As the sun sank behind the horizon, Jason settled into his chair and tipped the beer bottle to his lips. He was surrounded by his brothers, there was good food and a seemingly endless amount of booze. He was headed out for another deployment at the end of the week, but he wasn't anxious. They were ready for this. The last two months had strengthened their bonds and put his mind at ease, Emma and Mikey were taken care of and they would get through this deployment. Hopefully it wouldn't be long, for the first time in a long time he was dreading deploying, and he had a sneaking suspicion that Clay wasn't thrilled about leaving Emma either and he didn't know quite how to process that information, or if he was supposed to do anything about Clay's indecision. Great. More things to worry about in the middle of the night.

Then there was Davis. He was proud of her for going into something that she had been working for her entire career in the Navy, but losing the person that they depended on more than anyone in the field was going to be tough, especially on Sonny. While there was never any official notification from his brother that there was something between them, Jason had been an operator for over twenty years. There was something there, but as long as they didn't say anything… he had some plausible deniability, and he was ok with that. As far as he was concerned what they had was good, and you didn't waste good. He would turn a blind eye for as long as it took for them to figure their shit out together, he just hoped it would be sooner rather than later. Sonny Quinn settling down was a momentous occasion that deserved to be celebrated, or mourned depending on who you asked, and Jason didn't want to miss out.

"You boys ready to roll out on Friday?" Davis commented, leaning a little more heavily on Sonny's shoulder. Yeah there was nothing going on between them, sure.

"I think so, Emma's got her feet under her and we've had enough time to run the drills, we're good," Jason replied, happy when his brothers nodded along with him in agreement. "Hopefully the Kid has already told Emma that we're deploying, I need to go over some paperwork with her before we go on base tomorrow."

Chuckles filled the humid air as they thought of the many ways that Clay had tried to bring up the conversation in the previous week. At one point or another they had all seen Clay try and fail to gather up the courage to tell Emma about the deployment, but if Jason was to bet, Emma already knew that they were deploying. She was just like Alana in that aspect, claiming that they all had a look before they were set to go out.

"Ya know, Davis, the only bad thing about you leaving for OCS is that we gotta break in a whole new greenie to deal with half the bullshit that Blondie needs on deployment, not to mention all the 'necessary' equipment that you somehow manage to wrangle for us," Sonny chuckled, nudging her shoulder gently. And that was the true Sonny Quinn way, make a joke so that no one will see how much he cares. They all saw through that bullshit, but Jason would let him pretend for the night.

"I think you mean someone that would put up with your bullshit and remember which brand of beer you like," Lisa ribbed back. She would miss just sitting with the boys on the transports after a mission and shooting the shit, but this was her dream. Her boys had found and followed theirs and now it was her turn. Bravo was family, they would never truly lose each other.

"Nah Davis, you know I don't have any bullshit, all my shit if just fine, thank you very much. Now Clay, he is the one full of -"

The peace that Jason had felt shattered as every single hair on his body stood on end at the sound of Emma's scream and everything stood still. For a split second, Jason wasn't sure if they were in Jbad or if they were in Virginia Beach but his child was screaming and he needed to get to her, needed to protect her; losing her wasn't an option.

Sprinting up the lawn, Jason heard the footfalls of his brothers behind him, but there wasn't time to formulate a plan and execute, hell he wasn't even sure if there was a plan. He had never heard Emma scream like that, not even at her brother and the underlying panic in her voice made Jason uneasy. They were home, nothing bad should happen before they even had a chance to leave the country. They were home.

There was a stunned silence in Jason's wake before Trent sprung up to his feet. "Oh for fuck's sake, Davis, do you have my kit?" Trent didn't bother to wait for an answer, he just jogged behind Jason and flung the screen door open to the kitchen, trusting that the kit would come through the doors. She always knew what they needed before they had to ask and it would be insulting to think that she didn't bring at least a small first aid kit to an event involving fire and alcohol. She was better than that.

