missions and not putting the team in harm's way, they didn't have anything to hold against her. She would still get concerned glances or random comments but for the most part they all dropped it. This new Jaz was the one they had and she was doing a killer job. She was even getting noticed in DC. Patricia was seeing results from her top Special Ops team that she had never seen before and after reading every debriefing she was able to see what a vital role Jaz was playing. Patricia knew this could lead to promotions later in the young sniper's career if she kept up the good work.
Jaz had never felt more accomplished in her life. Everything was going her way. She wanted to join the military to save innocent lives and every mission she went on filled her with a sense of purpose. She knew this is what she was meant to do. She was on her A game and her team was more successful because of it. Jaz knew she could protect her guys and the sense of fear she felt last year started to dissipate.
Seven weeks after their deployment, they were on a mission in Sudan. The team had to track an arms dealer and find out who his contacts were. It was a recon mission, so it was expected to be easy. The arms dealer was ambushed by one of his rivals and McG and Amir were caught in the middle. Since she was on overwatch it was her duty to provide them coverage to get out. Unfortunately for Jaz, right as the fire fight ensued she was overcome with a wave of dizziness and her vision blurred. It only took her a moment to shake it off and provide the cover her guys needed but that was all it took for a knot of fear to take hold in her stomach. She was too close to putting her guys in danger when they needed her the most.
On the flight home Jaz remained mostly quiet. She was replaying the scene in her mind over and over again. If she would have let them down she would have nobody to blame but herself. She knew she didn't eat all of her breakfast that morning and decided to skip lunch when they got the call. That combined with her morning run left little to no fuel in her tank. Jaz was smart and she knew she needed to play the game better. From now on she would eat more on mission days and counter act it with consuming a bit less on days off. She couldn't let herself be compromised on the field. It would just take one mistake for Dalton to bench her and she wasn't sure she could live with that.
Dalton noticed her eerily quietness on the flight back and he was studying her carefully. She seemed lost in her mind, not really paying attention to what was going on around her. He wasn't sure what was going on inside her brain. The team was unable to get the information they needed thanks to their target's rival, but the team made it out unscathed with their covers intact. It was actually thanks to Jaz that they were able to escape so easily. That left him even more perplexed as to what she was thinking. Jaz had saved the day again, it was something they were all getting used to. She should be smiling and celebrating but it was obvious something was bugging her.
He wished he could talk to her, get her to open up. He thought he was getting somewhere with her last deployment. She talked to him then, he felt a connection. These days she seemed more distant. She spent a lot of time training on her own and she was closed of emotionally. No one on the team could get her to talk about anything personal anymore. Dalton knew they had all built walls after last year but Jaz's seemed to be an impenetrable fortress and that drove him crazy. He wished she would let him in, or let anyone in for that matter.
The only time he saw the old Jaz peek out was after a particularly successful mission or when they went out as a team. She might not be drinking beer anymore but McG had managed to convince her to drink vodka when they went out. He spun some ridiculous story about how it was a clear liquid so she shouldn't have a problem with it, it was like drinking water. He wasn't sure if she bought his little story or if she just decided to go with it. Either way they all enjoyed her relaxing a bit and having a good time. He was always glad to see her genuine Jaz smile when they were out on the town together.
When they pulled up to the quonset hut, the team unloaded the gear and started talking about the plans for the evening. Whatever revere Jaz was in earlier seemed to have dissipated because she was in some sort of ridiculous argument with McG. Dalton laughed at the two of them. Sometimes they acted just like siblings. Dalton had told the team he would make steaks tonight and was surprised to see the joy in Jaz's eyes at the mention of the menu.
They walked inside to see a familiar figure sitting at the table. It didn't take long for everyone to drop their gear and rush to talk to Preach. They weren't the most sentimental people, being soldiers and all that, but rounds of hugs were going all around.
"If I would have known the welcoming committee would be this excited to see me, I would have returned weeks ago." Preach spoke with a laugh.
"Nah, were just excited to see a new face around here. I was getting tired of looking at these three every day." McG jabbed back.
"Glad to have you back. We missed your presence." Amir nodded with appreciation.
"We definitely needed you back. Amir was trying to take your spot as the giver of sage wisdom." Dalton quipped.
"Yeah and he sucked at it." Jaz added and she playfully punch Amir in the shoulder.
"Hey someone needed to take up the mantel in his absence." Amir retorted.
"You can resign your position, Amir. I'm here to stay." Preached grinned. "It's really good to see all of you. I can't wait to get back out on the field with you guys, although I hear you've been kicking butt without me." He teased and winked at Jaz.
Jaz shrugged and offered him a smile. "I was just trying to keep them alive till you could show up and show them how it's done."
"You did a good job. Let's just hope I can live up to all the hype this team has been getting the last several weeks."
"Don't worry, we'll get you up to speed quickly. But before we do let's get dinner going, we're starving." Dalton added as he started to pull out the food for dinner.
McG, Amir, and Jaz walked back to the cage to unload the gear, leaving Dalton and Preach in the kitchen to catch up. Preach was eyeing Jaz as she followed the other two towards the back.
"What's with our girl? She's looking a little thinner than the last time I saw her."
"That's a tough subject to broach. I wish I had some answers for you. Hell, I wish I had some answers for myself." Dalton softly replied as he looked towards her figure fading in the background.
"Hmmmm." Preach responded studying the sniper as she disappeared from sight. He would get to the bottom of this. He had a way of pulling information out of her. It required a certain finesse, one he had mastered.
He was positive he didn't return a moment too soon and now he was certain he made the right decision by returning to the line of duty. His team needed him and he was going to help put the pieces of his team back together.