Chapter 11

Bravo was on their plane to JBad, dreading every moment of the long flight back to the desert. This deployment felt different to them, almost heavier, as not everyone worked out their demons before they left, and the center of these demons seemed to live the wonder twins. The team was slowly dealing with the fact they left them behind and watched them fight against death's door when they finally got them back, but the twins were still fighting their internal demons even though they would not dare tell anyone or seek help. They internalized everything, pushed it deep inside them, stomped all over it, and then bricked a box around it to never surface again.

Davis and Liz huddled at the plane's back, playing cards and engaging in silent whispers. Davis was already working on intel when she heard Liz startle awake in her hammock from a nightmare. She walked over with some cards and two beers. She motioned for Liz to follow her to the back crates for them to settle down, as there would be no more sleep for Liz tonight. Davis knew from experience staying with her she tended to hide her nightmares from the team and had a hard time settling down and usually worked out to ease her mind, but that was a bit harder on the plane with the rest of Bravo and the support team sleeping.

"So, you are still trying to avoid the team, especially Clay? " Davis asked as they continued a few games of crazy eights, Liz's favourite game as it had no thinking, just action, and it helped her turn everything off.

"I am not avoiding them. " Liz blinked at her; a bit shocked she was being called out for the actions she knew were correct.

"You are avoiding him at least, and if you tell me any different, I will have to call you a liar, and I know how much that sparks you. " Davis stared her down.

"Ok, yes, I tried to detox from him while I was recovering, and it worked for the most part. Near the end, I did not have any thoughts about him, but then at the cages, when he hugged me, it all came flooding in. Liz sat there and pursed her lips together and realized she was stuck; Davis knew her almost as well as Clay, and there was no way to get out of this. "But it doesn't matter; he has Rebecca, and that's my drive to keep him at arm's length. I don't want to get too close to the devil and get burned. "

"He broke up with her at the bar. I thought you knew. " Davis told her.

"What? No, I had no idea! " Liz barked, annoyed that no one had told her, especially him. Her best friend. Well, she could not blame him as she was all over the place and shut him down time and time again. "I thought he would have told me. I saw her texting him in the hospital before he was discharged."

"Crap, Liz. God, you two are so stubborn sometimes I want to bash your two heads together. Yes, she was checking on him and trying to get him back, but he refused and told her to leave him alone. " Davis grunted as she shook her head in frustration and continued to shuffle the deck for the next game as Liz sat there in silence, probably stuck in her head.

…

The rest of the teamwork up a few hours later and only had about three more hours left to entertain themselves before they landed slowly made their way to the middle of the plane and settled down on the group of benches alongside the cooler of beers and food. Davis and Liz emerged from their corner when they heard the team rustling around and joined them with Blackburn and Mandy for the rest of the flight.

Clay noticed the dark circles under Liz's eyes and frowned as he knew she was not sleeping but refused the sedative Trent offered for the plane. On base, she would not be able to have anything to help her sleep in case there was an attack or a spin-up in the middle of the night; she had to be aware and able to wake up at a moment's notice. He made eye contact with Davis, raised his eyebrow with a questioning look, and was met with a shrug and a sad smile.

…

As the team walked on base, they took in all their familiar surroundings from the last deployment to the desert, dry heat, dry wind and cool nights.

"Please, someone trade with me, and I can not bunk with Sonny again! " Clay begged as they walked towards their temporary bunkers at the back of the base. "I'm tired of being up close and personal to him." Sonny grinned at him, knowing he was joking, as who would not want to bunk with him? It's a party.

"Nah, no way! The new people get the last dibs, and Liz lucked out, being the only girl, gets her room and bathroom with a shower attached to our room. So, it looks like you drew the short straw." Trent laughed as they reached their door.

The building was a small room with four bunk beds separated by a half wall, two desks, and four mini closets along the border. Jason and Ray got their room with two beds and desks alongside some cabinets as Chiefs got their quarters alongside their teams. Liz got a separate room with a door attached to the teams' quarters that had one desk, a closet, and a bathroom with a small shower. She was happy to have her own space and shower so she would not have to wait in the communal showers on the base by the mess hall.

"Oh, hell no. Pebbles, you are gonna be a sweetheart and share your shower, right? Can't leave your brothers hanging." Sonny questioned as he batted his lashes at her, peeked into her room, and spotted her private shower.

