AN: Hey guys, sorry for such big gaps between chapters, life if pretty crazy right now. Anyway, I've decided that these stories will be taking place at least before the events of the last few episodes of this season. I may make mentions to some things that have happened this season (I won't say what in case of spoilers) but in these stories, the guys are all together and operating as usual.

Also, I know some people are mad that they put Clay and Stella back together bc of what she did to him the first time around. I get that, but I do follow the somewhat unpopular opinion of liking them as a couple. trust me, I'm still skeptical of her, but I think they've both grown since they were together before. and honestly, Clay's my favorite character and all I want is for him to be happy so if she makes him happy then so be it lol!

thats all, hope you enjoy the story!!

Mission Success part 3: Be here

Anyone would agree that getting hurt while on a mission is never ideal. It complicates a lot of different things, especially an already complicated deployment. But once everyone was home and forced to rest, a thought crept into the back of Clay's mind that maybe - just maybe - this would be a good thing. After all, the team had needed a break for the last… well it had been too long to count.

Clay squinted and pulled his sunglasses down off of the brim of his hat as he walked out of the base into the parking lot with the rest of the guys. He smiled when he saw Stella leaning up against his truck. The smile stayed despite him knowing that he would have a lot of reassuring to do when he reached her.

"Hey, babe." He said, pulling her close and planting a kiss on the top of her head. He didn't miss how her hug around his mid-section was looser than usual.

"You won't hurt me, I promise. The injuries aren't that fresh anymore." he said as she stepped back to study him.

"I know that. You have to know it also never gets any easier when you come home hurt. But I guess I should just be grateful that you came home." She said, tilting her head and letting out a sigh.

"I do. Trust me, I would've loved it if my shute had opened properly and not yanked my shoulder around like a couple of wolves tearing into a sheep." he said as he threw his bag into the back of his truck and fiddled with the sling, stopping when Trent yelled at him for it from across the parking lot. He swore sometimes that man had eyes like a hawk.

"Ok, you have seriously been spending too much time with Sonny!" she said with a quizzical look, trying to hide a laugh at his analogy.

"Seriously though, I'm really glad your home. I just wish it didn't take you getting hurt to get time off. But that's just the nature of the beast." Stella said.

"Yea, pretty much." Clay answered.

"Anyway, you never really told me what happened over there, how you got hurt. What happened?"

"Yea sorry about that, our internet got kinda spotty the day after Jason got shot." He answered, and began the story…

"You sure you're good to go Jason?" Ray asked through the comms from across the loading dock of the plane. They were about 15 minutes out from their target and were getting ready to halo jump. Clay could practically see the team leader's eyes rolling from here.

"If I wasn't, would I be on this plane right now?" Bravo one replied rhetorically.

"I think we both know the answer to that one." Ray answered.

"I'm fine. Focus up, this might be our only chance to grab Varga before he goes back underground." Jason said, trying to get his men's heads back in the game. Everyone quieted down and pulled the masks over their faces and lined up, getting ready to jump. They did the final checks of their gear and watched the lights on the plane, walking slowly down the ramp. Clay was first in line and watched as the light turned green, and the plane dropped open in front of him. He spread his arms out and felt the familiar adrenaline rush as he started his free fall through the night sky.

He looked up to see his teammates following quickly behind him, steering themselves in line with him so they could form position to land in the set landing zone. He felt himself getting to the right altitude, and reached behind him for the rip cord and pulled it. Alarm bells began to ring in his head when the cord came out, but the chute didn't deploy. He pulled it harder, but it was to no avail. Soon, he heard voices coming through his comms.

"Bravo six this is one, you're rapidly approaching the ground, get that chute deployed!" He tried to formulate a response while pawing at the cord on his side, all the while trying to keep the panic at bay. Now was not the time to freak out, his life depending on him staying calm.

"Uh...On.. One this is six, cord won't deploy, about to try the reserve." Jason felt the familiar jolt of his parachute opening behind him and yanking him upwards, slowing his momentum. He checked his watch for their altitude and fixed his eyes back on their youngest member. 'Come on kid, get it open! Come on!' He muttered as precious minutes continued to tick by as the entire team watched with bated breath through their nods as Clay fought with pulling the second cord. In all his wrestling, Clay could feel the cords of the chute twisting around his left arm. His right hand finally got a grip around the proper cord, and he wrenched it out from the backpack. The jarring force of the reserve chute opening combined with his panicked breathing knocked the wind out of him, which effectively made his head swirl as the scream of pain his body tried to force out was cut off in his throat. The pain was coming from his left shoulder which had been violently ripped upwards by the tangled cords of the first parachute that partially opened as the reserve deployed, stopping his free fall. He tried to steer himself towards the ground for as slow of a landing as he could manage, but the pain had begun to take over his senses, and the landing was less than graceful. Luckily he knew enough to tuck and roll, coming to a stop on his back. He heard the rest of the team landing around him as he laid still, trying to stop his head from spinning and catch his breath. In the next minute, his team was around him, pulling the mangled cloth of his parachute off of him.

