A/N: Alright so this is going to be set in Season 1 episode 1 and I will travel along through the show. They are oneshots, but I would recommend reading them in order as they will be connected.
Summary: Clay's first op with Bravo as a Strap did not go well. It is made worse when he discovers that he has been stabbed. Clay is confident that this operation will go down as the worst operation of his life.
The Secrets of A Strap
Clay couldn't believe this. He thought this was going to be his golden ticket to show everyone that he belonged in DEVGRU, that he had the skills and wasn't just some show pony for the Upper Brass. It was endless for Clay with all of the bullshit and snide comments. Everyone was under the belief he had allowed someone in the Upper Brass to fuck him to grant him his Green Team application. Of course it couldn't be because he was talented and had worked his ass off to even qualify for Green Team. At twenty-four it was unheard of for someone to even be allowed an application to Green Team. Clay had not only been granted, but he had been accepted. He was also top of his class in Green Team. At least he will be until word got back about this mission. Clay knew Jason didn't like him because of Ash, that was made very clear the second he walked onto the plane. Still, he thought he could win him over. He knew that people didn't like him, but he also knew if he was useful team leaders tolerated him. Clay figured if he did what he was told and was useful, maybe Jason wouldn't find a reason to hate him more.
Clay thought it was going well. He did what Jason said, he was able to pick up on the exchange not being about drugs. He translated and got the kid to give up his gun, he was even taken to help find their target. Things were going so well, until that tango appeared and Clay fought with him. He figured there could have been more so he moved in and ended up killing their target they were supposed to be bringing in alive. Clay really thought Jason and Ray hadn't shot him because they didn't have a clear shot. Now there was a good chance he would never get picked by a team. It was just one more thing he was going to have to hear shit about. Clay figured he probably should have just listened to Jason and stayed at the opening, but that didn't feel right either. If there was one tango there could have been more and he didn't want them getting surprised and potentially hurt or killed. Now technically it was a mission failure and it was all his fault.
Clay placed his gear down on the bed in the hangar. He was really not looking forward to this flight home. He was sure he would keep hearing about this from Jason and the guys. Especially once Jason labels it as a bad shoot in the AAR. Clay was all too aware of how this could be the operation that ends his career in the field. Ray made his way over to Clay, he could tell Clay was upset by what had just happened and Ray couldn't blame him. Jason had no right to yell at Clay like that and he certainly had no right to put his hands on him. That was something that was completely unacceptable to Ray and he knew Jason normally didn't act that way. He would have gone off on someone if they grabbed one of his guys like that. It wasn't something that any of them would tolerate and he was going to be making sure Jason apologised for it once he calmed down.
Ray knew Jason didn't like not getting their guy, but Ray also knew where Clay was coming from. He had no idea either of them could have had a shot, he was taking the situation in and from his perspective it looked like a suicide bomber was about to kill the two of them. Of course Clay took the shot, that's what they are trained to do, especially a sniper. Clay isn't trained to look at the guys hands, hell Ray didn't even look at them and he had ten years over Clay. He wasn't going to let Clay blame himself or carry this. If Jason wanted to say it was a bad shot, Ray was going to be fighting him on it, because it wasn't a bad shot and Clay was not going to be having the stink of this on him. Ray wasn't going to allow it.
"Hey brother, you alright?" Ray said, as he went over to Clay.
"I'm fine Sir." Clay said, in a voice dead of any emotions.
"It's Ray and it's ok to be upset by what happened. Jason had no right to talk to you like that and he sure as hell didn't have any right to put his hands on you." Ray said with a strength to his voice.
"It's fine, it's not the first time a superior has put their hands on me."
"What do you mean it's not the first time?" Ray said with a slight edge to his voice.
"It's nothing. Master Chief Hayes is right, I should have looked at his hands. I was ordered to stay at the opening of the tunnel and I disobeyed his order." Clay knew what could happen if he disobeyed an order. There had been plenty of times he had done so because it was the right thing to do and had saved the lives of his teammates. He always took the punishment like a man and dealt with it.
