Author note:

Just a quick chapter for your Sunday. Hope you enjoy. Thanks so much for the reviews.

*I am not in the military and know nothing about their terminology or procedures.*

CH 17-Suspicions Confirmed

Bravo was spun up on another mission. This should be the last one until they got a break in the rotation. The team had gotten their briefing on board the transport plane. When they touched down, they were off and rolling within 24 hours. Time was of the essence in trying to capture this particular target.

When the team approached the building in question, they split into pairs. Clay was assigned with Trent to proceed to the roof, take out any insurgents and set up overwatch. They scaled the stairs and took out a few hostiles along the way. Trent and Clay set up on the roof, each focused on opposite sides of the structure. It was hard for the men to be up there and not down with their brothers clearing the building.

Thankfully, everything seem to be going according to plan. They had neutralized any hostiles and Ray had found the leader holed up in a hidden room. Then, all hell broke loose. Somehow there had been another combatant that had been missed. He snuck up to the roof and opened fire. Unfortunately, Clay heard the noise a second too late and ended up as a perfect target.

Trent heard the shots and came running. He saw Clay go down and killed the shooter with one, clean shot.

"Shit! All Bravo team. All call signs. Shots fired on roof. Bravo 6 down. I repeat, Bravo 6 down!"

Jason responded immediately. He assigned Brock, Cerebus, and Full Metal to guard their captive as he, Ray and Sonny hauled ass up to the roof. When they go there, Trent was kneeled over Clay.

"Sit Rep now," ordered Jason.

"Unconscious, but alive. He took some rounds to his vest. Looks like a flesh wound to his left leg."

"Can we move him to the exfil point?"

"Do we have a choice?"

The men made a gurney and carried him to the helo waiting for them. Clay was still unconscious but remaining stable. Trent had controlled the bleeding from his leg.

Once they returned to the makeshift base Trent could focus more fully on assessing Clay's injuries. They removed his body armor and Trent cut his shirt and pants away. All his brothers were gathered to make sure that Bravo 6 was going to be okay.

As his clothing was removed, horrible bruising was already evident across his side. Trent believed he had at least three broken ribs. As he probed, Clay woke up.

"Ow, shit! What the fuck?!"

They held him still until he was completely lucid. He looked around wildly.

"What, what happened?"

"You got shot Cowboy," answered Sonny.

"Yea, the roof. I remember. Everyone else okay?"

"Yep, we're alright."

Trent continued to work on cleaning up his wounds. Once he was done, he noticed a couple bruises on Clay that didn't seem to be from today. One was on his right pec and the other inside his left thigh. As he took a closer look, he could clearly see some tooth marks and broken blood vessels. These were obviously, "love bites." Trent's eyebrows rose and he began to blush. (If such a thing was possible.) All his brothers seemed to notice.

What's up Sawyer," asked Sonny. Trent was silent. He wasn't sure what to say. He sure didn't want to open his mouth about it with Jason standing there.

"Trent, what's up? Is there something more wrong with me?" Clay met his eyes. Sonny finally noticed what was bothering Trent.

"Um, you might wanna cover up Loverboy."

Finally, the truth dawned on Clay. He refused to meet anyone's eyes. He remembered the encounter with Emma a few nights ago that had left him with the bruises in question. To be fair, Emma was only retaliating. He had left his mark on her as well. He very clearly remembered the sucking kiss he had placed between her breasts, and the time he took swirling his tongue on and sucking at that sweet spot above her ass.

Clay tried not to go red all over and looked around for something to cover himself. But the damage was already done. Normally, Sonny would have some sort of comment in this situation, but everyone was trying to ignore the "elephant in the room." Ray passed Clay a blanket and he covered up.

Jason broke the silence. He cleared his throat. "Alright everyone. Let's get loaded up and get ready to get out of here." The team filed out, but Jason hung back.

Clay wasn't sure what to expect. Jason grabbed his phone and passed it to Clay.

"You better call Em. She'll kick both our asses if you come home like this and no one told her."

Clay nodded his thanks and Jason left him. He dialed Emma.

"Hey honey. We're on our way home. And I, well I have good news and bad news. Bad news is I got a little hurt. The good news is your dad got his confirmation of our sex life and all my parts are still attached."