"You rang sir" Ray said as the team walked through the DEVGRU main building towards their team room
"Sure did, Bravo is confined to base till further notice" Eric said informing them of the situation
"What did we do to deserve that" Sonny pouting in protest
"Nothing wrong, there's a potential hostage situation developing in Libya, Bravo is on standby to ship out as soon as the details are confirmed, Jess still with Zalie at the infirmary" Eric said assuring then that this was not a punishment
"Yes sir, she's a cute kid" Jason said
"Despite her calling Jason old" Clay said laughing
"As you said, can't argue with the kids logic" Jason said with a smile
"Not getting clucky for grand kids already are we" Trent said ribbing the team leader
"No way" Jason immediately replied, he couldn't even begin to picture Emma pregnant
"Sure you are, that kids already got you wrapped around her finger" Brock said
"No she doesn't" Jason protested
"Never offered to take Jameelah to a game brother" Ray said to his best friend
"Jameelah doesn't like hockey, the kid has never seen a live game" Jason responded to him
"And" Clay said
"And what" Jason asked
"Nothing else" Clay hinted
"I sort of miss getting to take Mikey to the games with me, be nice to introduce another kid to the game" Jason said finally admitting his reasons, he saw Zalie as a chance to do some of the things he missed now his kids were older and out of home
"There it is, he's clucky" Ray said
"I am not clucky, next one who says that is running doubles till they drop" Jason said shutting the conversation down
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"Well there we go, all done" Doctor Shah said letting Jess and Zalie know she'd finished her assessment
"So when will we get the results" Jess asked curiously
"I've sent them of to Bethesda and Doctor Sambridge will need to review them, she should have them in 48 hours and will call with an appointment to discuss them" Doctor Shah said
"You could be sent out again before I have my appointment with Doctor Sambridge" Zalie asked her mother
"Its a possibility, but daddy is going to be here soon, and you have your Nonna and Boompa here as well in case that happens" Jess said reassuring her it would be okay
"True and I have Cerbs" Zalie said with a smile, not forgetting her 4 legged best friend who had slept with her every night since she arrived, he'd become her shadow and she already had a collection of pictures of the pair of them together in different positions
"Yes and you have Cerbs, right why don't we stop at the commissary to grab a treat before Nonna and Boompa come and pick you up" Jess said lifting Zalie of the examination bed
"What's the commissary" Zalie asked curiously
"Its a little shop on the base we can buy things from" Jess said, the bases back in Australia weren't as well set up with facilities like the US ones, Zalie had never heard of a commissary or knew what the Navy exchange was, and she'd never seen a base that had its own bowling alley, medical centre, bank, it was like a whole city and it was just a navy base
"Can everyone use it" Zalie asked curiously
"Everyone who's connected to the military can, come on, lets go see what they've got" Jess said, they had some yoghurt desserts she had developed quite a taste for, but they were whipped so we're a lot lighter than normal yoghurt and she found them incredibly easy to digest as well as a great source of protein and probiotics for her, she was sure Zalie would like some of the flavours as well
"Okay" Zalie said happy to find out that her time with her mum wasn't over yet and she'd get to see some more of the base
"Well your Nonna and Boompa are on their way back and will meet us at the commissary" Jess said hanging up the phone
"Hi uncle Eric" Zalie said to the commanding officer as she saw him approach her
"Well hello to you to Miss Zah, all finished with Doctor Shah I hope" Eric said greeting the little girl with a smile
"Sure am, now mummy is taking me to get a treat from the comisery" Zalie said proudly showing Eric the bandage on her arm where Doctor Shah had taken the blood, her veins weren't as bad as her mums, Zalie hadn't realised she'd pronounced the name of the shop wrong
"Commissary, just while we wait for Nonna and Boompa to come and pick you up and take you home" Jess said correcting her
"Why can't you take me home" Zalie asked
"Cause I'm still on duty, I've got to stay here until my shift finishes silly, I've still got 3 hours" Jess said kneeling down and rubbing her fingers through Zalie's dark curls
"Are you coming home tonight" she asked her mother
"Unfortunately your mummy needs to stay here with your uncles tonight and help me, but I'll have her home to you as soon as she's finished" Eric intervened as Jess cast him a quick look, she was uncertain as to what that message the rest of the team got was about
