Chapter Thirty-Five
As Jason pulled up to his place he smiled at the number of vehicles that lined the road. He thankfully knew that his neighbours understood as many of them were themselves in the armed forces and knew how close-knit the teams were. And seeing all the vehicles made him proud of his team, his brothers. They had come together as a force to be reached with when it came down to protecting one of their own. They were family, and right now his brothers had come together to support the one brother that needed them the most.
He quickly noticed that in front of Ray's car was Sonny's motorbike. Sonny must have been sobered enough to drive to his place on it as his brother would never do anything to risk hurting his 'baby' by driving drunk or with a hangover. Sonny prided himself on making sure that his motorbike was well looked after, even when he was deployed. When they were deployed he had asked the MPs at the gate to look after it, even making sure they kept it out of the rain for him so something would rust.
Jason found himself smiling at the thought that his place was full of the people that were his family. He would do anything to protect them, even if it was from themselves. He had protected Sonny from himself a few times, normally after a bad mission or a bad night drinking. But it didn't matter what his brothers did or said, he loved them. Which was what was killing him right now. This whole situation was killing him because he knew that as soon as he walked through his door he was going to hurt them. He hated doing this but they needed to know what was going on. By keeping this secret from them at first was their way of delaying the painful conversation they were going to have to have with the rest of the team.
Lying to his brothers made him hate himself more but he hated hurting them which was why today was d-day. He had to tell them today. His brothers needed to know what was going on. Sooner or later they were going to find out, maybe it would be less painful for them to hear it from him and not someone else on base. But that didn't make it any easier. They needed to know what problems they were facing before he sat down and explained everything to Clay. The kid was going to need their support with this. He knew that this was going to shatter Clay when he learned the truth. But at the same time, he couldn't keep Clay in the dark.
The kid had shown his worth and he was not about to let the kid think that it had all been for nothing. They weren't losing him to a medical discharge, the doctor had said that Clay could... could return as long as he healed and was able to pass all the tests 100%. If Clay could survive getting blown up and nearly losing both legs then hell the kid could survive this. And that was their safety line at the moment. One that he was going to have to use to the bitter end. Clay was young and strong, he was going to get back to normal in no time with their help.
They all suffered brains, god he had suffered them enough himself. The one that had affected him the most was his injury from the helo crash. That one had really messed him up. After they had gotten home and the incident in the restaurant, to which the brass had heard about, he had gotten help from the doctors. That in itself had been one of the reasons why Bravo had been grounded for so long. In his defence, he had thought he was fine. Well, not really but he wasn't about to let Steve and the rest of Echo down. They had to finish what they had started in order to get some justice for their fallen brothers. Steve was his brother, someone he had come up with which made him family. He had to make those responsible pay for what had happened. Cutter needed to pay for what he had done. He had planned their brothers' deaths, he had sent six men to their deaths, good men. And they had made sure that he paid for it. He had gotten justice for their fallen brothers.
A head injury was nothing. He could live with a head injury, he couldn't have lived with himself if he let the bastard get away with what he had done. Well that was what he thought, Alana, Ray, Blackburn and all of his doctors said otherwise. The doctors most of all. Blackburn and Ray understood why he had done what he had done and so did Alana to a point but she hadn't seen the video. The video of Echo's deaths. But he knew she meant well. She had been his best friend and god did he miss her. Miss their talks and miss their arguments which was a little strange but true. She was his better half and he missed having her by his side. But she had also made him stronger and helped him when he needed her the most. She had kept him grounded when he had suffered the head injury and just like him, he knew Clay would define all the odds and came back stronger. They were going to make sure of it.
As he waited in his truck, he kicked himself for not wasting more time before pulling up at his place. After dropping Clay off at the gun range he had popped in to see Blackburn to give him the heads up of where Clay was, which had gone down better than he had first thought. Blackburn had understood why he had done what he had done and had even promised to make sure Clay got back to his house in one piece. Saying that if needed, he would personally drop Clay off. Blackburn was one of the best commanders he had ever had, the man cared about his men.
