AN: Hello all! Happy SEAL Team Day!
Sorry this took so long, but I'm finally back with my team whump fic (though some get it worse than others), that I've been working on for weeks.
SPOILERS-ish: This is my first time writing Clay whump, so I hope you all like it.
Please enjoy and don't forget our boys are back at 10/9c!
Disclaimer: medical inaccuracies abound.
Plot: Bravo Team is sent to the Philippines to take out a target, but three members will soon find themselves in dire situations.
4: Hold On (One-Shot)
Mandy Ellis and the CIA had been chasing their latest target for the last seven months, ever since a CIA agent was killed gathering intel that proved a terror attack was being planned for the United Stated/Canada border. While the information was pivotal in preventing the attack, the agency wanted this individual taken out by any means necessary.
And since Mandy works with the best of the best, Bravo Team was quickly briefed and sent to the northern coast of the Philippines.
"Bravo One to HAVOC base. How copy?"
"HAVOC base to Bravo One, we read good copy." Commander Blackburn says into the comms.
"Bravo's Three, Five and Six are in position. Do you have any movement on ISR?"
"Negative, Bravo One. Your target has not left the building due north of your current position." Blackburn watches the screen Lisa Davis has in front of her, both of them intently watching and looking for any trouble that may cause problems for Bravo on the ground. "You are clear to move towards the target building."
"Good copy, HAVOC. Bravo One out."
From the intel Mandy compiled, their target was a slippery individual. Hayes decided the best way to prevent them from getting past Bravo and back in the wind, he, Ray and Trent would enter through the front, while Sonny, Brock and Clay came in from the back. With the cover of night and the element of surprise, they would be able to eliminate the target and make for exfil before the target knew what happened.
"All stations get ready to move in, three, two, one…execute!"
Jason is first through the curtain that acts as a door, pausing right and letting Trent and Ray file in behind him. When he feels two taps on his shoulder, he moves, clearing each room he enters, looking for the target.
At the same time, Sonny, Brock and Clay entered the back, when the youngest member of Bravo caught a glimpse of movement in the dark room ahead of them. He motions to Brock, who was in front of him, to go left, while he went right leaving Sonny to give cover from behind.
Their steps sure and silent, Bravos Five and Six entered the back room. Brock was the first to see their target digging through a nearby bin, but before he could pull his trigger, the target jumped up, the glint of something shiny catching in the moonlight of an open window as they rushed Spenser.
The target tackles Bravo Six around the waist with arms raised, slams him into the wall opposite of Brock. The force of the hit knocks Clay's weapon from his hands, leaving Spenser to uses his forearms in an effort to keep the target away.
After a few seconds, Clay and the target hit the ground, with Bravo Six still fighting to get the person off of him so Reynolds could get a clear shot.
"Six! Left!" shouts Brock over the sound of items crashing to the floor.
Trusting his brother, Spenser leans left as much as he can, and two quick shots ring out in the room. The target slumps to the side, lands on the wood floor with a thud as their breathing got slower and slower, two fresh holes in their chest.
"Spenser, you good? Spenser? Clay?!"
Sonny steps by his brothers and checks the target, making sure they were dead. In the dimly lit room, Quinn first noticed the targets left hand was covered in blood, realizes that neither he nor Reynolds took a shot that low.
The three things that happened next occurred as if in slow motion.
First, Bravo Three's eyes move back to the other two SEALs in the room, where he first sees a shocked look on Clay's face, the way he is struggling to catch his breath, the way his hands tremble towards his stomach. Secondly, he reads Brock's body language, how he is franticly pressing his hands against the younger SEALs abdomen, shouting at Six. And finally, he turns back towards the target, who is now smiling. Blood pooled out of their mouth, ran past their lips and down their cheek. Something flickered, blinked, in their right hand, and before Sonny could stop them, they pressed the button.
Jason, Ray and Trent were making their way towards the sound of gunfire, towards the sound of their brothers, when the ground shook and rumbled without warning.
Hayes grabs onto a nearby wall, keys his comms, "Bravo One to HAVOC base. What was that?"
Ray tries to keep his balance. "Earthquake?" he inquires.
Trent is already shaking his head, not liking the way the ground was moving beneath them. "Nah, that wasn't—"
Commander Blackburn had just keyed his comms to let Bravo know that it was not an earthquake when Sonny's frantic cry from the back of the building alerted the three men at the front of the home.
"Everybody out!"
Not having time to question Bravo Three's warning, Ray and Trent double time it out of the building just as stone and wood began to fall around them. Jason instinctively headed for the rest of Bravo in the back, but Ray, knowing his team leader, grabbed his arm and hauled him back outside just as the ceiling began to caved in.
Sonny struggled to keep his balance as he worked to get to Brock, who is trying to drag Clay to the back door. Debris rained down around them, dishes shattered and landed with a crash. The ground shifted, vanishing completely in some places.
