This is a few days late, but HAPPY SEAL TEAM RENEWAL! Wheel up to Season 3, baby! *happy dance*
This was written for Guest. I don't usually do requests, but this one had to do with two of my favorite things: Brock whump and the guys protecting Cerb. Sorry this took so long, Guest, but I hope you still like it.
"Love it! You are so good. If you do request, I have two. 1) Anything with Brock wump. He's my favorite. 2) Something where another military person doesn't think Cerb is a soilder/deserves the same things as the Gus, and the rest of Bravo team is protective of him and makes that person regret saying those things. If not you obviously know what you are doing and I will read anything you write."
Plot: Cerberus is an important member of Bravo Team, no matter what anyone else says. He's proven his worth time and again. Sometimes in the most unassuming of ways.
9: Team's Best Friend (One-Shot)
Brock sat at an outside table at a local diner. He sipped on a glass of water, flicked through messages on his phone. Cerberus lay at his feet, watching people as they passed by in a wiz. It was a beautiful day, and it was going to get better, once 0900 rolled around.
"Ever the early bird, you are." A voice says coming up behind him.
Brock sends a mock scowl at Cerb, who simply stood and walked over to the woman with a wagging tail. "You were supposed to let me know when she got here, bubba."
"I think Cerb loves me too much to ruin the joy I have in scaring you."
Brock huffs slightly. "You didn't scare me. And that's only because you give him more treats than I do."
The woman grins innocently, points to herself. "I would never risk sending his elite training down the drain. At least, not every time." she chuckles as she gives Brock a hug. "Good to see you."
"You too, Mac. Been a long time." Brock says to his sister. "Things still good at work?"
"Yeah. You?"
"Can't complain."
"How's that rookie treating you guys? You run him off yet?" Mac asks as she looks over the menu, even though she knows what she wants.
"Nah, Clay's all good. Fits right in." Brock nods to Cerb, who is snuggled up against Mac's leg. "Passed the traitor's test so he must be a keeper."
"Ignore him, Cerberus. We all know which sibling you love most."
Mackenzie and Brock continued to chat, catching up since it had been a while since they last got together. Their food had just arrived when the latter's phone began to chime. He glances at the screen, then gives Mac and apologetic look. "I'm-"
"Don't say it." Mac, used to her brother being called away at the worse of times, sips her drink. "Go save the world."
Brock takes out his wallet and places some money down before Mac can object. "You're buying the next one." He says as he leans down and kisses the top of her head.
"I'll grill some steaks."
Brock makes a funny face as he and Cerb get into his truck. Mac watches them leave for base, then turns to her meal and eats in silence.
#
If Cerberus could talk, he'd probably voice his displeasure for working with other units. Bravo was the best and he knew them just as well as they knew him. But when another team is needed for a mission, calls are questioned more often than not, especially when his role is key to mission success.
This mission was no different.
"Yo, Boss, is it true?" Brock asks as he stalks into the briefing room, Cerberus matching his long strides. Everyone in the room thought the sight was odd, considering their canine teammate was never in on briefings. "Tell me it isn't."
Spenser looks up, wondering what has Brock's emotions all knotted up. "Is what true?"
"That we're partnering with another team." Ray says as he leans on the table.
"Why's that—"
Sonny chimes in, "Don't say it, Blondie!"
"—so bad?"
"Ah, shit." Mutters Trent as he shakes his head.
"It's bad, Clay, because the team we're partnered with wanted Cerb put down after the last mission we worked together." Jason tells the youngest member as he leans against a counter.
Clay is taken aback, shocked. "What?! Brock, that true?" Clay turns to the canine handler, wanting to know more. Something tells him he should leave the matter alone for the time being, but he can't help his multiplying questions.
The level of anger pouring off of Bravo Five was rather high. And considering the fact Reynolds is one of the more level headed members of Bravo, that is really saying something. Still, Brock doesn't say a word as he takes a seat and waits for everyone else to arrive. Cerberus lays down by his feet.
When Lt. Commander Blackburn walks in, he can tell the mood in the room is rather tense. "Hmm, I guess you've heard already. Don't know how…" Eric looks around the room at the mixed looks Bravo team is giving him. Including Cerberus. "I was hoping to tell you in person, Brock. I'm sorry."
