A Threat From Within

by DianneRose2016

A threat to Bravo Team is a threat to them all. But when that threat comes from within Bravo it is one they never saw coming. Vic has no interest in playing 2IC to Clay, he wants to be the one that leads Bravo. In order to do that he has to get Clay out of Bravo and he will stop at nothing to be the shining star of Bravo and get Clay far away from them.

3. Chapter 3

A/N: For anyone wondering why there sometimes is a list of names at the bottom of a chapter, it's my way of keeping the names organized. I tend to forget to delete them before posting. It's just so I don't have to try and find something over and over again. It's not any indication of who is going to live or die or anything like that.

Chapter 3

Sitting in that hot car heading over into Pakistan was not a fun experience for Clay. He was exhausted, in pain and having a harder time breathing. The heat seemed to be making it worse and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't seem to get a proper breath. Needless to say, Clay was miserable. Even though the whole place was stuffy and hot, his body was shaking slightly from his fever. He was sweating and cold all at the same time, it was annoying and frustrating the hell out of him. All he wanted was to curl up in bed and sleep.

"How are you feeling? Your breathing sounds tight." Jason asked.

"Been better. It used to feel like this growing up from the heat, it always made it harder to breathe."

"When we get there I'm going to tell this General Ahkim he can go fuck a goat after this." Sonny grumbled. He was just as hot as the rest of them and he wanted nothing more than to end this and get Clay back home to bed.

"You have to watch what you say over there." Clay started, his speech still slowed.

"Why? It's not like they are gonna understand." Sonny said.

"They speak English Sonny." Clay said with a very tiny smirk.

"They better not. The only reason you are here is because General Ahkim doesn't speak English." Jason said, turning around to face Clay from the front seat.

"He speaks English, all of his men do. He's smart, he would have told them to not speak it around someone that could be an enemy. People will run their mouths off if they think you don't understand what they are saying. I can only imagine what some of our troops have said to them. Demanding to speak to someone that speaks their language isn't about accommodating them, it's about control. General Ahkim wants us to feel pressured and scrounge for someone. He's looking for blood."

Clay started to cough and they knew that talking was not a good thing for him. Trent was next to Clay and helped him to get the coughing fit back under control. Trent picked up the portable oxygen mask that he brought and placed it on Clay.

"No more talking." Trent ordered, but it was mostly directed towards the others in the car.

Clay just gave a small nod and put his head back against the seat. He closed his eyes, but he knew he wouldn't be able to fall asleep thanks to the drug. He felt like shit and he really wished he could have slept right now. Jason turned in his seat to look at Clay, he could see how miserable he was and it only fueled his anger at this whole situation. It was made worse by the fact that Ahkim spoke English and there was literally no point in Clay being here. He could have been back home tucked into his bed where he could sleep and feel better. Instead, they had to drag his barely conscious ass through the hot desert to play peacekeeper. It was bullshit and Jason was going to be letting Blackburn know it.

It was a good hour and fifteen minutes before they arrived at the Pakistani Outpost. With it being too small though, they couldn't drive through to their location, they had no choice but to walk the rest of the way there. Something none of them were happy about. Jason could already see the Pakistani soldiers ready and waiting, they were all armed and were not shy about hiding it. Jason got out of the truck and went around to Clay's side. He opened the door as Clay was slowly taking off the oxygen mask. Jason helped him to get it off before he spoke.

"Ok, everyone is armed and they look trigger happy. You are going to be surrounded by us at all times to keep you safe. I need you to wear this ear com too so if you hear them saying anything you can tell all of us. The first sign that they are going against us, you need to tell us."

Clay gave a very exhausted nod and Jason helped to get Clay out of the vehicle. Once he was standing he swayed slightly, but Jason had predicted that and held onto Clay until he was able to stand on his own. The others all came over to them, standing guard around Clay until he was ready to walk.

"Trent, you are on Clay duty, the rest of Bravo will form the protection circle. Everyone keep your head on a swivel." Jason ordered when Clay was ready to go.

Trent stood next to Clay and was there in case his legs gave out. Together they all slowly made their way over to the Outpost entrance, where six guards were standing. Jason, who was standing right in front of Clay stepped to the side slightly to allow Clay to speak without being blocked. Clay spoke quickly and was given a nod in return before the soldier headed off.

"He's taking us to the General." Clay supplied.

They all followed behind the soldier into the Outpost and further into enemy territory. Everyone was on guard, this wasn't just a normal mission, this mission involved one of their own going into a hotspot with no body armor. That wasn't including how sick he was. It was a good fifteen minute walk to the General's location and by the time they got there Clay's breathing was worse and he was shaking slightly. Trent put the cooler down and pulled out one of the water bottles.

"You need to drink this. You don't have to drink all of it at once, but keep drinking it while you are in negotiations. The water is going to help you feel a little better."

Tremt handed the water over to Clay after he opened it. Clay took a few small sips as Jason spoke.

"Talk to me Trent."

"His body is in rough shape, the heat is going to make it worse. The best way we can combat the heat is with water. We also need him seating for as much as possible."

"You feel faint kid, you need to tell someone." Derek added.

Clay gave a nod and the General made his way out of his shack and towards them with three armed soldiers. The General spoke and Clay didn't bother with translating any of it. He would only need to translate the important parts. Clay spoke back and after a moment the General gave a nod and walked away, leaving the others confused.

"Alright , what was that?" Sonny asked.

"He was expecting someone higher up. He's agreed to meet with me, but only inside and only one person is allowed in with me." Clay answered.

"No way. You are not going in there with at least three armed guards with only one person." Jason instantly said.

"I know, but originally he wanted just me and no gun. I got him up to me and one other person with a handgun each. He's not happy and not looking to make peace. This is our best chance of ending this before it gets out of control."

Jason let out a sigh. They all knew that even though Blackburn outranked them, this was Jason's call. This was his teammate and his son. If he said no, Clay wasn't going in, it was that simple. After a moment Jason spoke.

"Fine, I'd go with you, but it might make more sense for Eric to go."

"I agree. I can help with negotiations if Clay needs it. I am also a Commander and he might like that." Blackburn agreed, as he took off his rifle and handed it over to Trent, who didn't have one. As his job was to focus on Clay's health.

"Any sign of trouble, you say sunshine. We'll come in and get you out." Jason said to Clay.

Clay gave a small nod and him and Blackburn made their way over to the shack and headed inside. All the others could do now was wait for when they would finally come out, and hopefully alive.

"I don't like this." Sonny said.

"None of us do Son, but we don't have a choice." Ray agreed.

"At least Blackburn got to go with him." Full Metal said, but that was the only comfort they had.

It was an agonizing eleven hours before Clay and Blackburn came out of the shack. Clay looked like death walking. He was pale, shaky and he was having a harder time with moving. Blackburn was beside him, helping him as they walked. Once they reached them Jason took his place as Blackburn spoke.

"Let's get him to the vehicle and then we can talk."

He knew they would all want answers, but right now Clay needed to be sitting down and out of this heat. Without another word, they all headed back to the vehicles, going as slow as Clay needed. Once there Jason got Clay sitting down and everyone filed into their vehicles. Trent immediately turned his attention to Clay and gave him water.

"Trent?" Sonny asked.

"Turn the AC on, we gotta cool him down or his fever is going to skyrocket."

Sonny turned the AC on full blast and pulled off to the side when the other vehicles did as well. Blackburn got out and headed towards them, the others following suit. Jason got out and went around to Clay's seat and Trent reached over to lower the window slightly so they could all hear Clay and he could hear them, but it wouldn't let all the cold air out that Clay needed.

"What's going on?" Jason demanded.

"It was a long string of negotiations. There was only one chair and General Ahkim sat in it. He didn't care that General White didn't mean what he actually said, nor did he fully believe he didn't mean it. He is agreeing to a peace treaty though. He doesn't want to see his men and people being killed."

"So he agreed, great let's get the kid home then." Sonny said.

"But." Clay started before a coughing fit hit him hard.

"No talking." Trent said again as he helped to get it back under control and get an oxygen mask on him.

"What's the but?" Ray asked Blackburn.

"General Ahkim needs someone to pay for what was said to him in front of his men. He needs someone to pay for the disrespect that has been brought to his family. He wanted to kill General White, but Clay was able to get him down to a beating."

"What? That's his great negotiation skills? He agreed to let an enemy beat one of our Generals?" Vic asked, shocked and outraged that Clay would ever agree to something like that.

"General Ahkim wanted to publicly whip him to death. Clay was able to get him to agree to a public beating for five minutes. The General will live and the blood will have been spilt for the disrespect to his family. It was the best that Clay could do. Especially in his state. The only problem is, if General White doesn't agree to it, because Clay is the negotiator, it will fall to him."

"What does that mean?" Sonny asked, not liking the sound of that.

"It means, Clay would have to be the one to take the beating and if he doesn't, they will strike war on us." Blackburn said, and he knew everyone was going to hate it.

"No, no way. His body can't handle getting attacked. A five minute beating is bad enough without being this sick, it could kill him." Jason instantly said.

"Will General White even agree to it? He hates Clay and Ash, he could say no just to make Clay take the beating." Ray supplied.

"I would suggest when we speak with him that we don't release that part." Blackburn offered.

"You want us to lie to a General?" Vic asked, surprised.

"To avoid the possible death of Clay, yes. And technically it's not a lie if we just don't give him other options." Blackburn answered.

"We're in this mess because of him. I say fuck him and let him take the beating." Full Metal said.

"Still though, are we really going to let one of our own get a beating?" Franklin asked.

"We don't have a choice. Normally no, but this is a potential war we are talking about. General Ahkim has made it very clear he is not budging on any of it. This is the best that Clay could do and I'm not sure anyone else would have been able to get him to go down this far. This is our only option. We're supposed to be at the Outpost tomorrow at nine and be there to watch the beating to show American support. Afterwards we can leave." Blackburn said.