"Get out of here! I've got 'em!" shouts Sonny as he goes to pick Bravo Six up so they could get to safety.
"Don't! Just grab his legs!"
Quinn didn't question him, simply does as Reynolds says and continues to haul tail backwards towards the doorway.
The three SEALs managed to get out of the first room, were not thirty feet away from open air, when the ground shifted from underneath Sonny without warning.
Brock blinks; one second Sonny was in front of him, holding onto Clay's legs as they worked to get their brother—and themselves—out. But the next second the Texan was nowhere to be see.
"Sonny!" shouts Reynolds as the weight of the man in his arms seemingly doubles. A piece of ceiling lands on Five's shoulder, the force of it sends him and Clay to the ground. With the building crumbling around them, and the ground shifting more and more, Brock leans over Clay, offering as much protection as he could as the building came crashing down around and on top of the SEALs.
The amount of dirt and debris that was stirred up made it difficult to breathe. The force of the building crashing down was enough to send the three men flying through the air, and landing on the rumbling ground with thuds. They covered themselves as best they could, but it felt like hours had passed before the raining debris stopped and the night stilled.
Jason was the first to lift his head. And the sight before him was enough to take his already lacking breath away.
Through the cloudy, dusty darkness, Jason saw the target building was now but a pile of rubble. Beams that once supported the ceiling were but splintered shards, and piles of rock were all over the place. Jason pushed himself up to his knees, coughs, gets to his feet, looks around for Ray and Trent.
Ray is on one knee, being looked over by Trent. After a few seconds, the medic stands and walks over to Jason, but Hayes is quick to push him off.
"Bravo One to Bravo Three, come in." Nothing. "Bravo Five, do you read?" Still nothing. "Bravo Six, do you copy?" Silence.
"HAVOC base to Bravo One, come in!" that's Eric, screaming through their comms. Jason rubs his ear, trying to get the ringing to stop. "Any call sign, come in!"
Ray, seeing that Jason needs Trent, replies, "HAVOC, this is Bravo two. I read you."
"Ray! Oh, thank God!" sighs Blackburn. The dust in the area was making it hard to see on ISR, so he was very glad to hear Perry's voice. "I need a sitrep."
"Uh, target building was destroyed." Ray looks at Trent, who is still tending to Jason. "One and Four are accounted for. We can't raise Three, Five or Six on comms." He pauses, takes a deep breath. "Do you know what happened? Was it an earthquake?"
"It was not an earthquake, Bravo Two. It appears that our target buried explosives beneath the building, set them off not long after you breeched." That's Davis, who is succeeding in keeping her cool, in spite of having heard half of Bravo is MIA. "The blast likely imploded the foundation, causing the building itself to collapse on itself and off the cliff."
"Can you see anything on ISR?"
"Stand by, Two."
"Standing by." Ray rolls his neck, trying to loosen his tightening muscles. He carefully watches Trent work with Jason, wondering why it was taking so long. If Trent was being this careful, it had to be serious. He can't help but think of Jason's last head injury…
"HAVOC base to Bravo Two."
"Go for Bravo Two."
"We picked something on ISR, northeast side." Says Blackburn.
Ray is sure his heart stopped because that was the side Sonny, Brock and Clay breeched the building… and the side with rocky cliffs that dropped off into—oh god. Perry runs off in that direction, sending up a prayer as he did.
"Ray!"
He thinks that's Jason, but he doesn't slow. He stumbles over wood and rocks, even as he took a long way around what was left of the building, slowed to a halt as the cliffs appeared.
Ray got down on his belly and crawled as close as he could to the edge. He felt someone grab his legs, steadying him as he peered over. He brings his NVGs down over his eyes, sees the crashing waves hitting the rocks… there! On a small outcropping Perry can make out a prone figure, about a third of a way from the top of the cliff. Ray adjusts his sight, looks for identifiers…
"Bravo Two to HAVOC base. Bravo Three is currently on a ledge about a third of the way down the cliff." Rays says. "I repeat, I have located Sonny!"
"The hell!" Trent appears on his left, peering over the edge, copying Ray's previous actions. "Sonny? Sonny?!"
Sonny just wanted to sleep. It was still dark, which usually meant that it was time to sleep. However, in his line of work, that often isn't the case.
"Sonny? Sonny?!"
"Five more min'tes…" muttering words to whichever team member was trying to draw him from his slumber. Don't they know by now Texans need their beauty sleep? If its Spenser, he was gonna have some words…
"C'mon, Quinn, answer me!"
"Go 'way." He goes to turn over, can't. Why not?
"Bravo Three if you don't answer me right this second, I am going to have you run hills until you puke and then you're going to run them again!"
