Chapter 26

Bravo all sat up on the hillside contemplating everything about this mission. They arrived at the Russian boarder ten mikes ago and sat humming about having to go into enemy territory and waiting for the all clear.

"Can we say we did and leave?" Sonny asked as he stayed crouched down but wiggled closer toward Jason. "Say the General was a no-show and head to the nearest bar and camp out? No one has to know, and I don't feel like having a fire lit under my ass this mission."

"Here here." Liz pipped up as she now crouched between Jason and Clay, with Sonny fast approaching, bumping her into Clay's shoulder as the ruthless Texan offset her balance.

"I heard bears, boars, and wild cats are in this forest. I don't think we should risk it, boss. Time to go." Sonny firmly nodded as he stared into the tree line standing a few feet in front of them along the bottom of the hill. Marking the entrance into Russia, where he now feared the Russian military along with the wildlife.

"Sonny, do we need to add more things to your ever-growing list of fears? We don't have enough room to keep it to one travel-size page." Clay teased as he grabbed Liz by her side to steady her. As soon as his hand made contact with her tact vest, he stiffened up and closed his eyes, trying to focus. Bring his head back into the mission and away from the beautiful, strong woman beside him, now a little too close for comfort as all he wanted to do was grab her and show her how much he needed her.

Liz snorted as Sonny shot him a glare before he turned back towards Jason.

"We will make sure any wild animals do not eat you." Jason laughed as he pulled out his water.

"HAVOC just messaged in, and we are clear to pass the border for the next ten mikes. Time to go, boys." Ray called out quietly as he got off the phone with Mandy. "We are now on radio silence with them unless an emergent situation occurs but will still have inner comms."

"Alright, let's head out." Jason looked around at his team. "Liz, Brock, you guys go up high and keep watch for us to come back."

"What? I thought I was coming, and Ray was hanging back on watch?" Liz growled at Jason as she got closer to him.

"I changed my mind. You are just coming back from an injury. A little extra time will not be a bad thing."

"No, don't you bench me. You said in the briefing you will need me and my language skills."

"Liz, do not fight me on this," Jason warned her. He knew this was unfair, and they planned to have Ray stay behind incuse any important calls needed to be made with HAVOC, as the two staying behind would still have access to comms with them still being in the allied country. "We have Trent, who can speak Russian, and Clay can manage some if needed."

"Jase…." Liz pleaded. "I am ok; please do not leave me behind. I need to be back in the field." Liz knew Jason was only looking out for her, but she needed to get back out there; she needed to redeem herself in her eyes from her injury and not look weak. "Please." It came out almost a whisper as she felt like she was going to crumble. She took this personally, hoping her team had not lost faith in her or looked at her as weak as she got injured without them to look out for her.

"Jellybean. You sure you're ready?"

"I'm more than ready. Do not lose faith in me now."

"Ok. You have just been cleared; a little too soon, I might add, but that's another conversation, so if there is anything wrong, you let me know. No questions asked. Ray?"

"I'm good to stay, brother. Keep the plan as it is." Ray nodded.

"Alright, let's go." Jason started to run towards the tree line, followed by the rest of his team hot on heels as Brock and Ray situated themselves on the top of the hill under some foliage, they set up to cover in. They were going to be situated here until the team got back, and that would be a minimum of twelve hours as they headed into the forest to the meeting point with the General just outside his known camp. They will be the contact point with HAVOC and the rest of Bravo if an emergency occurs.

….

2 hours later

"Ok, was that a growl? I swear I heard something growling behind us." Sonny pipped up on their relatively quiet walk through the trees as his head started to swivel, eyes wide with fear.

"Son, I'm pretty sure that was your stomach." Liz laughed.

"Here, take this PowerBar; we can't risk you popping off for a fake animal." Jason shook his head with a huff of laughter as he tossed a bar from his pocket toward Sonny.

"That was no fake animal. You wait; I won't be carrying any of your injured asses out of here when it gets a chunk of you."

With that, Trent shook his head as he lightly shoved Sonny forward, so he didn't hold up the line more than needed. Clay led them on, followed by Jason, Liz, Sonny, and Trent brought up the back.

"No one is getting eaten unless you don't shut up and eat that bar. The animals can sense weak, hungry prey." Clay called out from the front of the line teasing Sonny and lighting more fire under his worries. It was too easy as Sonnys' ever-growing list of fears was always brought up in any new country. There was always something that worried the Texan, no matter how tough he tried to play.

As they continued along their made trail, the team got into some light banter as they occupied their time, still having another three hours before they had to lock it up getting close to the military camp. Just as Jason called out for a quick water break, Clay turned around a few feet ahead and called out to them about an opening up ahead, getting the spotlight of all their eyes. Then, poof, he was gone; within a blink, his mop of blonde curls was nowhere in sight.

