It was 4 days after the activity in Denpasar and Bravo were called in for a briefing on the progress of the search for Al-Tabari and who he was working with. Turns out that they were not going to be alone in this briefing however as Metal and Derek were already in the room with Alpha waiting. Seeing as Jess hadn't turned up yet, Jason decided that it was the perfect time to check with Metal about Luca
"Hey Metal, need some background info from you about a bubble head called Pitt-bull" Jason said sliding into the seat opposite his Alpha counterpart
"Particularly in regards to his personal preference between blonde, brunette and redhead" Sonny added as he took his seat
"That's not important at the moment Sonny" Jason said abruptly
"Maybe not to you, but finding the right stripper for a bucks is key to it's success" Sonny said in response to Jason's comment
"Sonny's throwing Pitt-bull a bucks, and Jason's wanting the dirt on this guy, about bloody time he finally puts the ring on Jess's finger" Metal said with a laugh
"And we've got nothing to worry about" Jason asked concerned
"Trust me Jase, if there was something to worry about then that bloke would never have been allowed to be around her in the first place, and if he had been involved in the other stuff then he wouldn't still be alive, Jay knows plenty of ways to dispose of a body and it would never be found. Pitt-bull is on the level and I would trust him with my life, and as far as his preference of strippers, I have no idea so it might pay to have one of each" Metal said pointing his pen at Sonny
"Got it" Sonny said with a boyish grin on his face
"Hey Jess, Jason just told me the good news, how's the sprat taking it" Metal asked as soon as he noticed Jess had entered the room
"Zalie's excited about it of course, but nervous about moving to another country" Jess said
"Who's Zalie" Ray asked looking at her
"Luca's cousins kid, he adopted her at birth to stop her from going into the welfare system" Jess said responding to Ray's question, not realising that she was being stared at by every other person in the briefing room
"But I'm guessing that she refers to you as her mum" Jason asked
"Yeah she does" Jess said sitting her folder down on the table and sliding her backpack in underneath it before grabbing her bottle of water
"Okay I think we need to give you a polygraph test, find out what other secrets you're hiding from us" Brock said, he thought they all knew everything about Jess but apparently they didn't
"Let me think, Pitt-bull, the Sprat, her parents having squillions, which she's set to inherit the entire emount of, her middle eastern heritage, criminal mastermind in a military uniform, travelling on commercial flights it's first class all the way" Metal said reeling of the bits he already knew about Jess, he had known her since before she had even joined up through working with her dad in the field, so he was already way ahead of the rest of them
"Not my fault I get a better sleep that way" Jess said as the rest of the team looked at her when Metal mentioned the part about her first class
"Used to do some modelling and dancing when she was younger, also sings and plays the guitar, despite receiving straight A's she was usually in the principals office once a week for her behaviour and attitude" Metal said reeling of a few more
"Again not my fault, I was either bored or someone peeved me of" Jess said again after Metal made the comment about her being a regular in the principals office
"Her brain is a cross between a calculator and a computer, strongly suspected photographic memory, or at least whatever that other one is and an insanely high IQ, I don't think I've missed anything have I Jess" Metal asked looking at the EOD to gage her reaction
"Nope, pretty much covered it all" Jess said not reacting to the looks she was being given
"Oh and if she ever disappears herself and there is no indication of foul play she can be found at her grandparents villa in Como Italy, 18th century waterfront isn't it Jess" Metal said
"17th actually, you finished telling everyone my secrets yet" Jess said now getting slightly annoyed about what Metal had just said, the other stuff she had been okay about, but Como was her own little private sanctuary away from everything military, she had spent most of her school holidays there after her dad had married Alie, she would hide in the boat shed and read a book while it was raining, the lake run under the house, she would swim everyday, help Nonna pick the fruit to make her gelato, help Nonno while he would look after his cars, Nonno had helped her restore a 1957 chevvy that she drives when she visits, and she knew her baby would make some of her brother drool so she never mentioned any of that stuff about her life
"Depends on whether I remember Jay telling me anything else, you know he's a proud papa of his baby girl. When we were deployed, if we weren't talking about the job he was talking about how proud he is of her, always carried this one particular picture of her" Metal started to say before Jess cut him off
"Yeah you can end that bit right there Metal" Jess said glaring at him, Jess knew exactly what picture he was talking about as she had an exact copy she carried with her
"Oh not when we're finally getting the good stuff, scale of 1 - 10 how embarrassing are we talking about" Trent said failing to notice that Jess was now clearly annoyed
"That picture is extremely personal, not embarrassing" Jess said defensively
"If it's not embarrassing then why are you so defensive about us knowing what it is" Brock asked, Jess didn't say anything as she got straight up and walked out of the briefing room, returning a few minutes later with the photograph in hand she threw it down on the table for everyone to see before making her way back to her seat
"Mum didn't realise she was pregnant with me until she was in her second trimester, somehow I had managed to survive her undergoing a full course of chemo and radiation therapy, I was born early and the doctors didn't think I would survive. Dad sat there for 5 days holding me on his chest while the doctors were waiting for me to pass, it ended up being what saved my life. That picture is of dad nursing me during that time" Jess said after she sat down not even looking at anyone else as the others passed the photo around of her and her dad, she was so tiny, so weak and vulnerable yet it was her dads strength, determination and devotion that had pulled her through, she wouldn't have been sitting there today if it hadn't been for him, her mum may have been the one who gave birth to her but he had been the one who kept her alive, kept her safe, taught her how to survive against all odds
"That's why you're so close" Eric said looking at Jess, the relationship between her and Jay was what most would call abnormal at Jess's age, she was a full grown adult who could handle herself in any situation, but on the other hand she was still that little girl who needed her dad to feel truly safe when everything goes wrong and no one else could fill that role like Jay could
"Yes sir, that's why we're so close" Jess said softly, the relationship between her and her dad was the one big weakness in her life, it could mess her up way more than anything she had been through with the Australians, she'd tried to commit suicide twice in that time, both times Jay had been the one who found her, even physically restrained her to stop her jumping of a bridge, when she stopped eating because of the depression Jay would spend his time enticing her to try and eat her favourite foods, didn't matter to him what it was or where he had to get it from he would get it if it meant that there was a small chance she would eat it. When it came to Jess there was nothing he wouldn't do for her, and why anything she needed he would provide her without hesitation when it came to personal kit and if it didn't work he would try something different until he found one that would