"If you had waited we could be dead. As for the hands thing, I didn't look either. I don't look at someone's hands when they are wearing a suicide vest. We're not trained that way. Jason had no right to reprimand you for something that only him and a few others would know. He shouldn't have talked to you that way and he should have explained what you could have done differently next time. That is what a team leader is supposed to do."
"I wouldn't know about that. It's fine, really. I should have known better. I should have passed on the opportunity to come on this op. I just figured this would be my only chance to get to work with Bravo, with Jason Hayes. I knew he didn't like me, but I figured I would be useful and not give him a reason to hate me more than he already does. Now I'm going to have a bad shoot on my record, just one more thing to hear shit over. Never meet your heroes right?" Clay said with a small smile.
"Clay." Ray started, but Clay cut him off.
"It's fine, really. I enjoyed working with you. It's been a very long time since someone has been nice to me. I appreciate it. I'm gonna go grab some water." Clay said with a small sad smile before he headed off.
Ray looked after Clay as he headed off to grab some water in the small break room within the hangar. He looked around at the others and he could tell they had been eavesdropping, but hadn't made a comment. Ray was not happy about this, not one bit. He didn't like that Clay had been harmed by a superior before. He didn't like that other people seem to be giving Clay shit for having Ash as a father. He didn't like that Clay seemed to just accept that he was never going to belong anywhere. That he was always going to be treated like shit. This wasn't what DEVGRU, what the brotherhood, was supposed to be. Jason walked in and Ray was instantly going over to him.
"You need to talk to the kid." Ray said and Jason raised an eyebrow at the harsh tone to Ray's voice.
"I don't have to do anything Ray. And kid is accurate. He's not even old enough to be in Green Team. Obviously he used one of daddy's connections to get him in."
"Right, because it couldn't possibly be that he's skilled and has natural talent. He must have used Ash Spenser's name to get ahead, because being connected to Ash Spenser is really the best way to get ahead in the Navy. The son of a PNG really makes the Upper Brass tingle." Ray said, sarcastically.
"He's not old enough to be good." Jason countered.
"Says who? You? He's old enough to have beaten three of your records in Green Team, or are you going to tell me the instructors are padding his results? Not to mention the kid was Chalk Alpha Two in Team Three, youngest Seal in history at nineteen and youngest 2IC. At what point do you accept that you just don't like him because of his old man?" Ray challenged.
"It's got nothing to do with him."
"It's got everything to do with him and with you not wanting to replace Nate. You're holding your own problems against him and that's not fair to him. He's a good kid with an immense talent. For fuck's sake Jace, he's within the top five snipers in the Navy at twenty-four. If you would take your blinders off for one goddamn second you would see he is nothing like Ash. You would see what I see, a damaged kid trying to survive in the world."
"What is with you and this kid? Why are you pushing so hard for him to be on this team?" That was what Jason couldn't figure out. To him, Clay wasn't worth all of this effort that Ray was putting in.
"Because he's the right fit. He's got language skills that none of us could ever comprehend. He's a better shot than me and he's got enough potential to fill this hangar. You want to focus on the future of Bravo, that kid is the future. He's the future Bravo One. Outside of that, he's a good kid with a good heart and an incredible mind. I just talked to him to try and help him understand that what happened on this mission wasn't his fault. That you were in the wrong and had no business putting your hands on him. And you know what he said?"
"That he was going to report me and that I was overreacting." Jason assumed.
