A/N

This chapter picks up right where the last one took place.

Trigger warning for torture.

XXXXXXX

Sometime in the middle of the night Jay woke up from a dreamless sleep, feeling more rested than he had in months. His eyes adjusted to the light and he realized he was on the couch, head resting on his dad's leg. As much as it hurt him that his dad knew what happened, it removed the twist of the lie from around his heart and gave him some hope that he could get through this. His dad would help him, Al, Trudy, they would help him…Will…he saw his brother asleep in the recliner and sucked in a breath…Will would help him.

XXXXXXX

Jay was still asleep when Will and Hank woke up. They were in the kitchen drinking coffee, Will not taking his eyes off Jay's sleeping form, internally begging his brother to wake up before he had to leave for work. He needed to apologize, let his little brother know he was there, that he would be the goddam older brother he should have been to him all these years.

"It's okay Will. Go to work. I'll let him know you were here."

He looked away from his brother to his dad and screwed his face up, "That's not enough…it's…"

"It's enough for now kid. You guys'll fix this, you have time. He's home now."

"Okay…okay…"

He put his cup in the sink, "See ya later dad," and let his eyes linger on Jay for another minute before heading to work, praying his dad was right and that he would be able to fix everything with Jay.

XXXXXXX

As soon as Trudy arrived, Hank headed to work, not leaving his son with a babysitter this time, but with support. Jay had asked for help last night, even though he'd more than likely pretend it never happened, that is if he even remembered, but that shit wouldn't fly with Trudy and he damn well knew it.

"What's that?"

She raises her eyebrows and donned a hopeful smile, "Will called from work and asked me to pick it up on my way here."

She took the Hostess Cupcake two pack of out of the bag and set it on the coffee table where Jay would see it.

Hank pursed his lips and nodded his head, overcome with emotion. He knew the significance. He had seen the hostess cupcake exchange many times over the years. They were always part of an apology, usually the beginning when it couldn't immediately be delivered in person…a precursor for the face to face apology to come.

His boys were going to be okay.

She was sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee when she saw Jay wake up with a grimace. He slowly stretched out his bum leg, bending and straightening it a couple of times, grimacing through the pain until it seemed to loosen up. He rolled onto his back and rubbed his face before sitting up. He caught Trudy's eye in the kitchen and answered her smile with one of his own. It was then he noticed the cupcakes on the table and his breath hitched. His eyes flicked to hers before he leaned forward, elbows on knees and put his head in his hands. She could see his shoulders rise and fall as he worked through his emotions with every deep breath he took.

Finally he sat up and leaned against the back of the couch, hands clasped on top of his head. He looked at the recliner where Will slept last night and sucked in a breath, eyes glistening with unshed tears.

Her heart skip a beat when he looked at her and a genuine smile graced his face. She didn't realize it until right then, but it was the first true smile she had seen since he came home.

XXXXXXX

When Hank rolled in, looking like he hadn't slept in ages, Al was sitting at his desk, striking out with his CI's. He rolled his chair back and out of the blue said, "I think we should leave him in."

Hank had already decided he would leave Jay in, though he still wavered when fear for his son overwhelmed him. Al just happened to catch him when he was silently drowning in that fear and teetering on the edge of 'no' for the hundredth time that morning. It put him on the defensive.

Hank looked at his best friend like he had two heads. He hated that his hand was being forced when his heart wasn't able to land solidly on a yes yet.

"Just hear me out Hank."

He had everyone's attention, "I think it would help him."

"Help him?! How is putting an emotionally unstable person in the line of fire helpful."

Al shook his head, "Look. He's not emotionally unstable. In pain, yes, but not unstable. He can take care of himself..."

"He had a fucking flashback in the middle of a meet. How is that being able to take care of himself? For Christ sakes, he had a night terror last night…"

"The kid had a flashback and probably the night terror, because that sadistic prick was making him relive everything that was done to him. Jay was solid before that."

Adam bravely piped up, "He was. He didn't let that asshole throw him….he rode it out."

