So I read a story on Ao3 by Immajustgonnafangir, and it gave me some inspiration to write a story about Ash being on Bravo and a young Clay Spenser. I have eight chapters already written for this story so I will be updating it once a week. I am also working on finishing Becoming Zulu, I have seven more chapters left to write on that one and then I will start to update it.

Summary: When Ash Spenser becomes Bravo's newest rookie, he comes as a single father to a six-year-old Clay. The guys are instantly in love with the quirky little boy, but they had no idea what bringing Ash into their family would do to them all. When their family is threatened, they all have to come together to not only protect Clay, but every member of their family. No one had any idea just how dark and cruel Ash Spenser truly was. They had allowed a wolf to be in their chicken coop and now there was a high chance that not all of them would survive.

Story Warnings: Mentions of child abuse (No Scenes), mentions of child molestation (No scenes), swearing, Ash being a creep, peeping tom.

Chapter 1

Today was the day that Bravo team would be getting a new rookie. They had been going for six months without a sixth member of their team. Ever since they had lost Nate, things had been hard. They were all missing him, missing that final brother in their family. Today they would be getting their newest rookie, someone they weren't too happy with getting, but they needed to pick someone. No one had stood out to them, no one seemed all that special. They were all Tier One operators now, but they were the average guys. No one stood out that made all of the teams drool over. There were no superstars this time around. It happened from time to time. You didn't always have a superstar in the teams. Sometimes what you got were guys that could do the work and help keep your guys alive.

Their newest member was Ash Spencer. He was thirty-five and was coming in from Seal Team Seven. From what they knew about him, he didn't have any specialties. He was your average Seal, only made it as far as 3IC on his Seal Team. What he did have was a lot of connections within the Upper Brass that Ray argued could be helpful should they ever get into another jam. That wasn't the deciding factor for Jason though. Ash was a single father to a young boy, and that is what pushed Jason into picking him over the others. Family was everything to him, it meant everything to him. And the fact that Ash was still pursuing his career while being a single father told Jason just how much passion and commitment he had to not only his career but his son as well. Single dads didn't exist within DEVGRU, they rarely existed within the Seals. Yes, there were plenty of part-time dads that got their kids on the weekends or when they weren't spun up, but they always had an ex-wife or ex-girlfriend that were the primary caregiver. Ash didn't have that, he only had himself. That wasn't something that Jason could overlook. He needed a family, and that was exactly what Bravo was.

"How do you think the new guy is gonna do?" Sonny asked.

He still wasn't certain that Ash was the best pick. Yes, no one really stood out, but he didn't like that he was so connected to the Upper Brass. To Sonny that didn't spell a man that was committed to being in the field. It seemed like Ash was interested in moving up the chain of command and switching to an officer. He couldn't blame him with being a single dad. Sonny couldn't even imagine having to try and balance it all.

"He should be fine. He seems to have a system otherwise he wouldn't have made it this far." Ray said.

"Ya, but is he gonna be distracted in the field?" Sonny countered.

"Jase and me have kids, we don't get distracted." Ray argued.

"Ya, but your kids stay with their mother, who does his son stay with? You have to admit, it won't be easy." Trent added.

"It's not going to be easy, but it never is when something is going on at home. He's been through it already with being in Team Seven, this isn't new to him. He probably has his son staying with his grandparents when he gets spun up and on tour. Let's reserve judgment until we see him in action." Jason said.

"Alright." Sonny said, but it was clear he wasn't too happy about this.

Jason knew this was going to be a rough transition. They were still mourning the loss of their brother. Bringing anyone new in was going to be hard, but they had to bring someone new in. They were a six man team and running a man down put them all at risk, something that was unacceptable to Jason. Ash might not have been a super star, but he obviously knew how important family was and that was good enough for Jason. Before anymore could be said the door to their cage room was opening and Ash walked in with all of his gear.

"Hey." Ash said, as all eyes were on him.

"Hey Brother, I'm Ray Perry Bravo Two. That is Sonny Quinn, Bravo Three, Trent Sawyer Bravo Four and then Brock Reynolds Bravo Five with Cerberus. And you already know Jase." Ray said, as he introduced everyone.

"Nice to meet ya." Ash said, as he made his way over to the empty cage.

"So Ash, you got any family? Wife, kids?" Sonny asked. They already knew the answer, but he was curious to see what Ash would answer. He didn't know what it was, but he just couldn't trust him right away. Someone with that many political connections, in Sonny's opinion, couldn't be trusted.

"Nope, no wife or kids." Ash stated.

The guys all looked at each other, they knew for a fact that he did have a child, one son.

"I thought you had a son. You're a single dad." Jason said, on their behalf.

Ash internally cringed. He was really hoping that word hadn't gotten around about that. He just wanted to forget about Clay and be able to focus on his career. Apparently, that wasn't going to be the case here. Not that he could tell them that of course.

Ash turned to look at them as he spoke. "I do have a son, Clay, he's six. And I am a single dad. I didn't say anything because I didn't want it to be held against me. It's happened before from Team Seven. There were always comments about it. I just didn't want you all judging me before you even got to see my skills."

"We would never hold that against you brother. Family is the most important thing in this world. It means everything to us and the fact that you are a single dad and still pursuing your career tells us how committed you are to not only your son, but the brotherhood." Ray said.

"Family is a top priority to all of us, you won't hear any shit about having a son. Ray and me, we got two kids each. Ray just had a baby boy a few weeks ago. We all make it work and everyone is an uncle and aunt to our kids. That's how we operate and how I run my team." Jason added.

"That's good to know. Not a lot of people understand why I've decided to keep pursuing my career."