"Jase?" he moves his hands, tries to find some light as he works on gathering his bearings. Comes up empty. His left hand finds a button, and he presses it out of instinct. "Jase? What happened? Am I dead? Did I get stuck with y'all in the afterlife?"
"Yeah, yeah, Sonny, I'm here. And no, you aren't dead." Jason sounds relieved and that really confuses Sonny. "Trent has some questions to ask you, okay. Just stay awake and answer them."
Sonny huffs, not wanting to answer any questions the team medic may throw his way. He presses the mystery button again, "Is this, like, a pop quiz? 'Cuz I've… not studied for any quizzes. Of any kind."
"Not a pop quiz, Sonny, don't worry." That's Trent now. "Can you tell me the last thing you remember?"
That's a strange question. But knowing Trent has his methods, Sonny thinks back as far as he can. "Uh, I went with Five and Six in the back of the target building… there was a scuffle… something happened, the ground moved and, and we tried to get out…" Sonny stops, wondering why the sound of water was so freaking close to his head. "Something happened to the kid!"
"Okay, okay, Sonny, slow down." Trent tries to calm Three down, but he feels so helpless when his brother is so far away. "Just… I need you to tell me what else happened. Okay?"
Pushing the growing sound of water aside, Sonny swallows the lump in his throat. "Uh, Brock was trying to drag Clay out, I jumped in… then the ground disappeared and—." Shit.
"After that?"
Sonny thinks for a few seconds. "That's the last thing I remember." The comms are silent for a few seconds and Sonny was wondering what happened. "Trent?"
"Sonny, its Jason."
"Jase! What the hell happened? You know what, forget that. You gotta find the kid, okay? Brock saw what happened, he can tell you what's wr—"
"Bravo Three, I need you to listen to me very carefully, all right?" that was Jason's "Master Chief" voice. Sonny stopped his babbling, waited for his team leader to continue. "There was an explosion beneath the target building. It looks like the ground swept you over the cliff—"
"What—"
"… are on an outcropping that is only about as wide as you are tall."
Sonny dare not move now, not that he really wanted to. His leg was giving him the blues all of the sudden. "Again… you sure I ain't dead?"
"We're sure, Sonny. Let's keep it that way, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, that sounds good. Solid plan." Sonny tries to relax, even out his breathing. Sure, he wasn't a sniper, but he's picked up a few tricks from his brothers. All of the sudden, realization hits Quinn like a truck. Or being swept over a cliff with rocks and dirt, you know, if he were conscious for that. "Hey, Jason?"
"Yeah?"
"I don't think I'ma be running hills anytime soon."
There was a long pause before the comm clicks back to life. "Why not?"
"Because I'm… I'm pretty sure my leg is broken."
When Spenser comes to, everything is black. He was sure his eyes were open, but the utter darkness that surrounded him was suffocatingly thick. He tried to move, couldn't, and that's when the panic began to seep in. The more he tried to suck in air, the harder it got to breath, the more pain coursed through his body.
"Clay? Clay! Easy, brother, slow your breathing." A voice suddenly appears over him. This is when he starts to believe that he's dead. "Relax, man, you aren't making this any better."
Wait. He knows that voice. "B-Brock?" his voice is raspy and mouth dry. It feels like he ate a bucket of dirt.
"Yeah, kid, I'm here." Clay feels a comforting hand on his shoulder, relaxes slightly. "Try not to move, okay?" Why does Brock sound further away?
"Brock?" Clay whispers.
Bravo Five raises his voice, but it sounds strained now. "I'm still here."
Clay coughs. "I can't see you."
"Working… on it," comes an even more strained reply. Clay can hear something crash, shift. Then silence.
A few, rather long, seconds pass before light breaks through the darkness. It was small, so not the sun. Still, it was enough to make Clay squint as it shone on his face.
"Better?" asks Brock as he kneels beside Spenser.
Clay manages to nod. "Yeah." He pauses, then asks the question that is at the forefront of his mind as he tried to recall the reason for their current situation. "What, uh, what happened?"
"I think an explosion of some kind." Brock uses his light to look around the small opening of debris he and Clay were trapped in. He coughs, clears his throat best he can. "It felt like the ground shifted… and it looks like we've sunk into the ground a bit. I can't see much other than dirt and wood. And more dirt."
"I mean… before that."
Shit. "What do you remember?"
The only light in the hole was starting to give him a headache, so Clay closes his eyes as he thinks back as far as he could. "We… we breeched the target building… saw the target right before they, uh, jumped me. I felt weird, tried to fight them, then… Uhh, that's it."
Brock takes a mental note of Clay's memory, how his words trailed off and were starting to sound a bit sluggish. Or were they? Brock finds his own mind wandering, takes note of that, too. "Yeah. The target got a good lick in, Clay."