"We gotta get him to the Outpost and out of this heat Boss." Trent said.

Everyone looked at Clay and they could see he was struggling with something as simple as breathing. His body needed the break and with the medication wearing off soon, he was going to crash.

"Let's get to the Outpost. Trent and Derek, you have Clay stay with him in a room until one of us joins you. Blackburn, Ray and myself will go and speak with General White and inform him of the situation. The rest of you, I suggest you get showered and eat something. It's going to be another long day tomorrow." Jason ordered.

The others didn't even argue, because they knew that Clay needed to get out of this heat and in a bed. They all got into their vehicles and headed the short distance to the American Outpost. The whole time Trent spent it with Clay trying to get him to drink as much water as possible and get his breathing under control. Jason was torn between watching Clay and watching the road to make sure they didn't have any surprises. He knew that Blackburn would already be on the phone with Samuel and Lindell soon enough with an update on the situation. Jason had no idea if Admiral Richards would be able to order General White to take the beating or not. Jason was just hoping they would be able to convince him to do it.

Once they arrived at the Outpost they drove through until they reached the bunk area. They parked the vehicles where they could and got out.

"Get him into a bed, we'll handle the General." Jason ordered.

Derek came over and grabbed the bags while Trent and Sonny both got Clay up and out of the vehicle. The four of them headed into the bunk house and focused on getting Clay situated. Jason, Blackburn and Ray all headed off to find General White, while the others got showered and some food.

"Let me handle the talking." Blackburn said, as they found General White in the command room.

"General White, I'm Commander Blackburn I'd like to speak with you for a moment."

General White turned and gave them his attention. Instantly Jason didn't like him and he would have to be careful with everything he said so it wouldn't put Clay in a bad position.

"I was told you would be coming. How did the negotiations go?"

"They went well with all things considered. Special Warfare Officer Spenser was able to get General Ahkim to agree to not going to war with the States. Though there is a condition to the peace treaty."

"And what would that be?"

"General Ahkim believes that what you said to him was that you were going to take his daughter as your sex slave. The translation was not correct either in how you said it or your phone didn't translate it properly. He feels heavily disrespected and the only condition he had to sustain the peace was if you received punishment for the words you spoke to him." Blackburn said he was trying to figure out the right wording to get General White to agree. The only problem was he didn't know how to tell him that his punishment would be a public beating.

"A punishment, oh really? And what would that be? It's not my fault they misunderstood what I said." General White said, without a care in the world.

"With all your respect General, an expert advised us that the way you said the sentence changed it dramatically. That is why General Ahkim is demanding retribution in the form of a five minute beating."

General White let out a quick laugh to that. "A five minute beating eh? That's all? General Ahkim is insane if he thinks I would for one second agree to it. And if your precious rookie knows what's good for him, he'll go back and negotiate better."

"Special Warfare Officer Spenser did his best. General Ahkim wanted to kill you, he was able to get it down to a relatively harmless beating, especially for a man of your size. If you do not agree to the beating, then General Ahkim is prepared to strike war on America within minutes. We won't even get out of that Outpost before they start firing upon us. This is the only solution we have to prevent a war that will result in the death of millions." Blackburn said, trying to get General White to see that he was the only one standing between war and peace.

"Sir, with all due respect, a war with Pakistan will only get the men in this Outpost killed. Plus the thousands of soldiers and sailors that will come to the front line. With the war going on already in the Middle East, we can't afford to have another war at this time. I can understand not wanting to take a beating, it wouldn't be high on my priority list either, but the only one that can save all of those American lives is you Sir." Jason added. He knew they would need to play to General White's ego and reputation. That was the only way they were going to save Clay.

General White just stood there for a moment thinking. They had no idea how well this was going to go over. They couldn't force him and they very much doubted a phone call from Admiral Richards was going to do much. He couldn't order something like this down onto his men regardless of what was at stake. It was unamerican and forbidden for any official. After the longest minutes of their lives General White finally spoke.

"And when and where is this supposed to happen?"

"Nine o'clock tomorrow morning in the Pakistani Outpost." Blackburn answered.

"Fine, I'll be there. But only because I will not risk the lives of my men."

"Thank-you General, this will not go without notice." Blackburn said with a friendly smile.

They all turned to leave, but General White's voice stopped them.

"And Hayes, I suggest you tell your baby rookie to get better at negotiating. I'll be seeing him there tomorrow and I expect a moment to speak with him."

"I'll let him know Sir." Jason forced out. He was not going to let the General push Clay around. He did the best that he could with what he had to work with. The General should just be happy that he wasn't going to be killed.

They all headed out and Jason let out a long sigh and both Ray and Blackburn knew he was pissed. They couldn't blame him, they were pissed as well. But at least the General was going to take the beating, which put Clay back in the safe zone.

"I know you're pissed, but look on the bright side, Jace. He's going to do it." Ray started.

"Ya and blame Clay for every hit he takes. He could try and use this against him later on and I'm not happy about him wanting a word with Clay. The kid is sick enough he doesn't need to be hanging around longer than he has to tomorrow."

"And we will make sure he doesn't get that word. I can simply distract the General tomorrow before the punishment and then afterwards he'll be getting looked at so you can sneak Clay out. It'll be fine. For now focus on getting Clay situated and then get yourself cleaned, some food and rest. We're all going to need it for tomorrow." Blackburn ordered.

"He's right Jace, come on let's go check on the kid and then get ourselves sorted." Ray said, as he placed his hand on Jason's upper back.

They headed back to where Trent, Derek and Sonny took Clay. When they walked in they saw that Clay was already changed and asleep in the bed and Trent had an IV line going into him and an oxygen mask on him. Sonny was helping Derek to prop Clay's back up with some pillows to help ease his breathing.

"How is he?" Jason asked, softly as to not disturb Clay.

"The drug wore off so he should sleep throughout the night. I have enough for one more dose of the drug for tomorrow. He just needs rest and his antibiotic." Trent answered.

"We left that on the plane though. You said we couldn't bring it because of the heat." Ray said.

"Jackson went to grab it with Brock, Full Metal and Franklin. There's a spot here we can store it and keep it cold. When they get back I'll give him a dose and then he can sleep until it's morning." Trent answered.

"Alright, all of you go and get showered and something to eat. I'll stay with him and make sure he's ok." Jason ordered.

"You sure? I don't mind staying Boss." Sonny said.

"I know. I got him. Afterwards I'll go and shower and grab some food and I'll sleep in here with him." Jason said.

"There's three beds so I'll be in here too just in case something happens." Trent added.

"Should we be trying to get him to eat something?" Ray asked.

Clay hadn't really eaten anything in days now. He knew the human body could go a few weeks without food, but that didn't mean you should.

"Not tonight. Tomorrow after I give him the drug, I'll get him to eat a bit of jello before we leave." Trent answered.

"Alright, come on Son we stink." Ray said.

Sonny just gave a nod and looked at Clay one more time before he followed Ray out of the room.

"Alright, he should sleep the whole time. I'll be back to give him his antibiotic when the others get back." Trent said to Jason.

"I got him, you go take care of yourself. You've been working overtime this past week with him." Jason said with a warm smile.

"He's worth it." Trent simply said, before him and Derek headed out.

Jason let out a sigh as he started to remove his gear. He looked over at Clay and he couldn't help the small shake of his head.

"What am I going to do with you son?"

Jason knew none of this was Clay's fault, it was just the bad luck of the draw where missions were concerned. And he knew things like this happen when you had special skills. Clay was one of the best snipers the Navy had and when you combine that with his language skills, it puts you on some weird missions and weird missions are the ones that can be the most costly. One thing was for sure, when Clay was back to being healthy Jason was going to be utilizing him more in a number two position, something he would have to talk to Ray about. It was time to get serious with Clay's training, because there were no guarantees in this line of work and Jason had far too much to teach Clay still. They needed to be prepared should the worst happen to him. It was time to start putting pieces into play to get the future of Bravo secured.

XXX

It was later at night when Vic was making his way through the Outpost to find General White. Everyone had already gone to bed and Vic was able to keep his distance from them. He wanted to speak with General White and inform him exactly what happened today. He didn't believe in lying to a General, but this was more about his opportunity to make Clay pay even more. If he could get Clay out for an extensive medical leave, that would give him the opportunity he needed to secure his place within Bravo.

Vic found General White in one of the offices alone, something he was very thankful for. He really needed to get in and get out before anyone came in and saw him. General White was finishing up some paperwork and didn't even bother to look up when Vic walked in. He knew the General was a special type of man, he loved power and he loved to make people feel like they didn't have power over him. Vic stood and waited to see if General White would speak up or not. After a moment when General White didn't speak, Vic decided to.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you General White Sir."

"And yet you are." General White said, not even bothering to look up.

"It's important Sir, it's about General Ahkim's condition regarding yourself. I'm afraid Bravo didn't release all of the information to you."

That caught General White's attention. His head snapped up and looked at Vic, took in his uniform and the very clear Bravo trident he had on his chest.

"You're Bravo." General White stated.

"Yes Sir, Bravo Seven."

"There's one very important rule that Jason Hayes has and everyone knows it, you don't go against Bravo. Yet here you stand to tell me something they obviously left out on purpose. And why would that be?"

"I don't believe in going against Bravo, but I also don't believe in misleading someone of higher ranking either. If you go into this situation, I feel like you should be going in with all of the information and not just what someone wishes for you to know Sir."

"And what is the information that was left out?"

"It is a five minute beating and it was negotiated down from being a public killing. However, it is a public beating in front of everyone at the Outpost. Also, you have the ability to say no. If you refuse then the person who did the negotiations is expected to take your place. That person would be Spenser and if he refuses then it would result in war."

General White couldn't help but smirk. This was too perfect. Not only did he not have to take a beating, he could also put Clay through some pain and put him in his place.

"Thank-you for the information. I'll take it under advisement."