"I'm sure everything is fine, Blondie just surprised her, nothing to see here," Sonny explained, gesturing wildly with hands so that he could put on a brave face for his brothers, though his palms itched to smack anyone who had hurt his sunshine. They all sat for a moment before getting to their feet, even if it was nothing they wouldn't be able to think straight until they saw both Emma and Clay with their own two eyes. Emma's scream was replaying in their minds and was sure to feature in several of their nightmares, they needed to see that she was safe.

None of them were prepared for what they saw when the opened the door; not even their worst day in Jbad could have prepared them for that moment.

Emma felt her hands shake and bile well up in her throat. Someone was watching her, they knew where she lived and was following her every move. It could be anyone, and they could be watching her right at this moment. Emma opened her mouth to scream again when she heard panicked footsteps running from the living room and all of the breath that she had been holding stuttered out of her chest.

She couldn't think.

Couldn't move.

Couldn't speak.

Couldn't even breathe.

Someone was watching her, and if they could get close to her, without her realizing, they could get to Mikey. To RJ. To Jameelah. They were everywhere and nowhere all at once and the only thought that Emma could produce was that she needed her family.

Eyes darting, Emma searched through the photos spread out on the table again. Thinking back to the moments when she knew that they were being taken, she genuinely couldn't remember anyone that was out of place or anyone that seemed like they didn't belong. And she never would remember that because she wasn't on the lookout for something that was out of place because she thought that she was safe, a concept that she would never get back.

She wasn't safe, she was being watched.

The footsteps that Emma heard behind her stopped and she whirled around to a face full of Clay Spenser's heaving chest. Throwing her arms around his waist, Emma breathed in the comforting scent of his cologne and the faint hint of gunpowder on his shirt and buried her face in his neck. Clay would protect her, she was safe with him.

"Emma, honey, talk to me. What's going on?" Clay asked, swaying gently back and forth. He could feel her trembling in his arms and her tears were creating warm wet spots on his shirt as her sobs broke free from her chest. "Emmie K, I'm here, I got you, breathe," he continued to murmur platitudes into her ear and searched the room with his limited line of vision. He hears rather than sees Jason burst in through the door and not two minutes later the rest of his brothers are barreling through and the room becomes overrun with confusion, apprehension, and testosterone. None of which is conducive to getting any useful information or settling an already overwhelmed individual.

"Emma! What happened? Are you alright? Is it Mikey?" Jason panted, standing over the two of them and pacing like a caged lion.

"Sunshine, do you need me to beat up Blondie? Say the word, I'll hold him so you can take a swing at him, just please stop crying." Sonny pleaded from his place by the door.

"Emma, try and take deep breaths, you're going to pass out if you keep hyperventilating, don't make me give you the mask that I have for Clay in my kit, deep breaths Em." Trent coached, rubbing her back and glaring at Jason. If she was having a panic attack it probably wasn't the best idea to make her more nervous.

"Clay what the hell happened? Did someone come to the door?" Ray shouted over the bickering between Sonny and Jason, they needed answers, not a pissing contest. Clay was the only one that was with Emma, he had to know something.

Cerberus let out a might bark and growled at Trent from her place next to Emma and Eric tried his best to get all of his men to calm down and shut up but nothing would settle the men, not even promises of hill running that evening.

"Son of a motherfucking asshole," Brock bit out quietly, grabbing the photos from the table, face turning red with rage.

Each man stopped and turned, mouths falling open without a sound.

"Brock?" Clay questioned, lifting his head from Emma's to glance over his shoulder as Brock flipped through the pictures. Tightening his arms around her waist, Clay pressed a kiss to her forehead and breathed in deeply through his nose to contain his rage. "Boss, you better see this," he whispered, closing his eyes. It would do no good to fly off the handle at this moment, Emma needed him to stay calm.

Jason's eyebrows rose on his forehead, Clay was breaking out 'boss' in his kitchen and actively going through the exercises the shrink gave them to 'manage their anger' in a 'healthy and appropriate manner' or some other crock of bullshit. This was bad. Holding his hand out to Brock, Jason swore silently and passed them to Eric before pacing in front of the window where he could still see the remnants of the party and the fire blazing. Of all the fucking times for a problem to rear it's fucking head it had to be before he deployed, taking the majority of Emma's support system along with him. "I'm calling Mandy, we're getting this thing settled tonight," he growled, fists clenched at his sides as he grabbed his work phone and stalked back out on the deck.