Spenser swallows the thick lump that quickly formed in his throat. "How… bad?"
Reynolds shifts his body, so he is on both knees. He reaches into his bag with his left hand, tries to hide the wince that escapes his mouth and pulls out a canteen that is half full of water. He helps the younger SEAL take a couple sips before tucking it back away.
"Brock, how… How bad?" asks Clay after Bravo Five refuses to answer. "Brock… how bad is it?" the kid was shaking now. Brock couldn't tell if shock was finally setting in or if it was due to another matter entirely. One he couldn't see.
"When the target tackled you, they had a knife." Brock feels a pang in his chest as he sees the look on Clay's face, realization dawning on him. "I think its deep but I… I can't be sure."
"W-why not?" Clay asks with a quivering voice. "Why can't you… why aren't y-you—"
"Because," Brock starts, unsure how to proceed. He couldn't lie to the kid, even if he wanted to. Brock clears his throat again, says, "Because… it's still there."
Clay tries to think about anything other than the fact Brock just told him they were basically buried alive. And how a knife is still in his body.
But he can't.
"What! Take it out!" Clay starts to shift more, tries to look down to see where the blade was located in his body. His hands moved to the location his muddled brain instructed. "Take it out, Brock! Please! Take it out!"
"Stop it! Clay! Six, that's enough!" Brock grits his teeth as he uses both hands to pin Clay's shoulders to the ground, ignoring his own pains that spiked in the process. "Trent would kill me if I pulled it out; as far as I can tell, that blade is acting like a plug, keeping you from bleeding out. Now stop moving. We can't have this getting worse."
Clay turns to his training to calm himself down. It was hard, but his sniper breathing was helping, if but a little. When his breathing has evened out, he asks, "Can you.. can you raise anyone on c-comms?"
Brock shakes his head. "Tried. Got nothing."
"Okay. Okay," Clay's eyes are getting heavy. He feels a rough hand on his shoulder, keeping him from the encroaching darkness. "W-what?"
"You know the rules. Stay awake."
"Those rules… suck." But he obeys regardless. "You think… the others are 'kay?"
Brock shifts he weight again, this time so he is leaning against the dirt wall opposite of Spenser. He cradles his right arm in his left, bites his lip to keep from groaning in pain. He tries to ignore the grinding sound his shoulder is making, at how quickly it is starting to stiffen. He needs to focus on the kid. Help him hold on until the others can find them. At least Cerb isn't here… don't know what I'd do if he were trapped, too…
After a short pause—due to Brock forgetting what the question was or his thinking of an answer remains to be seen—Bravo Five finally says, "Hope so, kid."
"What do you mean you can't get us help? Sonny is literally laying on the ledge of a cliff and Brock and Clay are still MIA! I don't give a damn what strings you have to pull, Eric, pull all of them!" Ray ran a shaking hand down his face, overwhelmed with emotions. He releases the button for his comms, looks at Jason who is talking to Sonny, while Trent assess the damage of the building. He presses the button, "Sorry, Blackburn."
"I hear you, Ray, I do. But Brass has denied all of my requests. I suggested rerouting Alpha Team this way to give you some help, but they are still a day out, at least."
"We can't wait that long. We don't know what condition everyone is in."
"I know."
"Is it really our only option?"
"I'm working other avenues." Lt. Commander Blackburn can feel the pain coming through Bravo Two's comms. After watching the events unfold on ISR, and not being able to do anything… Eric was pissed. "The best we can do right now is watch your six while you work on getting Quinn topside and locating Reynolds and Spenser. I'll keep you informed."
"Copy that." Ray says, accepting the facts. "Bravo Two out."
"Anything?" Trent asks as he sees Ray walking back over.
"No. We're on our own." Ray juts his head towards Jason, who is still talking to Sonny, trying to keep Bravo calm and awake. "How is he?"
"Possible concussion, few cuts. He got off easy thanks to you."
"Yeah. Do I need to give you a once over?"
Trent shakes his head. "Nah, I'm good. Let's just figure out how to get Sonny up here before the sound of water drives him crazy."
Ray narrows his eyes, not buying it. But he doesn't press the matter. For now. "Yeah, I've been thinking about that. We have enough line between the three of us, and that tree line it close enough-"
"I can rappel down, stabilize Sonny, and bring him back up. After that Jason can stay with him while you and I look for Brock and Clay." Trent nods at the plan. But Ray is shaking his head. "What?"
"You aren't going down."
"What're you talking about? Sonny's leg is broken, we don't know how badly, and Jason is not in any condition to hold his weapon straight let alone go over a cliff." Trent protests. "Why wouldn't I be the one to go down?"
Ray puts a hand on Trent's shoulder, trying to keep their unofficial medic calm. "I hear you, brother, I do. But don't pretend you didn't get banged up just like Jase and I did. You've taught us all enough for me to recognize that glazy look in your eye, even in the dark. How many fingers am I holding up?"