"You're welcome Sir, but if I may say one last thing. I would prefer for no one to know that I told you this. It would obviously not go over well with the team."

"I won't say a word. I believe in returning favors and rewarding good behaviour. What's your name?"

"Vic Lopez Sir."

"I won't forget it. Dismissed."

Vic gave a nod and headed out. He was happy to see that no one was out in the hallway. He quickly made his way back to his empty room to get some sleep for himself. He knew he was going to have some great dreams tonight and he couldn't wait until tomorrow.

XXX

Getting Clay up, dressed, into the truck and back to the Pakistani Outpost took a lot more effort than it did yesterday. The guys couldn't believe how hard it was to get him to keep his eyes open even with the drug in him. Trent had said it was because his body was so exhausted it was trying to shut down even though the drug was keeping him awake. He was in more pain from standing around all day yesterday. His fever was a hundred and three, resulting in Trent and Jason having to give Clay an ice bath before they could even get him ready. They tried to get him to eat, but that was not going to happen so they quickly gave that hope up. They pulled up to the Outpost and Jason went over to Clay's side of the truck. He opened the door and gave Clay his full attention.

"I know you don't feel well and just want to go home. We are going to get you in and out as quickly as possible. Hopefully this will only take an hour and we'll be out of here."

"I really don't feel well." Clay said with a very shaky voice. His breathing was nothing but deep wheezes and his whole body was trembling. He needed to be in the hospital still.

"I know Sunshine." Jason said softly as he ran his hand through Clay's hair.

Jason wished he could have taken Clay home right now and not being out in this heat, but he couldn't. All he could do was just get Clay through this so he could get him home.

"Jason, General White just arrived." Ray said, behind Jason.

"We gotta go Sunshine." Jason said to Clay.

Clay gave a very small nod and Jason helped him to get up and out of the truck. Jason held on though as he knew Clay's legs were going to give out, which they did the second they touched the ground. Jason held onto Clay as they headed into the Outpost. They made their way towards the center where they knew they would need to be for the public beating that was about to take place. They were all expecting Clay to have to speak to General Ahkim, but to their surprise General Ahkim was speaking with General White. General White had his phone out so they knew he was using it to speak for him.

"What the hell is he doing?" Full Metal asked.

"Apologizing?" Brock suggested.

"He don't seem like the type to say I'm sorry to me." Sonny commented.

"All we can do is wait. We can't hear them." Ray said.

After a moment General White walked away and General Ahkim turned towards them and spoke in his language.

"What did he say?" Jason asked Clay.

"He wants to talk to me." Clay said.

Jason helped Clay walk over there, but before Clay could even say anything he was being ripped out of Jason's arms by three of General Ahkim's men and taken away to the middle of the circle formed by the people within the Outpost. The others moved to go after Clay, but General Ahkim's men already had their guns on them and on Clay. They would have risked their own lives, but they weren't going to risk one of General Ahkim's men shooting Clay before they could get to him.

"What are you doing?" Jason demanded to General Ahkim.

General Ahkim started to speak in his language, but Jason cut him off.

"Cut the crap I know you speak English, you understand me. What the hell are you doing with my man?"

"General White has not agreed to the public beating. Your man worked as the negotiator and as such he is responsible for the punishment that General White is refusing."

"He can't take a beating. You can see how sick he is. We took him out of the hospital two days ago so he could be here. A beating could kill him."

"I am sympathetic, but General White has refused to accept his punishment. It needs to be paid."

"I get that you need blood, you need to show strength to your men and reclaim the respect your family lost by General White's words. I get it. Then take it out on me. I'll take the beating."

Jason would easily take this beating for any of his men, but especially Clay. He couldn't just stand around and watch as his own son get beaten for five minutes. There was no telling how bad it would be for Clay.

"The offer is generous and it shows the type of leader that you are. I respect that, but changing my mind is not how I operate."

"I'm not asking you to change your mind on the beating, I'll take it. Your daughter was disrespected, that man right there is not just a member of my team, he's my son. You're a parent, you can understand my position."

"I do understand your position and I respect your willingness to protect your son. He knew there was a chance he would have to accept this punishment. He agreed to it and as a father I am a firm believer in holding my children accountable for the decisions they made."

And with that General Ahkim gave a nod to his men, the five of them that were surrounding Clay, and they began to hit him. Multiple guns were pointed right at Jason to keep him in place. He could hear his men all screaming to let Clay go and to stop. His eyes were focused solely on Clay, on his son, who was now on the ground doing everything he could to protect his head from the blows that were raining down on him. A five minute beating would be bad enough against one person, but there were five men all attacking Clay. Jason couldn't even imagine the level of damage this was going to do to him.

It was the longest five minutes of Jason's life. At one point Clay had lost consciousness, leaving his head open for attack. When the men finally stepped back and the guns were lowered everyone ran for Clay. Jason was the closest and he got to him first. He was instantly on the ground, not even thinking about the fact that he was leaving his back open for attack. Clay was on his side and there was blood pouring down his face from a head wound. Jason knew better then to move him until Trent and Derek checked his neck and back over first though. He placed his hand on the right side of Clay's face as he spoke.

"Clay, come on son wake up."

Bravo and Alpha surrounded Jason and Clay as they arrived. Derek and Trent immediately went over to Clay and began to check his neck and back as best and as quickly as they could. They both knew without saying a single word that they had to get Clay out of here and fast.

"Trent?" Sonny asked, as he kept his eyes on the crowd.

"We gotta get him to the plane. We can't treat him here. His neck is cleared."

"Back is cleared." Derek said.

Both the medics and Jason worked on carrying Clay and they all got back to the vehicles as quickly as they could. Once at the truck Jason got into the driver's seat while Trent and Derek got into the back with Clay and they were off. Jason drove as fast as he could and did everything he could to avoid any bumps or holes in the rough terrain as possible. The very last thing he wanted to do was cause Clay anymore pain. Driving to the plane was nerve wracking to both Derek and Trent. They had a limited supply of what they needed with them, because they weren't expecting anything like this to be happening to any of them. When they finally arrived at the plane Trent hopped out and allowed Derek and Jason to grab Clay and bring him onto the plane.

"Get him on the bed." Trent ordered as he ran for his more extensive medical bag.

Derek and Jason got Clay down on the hospital bed and Derek moved it away from the wall so they could be on either side of Clay. He immediately started to cut off Clay's shirt so they could have access to his injuries. Full Metal tossed Derek his own medical bag as Trent ran back over to them. Everyone stood close by waiting to see what was going to happen. Clay's body didn't have much blood on it just from his face, but they could already see the bruising on his skin. It went all over his torso, arms and face. Jason was fairly certain Clay had a broken wrist as well based on the black bruising and how swollen it already was. The most concerning though, the deep and wet wheezing that Clay had. He was struggling to breathe and even the oxygen mask on him wasn't helping much. Derek checked Clay's eyes as Trent already had his stethoscope on and pressed against Clay's chest. Suddenly the wheezing stopped and both Derek and Trent looked at each other before Trent was moving into action.

"He's not breathing. His lungs are worse than before. He's got blood in his lungs, a rib must have pierced them. I need to drain the blood from his lungs. We need to intubate him. Jase, start mouth to mouth but not chest compressions." Trent ordered as he ran to the back of the plane to grab yet another emergency kit.

Derek started to hook Clay up to an IV and get some fluids into him to help with the blood loss, but also to get Clay fully sedated for what they would need to do. Jason instantly went over to Clay and started to do mouth to mouth, the only thing keeping Clay breathing was the breath Jason had to give him.

"Can you intubate him? Do you even know how?" Sonny asked, completely panicked now.

Field medics weren't trained on doing intubation or chest tubes. They were something that was done by a doctor. They had never seen Trent do one nor did they even know if he could do one.

"I've never done it." Derek said.

"I've done it a couple of times in a classroom." Trent said as he arrived back and started to get what he needed ready.

"But you can't do this, can you? We should be getting a doctor." Ray said, doing his best to keep the worry from his voice but it was pointless.

"He's not breathing and without oxygen within the next five minutes his brain will start to die. We don't have a doctor anywhere around here and to wait for a chopper to airlift him to a hospital, he'll be dead. He needs to be back in the States and the only way to do that is to intubate him. I don't have a choice." Trent said as he finished getting ready.

They could all hear how stressed he was. This was not something he ever expected to have to do. He took a field medicine course for doctors just on the off chance of something terrible happening in the field. He wanted to be able to keep whoever it was alive until they could get to a real doctor. He never expected to ever have to use it or that he would need to be doing this to his kid brother.

"You can do this Trent." Brock said confidently as he was holding onto Cerberus to keep him from jumping up with Clay.

"Jase stop." Trent said.

Jason moved back and they could see the blood on his mouth. Clay was drowning in it and they needed to hurry if they were going to stand a chance at getting him back to the States. Derek used a penlight and placed it underneath Clay's neck. The power of the light was enough to shine through Clay's skin, allowing Trent to have better sight of Clay's throat. Trent tipped Clay's head back a bit more and used the laryngoscope to hold Clay's mouth open. Trent then put his own penlight into his mouth to give himself more light as he took the tube and slowly started to insert it into Clay's mouth and throat.

Jason couldn't help but think back over his time in the Navy. All of the flights he's taken, the places he's been. All of the horror he had seen and heard in his life. In this very moment two things would forever be burned into his mind. The first, how deadly silent the plane was. There were easily close to thirty people on this plane between both teams and their support staff and you could have easily heard a pin drop. No one was breathing, no one was talking, there was nothing but a dead silence that Jason had never heard before. The second, watching one of his brothers push a plastic tube down the throat of his oldest son. Down the throat of the man that was set to take over this team. The only thing that was going to be keeping Clay alive was riding on Trent being able to get that tube into Clay's airways.