After leaving Blackburn he had then headed to the shops to pick up some lunch. Thankfully with Naima's and Amber's help, they had a full fridge still but it wouldn't last for long as the boys were physically eating him out of house and home. But as he walked around the aisle he didn't really pay much attention to what he picked up, he didn't really care. He had gone down the vegetable aisle at least four times looking at the same thing. He had picked up a few things that he knew he needed like milk and coffee but also he made sure that he picked up pizza for tonight. They needed some comfort food after everything was out in the open. But he needed to make sure that he picked up the right ones as well. If he got their orders wrong then all bets were off.
But at least one of of his brothers would care and that was Cerberus. Their four-legged brother wouldn't really care what they got coz they always ended up slipping him a crust or two when Brock wasn't looking. And for a really really special treat, they on occasion slipped him a piece of meat or cheese when Brock had left the room or wasn't watching. Tonight, Jason knew that Cerb was going to be treated very well tonight and their pup deserved it. Cerb had been the one that had lead them to Clay, he alone had worked out where Clay had been hidden. And in the end, had saved his life. But also had saved them from having to bury another brother. Something that would have destroyed them all.
As he sat inside his truck he looked behind him at the two bags that sat on his back seat. He clocked the five pizza boxes. Barbecue sauce and chicken for Sonny which was an odd combination but it kept Sonny quiet, well until he was finished it and started complaining again. Anything to keep him from having to listen to his brother moan about really anything. He also had picked up two pepperoni pizzas for Trent and Ray, either of them were too fussy about their toppings but pepperoni was their favourite. He also remembered to pick up two of them instead of one large one, mainly because sharing pizzas always ended up in a fight if they were hungry or stressed. Even a large one.
He had picked up a normal size ham and mushroom for both himself and Clay. The kid didn't have much of an appetite lately which had been a little concerning coz the kid would normally eat much about anything you put in front of him. Sometimes they had joked about the kid been a bottomless pit as before all of this they had seen Clay once polish off three medium pizzas in one night. However, Trent had been the one to remind them that the kid was still on some pretty strong painkillers and had gone through some pretty serious surgery and that included some pretty horrible abdominal surgery to stop the bleeding. Which sometimes cause problems eating a large meal. The kid was happy with small amounts of food but often would leave at least half of every sitting but at least was eating. And for Brock, he had picked up a ham and pineapple one, his favourite. Sonny was going to hit the roof with it being in the room with what he called an abomination and crime against food but that was what Brock liked and so he was going to have to get over himself.
Sadly that wasn't going to be the only fight that was going to happen between them but he wished it was. By telling his brothers it meant that Clay had more support, more people there to help him get back to full fitness without risking his health. He knew that he was risking Clay's health himself by leaving him at the range but he also trusted Clay not to push himself too much that could result in him injuring his shoulder again. But at the same time, the only other place that he found Clay truly relax was with his rifle in his hands. If shooting his rifle helped him relax and believe that he was still useful to them then what hurt could it do. He knew that Trent wouldn't see it like that but it was something that he needed to do.
But thinking about how close his brothers, made him remember that they would never abandon Clay, they would never abandon one of their own. That was something that was engraved in their DNA. For Clay, they didn't abandon him when he had fallen through that hole into the cellar with fighters right above him even though they had been ordered too. That had really made their blood boil when they had heard that though the radio. He was never going to leave one of his men no matter who ordered him too. It could have been his old team leader and he still would have ignored it. Also thankfully, the General had backed down after they had returned as they had still completed this mission. They had gotten their previous drone and got out with their straps alive. So he couldn't say a thing.
Also, they hadn't abandoned him when he got shot in the chest in Mumbai. Trent had saved his life that day. The shot of adrenaline had brought Clay back to them, and when Jason had clocked the bruise on the kid's chest he knew straight away that without Clay's body armour they would be burying two brothers instead of one. Clay even though injured had even come back stronger and had made sure that they didn't leave Adam there. They had brought him home. Something that he was forever regretful for.