Trent looks at Ray's hand, scoffs. "Ray—"
"How bad does your head hurt?"
"We're wasting time—"
"I know that!" Ray says, shoving Trent back with both hands. "And I can't let you go over that cliff knowing it would come down to me pulling you and Quinn back topside."
"Everything good here?" says Hayes as he steps between the two men. He takes a moment to look between then, gages the level of emotions pouring off of them. "Is it?"
"Yeah. All good. I'm going down to stabilize Sonny, get him back up top." Replies Ray, not breaking eye contact with Trent. "Trent was just getting ready to anchor a line to this tree for me."
Jason turns to Bravo Four. "That true, Trent?"
"Yeah."
"Okay then." Jason rubs his head, pinches the bridge of his nose, sighs. "The sound of water is starting to make Sonny go crazy, probably the pain too, so let's get the show on the road."
Trent walks off without another word.
After Bravo Four secured and triple checked Ray's line, Jason's 2IC prepared to go over the edge, with Trent's med bag strapped to his back.
When Ray got to Sonny, he would give him something for the pain, and look to see how bad the break was. Then, using extra line tied to Bravo Three, Ray would guide Sonny back to the top with Jason and Trent pulling them both up.
"Hey, brother. How're you feeling?"
Sonny chuckles, regrets it, and smiles upon seeing Ray standing over him. When did that happen? He doesn't remember closing his eyes, but ever since Jason stopped talking to him…
"Sonny, hey! You with me?"
"Yeah, yeah I ain't left." Sonny groans.
"Good."
"My leg feels like shit."
"I'm gonna give you something for that right now. Then we'll get you back on solid ground and Trent can look at that leg."
"Hey, did you…" Sonny finds himself relaxing slightly as he feels a prick in his leg, the pain shifts slightly to something not so awful. "D'you check on the kid? What'd Brock say?"
"Let's just focus on you right now."
Quinn noticed that Perry was quite all while he looked at his leg, stabilized it, talking into the comms, to which he couldn't hear the conversation. They probably switched channels. Pricks. After a few minutes, he was attached to a couple lines and Ray was guiding him up the side of the cliff he fell over. The sound of water was getting further and further away. Good.
He closes his eyes, just for a second. A rough hand presses his shoulder.
"What?"
"You gotta stay awake while I look you over, tell me what hurts."
Three considers Four's order, says, "Would saying everything help any?"
Trent doesn't look up. "No."
"How's he looking?" asks Jason from his spot on the ground. He is leaning against a tree, only because Trent saw him stumble while shifting through debris with Ray. Nearly an hour had passed since they got Sonny off of the outcropping, but it felt longer.
"Compound break of his left tibia, probable fracture of his left fibula." Four looks up, noticed that Sonny had finally passed out, after fighting for an hour. He really wanted him to stay awake, but he could only give him so much for the pain. "He's pretty bruised all over, head lac that's finally stopped bleeding. His left wrist is swollen. Probably swallowed some dirt."
"So, not great?"
"Being swept over a cliff will do that."
"Hm."
Trent finishes doing what he could for Sonny. He looks around the perimeter, doesn't see anything, and goes to join Ray in their search for Brock and Clay.
"How's your head?" asks Ray upon seeing Trent walking over to the pile of rocks and wood and remnants of their targets house.
"Fine." Comes Four's flat reply.
Ray figured he was mad at him, but he'd get over it. "Just asking, man."
"You should take a break, get some water." Trent says after a few minutes of silent searching. "I can search for awhi—"
"Shh."
"Look, Ray, I—"
"Trent, shut up!" Ray holds up his hand, strains his hears. The sound of silence is heavy in the late night, but after a few seconds, he hears it again. "There. You hear that?"
Trent waits, thinks he hears something, waits again. There it is. "What it that?"
"A signal. Help me move this."
Together the two SEALs lift a piece of broken wall, shift through broken fragments of furniture and other broken objects. The sound—an uneven banging—gets louder and louder with each item they move.
"Brock? Brock, Clay? Can you hear us?"
The banging speeds up, then slows down, then speeds up again. Trent and Ray move as fast as they dare, mindful of the soft ground beneath their feet.
"C'mon, guys answer us!"
An unknown amount of time passed before Bravo's Two and Four saw a flicker of light shine through the ground. Ray gets down on his knees and peers through the fist sized hole, tries to see what was below them. "Spenser? Reynolds? Guys?!"
"Ray!"
"Brock! Shit, are we glad you hear your voice. Are y'all okay? Where's the kid?"
"I'm fine, but… Spenser's in rough shape." Says Brock through a fit of coughs. He quickly fills them in, especially Trent, with Clay's known injuries and what happened. "I've tried to keep him talking, but he's sluggish. Can't get him to focus."