Ash wished he wasn't a single father. He wished he could be forever gone from his son. His whore of a mother though wouldn't allow for that to happen. He was stuck having him every other week whether he liked it or not. As for everyone else, they didn't need to know he was a part-time dad. It had worked in his favor to not only get into Green Team, but to secure a spot on the best team within DEVGRU. As far as everyone was concerned he was a loving and doting father to a six year old boy all on his own.

"A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do to keep the bills from piling up." Sonny commented.

"We're having a barbeque tomorrow night at my place to welcome you and your son into the family. Everyone in the family will be there so he can meet everyone and the kids can start to make friends." Jason said.

"Sounds great." Ash said with a fake smile. The very last thing he wanted to do was go over for a barbeque with Clay. It was seeing like he was going to have to have Clay around them a lot more than he expected. He would need to try and shuffle him out eventually. Hopefully once the new guy interest wore off they would forget all about Clay.

"Put your gear away and then we'll head out to start training. We gotta get your rookie ass into shape." Jason said.

Ash gave a warm fake smile. He didn't need training. He was perfect at what he did. He was looking forward to being on an operation where he would be able to show them how an operator truly worked. He would be taking over as Bravo One and it was not going to be that long. He would be using his connections to get Jason out of active duty and to secure his spot as Bravo One.

XXX

Clay sat there on the couch in the small apartment all alone once again. He was used to being alone when he was at his dad's place for the week. Ash tended to stay out late so he wouldn't have to be around. Clay had gotten used to it. This week he was at his dad's and then next week he would be back at his mom's place. Clay didn't really know which one he preferred over the other. At his mom's, she was there, but she was always injecting her medicine that made her sleepy. And when she wasn't she was in the bedroom with different men. She always called them his uncles and that he couldn't go in because they were having a private adult conversation. Clay never cared too much about it. He would just go to his room, a closet, and watch his tablet or read. At his mom's though, they didn't often have food and she never cooked so he would cook for her. Whereas at his dad's, they tended to have food, but it was always food his dad liked and not him. He would only have a small amount of food that he would have to make last for the week. He also didn't have an official bedroom at his dad's either, just a closet with some blankets and a pillow.

It had always been like this, ever since Clay could remember, and he could remember pretty far back. To him this was all normal and not weird at all. At six, he should have been in grade one, but he had never been to a school. His dad had gotten him a tablet when he was three, to shut him up according to his mom, but he had used that to help him learn. He had taught himself from the apps on the tablet how to read and write. After three years he had come a long way and now he was able to read books off of the reading app that he got. As long as they were free, he could read them. His dad had made it very clear that he was not allowed to order anything or do anything that required money. Said he refused to pay for anything extra for him. Clay was fine with that because there were millions of free books for him to enjoy.

A quick look at his little clock that he carried around with him told him it was five o'clock, time for dinner. Clay put his tablet down and made his way into the kitchen. He always ate dinner at five o'clock and it was always the same thing, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich cut into four triangles with no crust. He didn't like the crust part. Clay pushed the bar stool over to the counter in the kitchen like he always did and climbed on top of it so he could reach the plates. He had to be very careful because they were glass. He grabbed his favorite plate, a white with black spots on it. The one black spot looked like Italy to him, so he always used that plate. Once he had the plate he went over and pushed the stool so he could grab the peanut butter from the cupboard. Afterwards he moved it back over to his plate and then grabbed some bread and the strawberry jam from the fridge. Once he had all of his ingredients he went to work on making his sandwich. He did it the same way every time, he cut the crust off first from the top of the bread all the way around. He then used a knife to spread the peanut butter on the right slice of bread before he would spread the jam on the left slice of bread. He then put the peanut butter slice on top of the jam slice, never the other way around. Once it was made he then went to work on cutting the bread into four equal size triangles. Once his sandwich was ready, he placed it onto his plate before he cleaned everything up. He took it back over to the couch and began to eat it while he watched his show on his tablet.

Clay wasn't sure if he liked his mom's or his dad's place better. At his mom's she was there, but she was always busy with his uncles or sleeping. Whereas at his dad's he tended to never be around with him working. Only when he was home, it wasn't fun. His dad didn't want to spend time with him, he didn't want to talk with him. He just wanted Clay to listen to his tablet with his headphones and leave him alone. The problem was, Clay had no idea that wasn't how it was supposed to be. He had grown up with this being his life; he didn't know another life but this one. To him this was all normal and how every child out there lives.

Once he finished eating, Clay traveled back into the kitchen to make sure everything was cleaned up and the dishes were washed. His dad didn't like it when the apartment was messy. With everything back in it's rightful place, Clay went back over to the couch and back to his tablet. It was roughly seven o'clock when the lock was being turned on the door. Clay's heart instantly sank to his stomach. He was always nervous when his dad got home, because he didn't know what he would be like. If he had a bad day at work, he always took it out on him. If it was a good day at work, he would come in and grab a beer, something that never ended well. Clay hated it when his dad drank, because the more he drank the meaner he got. Clay hated it when his dad drank, but he also knew when to run and hide in his room. Clay didn't say anything as Ash walked into the apartment. He watched as his dad instantly moved into the kitchen and reached for the cupboard over the stove where he kept his whiskey. Clay was instantly grabbing his tablet and clock and ran as quietly as he could to his room. Once in the closet that was set up as his room, Clay curled up into the back corner and laid down on the blanket. Whenever his dad came home and grabbed the whiskey, Clay knew it was going to be a very bad night. The best thing that Clay could hope for was that he would fall asleep before he made his way down to his door. If he stayed quiet enough and didn't let his presence be known, then he might just make it through this night without getting another bruise. Clay put on his headphones and turned his attention to the Spanish show he was watching. He focused on the words that went across the screen for the translations. Learning always made him feel better, always comforted him. He focused on learning the Spanish words and not what could happen tonight.

A/N: More? What do you think?