Chapter 17

Seriously thank you so much for the out pour of continued support. I wish we had more Mandy and Jason stories out there and I hope I'm doing justice in writing for them. I know David recently said in an interview that they may come back to filming sometime in August but the way things are going in the States, who knows. Everything is just so crazy and messed up these days lol. Any ways, I hope this chapter turns out well. It's always an adventure writing.

It was late night and Mandy couldn't sleep or get comfortable in her bed. She kept shifting around trying not to disturb her stitches. On top of that, she was anxious for the briefing that would be coming up in the morning. Jason was reclined back in a chair beside her bed with his eyes closed.

"You should sleep," Jason said not opening his eyes.

"I can't get comfortable," Mandy huffed as Jason opened his eyes to look at her. "When's the last time you met your girlfriend's dad? Now that I think about it, we haven't even talked about what this exactly is."

Jason sighed and got up from his chair to sit on the edge of Mandy's bed. It had been a while since he was in a situation of meeting the parents. The only parents he had ever met were Alana's and that was a long time ago. He wasn't even sure if that counted since he grew up with Alana and had known her parents most of his life.

"I think the only parents I ever sort of met were Alana's," Jason said as Mandy reached to squeeze his hand. "And as for us, we're two people giving this relationship a go. We're two people taking it one day at a time. Maybe for once we stop thinking a million steps ahead of us and just live in the moment and see where it takes us."

"I like that plan," Mandy smiled.

"What else is bothering you?" Jason asked because he could tell she was anxious about more than just her dad meeting him.

Mandy looked at him fondly, "Can't hide anything from you, can I?"

"Probably not any better than I can from you," Jason replied.

Mandy sighed, "I'm anxious about the briefing I guess. Lot of things from the past, especially mine, are probably going to come back to haunt me. I'm worried that what you and the team find out might change what you think about me."

"We all have a past Mandy," Jason said. "Whatever it is, we'll all get through it together. We're not all perfect. No matter what you say, I know you. I've seen sides of you that no one has ever seen and have all the faith in you."

"That's a lot of faith," Mandy said looking so vulnerable.

"Hasn't ever steered me wrong," Jason said leaning in to assure her with a kiss. "Whatever this is, we'll get through it."

"Okay," Mandy said. "Lay with me?"

Jason nodded and got up to slip in beside Mandy. It was a tight fit but he was on her uninjured side and she laid her head down on his shoulder where they both finally drifted off to sleep.

It was six in the morning when Lisa walked into where Mandy was recovering. She stopped as she entered and saw Mandy asleep on Jason's shoulder. She wondered if Jason knew Mandy's dad would be here soon. She figured she should probably wake them up so both could get ready for the day.

She walked towards Jason side and shook his shoulder softly telling him to wake up. Jason's eyes snapped open and he went to grab Lisa's wrist as if he was ready to attack.

"Hey, hey," Lisa said softly. "It's just me," Lisa said raising her free hand up.

"Sorry," Jason said letting go of her wrist.

"I get it. We're all on edge at the moment. The director should be here soon and figured you'd both want to freshen up for the briefing," Lisa said.

"Probably a good idea," Jason said turning to try and get Mandy awake. She slowly woke up and sat up as Jason got out the bed to help her.

"You go get ready," Mandy said to Jason as she tried to get her bearings. "Lisa can help me up to get me ready."

"Okay, I'll be back to get you," Jason said giving her a peck on the cheek. "Don't let her overdo it," Jason said to Lisa who nodded back.

"Funny how he gives orders to everyone on how to take care of themselves," Mandy said after Jason left.

"Yeah, but it's you so it goes without saying," Lisa chuckled. "I brought some clothes for you."

"Thanks," Mandy said as Lisa started to help her out of bed. They stood for a few moments as Mandy got used to being out of bed. "It's not your fault," Mandy said as the two slowly made their way to the bathroom.

"I should've seen the signs of Reiss betraying us. I should've listened to you sooner about Samin. I shouldn't have pushed Samin without talking to you. I should have done a lot of things differently," Lisa said.

"You know one thing I've learned on this job? You can't see everything coming your way. You can plan for this, that, and the other but in the end you can still miss something. Do I blame myself and feel guilty? Yeah, I do but then you have to pick up the pieces and move on. You learn you're lesson and hope next time you see it before it happens. The job I do, it's full of agendas, betrayals, lies, politics, and so much more. You can't control it all no matter how hard you try," Mandy said.

"Well I need to stop feeling all this. I need to focus on the task at hand," Lisa replied.

Mandy stopped walking, "No matter what you do, don't let yourself stop feeling. Promise me that Lisa."

"Why? Won't they see it as a weakness," Lisa asked.