"Is his abdomen hard?"
"No, uh, I… I'm pretty sure… I think the blade is acting like a plug." Brock coughs again, tries to keep his thoughts straight so he can relay information correctly. "There isn't a lot of blood, but I'd…feel better if he were out of this hole."
Trent sighs, happy to hear that Brock didn't take the knife out. However, that also meant they needed to make a hole large enough to where the blade wouldn't snag on something when they pull the kid out. He wasn't sure this structure would hold such changes. And the ground was already weak, they couldn't—
"Guys! I just heard from Blackburn. There's a small clearing two klicks from our location. Exfil was approved. Help is on the way." Says Jason over comms.
Ray presses the button on his comm, "ETA?"
"ETA 60 mikes."
Two looks at Four, both men realizing what that meant.
They had less than 60 minutes to get Clay and Brock out of the hole and somehow make it two the exfil point. They knew exfil would not be able to wait for them forever, so they would need to act quickly. And two klicks didn't seem to be far, distance wise, but they were all banged up—some more than others.
"You two just hold tight, don't move. We're gonna get you out." Ray's words are meant to be reassuring. But even he isn't sure how he and Trent are going to pull this off. "Just hold on."
Brock was having a hard time. He struggled to keep Clay awake and talking, couldn't find a way out that didn't result in them being buried again, and the amount of pain he was in was making itself known to him in full force.
"Hey, Spenser?" he calls out to Clay, who doesn't respond. Brock tries again. "Clay? Dammit, Clay, answer me!" No reply. Brock pushes himself off the dirt wall, pulls himself to the youngest SEALs side. Resting on his knees, he presses two fingers to his neck and waits, sighing when he feels a pulse beneath his fingers. "Clay, wake up, brother. C'mon, now, open those eyes."
"Hmm…"
"Clay, you gotta stay awake." Brock tries to keep his brother talking, but it was a fruitless battle. "Shit!"
Reynolds leans back once more, coughs. He thought the air in the small opening was getting thinner… or maybe it was his imagination. He wasn't sure of anything other than the fact that he needed to find a way out. He had faith that the rest of Bravo was looking for them, even though he had no reason to believe they even made it out alive. But he couldn't give up, and let the kid die in the process.
When he sees a piece of broken wood and a large pot, Brock knows what he can do.
"B-Brock?"
Bravo Five stops his banging at the faint sound of his name. He sees Clay, who is staring straight ahead, not really looking at anything. "Yeah, kid?"
"Brock, I'm—I can't, I can't—" stammers Spenser. Brock can only guess that an infection has begun to set in. "Hey, Brock?"
"Yeah, Clay, I'm right here. What is it?" urges Five, but Six had already passed out once more. "Clay? Clay!"
Brock continues to bang on the pot, then on anything else he could find. After a few minutes, the area above him started to shift, causing dirt and wood to fall on top of and around him. He reacts—pushes his pain to the back corners of his mind—and uses his body to protect Clay once again.
He tries to hold his breath, not wanting to inhale everything that came his way, but it was impossible. Brock coughs, and again and again and again. His right shoulder screams at him and he can hardly ignore the pain as something slams into his back. But he doesn't move. He has to protect Clay. Brock is sure he hears someone call his name, but it is faint. He grits his teeth, strains his ears waits.
"Brock? Brock, Clay? Can you hear us?"
"Ray?" Brock says, though his voice isn't very high. "We're down here! Hey!"
"… guys answer us—"
Brock pushes a broken piece of something off of his back, checks Spenser for any new wounds or changes. Finding none, Five shines his light around the hole that is now smaller than when he first awoke. Then he sees it: a hole about the size of his fist. And there was someone on the other side of it.
"Spenser? Reynolds? Guys?!"
"Ray!"
"Brock! Shit, are we glad you hear your voice. Are y'all okay? Where's the kid?"
"I'm—I'm fine, but… Spenser's in rough shape." Says Brock through a fit of coughs. He then explains the situation best he can, telling Trent how the kid was fairing—or wasn't.
It seemed to take a while for one of his brothers to replied. He felt himself drifting slightly, now that he knows his brother—at least two of them—made it out okay. He just had to help Trent and Ray get Clay back on level ground, then he'd sleep until kingdom came.
"You two just hold tight, don't move. We're gonna get you out. Just hold on."
Brock tries not to laugh at Ray's choice of words. Somehow, a smile does work its way past his dry, cracked lips. He turns to Clay, places a hand on his shoulder. "You hear that, kid? Helps coming."
Clay hears his name—or at least the name the rest of Bravo insists on calling him. He knew Brock was still there, felt him next to him in that small opening of a hole. But he could hear other voices, too. Voices he knew. His brothers.