And then there was the bombing in Manila. The event that had nearly cost them their youngest. The worst thing was that after he had heard the second blast he had no idea that one of his own was in danger. He was so focused on helping Trent save a man's life that he had not seen Clay go out onto the street. It was only Sonny's shout that he relieved that Clay could have been in danger. Before he could say anything, Sonny had run out into the street before they could get to their feet but followed him. Finding Clay lying there in the street bloody and broken was his worst nightmares. The kid wasn't really with it when they had gotten to him but maybe that was for the best. His legs had been a real mess. On the ride to the hospital, after he had called Blackburn to tell him that Clay had been hurt, all he could do was hold Clay's hand. He knew that it must look odd to the paramedic who was sat at Clay's head but he didn't care. The kid needed to know that he was still there, but what was worse was that Clay didn't look like he was in pain. The kid's face was straight, he knew that it was more likely that Clay was in shock but it still scared him. All types of questions flicked through his mind as they moved towards the hospital. Would Clay lose his legs? Were his nerves shot? Would he be able to return to Bravo?
But Clay had been able to work his way back to them, he had worked so hard but now he had to do it all again. However this time, they were going to be there for him every step of the way. Last time they had still been deployed and Clay's care was left up to Swanny and himself. After Clay lost Swanny, he was alone. He never wanted Clay to feel like that again. Not as long as he was still alive.
Breaking out of his own head, Jason looked down at the clock in his truck noticing that he had wasted another ten minutes just sitting there outside his place. He knew that from the moment he had pulled up we was been watched, more likely by Ray who was sat in a room full of his brothers who had no idea what was happening. Clay needed time with his old teammate, not just to address the past but also find someone to talk to that knew him better. The longer he could stall the guys the better. As it would give Clay more time to open up to Foggins. All Clay needed was time and a safe place to talk. But he knew that he couldn't sit there any longer because if he did then one or more of his brothers would come out trying to find out why he was sitting there and in turn see that Clay wasn't with him.
With a sigh and when he built up the courage to even move, he had finally been able to pull himself from his seat. Why did this have to keep happening to his family? Was the one question that kept replaying in his head again and again. It was like the whole world was against him and it had felt like that for the past two years. He was losing everyone he cared about or come close too. He had lost Nate, Steve and rest of Echo Team, Alana, Adam and then Swanny. He didn't know if he could survive losing anyone else but he nearly had. He nearly lost Ray, Sonny, Trent and now Clay again. He couldn't lose any more family. He would rather die before he allowed that to happen.
Collecting the shopping bags and the little present for the guys which was the case of beer he slowly headed towards his place, locking his truck as went. He knew that Clay wasn't allowed to drink but the boys could and they were going to need it after he told them what had been happening behind their backs. He knew that he was dragging his feet as he made his way to his front door. He so didn't want to do this.
With a deep breath, he quickly slipped inside and closed the door quietly before scanning the room in front of him to find each one of his brothers. He smiled and shook his head as none of his brothers bothered to look up or get up and help him with the bags. Nothing. Brock, Sonny and Cerberus were in his living room. Sonny was laid flat on one of the chairs with his feet set on his coffee table. Cerberus and Brock were sat on the couch facing the TV. They were watching what looked like an episode of the A-Team. He spotted Ray sat at his dining room table with a cup of coffee next to him reading a book. But Jason knew that as the coffee cup was still streaming hot then it was fresh. He had been right. Ray had been the one that he had felt watching him when he pulled up. He also spotted Ray's phone on the table next to him. He had a feeling that Ray had likely checked his phone every ten minutes since they left, just in case he was needed. But what worried him the most was that Trent was nowhere in sight, he knew that he was still there as his car was outside but it worried him that he couldn't see him.
"Got pizza and beer." He said out loud since none of them turned to look at him. Well, that wasn't true. Cerberus had raised his head from the couch and his tail had started to go like crazy. At least one of his brothers missed him and was glad to see him.