"I'll put in a call to Charlie, hopefully he can pull more strings," Eric said quietly, noting that Emma had yet to say a word or lift her face from Clay's chest. He had hoped that the time that Bravo had spent on standby would have helped to rebuild the young woman's confidence, but this would be a major setback. He just hoped it didn't take her all the way back to the beginning, he was starting to like the young woman that she was becoming. This was going to be one hell of a conversation and Eric just hoped that Charlie would keep his cool long enough to act appropriately. The man had a soft spot a mile wide for Emma Hayes and would not take kindly to someone threatening his kid.

"Please don't leave me," Emma whispered into Clay's ear, hoping that no one else would overhear. They all heard anyways, but pretended that this moment was for them, that there was some manner of privacy and dignity still afforded to them.

"I'm not going anywhere Em, not until you tell me to leave. Let's go into the living room, the guys will make sure that there isn't anyone in the house," Clay soothed, noting when Emma's breathing sped up as her eyes darted to every window and door in the living room. Was there someone outside her door right now? Could they see into her bedroom? Were there pictures of her and Clay, doing, things?

"Clay, I can't, please don't go," Emma cried, hot tears pricking the corners of her eyes as the lump in her throat swelled once again.

"I won't, I'm right here with you," Clay reassured her, tugging her gently to the couch. Sitting beside her, Clay wrapped his arms around her and let her cry, heart fracturing further with every sob that wrestled it's way out of her throat. "I won't let anything happen to you, I promise Emma Kate, I'm right here."

"Alright Sunshine, I checked all the windows and doors down here, they're all locked tighter than Fort Knox," Sonny babbled, shutting the blinds in the living room. Tears always made him uncomfortable and Lisa wasn't even around to help him, she had gone to make sure that Mikey was ok at the Porter's. His brothers were just as useless with crying women as he was, so they were no help and Blondie was just trying to get himself together. This was a shit show and a half and it was only just beginning. "Brock and Cerb are upstairs and I think your old man is still on the phone with Mandy."

"Thanks Uncle Sonny," Emma whispered, refusing to turn away from Clay to look at him. If she couldn't see anything that meant no one else could see her, and she very much preferred it that way at this moment in time.

Sonny sat down in 'his' arm chair and looked over at Clay, wishing that he could do something to take away some of the fear that Emma was feeling. No one should be able to fill his vibrant, fun-loving niece with so much fear that she couldn't even look someone in the eye. They would pay for this and Sonny Quinn was not afraid to go to prison if it meant keeping his Sunshine safe, his brothers would be right there with him. Hell, they'd probably find a way to share the cell with him.

The three of them sat in silence and vaguely heard the sounds of Jason yelling on the porch and Eric's calming tones from the kitchen. The clacking of Cerberus's nails on the floor above them and the gentle closing of doors as Brock made his way through the upstairs rooms. Her family was around her and they would make this place secure if it was the last thing that they did. She just wished that she could have them make her entire world secure, it wasn't like she could hide out in her house for a few months with Mikey and Hannah until this blew over or her boys came home.

Hannah.

"Clay!" Emma said sitting upright, breath catching in her throat. "Hannah, did someone go to Hannah's house?"

"Ray went down there as soon as he could, she's fine. Victoria is there with her and they're making sure the alarm system works. Hannah's fine,"

"And the kids?"

"Everyone is fine Emmie K, we're all good, we're safe," Clay soothed, tugging her back into his chest. Emma nodded against his chest and tried to close her eyes, but every sound made her jump. Was that a branch against the window or was it someone trying to break in? Was that Uncle Eric pacing in the kitchen or was someone already in her house? Finally relaxing enough to settle, Emma was almost asleep when the front door banged open and she jumped, whimpering slightly at the noise.