"Lt. Commander Blackburn." Bravo Team turns towards the door as a new presence enters, followed by five other men. "Had I known this mission was with Bravo, I would not have been so quick to toss Delta Team's name in the hat for consideration." The comment is meant to sound like a joke, but it comes off as anything but.
"Master Chief Horn. Pleasure as always."
"But I am sure we can accomplish this mission without the aid of Bravo. Or their… other member."
Eric finds himself standing a little bit straighter as he talks to Delta Teams leader. And he doesn't miss the way Ray lays a comforting hand on Brock's shoulder. "I do not doubt it, Master Chief. But our intel suggests the compound where your objective is located in a rather tricky area. An area that is believed to be grounds for repurposed explosives, namely landmines."
"So, we bring our respective EODs. Problem solved."
"Master Chief Horn, Mandy Ellis, CIA." Says Mandy, stepping in before things get even more tense. "Bravo and Delta are being brought in to recover formulas for deadly drugs from those grounds, but the location is too big for one team to search in our limited window of operation. Twelve men and a dog will make the search go by quicker."
Horn narrows his eyes but doesn't add anything else.
"Any hostiles in the area?" one of Horn's men asks from the back of the room.
"Intel suggests there is a very small local militia, but few people take them seriously. Shouldn't be a problem should you run into any of their three members." Blackburn says.
"This area here, is where we suspect the main dumping area for the landmines to be. Our images aren't great because locals planted trees a few years back that have obstructed our view of the entire property."
"So, we're looking at pictures that are… how old?" Hayes doesn't want to know the answer to that question, not really, but the information is needed.
"Six."
"Six years? Mandy, you expect us to walk into a suspected drug compound that is supposedly surrounded by repurposed landmines after looking at pics that are six years old?" Jason can't believe what he is hearing. Doesn't like what he is hearing. Not one bit. "Unbelievable."
"Why are we just no acting on this intel?" Clay asks.
"This woman, Isabelle Harclave, was under investigation from the CDC seven years ago because she was suspected of copying formulas for some of the deadliest pathogens they carry. She disappeared before the FBI was able to arrest her after they found out she was selling the information she collected on the black market. We believe she payed locals to plant those trees to hide what she's really doing there."
Trent speaks up, saying, "That's some level of commitment. Waiting so long, working in the dark."
Mandy flips through various pictures on the screen, finally stopping on an image of a two-story building. "This is an abandoned building on the grounds."
"Then why is the power bill through the roof? Especially in that region, so off grid, cut off from the rest of the city?" Brock asks, looking up from a few papers in his hand.
"Because Harclave is using it as a base for her meets. Buyers convene there, she sells the formulas, repeats. But we believe she is also using the basement area to power something heavy duty, we just don't know what."
Ray leans back in his chair, eyes Ellis. "Is she manufacturing her own drugs there? Mass producing?"
"The locals talk, say an American lives in the woods. But we can't confirm anything other than talk. That's what we need you to find out."
"So, our job is to secure the formulas, see if we can figure out where Harclave is. And if there are pathogens on site?"
"Regardless if you locate any pathogens or not, you are to eliminate the target building and any persons you may find inside. The area is 30 miles from any city or village, so brass has given us the all clear to blow the site sky high once we're through and in the clear."
"Oh, sweet, sweet music to my ears." Sonny beams like a kid on Christmas. "I'ma need to pack all the slaps I can carry."
"Curve your excitement, Sonny. We've gotta be mindful of those landmines."
"Supposed landmines, kid. We don't know yet."
"Yeah. We don't." Jason stands and walks over to Cerberus, who stands as well when he sees Jason walk over. "But Cerb here will let us know. Won't you, boy?"
No one missed the way Jason looked at Horn as he spoke those words.
#
"One to Five. How we doin'?"
"Nearly finished. Half a klick from the target building." Comes Brock's reply.
"Copy that. Radio once you've made contact."
"Copy."
Once in country, Jason wasted no time in putting Reynolds and Cerberus to work. With Spenser and Quinn watching their backs, Cerberus would point out any repurposed explosives and Brock would mark the area with special paint that the teams could see with their NVGs. The moon was high in the clear sky, and the trees planted gave them plenty of cover.