But then again, when they weren't working and/or if someone he knew offered him food then the pup was their best friend. Sonny had once claimed that he was Cerberus best friend and that he could prove it as he called Cerb over to him one night when Brock had ordered him to stay. However, he only had achieved it because he had a piece of his chicken taco hidden behind his back. Brock had taken two hours and a little help from Davis to find out how he did it. And he wasn't happy about it.
"Beer?" Sonny asked turning in his seat to look at Jason more clearly, he was a little confused. Jason and Ray had both laid down the law about no alcohol in Jason's apartment which if they broke would mean they were running laps of the base for the seeable future. And here now, Jason was breaking his own rule? That didn't make sense. "Thought we were on cold turkey along with peter pan?" He asked crossing his arms. The only reason he had agreed to leave with Lisa was to drink. However, he hadn't been enjoying it like he normally did. He always liked drinking with Lisa and it reminded him that she was the one person that knew the real him but he missed Clay.
Clay had been like a little brother to him ever since their first deployment. At first, he was a little pain but as time went on he found himself caring for the kid a lot more than anyone else. He hated having to leave Clay at all. It didn't matter that Jason was going to be with him, he didn't want the kid out of his sight. He was scared that if he did then they could lose him again. The only reason why he had left him was because of Lisa. She had pointed out a really good reason and that was that Clay would be the first one to have a go at him for sitting around him doing nothing when he could be out enjoying himself.
"You refusing free beer Sonny?" Jason asked with a smile and a little chuckle as he shook his head. He knew Sonny would never turn down a free beer and more so when he had been deprived of it for so long, but also knew that he wasn't stupid. None of them were. He knew right away that Sonny had worked out something was up with him.
"Didn't say that now did I?" Sonny said with a grunt, he would never turn away a free beer but something wasn't right. He turned a little more to watch Jason a little more carefully. There was no way Jason would have left the kid in the truck even if he was asleep, none of them were letting the kid out of their sight for longer than a few minutes at a time so there was no way he would leave him unsupervised in the truck. Jason would more likely wake Clay up enough so the kid could walk himself into the house before sending him straight to bed. Something was wrong as Jason didn't even look bothered that Clay wasn't with him. And since Jason didn't look like he was going to explain their missing kid he asked. "Think you lost something." He said picking up his bottle of water from beside his chair.
"Only thing I lost today Sonny is fifty bucks for how much food I have to buy," Jason said moving towards Ray and meeting his eye as he placed the food and beer down on the dining room table, not wanting to leave the room just in case he ran right into Trent. Ray nodded at Jason's look and knew that Clay was ok when he dropped him off and that he had no problems getting Clay onto base.
"Haha. Funny." Sonny said shaking his head at Jason's attempt of distraction. "No, more like lost something important," Sonny said dropping his feet onto the floor which allowed him to turn his entire body to watch Jason and Ray more carefully. He knew something was going on between their 1IC and 2IC, something that he knew he wasn't going to like.
"Think you have had too much coffee, Sonny," Ray said with a smile and getting a small laugh of out Brock who was sat watching the conversation as if it was entertainment. Ray had put his book down the moment Jason had entered the room, he had tried to keep himself busy from the moment Jason and Clay had left so he didn't have to answer a hundred questions. He didn't want to outright ask Jason if everything went ok but he wanted to, he needed to know if their plan was working. Or had they made everything worse.
"Or not enough?" Brock muttered with a grin as he ran his fingers through Cerb's fur looking. Since Clay wasn't there to do it, he had taken on the job. He loved annoying Sonny because he knew that their brother was hiding his pain and at the same time missed the brotherly banter he had with Clay. Brock himself missed having Clay to back him up when they were annoying Sonny and Trent. He missed being able to sit with his brother just reading peacefully without anyone annoying them. Clay hadn't really been up to just sitting as he couldn't sit in one position for very long as his body wouldn't allow it.
