I'm getting ready to do Jaz/Adam next, but I wanted to fill in the gap since the timeline on TLAS is a bit ahead of this fic before I get to that one. Because I have something big up my sleeve on that one that's going to play out in the next few chapters...but this one is kind of important getting that ball rolling and setting up a big conversation and some big events that will be a long time coming. Neither of these stories have been far from my mind, but my health dictated much of my life for the last year and I am happy to say that things have started to turn on that front. I've got a road ahead of me, but I am finally able to get back to some of the things I'd been missing out on for the last year. This was one of those things. Thanks again for sticking with me and reading and re-reading (which makes me soooo happy that you love these stories as much as I do!). It means everything to me! So, without further ado let's see where Hannah and McG are...It's not the longest chapter but it's opening the door to the future of this team in a way we haven't really talked about yet... Let me know what you think and look for Adam and Jaz (TLAS) later this week!

I won't hold you down, or hold you back, but I won't let you go
This ain't no one night show

I heard you lookin' for a good man
To hold you with some good hands
Somebody get you through the bad land
So you lookin' for a good man
Well you lookin' at a good man now

I'll climb your tower, slay your dragons, fight your battles girl
I'll take a bullet for ya, I'll take on the whole world
Don't even worry bout it, I like it yeah, I gotcha girl
C'mon won't cha give it a whirl

I heard you lookin' for a good man
To hold you with some good hands

Good Man - Lee Brice

McG had been excited when he heard from Top that Amir was on his way back, though he was still nervous about how things would pan out if Dani couldn't live with the life they led. That was going to be so much harder than she even knew especially with Evie being so attached to him, but after spending a couple days watching Amir with Evie, and Dani he knew deep down that they had what it took to figure it out if that's what the road they all decided to go down.

Maybe they weren't at love just yet, but they were tip toeing around it. He knew that feeling pretty well.

By the time Amir and Dani had returned for the night after putting Evie down, Joe had built a fire in the fire pit on his balcony and Hannah was lazily gliding on the breeze in the hammock watching him with a glass of wine.

"I think Preach would be a proud papa right about now." Hannah said as he came toward her.

"Yeah? Why's that?"

"Because all of his chicks are settling down." she laughed.

"Chicks?" Joe asked incredulously.

"Oh come on, when I started with this team he was herding all of you towards the kind of happiness he had. I figured chicks was less insulting than sheep, at least chicks implies some kind of autonomy," Hannah offered with a tipsy little smile.

"Fair enough," Joe laughed as he took the glass of wine and set it on the deck as he crawled onto the sprawling surface and pulled her into his lap.

"What do you think is going to happen with the team?" Hannah wondered aloud.

"I'm not sure, but when I talk to Top about it, it sure seems like he's circling around a plan."

"Do you think he's going to walk away?" She asked.

"I do. I think he's going to have to…at least for a time. There's no way he'll be able to step that far out of line with his personal constitution. It's just not in his nature. I think he could convince himself that he was doing what was best for the team before Tehran, but Tehran was a bit of a reckoning. That was when I think he knew his relationship with Jaz was a liability. I figure he's going to make some kind of big move while we are on leave."

"Do you believe that?" She asked as she stared back at him over her shoulder.

"I do from the perspective of the rules that govern us, but at the same time, he wasn't the only one spinning off the rails. Each and every one of us would have gone to any lengths to get Jaz back, and we all made the decision together to put her in that situation in the first place. And if he hadn't been on the team at that point because of those same rules, he would have been boots on the ground pulling all the same shit to get her back, job or not…so honestly, I wish he would stay. No matter how crazy things got, I can't say I would've done things any differently…and maybe that means we are all compromised in the eyes of the DIA, but from my perspective I think we get the job done and there's something to be said for that too." Joseph said honestly.

"Do you ever think about what comes next?" Hannah asked. "I don't see you hanging it up and riding a desk, so where does it go from here?"

"Private? I mean, I've always considered doing contract work. It would allow us to do what we're good at without some of the hoops we have to jump through. Hell, we might even be able to build the team from here." McG thought aloud.

"Have you talked to Dalton about it? I mean Is that something you guys could manage together?"

"Yeah, we've tossed it around. It would take some time to put together, but between us I think we could pull the funds together, and Top has no shortage of contacts. I guess it wouldn't be the same, we wouldn't be dealing with state secrets and national security, but we already know there are more bad people in this world than there are guys like us willing to stop them, we've see how thin our team gets stretched out when we're deployed, this way, maybe we'd have some semblance of control. But honestly, I'm just the medic, we've got bigger brains in our ranks than me." Joe said with a laugh.

"Don't sell yourself short. Every one of you is pretty indispensable from where I sit." Hannah said as she squeezed his arms tighter around her.

"That's a nice thing to say." He whispered as he kissed the side of her forehead.

