October 14th 2017-London

Aaron woke up with a jolt. She sat up and began to gasp for air. When she realized she was safe in a bed at her brother's house and not in a cell in Russia waiting for her next torture, she put a hand to her face. "Get it together Aaron…" she said to herself in a whisper. Normally Soap was there to comfort her when she had a nightmare, but he was eight hours away in Glasgow. Looking at the time, she saw it was about one in the morning. She hasn't called him in the two days she's been in London so far because she's been so caught up in her return home and reconnecting with Isaac, she hasn't had a lot of time. She also wanted to give Soap time with his family after being away for so long and figuring since he hasn't called her either, he didn't have a spare moment either.

Reaching over to the bed side table, Aaron grabbed her phone and unlocked it. She scrolled through the few contacts she had until she found Soap's name and number. Even though it was late and he was probably asleep, Aaron could have lived with listening to his voicemail. She just needed to hear his voice. She hit the call button and laid back down on the pillows as she listened to the ring on the other end. After three rings, someone picked up.

"Aaron?" the familiar voice said tiredly

"Please tell me I didn't wake you up…"

In Glasgow, Soap sat up in bed. He was in bed, but was having trouble falling asleep. He had spent the day with his mother shopping for things for the house and yard and enjoying a lunch together, but he wasn't as tired as he thought he'd be. Then again when you compare shopping to running the pits in almost a hundred degree heat in Afghanistan, there is no similarity between the two.

"No, you didn't wake me up, but what are you calling for this late?" Soap asked Aaron. He was happy to hear the British accent that belonged to his girlfriend, but she was calling at one in the morning. There had to be a reason.

"I'm sorry. I know said I'd call sooner, but I haven't had time and figured you'd want the time with your family…"

"Aaron, I'm not mad. Why are you calling so late, though?"

"Well I uh…"

Aaron felt embarrassed about calling him because she had a nightmare and wanted to hear his voice. She knew it was silly and maybe childish, but he's been there so many times in the past to comfort her that it made her feel better. "I had a nightmare…" she forced out as she laid an arm across her face. Soap fell silent for a few seconds before he responded. "What was it?"

"I was being tied up in a cell…" Soap could hear the shaking of Aaron's words and it broke his heart. Her nightmares became less frequent of the months after her return. But every now and then the occasional bad memory would intrude on her sleep. Sometimes they weren't too bad, but other times she'd wake up almost screaming with tears running down her cheeks. Soap was glad it wasn't that kind this time.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah I just…I just needed to hear your voice."

Soap smiled at that. "Want me to stay on the line with you until you fall back asleep?"

"You don't have to do that."

"I want to. I'll fight off the bad dreams for you."

Aaron chuckled and got resettled in bed. She put the phone next to her and asked Soap to talk about how things were going so far with his family. He speaks quietly, but tells her everything that's happened so far and with the sound of his voice calming, Aaron begins to doze off again. It's almost two in the morning until Soap hangs up when he realizes she's asleep. "I love you." He whispered before disconnecting the call.

OOOOO

A few hours later, Aaron was drinking coffee with Isaac and Holly. Beckam was off at school and it was Friday. Aaron's meeting at DETO was in an hour and she was already dressed and ready to go. Since she's home, she was dressed in more casual clothes which consisted of black skinny jeans, a nice grey sweater, black ankle boots, and an infinity scarf that had different shades of grey in it. Her hair was down in long waves that rested on her shoulders and she wore her glasses that she wore around her office back at the base a lot. Overall she looked completely different than what she usually looks like.

Beckam had already left for school, so the three adults were enjoying each other's company as they drank their coffee. "What time do you think you'll be done with your interview?" Isaac asked. "I may be able to get out a little early to come and get you."

"Don't worry about it. I actually was thinking of strolling around afterwards to see a few things I haven't seen for a while." Aaron assured his brother.

"Alright well if you're up to it I thought we could go out for dinner tonight at our favorite restaurant."

"Poppie's Fish and Chips?"

"Where else?"

Aaron smiled and nodded. "I'm up for it." she told her brother who laughed. They use to go down together every now and then when they were younger for a late lunch. Poppie's had the most authentic fish and chips anywhere in London. It had always been Aaron's favorite place to eat; especially since it was right on the water.

After finishing their coffee, Holly left for work and Isaac and Aaron left shortly after her. Isaac drove Aaron to DETO headquarters which wasn't very far from where Isaac worked. It was only a twenty minute drive from his chemical lab. When they pulled up, Isaac turned to his sister. "You ready?" he asked her. Aaron nodded. "I just…if it goes well and I like the job and everything like that…what do I tell Soap and Price? Soap doesn't even know I am doing this…"

Isaac shut the car off and looked at his sister. "Aaron, I know you love this Soap guy. You made that pretty clear and I am happy that you're happy. But you should think about what you want right now."

"I want Soap. He makes me happy."

"I know he does, but Aaron…it's been eleven years since you enlisted. I know you love what you do, but how much more do you think you'll be able to take?"

Aaron thought back to her incident a week and a half ago. She collapsed and was out for over a half an hour. She was also taking pills everyday three times a day and Jamie has warned her time and time again about pushing herself too far too much. Maybe working here in London would be a slowing down point for her. She'd still be in the S.A.S, just not on active duty and she'd still be helping her country. It was almost a win-win, but she'd be leaving Soap behind on the Task Force. She didn't know how he'd react or what he'd say, but maybe Isaac was right. Maybe it would be good for her.