"Shut up Brock," Sonny snapped glaring at him, they both knew something was going on between the two other men and knew that sooner or later they were going to get it out of them.
Jason broke off eye contact with Sonny and Brock and quickly scanned the room before asking "Where's Trent?" Trent was still nowhere in sight and that scared him, did Trent know something was happening.
"On the phone in the kitchen," Ray said quietly, at the same time he gave Jason a worrying look. They knew something was up. The last time Ray had that worried look was when they had been outgunned and surrounded, thankfully they had made it out alive but at the same time, it was what had happened. Ray and Jason were outnumbered by two. And Cerberus packed one hell of a bite. They were screwed if Cerb got involved. But the fact that Trent was on the phone away from the others meant only two things. One that they had been made and they knew something was wrong with Clay. Or two, Trent knew where Clay was. Ray didn't know which one was worse.
"Ok..." He started with as he knew that he needed to get the attention off himself and onto something else. And thankfully he had found one. "...now can you get Cerb off the couch; he leaving dog hair everywhere," Jason asked shaking his head as he clocked another hairball in the corner of the room that was still just rolling around the room. Cerb was malting and it was driving him nuts. His place was a little bare still but he liked it clean, and their hairy brother was not helping him and he wasn't talking about Sonny.
"You don't mind him on there when he's with Clay," Brock stated as he ran his fingers through Cerberus' coat. It was true that his pup was shedding a lot lately and maybe a little more so than normal. But he wasn't concerned as he knew why and from talking to the base vet he knew that stress could be a factor in Cerb losing his coat. Dogs were very good at picking up on people's emotion and Cerb was no different. He knew something was wrong with his human brothers and was one of the reason's why he hadn't left Clay's side.
"Well, Clay isn't here so off," Jason said, shaking his head, motioning his hand to tell Brock to get him off the couch. But then stopped, he knew the had shot himself in the foot with that one but he did want the dog off his couch.
"So where is he then? Did you leave him in the store playing that damn shooting game coz you know that the kid can spend like all day playing that if you let him?" Sonny said pointing out the obvious, the kid could play that game for hours if they let him and had done at Mikey's birthday party when their kid crushed all of the games high scores. But that day was a good memory for Jason as he remembered how Mikey had loved showing Clay off to his friends. Clay was very much like a big brother to his kids and that day he was just another one of the kids.
"Nothing gets by you Sonny does it," Ray said with a laugh at the memory. He had basically had to drag Clay off that game when food had arrived and remind him that he was an adult. However, Naima had told him to leave him be as Clay was doing something that very much pleased them as he was keeping the kids busy so none of them were annoying them or fighting each other. But at the same time, Ray and Jason both knew what was coming or at least what question was coming.
"Shut up and answer the damn question?" Sonny snapped, he knew that Jason was babying them about something and he wanted to know why. Whatever was going on had something to do with Clay and why he wasn't there with them.
Ray and Jason both looked at each other trying to work out how to tell their brothers the truth. But before they could say anything a bang came from the kitchen and a quiet muffled curse. It sounded like someone had slammed down something hard onto the kitchen worktop. A worried look now became one of panic. Whoever had been on the phone had really pissed Trent off.
"What the hell boss!" Trent's voice exploded from the kitchen and then all Ray and Jason wanted to do was run. Their eyes both darted towards each other and knew that whatever had happened was because of them. Hell was going to explode right in front of them in the next few minutes and escape was not possible. All they could do was to hold together until they calmed down. If they forgave them that was. Even Cerberus jumped to his feet and jumped off the couch with his hackles up at the sound of Trent shout. To be truthful they all jumped. Brock's eyes darted between Sonny, Jason and Ray to where Trent's voice came from and then quickly gripped hold of Cerberus' collar just in case. He knew that Cerberus wouldn't do anything to hurt one of his brothers but if he was scared or shocked then all bets were off. He was after all still a dog.