Voight gave his subordinate a dirty look and went into his office, slamming the door, knowing that his son would be going back in, but he sure as shit wasn't happy about it. In fact he was terrified.

They leave the conversation there, but Al nodded at the rest of the unit. Jay would be going back in. Hank would get his head wrapped around it, it would just take a bit longer…but not long enough as far as Hank was concerned. A text from Jay came in a half hour later.

Just got a text from Woody. He wants to grab something to eat before the job. 7pm. Astro Diner on Welling.

Gimme a minute.

After five minutes of clenched fists and huffs of frustration from Hank, he growled at Hailey to pick up Jay and take him to the UC apartment.

It's a go kid. Hailey's on her way. We'll be nearby.

Thanks Al.

A few minutes later Al got another text.

Can you drop off a two pack of Hostess Cupcakes to Will at work.

Al sighed in relief and smiled as he sent a text back.

You got it kid.

XXXXXXX

It was the third time in two weeks Jay unloaded product for James and his crew. The first two times it was drugs and high-end electronics.

The team sat back, watching and listening through the button cam/microphone on Jay's shirt. If Jay ran into trouble, they were all parked within six blocks of the small warehouse.

Jay, Woody and one other guy were unloading the truck when they hit the jackpot. Guns, crates of them, military grade. The more boxes they unloaded the more pissed Jay got. Not just guns…but supplies, mission gear for his guys…James and his crew were ripping off Rock Island. That meant only one thing, someone in the military was helping them.

The truck was almost unloaded when Jay saw a particular crate that switched his anger to rage. He opened the crate and looked inside.

"What the hell is he doing?"

"Don't know man, he's just supposed to unload, not snoop."

Hank was pissed at his kid for taking that risk, but he could deal with that later, "Let it play out."

They could all hear the anger and worry in Voight's voice, but did what he asked and left it alone.

Jay took a breath, trying not to explode. Woody came back to the truck for another box and stopped when he saw Jay had opened one. He looked around for the other guy, and then back at Jay, confused by the Sergeant's anger.

A moment later, Jay reached into the box and pulled out a metal looking plate. He tossed it into the bed of the truck in front of Woody, who visibly swallowed, then looked up with shame on his face.

Adam asked the question that they all wanted to answered, "What is that?"

"Plate for a flack jacket."

"Looks different…"

"Different vest than ours."

Woody tried to explain, "Sarge…" but Jay was having none of it. Just grabbed another box and walked it over to the stack they had already unloaded, he needed a minute.

Woody watched after Jay and hung his head. He knew it was just this kind of thing that almost got him killed on the op where Jay got captured, people stealing the very supplies that kept him a live.

FLASHBACK

It happened every mission. Sergeant Halstead would go down the line, firmly punch their vests with the top knuckles of his two fists, they would spin and he would tap their back in the same way, making sure they had plates.

When he got to Woody, Sarge tapped the front, spun him, then tapped his back.

"Mouse…"

Mouse knew what Sarge wanted, this had happened before. Nothing was said, Sarge just turned around so Mouse could remove the plate from the back of his OTV. He handed it back to the Sergeant, who in turn, slid it into the front of Woody's flack jacket. Then he moved on down the line like it was nothing.

Woody would have died that day if not for Sarge…he took one to the chest. Sarge's donated plate stopped it. Then, less than 3 hours later, Sarge saved all of them, it was an ambush and his skill with a sniper rifle was the only reason they got out alive. If Beckman would have been up there on overwatch, they would be dead. Sarge had been grabbed from his perch, they found him three days later.

"Something's going on there."

"We'll find out later."

They watched the three of them part ways, the as of yet unidentified third party taking the truck, Woody and Jay getting into Woody's car.

"They're done. Let's pack up. Adam, Kev, keep monitoring."

"Got it boss."