"Said it was fine. That you weren't the first superior to put your hands on him. That he was in the wrong for not looking at the guy's hands. Said he should have passed on the operation, but he thought it would be a good opportunity to get to work with you. Said, he knew you hated him, but he was hoping by the end of it if he was useful and didn't cause problems you would see he had a value to offer. That now he's just given you one more reason to hate him. He actually thanked me for being nice to him, said it had been a long time since someone had. He actually thanked me for not treating him like shit. Right after he told me you should never meet your heroes. You have no idea Jase the effect you have on people, especially the younger guys. How many of them look up to you and for someone like Clay, who has all of these skills and huge potential, you're his hero man. You is who he wants to be one day. A strong, good man who is fiercely loyal to his team and a highly respected operator. You're his hero, not his old man. And all you have done is treated him like an annoyance and put your hands on him and made him feel like he wasn't good enough. When it's the exact opposite of the truth. He doesn't deserve it." Ray said with a strength to his voice.
Jason was quiet for a moment. He wasn't sure what to say or to think right now. He knew he was being hard on Clay. He knew if Ray or any of his guys had taken the shot he would have just accepted it. Advised them next time to look at the guy's hands before they pulled the trigger. He wouldn't have put his hands on them, he would never do that. He should never have done it with Clay. Clay was still learning, mistakes were expected and guaranteed, it wasn't something he could hold over Clay's head. When it came down to it, it was his old man that was keeping him from liking or even tolerating Clay. But it was also more than that, it was seeing some traits of Nate within him. Of seeing traits of his own personality in Clay. He was also very young, six years minimum then the other guys in Green Team. There was a reason people couldn't apply until they were at least thirty, it wasn't just experience, but also so you wouldn't destroy a young mind. The things Clay would see in this life were ten times worse than anything he would have seen in Team Three. The father in him was screaming hell no. He knew Clay had skills, he had watched him from time to time. He could outshoot everyone, including the instructors. He was great with hand to hand, and Adam wouldn't shut up about his intelligence. Said Clay could see the matrix, that he had never had a cadet like him before or had even worked with someone that could see through this world like Clay. It was a huge level of praise, and yet all Jason saw was Ash Spenser. He was having a very hard time getting past it, but that was on him and he didn't have the right to hold it against Clay.
Before anymore could be said, Clay walked back into the room with a water bottle. He looked over and saw Jason, but he immediately redirected his eyes down as he made his way towards his gear. Clay placed the water down on the bed before he went and started to remove his vest, before he even placed it down Trent was speaking.
"Clay, you're bleeding."
Everyone turned to give Clay their full attention. Clay looked down and saw his right side was covered in blood and it was soaking into his pants.
"Holy shit kid, what the hell did you do?" Sonny asked, as they all moved closer to Clay.
Clay moved his shirt up as he spoke. "Tango in the tunnel had a knife, he must have got me."
"And you haven't noticed that you've been bleeding this whole time?" Sonny said, skeptical.
Clay pulled his shirt off as he spoke. "I don't really notice knife wounds anymore."
All of the guys noticed two things, the first the knife wound, was actually a stab wound between his hip and his ribs. The second, he had scars all over his torso, including some that looked like lashes on his back. Most of the scars were old, very old, something that would have had to have happened in his childhood.
"What the hell happened?" Jason asked, with an edge to his voice.
"Tango appeared behind me from the tunnel. We engaged in hand to hand combat and I eliminated the tango. He must have clipped me with his knife before I took him down Sir." Clay said in a completely professional tone that lacked all emotions.
Clay grabbed his medical kit, as Trent moved over with his own to jump in.
"I'm not talking about that. What son of a bitch did that to your back?" Jason said, as he moved closer.
Clay pressed some gauze to his wound as he grabbed the items to start cleaning the wound. "Some people shouldn't be parents." Clay said with a shrug.
"Your old man did that to you?" Sonny asked, softly.
Clay just gave a shrug and it was clear to the guys that he was not interested in getting into it. It did make them all have more questions about just what exactly Ash Spenser was capable of. If he could whip his own child to the point of leaving scars, what the hell else had he done to Clay? Clay had finished cleaning out the wound and grabbed his suture kit. Trent had put his own gloves on and spoke.
"Let me see it Spense."
"Why?" Clay asked, confused.