"But you don't know when that will be" Zalie asked Eric
"Wish I did, now I think going to grab a treat from the commissary with your mummy sounds like a great idea why you're waiting for your Nonna and Boompa to come and pick you up" Eric said to the little girl, he was glad to see Jess was making a massive effort in trying to balance parenthood and operating, and he could see her fathers guidance was in play as well, he remembered Jay telling Ray one day that one of his biggest tips with balancing the load was making sure to take every option to do something together, even if it was as simple as going to get icecream or something
"They've got Cerbs with them to" Zalie said
"Really" Eric asked
"Ah ha, he went for a ride while they went to check out Boompa's new warehouse that daddy will be working at, he gets here soon" Zalie said to Eric
"Someone is counting down the days till he gets here" Jess said
"And to when we go to the big house so you and daddy get married" Zalie said to her mum
"The big house" Eric asked curiously
"Italy" Jess said
"And Cerbs is coming as he's going to be in the wedding to, and so is uncle Sonny and uncle Trent and uncle Brock" Zalie said starting to reel of the names
"Everyone from Bravo is invited, tickets and accommodation are already covered" Jess said interrupting, if Zalie was going to list all the guests they'd be hear for half an hour
"And mummy said no dress whites" Zalie said
"Well, that sounds like its going to be a really fun wedding, you going to save a dance for me" Eric asked
"Ah ha" Zalie said, she couldn't wait to show her uncles around the big house
"Come on, otherwise Nonna and Boompa will be here before we've even got out treat" Jess said trying to distract her daughter away from Eric enough to refocus on going to get there treat
"Okay bye uncle Eric" Zalie said, she'd totally forgotten about the treat for a minute but now her brain had refocused
"Team room when you're finished Jess" Eric said as he went to walk away
"Yes sir" Jess responded
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"How did the kid finish up" Trent asked the moment he saw Jess enter the team room, half eaten yoghurt tub in one hand and a plastic bag that he could easily tell had a couple full ones that she placed in the fridge
"Good, just got to wait and hear from Doctor Sambridge now, we know anything about what's going on" Jess asked eager to be brought up to speed as she made her way to her cage
"Libya, potential hostage situation" Jason said
"Which means we most likely are going to be dealing with ISIL" Jess said making a mental note to pack a heavy black head scarfe and veil, as she pulled out her go bag to pack
"Which also means you're on point for translations, isn't Arabic the main language there Bookworm" Sonny said
"And Italian" Brock added
"Thanks Sonny glad to see you've been paying attention, but I bet you can't tell me what dialect of Arabic though" Jess said, part of her duties involved bringing her brothers about the importance of understanding the cultural identity and the importance of respecting that culture
"Levanthine" Sonny said proudly
"Nope" Jess said with a smile, he hadn't even pronounced the dialect name right
"Mesopotamian" Sonny then said not quite as confidently, he'd heard Jess mention the Mesopotamian dialect a few times
"You were closer with the first guess" Jess laughed though she applauded Sonny's reasoning, Mesopotamian Arabic was her mums native dialect
"Okay Bookworm, what dialect of Arabic do they use in Libya" Sonny said, that was only 2 he could think of
"Libyan" Jess said
"Yeah what's the dialect, oh, they speak Libyan Arabic in Libya" Sonny said suddenly realising
"Yes Sonny, they do, glad to see my role of translator isn't completely obsolete yet" Jess said with a laugh
"We'd be lost without you Bookworm" Sonny said reassuring her that she was still needed
"Yeah Sonny would be locked up by now if we didn't have you around to talk the girls out of pressing charges in Sweden" Clay laughed remembering the incident that nearly caused a diplomatic incident and Sonny had gotten a bit to friendly with the natives
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"Did mummy get sent out again" Zalie asked her Boompa as he quickly checked the message on his phone
"She certainly did, what are we going to play tonight" Jay asked, he wanted Zalie to see Jess going out as being normal life
"Crash on the 64, can I have pasta for tea Boompa, Nonna's one with the cheese sauce and veggies and chicken" Zalie asked excitedly
"That does sound good doesn't it, in fact, I think there might even be some already made up in mummy's freezer, why don't we go and have a look" Jay said pulling Zalie in for a cuddle
"Okay" Zalie said as she followed her Boompa to the freezer to look