A second later a very pissed off and red-faced Trent came storming into the room. In his own opinion, Ray had never seen Trent this pissed off for a really long time. Whoever he had been on the phone with had not told him what he had wanted to hear. In that moment, Ray only could guessed that maybe their little plan had been found out. That, someone, had told him what was going on. Ray knew that if Trent had found what was happening by someone else then the trust that they had built within the team was on the line. They had to trust each other in order to do what they did every day. And Jason and him had broke that trust.
"Hi to you too Trent," Jason called and turned to face his now pissed off medic with a sigh. He knew that he had to face the very pissed off medic now or his anger would only get worse.
"Seriously? After everything, we went through with his doctors and Lucas. The gun range?" Trent said at an almost shout. He was beyond pissed now. He had planned Clay's recovery as best he could with the information he had been given by Clay's doctors. Which included what he could and couldn't do yet without being signed off by a doctor. And for his boss to take him to the gun range confused the hell out of him. Why was Jason risking Clay's health when he knew he wasn't ready? He wouldn't do that, would he? But then again something must have happened to cause this, he thought. Trent knew that Jason wouldn't have risked Clay's health for no reason, but why hadn't he informed him of it? Whatever was going on Ray and Jason both knew about it.
"What about the gun range?" Sonny asked looking between Trent and Jason now really confused about what was going on. Whatever had happened had something to do with the gun range but had no idea what. The last time he had heard of the gun range mentioned since they had gotten back was when Ray had asked Blackburn how far along Green Team were.
"He left Clay there," Trent said throwing his arms in the air and started to pace the floor. His anger was getting the better of him, normally he had good control over his emotions but right now he couldn't stop the emotion from grabbing hold of him. He was so confused right now.
"What?" Brock asked letting go of Cerberus' collar since he had felt his pup relax enough to know that he wasn't a threat. But now he was even more confused about what the hell was going on. "I thought he wasn't..." He started to say trying to understand what was happening as he thought Clay had been banned from doing anything too physically until he had been cleared by the doctors but couldn't even finish the sentence before Trent jumped in.
"He isn't," Trent pacing now around in circles trying to work out what could have caused Jason to agree to this. It didn't make any sense.
"How the hell did you find out?" Jason asked, wanting to know how Trent had found out where Clay was but more importantly did he knew why? Did Trent know what the brass wanted to do? If he didn't then he had to tell them, he had to be the one to break the bad news to his brothers. No one else. It was all on him. Before anyone else did.
Trent stopped and turned angrily to Jason with a little snarl like he couldn't believe that was what Jason was going with. How he found out? No Jason should have told him about his stupid plan before now. "Coz Big Chief just called me..." Trent snapped and then continued. "...He saw Clay at the range when he went up there to get something, he knew very well that he wasn't meant to be there yet. Did you really think I wouldn't find out?" Trent shouted. The only thing he had left out wad the fact that Big Chief had been told by Blackburn that Clay was allowed to be there without been given a good enough reason.
When he had gotten the call from Big Chief he had thought it was to do with the training he had agreed to help out with with the new Green Team members, medical training was one of the steps that they had to complete. What he had not expected to hear was the fact that Clay, an injured Seal who was confirmed to the house was currently firing his rifle at targets like they were going out of fashion. Not to mention that Big Chief had said that the kid was smashing every record ever set on the range. But more so that some guy was with him that from what little description Big Chief gave he had no idea who they were. He was now so pissed off at his team leader that it was on a new scale that he didn't even know he had.
"Was hoping..." Jason muttered, rubbing his hand over his face. He had never thought about how this was all going to turn out, how they would react but he had hoped that he would get the worst news out of the way before telling them why they had set in motion the plan they were currently in.
"We got to tell them, Jay," Ray muttered looking directly at Jason, this had gone on long enough. They needed to know.
"Tell us what?" Brock asked, now annoyed as well. Cerberus had sat back down and watched his brothers, he had no idea what was going on but it involved his favourite brother who was missing.