However, that also meant any hostiles in the area also had cover.
Still, they pressed forward, marking the path for their brothers.
"Hey, Brock?"
"Shh." Brock marks another explosive Cerb finds.
Clay waits, looks around, doesn't see anything thing. He tries again. "Is it true Delta team wanted Cerb put down?"
Brock stops all of the sudden, and Clay can't tell if it was because of his question or if Cerberus found something. After a few seconds of silences, Five says, "Yeah."
Sensing Reynolds didn't want to relieve the moment Delta Team pressed all the wrong buttons, Sonny chimes in. "They just didn't take kindly to getting upstaged by Cerberus is all. Damaged pride is what it was."
Clay believe that but remained silent, not wanting to add anything. Maybe he would be able to get some answers out of Blackburn. If only he could speak dog…
"Five to One, we've reached the target building. The path is marked, you're all clear to move."
"Copy that. Moving towards your location."
A few minutes later, Bravo and Delta teams were spread throughout the building, searching for intel, any formulas and or pathogens. Three members of Delta Team took the second floor, while Bravo worked on the first. Ray was on watch with the other three members of Charlie around the perimeter of the building.
Brock and Cerberus were clearing a room on the floor level, when something catches the canine members attention. His low whine draws Five's gaze to a door at the end of a short hall.
"Bravo Five to Bravo One, somethings got Cerb's attention. Looks like a door, different than the others in this building, newer."
"At your current location?"
"Affirmative. Recent construction, maybe. Too dark to tell for certain, but it's appears to be newer than the rest."
"Copy that. Take Six, check it out."
Clay jogs over to join Brock after handing his area off to Trent. Cerberus gently tugs at Brock's belt, urging the SEALs to go faster, silently telling them there was something important behind the odd door.
With the dog leading the way, Bravos Five and Six open the door, and step into darkness, using their NVGs to see where they were going. They stepped into a tile hall, which was unlike the wooden walls of the structure they left behind. The ceiling held LED lightening and small vents every few feet. The ground sloped down. The deeper they went, the harder Cerberus pulled. Brock knew what this meant, so he readied himself for anything. Clay did the same.
After a few minutes of walking down the long, slanted hall, and not seeing a single door or window, they came upon what could only be described as Frankenstein's lab.
Glass jars of odd colored liquid lined shelves from the floor to the ceiling. Tables with various items, stretchers, and other medical equipment are strewn about. And a desk with a laptop.
Clay lets out a low whistle. "Jackpot."
"You check the desk and grab the computer. Cerberus and I will see if there's anything else of importance."
"Yeah, copy that." Spenser clears his side of the room and chuckles to himself. "Sonny's gonna be pissed about this."
"Let's just get what we need and set the charges. I don't like how Cerb's acting around all this stuff." Brock says as he looks from a bottle of something greenish-brown and back to a stack of files.
All of a sudden, Cerberus starts barking. Brock and Clay turn towards the sound, weapons raised, and see two figures ducking back into a crack in the wall that was defiantly not there when they arrived.
Both SEALs react, taking aim at the tangos, but the men are quick. They know the room well, even in the dark, and duck behind items that effectively stop the bullets meant for them.
Cerberus turns to his left, roughly pulling Brock off balance, just as a tango jumps up and throws something across the room, which narrowly misses Five's head. Something shatters, and flames erupts soon after.
Across the room, Clay grits his teeth as he fights to hold off the person pressing him against the desk. Having seen this, Brock quickly reaches down and unclips Cerberus from his waist before engaging with the other tango. The Hair Missile shoots off and grabs a hold of the combatant that had Clay pinned against the desk, sinking his teeth into the enemy's arm. Spenser recovers, reaches for his sidearm, and when Cerberus is in the clear, fires four shots in quick succession. The tango quickly lay in a growing pool of blood, dead.
"Five?" shouts Clay as he struggles to his feet. He hears something else shatter. The smell of fire and chemicals burning was growing stronger with each passing second. He could see Brock fighting with the other tango, each alternating blows and jabs, as the flames grew around them. "Five!"
The tango slams Brock back into a broken shelf, again and again and again. They fall to the floor. Bottles break, chemicals spill out, fueling the already raging fire. Suddenly, Cerberus appears out of the darkness and uses all of his strength to pull the tango off his human.
