Chapter 3

Clay made his way through the base and headed towards the lounge. He didn't want to see anyone from Bravo, but he also really needed coffee and at this point he couldn't even afford a cup of coffee. Clay knew he should be pissed, but right now he was more devastated than anything. His landlord and building owner was furious with him. They were blaming him for what happened, even though he explained that someone had used his key to get in. They were still blaming him for it, because he allowed someone to have his key. He was evicted basically instantly and was now going to have to live out of his truck until he would be able to find a new place. That was only going to be short lived though, because the estimate for repairs had came in, there was roughly eighty grand in damages. Clay was shocked, but it was so high because the paint that was dumped on the carpets had soaked through the carpet and subfloor through to the person's ceiling underneath him. The whole floor and ceiling would need to be fixed. Not to mention the destruction of the walls and in the bathroom, caused damage to the pipes, making a leak happen and damaging some of the electrical wiring in the walls. All of that had to be repaired as well. Clay knew he would be close to a hundred grand by the time everything was done, plus he had to pay for the family underneath him to be in a hotel until their apartment was repaired.

The problem was, they wanted it up front. They wanted Clay to pay the construction workers and they were not interested in doing any payment plans. Not that Clay could blame them. He was going to have to get a loan, but a loan worth that much was going to cost close to three grand a month with the interest rates being so high. It wasn't like he could get a mortgage, it would have to be a capital loan. Meaning over five percent interest rate and having to pay it back within three years. He would have to sell his truck back to the dealership, a meeting he had tomorrow, just so he could even qualify for a loan. Then he had a meeting with the bank afterwards to get the loan. It wasn't just the loan that was the issue, it was the fact that he only made so much a month, thirty-five hundred, which is plenty to live off of if you are a single man with no children. Not so much when he would be left with only five hundred bucks a month to live off of. Making it impossible for him to rent an apartment so he would be homeless for the next four years.

Clay just couldn't believe this. He knew he should be furious, but he was just so hurt by it all that was the only thing he could feel. A month ago he had a family, brothers who he believed would always be there for him. Now he didn't have a home, he wasn't going to have a vehicle, and worst of all he had no family. All he was going to have was a hundred grand in debt. He wasn't ready yet to see Bravo, he didn't know what he would say to any of them. He just wanted to grab some coffee and meet up with Delta to get started. He had a new team now and he needed to get used to the way they were doing things.

Clay walked into the lounge and was very relieved to see that it was empty. Clay went over to the counter to make quick work of getting a cup of coffee. He was pleased to see that it was full, so it was a fresh pot at least and he wouldn't have to wait the time to brew one. He briefly thought about opening the fridge and seeing which lunch he could steal from bravo so he would at least have something to eat today. Before he was able to get too deep in thought he heard a voice he had zero interest in ever hearing again.

"Clay." Sonny said, shocked to see him.

They had been trying to find him all morning long, but they hadn't been able to. They figured he must have taken the day off to handle the mess at his apartment. Now he was here in front of them and they had no idea how to handle this situation, what to say to him. Clay didn't say anything, he just focused on getting his coffee so he could leave.

"Clay, buddy I am so sorry." Sonny started, with nothing but pure regret in his voice.

Clay figured it was Sonny involved in everything that happened. It seemed like something he would do if he was drunk enough. What Clay wanted to know though was if everyone was there.

"All I want to know is if it was just you or did you guys make a whole team bonding exercise out of it." Clay said with a dead tone as he focused on his coffee.

"It was me, Blockhead, Jackson, and Ricky." Sonny answered.

"We would never do something like that Clay." Ray said, on their behalf.

"Nope, just treat me like shit, talk down to me, exclude me from everything and kick me out of the family all over something I didn't even do. But destroying my apartment, that would be beneath you." Clay said, in the same dead tone.

The tone in Clay's voice was really starting to freak the guys out. They expected for Clay to be pissed off, furious at them. They expected yelling and throwing things. They did not expect for him to be emotionless and just broken sounding. Clay grabbed his coffee and made a move to leave, but the guys were all standing in his way, they weren't about to let him leave.

"We screwed up, we know we did. We doubted you when we shouldn't have. That's on us and we would take every second of it back if we could. We will do whatever we can to make up for our behaviour." Ray said.

