Chapter 3

It had been a week since the guys had discovered Clay alive in the human trafficking ring. The week had been hard on everyone, but especially Clay. He was still following the trafficker's rules and that was making it very difficult to get him to be willing to sleep in a bed. Jason knew the guys were all worried, but he wasn't. He was just glad that he had found Clay and they could start to heal him. If he was too scared to sleep in a bed, then he could sleep on the couch, it was just that simple to Jason. They could work on him sleeping in a bed. What they needed to focus on more than anything was Clay eating. He was still talking in a different language, but again Jason knew that would come with time. What they didn't have time for was Clay not eating. They had barely fed him and now Clay was used to almost never eating unless they gave it to him. Jason suspected that they had hurt him in the early days if he did eat and now Clay only ate when his body needed it to live. It was the same with water.

Dr. Moore had arrived that first day and after Clay not eating anything for three days Jason had to give him permission to give Clay a mild sedative and put a feeding tube in him. They had to get some calories on Clay so his organs and his heart would be able to keep going. Jason had suggested it would be easier on Clay if he wasn't awake for it and he was thankful that Dr. Moore had agreed. Over the past week the guys had all but invaded the hospital on base. Jason and Cerb were with Clay at all times and often Trent or Yoder were there as well in the room to help if Clay needed it. The rest of the guys were all stationed around to make Clay feel safe. Jason, Yoder and Full Metal made sure that Vic was never in the room. They were not going to be taking any chances where Clay's safety nor health were concerned.

Sonny pulled up their humvee to the plane and Jason looked behind him to see Clay laying down with Cerb still curled up with him. Clay mostly slept all week, but that was good for him. He needed the sleep to help his body start to heal. Dr. Moore had also said he would be very tired for the next few months as his body tried to catch up on the lack of sleep and all of his injuries. They were going to be able to take him home today and they were fully prepared for the flight to take a lot out of him. They had a hospital bed on the plane set up. Trent was going to sedate Clay and then they were going to be putting him into the bed. They had a spare oxygen tank just in case Clay's current one ran out. Clay was going to have a lot of doctor's appointments within the next week and Trent was going to see if he could get them to come to Clay. He wasn't certain they would be able to get all of the specialists, but he knew he could get the physio therapist to go over, the Shrink, and the nutritionist.

Clay's house was all set up for him. Alpha and Charlie were down and they got all of the equipment for physiotherapy set up in one of the spare bedrooms. They also got the other spare bedroom on the lower level set up for Clay. They picked up some clothes that would fit Clay and they made sure the fridge and cupboards were fully stocked. They also went to Brock's place and picked up everything that Cerb would need. They had a sheet on the couch along with a blanket and pillows. They also moved the couch that was upstairs and switched it with the couch on the lower level. The couch that was upstairs on Clay's level was a sectional with a chaise piece so it would be easier for Clay to lay down on and have more room. They also picked up some new books for Clay and some entertainment movies that he could watch as he tried to fall asleep. The guys knew that Clay couldn't read yet, but they figured that Jason would read to him.

The house was all set for Clay to come back home and Jason was forever thankful to the guys for getting it all set up and thought it all out. It meant a lot to him to know that the guys still had Clay's back. When everyone on the other teams got told that Clay was alive, they were beyond relieved. That quickly faded though when they discovered that Clay had been held by human traffickers and could never be active again. The guys all knew that he wouldn't likely be able to be in the field ever again, but they were hoping that he would still be able to be in HAVOC with Bravo. That he would be able to still be there with the guys in some capacity. That would completely depend on Clay though and if he wanted to be back there or not. Jason knew the guys were all hoping he would, but he didn't care. He wanted Clay happy and healthy and he didn't care what he did to make that happen. If Clay wanted to spend the rest of his life sitting on the beach and writing books, that was exactly what Jason was going to encourage. Clay had survived something horrific, he deserved to be able to do anything he wanted.

The second Sonny parked the humvee, Jason was getting out and moving to the back door. Sonny went around and started to grab the bags with their gear. Jason put Clay's oxygen tank over his shoulder before he got into the back of the humvee slightly so he could pick up Clay.

"Come on Sunshine, let's get you onto the plane."