XXXXXXX

Woody couldn't keep himself from looking at Jay. Sarge hadn't said a word the entire drive back to his place. He had apologized once, but Sarge said nothing so he let it be, but still kept sneaking glances as he drove. He was disappointing Jay and even though that wasn't a surprise given what they were doing, it still made him feel bad.

Sarge hadn't had much of a problem with the drugs and electronics, well the drugs a bit, but he joked about getting a TV as a bonus, even though those weren't the kind of electronics they were dealing in.

He couldn't stand Sarge being mad at him so he tried again, "I'm sorry Sarge…I'm…"

Jay had spent most of the drive trying to curb his anger, finally realizing he had to pull it together or he would blow the whole thing, "…'ts okay man…let's go get a beer…"

"Ya, ya, sounds good…"

A moment later Jay took a breath and perked up, playing the part despite the rage brewing inside him, "We're gunna make a pretty penny off that shit."

Woody pounded the steering wheel, "Hell ya!"

XXXXXXX

The next day, Hailey picked Jay up at his UC apartment and they went to eat at their usual diner, all part of the cover if they needed to go to the precinct. She could tell Jay was angry, and it was obvious he hadn't slept.

They came up the steps to find his dad standing in front of his office in his, 'not taking any shit' stance. Al had his chair rolled out from behind his little wall, legs stretched out in front of him, elbows on the arms of the chair while he casually peeled an orange.

Surprisingly, it was Al's quiet voice that scolded him while the rest of the team watched from their desks.

"You wanna tell us what that was?"

Jay started without preamble, without apology, "They're ripping off Rock Island. Four crates of M4's, crate of helmets, coms, OTV's, plates. The crates don't have sequence numbers on them. They're skimming off other boxes. The guns are manufactured there, it would be easy for someone to change the numbers, but there's no way, given the failsafes, that one man could pull it off, especially multiple times. There would need to be at least three people involved.

"One person could hide stolen equipment yes, but it would raise a multitude of red flags with inventory. For it to work, they would need someone in supply, someone to alter the numbers and a higher up would have to 'verify and approve' them if they were going to get away with it. They need all three signatures. I wouldn't be surprised if someone in base security is also involved. They gotta get the supplies out without detection somehow."

Al seemed to be the spokesman for the group. His dad was probably too pissed.

"Why'd you open a crate. That could have blown the whole operation…you getting snoopy."

He sighed, he knew he fucked up. "Look…" He tipped his head back a second and then looked directly at his dad, his boss.

"It was a box of OTV's and plates…over there…we were always short, playing musical plates, giving ours to the unit going out because 9 times out of 10 at least one person would be missing a plate, if not two. Many times we went out with only one. We never had enough."

"What's the deal with Woody, why'd you throw that plate at him?"

Jay got up and paced, his anger coming to the surface again. They all waited, giving him a chance to calm down.

"The mission that went to shit, the one I was captured…when I was checking plates before we went out, Woody didn't have back or front. I gave him my back. It pissed me off that these assholes are getting my guys hurt or killed and Woody's been helping them when he had first hand experience of not having what we need. If it's not the military budget, it's people making a dime not carrying if they're getting soldiers killed."

He plopped back in his chair, "Look, I know I fucked up…"

"Bit of an understatement…"

He looked at his godfather, understanding his mellow anger, "Ya…ya…but I saved it…we went for a beer after…me and Woody are good…"

He saw his dad and Al exchange a look. Then looked at the rest of the team and his fear rose. "Dad, you can't pull me…you gotta let me see this through…we're close."

"I don't gotta do nothing…"

Al sighed, "We don't know what Woody would say to his brother, Kid, what the other guy unloading will say…Kev, we got a hit on him yet?"

"Nothing so far …still running facial rec."

"Even if Woody said something, it wouldn't matter dad. James already knows the whole story…it wouldn't…"

Voight sighed and walked back into his office and shuts the door.

Jay could feel the panic rising, he had to see this through. He looked at everyone, hoping they'd back him up. He saw empathy on their faces but he knew their hands were tied. This wasn't their decision, it was his dad's. He let his eyes linger on his godfather. He knew his eyes were a lighthouse to his desperation, he tried to quell it, but couldn't.