"Blondie?" Sonny cocked his head as he tried to lean forward and get a better view of the area in front of him while staying in place.

With no answer, the team instantly took a crouch position, guns up, scoping their surroundings, trying to see this invisible threat that managed to get their teammate.

"Bravo 6, sitrep!" Jason called out. "6?"

"What the hell happened?" Trent called out, hoping to get an answer.

"8 on me, 3 and 4; hold cover," Jason ordered as he slowly made his way towards the spot Clay was last seen in his crouch position. He didn't think this was the work of any Russians as they would have been on them by now with a rain of bullets, and if it were an animal, they would have heard some rustling and screams from Clay. The silence worried him as he had no idea what caused them to lose a member, and Jason never did well with the unknown.

And there it was, the answer they all had been waiting for, a deep hole covered with branches and leaves with a thin plank of wood that was now missing boards in the center.

As Jason called out to the rest of the team behind him what he found and called over Sonny and Tent, knowing they were not under an attack and would need their supplies, "Leave it to Peter Pan to fall into a hole in the middle of a forest. Tinkerbell, I thought you were meant to guide his clumsy ass away from trouble?" Sonny laughed as out approached the edge looking at Liz.

"Clay? You there?" Jason called out again, pulling his light out to shine into the hole, followed by Trent and Liz's lights.

Silence.

Liz pulled out her few glow stick from her vest, cracking them and throwing the handful into the hole, hoping to give enough light for Clay and the team to see the bottom.

As they landed and glowed up the bottom of the dirt pit, the team could make out a dark shadow on the bottom, not moving. It was dusk, and with the tree coverage, the lighting was pretty poor, causing the pit to glow green and showing off lots of shadows caused by all the grooves of rock in the dirt wall.

"That's got to be about fifteen feet to the bottom," Trent commented as he bent down and started to shuffle through his med pack, knowing this would not be an injury-free fall. It was not life-threating from this distance, and Clay knew how to fall properly from his training to avoid any serious injuries if he was conscious during the fall, but this was also Clay they were talking about. Injuries were second nature to him.

"Clay!" Liz shouted down again, trying to rouse their fallen teammate.

After a quiet second, they heard a soft grunt travel up from the dirt. Letting the team release the breath they had been holding, hoping he was ok.

"I'm ok…. "Clay shouted out, "I think."

As Clay slowly sat up regaining consciousness, he took in his surroundings, trying to piece together where he was and how he got there. Once he got straight, he padded his vest to find his flashlight and clicked it on, shining it around his surroundings.

"Of course, it has to be me who would fall into an old well." He grumbled as he rolled his eyes, leaning his head back against the wall with a groan. Once his head hit the wall, he hissed and tipped it forward, bringing his hand up to the point of contact and returning it in front of his head in the flashlight's beam and seeing a crimson stain covering his fingertips.

The team did not have their helmets on yet as they travelled through the forest. This decision was amicable and allowed for them to keep cool as they walked to their target in the muggy heat, but he now regretted it as there was no protection for his body against his clumsy wandering feet. His feet that seemed to love leading him into questionable places; this time, that place was the bottom of a dried-out well.

Clay could hear the team mumbling up at the top of the hole, probably coming up with a game plan to get him out of there; he slowly flashed his light down the length of his propped-up aching body, praying he would not see any bones. He hurt all over but could move all limbs, this may have been the one positives of hitting his head halfway down and knocking him out as he landed as a limp weight. Not being ridged helped him not be stiff and try to land, risking breaking a leg. He grinned as he got to his toes, not seeing any bone, but he could feel a sting on his left calf. With a wince, he leaned forward, untucked his pants from his boot, and rolled them up, exposing more crimson. Going up the length of the side of his calf with his light, he saw a gaping cut and groaned.

"Sitrep," Jason called out over his head.

Clay took a moment to assess his thoughts as he was unsure what he would tell the team. He knew if there was anything serious, Jason might make him stay behind with another member, and they needed everyone there to meet the General in case this was a trap, or they ran into a group of soldiers. So, he took a mental sitrep quickly listing his injuries; head wound but no confusion or blurry vision, so it may not be a concussion; bruised left shoulder that ached when he moved it but no tears or dislocations; and a large deep cut on his calf. This last injury would be the one that would sideline him, and he would not let that happen. He needed to be there for his team and watch over them.

"Head wound, but no concussion symptoms, and just some bruises and stiffness on my shoulder," Clay called out.

"No concussion? Ha! He lost consciousness. I'll be the judge of the concussion." Trent mumbled under his breath as he shook his head. Of course, Clay would downplay everything.

"Can you climb out of there if we throw you a rope?" Jason asked as he motioned to Sonny to pull out his rope, set up his nots to attach it to the nearby tree and make a loop for clay to run under his shoulders to get assistance hoisting him up.

"Yeah," Clay shouted up.