There's a pained yelp.
The smoke gets thicker.
Cerberus is no longer in sight.
Clay raises his weapon…
…Brock kicks the tango back…
…Clay aims and fires.
The tango falls to the ground. Dead.
"Five, you good? Brock? Brock, talk to me!" Clay runs over and none too gently hauls Reynolds to his feet. He coughs as the rooms continues to fill with smoke. "Brock!?"
"Where's Cerberus?!" yells Brock as he looks around the room, coughing. "Cerberus? Cerb?!"
Both men turn at the sound of a low, half bark, half whimper. Brock slings his weapon across his shoulder and reaches down, feeling his way through the darkness and the smoke. Seconds dragged by before his hands found fur. Five quickly, but carefully, pulls Cerberus into his arms, not sure where he is injured and not wanting to make him run.
Clay secures his bag back on his shoulders after placing the laptop inside and takes point, leading his two teammates back out the sloped tile tunnel as the flames continued to grow and roar behind them.
No sooner than they had reached the main floor did the room explode. The building shook as flames poured out of the hall just as Clay and Brock and Cerberus hit the ground. Jason is first by their side, followed by Sonny and Trent.
"What the—"
"Long… story." Mutters Clay as Sonny helps him to his feet. "We found… we located Harclave's laptop. Got contacted down there. Cerb took a hit."
Trent is quickly at the dog's side, looking him over with Brock still holding tight. "You good?" he asks Brock and Clay as he gives Cerberus a once over.
All Five and Six can manage through fits of coughing are a slight nod and a thumbs up.
"Bravo One to all stations. Objective complete. Set your timers and let's get the hell out of here."
#
"Any word on Cerberus?"
Brock absentmindedly rubs the white bandage around his left forearm. At the sound of Clay walking into the cage room, he stops, grabs a hat and locks up. "He's got some bruises and singed fur. Breathed in as much smoke as we did, but nothing serious. You?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Breathing treatment did wonders." Clay nods. They haven't been back in the states for 24 hours yet and he can still taste the rancid smoke from that room. "What about you? You good?"
"I'm fine."
"Those seventeen stitches in your arm and eight in your neck tell me otherwise. What's really on your mind?"
Dammit, the kid is observant. And nosey. Brock rubs his bearded face. He'd let it get a little thicker these last few days. Needed to shave soon. "I've lost brothers. We all know it's a part of the job, try to prepare for it best we can, deal with it when it happens, but… I don't know what I'd do if I lost Cerb. Just thinking I'd lost him…"
Spenser knows how Reynolds feels. "But you didn't. And he's still here."
"Yeah. This time." Brock rubs his tense neck and shoulder, right where another bandage covers his other op injury. He nods at Clay, pulls on his hat. "I'll see you in the briefing room."
Brock heads for the kennels to pick up Cerberus, who spent most of the morning with the vet. When the dog saw his human, his low tail quickly shot up as he stood.
"Hey, buddy!" greets Five as he enters the room. "Good to go, doc?"
"Yes. His breathing is better, but if you think it sounds worse, bring him back and we'll give him another treatment."
"Will do. Alright, bubba, let's go debrief." Brock unlocked the cage and goes to clip the leash to Cerb's collar when the canine darts out and tackles Bravo Five. "Hey, I'm glad to see you, too!"
Cerberus runs circles around Brock's legs, not stopping long enough to be clipped to the leash. When Brock reaches down, Cerb spins around, mouth open and nips Brock's bandaged arm.
Brock is startled, recovers quickly and gives Cerberus a command. Cerb stops and lays down, allowing himself to be clipped to the leash.
"Are you okay? Did he draw blood?" the vet quickly asks, having seen what happened.
"No, I'm fine. It wasn't hard enough to do any damage." Brock looks from the vet to his bandaged arm to Cerberus. "He's just really excited."
The vet nods in agreement, knowing how animals react to being away from their handlers for any period of time.
#
Most everyone was already in the briefing room when Brock and Cerberus arrived. Master Chief Horn scowled at Cerb as they passed but didn't say a word. Jason, from across the room, saw this and turned his attention to Bravo Five who seemed to be keeping his cool so far. He hopes they keep it that way through the debrief.