As much as he didn't want to, as much as he wanted to roll this all back and find another way to bust these guys without Jay's involvement, Al nodded and headed into Hank's office with a sigh, "I got ya kid…"

The relief that flowed through him had tears pricking at his eyes. He hid it from the team by focusing on his computer, but Al saw and his heart broke just a little more for his godson.

XXXXXXX

Woody knocked on the door just as he got a text the team was in place. Tonight was big and hopefully this would all be over by the end of the night. He wanted his guys safe and he hoped after tonight, they would all be just a little safer.

Jay wanted this to all be over was so he could finally ask Woody why he was doing this. He had some ideas. He actually thought it was a clusterfuck of circumstances that put Woody in this position; an honorable medical discharge took away Woody's dream, his job options were limited, his PTSD was off the charts and Woody's goddamn brother was a fucking asshole.

He could tell every time they were together that James had bullied Woody all his life, and all Woody wanted was his brothers love and approval. At least Woody wasn't holding his breath waiting for it. James was too big of a psychotic dick to be a good big brother.

Woody had been a totally different person when they served together. They had been in different units, but had done many joint ops. The self assured warrior on missions, fun loving goofball on down time, didn't exist under James thumb.

He was angry at Woody. On the surface, Jay was able to let go of the lingering anger from the meet where he screwed up and opened the box, but it was still there, simmering under the surface and Woody knew it.

These weren't only Jay's guys getting hurt, they were Woody's too. Guys who covered his six, guys that he covered. Brothers he got drunk with and joked with. Woody was screwing with their very lives and he wanted to know why.

As much as he suspected, as much as he knew deep in his heart the reasons, he needed to hear it out of Woody's mouth. He hoped this ended tonight so he could ask.

Pushing his anger down, he slipped easily into his UC persona of someone willing to sell out his brothers for a buck and swung the door open.

"'bout time you got here. James is gunna be…"

The rest of the sentence got stuck in his mouth when he found himself looking down the barrel of a gun.

"Hello hero. Let's have a little chat."

XXXXXXX

Hank looked at his watch again. Based on the information Woody gave Jay, the meet tonight would hopefully be the end of this whole shitshow of a case. They all just wanted Jay safe. They wanted him out and they wanted to help him work through the trauma of his war experience.

They had been in place a half hour. A quiet half hour, none of the usual banter, just palpable tension. They had about another half hour before Jay and Woody would show up. Everyone was on edge. Soon. It would be over soon.

XXXXXXX

The chat started with a hard blow to the face with the gun before he could even register that it was James standing in front of him. He felt his cheek split as he stumbled backwards. He stayed on his feet, putting his hands up, blinking the stars out of his eyes.

James really had no reason to show up there except that he was sick of Woody idolizing this goddamn American hero. He was sick of his brother talking about Halstead and worshipping the ground that Captain Fucking America walked on, when it used to be him that Woody idolized. But Woody went away to war and came back with a new hero and it fucking pissed him off, so he decided to make the hero pay and based on their first meeting, he knew the perfect way.

As soon as Jay's mind cleared, it was trying to figure out why James was there. Was his cover blown? Did Woody give him up? How did he save the op? Whatever the reason, he was on his own. The team was too far away for them to pick up anything on his button mic and camera. Shit.

He could feel the blood dripping down his cheek but left it, "What's the hell man?"

"I don't like you."

Jay kept his hands up, scrunching up his eyes at the randomness of the statement as well as to clear the blurriness.

"I knew as soon as Woody mentioned you that you would be a problem…"

"What…"

"Shut the fuck up hero."

James took another step forward and Jay took a tentative step back, trying to stave off the dizziness. "He just couldn't stop talking about you…" He mimicked Woody, "Sarge this, Sarge that…saved my life…best sniper in the country, lots of medals…"

Jay didn't know what was worse, his cover being blown or a psychotic jealous James. Whichever one it was, his only hope was to keep him talking until his dad realized something was off.