"Hey, kid, you alright? Looked like a rough landing. Anything hurt?" Sonny asked, kneeling next to his friend.

"L...landing wasn't the pr...problem. My… my arm got caught in the cords. Ahhh… my shoulder…" Clay stammered and reached for his injured limb, still trying to calm his adrenaline in hopes that the pain would slow. Trent was soon opposite Sonny, trying to assess the situation through his nods, as any other light could give away their position. Jason opened comms with Havoc, informing them of the situation.

"You've got a pretty nasty dislocation, and there could be ligament damage from the force of the shoulder being ripped out of the socket. It might be tricky to get back in place, but I have to do it to make sure you don't have nerve damage." Trent said after feeling around Clay's injured shoulder for a minute or so.

"Whatever you need to do, do it fast cause we've got no cover up here." Jason said. Trent nodded.

"Sonny, I'm gonna need you to hold his right side down and hold him still cause if I have to try more than once I might do more damage. Clay, I'm sorry, but this is gonna hurt. You might get some relief after it's back in though." Trent directed. Clay nodded, biting the inside of his lip in preparation. Sonny put a knee on Clay's bicep, which may seem harsh to anyone who doesn't know that the kid thrashes like a fish out of water when he's hurt. Sonny learned this the hard way after a misplaced fist from Clay while he was in pain nearly broke his nose.

Clay could taste the blood from his lip as the pressure and pain in his shoulder mounted. Sonny cringed at the audible click his friend's shoulder made as it slid back into place.

"Alright, let's sit you up so I can immobilize the arm." Trent said, and then he and Sonny pulled him up to a seated position. He pulled the parachute pack off and unstrapped Clay's vest.

"I think you might have torn some of the ligaments that hold the joint together, so this arms gotta stay as still as possible so it doesn't slip out again." Trent said, pulling out a roll of ace bandage to pin Clay's arm to his stomach. After that, he loosened the buckle and clipped the vest back on so that the kevlar would protect his chest for the rest of the op while also holding the shoulder still.

"Are we ready to move?" Jason asked. Trent looked at Clay, turning the question to him. Clay took a deep breath and nodded. The fiery pain in his shoulder had finally dulled to throbbing. He bent his knees to square his feet on the ground, and reached his good hand out to be helped up. After getting his bearings, he pulled his sidearm out of his thigh holster.

"Sonny, Trent, stay close to him. Havoc this is one, six is ambulatory. Moving to the target." Jason said.

"Good copy one, we've got you on ISR." Havoc replied. Soon after Clay fell in step with the rest of the team as they formed a tight line around him.

"So you did the rest of the mission like that? How long was it before you got actual medical attention?" Stella asked with surprise. Whenever she thought that she had gotten used to the stories of what Clay and the rest of the guys put their bodies through, something like this happened.

"Only a few hours. We got back and Trent walked me right to the base hospital, he didn't even seem to care that it was like 3 am." He answered.

"Good. Nice to know someone on the team will make you take care of yourself when I'm not there!" She said, Clay shook his head and laughed in return.

They pulled in the parking spot of the apartment complex a few minutes later, and Stella switched off the engine and hopped out. Clay rolled his eyes as he watched her dash around the car to his side, and open the door for him.

"It's just my shoulder. It honestly is not even that serious of an injury, I can open my own door." Clay said, trying to hide the smile that was forming on his face.

"Clay, I know you have been through worse. But I wasn't there for that, and that was on me, so now I intend to be here for everything from here on out, big and small." Stella said, looking him in the eye. She could see that he was caught slightly off guard by the sincerity, but he loved it.

"Thank you. You know I love you, right?" He said, pulled her into his good side as they walked up towards the apartment.

"Yea, but I wouldn't be mad if you told me a few more times. You know, to make up for the times missed over deployment." She answered with a smile, and they both laughed.