"It's me Em," Jason said wearily, the tension in the room felt more like an OPs briefing that his living room and with the various phone calls that he just made, Jason felt like he had already deployed. "I just talked to Mandy, she's going to reach out to a contact of hers that does PI stuff, Eric's still on the phone with Uncle Charlie. We're gonna get this figured out," he promised. Clay knew that there was more to what Jason was telling her, but he wasn't going to pry in this moment. The priority was getting Emma to rest and developing a plan, they would get him up to speed once Emma was taken care of for the night. "We're gonna get everything figured out outside and then come back in for the night, I'll lock up before I go to bed. Just try and rest for a bit Em, we're not going anywhere."

Emma nodded and tightened her hold on Clay's shirt, her dad and her uncles could go outside and clean up but Clay wasn't moving. She wanted him with her, even if it made her look like a little girl. "I'm staying in Em, let's turn on a movie or something, see if we can nap down here for a bit?"

Clay watched the indecision play out on her face for a moment before she reached out for the remote and he heard his brothers file out the back door. Turning at the last moment, he whistled for Cerberus and had him lie on the couch next to Emma and smiled when she began to comb through her fur. They watched mind numbing television and quickly lost track of time until Emma's breathing evened out and she snored gently against his chest.

This was definitely not the time to be deploying, his girl wasn't safe and they weren't even sure how to begin ensuring her safety. They weren't on an OP, there was no mission objective to complete and he was feeling more than a little lost at the thought of disobeying his command and going AWOL. Clay would take any punishment if it meant that he could keep Emma safe, but she was right. He wouldn't be able to be one hundred percent with her if his brothers were deployed in some hell hole; he would want to be with them.

He was stuck between a rock and a hard place, either he protects his brothers and hopes that he can come home to Emma, safe and sound, or he stays with Emma and hopes that all of his brothers make it back to him for another spin up. Neither option was good, neither option made him happy, and neither option was easy. Listening to the muffled voices of his brothers outside, Clay just hoped that the last few days he could be on American soil would be spent with Emma, regardless of how Jason felt about Emma spending the night at his apartment. He wasn't going to let her out of his sight and Jason was just going to have to deal with it, he needed to keep her safe.

When he was satisfied that Emma was asleep, he shifted her until she was lying down on the couch with Cerberus curled around her feet. Tucking the blankets further around her shoulders, he stalked into the kitchen and sat down across from Jason and Eric at the kitchen table. "How are we working the problem?" he said simply, hoping that there was some sort of plan in place while he was comforting Emma.

Eric sighed in frustration and rubbed his palm through the thinning hair on the top of his head. If he thought the scrapes that his men got into while they were deployed were bad, he wouldn't know what to do with himself when it wasn't a problem that he could fix with a well placed RPG. His family was threatened and he could do nothing to fix it. "Charlie is digging, Mandy's going through favors to get into the traffic cams and security footage. We don't have much to go on aside from the pictures."

"So we can't do anything," Clay growled standing abruptly.

"There's nothing to do. We don't have any information, there's no one to schwack, let Mandy and Charlie work, they'll come up with something," Jason stated, rubbing his tired eyes.

"What do we do in the meantime?" Clay said, holding onto the chair for support.

"You're staying here with Emma, I'm going to base with Eric. Sonny and Davis are with Hannah and Victoria, Ray went back to Naima, and Trent and Brock went to go check on Darcy and Amelia. Keep your phone on, I'll call in if I find anything," Jason stood abruptly and snagged his phone off the table before following Eric out, leaving Clay with a sleeping Emma. Lifting her into his arms, Clay brings her back up to her bedroom and slowly starts to get her into bed for the night. Replacing her pretty blue sundress with one of his t shirts, Clay unhooked the bra from underneath her shirt and pulled the covers up to her chin. Getting into bed next to her, Clay knew that he wasn't going to be able to sleep. His mind was racing and he felt the panic start to well up in his chest. He wasn't going to be able to protect Emma and something was going to happen, he couldn't lose her, they only just started their life together. Forcing himself to calm, Clay tucked his face into Emma's shoulder and breathed in the sweet scent of her shampoo. Everything would be fine as long as she was with him, they would figure out what to do for deployment. It would be fine.