"HA! I'm not letting you boys get your grubby hands on my bathroom." Liz joked at them all as they all peeked in together. She couldn't help but laugh as they looked like a cartoon with all their heads poking in a line in the small gap, all batting their lashes with pleading looks. Sonny opened the door wider, and Cerb came barreling inside her room and straight to her bed to make himself comfortable. As much as she joked, she knew she would cave as they all still gave her puppy dog eyes. She just shook her head, knowing she had already lost.

Blackburn and Mandy were across the gates for the DEVGRU section as she was put in the officer quarters that resigned beside the compound's TOC. The team shared this base with other military personnel and officers, but the SEALs got their own section guarded for selective personnel only. Their compound only housed one SEAL team at a time, intel officers where Davis resided and lower CIA support staff and Bravos support team, so they had full access to their shower, mess hall, TOC, gym area and firepit alongside their temporary weapons cages. But it was still a lot of people sharing one shower tent.

Their first night there was pretty relaxed as they all gathered together, headed off for some food, and then made their way back to their bunks as some skyped their families and the others gathered around the fire pit to settle in for the night. Clay and Sonny were first at the pit and started the fire as Trent finished his skype call with his new girlfriend and was now on the hunt for some drinks for the team. Brock returned to feed Cerb and came out to join the guys at the fire. The hair missile shot out the door as soon as Brock opened it and ran straight up to the seats. He knew it was first to come for the benches, and there was no way he was not getting a spot beside someone who would be suckered into giving him pets. Clay was settled in on an old back seat bench from a van. Cerb knew he would get the royal treatment sitting by Clay at the fire as Clay was always up for a good pet and a behind-the-ear scratch if Cerb laid his head on his lap. Brock went to their weapons cages, grabbed a few camping chairs that made their way to the base a while back, set them up along the fire before he took a seat in one, and just shook his head at Cerb. He may have been his dog, and they both loved each other and showed undeniable loyalty, but the dog chose his two pups, and nothing could take him away from them. Sonny settled alongside Brock on the other bench of seats from another van and put his feet up along the edge of the pit, and Trent slowly made his way towards them with some cups and a bottle he managed to get from the support team, knowing they would make their way towards the fire soon. Liz came out of her room and shot them all smile but turned off and started a run around the large base to let out some energy before she settled at the fire. Jason and Ray came out slowly after getting off their calls with their families and were joking and pushing each over as they walked toward the fire.

Blackburn, Mandy and Davis would not join them tonight as the first night usually was overly busy for them discussing intel and setting up the TOC.

After forty-five minutes, Liz sauntered back to the fire for a quick drink before she headed off to shower and crash for the night. She was overly tired at this point as she did not get much sleep on the plane and hoped she could settle and get a good few hrs of sleep by excreting herself. As she sat down in the camping chair next to Trent, he heard her wheeze slightly, shot his eyes towards her, and took in an assessment.

"Your wheezing; I thought you were cleared and had no other problems?" He demanded. And with that, the rest of the team shot concerned eyes toward her trying to get their assessment. Now a bit worried that she was not ready to be here.

"Woah, calm down; I am ok, I just went a little too hard, and I'm not used to this cooler dry weather as VA Beach is not this cold at night when I run. I'm ok; I need some time to get used to it." Liz mentioned as she held up her hands in defence, slowly making eye contact with the team. She locked eyes with Trent and could see the worry in his eyes as he stared at her, not saying a word.

Trent squinted at her, taking in her answer; slightly satisfied, he said, "You better tell me if things change." But he had made a mental note to keep a close eye on her. Maybe get Jason to order Liz and Clay to have a quick medical run-over by Trent tomorrow before they get too far into things so he can make sure they are ok over here with a new climate and their injuries.

Liz nodded and turned her attention back to the fire but could still feel a gaze on her. She looked up and saw two sets of eyes on her. She smiled at Jason, and he smiled back and turned his attention to the conversation he and Ray were having about football. She turned her head and met the baby blues she tried so hard to get off her mind. Clay stared at her, and she could read his worry and question pass across his face; and she stared back for a moment before she finished her drink and got up and announced she was heading off to bed and walked past Cerb and leaned down to give him a few pets and met Clay's eyes again and gave him a tight smile.

Slowly the team made their way to their beds, and Liz could hear them all come in as she lay awake unable to sleep again.