Trent pulled the cover of the tube up and out of Clay's throat and then he connected the Ambu bag. Derek put on his stethoscope and listened to Clay's chest as Trent squeezed the bag. Derek moved around from one lung to the next as Trent squeezed the bag. After a very long minute Derek moved back and spoke.

"You're in."

Sonny let out a long breath as he spoke. "Fuck."

Relief was felt throughout the plane as everyone took comfort in knowing that Clay was now at least getting oxygen. He wasn't breathing on his own, but he was breathing.

"We're not out of the woods yet. I have to drain the blood from his lung. Jase, I need you to come here and squeeze the bag just like I am. Do it nice and smooth and slow. Too much air going into his lungs and it could cause lung tissue damage. Do one full squeeze, slowly release your hand and three seconds later do it again." Trent explained.

"Got it."

Jason moved to take Trent's spot as Trent went over to Clay's right side with Derek joining them. Derek worked with Trent and assisted him as Trent had to cut into Clay's side. This time though he simply cut through the stitches as he would be able to use the same hole that the hospital did for the tube. Trent was hoping they would only need to drain the fluid from his one lung, but he would have to see how much drained out.

"Do we need to stop in Germany?" Blackburn asked.

"It would be better if we could get him home with our Doc. I don't like him being in a strange hospital with his allergy. Once I get this tube in he'll be good for take off and we can start the process of getting him there." Trent said, as he focused on what he was doing.

"I ever see that General again, I'm gonna kill him. How the hell did he know that Clay would be the one to take that beating? He was standing there just smirking the whole time." Sonny said, pissed now that Clay seemed to be stable.

"He probably didn't know Clay would be the one to get beaten. He probably figured that if he said no, then Ahkim would go to war." Vic said. The very last thing he needed was anyone thinking that someone had said something to General White.

"Why the fuck would he want that?" Sonny challenged.

"He didn't seem like the type of man that was happy being stuck in an outpost all the way out here. Normally a General isn't in an outpost, so he must have done something to piss someone above him off. He probably figured that if Ahkim started a war, he would have a front row seat to the action." Vic suggested.

"It makes sense with who White is. He's got some enemies higher up, it's how he ended up here in the first place. It was either this or a discharge. Vic is probably right about what White was hoping for." Blackburn said.

"Are you sure we shouldn't be taking him to a hospital?" Ray asked, he was not liking how bad Clay looked right now.

Trent got the tube in and blood immediately started to come out of it. Derek was ready though with a bucket to catch the blood.

"It's too risky with his allergy. They give him even a little bit of phosphate and it could put him into a coma, something that could kill him right now. He needs to be home with our doctor that has worked with him for the past few years. He has a list of every medication that Clay can have and what he's had in the past. We gotta get him home." Trent answered. This wasn't something he was going to give control up.

"I'll tell the pilot to get ready for take off." Mandy said, as she headed off.

"Sutures?" Derek asked.

"No, I don't want to stitch the tube in, just in case we have to remove it if he gets a clot. We'll use the strips to hold it in place for now." Trent answered.

Together him and Derek got the tube secured and with that done all that was left was for them to check out the rest of his injuries and give him some stitches to the cut on his forehead. Derek put an ice pack on Clay's wrist to try and help reduce the swelling so it could be properly looked at, while Trent did some quick stitches. It was a good twenty minutes later when Clay was finally ready for take off.

"Do you have a ventilator for the breathing tube?" Vic asked, because he had no idea how they were going to make a twenty-two hour flight back home with Clay like this.

"No, we have to manually do it. Ray, trade places with Jase." Trent said.

Ray went over and waited for when the three seconds in between pumps hit before he took Jason's place. Jason moved down the side of the bed and placed his hand on Clay's chest.

"Manually? It's a twenty-two hour flight home. How is that better than taking him to Germany?" Vic asked. There was no way they were going to be able to keep pumping that bag for that long. It was insane.

"For the last time I am not risking a doctor giving him something he is allergic to. His body is too compromised to fight anything off. There's twenty-eight of us and it is going to take all of us to keep him alive until we get there. We are the only ones that can breathe for him. We are the only ones keeping him alive." Trent said with a tone that everyone knew meant there was no point in arguing or commenting on it anymore. He was done and he expected everyone to follow regardless of their ranking, because right now it was medical, putting him in charge.

"What do we need to do?" Jason asked, looking to move forward. Arguing wasn't going to get Clay home where he needed to be.

"We all take turns with the bag. Fifteen minutes each and then we rotate out. Derek and me will rotate two hour checks on Clay."

"Why only fifteen?" Sonny asked.

"It might not seem it but after squeezing the bag slowly every three seconds your hand will hurt. I can't risk one of us getting too tired and not doing it right. Fifteen minutes is it." Trent explained.

"Bravo will go first, then we can rotate around within our groups." Jason said.

"Bravo first, then Alpha, then Bravo Support, and finally Alpha Support. Mandy, Lisa and myself will be with Bravo." Blackburn said.

"I'll be with Alpha. I suggest that when it is not your group's turn that you sleep. It's going to be a long flight." Samuel said.

"Jase already went, so we'll do Sonny after Ray, then Brock, then Lisa, Mandy, Blackburn, myself, Vic and then Jase again before we switch off. Full Metal if you are in the Alpha group that will help with evening out the numbers. After Bravo it will be the two hour mark so before I crash I'll do the check on Clay." Trent said.

"Each group goes for two hours then we all have to go three times before we land." Full Metal said.

"Alright, get ready for take off and then everyone start getting yourselves some sleep. We got a long flight." Blackburn ordered.

Everyone got moving to get their gear off and start getting their area ready. With having two teams it was a little cramped, but they were making it work. Vic got his gear off and got his hammock up and ready. He pulled out the burner phone and saw that Ash had finally texted him back. He had been waiting a few days to hear anything from him and he was not surprised by the message he received.

Who is this? And why should I be interested in anything you have to say?

Vic smirked, it was typical of someone that used to be in the teams. He was skeptical and cautious, but that was ok because Vic knew he would be able to get Ash on his side.

You like being in the spotlight and your son is a great way to make that happen. I want him out of my way. And you get the added bonus of hurting Jason Hayes, who is calling your son his. Happy to meet in person so we can discuss something that will benefit the both of us.

Vic knew that Ash would be willing to meet and help him plan a way to take Clay out of Bravo and hopefully the military. Ash was not a parent, what he was is a man looking to be famous and rich. Having Clay out of the military and force him to rely on his father was perfect for it. Ash would be able to control Clay and turn him into someone that he could use to push his fame further. Plus, he would be able to get his revenge against Jason and from what Vic had heard, that was something Ash desperately wanted as well. Vic was about to get into his hammock and wait for his turn but everyone on Bravo, including Mandy, Lisa and Blackburn were over by Clay's bed waiting for their turn. It was insane to Vic that they would all be staying awake while it wasn't their turn, but he knew if he didn't join them he would be the one in shit. Vic headed over and sat down on one of the crates and just waited. He couldn't wait until they were finally home and he could get away from Clay.

XXX

Twenty-two hours had never felt so long to Jason before in his entire life. They had been able to keep Clay breathing the whole time and nothing new came up, something Jason was very happy about. Still though, even when he was supposed to be sleeping he couldn't seem to bring himself to. He was lightly sleeping in his hammock, but most of the time he was still able to hear everything and he was always keeping an eye on Clay. If he wasn't watching him in his hammock he was sitting beside Clay holding his good hand. Thankfully there were no complications and Clay was holding his own. He still wasn't able to breathe on his own, but both Trent and Derek said it was normal. His lungs needed the break and the hospital would be able to get him back to breathing on his own.

Jason was so pissed off. He couldn't believe that General White had turned around and said no. Part of him couldn't help but wonder if someone had told him that Clay would be the one to take the beating if he didn't. That smirk told Jason that he was all too happy with himself and the pain that Clay was being put through. He wasn't going to let this go, he was going to get down to the bottom of this, he didn't care how long it took. Clay deserved answers and he was going to get them for him.

Once the plane touched down it became chaos all over again. The medical team was already there on standby with a gurney and an ambulance that will take Clay to the hospital. Trent would be going with them while the others drove over. Jason would have loved to be the one to go with Clay, but he figured it was better to have Trent with him in case they had any medical questions for him. Blackburn had already updated Lindell on the situation so he was already briefed, allowing the others to get their gear put away so they could head to the hospital.

With Clay loaded up into the ambulance with Trent the guys all got to work on getting their gear back into their cages before they would head over. There was no need for conversations, they all just wanted to get their stuff done and head for the hospital. Ray had already texted Niama to let her know that Clay was on his way in. She was working today and when one of them came into the hospital she normally was able to be the nurse on their case. She had sent a text back letting him know that she would head down to the ER and wait for when Clay was brought in.

With everything squared away they all headed for their vehicles and headed off for the hospital. Jason checked the time and he knew that Emma would be out of class right now. He wanted to call her to let her know that Clay was in the hospital and sick. Her and Clay had gotten close over the last few years, especially after Alana's death. Jason would often find them hanging out at the house or Clay would be there to help Emma and Mickey with their homework. Emma and Clay would go out to the movies or grab some food. At first Jason wasn't too sure about them spending so much time together. Clay was only eight years older then Emma so it wasn't like he was too old for her, but it was pretty clear early on that they didn't have that type of feelings for each other. It was more sibling than anything else. It made him feel good though. The biggest worry Jason had was dying and leaving his kids to face this world on their own. He knew with Clay being in their lives, if the worst should happen, Clay would be there for them. Clay would make sure Emma and Mickey were safe and cared for. He knew the other guys would, but with Clay it would be different. They would have someone that they knew as family there to help them through life.

After three rings Emma answered. "Hey Dad, I'm just heading to the library. What's up?"

"I just wanted to let you know that Clay is in the hospital." Jason said gently, but also doing his best not to make it sound like he was sugar coating things with her. He learnt quickly how much she hated it.

"Oh my god, is he ok?" The worry was clear in Emma's voice.