"I'm the team medic. It looks like it needs stitches." Trent explained.
"I know, that's why I'm getting ready to stitch it."
The only reason Trent nor Jason didn't make a snide comment about Trent doing it was because of the tone in Clay's voice. He didn't mean it as a knock towards Trent, it was a simple fact that he just figured he would do the stitching, even though a trained medic was right there ready to jump in.
"I can stitch it for you. That's part of my job kid." Trent said, with a warm smile.
"For Bravo, you have no obligation to an outsider." Clay simply said.
"Seriously?" Sonny asked, shocked that Clay would actually think Trent, a trained medic, would just look the other way at a fellow frogman bleeding.
"It's not a big deal, I've been giving myself stitches since I was six." Clay said with a shrug, as he leaned his back against the wall so he would have a better angle.
Ray looked over at Jason and both of them could easily read the other's thoughts. There was a very dark childhood living in Clay's head. To be six and have stitched yourself, to even understand the concept of giving stitches at six was wrong, but to actually do it on yourself. There was a deep rooted damage within Clay and his bravo around others was seriously starting to make a lot of sense. It was his armour, his way of surviving life.
"Ok, but in Team Three you had a medic and he would have done your stitches when you needed it." Trent said, trying to get Clay to let him help.
"He only treated my injuries if they were dire, otherwise I was on my own." Clay simply said, as he went and pushed the needle into his skin.
"Whoa!" Sonny instantly yelled.
Everyone cringed and moved to get closer to Clay as Trent spoke.
"You need to use lidocaine to numb yourself."
Clay didn't stop as he spoke. "I'm allergic to it."
"There's numbing cream." Trent said.
"Allergic, makes me itch and get a rash." Clay answered as he continued.
"Oh god I can't watch him keep doing this, but I can't look away." Sonny said, grossed out by the fact that Clay is just shoving the needle into his skin like it's nothing.
"Ok, but there are alternatives to lidocaine that you can use. The medic on Team Three would have been able to get you some." Trent said, not happy about this at all right now.
"He had to fill out a form and my team leader would have to sign off on it. Both refused, said it would be special treatment. That if I couldn't use the regulation materials that I could either go without or quit." Clay said with another shrug.
The fact that he could talk about it like it was the weather bothered the guys more than the words he was saying. It was the fact that Clay had just accepted that he was never going to have what he needed in the field. What he had every right in having as a human being.
"Ok stop, please stop." Trent said, and the guys could hear the slight anxiety in his tone.
Trent was a great medic, but he did not like it when someone else tended to his guys. Clay wasn't officially Bravo, but he was their responsibility on this operation. He was Trent's responsibility. Clay stopped and looked at Trent and Clay could see the tightness in his body.
"I know you have done this for a long time, but watching you do this is making me anxious. Please for me, let me do it." Trent said, hoping if he asked for himself and not for Clay's own good, then Clay would agree to it.
"Seriously kid, Trent really doesn't like it when other people patch themselves up." Ray added, hoping to get Clay to give in and let Trent do it.
Clay let out a soft sigh before he gave a nod.
"Thank-you." Trent said, relieved to finally be getting to help Clay with this. "Is it better for you to be standing or laying down? Which way hurts less?"
"Never done it laying down, kinda hard to stitch what you can't see. This is fine."
"I know you are allergic to lidocaine, but I got morphine. I can give you some to help with the pain." Trent offered.
"Allergic." Clay simply said.
"How many things are you allergic to?" Jason asked, because it seemed like a lot.
"Um anything with phosphate and sulfur in it, including vitamins and normal toothpaste, plus certain foods with a high amount of natural phosphate in them, sushi for example. I'm also allergic to penicillin and gravol, that one makes me throw up, ironic really." Clay answered as Trent began to stitch him, doing his best to make it as quick and as painless as possible.
"So everything then, you're allergic to everything." Sonny commented.