"You want to do something Ray, you can stay the hell out of my life." Clay said, as he pushed passed them to make his way out of the room.

"Clay, son, please can we." That was all Jason was able to get out though, before Clay cut him off.

"Don't call me that, because it's a lie. You don't really mean it, I thought you did, but you don't. Just like Ash doesn't mean it, but at least he's honest with being a backstabbing asshole. He doesn't tell me he's proud of me or that he loves me. That makes you worse than him, because you fooled me. You actually had me completely fooled that I had finally found a family. After going from foster home to foster home, being hurt by every person who told me I was in their family. I swore I would never believe the lie ever again, and yet I believed you. You had me completely fooled." Clay said, with the first real hint of emotion to his tone and that emotion was raw pain.

"No Clay, it wasn't a lie. I screwed up, I can't tell you how sorry I am for doing it. I didn't want to, but as a team leader I had to punish you for what I believed was you leaking intel. I didn't think you meant to do it on purpose, I thought it was an accident, that something slipped while you were talking with Ash. I had to treat you like I would any other teammate if they had done this. I was going to talk to you this weekend about it and get it squashed. I didn't want to hurt you and I hated that I was." Jason explained.

"You made your choice, again and again. I told you that first day that I didn't do it, but you chose to not believe me. You chose to treat me like an outcast. You chose to treat me like shit. You chose to kick me out of the family. You chose to let the other teams join in. They were your choices, not mine, and they were made without a gun to your head. You have no excuses." Clay said, he was not going to hear some bullshit excuse as to why they did this or that. At the end of the day, they all chose to treat him this way.

"Buddy listen." Sonny started, but Clay cut him off.

"No, you listen. You don't get to show up and act all hurt and the ones that are suffering. You don't get to try and weasle forgiveness out of me. You all still have your family. You all still have your homes. You all still have your vehicles. You all still have your prized possessions. You all still have your lives. I don't have any of it, because of your actions. Thanks to you, I got evicted and the damage that you caused is going to cost me close to a hundred grand to repair. The paint you threw all over the carpet leaked into the subfloor and through to the ceiling underneath me. The walls that you destroyed caused damage to the wiring and pies, all of it has to be repaired and I have to pay for the family's hotel room until they have a ceiling again. I have to get a loan for it, which will cost me three grand a month to pay back for three years. I have to hand over my truck. So because of you I get to be in debt, homeless and I have no vehicle. I won't be able to afford one or a place to live for three years. So while you all are sleeping in your nice warm beds, I'll be on the street sleeping in some alley. And you want forgiveness?" Clay said, as the anger was settling in now.

The guys were all shocked. They suspected Clay would most likely be evicted, but they were hoping that Derek would have been able to smooth things over with the landlord. To explain that it wasn't Clay's fault and he shouldn't be held accountable for what happened. Now they were discovering he was not only being evicted, but there was more damage then they were made aware of when they reviewed the photos. To hear that the damage had cost Clay that much was disgusting. It only fueled Jason's anger towards Sonny and the guys that had done this to him. To hear that Clay would be homeless and have to give up his truck just to pay off a loan, that he wouldn't have a place to live for years. It was causing him to shake with rage.

"You know what I don't understand though, why you would destroy my books. You know how much they mean to me. It's not about the money I spent on them. They were my escape, my salvation. The only thing I had that would turn my brain off. The only thing that works to silence all of the darkness that we see every goddamn day. They were my peace, my way of being able to handle this life, to sleep at night without seeing it all. You have no idea how hard it is to do this job with an eidetic memory and you've never cared to even try to understand it. Now thanks to you, I have to face the darkness and the memories all on my own. You took my salvation Sonny, you destroyed it, you destroyed me." Clay said, with raw pain to his voice. They could see tears building in his eyes from the pain.

"And there's nothing I can even do about it. I can't call the police and report it, even though it would stop me from being homeless and in debt. I can't, because then it would be my fault that you and three others were arrested. I would be the bad guy. You've taken everything from me, you won't take my career too. Just leave me the hell alone." Clay said, before he turned to head out.

"Clay." Brock called out, but Clay didn't stop, he just kept going.

"Let me." Full Metal said, as he headed after Clay.