But a second later the talk was over, he took his eyes off James for a second looking for a weapon and that was all it took for the gun to come crashing into the side of his face again.

He stumbled back but kept his feet. Going on the offense was his only hope so he delivered a hard right to James' jaw, then knocked the gun out of his hand.

Before he could make another move, he felt an explosion in his injured knee as James' foot connected with it. Another kick to the chest immediately followed, throwing him back into the wall.

He went down hard, grabbed his knee and screamed through clenched teeth at the excruciating pain.

Everything disappeared except the pain in his knee. He didn't consciously feel the blow to his temple. The only part of his body that existed right now was his leg. Another kick to his knee changed that.

The spike in the already off the charts pain was like a bucket of cold water and Jay found himself fighting back with the help of a surge of adrenaline that dulled the pain and put his body on auto pilot.

He swept James' legs out from under him with his good leg and landed two blows to the asshole's stomach and an uppercut to his jaw. But with the overwhelming pain in his knee and his odd position against the wall, he couldn't get any leverage for the fight and the tide changed quickly.

Another kick to the face split his lip and slammed his head into the wall. His body slumped the rest of the way to the floor, arms flopping to the his sides. The tension in his leg released and it laid on the floor at an odd angle, his knee dislocated once again.

Jay felt a heavy weight on his hip as James held down the right side of his lower body with his knee. He was on the brink of unconsciousness, fingers twitching to the rhythm of the black spots that infringe on his vision, aching to hold his knee.

He couldn't pass out. A small part of him remembered he was in danger, knew he had to get his shit together, but the pain radiating in his leg pushed that thought out before it could even get any traction.

"Not so tough now are you hero."

XXXXXXX

The team knew something was wrong when Woody showed up without Jay. Panic rolled in when they couldn't get anything from Jay's button mic, they were out of range.

"Shit!"

"Kevin!"

"On it boss…"

He knew exactly what Voight wanted and pulled up the cameras in the undercover apartment.

"GODDAMIT!"

After his initial outburst, Hank's rage filled bark came through the comms, "Kim, Hailey, Kevin, stay here. When the unis get here go in. Adam, Al with me."

XXXXXXX

James put more weight on Captain America's right hip and shoulder to keep him down, laughing as the hero continued to writhe in excruciating pain, denying him access to his deformed knee.

He pulled out one of the stolen k-bars and waved it in front of Halstead's face.

"Look familiar, you had some fun with this...right?"

He started to cut Jay's t-shirt open. "Let's begin."

Jay tried to lock away the pain of his re-injured knee while he willed his head to stop spinning and focus on what the hell James was doing. He blinked the fog from his brain and made eye contact with the crazy bastard looming above him. He had a pretty good idea where this was going. Shit.

"What kind of questions they ask you hero?"

Pushing the two halves of Jay's shirt open, revealing his scarred torso, James started his interrogation.

He waved the knife in Jay's face again, "You cave and give them what they wanted," smiling when Captain America's breath hitched as struggled against his weight?

James and the knife loom in front of his face, "What'd they ask?"

Jay didn't answer, just continued to breathe through his nose and see if he could think of a way out of this but his brain was addled with a sure concussion and the pain in his knee wasn't helping. He tried to knock James off him but James put even more pressure on his shoulder and hip.

"They ask how many soldiers? … No?" He flicked the knife back and forth in front of Jay's face, "No answer, hero?"

He cut one of the healing scars with the k-bar, eliciting a surprised yelp from Jay, though the pain in his knee was still overriding the pain of the cut.

"Where's your base? They asked that one right? Where's your base?"

When Jay didn't answer James made another cut to an old scar. He sucked in a breath and for a moment blinked back to that cave and it was not James hovering over him but that bastard Tua.

"Where are your weapons?"

James didn't even wait for an answer just cut another scar. Knife…

He repeated that process a few more times, Jay blinking back and forth between the cave and the apartment.