Jason very carefully picked Clay up and Clay once again gave a small scream in pain that cut right through Jason's heart. He hated that he couldn't take this pain away from his son. He wished he could have traded places with Clay. He would have done so in a heartbeat.

"I know, I'm sorry. Soon though we will be back home and you can rest for as long as you want." Jason promised.

He carried Clay onto the plane with Cerb walking right beside him. The guys all followed as they unloaded the humvees. Clay simply placed his head against Jason's shoulder and Jason could tell he was fighting to keep his eyes open. That was something that they had all picked up on, Clay was constantly exhausted. He was sleeping twenty-two hours a day at least. Both Dr. Moore and Trent had said it was to be expected. Clay's body was very sick and rundown and the only way it was going to be able to repair itself was by sleeping.

"Hey Firecracker, I just need to give you something to help you sleep throughout the flight." Yoder said, as he held a needle in his hand.

The guys were all getting everything set up so they could take off and get Clay home where he needed to be. Clay just gave a very small nod and Yoder quickly gave him the sedative. It would keep him asleep so he would be able to be on a hospital bed during the flight. Jason stood off to the side holding onto Clay as he watched the others getting things set up. Jason could feel the sedative kicking in as Clay's body started to get weaker. He looked down and saw Clay's eyes closed and he knew he would be under soon enough.

"His spot is ready." Trent whispered so he wouldn't wake Clay back up.

"I'll put him down in a minute. I want to make sure he stays asleep." Jason said.

Trent gave a nod in understanding before he went and made sure everything was ready for when they took off. Jason continued to hold onto Clay for another five minutes before he went and placed him down. Trent was instantly helping to get Clay settled.

"It hurts less on his right side." Jason said.

Trent helped to roll Clay over and he grabbed a pillow and placed it between Clay's knees to help the pain within Clay's legs. With him on his right side, Trent made sure the oxygen line was in a good position and the tank was secured to the side of the bed. He then covered Clay with the blanket before Cerb hopped up on the bed and curled up behind Clay.

"He secure?" Blackburn asked.

"We're good." Trent confirmed.

"Alright, we're getting ready for take off." Blackburn called out to everyone.

Everyone got ready for take off. Jason went and sat down on the bench right by Clay's hospital bed. He was not about to let him out of his sight. He still couldn't believe this had happened to him in the first place. The past six months had felt surreal to Jason. To know that his own son was out there somewhere in the world and he had no idea where he was. He had no idea what had been happening to him or if he was even still alive. He didn't expect for Clay to be in this rough of shape when they did find him. Jason knew it had always been a possibility, but he had been hoping Clay would be in better condition. He had been hoping that Clay had been locked up somewhere and treated humanely. All of that went out the window with the level of deterioration his body was in. Jason knew there was going to be a long and hard road ahead of them, but he was going to be there for Clay through it all. He had been able to get his six months of vacation time approved. Captain Lindell also informed him that if he needed more time with Clay, they could have him outside of an active role until Clay was ready for him to be active again. He could be helping with Green Team or working in command somewhere on base.

It made Jason feel better knowing that he had time that he could spend with Clay. That they would be able to have the time he needed to get healthy and be ok again. There were a lot of different doctor appointments that Clay had to go to and he was going to need help with a double lung transplant. The road was going to be very hard and he was going to need someone there with him. Especially with Clay's body being too weak to even walk. He needed someone to help him with getting dressed, getting clean and getting to the bathroom. Jason didn't mind doing any of that though, neither did the guys. Clay was their little brother and they would do whatever he needed them to do. Over the past week when they did help Clay he seemed to be the most comfortable with Jason and Yoder. Yoder had been the one to be able to get Clay in the bath to help him keep his body clean. It made sense and the guys didn't take offense to it. Yoder and Clay had known each other for over eight years. It was natural for them to have a deep bond, a deeper connection with each other after everything they had been through.

The other major issue was Clay not speaking English. He was still talking softly and speaking a different language. All of the guys had their translation app up and with them all the time so they would be able to communicate with Clay. However, it was going to be hard with him too afraid to speak English. It was a serious hurdle and one they were going to have to work on almost right away. Jason was hoping the Shrink would be able to help Clay with speaking English first and then they could work on the rest. The second the plane leveled out, the guys all got up and Jason knew they wanted to talk about what they knew so far. Jason got up and gave Cerb a pet before he made his way over to the guys.