"Alright, everyone's here, let's get this going." Says Lt. Commander Blackburn.
Not even two hours passed before things got heated.
"This was a waste of Delta Team Blackburn and you know it. My guys are equipped to do more than stand watch and look through empty rooms for supposed pathogen formulas." Says Master Chief Horn with growing rage.
"Your displeasure is noted, Master Chief Horn, but as we said before—"
"We know what you said. What I don't know is why my men were stuck looking through rooms that were literally spotless while Bravo did all of the heavy lifting!"
"My room had some leaves." Says Sonny with a straight face.
"Mine too. And a few specks of dirt to boot." Adds Trent. "Pretty sure they came off of boots."
"And why did the mutt get to search Harclave's office? Huh? What good could it do down there?" Horn presses. "It's useless and has no reason to be part of any operation, much less in the Navy. I don't trust that thing being around my men, especially on missions!"
Brock mutters, shakes his pained head that's between his hands. "And there it is."
"Delta could've found that hall. Easily."
"Yeah, well you didn't. Cerberus did. And because of him we know what formulas Harclave copied and who she sold those copies to." Snaps Brock as he turns towards Horn. Cerberus nudges Reynolds arm again, then puts a paw on his leg. The SEAL doesn't seem to notice. "If you guys are lucky, maybe Delta will be sent on an op to capture one of those buyers and prevent an epidemic! But I wouldn't count on it so don't hold your breath."
"Brock! That's enough!" says Hayes as he crosses the room. "Look, everything that happened, happened, all right? Mission success, that's all that matters. Not you or Delta being upstaged by a dog. Again. So, if you've got a problem with Cerberus, then you've got a problem with me. With all of us. And you don't want that, do you, Master Chief Horn?"
The rest of Bravo watch in silence as their leader stood up for their teammates, but all were ready to come to their aid if the need arose. It wouldn't be the first-time punches have been thrown in the briefing room, and likely wouldn't be the last.
While this was going on, Cerberus continues to nudge Brock. First on his arm, then he jumps up and puts both front paws on Brock's chest. Before Brock and tell him to get off, Cerberus nips at the exposed bandage on his shoulder and neck.
"See? That's my point! Bravo Five can't even control his mutt!" shouts Horn as he backs away from the table. "This will happen on a mission! Blackburn, that mutt needs to be put d—"
Brock throws the first punch.
Trent and Ray are quick to hold Brock back, while Clay jumps up and stands between him and the stunned Master Chief Horn. Members of Charlie advance, coming to their own leader's aid and Jason and Sonny stop them from getting too close.
Blackburn is quick to step in, though not without slight hesitation. "ENOUGH!"
Everyone stops what they were doing, and the room lapses into silence.
Until Trent's worried voice breaks it.
"Brock? Brock, hey, what's wrong? Brock!"
Jason pushes his way through the wall of SEALs. When he does, he sees Reynolds leaning heavily on the table, one hand pulling at the neck of his shirt as if the fabric were too tight.
Brock looks at Trent, then to Cerb, then coughs into his hand. There's blood. It speckles the table and carpet and his coughing intensifies, right before his legs give out. Bravo Five collapses into Trent's arms, who manages to stop his descent before his brother actually slammed into the ground.
Ray is there to help lower this brother to the ground. His coughing doesn't relent. Cerb continues to nudge Brock's bandaged wounds, wanting his human to know that he's still there. Sonny calls the dog off, wanting to give the team medic room to work, but the furry member ignores the commands and lays down by his human's side instead.
"Trent, talk to me. Trent?"
"I don't know, Jase. He was all wired, then he started coughing and just went slack." Trent expertly runs his hands over his brother's body out of habit, though he knows the base doctors gave him the all clear. "There aren't any missed injuries. I don't know what's—" Trent stops short, finally noticing Cerberus for the first time. He thinks back to the mission, how he cleaned out small shards of glass from Brock's wounds as they flew back. He recalled Clay telling them about the large amount of chemicals in Harclave's office. And that Brock was slammed into those very shelves repeatedly. "Ohhh… shitshitshitshitshit."
"Trent!"