"I'll see later today, Isaac." was all Aaron said as she got out of the car.

Same Day-Glasgow

Soap was eating the eggs and bacon his mother cooked for breakfast as Jason read the paper and Kelly cut coupons from a magazine. His mind wandered to his conversation with Aaron last night and he smiled, mentally telling himself he'd call her later. Today he and Jeremy were going to do something together while Holly worked and Sadie went to school.

"I heard you talking last night." Kelly commented as she cut her coupons. "Late night phone call?"

"Yeah." Soap replied. Jason looked over the top of his paper.

"Mind if I ask who it was?" Kelly pressed

Soap still hasn't told his mom just how serious he and Aaron were yet. Maybe now was the best time as any. "Remember when I told you a little while ago that I was seeing someone?" he asked as he pushed his food back. Kelly stopped cutting and looked at her son. "Yes…" she answered.

"It was her on the phone. Her name's Aaron."

"Calling that late?"

"It's a little complicated."

"How so?"

Soap let out a breath. He didn't think Aaron would want him talking about this so he was going to try to make it vague as possible. "She suffered some pretty bad PTSD before and she still gets the occasional nightmare. Normally I'm there to help her through it, but this time I wasn't so she called me."

Kelly and Jason looked at one another before Kelly looked back at her son. "So you two are serious?"

"We've been together six months."

"That's…wonderful, John."

Soap knew his mother wasn't impressed or thrilled about it, though. He and Aaron got together only a month after his engagement with Jen ended and to some it may seem too quick, but Soap knew how he felt about Aaron and he knew how she felt about him. Kelly stood up and grabbed her purse. "Have a good time with your brother; I will see you this afternoon." Was all she said before kissing her husband and son good-bye and heading for the door. Soap dropped his face in his hands. "That went as expected…" he breathed out. Jason patted his son on the back. "Give it time." Was all he said.

London

As Aaron walked through DETO headquarters, she couldn't help but be extremely impressed. There were three floors to the building and each floor was large in size. The first floor was reception and security, the second floor was the offices, and the third floor-the most important floor- was where the magic happened. It was made up of large rooms that had monitors, computers, maps, televisions, and all sorts of equipment that made dealing with domestic terrorism and violence easier.

Aaron was led to Jonas Hart's office-the man who sent her the letter asking her to meet him- by his assistant. Aaron looked around as she walked, taking it all in. There were workers in rooms on phones and putting pins on maps and writing on white boards. It was almost overwhelming. The place seemed to be buzzing with life and everyone looked like hard workers as the bustled in and out of offices.

When Aaron finally arrived at Jonas's office, he was filing some things away in a cabinet. "Sir," his assistant said. "Aaron Pager is here." Jonas turned around and smiled as Aaron took in his appearance. He looked about forty with greying hair and small wrinkles forming at his eyes. Dark blue jeans and a red button up shirt was his wardrobe choice and by the gold ring on his finger, he was married.

"Thank you Lauren." Jonas said as he walked over to Aaron. His assistant left and he held his hand out to Aaron. "It's such a pleasure to finally meet you." Aaron shook his hand. "Pleasure's all mine." she replied.

"Please take a seat."

Jonas walked around to sit at his desk and Aaron sat in the chair across from it. "I have spoken to Commander MacMillan about you and he says you are an excellent soldier." Jonas began. "He allowed me to look at you records and I think saying I'm impressed would be an understatement.

Aaron smiled. "Thank you, sir."

"Please call me Jonas. Anyway, like I said, you have a tremendous record with the S.A.S and between your knowledge of computers and experience you have, you'd be a valuable asset to DETO. As I mentioned in my letter and what you may have seen on the news, there are ultranationalist supporters forming groups and small organizations throughout Europe. "

"And you said the violence is increasing."

"Indeed…now you may be wondering where you come in at. As head of intelligence, you would be keeping tabs on every ultranationalist group in the United Kingdom. You'd also work with the other heads of intelligence that are in France, Germany, Czech Republic, and the United States. The best thing I can compare DETO to is the way the U.S dealt with terrorism in the Middle East over the years."

"So you locate where they are working out of and find out what they're doing before you bring them down."

"Precisely. And with the information we've collected over the past few months and your skills, we can locate all of their entire little hide outs, hack into their computer systems which could get us even more information like who's running the show."

"You don't know who is leading all this."

"All the leads we've had have become dead ends."

Aaron processed all the information she was just given which allowed a silence to fill the room. "I am not asking for an answer right this second, but we could really use you here. This place needs you." Jonas told her.

"Look this is an amazing opportunity and I am interested in the job, but I need to talk with my superiors first before I make any final decisions." Aaron replied.

"I completely understand, I do, but I need this position filled soon. I'll need an answer from you by the end of this month."

"I understand."

"Well how about I give you a tour of this place?"

For the next hour, Aaron was given a tour of DETO headquarters. When she was showed the office she would have, she was impressed. It was bigger than the one she had back in Afghanistan and a lot nicer. It was newly refurbished with new furniture and carpeting and painted walls. The carpet was grey and the walls were a cream color. There was a small couch by the window and a large desk against the back wall with two chairs across from it. A coffee table was across from the couch and there was also a bookshelf going across the length of the far wall. The large windows also offered a nice view of Big Ben and the harbor.

"Like it?" Jonas asked

"It's amazing."

And it wasn't just the office. Everything with DETO made Aaron want to work here. The pay, the job itself, and how she'd still be doing what she'd love…maybe she would take the job.

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