"Oh. Looky here…What are these."

He touched a small red dot with the knife, a place that months ago held a red hot needle.

"This where the needles went?"

He poked it with the tip of the knife, drawing blood. Jay's lungs seized and he froze stiff as a board. James was gone and Tua was in front of him. No!

No more questions, just the needle…then another and another. He heard the laughter as over and over the needles went into his body. Taser…it's…

James watched as the hero's eyes glaze over and he got nothing but winces from him with each poke of his knife. That pissed him off until he realized that the little soldier was reliving his torture and that cracked him up so he kept poking.

Needles…

Again and again he felt the poke of the needles. He couldn't move. All of his muscles engaged, making it that much more painful.

His damaged leg was jarred and he is slammed back into the present with a scream of agony. Tua's face morphed into James'. He tried to catch his breath, in…out…in…

The hero was back in the present.

…out…in…

He didn't want him here, wanted to send him back, so he cut another one of the scars.

Out…

"Ahhhhh!"

Then James remembered the long scar on the hero's left hip and smiled.

He cut through the material of the hero's jeans and boxer briefs and tapped the scar with the flat side of the blade, "What question didn't you answer for this one?"

In…out…in…

James poked into the start of the scar by Jay's belly button. "Ahhhhh…mmmmmmm!"

The knife followed the path of the long cut that wrapped around his body.

The scream turned into a prolonged growl of agony through the hero's clenched teeth.

Once again James disappeared and Tua hovered above him. The cut ended with another poke and Jay bounced his head back against the floor and screamed.

"Ahhhhhhhh…"

In… .out…

Taser…taser is next.

A hand brushes against Jay's thigh, "No…"

The hero shuddered when his thigh was touched. James smiled and took the k-bar, extending the cut he already made in the leg of the hero's pants, revealing the group of scars.

Fists knife taser needles waterboard taser tally rest

In…out…in…out…it's only a gravelly whisper, "Not tally…"

James chuckled, using the knife to gently brushed over the row of scars, "That what this is Hero? They kept track?"

He put a cut next to the others and Jay screamed, but not just from the pain. It's not tally…it's wrong…the pattern is wrong. Not tally… He took his shaking hand and put it over the marks.

No…"No…not…not… … yet."

Fists knife taser needles waterboard taser tally rest

James looked at Jay stunned, then laughed and poked Jay's stomach with the tip of the knife once, then again…

Needles…no…no…please…

He cut on one of the longer scars on Jay's chest, then waved the knife over the cuts on his thigh."Is it tally now?"

"When's tally Hero?"

Fists knife taser needles waterboarding taser tally rest

The words leave his brain and escape his lips in a mumble,"… 'terboar…d…t'ser…tally…" Rest…then rest…

It took him a moment to figure out what Captain America said, but it made him grin when he got there.

"Sorry I don't have a taser or water with me. Guess we'll make do…" He cuts Jay's leg again, "Tally!"

"Noooo…" he breathed out, tears leaked from his eyes.

"Oh my god!" James laughed his ass off when the hero started to sob. He poked Jay in the stomach with more 'needles' and the soldier's body tensed...

He stopped and made another cut on an old scar then went back to Jay's leg, made a tally mark, got in Jay's face and whispered, "Tally."

Jay screamed, begged him to stop, begged him to fix it, while James and his k-bar jumped from needles to knife to tally all the while laughing at the hero's despair.

Fists knife taser needles waterboarding taser tally rest

A bang reverbed around him, muffled by his pain, and suddenly it all stopped. The weight on his body lifted, Tua disappeared, his muscles relaxed. He heard voices, echoing nearby but they didn't matter. He blinked at the cave ceiling and whispered, "Rest…we're on rest….we're on rest…we're on rest…"

XXXXXXX

Adam was the fastest in the group, Voight the slowest but he was right on Adam's heels. He blew by Adam at the top of the stairs and was kicking in the door when Adam caught up.