"Well aren't you two hungry little munchkins, couldn't wait for me to get home and make tea" Alie said surprised to see Jay and Zalie eagerly waiting for the microwave to finish, Cerbs was already chowing down on his tea
"This pasta is to good to wait for" Zalie said happily as the microwave beeped and Jay pulled out the 2 bowls and placed them in some special holders Jess had so they could easily be handled without burning hands
"Glad you like it, think I better make some more for mummy's freezer while I'm here" Alie said kissing Zalie on the forhead
"Can you teach me how to make it" Zalie asked excitedly
"Sure can, you're old enough for me to start giving you some cooking lessons, hello, yes this is Alessandra Bernalli-Turner, Doctor Sambridge nice to finally speak to you" Alie said before having to answer her phone that started ringing
"That's the special doctor I have to see isn't it Boompa, the one who wanted those tests done" Zalie asked cautiously, she'd only had the tests done a few hours ago
"Yes Zah it is" Jay said rubbing her back, Doctor Sambridge ringing so soon was probably not a good sign for the little girl, but that was the way life worked for the kid, but she had other people in her life who were going to be there all the time when her mummy and daddy weren't, and they'd keep her safe
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"Pepper, what have you found" Brock said exhausted as Pepper dragged them into a bombed out building, they were in the most dangerous part of Libya, they had rescued the hostages and the team had separated to get them back to the plane, Ray, Clay, Sonny and Trent had gone with the hostages back to the plane, while Jason, Jess, Brock and Pepper had circled back to make sure that the hostages hadn't been followed. The hostages were relaxed and settled, and Clay had some Arabic language so it had been decided that Jess remained behind in case they encountered any other civilians that needed assistance or they found any weapons or explosives that needed her expertise in being dealt with. Pepper dragged Brock over to a corner where another dog was laying curled up tight in a ball
"Poor bubba didn't make it" Jess said softly as Pepper kept nudging the dog
"What was that" Jason asked as he heard some whimpers and meowing
"Well I'll be damned, would you look at that" Brock said hearing the noise as he helped Jess lift the dog up, underneath was a pack of wiggling puppies and kittens huddled together, crying at the disturbance
"You ever seen anything like that before Brock" Jason asked the surprised looking handler
"I have, one of our last big bushfires back home, they came across a few situations where a mumma helped look after babies from another species to help get them to safety" Jess said, animals weren't dumb by any means when it came to protecting their young
"Any guarantee of where the other mumma is" Jason asked
"No, and that mumma's been dead for probably 12 hours wouldn't you agree Brock" Jess said checking the mumma dog
"Yeah, they're all pretty hungry and they're getting cold, they won't survive if we leave them here" Brock said as Pepper started licking the crying babies
"We can't take them back to the US with us" Jason said knowing the rules
"Is there any rule against dropping them of with a rescue organisation, let them get them out of country" Jess asked, she already knew of one in country that should hopefully be able to help
"Okay, nothing against that, but you have to find one and arrange for them to be picked up" Jason said warning her that just because they were going to be taken to the plane, it didn't mean they were taking them home
"Got it" Jess said with a smile as Brock quickly found a basket and placed a couple of blankets in before helping Jess load the babies
"What the hell is that" Blackburn said as he noticed Jason carrying the basket back to the plane, Jess had immediately gone to make a phone call
"They're called war orphans, Pepper found them, their mum has been killed" Brock said pulling the blanket back to show the CO
"Before you say anything sir, Jess is making a few calls to find a rescue to take them in for us, they're not coming back on the flight" Jason said assuring Eric that they weren't coming back on the flight as the rest of the team gathered around to see the new arrivals having handed the hostages of to appropriate authorities
"Good, well let's get our little guests comfortable while we wait, yes, we get you comfortable" Eric said picking up one of the puppies to examine it, their eyes weren't long open, the puppies were a combination of white and brown spots and the kittens were a combination of ginger and tortishell with white markings before placing it back with its siblings and taking the basket from Jason and carrying it onto the plane to wait