He isn't sure how long he had been trapped down there. The ache in his middle was now barely noticeable. Did Brock finally take the knife out? Regardless the answer, Clay figured this was probably a bag sign. Did someone turn the AC on? Why was he so cold? Focus, Clay, focus.
"Clay? Clay, you with me?"
Spenser opens his eyes as much as he can. It's not very much. Through the slits of his eyes, he can see Brock leaning over him. "Brock, I—" he starts, winces as a breath catches in his lungs. "I want t-to go h-home." Tears well up in his eyes, washing away bits of dirt as it ran down his face.
"Not much longer now, kid. Just hang in there." Brock does what he can to comfort the kid, tries once more to keep him awake and talking while Ray and Trent work on making a hole large enough for them to crawl through.
With the aid of his light, Five could tell he and Clay were between six and eight feet below the surface, but the hole Trent and Ray were able to make was like a steep slope. It would be more climbing on his part than pulling for the others. And as Brock eyes the opening best he could, he wondered how they would get the Spenser out with a knife still embedded in his side.
Trent and Ray worked as quickly as they could, making the hole large enough for Brock and Clay to crawl through. After a few minutes of constant moving and shifting debris, they stopped. "Brock?" Four calls.
Reynolds looks up, stifling a groan as he did. "Yeah?"
"We can't risk making this hole any larger, with the ground as unstable as it is." The unofficial medic says. "How long is the blade's handle?"
"Uh," Brock looks at Clay's side. He tries to look at the item in question, but he is struggling and can't tell how long it is, so he says, "I don't know, uh, maybe two, three inches?"
Ray takes note, looks at Trent. "Think its wide enough?"
Four groans, nods slightly. "It'll have to be. Brock, we're sending down a line. Get ready."
"Copy that." Once he had the line, Brock expertly attaches it to Clay, being careful of his injuries. He then guides his brother to the hole and helps Trent and Ray as best he could. "Ready!"
Upon Brock's signal, Trent and Ray begin to pull Clay up the messy slope of debris and dirt. Below, Brock does what he can to keep the younger man steady. Bravo Four had just grabbed hold of Clay when the ground rumbled and shifted without warning. The hole, that had since been held up by pieces of beams and walling, began to crack beneath the change in weight.
"Keep pulling!" shouts Brock. He continues to push Clay up the slope. Debris continues to rain down around them. Bravo Five doesn't stop.
The seconds pass like centuries, but Trent and Ray finally pulled Clay out of the hole. The team medic quickly sets to work on the kid when a noise followed by a shout resounded behind him. Trent looks over his shoulder and is met with horror.
Dust fills the air.
Ray is franticly digging through rocks, wood and dirt.
In the area they just opened.
The hole they just used to pull Clay out.
But Brock is nowhere to be seen.
Suddenly a bright light shines overhead, illuminating the area and the men spread about. The sound of a chopper overhead was like music to Trent's ears, but he had to focus on the kid in front of him.
Clay feels his body moving, but it happens without his consent. And he doesn't like it. Clay forces his eyes open, expects to see the darkness of the hole like the last time he awoke, but was instead met with the open night sky above him. "Brock?" the name is weak, and it hurts to say. Spenser rolls his head to the side, looking for Bravo Five. "Brock?"
"Hey, kid." That's not Brock. Clay blinks his tired eyes a few times, clears the image before him. "You're gonna be alright. Just sit tight, let me work."
"T-Trent?" comes Clay's confused reply. "W-where's Brock? W-what hap'ened?" he tried to sit up, but the medic is quick to push him back down. "Trent wha's goin'… wha' hap'nd?"
"Easy, kid, easy. I've got ya." Trent looks at the wound, concluded that Brock was right about the blade acting like a plug. He gives the kid painkillers.
"Tre—" Clay passes out as the drugs take hold. Trent gives the unconscious Spenser something to stave off the infection that has likely set in when two men appear in front of them. Seeing their patches and gear, he fills them in best he can as they place Clay in a stretcher.
Bravo Four stands, wavers, looks around for his brothers. Sonny is already on his way to the exfil point. Someone has a hold of Jason's arm.
"Sir, I need you to come with me. Exfil will be leaving in three mikes." Someone says. Trent hears them, but he isn't listening.
He stumbles over to Ray's side, falls to his knees.
"C'mon, faster!" shouts Perry. "Hurry up!"
Time moved slowly as Trent helps Ray and two other people dig through the debris, looking for Five.
Then someone shouts.
In a rush, Brock is pulled from the collapsed hole and none to gently hoisted over someone's shoulders. The group double times it to the chopper at the exfil point. One chopper had just left with Jason, Sonny and Clay aboard. Ray helped pull Five into the chopper, then Trent. When everyone was aboard, and the last man gave a thumbs up and the final chopper headed back to base.