"Blackburn! Get Mandy on the phone and have her bring those formulas back. And I need those doctors that treated Brock in here, now!" Four says as he turns his attention back to Five, who is no longer coughing. And barely breathing. "Shit, he's burning up…"
For as long as Eric has worked with Bravo Team, he has learned not to question the many things they do. Near the top of that list is Trent when there is a medical situation regarding the team. Blackburn tells Delta Team to leave and he exits the room to get a phone and message to their CIA agent.
Hayes gets down on one knee, looks at the medic. "Trent, talk to us. What's going on? What're you thinking?"
Bravo Four places two fingers on Five's neck, waits a beat before saying, "I think Cerberus is trying to tell us something."
Ray looks over to his brother, not knowing what Trent was getting at. "Which is?"
"Cerberus had a stint with narcotics, right? And he kept nudging and nipping at Brock's bandages. I think… I think Brock's been poisoned by whatever was in those bottles in Harclave's office."
"Aw, shit."
"You can't be serious!"
"Can Cerb even do that? Smell drugs in a human body?"
Trent spares a glance at his brothers, then looks at the canine in question who has rested his head next to Brock's. "There are stories and studies about dogs detecting cancer before an individual exhibits any symptoms. Why should this be any different?"
A team of doctors rush into the room, led by Blackburn, with a gurney. Bravo Team lifts Brock onto the gurney and the doctors quickly wheel him back to the medical wing with Trent in tow. Cerberus tried to follow, but Clay had a tight hold of the leash.
"I need those formulas, Eric!" Four yells over his shoulder.
"Mandy's on her way!"
"What… what the hell just happened?" Sonny questions after a second of trying to gather his racing thoughts. "I mean—"
"Don't know." Replies Jason. He turns to Eric, who just shakes his head.
"Consider this the end of our debrief. Let me know when you hear something about Reynolds."
That was all the remaining members of Bravo needed to hear as they took their leave and headed for the medical wing with Cerberus leading the way, his leash still held by Clay, as he knew his human needed all of them.
#
When Mandy Ellis jogs to a halt, she it more disheveled than what the team usually sees. Her hair is windblown, and her badge is barely clipped to her clothes. But she is there, formulas in hand.
"You got 'em?" asks Blackburn upon seeing the CIA agent walk over.
Mandy nods, trying to catch her breath as she hands them over. "Yeah, the analysts hadn't even started going over them when you called." This is when she notices there are only four members of Bravo standing in the hall. "What happened? Where's Trent? Brock?"
Blackburn waves a woman in scrubs over, who takes the USB drive from Eric and disappears behind a set of doors down the hall. "Brock may have been infected on the op. Trent and the docs need the formulas to see if that's the case. Try to find out what Harclave had in that shop."
"Infected? Wha—the op barely even 24 hours ago. Why didn't the doctors notice anything when they checked him out the first time?"
"I don't know, Mandy." Eric says. He looks over the team. "Look. I know we all want answers, but we're no good to anyone just standing here, taking up this entire hall. The flight was long, go get some rest, eat something and come back in a few hours."
Everyone quickly began to protest that suggestion—or order—realizing that Brock may not have hours, when the double doors swing open once more, this time with Trent walking out. His hair was sticking in different directions, as if he ran his hands through it numerous times, and he no longer wore his uniform. Instead, he had on a simple red tee and a pair of jeans someone must have given him. Trent looked worn, more warn than when he took their brother to the medical wing, how long ago? Minutes? Hours?
"Trent? What happened?
"What took so long? How is he?"
"I, uh, had to get checked out. The doctors want to be cautious."
Cautious? That's not a good sign, and the guys knew this.
"So… how's Brock? He okay?" Jason speaks for the team. They all need to know how Five is doing. Cerberus stands amongst the men, waiting as well, his tail hanging low.
"We don't know."
"What do you mean you 'don't know'?"
"I mean we don't know! They aren't actually sure how long whatever it is has been in his system, what kind of damage it may have already caused. Or why it took so long to…" Trent takes a moment to gather his wits, can feel the many eyes on him as they wait for him to go on. "His breathing is getting worse. They'll intubate him soon if he doesn't show any signs of improvement."
That statement nearly sucked the air out of the hall.
"But he's… he'll be fine, right? I brought the formulas and the doctors are looking through them and—"
Trent can't bring himself to get anyone's hopes up.