"Not everything, but most medications and pills he would be. You would have to be on liquid gels when you can and liquid medication when there are no gel caps. Makes it harder in the field to treat you, but it's not impossible. I'm guessing you haven't had much luck with medics in the teams you've been in." Trent said, as Clay seemed really confused why he would want to help.
"I've only had the one medic in Team Three. I went straight from boot camp into Buds. Team Three is the only one I've been on since I was eighteen. He didn't appreciate the annoyance of my medical background. Felt I should be working a desk and not inconveniencing him." Clay said with a shrug once again, as if it was perfectly normal behavior for a medic.
"Allergies aren't an inconvenience, it's part of our jobs. There's lots of operators that can't have certain things that are regulated, it's why we fill out the forms and get them what they need before they get spun up. Is it just the allergies?" Trent asked.
"I have a mild case of asthma that requires an inhaler. There's also the protein deficiency, my body doesn't absorb it so it makes it harder for me to gain weight and for injuries to heal. I also have hypoglycemia, but I just need to eat properly to keep it under control."
That surprised the guys. There were rules, regulations that everyone had to follow for what qualified you to be in the military, asthma was a direct to a desk medical condition. Clay shouldn't have been allowed to be active with it. Not to mention the protein deficiency was an issue as well.
"Was there an underlying cause for the deficiency?" Trent asked.
"Being born addicted to meth and left in a dumpster."
Trent's head snapped up and everyone didn't even breathe. It would seem like Clay's life was one horror show after the next and it started before he was even born.
"What?" Ray asked, on their behalf.
"My mother was addicted to meth, Ash likes an easy lay. She gave birth and apparently left me in a dumpster where a good samaritan found me and took me to the hospital. They ran DNA and matched mine with Ash's. I was raised by Ash for three years then he shipped me off to live out here for the next fifteen years." Clay gave a brief, very brief, description of his life to hopefully stop any further questions about his health.
He didn't want them telling the other teams and then no one picking him. He hadn't put in all of this work for it all to be nothing.
"You grew up here?" Brock asked, sadly.
"Ya, not too far from here. Look, my medical history isn't something I share freely with people. I would appreciate it if no one told anyone. I have a handle on it and I don't need anymore judgements against me, please."
"We're not ones to gossip." Jason simply said. He could understand why Clay didn't want the others to know. They wouldn't pick him. Clay had skills that every team would want and need, but Jason also knew most teams wouldn't touch Clay if they knew what his medical complications were. The allergies alone would be enough to drive any medic away, and if you had a medic that wasn't willing to work with someone, the team didn't even look your way.
"Wait, you said eighteen you were in Team Three? You mean nineteen right? Buds always starts in the middle of boot camp, you would have had to wait the six months for them to finish. Did you stay on base and help with boot camp?" Ray said, as his mind kicked in to what Clay had said.
"No, I was three weeks into boot camp when I was pulled out and placed within Buds. The Upper Brass said I was too qualified for boot camp and the Seals needed my shooting and language skills. Honestly, I think they just got all excited when my IQ test came back. Figured I was being used for some political gain, but I joined to help people and if that was being fast tracked into Buds, I figured that's what I needed to do. Same as Green Team."
"What do you mean?" Jason asked.
"I wasn't going to apply. I knew I had to be at least thirty, so it wasn't even on my radar. I was Chalk Alpha Two and getting ready to take over within the next year as Degger wanted to retire to command. Then one day an Admiral was showing up and telling me I was going to Green Team. Three weeks later I was on a plane to Virginia Beach."
"So you only got in because someone is using you as a step on their ladder." Sonny commented.
"That's how I got here, but it's not why I'm still here. I'm the top in of my class because I do have the skills to be here. Just because I don't have the years on the job, doesn't change that I am skilled enough to be here. How I got here shouldn't outweigh my capabilities." Clay said with a slight edge to his voice and they all could tell this was a sore topic for him. The guys figured Clay had heard shit about it more than once since being in Green Team about not belonging.