As he waited for things to get sorted out, he took the initiative to pour some water on his leg to clean it out and pull out a bandage from his small med kit to wrap up his leg to avoid any questions. His pants were black, so if he kept the bleeding at bay and minimized his limping, he could keep this gash under wraps until he was back at the Mongolian base and could slip in to see their medic. That should be possible, but with Clay and his karma he had small doubts this plan would succeed. He will just have to keep it dry and clean until they get back and put on a blank face.

"Ok Bam Bam, grab on and let's get you back up to ground level. I'm tired of pulling your ass out of these holes you end up in." Sonny called out as Liz snickered as she leaned closer to the hole's opening, trying to get a glimpse of Clay to make sure he was ok. She needed to see for herself.

As Clay stood up to grab the loop, he winced as he tried to put pressure on his leg. Letting his breath steady out as he ignored the pain, he closed his eyes and tapped into his snipper training. He was taught to ignore his body and its needs; nothing mattered but the mission and to get things done. So, he pushed his pain and aches aside, took the two steps needed to reach the loop, shuffled himself into the circle, and secured it under his arms. Giving two sharp tugs up the rope to signal to Sonny he was ready to go, he reached up, groaning one last time at the ache in his shoulder as he finished pushing all the pain in his body aside, relying on his adrenaline and started to climb and pull himself up by the rocks and roots poking out through the dirt walls.

Soon the team could see damp blonde curls poking up from the edge of the hole leading Jason and Trent to drop the rope and grab him by his vest straps and shoulders, dragging him up onto the ground. Liz rushed over, handing Trent his med pack as he pulled him closer to him to start his assessment.

"Gawk. I'm fine, just a small bump on my head." Clay grumbled as he tried to swat Trent's hands away trying to get up, tired of being in these situations sitting on the ground and having his team hover over him with worried glances.

"Let me be the judge of that." Trent snorted as Jason lightly pushed Clay's shoulders down to keep him sitting, allowing Sonny to squat casually over his legs. Not touching them but ready to be there and hold him down if needed. One glance from Jason and the team knew it was time to become human straps to hold down the mangy raccoon they call Bravo 6 at times of injury. So, while Trent assessed his injures the team was always on the ready to jump into action.

Liz stood beside Trent on Clay's left side, staring down at the blue orbs she wished would look up at her. When it came to Clay, she had a sixth sense, she could not place her finger on it, but right now, she felt something was off. Yes, he was injured, but something else was going on, and she was going to get to the bottom of it. After a moment of silence as Trent poked the back of his head, casing a few winces and hisses from Clay as he cleaned and taped up the cut on the back of his head, and Clay finally looked up and met the worried eyes of Liz. As soon as he made eye contact, his eyes softened, and he let out a small warm smile, trying to reassure her he was ok. He knew she worried about him on a good day, and now that they were, well, he didn't know what they were right now as they were rudely interrupted with the fate of a nuclear war in their hands, things sat a bit unclear with them. Their conversation never occurred as they did nothing but allow their lips to talk together and not have any actual words.

"How is the shoulder?" Trent asked as he finished up with his head and did a once-over of the rest of his body.

Clay froze as he watched Trent's eyes scan down his legs, stopping at his feet and jumping back up to his shoulder. Letting out a breath of relief and grateful they were in all black this op, not allowed to show any country or military colors, Clay closed his eyes quickly to give thanks he was going to get away with hiding his leg; he mumbled out a response. "Little stiff and aches but nothing too significant. I'm good to go."

"Ok, here, take these, and let me know if anything worsens." Trent handed Clay a few Advil and water.

After Clay popped them into his mouth and took a few gulps of water, he handed the bottle back to Tent and grabbed Sonny's awaiting hand, helping him hoist himself up. Trent and Jason were already turned around, packing things up again and discussing the game plan, so they did not notice the slight wince that tried not to pass across Clay's face. Sonny was too busy busting Clay's balls, teasing him, to notice as well, but Liz had her sharp eyes glued to the blonde figure in front of her. Trying to use her sixth sense, she studied his body, thinking she noticed a slight wince, but she started to second guess herself as it passed across his face so fast, she thought she had made it up. But as Clay stabilized himself standing up and beginning to take a few steps that came off as wobbly, Liz turned her focus to his legs. She caught onto this odd walk but could not see any visible blood or cuts in his clothes, so she just stood and watched him take a few more steps. But just like the wince, the fault in his steps came and left and made her second guess herself again. Second guessing that she was looking for an injury that was not there as she could not help but worry about the baby blue-eyed SEAL.

"You good?" Jason turned to look at Clay.

"Yup, I'm good to go, boss."

"Alright, let's head out. We must double the time to get to the meet and not scare him off."

And with that, Clay let Sonny lead, gesturing to him to go ahead and have Jason, Tent and Liz follow. With one deep breath, Clay put on a brave face and started to follow Liz bringing up the end of the line.