Mandy studied the Trident that was ripped from Lopez's uniform and left on the table after the boys left the room in disgust after they kicked Vic Lopez off the team for betraying their trust. Truth be told, she was CIA and she couldn't really believe the whole situation. She blamed herself for not being able to read the shitstorm better but like Jason had said in passing in the hallway- "18 years on the teams, never seen anything like this before." Mandy hadn't seen anything like this either and she hadn't seen it coming either. She liked the kid from her little interaction she had with him.

She tossed the fabric around and finally put it back on the table for Blackburn and Lindell to deal with. She had her own emotions to deal with after figuring out what exactly happened to Dr. Craig. Oh, she definitely felt responsible for what happened and she would for a very long time. She ultimately knew it was the hazards of the job but at the same time, she would not really get over this one. This one would stick with her for a very long time. She had learned long ago to turn off her emotions in this job but sometimes; sometimes people and ops stuck out. Dr. Craig and Venezuela would stay with her for awhile. He had stayed because she asked him to and now he was dead. His death maybe was "accidental", and maybe they would have killed him if they hadn't gotten there but all points aside, Dr. Craig was dead because of her.

Finally she stopped looking at the Trident at the table and walked out the door and straight to Blackburn's office. She knocked on the door. "My AAR will be in your inbox by midnight. Going to write it on the plane." She had already finished most of it last night, in between finding the ISR footage with Lisa and just not sleeping. She couldn't sleep, the horrors playing in her mind.

Blackburn looked up from is laptop, now in uniform. Mandy decided he looked a lot more tired than she had seen him lately. "Where are you going?"

Mandy paused. She wasn't in this chain of command, was more attached to CIA SAD and did not owe Eric Blackburn an explanation at all. With that being said, they had just escaped death and the look on her face and the look on his face said, he was more concerned for her and looking out for her as a friend than anything. "Trying to make some amends."

"Mandy," Blackburn cautioned. "Where are you going?"

She moved her hair around a little. "Guys at Oceana are making a training flight to Pensacola; I'm going to hitch a ride."

Blackburn leaned back in his chair. "Stay safe. Team meeting in 48 hours, that includes you."

Mandy gave him a tight smile. "I'll be there."

The Air Force guys gave her a smile as they told her it's okay to power up her phone and they had arrived at NAS Pensacola. Mandy silently laughed to herself. She had equipment in her backpack that could have made it possible to have a connection with the outside world while flying to Florida, but she decided that the Air Force guys didn't need to know they were flying a CIA Agent on a short trip.

She did look at her phone and see she had 3 texts from Jason and 2 missed calls. She ignored them and flagged down one of the SF guys to give her a ride to the main base gates where she gets an Uber. From there, Mandy went to the rental car agency. She rented a car under a fake name, Caroline Saunders; which she doesn't not look like a Caroline Saunders at all but it would work. And then she drove to Destin, Florida.

Along the way, she called Jason back. Thankfully the car she rented has carplay so she can call him hands free. She didn't know the rules for the state of Florida and distracted driving and she didn't really want to find out.

"Where are you?" Jason demands angrily.

"Not around, if that's what you're wondering," Mandy replied.

Jason sighed. "You said you'd be at the bar last night and then you bailed and I see you in the meeting and then you haven't been answering your phone."

Mandy laughed at him. He could be teenage girl dramatic when he needed something and couldn't get it. "I wasn't at the bar last night because I was busy saving Ray's ass and career by getting that ISR footage with Davis!" she didn't really want to say that much but she doubted a rental car would have a bug in it or something.

"Yeah, okay. Where are you now?"

Mandy decided to share a little bit, after all Jason understood quite a bit more than she ever expected him to. "Remember be talking about the list in Dr. Craig's office in Venezuela?"

"Yeah."

"Going to see someone on that list."

Jason sighed again. "Stay safe, Mandy." With that, he hung up.

Mandy continued driving until she got to Destin, which really wasn't far from Pensacola. The house she was looking for was older but had a lot of charm and wasn't far from the beach. If all else failed, she would plunk herself on the beach for the next 48 hours and just watch the ocean, she decided. She wasn't surprised at the house, though. It fit her expectations, surprisingly. It just fit.

She parked the car as she saw him out on the porch, laptop in hand. She slowly, walked up to the porch, not really knowing what her welcome would be but she decided to make the first move. "It's March and you're sitting on the front porch, working."

He looked up. "Salty ocean air beats the J-bad air anytime. I try and take advantage."

"That it sure does. Gorgeous place," she commented.

"How'd you find it?"

"I find people," Mandy smiled, weakly. It was an abbreviated version of what she told Dr. Craig in Venezuela: "I'm CIA, I'll find you."

Paul Mulwray stood up from the table he was sitting at and crossed the floor until he stood close to Mandy. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked at her directly in the eye. "So what exactly made you come find me in Destin, Florida after all this time?"

Mandy shrugged, not exactly how much of the truth to tell Paul. They were the worst about beating around facts and telling each other half truths and half lies, constantly. That was who they were. She decided to go for the absolute truth this time. "Something happened that I was more or less directly responsible for and it made me realize somethings."

Paul looked out onto the street and then back at Mandy. "What did it exactly make you realize then?"

"You asking me as an investigative journalist?" Mandy immediately became wary again. Paul was very good at asking questions; questions usually she didn't want to answer.

Paul rolled his eyes. "Cut the shit, Mandy. I'm asking as a concerned friend because you showed up at my house after a long time with a look of horrors on your face that tell me that shit really went to hell somewhere."

Mandy tried not reliving what happened. "Shit really hit the fan."

Paul held out his hand, realizing that something really went wrong for her to show up. "Come on inside. I'll show you around."

"Just like that? Going to let a stranger inside your house?" Mandy joked as she followed Paul into the house.

He gave her a glance, realizing her attempt at making a joke. "You're a stranger than most people, Mandy. I'm glad you came though."

Mandy looked around the house and then back at Paul. "Me too." Maybe here, she would find some measure of peace, healing and understanding, or at least for 48 hours.

AN: we need some more Mandy stories around here!