He could understand why Clay was so hurt and upset at Bravo, he was rightfully upset. Full Metal would have wanted them dead if it were him. Clay had every right to make Bravo grovel and beg and to draw it out as long as he wanted. He was the wronged party and it was up to him to decide when they were punished enough. However, Full Metal had to talk to Clay about Delta, he needed to do whatever he could to get Clay to go over to Alpha. Full Metal caught up to Clay in the hallway and he placed his hand on Clay's arm to get him to stop as he spoke.

"Spenser, hold up a second."

Clay turned around and pulled his arm back. "I have no interest in anything you have to say."

"I get it, I do. But technically I still out rank you and I will pull rank if I have to. This has nothing to do with Bravo or your feelings, it's about your career. And like you said, it's all you feel like you have right now. Don't screw it up by walking away now."

"And I'm just supposed to what? Go back to Bravo and pretend like it never happened?"

"That's not what I'm saying at all. I know you signed a transfer form to go to Delta. But you have a very short window where you can change the form before it becomes official in the system. I'm giving up control of Alpha to Derek, I'm moving over to Bravo to work with them. That means Derek is down a man and there isn't anyone over there that is cut out for a number two spot. You could change your transfer form to go to Alpha and be Alpha Two over there."

"And be on a team that treated me like shit? What makes you think I would ever want to be around them? Being in a number two position would be great, but not when I would still have to be rolling with Bravo. You know how often we all get spun up together, I have zero interest in having anything to do with them. Delta gives me that freedom to be away from them. Not to mention they are the only team that didn't treat me like shit."

"I get that the other teams iced you out, they were taking their cues from Bravo. That doesn't make it right I know, but Delta didn't ice you out just so Maddoc could try and steal you away from Bravo. He's been wanting you since the very beginning when he felt he was robbed of you. Originally Delta was set to have first pick, but they were still on tour so it went to the next team, Bravo. Maddoc feels like they should have waited and then he would have picked you. He just wants to use you to get back at Jason and to push his career further. You're just a pawn to him kid." Full Metal said, trying to explain what was really going on. Clay was smart, he had to know he was being played.

"You think I don't know that? Almost every team has been trying to get me on theirs since the beginning. Hell, I even get letters from NCIS to join them. I'm a pawn to everyone. I thought Bravo was different, but it turns out they were worse than everyone else, because they actually had me believing they cared. They finally showed their true colors. I'm going to Delta, at least they are honest and I'll always know where I stand with them. I'm always a pawn to everyone, I don't care, I can out play all of them."

Clay knew Maddoc had his own agenda, but he didn't care. He wasn't going to Delta because he was being snookered and he couldn't see it. He was going there because it was the only team that would have nothing to do with Bravo. It was his only chance at a clean slate and he wanted that more than anything right now.

"Think about your career though Clay. Why give up a number two position, just to be at the bottom? They won't care about your thoughts or opinions. They won't let you voice them. You'll have to be some Yes Man on that team. Derek knows you, he knows what you are capable of. He'll let you ask questions and grow, while teaching you everything he knows. Being on Alpha makes more sense for your career. Don't shoot yourself in the foot just to spite Bravo."

"I'm not joining Delta to spite anyone. I'm doing it because it's the only team where I don't have to deal with Bravo. I'm not changing my mind. As for Derek, he lived across the hall from me. He could have come over and said something to me, but instead he joined the treat Spenser like shit bandwagon just like everyone else. All the times we've had a beer or dinner over at the other's place and he just acts like I don't even exist. He doesn't even acknowledge me in the elevator. And now what, I'm just supposed to say oh well and go be his number two? I'm just supposed to trust him to have my back all of a sudden? You wouldn't change your mind either and you know it."

"Maybe I would, maybe I wouldn't. I just know that Delta is not a good team. The things they do and see, it's not who you are and it will destroy you. It will eat away at you and they won't care. They'll keep pushing and forcing more out of you because it will benefit them. You're making an emotional decision when you should be making a logical one. You are one of the smartest guys I have ever met, don't make the mistake in following your heart and not your head here kid."