"He's a little banged up from our last op. Our op before this though he ended up with a mild case of hypothermia that turned into pneumonia, so he's pretty sick right now. I'm on my way to the hospital now to get more information on his status."

"So he's sick and beat up. Damn, is he going to be ok? Do I need to come home and help?"

"You don't need to come home and Clay would want you to focus on your school work. We got him. He'll be off from work for a couple of months or so until he's healed up and healthy again. I just wanted to let you know that he was in the hospital. But don't worry Clay will be fine."

"If you are sure, I don't mind coming home to help or be there for him. It sucks being sick, but to be hurt on top of it is no fun. Will you let me know what the doctor says?"

"Ya of course. I'll keep you posted on him. I'll get him to crash at mine for a little bit so I can be there for him until he starts to feel better."

"Ok, well have him call me once he feels up to it. And please let me know if there is anything I can do."

"I will Em. I'll call you once I have some answers. I love you."

"I love you too."

Jason ended the call and he felt better knowing that Emma now knew that Clay was injured and sick. He didn't like her to worry, but she would have been pissed if he didn't tell her about it. He could at least downplay it for her without it being too much of an issue. Jason was just hoping that Clay would be able to pull through this without too much of an issue. One thing was for sure, he never wanted to have to give Clay mouth to mouth again. To watch as a tube was pushed down his throat. This mission was going to be haunting his nightmares for a long time coming. Jason arrived at the hospital and headed inside to see everyone there and waiting, including Trent.

"What do we know?" Jason asked Trent.

"The doc is with him now. He's going to see if he can get Clay breathing on his own, but he might have to be on a vent until his lungs get to heal a bit. It just depends on how the tests go."

"What tests?" Jason asked.

"MRI, CT Scan for his head and some blood work. We'll know more in a few hours."

"So all we can do is wait?" Sonny asked, not happy about that at all.

"It's all we can do right now." Trent said with understanding in his voice.

"Come on brother, let's go sit down and wait." Ray said, as he placed his hand on Sonny's back.

They all made their way over to the waiting area and got comfortable, as comfortable as they could in plastic hospital chairs. It wasn't even ten minutes later when they were all taken out of their silence by the appearance of Ash Spenser walking over to the Nurses' Desk.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Sonny demanded.

"How did he even know?" Brock asked next.

Vic didn't say anything, just allowed the others to get pissed off. He had been the one to text Ash from the burner phone saying that Clay was in the hospital and now would be the perfect time for him to win one over on Jason. Vic needed to cause tension and a rift between Jason and Clay and the best way to do that was to get Ash around. After speaking with the nurse Ash turned and headed over to their waiting room. The others all stood up and Jason stood front and centre.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Jason demanded.

"My son is in the hospital. Where else would I be?" Ash said.

"Oh really? Because he was in the hospital for close to two months when he got both of his legs blown up. You never showed up once. Hell, you never even called him. Now you want to show up and play father?" Jason said.

"I'm not playing father, I am his father." Ash argued back.

Sonny gave a dark laugh to that. "Oh ya some father you've been eh? Let his mother give birth to him in some back alley while he was addicted to heroin. Left him in an active war zone for thirteen years. You don't give two shits about him. And you're not his father."

"I am his father and anything from before is on his mother, not me."

"It is all your fault. And you are not his father, nor does he want you here." Full Metal said with an edge himself.

"You don't get to speak for him." Ash said back.

"No, but I do. He wants nothing to do with you. You blew it with him over and over again. Just when he starts to think that you might actually care, you might actually be there for him, you disappear and you try and use him to push your reputation further. To try and get even more fame. He's done with you." Jason said.

"You might be his team leader for now Hayes, but in this hospital that means shit. I am his father and that gives me all the power." Ash said with a smirk.

"Except I have medical power of attorney and next of kin on his forms. That means I get to make all of the decisions where he is concerned until he is able to voice them himself. Sit around all you want, you won't get to learn anything about his condition or see him. And for the record, I'm not here as a team leader. I'm here because my son is in the hospital."

"You're delusional if you think for a second I'm going to let you have anything to do with him. Enjoy it while you can Hayes, but soon enough he won't be in your life, he won't even be in Bravo. Don't underestimate the connections that I have." Ash said with a threatening tone.

"I wouldn't threaten me if I were you Ash. You never had him and you never will. Go head take a seat, waste your time, it's the closest you'll ever get to him."

Ash gave a dark chuckle. "I'm coming for you Hayes."

Ash stepped away and headed over to the other side of the room. Jason didn't care though, he wasn't going to let Ash anywhere near Clay, not until Clay said it was ok. Jason knew the only reason Ash was here was so he could try and manipulate Clay while he was in a vulnerable position and Jason wasn't going to allow it.

"We really gonna let him stay?" Sonny asked.

"We don't own the hospital Sonny." Ray said.

"He wants to sit there, let him. He won't get anywhere near the kid." Jason promised.

Jason was not about to let Ash worm his way back into Clay's life. If Clay wanted to see him then he would respect his decision and allow it, but until those words came out of Clay's mouth when he was able to think clearly he wasn't going to let Ash anywhere near Clay. The guys all sat back down, but it was clear they weren't happy about this. Especially Sonny and Full Metal. Jason couldn't help but internally chuckle at Full Metal. He wasn't one for getting attached to people. Yes he had Alpha and his brothers, but he didn't tend to get attached so quickly to new people and Clay was a new person to him. When Clay had gotten blown up in Manilla though Full Metal was gung ho about getting the bastards. He had grown attached to the kid so much so that he gave Derek his chance at being Alpha One and he moved over to Bravo.

When Full Metal had approached him looking to see if he could make Bravo his new home, Jason was all for it. He knew that Derek was more than ready to take over and it would allow him to shine and build Alpha into what he saw for it in the future. Full Metal was a leader, but he was also really good with following. Jason knew he would never be able to follow someone else so going to a different team was out of the question for him. Still, having Full Metal around gave him another person that would be there for Clay and protect him. Clay was the future of Bravo and Jason made that very clear when Full Metal joined, something he had no problem with. He had grown attached to the kid without even truly knowing him, but he could see very clearly how much every man on Bravo cared for him and what he could do to the future of the teams. To Full Metal he was worth protecting and dying for.

It was four hours later when Dr. Moore finally walked into the waiting room. Everyone got up and headed for him, including Ash. Dr. Moore took a quick look at Ash, knowing who he was before addressing Jason.

"Do you want everyone to hear this?"

"Only my guys. There some place we can talk without unwanted listeners?" Jason asked, and everyone knew he was referring to Ash.

"I'm his father. I am the one that legally you need to be addressing, doctor." Ash snapped, not impressed with being ignored.

"And legally you would be correct if Clay was underage. However, he is twenty-seven and next of kin written in his file is Jason Hayes. He also has medical power of attorney should Clay be unable to make decisions for himself. I have to go by what Clay's file states. If Jason does not wish for you to be present, then I have to respect that. If you will please follow me so we can talk." Dr. Moore said.

Jason gave a nod and they started to follow after Dr. Moore when Ash spoke.

"You are not his father Hayes."

"Actually I am. You can go, you're not wanted nor needed here. But leaving is something you are very good at so I'm sure you'll figure out how to do it again." And with that Jason turned his back on Ash and headed off with the guys to hear about Clay's condition.

Vic followed the guys, he didn't really care about what was going to be said but he had to keep up appearances. It wasn't even a minute later when his phone was buzzing. He pulled it out and read the message real quick.

Sheridan Hotel room 1205 tonight at nine.

Vic just smirked, he knew having Ash here would only piss him off. He needed Ash's attention and hatred directed towards Jason, it was the only sure fire way he would want to go after Clay. Now he was going to finally be getting somewhere and he was looking forward to it. They walked into a private conference room and once everyone was into the room Dr. Moore spoke.

"He will make a full recovery to ease all of your fears."

With just those few words the atmosphere in the room changed dramatically. Gone were the stressed out brothers and now here were the brothers that were ready to tackle whatever Clay needed to get back to active duty.

"Injuries?" Trent asked.

"He's got a mild concussion and quite a bit of bruising on his torso. None of which are an issue and there is no internal bleeding to his stomach or brain. His left wrist is not broken, but it is badly sprained and we have it in a brace right now to help it heal up without getting banged around."

"Ok, that's all good news. But what about his lungs? He stopped breathing, is he breathing on his own now?" Jason asked, because that is what mattered most to him right now. Injuries can heal, but if Clay's lungs weren't working that was a whole other beast.

"He is hooked up to a ventilator which is breathing for him. I didn't even try to get him to breathe on his own just yet. I want to give his lungs a couple of days to rest. The ventilator will allow his lungs some time to heal." Dr. Moore started.

"There was bleeding in his lungs, I had to drain it. If he didn't have a broken rib how did the blood get there?" Trent asked.

"A combination of things. Let me explain. When Clay joined the team I did extensive research on his medical history and I spoke with him in depth about everything he could remember. The problem is before the age of eighteen we know nothing about him medically speaking. We know that he didn't have any vaccines, he got them when he enlisted. We know there is no record of him ever being in a hospital or a single doctor's appointment for the first eighteen years of his life. Up until this point I've had no need to run an MRI on his lungs. However today did give us some more information." Dr. Moore said as he pulled out the scans that he had brought with him.

He placed the one up on the board for everyone to see. "This is a healthy adult male's lungs. Now as you can see they are clear and a good size. This is Clay's lungs."

Everyone could instantly see how cloudy they were, but Trent noticed what Dr. Moore was getting at.

"They're smaller." Trent stated.

"Oh shit, they are." Full Metal said, as he took a good look at them.

"Why are they smaller?" Ray asked.

