Author's Note: The next two chapters are going to be slightly smaller. I ended up writing one really long chapter but decided it was best broken into two parts. We finally have our Preach back! Once again, thanks for all your kind comments, it fires my writing. I appreciate you all so much!
Preach sat at the kitchen table sipping on a mug of coffee. He expected Jaz to walk into the room any minute. After dinner last night Jaz had disappeared. It was then the rest of the team filled Preach in on the details of their sniper. Her routine was predictable and even though she wasn't informing the team of her whereabouts, they all knew where and what she was doing.
He knew that the best chance to talk to her was when the others were not around. He also knew that he would take her by surprise when she saw him sitting there. And just like he predicted her face registered shock when she entered the room.
He looked at her casually. "What are you doing up Jaz?"
"I could ask you the same."
"I'm still on west coast time. It's the middle of the afternoon back home. What's your reasoning?" he prodded.
"I like to go for a run before the day begins."
"I didn't picture you for a morning runner. The Jaz I knew had to be pulled out of bed every morning." He raised his eyebrows a bit.
"People change."
"Not all change is good."
"And not all change is bad either. If the guys put you up to this…" she trailed off as her tone rose.
"No one put me up to anything Yaz. I told you, I'm awake because of the time difference. Should I be concerned why you think the others would want me to talk to you?"
Jaz was clearly frustrated. "No." she sighed angerly. "I need to go get this run in, I'll see you at breakfast." She quickly exited the building.
Preached watched her leave, taking in her body language and she closed the door behind her. He knew it took everything in her not to slam the door when she left. He suspected the restrain came from the fact she didn't want to wake up the team.
Preach knew he got under her skin and that's exactly what he wanted. You cannot corner a scared cat, they will attack with their claws out. No, you must coax them out slowly and gently until they come to you. He was going to play the long game, it would be the only thing to work with her. He just hoped her stubbornness wouldn't interfere. He knew time wouldn't always be on his side in the long game, he needed her to open up sooner rather than later.
A short while later Amir entered the kitchen. He smiled at Preach as he started pulling out ingredients for breakfast.
"You do this every day?"
"Yes, I like starting the day off with a hearty breakfast and not any of the concoctions the rest of the team calls food. Plus, it's something simple I can do for the team."
"Mmhmmm. And I'm sure the rest of team likes the fact that they never have to make breakfast anymore."
"I'm not sure the team would function normally without my breakfast."
"Oh, they'd function alright, but maybe not in the way you'd prefer?" Preach inquired.
Amir sighed. He was great at analyzing the puzzles in front of him but Preach had a way of extrapolating the data and seeing beyond the lines. He knew there wasn't getting anything past that man so he decided to change the subject.
"What are you going to do about Jaz?"
"Why are you concerned with everyone's relationship with Jaz?"
"I'm concerned that no one else seems to be concerned about the situation."
"And what situation is that?" Preach kept pushing Amir to say what he was really feeling underneath.
"The fact that she hardly eats and spends too much time exercising. She can put the team and herself at risk. What happens if we're on a mission and she can't complete her duties?" Amir showed his frustration.
"Has she shown an inability to do her job?"
"No, but that doesn't mean it won't happen."
"So, you're concerned about the possibility of something going wrong?"
"Yes."
"You know in our line of work there is always the possibility of something going wrong, right?"
"Obviously, but you should always be minimizing the variables. Why add in an extra risk factor when everything we do is dangerous already?"
"You can't control everything on the mission field, Amir. This is different than having a long-term undercover job. While you were in the terrorist cells you got to play a chess game, long and drawn out. What we do as a team, Special Ops, we have to make decisions on the fly. We are the last chance to solve the situation. That means the plan is fluid and things change quickly, you cannot control much in those situations. Everything is a variable and you need to use that to your advantage. I think the way you're feeling is more than just about Jaz. What we do here is different than anything you've done before and you don't always get to make every puzzle piece fit perfectly. It's ok to let go."
Just as Preach finished Dalton and McG entered the room. Amir was still taking in the words Preach had just said. Was he right? Were the concerns he'd had about Jaz and the team stemming from his own fear of not having control? He was going to have to mull that over some more. He was thankful Preach had return, his perspective always made Amir think and he liked that, it challenged him.
Preach smiled as he watched the wheels turning inside Amir's head. There was a lot this team needed to fix and he was glad he could help show them the light. This team was his second family and he was grateful that wasn't stripped from him. He spent most of his rehab being thankful for his life and everyone who meant something to him. He wanted more opportunities to impact their lives. There was so much meddling he still needed to do and he was going to make sure he completed his missions. He glanced up at Top and smiled again. Once they got their sniper back to herself he was going to start working on Top, he had plans for those stubborn souls.
The team easily fell back into their routines as a team of five. Preach's addition made every mission smoother. It was crazy what a difference an extra body meant. As a team of five they were stronger and executed on an even higher level. It became known through the intelligence community that if you needed something solved, you wanted Patricia's Special Ops Team 7 on the job.
Preach was busy getting into the minds of his teammates. It didn't take long to realize communication was a real problem right now. The fractures that last year left had turned into crevices and if the team didn't start sharing more with each other, it would turn to canyons between them. He had several great conversations with McG. McG had felt guilty for not being there when Preach got hurt. His job was to be the team medic and he felt like he failed Preach. Preach had reassured him that he was where he was supposed to be, out in the field, not back at base where there was an entire medical team which was on the scene moments after the explosion happened.
He had advised McG to stop running into the arms of various girls and to turn to his team instead. Maybe if he opened up to them a bit more the rest of his team might follow suit. Preach knew when Jaz was ready, she was going to need McG.
Preach continued his cryptic sayings every time he and Jaz were alone. He knew her brain was trying to decide what to do with the thoughts he stirred up. He took notice of the fact her meals were slightly larger on mission days. Dalton even made a remake to Preach on the change his presence was instilling in her. Maybe she would finally open up to them soon.