"I have a friend at the CDC. I'll give her a call, see if she can do anything." Says Blackburn. "In the meantime, you all get some rest. Two solid hours of rest. Brock will need all of us and we're no good to him if we've worn ourselves thin."
No one moves but Jason. "You heard the man. Let's go."
#
As soon as two hours had passed, Bravo Team, sans Trent, headed back to the medical wing. If you asked them if they were refreshed after eating something or laying down, they all would say they did.
But that was a flat lie.
Jason couldn't sit in one chair for long. Ray was stuck in a hunched position in a chair, either praying or sleeping, no one could tell. Sonny paced around the room, his cowboy boots echoing throughout. And Clay was sitting on the floor, opposite of the door that separated them from their brother. Trent was in with Brock, staying out of the way when he couldn't do anything and helping where he could.
Thankfully it didn't take long for Bravo Four to step into the waiting room.
Everyone stood, waited for their team medic to say something.
Trent took a breath, then began. "It's not good. They won't tell me directly, but I heard one of the doctors say it looks like a mutated strain of MERS."
Someone gasps.
"His fever is through the roof and his lungs are working overdrive. They had to intubate him. But…" Trent trails off, tears welling in his eyes.
"But what?" someone asks.
"But… not before he asked me to contact Mac. He wants her here. Just in case…"
Clay looks around at the others and asks, "Who's Mac?"
"Brock's sister." Ray replies as he hangs his head. It had to be bad if Brock had, somehow, asked them to get Mac. "Damn."
The room is silent for some time, before Clay speaks up. "Brock… has a sister?"
"Yeah, they kinda grew apart after he enlisted since it was hard for them to keep in touch. They're really close now." Jason says. "Man, I haven't seen her in years."
Trent nods, composing himself as he rubs his face. "Brock is out of it, but he knows it's bad. I, uh, need to call her. Get her down here."
Jason steps forward. "Want me to call her?"
"No, I can do it, Boss. It'll be good to hear her voice."
Jason nods, steps to the side as Trent walks past to make the hard call to a woman they've all come to care about.
#
In the time that passed since Trent updated them on Brock's condition, things slowly got worse for the SEAL.
Blackburn was able to get a hold of his friend at the CDC, but she wasn't able to make the flight to base. Via a video call, she worked with the base doctors, trying to find solutions that worked best to help Bravo Five's struggling lungs as there is no cure for MERS. No one knew how much time passed before Trent walked in with a woman on his heels. She quickly spares a look at Bravo Team, then steps behind the double doors alone.
"How'd she take it?"
"I'm not really sure." Trent says walking over to the group. "She's probably spent years expecting him to meet his end by a bullet or something overseas. Not this."
"I don't think there's any way to prepare for this."
Another hour passed before Brock's sister was none to gently pushed out of the room and more doctors swarmed in. She steps over to the group, removes the face mask and looks at the men with tears in her eyes. With a shaky breath, she opens her mouth, but can't bring herself to say anything. Jason pulls her close, whispering comforting words in her ear as she cries.
Trent exits the room a few minutes later.
"It's not MERS." Before tension in the room lifts, Trent continues. "Blackburn's friend at the CDC said it's an extremely aggressive form of a cold. It is a slow acting mutation, but due to Brock's… heated exchange, that may have been a factor in it progressing quicker. He's developed bacterial pneumonia. His lungs are really struggling but they've started him on an intense round of antibiotics."
Jason takes a deep breath. "Now what?"
Trent looks at his brothers, then to Mackenzie. "Now we wait."
#
Mackenzie Reynolds can't help but pace up and down the long hall. Granted, that's about as far as she is allowed to go by herself. Not that she wanted to go anywhere else. Not when her brother's fate teetered on the edge of how well he responded to the antibiotics. She was so preoccupied with putting one foot in front of the other and not falling, she didn't realize Clay standing a few feet away until she nearly ran into him.
"You okay?" he asks, though her body language told him enough. "Sorry. I didn't mean to sound like-"
"No, it's okay. I'm fine. I'm just not really a patient person in times like these." Mac stops and leans against the wall. "Your Bravo's kid, right?"