"It's what happens when they are underdeveloped. Clay mentioned that his mother was an active heroin user. He didn't know anything about his birth just that it wasn't in a safe place. My guess based on his lungs he was born premature, probably around twenty-nine weeks. His lungs were viable, but they weren't fully developed. And he most likely would have been addicted to heroin. His lungs are approximately twenty-five percent smaller than they should be. He's been able to overcome that difference though and live a perfectly normal life."

"Can he be a Seal if he has less lung capacity?" Vic asked.

"Normally, no. However, this was never caught before he enlisted nor after. There was no need to have an MRI done on him and he was able to do the physical requirements. After nine years of being in active service it wouldn't be an issue for him." Dr. Moore answered.

"What are the other marks in his lungs?" Brock asked.

"The clouding is from the pneumonia. These lines right here." Dr. Moore said, pointing to it on the image. "They are scars on his lung tissue. You typically see it in adults who have untreated asthma."

"He said he had a hard time breathing sometimes when he was a kid. He thought it was from the extreme heat. He must have had asthma when he was younger. That wouldn't be uncommon for premature infants." Trent said as it all started to click into place.

"Correct. Only he still has asthma. It's untreated and mild, but it will be something he has to live with. He can take an inhaler when his chest feels tight, it's nothing that will prevent him from being in the field. Now for the bleeding, it was the perfect storm."

"Meaning?" Sonny asked, confused.

"The hypothermia compromised his immune system and brought forth the pneumonia. With his lungs being smaller he has a higher risk of getting a lung infection such as pneumonia and bronchitis. The untreated asthma only helps fuel the infection. It's why his pneumonia came on so strongly and fast. However, the hypothermia was not the only cause for his immune system to plummet like it did. Testing confirmed that Clay has TB."

"What?" Jason asked, confused now.

"How the hell is that possible?" Sonny demanded.

"He grew up in a country that was riddled with TB at some point he caught it, but he was one of the lucky ones. It was dormant in him. The hypothermia pushed it into active status and everything else fueled it, like adding gasoline to a fire. The blood in his lungs was a combination of the TB and the beating he took. Now the good news is TB in the States is highly curable. He's already on an aggressive treatment for it to help knock it down. And in a couple of days I'll get him off of the vent and breathing on his own. With the antibiotics for the pneumonia he will start to feel better with them. I'll get him an inhaler to help with the asthma. Everything will be documented so in the future we can keep a better eye on his lung health."

"A perfect storm." Trent said with a shake of his head.

"But he'll be ok?" Ray asked, looking to confirm.

"Once we get him healed up and healthy again, he'll be back to his normal self. The only difference is he'll have an inhaler to fix any tightness in his chest." Dr. Moore said warmly.

"How could he have not known he had asthma?" Brock asked.

"He would have grown up with it. He probably figured it was the heat, like he said, and after a while your body just adapts to it and gets used to it. By now he wouldn't have thought anything of it." Dr. Moore explained.

"How long will he need to be off?" Jason asked.

"He can go back to duty in six to eight weeks, but he can't be in the field for another twelve to sixteen weeks. I know you guys go on tour in six weeks. I'll see how he is and if he is doing well and healing properly then he can fly out with you, but he'll be bound to quarters for two more weeks and then he'll be base bound until the end of tour. But he will be able to be in HAVOC and helping you that way."

Dr. Moore knew that the guys hated leaving one of their brothers behind when they went on tour, but especially Clay. This way they would have Clay there with them without putting Clay at risk.

"Thanks Doc." Jason said on their behalf.

"So all we do is wait now?" Sonny asked.

"That's all you can do. His body just needs to rest and in a couple of days I'll get him off of the vent and in a week if all goes well he can head home to recover."

"We appreciate it Doc." Ray said.

"He's in room 415, and he is sedated but try to keep it down. There is also a cot in there." Dr. Moore said with a knowing look at Jason.

"We will." Trent said.

Dr. Moore headed out and everyone in the room took a moment to digest what they had just learnt. They were relieved that Clay would be alright and make a full recovery, but they were also concerned now about what his lungs and asthma would be like in the future.

Sonny let out a sigh before he spoke. "Leave it to the kid to go all out."

"I didn't even think about TB. I should have when he said he grew up in Africa." Trent said, annoyed with himself for missing this. He should have caught it. He could have gotten Clay to take a test when they got back. It would have been simple and they would have caught the TB sooner than they did.

"It's not on you brother. We had no idea he even had it in his system. He didn't even know it. You can't predict things like that." Ray said.

"The important thing is that we know now and it's being treated. The doc didn't even think to test for it last time either. It's not on you." Jason said.

"You know what I can't figure out?" Sonny started.

"A lot." Full Metal said with a smirk.

"That kid is always moving. I've seen him run the training course for six hours straight before getting tired. How the hell is he doing that with less lung than everyone else?" Sonny continued as if Full Metal hadn't spoken.

"And asthma." Brock added.

"His body adapted to it. It would have happened over time, but his body got used to the amount of oxygen it could take in at one time. But just like everyone else he trained his body to go longer with what oxygen he had. Like when you practice holding your breath underwater. You do it enough times you'll be able to do it for longer. Clay would have worked extremely hard to make up the difference. Interestingly enough aerobic exercises like running, helps to improve your lung capacity. Subconsciously Clay might be so good at running and have a love for it because it's one of the times he can breathe better. The more he runs and does drills or running the training course it is forcing his heart to pump more blood, pushing oxygen throughout his body and helping to improve his lung capacity. In a way he's been self-medicating all of his life." Trent explained.

"Damn." Full Metal said.

"Moving forward, what can we do for him?" Jason asked.

"Not much. I'll make sure I have refills for his inhaler when we go anywhere, especially on tour. Now that we know it's asthma I'll be keeping a closer eye on his breathing while on tour. The dusty and hot weather will be harder on his lungs over long-term. I'll also work with him on some breathing exercises that will help with his lung capacity as well. There's really nothing we can do other than trust that Clay will tell us when he's having a hard time. I do think it would be good to loop in Derek. With him living across the hall it would be helpful for him to have a spare inhaler in case Clay runs out and needs it." Trent answered.

"Do that, I'd rather be covered on all fronts. I'm assuming there is no risk to us with getting TB." Jason said.

"Nope. Clay's will only affect him, otherwise we'd all be sick long by now." Trent answered.

"Alright, let's head up there and see him. Then you all should head home and get showered and sleep." Jason said.

"You need a shower and sleep too brother." Ray started.

"I'll be fine and I can sleep in the room." Jason said stubbornly back.

"Why don't you head home, get changed and showered and I'll stay with Clay. Then when you come back I'll head out. That way you have a chance to get cleaned up and something to eat." Vic offered.

The very last thing he wanted to do was be stuck sitting watching Clay, but he had to get on Jason's good side and that was through Clay.

"Perfect. Vic can stay with Clay and then you can head home and get cleaned up before coming back here. You need to take care of yourself so you can be there for when Clay is awake." Ray said.

Jason was not happy about it, but he knew that Ray was right. He needed a shower and to get changed. Then he would grab something to eat on his way back here for the night. Jason just gave a nod and they all headed out of the room and up to Clay's temporary home for the next week. Walking in to see Clay with a tube down his throat and a machine breathing for him was hard for them all to see. He was hooked up to multiple wires that went to other machines, he had three IV bags going into him as well. The bruising looked even worse against the stark white of the hospital room. This was not how the mission was supposed to go and each and every single one of them felt like they had failed Clay. Their job was to protect him and they didn't do that this time around, and what made it worse was that it was the one time Clay needed their protection.

"Jesus." Sonny said softly as he went over to the left side of Clay's bed.

"He looks bad, but he'll be ok Sonny. It's good that he has the vent breathing for him, it'll give his body the chance to recover. He'll be up and moving before you know it." Vic said, trying to offer what comfort he could. He needed to separate the relationships within the team from Clay. Sonny and Clay were best friends, he needed to take that place. Something he was already on the way of doing with Clay dating Rebecca.

"Ya, ya he will be." Sonny said, sounding a little bit more confident.

They all stood with Clay for roughly ten minutes before they started to head out. Vic went and sat down in the chair on the right side of the bed and after promising he would call Jason if something happened he was finally alone. Vic sat back and pulled out his phone. He didn't have time earlier to look up what he wanted to and now was the perfect time as he had some time to kill. While he was trying to fall asleep on the plane he had overheard two of the guys on Alpha's support staff talking about Clay. As it turned out one of their fathers was an instructor when Clay was in boot camp and it turned out that he had a form of high-end autism. He still couldn't believe that Clay had some form of autism. Not only that, but Bravo was keeping it from him. Vic knew without a doubt that the guys all knew about it and they were choosing to hide it from him for whatever reason. Vic knew that they were all still warming up to him, but he thought by now they would trust him. It would seem that he had a long way to go still. Vic wanted to know more about the type of autism that Clay had so he could try and agitate it. He had to start breaking Clay down, he just wasn't sure how yet. He was hoping Ash would have some ideas in that department for him.

He knew he needed to make himself more known in Bravo. He needed to be a valuable member and not just a member of the team. Vic had already decided that he was going to learn Pashtu so it wasn't just Clay that could speak it. But he would also need another skill, something that only he had. He was thinking about learning some EOD as no one on the team specialized in that and it would come in handy while out on missions. It would eliminate the need for a Strap or another Seal to join. Vic just needed to sort out a plan for how to deal with Clay and then work towards achieving it. He was hoping that Ash would be able to give him some ideas that he could use to get Clay out of the picture once and for all.

XXX

It was just before nine that night when Vic arrived at the hotel. He hadn't heard from Ash since that one text, but he didn't expect to. Vic was really hoping he would be able to get some good ideas from Ash on how he could get Clay out of Bravo once and for all. He had gotten on Jason's good side tonight by spending the time with Clay in the hospital. Jason had even brought him a coffee to say thanks. It might not seem like much, and Vic didn't want a coffee, but it meant that he was getting on Jason's good side. And if he was on his good side, he had a very good chance of building that connection with him. The only way to secure his spot in Bravo was to sever all ties they had with Clay.