"It's also true." She whispered as she leaned into him. "The world needs as many people watching over them like this team as they can get, even if they never know you're there. And I think you guys even proved your point, because Dani wouldn't be downstairs right now if it hadn't been for all of you."

Joseph thought about that for a minute before he smiled and said, "Yeah, maybe Dalton and I need to have a more serious discussion about this."

"Joseph, I knew you were a good man because I worked with you, and a better man when I got to know you. For as much as the team has landed in hot water with the DIA brass, I know that there are people who are alive and safe because you guys have been there for them on the worst day of their life. So, if it's not going to be with the DIA, then I'm with you wherever this journey takes you."

"You have to say that because I put a ring on your finger."

Hannah glanced down at the ring in question with a smile and said, "You did, but you saved me too. I was in such a dark place when you blew into my life, and if it hadn't been for your easy sort of unflappable manner, I may never have stepped into the light. I had no idea how to move forward from my past, and I wasn't even sure that I wanted to. I mean in a way, I had made the decision to live in solitude and work towards helping others like me with Patricia and Noah. That was the life I thought I deserved, it was the only life I thought I could have, but then you turned up."

"Pretty girl you did the hard part." Joseph hummed in her ear as he pulled her further into his embrace.

"No, Joseph. I walked into that bar after dinner planning to have a one night stand if I could ever get up the nerve to let you see me. And that probably would have been the most memorable night of my life, if you'd allowed me to have just that. I pegged you as a charming playboy, but what I got was the most caring, and compassionate man who was willing to give me whatever I needed. Even if I had asked you for just one night."

"That's not entirely true baby girl." McG shared. "Yes, I was prepared to rock your world for one night, but I was already concocting ways to see you again before the waitress had even filled my coffee cup the next morning."

"You were?" Hannah said with a smile.

"I was. I took the most beautiful woman in that bar to my room that night, but beauty doesn't even crack the top ten list in terms of the reasons I knew I had to see you again. You are the strongest woman I've ever met. Here I was a virtual stranger and you put every ounce of your vulnerability on display…for me. It was the first time in my life that I felt like I was worthy of something like that, of someone like you. Your trust in me made me realize that I had so much more to give than I ever gave myself credit for. And I wanted to be the man that you saw that night, not just the guy that was quick with the joke and great in the sack." Joseph said with his best five alarm panty melting smile.

"Such humility," Hannah giggled.

McG just smiled and said, "That was the first best night of my life, and they've gotten better every night since pretty girl."

"Mine, too." Hannah said on a sigh as she curled into his warm embrace and settled her head over the steady cadence of his heartbeat.

After a couple of days, Amir and Dani were getting into a routine with Evie and figuring out where they stood, while McG and Hannah continued to talk about plans for the future of the team. So, McG had left a message for Top who was in Bora Bora with Jaz. He'd been hoping to talk to him, but he honestly couldn't blame the guy for ghosting him, because he doubted he'd be jumping up and down to call anyone if he had crystal blue waters, sun, sand, and his girl in a bikini.

He knew Top would get back to him when he found the time.

McG's phone was vibrating on the nightstand as the sun had just started to creep over the horizon on Sunday morning.

He glanced at Hannah and pressed a kiss to her temple before he climbed out of bed and carried the phone down to the kitchen to put coffee on.

"This better be good Top, my girl was looking all kinds of pretty in my bed. What do you need at this early hour?" Joe asked around a yawn.

Dalton laughed and said, "It's the middle of the night here, and I feel you, I didn't want to take a second away from Jazzy either."

"Fair. So, what's going on? I assume you two are having a nice time. See any daylight or just the inside of a bedroom?" Joe asked.

"It's pretty quiet here, our little bungalow is the only one rented on this end of the island. No one to complain if there's no one to see you know what I mean. Which is why I'm going to be kicking myself for asking you this, but here goes. Do you think you can orchestrate a little something for me without letting it get back to Jazzy?"

"Probably. What did you have in mind?" McG asked.

They two of them spoke for over an hour as they hammered out all the dominoes that needed to fall into place. McG was sure he could help his friend out, he just needed to make a few phone calls and set some things in motion.

As he hung up the phone, Hannah came down the stairs smiling brightly, "What's got you up so early?"

"I've got a secret plan to execute, and you're just the person to help me with it!" McG said as he pulled her in for a blistering hot kiss. "I'll tell you all about it right after I get you back into our bed."

Hannah laughed as he picked her up and dragged her legs behind his back grabbing two travel mugs of coffee and making his way back up the stairs.

"I've got big plans for all the nothing we are going to do today." Joseph said as he pressed his lips to the pulse point in her neck. "Then I'll tell you all about our secret plan, so long as you promise it won't get back to Jazzy."

Hannah smiled, she loved surprises and if McG and Top were plotting this was bound to be a good one.