"How is Jaz?"

Dalton looked toward the room where he had left McG and Jaz. Preach and Amir were both watching Malden in the third room. He pushed away the wave of fear that still threatened to engulf him and focused on the facts.

"McG says she's going to be fine… He's stitching her wound… She's going to be fine…"

"A wound? Did Malden hurt her?"

"No, I don't know how she injured herself yet… Probably when she was trying to escape from her attackers… But she's going to be fine…"

Saying those words out loud didn't make them more real, didn't ease the bad feeling he had since the very beginning of this mission.

"Good… Malden?"

He told her everything Malden had said. Patricia remained silent for a few seconds.

"Do you believe him?"

He rubbed his beard.

"I do. He saw an opportunity to get some help by taking Jaz… So he seized it…"

"But you don't trust him…"

It was more a statement than a question. Patricia was good at reading between the lines.

"I never trust a desperate man…"

He knew how a desperate man could snap. He had been desperate, he had lied, hurt and killed out of despair. And he didn't regret it.

He certainly wasn't going to trust a desperate man.

"MacArthur doesn't know that we have Malden, but we have to figure things out, and fast. Dalton, we're investigating about Victor's escape… But if he's after Jaz, taking her away from the case could cost the kid's life… If either MacArthur or Victor suspects anything, they're going to get rid of the boy…"

Dalton closed his eyes and leaned on a wall.

"I know…"

He knew and he hated it. He had told Preach that they were soldiers, that it was what they were supposed to do… But he wanted nothing more than to take his team back to Turkey.

"Dalton, it's your team, it's your call…" Patricia said gently. "But it's far bigger than just a kid being kidnapped… We're talking about high treason within important governmental institutions… We have to be very careful… We're working on getting evidences, you work on saving the kid…"

"Copy…"

The communication stopped, but he stayed still. What was he supposed to do? Sending back Jaz in that hotel seemed like a bad idea, but if she didn't, the boy was going to die, alone and afraid, and the thought was unbearable. He knew that Jaz would never be okay with that, that she would want to go back without hesitation. And it made him sick. There wasn't a single good choice, all the options were bad, and it felt like trying to catch water with his hand.

The situation was slipping through his fingers, and he couldn't do a damn thing about it.

OoOoOoO

When Jaz woke up, she found McG staring at her.

"Jeez, Jaz, you look like crap!" he joked.

"Thank you" she croaked.

She almost rolled her eyes, but her head hurt too much. Her whole body hurt too much. She winced with pain when she tried to sit, and McG helped her. She looked at her surroundings, then at the bandage on her shoulder.

"We're in a safe house… Top used Malden's burn phone to call us… You've lost consciousness, but it had more to do with exhaustion than your wounds, you lost blood, but you don't need transfusion… With fluids and rest, you'll be back on your feet in no time!"

She huffed at the perfusion pinning her in bed, making McG smirk.

"Come on, Jaz, it's only been an hour! And don't complain, thank to me, you don't need any more injection than the antibiotics I gave you…"

But she wasn't listening to him. She looked up as Dalton came into the room. He smiled to her, but it didn't reach his eyes. He looked exhausted, tensed, like the weight of the world was crushing his shoulders.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, staying a few feet away.

He was struggling to compartmentalize, he had to remain professional, because she deserved it. He crossed his arms to stop himself from touching her.

"I'm fine, Top…"

"McG, can you give us a minute?"

McG glanced between the two of them and stood.

"Sure… She's going to be fine, but she needs some rest…"

Dalton nodded and waited for the doc to leave the room. Then, he took the empty seat and faced Jaz. She was studying his face and she raised her eyebrows to whatever she read on his features.

"I'm going back to the hotel…" she said.

"They have the boy… "

How could he keep her safe without betraying her trust? It was impossible and he wanted to yell his frustration.

"Jaz, you're hurt, and I'm…"

"I'm fine. Top, I've been through worse…"

Didn't he know that? He would never forget how bad she looked in that van back in Iran.