Vic headed up in the elevator and once on the correct floor he headed down to the room. After knocking, the door opened a few moments later to reveal Ash Spenser. Vic was glad to see that Ash was in fact here and this wasn't some test or game and Vic could tell he was a little surprised to see him. He would have seen him back at the hospital earlier. He would have seen him with Bravo. Ash moved back and allowed Vic to walk in, he didn't speak until the door was closed and locked.

"Didn't expect for it to be you. No one goes against Jason Hayes."

"I'm not going against him, I'm against Clay. There's a difference."

"Not where he is concerned. If he finds out you have it in for his precious rookie, he'll take you out of Bravo and maybe even the teams."

"I'm not worried about him figuring out it's me that contacted you. Clay should never have been allowed to be a Seal, he needs to be removed. I can cover my tracks, but it's easier if there is someone else who knows how the teams work. Are you really going to tell me you don't want to make Jason pay for how he is with you? For taking your son away from you."

Vic knew he just needed to get Ash's temper focused on making Jason pay for what he has done. If he was focused on that, then he wouldn't care what happened to Clay in the end.

"They will both pay for this level of disrespect. Clay's always been disrespectful towards me, it got worse once he joined Bravo. He thinks he can erase my footsteps in the Navy, make it seem like I don't even exist. When people hear the name Clay Spenser, I want them to think of him as worthless. I want hatred in their eyes, not respect. They both need to learn their place. The plan is what matters, what did you have in mind?" Ash asked, leaning against the table with his arms crossed.

"I don't have much in terms of a plan. I know I need to sever the ties he has with everyone in Bravo. Outside of that I was hoping you might have a game plan that I could run with."

"Bravo needs to turn on him, but they won't do it in a callous way. It has to be slow so they don't even realise it. Build distance between them and they won't even realise what has been happening. Start turning other people against him. He likes to play in the political world, you have to make it so that others that are below that will want him to fail."

"Alright, how do I do that? For the majority of the people I meet they all love him."

"Then you find the people who don't. You have that internal social media platform, utilize that and the people who hate him will come forward. Let others do the work for you so your hands never get caught dirty."

"I see what you're saying. I'll create something tonight for it."

"What do you get out of this though?"

Ash wasn't stupid he knew that if Vic was here he wanted something. Something badly enough to go behind Jason's back and risk losing everything.

"I found out I was drafted into Bravo because they thought I would make the perfect number two to Clay. That was the only reason they picked me, so I could play backup to Clay. I don't like him, I know he's your son but I don't like him. I hate how everyone treats him like he's so special, when he's not. He knows a bunch of languages because that's the only skill he had to offer. He shouldn't have even been allowed in Green Team until he was old enough like everyone else. He needs to be put in his place and I will never play second fiddle to him." Vic answered honestly.

"You're right about one thing, he does need to learn his place. I'll put some feelers out, you focus internally and make his life hell. My son is weak, he'll give in eventually."

"All I've seen is him being weak. I had to rescue him from a car, he's sick right now and everyone is acting like he's going to die. It's pathetic. I'll put him in his place and when he is no longer in Bravo he'll turn to you, his true father."

"Good. Keep that phone hidden, no one can know we've been talking."

"I will. I appreciate your help and insights." Vic said with a kind smile. He didn't want Ash against him, he would need him still.

Ash just gave a nod and Vic knew his time was up. He headed out and checked the time, it was still early enough. He figured he would call Sonny and see if he wanted to meet up for a drink. If there was one thing Vic had learned about Sonny in his time in Bravo, it was that the Texan was always up for a drink. Tomorrow Vic would work on his plan to destroy Clay's reputation.

XXX

It was a week later and Clay was finally being able to be discharged from the hospital. The past week had been a long one for both Jason and Clay. After two days Dr. Moore was able to reduce Clay's sedation and get Clay off of the ventilator and breathing on his own again. Jason never thought he would be so happy to hear the wheezing in Clay's breathing before. Yet, it was the best sound he had heard in days. The past week had been hard on Clay. The antibiotic he had to take for the pneumonia was making him tired. Then the medication he was on to cure him of the TB was making him even more exhausted. Clay could barely keep his eyes open for the majority of the week. He still had a low grade fever and would for the next week still. For the most part of the next month he was going to be exhausted and weak. Jason didn't care though because Clay was going to be ok and he was going to be spending at least the next week at his place.

Jason walked into Clay's room to see Clay was laying down in the bed and doing his best to keep his eyes open. Clay had changed into some sweat pants and he had his shoes on and a t-shirt. There was a zip-up hoodie next to him on the bed. He was no longer hooked up to any machines or oxygen now that he was cleared to leave.

"Hey, I got your discharge papers. I get to break you out of here. Even got your ride." Jason said, as he pushed a wheelchair into the room.

"Oh good. I didn't think I was making it to the door." Clay said with a small smirk.

"I got all of your medication and your inhaler already. I got your bed set up and the kitchen has food in it. All we gotta do is get you there."

"Are you sure you're ok with me crashing at your place?"

"Absolutely. It's better for you to be with someone right now until you are feeling a bit better. Come on, let's get you out of here."

Jason went over to the bed and held his hand out for Clay to take. Clay took it with his good hand and Jason got Clay sitting up on the bed. He picked up the sweater and helped Clay to get it on. Clay's body was very stiff and sore from being sick, the TB and the hospital bed. It will be good for him to get into a comfortable bed. With Clay ready Jason placed his right arm around Clay's waist and helped him to stand up and over to the wheelchair. Clay let out a sigh as he was now sitting. Jason made sure he had everything before he started to push Clay out of the room and out of the hospital. He had parked his truck right out front so he would be able to get Clay into it without having to go too far. Once they got to his truck Jason helped to get Clay standing and together they were able to get Clay into the passenger seat. The groan of pain didn't go unnoticed by Jason. It wasn't just the infections that Clay was dealing with, but also the beating. He was still covered in bruising and had a concussion. It all boiled down to Clay feeling like shit for the next couple of weeks. Jason was really hoping he could keep Clay at his place for the next two weeks at least. Blackburn had worked his magic and got the team off for the next two weeks, but that was all the time they could get because they had to leave for tour in six weeks. Still, that would give Jason two weeks off to make sure Clay got over the worst of things.

Once they were on the road Clay spoke. "It feels like I'm never going to be able to do anything ever again."

"It's just temporary Sunshine. Your body is fighting off two very powerful infections and on top of that you got beat up. It's a lot for your body to handle. And that is before you factor in having asthma and having underdeveloped lungs. You just need a bit of a break, but you'll be back in no time."

"I still can't believe I have asthma and my lungs aren't one hundred percent. I don't remember much from before I got to Africa. I knew she was on drugs, heroin, but I had convinced myself that she wasn't using while pregnant with me. That she cared about my welfare at least a little. Turns out she didn't care at all."

"I wish I could tell you something that would make the pain you feel from growing up better. I hate that I can't take that from you and I would if I could in a heartbeat. You got us now though and we're never going anywhere. I'm just sorry we failed you this time around." Jason said with a deep guilt to his voice.

"Stop that. I told you, it's not your fault. General White is to blame for what happened. God Jase you and everyone are the only reason I'm even here. You guys spent twenty-two hours breathing for me. You got me home and you kept me alive, that's all that matters. I don't want you to feel guilt over it. I mean it."

Jason looked over at Clay and he could see that Clay was serious. Jason gave a nod and reached over and ruffled Clay's hair gently, causing Clay to groan at it. Jason gave a small chuckle as he spoke. "Let's get you home and back to being healthy. I called Emma and told her you were getting discharged, she said call when you felt up for it."

"I will shortly. How is she doing?"

"She's doing good. I didn't tell her how you got injured, just that you were a little banged up from our last op. She knows that you are sick and about you having asthma. Mickey doesn't know anything."

"No, I don't want him to know. When I see him next I'll be fine and I can always tell him about the asthma if he asks. He doing good in school?"

"He's doing great. He's loving it, thankfully. I don't need another son in the military to worry about."

"I'm fine." Clay said, warmly.

"This time. Let's not make any more trips to the hospital though for a couple of years at least eh?"

"Sounds good to me. Spent too long in the hospital last year."

"How are you doing with all of that? I know we've talked about it, but I just want to make sure you're still ok with everything that went down."

"Ya I'm good. Bad dreams are gone and there's no problems with my legs. It's all behind me now."

"Good. I'm always going to be there though if you need to talk about it."

Clay gave a nod before a coughing fit took over. After a few minutes he was able to get it under control once again, but it only made his body even more exhausted. Clay put his head back against the seat and closed his eyes to try and get the pain under control. Jason didn't say anything just allowed Clay the time he needed to catch his breath. When they arrived at Jason's apartment Jason pulled into his spot and Clay opened his eyes. Now was going to be the hard part, getting Clay up to his apartment, thankfully he had an elevator, but still without a wheelchair it was going to be hard. Though, once he arrived he could get into bed and sleep the day and night away. Jason got out and headed over to the passenger side of his truck. Clay had his seatbelt off just as Jason opened the door.

"Oh this is gonna suck." Clay said, already tired just thinking about it.

"We'll go as slow as you need." Jason said with understanding to his voice.

Clay gave a small nod before he got out and Jason was right there to help hold him up and keep him steady. Together they made their way towards the front door. Clay's movements were very slow, but Jason didn't care how long it took he wasn't going to rush Clay. By the time they made it into the elevator Clay was barely able to stand up. He was breathing heavy and his breaths were wheezes more than anything.

"I got you." Jason said, as Clay's legs gave out on him.

"Walking should not be this hard." Clay said as he tried to catch his breath.

"It's just because you are so sick. It'll get easier as you get healthy."