"You all might want to sit down for this," Jason said, nodding towards the seat before sitting himself down not really making any eye contact with any of them because he couldn't. As he sat he automatically started to run his fingers through Cerberus fur who had moved to sit next to him. He was thankful for the movement as it gave him something else to focus on.
"Now you are scaring us..." Brock muttered as he made eye contact with the others. They were all feeling the same. Whenever Jason had bad news he would often do his best to find something to distract himself. Trent pulled one of the dining room chairs closer to the others and Ray moved his chair so he was closer to them. They needed to come together on this. Or they were going to lose Clay.
"Look a few days ago..." Jason started with a sigh before restarting but this time he looked up at his brothers as he spoke, "Blackburn came to give us an update on what the brass had to say on the op and its outcome." He knew that he had to explain the whole situation to get his brothers to understand what was happening but before he could continue Sonny exploded.
"Whisky Tango Foxtrot. The kid did nothing wrong and all we did was clean up the mess that they created..." He snapped ripping his hat off his head. He was so sick of the brass thinking they knew better. He could feel his anger start to rise inside him and knew that sooner or later his anger would break its bank and cause him to truly explode.
"We know Sonny," Ray said trying to keep himself calm as well as Sonny but at the same time knew where the anger was coming from. They all had it. The whole situation stunk and from the moment they had been made aware of it had really been eating at him, Clay was their brother and it felt like they were letting him down all over again.
"Well, maybe we have to remind the cake eaters that we are the ones that had to clean up the mess that they had created..." Sonny said as he cracked his knuckles. He would love to tell those cake eaters what he really thought about them and by his methods not theirs. Blaming Clay for their own mess was completely out of order, the kid had nearly given his life protecting his country and if they thought they could just blame the kid for their failures then they were wrong. He was going to show then how out of line they were with his fists.
"We are not doing that Sonny," Ray said shaking his head. He was not about to let Sonny throw his career away for punching an officer or two and he knew Clay wouldn't either. Clay would never ask one of his brothers to put their careers on the line for him. That was just who the kid was, always worrying about everyone else.
"Why not? He's right," Brock said, a little confused about what was really doing on but he did agree with Sonny on the fact that the brass couldn't pin the blame on Clay when he was one of the victims. He was kidnapped, tortured and then drowned. The kid had survived hell. He deserved respect.
"Look, they cleared him and us of everything. We are in the clear." Jason said looking around at them all and made sure they listened to him. At least they didn't have to worry about the brass saying they had crossed a line or question their AARs again. He knew that they wouldn't be able to handle the brass questioning their decisions about how to save their brother's life and get him home in one piece. That would have ended in some of them been court marshalled. And for Sonny spending some time in the brig.
"So what's going on?" Trent asked he knew that Jason was hiding something and it must be big enough to cause this much worry.
Jason sighed and closed his eyes before starting to speak, "The Brass are wanting us to take on a new draft." The silence that followed scared him. He opened his eyes to see the confused look on all of his brothers except Ray.
"Ok...but only until Clay gets back right?" Brock asked a little confused about what Jason was getting at. They had taken on straps all the time, for god's sake, Clay had been their strap before he had joined them. So why was Jason so stressed about this? It didn't make sense.
"No...Maybe..." Jason said looking down at his hands. He hated saying it out loud as it made it all true.
"What? They want us to replace Clay?" Sonny exploded, he jumped to his feet before throwing his hat on the coffee table and started to pace in front of the TV. Now he was pissed. He couldn't control it anymore and Jason was pretty lucky that he didn't punch his living room wall. They were not taking Clay from them. Nope. That was not happening.
"They don't think he is going to be cleared to return to active duty. Not with the type of head injury he has." Jason said now finding it impossible to keep the emotion out of his voice. The brass was trying to break up his family. And he knew that his brothers could hear the stress in his voice. Normally he was the one that fixed things for his team but this. He had no idea how to fix this.