"We never said you didn't belong there. But it has to suck for you, because people will just assume you are only there for a political gain." Ray said, looking to calm things down.
"Bet you shut them up when they saw you shoot. How the hell did you get so good anyways?" Sonny asked, because Ray was the best shot he had ever seen, but then he saw Clay on the range and he was impressed.
"I've been doing it since I was eight. I was in the hunting group for the orphanage. You miss your shot, you don't eat. You get pretty good at it. Besides, it's all math anyways and I like math." Clay said with an easy shrug.
The guys all wanted to question Clay more on that, but Blackburn walked in and killed the conversation flow.
"You alright Spenser?" Blackburn asked, as he took in Clay's injury.
"I'm good Sir." Clay answered.
"Trent?" Blackburn asked looking for more information.
"He's got a shallow stab wound, roughly three inches. Nothing was hit, it's superficial. I'm almost done."
"Is there anything I need to know about the AAR? Everything clean or any questionable?" Blackburn asked Jason.
Clay kept his eyes locked on Trent's hands. He was waiting for this. This was the moment that Clay was waiting for, the moment he was dreading. This was going to be the end of his career and he would have to get kicked back down to a Seal level.
"Naw, they were all clean shots." Jason answered.
Now that he had some time to calm down and actually take a real look at Clay, he could see that Ray was right. He was holding Ash's actions against Clay and that wasn't fair to him. He didn't deserve it. That didn't mean he was going to place him on the team, but it did mean he could be civil. If he was honest with himself, he was curious about Clay. There was a lot more going on with him then he had expected.
Hearing Jason say that all of the shots were good, caused Clay to snap his head up. He wasn't expecting that. He thought he was going to be thrown under the bus. Clay didn't understand why Jason didn't. This was his chance to get rid of him for good, so why didn't he take it?
"Perfect. We're wheels up in ten if you will be ready Trent." Blackburn said.
"We'll be good. I'm just finishing up." Trent said, as he cut the extra thread.
"Alright, pack up." Jason said to the others.
Trent got the gauze on Clay's wound as he spoke. "I'm guessing I don't need to tell you how to care for it."
"Naw I'm good. Thanks for your help."
"Anytime, it's what I do. Do you have pain meds with you?" Trent asked, as he stood up from the bed.
"Ya I got a couple of over the counter liquid advils."
"You should take a couple, it will help with the pain. You'll start to feel it more once we are on a plane for a good twenty hours."
"I will."
Clay knew he would be feeling it a lot more soon. It was already sore and tender from the stitches, so he knew it would only get worse with sitting on the plane. It wasn't like he could lay down in a hammock, he wasn't allowed. Trent headed off to grab his gear and Clay got his shirt on and worked on getting his gear back together in his bags. Once he was all set he went to grab his bag and gun, but before he could grab his vest, the heaviest thing he had, it was already being picked up by Jason.
"Watch your side, you don't want to pop a stitch." Jason said, with a friendly tone and they both headed off for the plane.
"Why didn't you tell Commander Blackburn it was my fault for the mission failure?" Clay asked instead. He wasn't looking to play nice right now. He needed answers, because it made no sense to him.
"Because it wasn't your fault."
"I didn't follow your orders and I took a shot that I wasn't supposed to take. How is that not my fault?" Clay asked, confused.
Jason let out a sigh. He would really need to be careful in the future if he worked with Clay on another operation of what he said to him if shit went south. Apparently, Clay took everything that is said to him personally and he seemed to be able to carry the guit with him, whether it is warranted or not.