"And I'm the clucky one am I, you got someone" Jason said pointing out there CO's behaviour to the group as Jess came back over
"Yeah, victimes de guerre oubliées is sending someone in to pick them up for us, they'll be a couple of hours though, they'll be well looked after and sent to a rescue group overseas once they've been quarantined, get them out of this hell hole for good" Jess said filling them in, as they walked onto the plane
"Well that's two lots of victims we managed to save, I'd say that's a job well done" Eric said hearing the news
"Definitely" Lisa said sitting next to him so she could get a decent look at them
"Didn't think they were sending you personally" Jess said surprised, she'd been notified by airport security that someone had arrived to pick up the war orphans and was escorting them to the plane
"Surprise, Tasmania didn't work out, boss was a joke, you don't mind I've sent some of my stuff through already" Laura Anderson said with a smile nearly identical to her older brothers
"No, of course not, you're family" Jess said giving her future sister in law a huge hug
"Family hey, well this requires another round of introductions" Trent said hearing the magic word family
"Why not let Laura do her job first" Jess said
"Wait you aren't Aunty Laura by any chance" Clay said curiously
"I would be, let me see these bubba's you found" Laura said confirming his suspicion and eager to get to work
"Sure, Brock, vets here for the bubba's" Jess said as she walked over to where they'd been set up in Pepper's cage and were snuggled into the Dutch sheppard
"Oh hello, yes you're beautiful, yes and you're beautiful to, Pepper right" Laura said acknowledging the bubba's and Pepper
"Yep, how did you know" Brock said surprised
"Because my niece talks about you, and how Cerbs is such a smart dog for picking you out" Laura said giving Pepper a bit more of a scratch
"This is aunty Laura, who Zah has probably been driving insane with stories about Cerbs and how awesome he is" Jess said making the introduction
"Can't help it that the dogs awesome" Brock said to Jess with a smile as Laura grinned
"You may need to have a word or 2 to her about exactly how many treats she's sneaking him" Jess said sternly
"Toast edges with a bit of peanut butter and some cooked egg" Laura asked
"How did you know" Jess asked surprised
"She already asked me, I said they were okay snacks as long as the peanut butter had nothing nasty, have some peanut butter bickies to teach her to make for him, all the good stuff only" Laura said still scratching Pepper around the ears
"Maybe we might have to sneak you a couple to Pep, what do you think" Brock said giving her a scratch as well as he looked at Laura with a grin before the pair turned their attention back to the bubba's in Pepper's cage
"Think Pepper's in love" Jess said as she walked back over to where the rest of the team were waiting
"Pepper of Brockoli" Sonny said as he heard Brock let out a laugh
"So where these bubba's going to end up" Brock asked as Laura was finishing loading up the carriers
"Probably the US, friend has a rescue in Virginia I'm going to be helping at until I can get settled, their quarantine should be completed about the same time I'm ready to travel, so I'll probably be bringing them with me" Laura said
"So that means that we can see you little bubba's again, what do you reckon Pep, we'll go and see them when they get to the US" Brock asked as Pepper sat there wagging her tail excitedly
"You done a very good job today Pepper, you helped save 11 lives, when no one else knew they were there" Laura said to the dog before she turned and walked over to say buy to Jess
"Our little guests all of safely I take it" Eric asked
"Yes sir" Brock said staring at Jess and Laura who were standing there talking under the glare of the airport lights
"Isn't it amazing" Eric said
"Yes sir she is that" Brock said drawing the attention of everyone standing there
"Uh just to be clear Brockoli, which she are you speaking about, there's two there and one is not just happily engaged, but is your sister" Sonny asked curiously, Jess had certainly turned heads at DEVGRU when she arrived and with a few members of greent team, but now she was simply their sister
"Laura" Brock said reassuring that it wasn't Jess he was talking about
"Something tells me we could be having a double wedding in Italy" Trent said as the pair quickly hugged and Laura left
"Present for you Brock, while there's no accounting for taste, there's Laura's email address, she thinks you're absolutely adorable" Jess said walking back onto the plane and handing Brock a piece of paper before patting his head
"Really" Brock asked surprised, he'd definitely felt a connection between the pair
"As I said, no accounting for tastes" Jess said as she made her way up to the back of the plane and get ready for take of