"What do we know?" Sonny demanded to Blackburn.

"We are working the human trafficking ring. We don't have anything new, but Mandy and Davis are both looking into it and they will find them. We also have the complete Army file that they have on these guys. We are also working with additional military personnel that have been able to speak with the other victims that the Ranger unit was able to rescue. We are hoping they might be in better condition to give us something new."

"And how many were there in the facility?" Ray asked.

"Including Clay, twenty-two. All of them from what I have been told were in rough shape. However, some had been there less time than Clay so there is a chance that one of the other victims that were newer at the location might be less traumatised and talking. Either way, we will find the ring leader and then Bravo will be able to go in and kill him."

"No, not kill him. I want to know how Clay ended up there and that man might be the only one that can tell us." Jason said.

He would have loved to kill that son of a bitch, but if that bitch could give them Vic, Ash and whoever in the Upper Brass was targeting Clay, then he would leave him alive. He wanted Vic, Ash and whoever was helping them cover Clay's death up. They were the ones that mattered the most and Jason wasn't going to rest until he got them.

"Agreed. As much as I would love to string him up and torture him for doing this to Clay. We need to know how Clay ended up in that Hell and not in the ground like we were all led to believe." Sonny agreed.

"And we will get those answers for you." Blackburn promised.

"To fake a Tier One Operartor's death though, that had to come from high up the food chain. You can't just be anybody and get away with it." Ray stated.

"But why though? I thought a lot of people within the Upper Brass liked Clay and the political connections he was making. So why would they want to fake his death and then stick him in a human trafficking ring on the other side of the world? That doesn't make any sense." Vic commented.

And that was the point. Vic and Ash had done it that way on purpose. They had to eliminate a direct motive behind Clay's kidnapping and capture. If there wasn't a logical one, then it would be harder for them to trace it all back to General White and back to them.

"It doesn't, but it had to come from someone within the Upper Brass, that's the only way it would be possible. To pull something as complicated as this, they had to be very high up within the chain of command and have a good number of connections. It's not going to be simple to prove who it was." Ray said.

"But we will. We won't rest until everyone that is responsible for this is thrown in jail." Sonny said with determination.

"I'm surprised that you want them in jail. I would have figured you would want them dead." Trent commented.

"Death is too easy for them. They deserve to be in a hole in the ground in some third world country trapped for the rest of their lives. To never be able to see the sun again. Never getting real food. To be tortured in a CIA blacksite for the rest of their natural life. They deserve to go through everything that Clay had to suffer through until they finally die. Then Clay will have justice." Sonny said with a deadly rage to his voice.

He didn't want these bastards to get away with a quick death. He wanted them to suffer every second of every day like they had put Clay through. Death was too easy and merciful for them and they didn't deserve it.

"We'll get them, no matter how long it takes." Jason said with a pointed look at his men, his eyes lingering on Vic for a second longer.

"What about Clay, what does he need?" Brock asked.

"The best thing for him is to sleep. His body needs the rest to help heal itself. That and food. We have to try and get him to eat small amounts throughout the day. It doesn't matter what it is. With having no teeth we have to go extra slow. Soup right now is going to be good for him and then ice cream and rice. Derek picked up the food that Dr. Moore recommended, so we'll be fine. We just have to start him off with simple food to help his stomach get used to it. If we don't, we risk shocking his system and making him sick." Trent explained.

"We also got Derek to pick up some vitamin drops that we can add to his water. With him not getting an IV any longer we have to make sure he is drinking two water bottles at least a day. We need to keep flushing his system out and helping to clear out the toxins that have built up. The water will also help with kidney health. But on the other side of that, the more water he drinks, the more he will have to pee. So we are going to have to keep a close eye on that. He's used to holding it for a whole day and that is not going to help his kidneys." Yoder explained.

"Every two hours whoever is with him, needs to be trying to get him to go to the bathroom. I don't want to say it this way, but like a toddler potty training. We have to get his body used to going when he has to go and not once a day." Trent added.