Full Metal still couldn't believe all of this was even happening. When he came into work today he was expecting to maybe be joining Bravo for some training. Instead he got all of this dropped on him and now he was trying to fix it. Not because he thought Bravo deserved for it to be fixed, but because he liked Clay. He was a good kid that worked his ass off to get to where he was. He didn't deserve to be on Delta and treated like shit. He didn't deserve for any of this to be happening. He wanted to try and give him some guidance to get him into a better position. It seemed like Clay had no interest though, because he was too hurt to hear him out clearly. Full Metal couldn't blame him for that. He wouldn't have been able to either. He would have beaten the living shit out of Sonny and everyone who destroyed his apartment.

"I'm not a kid, and I made my choice. I'm done."

And with that Clay headed off and Full Metal didn't follow him. He knew there wouldn't be a point, Clay was stubborn and he was just too hurt to listen to reason right now. Full Metal made his way back into the lounge to see the guys were in a heated discussion.

"A hundred grand Sonny, how the hell did that even happen!" Ray yelled.

"The hammer they used must have caused damage to the electrical wires and pipes in the bathroom. That can be expensive to repair, especially if the pipes did additional damage." Trent explained.

"He's gonna be homeless, we have to do something." Brock said.

"What though? He won't even listen to anything we have to say." Sonny pointed out.

"Can't exactly blame him." Full Metal said.

"Did you talk to him about Alpha?" Jason asked, he was hurt and pissed off right now, but what team Clay went to was more important than anything else right now.

"Yup, explained that he would be Alpha Two. Turned it down. Said he wanted nothing to do with Bravo and rolling with Alpha meant he would have to roll out with you. Said Delta was the only team to leave him alone."

"But you told him that Maddoc was just using him." Jason said.

"Yup, said he knew. Said every team has always been trying to use him, but at least Delta was honest and up front about it. Said it's a clean slate and he's taking it. I tried Jase, but he's too hurt to think straight right now."

Jason let out a sigh. "It's not your fault, I appreciate you trying."

"What do we do now?" Sonny asked.

"The only thing we can do, let him go." Jason said, sadly.

"You can't be serious Jase. He can't go to Delta." Ray argued.

"We can't force him to go to another team either. We didn't take his feelings or needs into account for the past month. All he has asked of us is to leave him alone. As hard as it will be, we have to respect that. We have to give him time to cool off and get his thoughts and feelings in order. We owe him that much. I'll see what I can do about finding him a place to live. There's different programs through the military that are offered, he might qualify for one of them."

Jason's biggest issue right now was making sure Clay had somewhere to live. He would offer his place, but he knew Clay wouldn't do that. He had hurt him too deeply and it was going to take some time before he could start working on repairing the damage that he had done. Once he had Clay in a place to live he would then turn his attention to Sonny's punishment, he didn't know what it would be yet, and he would need to talk to Blackburn about it. There would be a punishment coming his way. Jason stood and headed out of the lounge room. He needed to be by himself to get his thoughts in order so he could focus on how he could help Clay.

XXX

Clay walked into Delta's cage room, doing his best to steal his emotions. He walked in to see everyone was in their cage doing something to get their gear cleaned and ready for when they would be spun up again.

"Hey Spenser, welcome man." Sanders said with a warm smile.

"Thanks." Clay said, as he went and put his bag down in his cage.

"That's Sanders, my number two. Then Stokes, is Alpha Three, Roth Alpha Four and then Keith Alpha Five." Maddoc said, as he made his way over to Clay and held his hand out.

Clay easily took it as he spoke. "I appreciate you taking me on."

"Bravo's loss is our gain. You'll be great here." Roth said.

"Maddoc told us about what they did to your apartment. Did you get it sorted?" Stokes asked.

"Ya, a crew went over this morning to clean it out. I spoke with the landlord and got it sorted."

"He evict you?" Roth asked.

"Ya, he did. The owner was pissed, was talking about suing me. I'll have to find a new place to live now."

"Where you staying until then?" Stokes asked.

"I have no idea." Clay answered honestly. He was going to be sleeping in his truck tonight, but come tomorrow he had no idea.

"Well, I got a couch you can crash on if you want until you figure out a place." Stokes offered.

Having Clay crash with him for a few days would help to get him more into the team. He would be able to get him started on his new path. Maddoc wanted him to get Clay in deep, him staying with him would only help make that even easier.

"Really? Are you sure?" Clay asked, he didn't want to put anyone out. At the same time though, a couch was better than nothing.