"Who? The higher ups? You can hold it together in front of them but never stop feeling the emotion. The second you do, then you've lost your way. Do I build walls? Yes, but I also let myself have a moment to breakdown and just feel. It means you're human and you shouldn't lose that part of yourself. You ever need to talk, you call me," Mandy said earnestly.

"You once told me the higher ups don't always care about the cost of their decisions. They just look at the mission in front of them and want it completed. You said I wouldn't be like them. What makes you so sure?" Lisa asked.

Mandy thought back to her conversation with Jason, "Faith, I have faith and hope that you'll do what's right."

"Thank you, for everything. You've helped me out in this new role I find myself in. Not sure what I'd do if I didn't have you to talk to. Us girls have to stick together," Lisa said.

"Yeah, if we want to keep our group of guys under control," Mandy chuckled and then winced feeling a stich pull. "Maybe laughing isn't such a good idea."

"Yeah," Lisa said trying not to laugh but failed causing Mandy to chuckle again. "Let's get you freshened up."

Lisa had helped Mandy get ready for the most part and left Mandy to put on a shirt. Lisa had brought a button up shirt as she thought it would be a little easier to put on rather than stretching something over her head.

Mandy was looking at herself in the mirror. She was left in her bra and pants on. She could see a bruise on her cheek. She continued to look down her torso and saw some of the other bruises and finally landed on the gauze covering her wound and stiches. She went to grab for her shirt when she heard the door open to her room. She looked up to the mirror to see Jason had returned.

"Hey," Jason said walking up behind Mandy who handed him the shirt.

Jason took the shirt and held it open behind her to help her put her arms through. He heard her hiss a little as she stretched her stiches a little. Once her arms were through he turned Mandy around to face him. He fixed her collar and pulled her hair out from the back. He too looked at the bruises forming and down to where she was stabbed. All he could think was it could've been worse.

Mandy put her hands on his shoulders to reassure him she was right there. She was also breathing through the slight flare she had felt from the wound. He started to button up her shirt from the bottom to the top. He straightened out her shirt and lightly ran his hands down her sides.

"Ready?" Jason asked.

"I need a moment," Mandy said letting her feelings catch up from actually seeing the physical evidence of her battle.

Jason pulled her close and hugged her. "You're okay. You fought like hell and you're okay," Jason said.

Mandy nodded into his shoulder and let out a shudder. A few tears had escaped and then Mandy pulled away and took a deep breath still holding onto Jason's hands. Before they knew it, they heard a chopper go over them.

"Okay," Mandy said taking a deep breath. "Pretty sure that's him."

"You good?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, let's go." Mandy said as to two started to make their way to the briefing.

"No matter what, I'm gonna be right beside you. The team and I," Jason reassured her and she nodded back.

"How many did we lose?" Mandy asked as they walked across the base to the command center where the briefing was happening. It was the first time she'd seen some of the aftermath from the ambush.

"Not sure. Some of the critical cases were sent out," Jason responded.

Once they made it to command Jason opened the door for Mandy to walk in first. Jason had her hand around one of his arms and was leaning up against him some from the walk over.

"Should've gotten you a wheelchair. You're tired," Jason said.

"No wheelchair," Mandy said vehemently.

"Always have to be stubborn," Jason chuckled as he typed in his code to get into the command room.

"I'm the stubborn one?" Mandy said raising an eyebrow at Jason as she walked in.

"Who is stubborn?" Sonny said overhearing Mandy. "Nice to be back in your presence Ms. Ellis."

"Why thank you Sonny, wish I could say the same about you," Mandy smiled as the other guys started hooting and hollering to her response.

"Hurtful but I'll let it slide since you're wounded," Sonny said smiling back.

"Good to see you up," Ray said coming up to hug her. "Plus someone needs to give Jason a taste of his own medicine," Ray said into her ear causing Mandy to chuckle.

The chuckle caused her to wince again and grab for her left side. The room saw quieted it down watching Mandy in pain and Mandy noticed the attention on her.

"I've been through worse," Mandy said looking around at all of them. "I'm okay. Just flares up sometimes," Mandy said trying to reassure them.

Before anyone could respond Blackburn and Lisa came in.

"Alright, this is Director Thomson everyone. Director this is Bravo Team," Blackburn said.

"Master Chief Jason Hayes," Jason said walking up to introduce himself. He held out his hand to shake.

"Jason Hayes, heard a lot about you," Director Thomson said squeezing Jason's hand a little.

"All good things I hope," Jason said.

The rest of the team came up to introduce themselves. This left Mandy walking over to Director Thomson. The team was caught by surprise as they saw the Director look over Mandy and then pull her in for a hug. Even more surprising was Mandy returning the hug.

"Hi Dad," Mandy breathed out.

"Did she just say Dad?" Sonny mumbled to Trent beside him.