"First, yes you didn't follow my order about staying at the tunnel entrance. However, I did tell you to watch our backs and when you were attacked by that tango, you did what anyone else would, you searched to make sure we didn't get the jump on us. I would expect nothing less from anyone else on my team. And second, you did what you are trained to do. You assessed a situation and acted accordingly. Ray didn't have a shot and as far as you knew, I didn't either. Any one of my guys would have done the same thing. You aren't trained to look at someone's hands, that is something that only a few people would do. Ray doesn't either. It's something that I was taught by an old Master Chief that I worked with. It stuck with me and I should have passed that knowledge on. You did what any one of my guys would do, what I would expect them to do. I had no right talking that way to you and I had absolutely no right putting my hands on you. That is not the type of leader that I am nor is it the type of man. I let my emotions and opinions about Ash cloud my judgment and that is not acceptable nor fair to you. You deserve to have a fair shake down and for me to treat you how I would any other rookie in Green Team."
"It's fine, really, no need to apologise."
"It's not fine and you shouldn't be accepting it as fine. You don't deserve it and should be demanding better from people."
That was something Clay wasn't used to. He was used to being hated or looked down upon. He grew up in an orphanage for the majority of his life, he was used to having to try and be hidden and quiet. You didn't cause any problems, you didn't argue, you just accepted what was going on, whether you liked it or not. Clay had gotten very used to just accepting people were going to treat him like shit and he would just have to push through it all. He wasn't about to tell Jason that though. That was a personal conversation and not one he was going to have with Jason, so Clay switched it to something he was more comfortable with.
"You know, I'm way above a rookie." Clay said with a confident smirk.
Jason gave a small groan to that. "You have skills and a lot of potential kid I'll give you that. But in this world of DEVGRU, you are a rookie and you still have a lot to learn." Jason was confident though with the right team, Clay would skyrocket into being one hell of an operator.
"I love to learn, so that works out perfectly for me." Clay said, with a warm smile.
Jason gave him a small warm smile in return as they walked onto the plane. Lisa came over and grabbed some of their gear for them. Clay started to head off to the benches, but stopped when Jason spoke.
"Lisa, grab Clay a hammock, he's earned one."
Lisa looked from Jason to the shocked face of Clay. She gave them a warm smile as she spoke. "Sure thing."
"You got pain meds?" Jason asked Clay.
"Um, ya, ya I'm gonna take a couple." Clay said, trying to get over the shock of being allowed a hammock. It was the fact that Jason said he had earned it. He hated that it brought a slight warmth to his chest.
"Good. Take some and then crash. Let me or Trent know if your side gets worse or if you start feeling sick. You'll have to get it looked at on base too before going home. Adam will want the all clear from the doc before you continue in Green Team."
"I'll get it sorted." Clay agreed, already knowing that the instructors would need it cleared before he did any of the work.
Jason moved on to get sorted and Clay took the offered hammock from Lisa and gave her a smile of thanks before he went and got it sorted. He then popped a couple of pills and once they were in the air he got into his hammock and let out a sigh as he was finally able to lay down and rest. His side was sore and he knew it would be for a couple of days. Stitches sucked without being able to have any numbing agent, but he was used to the burn and pain long by now. It was not any fun and Clay knew sleeping was going to be a task in a half, but it wasn't his first injury and Clay knew it wouldn't be the last.
Jason laid down in his hammock and looked over at Clay. He could see him sleeping, but he also could see the faint lines of pain on Clay's face. Jason knew stitches could hurt, they hurt him after the numbness wears off and he had never gotten them when he couldn't be numb. Jason knew it would have been painful and yet Clay didn't make a sound. The only indication he had of being in pain was a slight flinch of his jaw as it was clenched. Jason couldn't help but think it was ingrained into Clay to not make a sound when he was in pain. Ingrained that if he did, more pain would come his way. There was more to Clay than Jason had ever expected. Hearing just the small bits and pieces of his childhood was already pulling on his fatherly heartstrings. Jason didn't want to like Clay, but there was a small piece of him that was already coming to like him. He would be keeping an eye on Clay and see how the rest of Green Team goes for him. Maybe, just maybe, he was already looking at their new Bravo Six and for the first time since Nate's death, it didn't hurt so bad.
The End