"Ya, it's all good man. They fucked you out of a home, the least I can do is offer up a couch for you to crash on." Stokes said with an easy smile.

"Thanks man, I appreciate it." Clay said, sincerely.

"We take care of our own. We're a team, and we act like it. Now, we need to go over some ground rules." Maddoc started.

Clay gave a nod and gave his new team leader his full attention. He was already aware that Delta was different from the other teams. Maddoc had mentioned briefly what Delta dealt with on missions, but Clay wanted to know more so he was properly prepared for whatever could happen.

"As I mentioned last night, we do different missions then the other teams. We do not have to get drug tested, because we are around drugs often for our operations. We focus on cartels, and drug traffickers that fund terrorists overseas and on US soil. Because of that though, we often have trace amounts of cocaine or heroin in our system. So you don't have to worry about any of that when we are on an operation. We also don't have to fill out the exposure paperwork either."

"Fair enough." Clay said, that was easy enough.

"We focus on eliminating funding chains and supply chains to cartels and terrorists. So we will go into Mexico, South America to handle cartel supply chains. We will also be on tour in the Valley and focus on supply chains over there. The Valley isn't like J-Bad, it is a dark place. We've seen women and children being tortured and raped in the middle of the street. We've seen children being used as bombs. It's hard, but you have to become desensitized to it. We do what we have to to get the operation done and know that we are leaving them in a better place." Maddooc said. Clay didn't need to know that they did the Valley operations because no one else would. It gave them an edge over the other teams.

"I understand, and I'll be fine. I can adapt to it and the different environment." Clay really didn't have a choice. He wasn't going to be going on Alpha and having to deal with Bravo all the time. Delta was the only team he could be on that would give him that peace.

Maddoc grabbed a box from his cage and placed it down on the table as he spoke. "These are yours. Because we go to the Valley we are often awake for days straight. Over there we'll get caught in a fire fight for four or five days straight without a break. Because of that we are authorized to take caffeine pills to stay awake. This box will last you a month, then you can grab another one from our supply room. You ever taken caffeine pills before?"

"No I haven't." Clay said, he was a little surprised that they were authorized to do so, but at the same time it made sense if they were going days without sleep in fire fights.

"Each are in a packet of four, containing a total of four hundred milligrams. You can take up the four hundred a day and be fine. I'm the team's medic, so if you feel weird at all just let me know." Sanders explained.

Clay gave a nod, it was simple enough. He also didn't have any medical conditions that Sanders would need to worry about or any allergies.

"I expect you to do as you are told. When you are given an order you do it, I don't need to hear any back talk about it or opinions. The only expectation to the rule is if the plan has a danger that I have missed. For example, if I am ordering you to go east and have not noticed the large minefield, then you get to speak up. Otherwise, I expect you and every member of my unit to do as they are told. Whether that is by me or someone who out ranks you within the unit. If you can do as you are told, then you will be fine. Any questions?" Maddoc said.

"No Sir."

It was straightforward and Clay already knew it would be. He already knew from last night that Maddoc was not a man who operated his team as a family with free flowing opinions. He didn't care too much for the regulations like Beau, but he did demand complete loyalty of his men. He expected that everyone within the unit stood by the unit no matter what. Clay knew and had accepted that there would be moments where he would have to stand by and keep his mouth shut. That they were going to do something that went against his beliefs and he would just have to accept it and keep quiet about it. He didn't particularly like that, but he also knew he didn't have much of a choice. If he wanted to still be in the teams, he had to play by Delta's rules whether he liked them or not. He could adapt though just like he had in the past and eventually it would just become his new normal.

"Good. Grab your gear, we are going to run some drills and get everyone used to having a sixth member." Maddoc said.

"Yes Sir." Clay said.

Clay went and grabbed his gear like everyone else and they all headed out to the training grounds where they could run drills. Clay was determined to pull his weight and prove to the guys that he could do this and he could belong with them. He refused to go crawling back to any of the other teams because he failed within Delta. He had survived without Bravo for the majority of his life, he didn't need them and he would prove that he could stand on his own. Bravo was in his rear view mirror and that is exactly where they needed to stay.

A/N: Another chapter yay! Review they keep me going and motivated to keep writing more!