Clay chuckles but doesn't correct her. "Yeah, Clay. Sorry we got to meet like this."
Mackenzie sighs, looks around. "Where's Cerb?"
"Had to take him back to the kennels. He was pretty restless not being able to see Brock."
"Yeah. He gets that way. Very protective of Brock. Another reason why they get along so well."
Clay and Mac continue to talk, only stopping briefly to eat a sandwich someone brought. Mac tries to nap in the chairs, but she'd can't bring herself to drift off. She doesn't want to go to sleep, knowing she still has a brother, only to wake up and realize that he was gone. At some point Jason came to sit with her. No words were spoken but having him there meant a great deal to her. Together, with the rest if Bravo, they waited.
#
It has been nearly a week since Mackenzie got the call. Five days since she saw men she hadn't seen in years. Five days she had started preparing ways to say goodbye to her best friend.
Jason offered to get her a hotel so she could get some proper sleep. Ray mentioned how Naima would love to catch up and offered her the guest room at his house. But Mac couldn't bring herself to leave the base. Not without knowing. Bravo Team rotated in and out, and on the second night she noticed they were all sporting bruised knuckles or black eyes. It didn't take a genius to figure out what happened, and when their commander saw them on the morning of the third day, he could only shake his head.
Mac was folded up into a chair on the morning of the fifth day when she saw the doctor approach. She stands as quickly as she can, ignoring the feeling of blood rushing back through her numb limbs. She purses her lips, holds her breath, prepared to take whatever news the doctor has with a look that says, 'give it to me straight'.
"It took a long time, but Petty Officer Reynolds is now responding well to the antibiotic treatments." There is a collective sigh of relief amongst those in the room. Trent reaches out and hugs Mac, out of joy and to make sure she didn't fall over due to happiness. "His lungs are still weak, but strong enough to where we were able to take him off the ventilator. His is still on oxygen, but his vitals are strong. I don't see why he won't make a full recovery, given time."
"Can we see him?"
The doctor nods. "One or two at a time. Someone will come get you after he is settled into his room."
Once Brock was placed into a room, the guys were allowed to see him, with Mac's encouragement to go first. She knows how much they care for each other. And just as she and Brock are blood, Bravo Team also held a special bond that couldn't be overlooked or ignored. The guys promised to be quick and not tire him down too much, and then they were gone two at a time, leaving Mac to wait in the hall until they were done.
Jason and Clay are the last members to check in. The latter hugs the wall while Hayes strolls over to the bed. Brock looks at the men, manages a smile and a small wave as he croaks, "Hey guys."
"How're you feeling?"
Brock blinks a few times, gives the same answer he gave the others. "Not the best. Better than I was. But I'll be okay."
"You gave us a scare, man." Jason continues. "I mean, we didn't know what to think. Then the docs were thinking MERS and-"
Bravo Five coughs and groans, "But it wasn't. I just nearly bit it with the worse cold known to mankind. Probably not going to live this one down." All jokes aside, it was good that Reynolds was talking. But the only person who hadn't said a word caught the bedridden SEALs attention. "Clay?"
Spenser looks over at the sound of his name. "Yeah?"
"It's okay." There is no need to add what he was referring to.
"No, it's not." Clay says quickly. "I should've got to you sooner. There was no way of knowing what was in those bottles, and you were all cut up and-"
"I'm okay. It's okay." Brock pauses. "You know, Cerb is gonna need someone to train with until I can get out of here. Think you guys can handle that?"
Jason, who had walked over to the door, smirks from across the room. "I don't know. It might be hard to get him away from the other Reynolds."
Just then Mac walked in with Cerberus in tow. Brock's face lit up at the sight of his canine partner and sister. "How'd you get him in here?" he asks, knowing how the medical staff feels about canines in the ward.
Mac smiles innocently. "I asked politely."
Brock raises a questioning brow. "Mac?"
"Okay, the guys helped me, but still. Everyone knows how important Cerb is to you, to this team." She leads Cerb over to the bed so Brock could reach him. The two were equally happy to finally see the other. "Plus, he basically saved your life, so... I think that was an automatic in."
"You did, buddy? Aww, you're the best! Yes you are!"
Mac sits on the edge of the bed, looks at her brother. "So… is my cooking really that bad?"
-FIN-