"How are they?"
"Alive." Lt. Commander Blackburn notes Davis' relief. Granted he felt the same when he heard the news. But alive wasn't always the best news. Eric fills Lisa in on the details he knew about. "Sonny and Clay were taken to surgery right away. Jason is being treated for a moderate concussion; they'll probably want to keep him overnight at least. Ray has a few cuts and bruises and Trent nearly passed out when they got here. Turns out he has a concussion, caught a couple pieces of wood in his leg and didn't say anything. And Brock—" Blackburn rubs his face, the pressure of knowing what Bravo went through weighing on him.
"Is he—"
"No. Nonono." Eric is quick to say after seeing the horror on Lisa's face. "He has a broken clavicle, cracked ribs. He took a beating, and that was before he was caught in the cave-in."
"My god."
"Yeah. I haven't heard anything in a while. You should get some rest."
"Uh, I'm good. I want to be here for them."
Blackburn nods. "I'll grab some coffee."
"Thanks."
A few hours later, a doctor informed Blackburn and Davis that Ray, Trent and Jason would be fine, no need to keep them overnight. Sonny, Clay and Brock would be at the hospital for a bit longer, depending on how each recover. The next 24 hours would tell them more.
Jason sits in Clay's room, trying to not pick at the bandage around his head. It itched, and he wanted to sleep, but after hearing about Spenser's injuries, he knew he needed to be close by. He kept Mandy updated since the CIA agent was needed back stateside to debrief the situation to her bosses. With nothing else to do, Jason simply waited.
"Master Chief Hayes?"
Jason snaps his eyes open at something touching his arm. He looks around wildly, trying to gather his bearings. Finally, his eyes land on a nurse to his right. "Yeah, yeah, what is it what happened what's going on?" he asks in a rush.
"We are going to wake him up now."
Jason relaxes a bit, looks at Clay's still form. "Is that, uh, good? Doesn't he need the rest?"
"All of our tests indicate he is strong enough. He hasn't woken up on his own and it's been 31 hours. We need to be sure there isn't any damage our machines didn't pick up." Says the doctor in the room. "We don't know what will happen, so we'd like you to be the first person he sees, if that's all right with you?"
"Okay, sure." Jason approaches the bed, stands by his brother's side and waits for the doctors to do whatever it is they are going to do. He sees Ray and Trent enter the room, there to offer their own support.
"Give him a minute." Someone says. "Talk to him. It'll be good for him to hear your voice."
"Hey, kid? Spense, it's time to wake up now, okay. Your safe now, you can wake up."
Clay felt like he was drowning. Scratch that: he was drowning. And then the feeling of water pressing against this chest was gone and it felt like he was floating back to earth.
"Clay?"
He hears his name, doesn't know where it came from.
"That's it, Clay. Open your eyes."
I'm trying! Clay yells. Or, he thinks he yells. He tries again, still surrounded by darkness. He tries again, still nothing. He wants to give up. I… I can't.
"Don't give up, kid. We're here for you."
"C'mon, brother, you've got this."
Clay tries to open his eyes again. He keeps trying until the darkness gives way to a dim light. His first thought is he's still trapped in that hole with a knife in his side. He shuts his eyes, not wanting to face that reality.
"Clay, your safe. It's okay, brother, your okay. You're in the hospital."
Once more, Clay opens his eyes. And after letting his vision focus, he can tell that he is, indeed, not trapped in the hole. He glances down to his side, doesn't see a handle. Spenser blinks, looks at the men standing around him.
"Hey, brother." Greets Ray with a gentle pat of Clay's leg. "Welcome back."
"Your okay?" he asks, referring to his teammates. He notices they are two members short. "Where's—"
"They're alive, don't worry. Sonny has a broken leg, some cuts and bruises, but in a few months, with rehab, he'll be fine." Trent informs him. "Brock took a beating, but he'll be fine too. They're both down the hall resting."
Clay lets the news sink in. "He saved my life. Brock, he… he used his body t-to keep the debris from h-hitting me. More than once." The heart monitor starts to pick up slightly, and Jason is quick to tell the kid to relax. "He saved my life."
"I guess this means you owe him a case of beer. Maybe something stronger."
Clay leans back deeper into the pillow. "I'm just glad I don't have to give Cerberus bad news."
"Well…" Trent trails off with a sly grin.
"What?" asks Clay, not following the medic.
"Brock has a broken collar bone. That's a bitch of a break. He has to wear this weird harness-sling-brace thing, which means he can't take Cerb to the beach and throw balls and exercise him daily. How do you think Cerb will react to his human not being the same for a few weeks?"
Jason and Ray start laughing, knowing where Trent was going. Clay, on the other hand, did not find it so amusing.
"Do worry, we'll help."
"Yep. I call beach duty!"
-FIN-