"We'll get him there. It's going to take time, but we'll get him there. He's got me for a solid six months and he has the team until it is classified that he is safe. Plus the other teams will be popping by when they are stateside to check in and make sure he doesn't need anything. Dr. Moore is also going to be checking in on him once a week and he is on call should we need him to come by. We'll get him back to being healthy again." Jason said, confidently. He knew Clay had a long road ahead of him, but he also knew he had a lot of brothers there to make sure he got better. If Clay wasn't strong enough to fight right now, they were all going to fight for him.

"I think the best thing for everyone right now would be to try and get some rest yourselves. Clay is sleeping and we have a good twenty hour flight ahead of us. Take the time to sleep while you can." Blackburn advised.

"I'll sleep in a bit." Sonny said, before he headed over and went and sat down on the edge of the hospital bed. He placed his hand in Clay's and just sat there with him.

"This is going to be really hard on him. You might find it hard to get Sonny away from Clay." Ray commented.

"He can be there for him as much as he wants. Him and Clay have a bond. Clay's supposed death hit Sonny really hard. It was a wound that was never going to scab over and now that Clay is back Sonny's not going to like having him out of his eye line for very long." Jason explained.

"It'll be ok. We'll all be ok." Vic said, confidently.

"That we will Brother. Come on, let's get some rest. We got a long few months ahead of us." Ray said, as he put his arm around Vic's shoulders.

The others started to head off, leaving Yoder, Full Metal and Jason there. They had been keeping quiet this whole time, not looking for anyone on the team, especially Vic, to overhear them. But now that they were on the plane and everyone was a safe distance away and distracted, they could talk about what had been bothering them for the past week.

"What are we going to do about Vic moving forward? It was easy in the hospital to keep him out of the room, but now he'll be back in Clay's house." Yoder started.

"I'll be living there still and Cerb won't tolerate being away from Clay. We can make sure that Vic is kept out of Clay's home and isn't around him." Jason said.

There was no way he was going to risk having Vic around Clay. They had no idea what Clay was able to remember before he was grabbed. The very last thing Jason wanted, what any of them wanted, was for Clay to be scared of Vic and have him around him. Jason was going to be making sure that Vic never stepped foot within Clay's house.

"I can also stay as well. It would be good for Clay to have a medic around in case something goes wrong. I can also help with getting him cleaned up." Yoder offered.

"I think that would be good. He was more comfortable around you for that then me. Brock is going to let Cerb stay as well, so he will have three of us there to protect him at all times." Jason agreed. He was more than happy to have Yoder there. He knew Clay would like it as well and that was all that mattered.

"You know, either Vic is cold blooded and not bothered by any of this or he really didn't have anything to do with what happened to the kid." Full Metal stated.

"He had something to do with Clay's supposed death. Clay was confident that Vic was involved in his rape. If he could do that, there's no telling what he could do." Yoder said confidently.

"He's arrogant and cocky, he thinks he got away with it. He probably figures there's nothing connecting him to it. And even if there was and we did find out; he's a bottom feeder, he probably figures he could make a deal for no prison time to hand over Ash and whoever else is involved. He thinks he's in the perfect position." Jason said.

"There is no deal. There's no way he gets to have a deal and skate free from all of this. He is just as guilty as the others in this. He doesn't get to walk away with a dishonorable and no record. There's a highly good chance that Clay will be medically discharged from the Navy because of this. His life will never be the same. Vic doesn't get to have a happily ever after." Yoder said with strength to his voice.

"Agreed. There are no deals here." Full Metal said.

"And we won't give him one, no matter what. For now, we keep acting like we have no idea he is involved. Let him get comfortable and we can watch as Ash and whoever is involved, starts to freak out with Clay coming back to life. They'll make a mistake and then we will catch them and lock them away for the rest of their lives." Jason said.

He was not about to let any of the ones responsible for Clay's situation be given a deal. He was going to make sure they all paid a heavy price and they suffered for the rest of their natural life. Things were peaceful in the air, but once they were back home Jason knew that peace was going to be blown up. Because once they got Clay settled he would have no choice but to inform his brothers that they had been lying to them. Not only that, but that one of their brothers that they had worked and fought beside for six months could be the reason their little brother had gone through Hell. The fallout was going to be massive, Jason knew that, but he also knew he couldn't continue to lie to them. Not when Clay was back with them and needed all the protection he could get. They wouldn't be able to protect Clay if they didn't know who the enemy was. And Clay's greatest enemy was Vic.