"But the doctors said..." Trent said shaking his head with real confusion. He had been at every single one of Clay's doctors' visits and had seen all of their notes including all of his scans. So far, Clay was showing great promise about returning to active service. Even with the head injury. Clay was healing. So why were the brass jumping to make the decisions of benching Clay without consulting his doctors? And why would they think they would be ok with this? Clay was their brother. They weren't about to leave him hanging when he needed them the most.
"We know," Ray said with a sigh before looking at the rest of his brothers. "Look when Clay gets back to full fitness his spot on Bravo is safe, we have made that very clear to the brass and Blackburn is backing us on that but the brass are concerned that he will never fully recover from these injuries," Ray said trying to calm the now the room down but knew that it wasn't going to work. They were all too pissed now, even Cerberus was growling.
"That's bull. Clay is healing, the doctors said it. We were all there. And yes it might take months but his legs took nearly eight months. He is healing faster than anyone we know." Brock snapped but looked at Trent for confirmation that he had gotten the information correct. Trent nodding with his statement. The brass was wrong. Clay was healing and was coming back to them, it might take time but he was. They had no doubt in that.
"I know. Look Blackburn tried his best to try to get them to change their mind but they overruled him. Clay's spot on Bravo is safe but they want us back to full strength in case we need to deploy. But we need to remind Clay that we aren't replacing him, we are just getting someone to keep his seat warm." Jason said looking around the room now meeting each one of his brother's eyes. This was going to be hard but they needed to do it together
"Wait a sec..." Trent said looking shocked at Jason, "...he doesn't know?" The fact that Jason hadn't told Clay straight away about what was happening shocked him more than finding out the brasses were trying to stick their noses into the team's dynamic. But also a little pissed that he had waited this long to tell them and Clay. The poor kid needed to know that they were always going to be honest with him and Jason had betrayed that trust.
"No," Jason said, now sounding a little depressed. "I don't want to put more pressure on him then what he is still dealing now. It's not fair, I know..." Jason added looking directly at Trent as he had been the one to ask the question. He didn't know if he could look at Brock or Sonny just yet. "But the kid needs to deal with the problems he has now before we add to them..." Jason explained, hoping that his brothers would understand. Clay was already dealing with a lot and any more... He was worried that if he pushed Clay too far then he would go over the edge. Lose hope. "Right now, I have him dealing with one of those problems." He added pointing to the floor. With one problem hopefully solved then maybe he could handle this news.
"And that would be?" Sonny snapped because he was stilled pissed at what had happened to ask nicely. He had stopped his angry pacing when Jason had started to explain more but he was still too pissed to sit back down.
"Clay thinks he isn't up to be on Bravo anymore," Ray said quietly but clearly. "He told me before all this mess that his aim was off. Like really off and he was so scared that it meant that he wasn't up to being in DEVGRU anymore."
Ray's comment floored them all except Jason. They had no idea that the kid had felt like that. They had failed him. More so than they first thought.
"So what are we going to do?" Trent asked quietly, they couldn't fight the brass, even if they wanted too. Not without losing their careers. But doing nothing as had too meant betraying Clay. And that felt so wrong. Clay was their brother, their kid brother who they needed to protect and at the same time had to replace him. Not fully but to Clay, it would look like it.
"I don't know Trent. I don't know" Jason finally admitted and looked hopefully at his brothers for the answer. They all knew what they were going to have to do, tell Clay that they had to bring in someone to take his place on Bravo. But at the same time, get Clay back to full fitness so he could come home and take his rightful place in Bravo.
They just had no idea how they were going to do it without breaking the kid's trust. Clay trusted very few and more so as time went on, would he see them as betraying him? Would he understand? Or would he turn and run from them? Whatever was going to happen they had to work out how they were going to fix it, just in case. Because overall, they weren't about to lose Clay like they lost their other brothers. Like they lost Swanny. No, they weren't going to let Clay feel that alone that he would do something like that. Nope. Not happening.
They had lost enough brothers due to suicide and in the line of duty. They were family after all and that meant they stuck together, to the very end.