"I am fine. I can do it…"

"You don't have to…"

The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. She frowned and shifted on the bed.

"What do you mean?"

He sighed and stood to pace in the room.

"It's no longer safe…"

Jaz snorted.

"We don't do safe…"

"What I mean is that there is a huge difference between going undercover unknown and going undercover when we know it's a set up and you're one of the targets… "

"Would you stop pacing, please? It makes me dizzy…"

He rubbed his hair and his beard, before finally sitting back and looking at her.

"There is a boy out there, who lost his mom, and who is alone and terrified… I know how it feels, when you're a child, to be alone and afraid…"

He felt that familiar rage he always felt when she talked about her shitty childhood. He took a deep breath. This rage didn't belong to him, even if the urge to protect her was more and more impossible to ignore.

"He has a father, who was ready to kill to get him back… We can't just step back… Top, do you think I can do it?"

"You know it's not about trust…"

"Do you think I can do it?" she asked again, stubbornly.

It was his turn to study her face. The bruises and the scars didn't make her less beautiful, it made her more real and fierce and powerful and strong, and he wasn't sure to have the words to describe how in awe he was of her… Those feelings he had started to acknowledge were overwhelming, terrifying, but he was tired of pushing them away. He didn't know what it would mean for them, he didn't even know how she felt about him, beyond the obvious deep connection and care between them. It wasn't the right time or place, but eventually, he would have to think about all the implications.

He nodded. He wasn't sure to be able to agree out loud, so he looked away and stood.

"Get some rest…"

He stopped in the doorway, didn't turn to face her.

"I thought you were dead… For hours, you were just… They found a body, and…"

His voice was strangled.

"Top… Adam… I'm here…"

Her voice was soft when she said his name, and it sent a wave of emotions through him. He wanted nothing more than turning around and closing his arms around her to never let her go. He closed his eyes, shook his head, and he left the room, still feeling her eyes on him. He was used to fighting himself, but this time he wasn't sure he wanted to win.

OoOoOoOoO

They had gathered around Jaz to go over the plan. They had considered every option, but it always came to the same conclusion. She had to go back alone. Dalton wanted to go with her, but Victor knew him and would suspect that something was wrong. They had thought about sending Preach as her new body guard, but then, MacArthur would be the one suspecting something. He had been informed that they had Jaz back and that they were patching her up to send her back to the mission. Officially, they had found her hidden somewhere in Durban Point. He ignored that Malden was with them.

The guys didn't like it. They all had felt guilty when Jaz had been taken in Iran, for putting killing Jarif before her safety. And even if Jaz assured them that it was just part of the job, they didn't like the familiar pattern.

They also kept glancing at their captain, knowing how bad the mission could go, and how hard it was for him to just let her go, a few hours after believing her dead.

She had a body cam, and Dalton was just staring at the screen. The plan was to use her as a bait, to distract Victor while the DIA was searching for clues about MacArthur implication and about where the kid could be held. Malden was going to reappear, he knew that Macarthur would think that he had been in some bar or strip club, like he had already done since his wife's death.

"Are you okay Top?" Preach asked.

Top looked over his shoulder at his friend, and glanced at Amir and McG who were working out in a corner.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Preach came to sit with him.

"It's not a shame to be afraid for the people we care about…"

Dalton didn't answer. He didn't know what to say. Words would always be too much or not enough. He had had a glimpse of how it would feel to have her dead, and it was still haunting him. But he trusted her, she was bold and talented and strong. She would be okay.

Okay. So it's been cancelled.

I can't describe how disappointed and pissed I am right now…

But we won't give up, there is a campaign right now on Twitter, with #redeploythebrave

I've created a twitter account just to fight for this amazing show, you can follow if you want, it's RedeployTBrave

Be loud, be vocal, we're not going down without a fight (did I tell you how pissed I am? )