Jay's blood dripping from his knife, James turned to the exploding door in surprise, a wicked smile frozen on his face. A breath later the bullet from an angry father's gun wiped it off permanently.

"JAY!"

An implosion of silence followed. They hadn't really registered the magnitude of the laughter and screams until the absence of them.

Kicking in the door, shooting James and running to Jay were one fluid motion. Hank was instantly on his knees. He put one hand on his son's bruised and bloody face, the other running through Jay's hair. Jay…

Kicking the knife away from James' dead hand, Adam called out, "Clear! We're clear…get EMS!" when he heard Al and the unis charging towards the apartment.

Al continued into the apartment, dialing EMS but came to an abrupt halt when he saw his godson. Adam took the phone away and gave dispatch the information when Al froze, unable to speak.

A moment later, Al stumbled over to Jay's other side opposite Hank.

Jay was laying on the floor, left leg bent at an odd angle, his shirt cut open, chest covered in blood.

The kid's jeans and briefs were sliced from his left hip to just above his left knee, revealing the long scar. It had been cut open and was bleeding profusely. Further down on his thigh, the cluster of scars were exposed, blood dripping, new ones added to the group.

Adam sprung into action on the physical wounds while Hank and Al pounce on the emotional. He yanked off his hoody and held pressure on the large wound, sucking in a breath when he heard what Jay was mumbling over and over, "Rest… we're on rest… …we're on rest…we're on rest… … rest… …rest…" while Voight tried to bring Jay back from wherever he was, both hands on his son's face, begging Jay to come back...to come back to him.

XXXXXXXX

After Al, feeling useless, took over putting pressure on his godson's wounds, Adam leaned against the wall with his bloody hands clasped on top of his head watching the scene play out. As soon as he heard the sirens of the ambulance, he turned on his heal and sprinted out of the apartment and down the stairs to meet them. Anything to get away from the suffocating heartache engulfing the room.

Al sat on his haunches, holding the blood soaked hoody against Jay, repeating a silent plea for Jay to 'wake up' and be with them, not some hellhole in Afghanistan.

He couldn't stop his eyes from roaming over his godson's body. The blood and bruising on his face, the blood on his chest, old scars made new, the odd angle of his leg, and lastly, what finally made him turn away while wiping tears on his shoulder, the tick marks. A record of what he went through over there and now adding to that pain, what he's gone through here in the name of his country. Always a soldier, always a protector.

XXXXXXX

The medics work around the members of Intelligence. It was obvious they are not leaving the man that lie brutally injured on the floor of the dingy apartment. A pressure bandage was quickly put on his chest, another on the long knife wound on his side.

It was easily determined the guy had a concussion but exchanging a look, the medics knew something else was going on here that was not brought on by the knock to the head.

Jay looked at the rock of the cave, trying to get a handle on the pain that washed through him before they start again. That all stopped when he felt the needle and jerked, releasing a pained, "Nooooo…" then choked out a more desperate, "No," which diminished in sound to an almost imperceptible, "rest…"

Voight put a hand to his son's cheek, "Come on Jay. It's an IV. It's okay…come on look at me."

Jay turned toward the voice.

"You with me kid? It's okay."

Fear flashed in Jay's eyes, followed by despair when he looked at his dad, but didn't see him. His brow crinkled and a sob broke loose, "not… …rest…we're on…rest," then closed his eyes in resignation.

Voight tapped Jay's face, "Jay! JAY!"

The pain in Hank's voice echoed through the room. He took a quick glance at Al, then rubbed his face, trying to wipe away the sorrow. He touched Jay's cheek again then ran his fingers through his hair. When Jay didn't respond, he let his chin hit his chest and breathed out a final anguished 'Jay,' then quietly sobbed for his son.

XXXXXXX

Hope you liked it. The next chapter will take a bit of time since it is currently a hot mess, so thanks for your patience!

Jay's knee (ow) is dedicated to ChinVilla. LoL

Thanks for reading and all of your support! Stay safe out there peeps!