It was bothering Jason how hard it was for Clay to do something as simple as walking, but everyone said it was normal. He was still very sick, getting discharged from the hospital didn't change that fact. Still, Jason hated seeing any of his brothers sick or injured and he truly hated seeing his kids like this. If he could he would have taken it all from Clay in an instant. Jason never expected ever in his life to find another son. He never expected that someone that should have just been a brother at arms would turn into his own son. It wasn't a situation he ever thought he would be in and he wasn't really happy with being in it. It wasn't that he was mad or upset that Clay had wormed his way into his heart. It was that he had something else he needed to worry about out in the field. It was hard for him to walk that very fine line of having Clay working under him. He had to be a team leader and allow Clay to do what he does best and trust in his skills, but at the same time he hated it when he had to send Clay off alone for overwatch. It was hard on him, but it was his burden he had to carry, he couldn't put that on Clay. It wasn't Clay's fault that they had developed a different connection to each other and he wasn't going to let Clay think for even one second that it made things harder on him. Jason didn't regret a single second of it.

Once on his floor Jason helped to get Clay down the hallways and into his apartment. He headed straight for Emma's bedroom. Jason got Clay sitting down on the bed and his breathing was getting really bad now. Clay looked over at the bedside table, but didn't see what he was looking for.

"Inhaler." Clay forced out.

Jason headed out and quickly grabbed the inhaler from the kitchen where the rest of Clay's medicine was. He ran back into the room and handed Clay the inhaler. Clay shook it and took it as he was told to do. It was still really weird for him to have to be using one, but he had to admit it did help when his chest felt tight. After a moment he was able to breathe easier again. It wasn't perfect, but it was back to what it was before he was moving around so much.

"You ok?" Jason asked concerned as he bent down so they were eye level.

"Ya it's a little easier now. Never thought I would ever have to use one of these." Clay said, holding the inhaler up slightly.

"I know, but it's something you need. You've needed it since you were a young child. It'll take you a bit to get used to, but it's a mild case of asthma and you've dealt with it your whole life without the inhaler. Once you no longer have the TB and pneumonia your lungs will be all healed up and you might never need the inhaler afterwards."

"I hope so. I'll get used to it though and it'll be nice to not have that tightness everytime we go on tour."

"I can't believe you had a tightness in your chest and never said anything to anyone. Seriously, what am I going to do with you?" Jason teased.

"Trade me to another team, but that doesn't seem fair to the other team." Clay joked back.

"I am not trading you. I put too much work into you to do that. Besides the only team that you would survive being on would be Alpha. Though, you might be the reason Beau retires." Jason said with a playful smile.

"You're terrible."

Jason gave Clay a warm smile as he took the inhaler and placed it down on the bedside table. Clay kicked his shoes off and Jason helped him to get his sweater off and into bed. Clay let out a moan at how soft the bed was. He was finally going to be able to sleep on something that wasn't hard and without being woken up every couple of hours.

"Get some sleep Sunshine." Jason said warmly before he headed for the door.

"Hey Jase." Clay started and Jason turned around.

"Ya kid?"

"Did Ash really show up at the hospital?"

"He did ya. I didn't let him be there when the doc told us about you. I didn't allow him to see you. I know you both have a complicated relationship; I didn't know if you wanted to see him but I figured you could say so once you were awake."

It was a weird line they were walking. Ash was Clay's biological father, but he was never there for Clay at all. Still, it was human nature for a son to want his biological father to be in his life.

"I don't want to see him, that's not it at all. I was just wondering who called him. He's not in my medical file, so who called him?"

"He's not in your file?" Jason had figured that Ash's number was in Clay's medical file. He had assumed the hospital would have called him.

"No, before the team I had Brian as my next of kin. When I enlisted I left it blank. You guys didn't call him?"

"Fuck no, we never would. I'll look into it."

"I know it shouldn't be a big deal, I just don't want him in my life. He's toxic and he doesn't care about me. All he wants is to use me to get ahead."

"It's your life Clay, if you don't want him in it or knowing anything about it, that's your decision. I do agree with you though, I don't think he deserves to be in your life. I think it's better for you to not be around him. I'll check with the hospital and see if they called him. If they didn't, I'll make sure everyone in Bravo's and Alpha's support understands that he is to not be contacted."

"Thanks Jase."

"Get some sleep. I'll wake you up when you need to take your medication again."

Clay just gave a nod and Jason headed out of the room, but he only closed the door part way just in case Clay needed him. Jason headed into his living room and sat down on the couch with a big sigh. For the first time in almost two weeks he could finally breathe again. Clay was safe tucked into bed on the road to recovery and it took a serious weight off his shoulders. His son was home safe and sound in his bed.

XXX

It was a couple of days later when Clay was finally feeling up for a phone call with Emma. It was just after one in the afternoon and Clay knew that she would be out of classes right now. He was laying on his right side and he placed his phone against some pillows to hold it up so he wouldn't have to. After a moment Emma's face appeared on his phone.

"Wow, you look terrible." Emma automatically said.

"Thanks, that's what I long to hear." Clay said jokingly.

"Mission accomplished then Sailor. Do you feel as bad as you look?"

"Pretty much ya. I've stolen your bed too."

"It's more of a sibling bed then my bed. It's good that you are with dad right now; he can help you get back to healthy." Emma said with a warm smile.

When Clay was first introduced to the family Emma could tell he would be different. He was younger than she expected, then all of them expected to be really. But she had been assured by Uncle Ray that he was very talented in and out of the field. As time went on Emma could see how much Clay belonged in Bravo, but she could also see how well Clay fit within their own family. It started off small really, Mickey having a question about his homework while the guys were around. Clay had no problem explaining anything to him. Then when Emma needed help with her Spanish homework, it just made sense to call Clay over and have him help out. Clay was never bothered by it and he seemed to like teaching people.

Homework turned into him staying for dinner and then that grew to them hanging out outside of homework and the house. It was so natural that they became close, that Clay became close to Mickey. And before you knew it, Clay was over for birthdays and holidays with them. He became their older brother in a way that none of them ever expected, but none of them would change a single second of it.

"I'm looking forward to the healthy part. It's been a rough couple of weeks. What about you? How's school going?"

"Amazing. I'm acing all of my classes and I'm set to be home for when you guys get back from tour. I'm gonna pick up Mickey and meet you guys on base."

"Awesome, it's been a while since I've seen you both. Does Dad know?"

It was an unspoken rule between them. When it was just them talking they didn't go with the front of Jason being Jason. Emma knew that Clay and Jason both saw each other as father and son and she had no interest in pretending otherwise.

"No, I want to surprise him."

"I won't say anything. He'll like that."

"How are you doing with everything though really?" Emma asked, and Clay could hear she was concerned.

"With the exception of being sick, my body is used to everything. It's my mind that has to get used to it. Finding out I have asthma, had it my whole life basically, was surprising. But it also made sense all of the times growing up, and since, that my chest was tight. I just figured it was from the heat, but now I know that wasn't it. I'm trying to adjust to it all. It was a shock and then I found out that my lungs are actually twenty-five percent smaller than they should be."

"What? Dad didn't tell me that."

"He wasn't sure how much I wanted you to know. Growing up my mom was a heroin user and prostitute, it wasn't a good situation. I thought she had stopped using while pregnant, but it turns out she didn't. The Doc thinks I was born around twenty-nine weeks due to the heroin use. So my lungs are viable, but they are underdeveloped."

"I'm sorry Spense. Is it going to be a problem for you being active?"

Emma knew that her dad could never be anything but active in the field, but Clay didn't seem to have the problem. He wanted to be in the field, but he could also handle being outside of the field. Clay would thrive in an office and work behind the scenes just as much as he did in the field. It was one thing Emma didn't have to worry about with Clay.

"No, it would have been if I was enlisting but after nine years of it being undetected I'm good. No one is going to try and pull me out of active status, especially after being active for so long. The only issue that I need to keep an eye on is getting lung infections."

"Do you tend to get them?"

"Not normally no. This is the first time I've had pneumonia. I've had bronchitis a couple of times, but it wasn't too bad. Trent's gonna keep an eye on things and I'll be extra careful."

"Good, I'm glad it won't really affect you. It just sucks that you have to deal with it."

"It does, but apparently I've been dealing with it my whole life. I just have to get my head around it."

"You will. How's Rebecca handling it all?"

"She's not. We actually broke up about two weeks ago, before the operation that gave me hypothermia."

"What? Why didn't you say anything?" Emma asked shocked. She thought Rebecca and Clay worked well together.

"It was just before my op and then everything went to shit. I haven't even told the guys yet."

"What happened?"

"Nothing crazy. An ex-boyfriend came back into town and she realised that she was still in love with him. He was kinda the one that got away. She wanted to give it another chance and I mean I get it. I don't know what I would have done if Stella showed up looking to get back together with me. We parted on good terms and we're still going to be friends."

"Well that sucks, but also good that you are going to still be friends. I know you really liked her. It was good of you to be understanding though. Have you heard from Stella?"

"Not since she left for that teaching job. What about you? Any guy I need to be threatening?"

"Not right now. I'll let you know though. I'm focusing on my school work and getting into the swing of things."

"Dating is overrated." Clay joked.

"It really is right? I came to College to focus on my school and build a career. Yet all of my friends seem more interested in dating someone or going to parties. I'm not saying I don't go to parties, I do, but I go like once every couple of weeks. They go almost every night practically. What's the point of paying all of this money to go to school if you are going to spend it drunk and hungover?" Emma said as she rolled her eyes.

"Unfortunately most people do. Keep in mind a lot of them are getting away from their parents for the first time and they don't understand how expensive schooling is. They'll figure it out once they flunk a few courses and have to pay for it themselves. It's good that you aren't partying all the time, you don't need to put yourself at risk like that. You wearing that nail polish I gave you?"

Clay had given Emma a clear nail polish to wear when she was going to go out to parties or a bar. He knew Emma had a fake ID, he wasn't worried about that, he wanted to make sure she was safe. The nail polish was clear and if she dipped her finger into her drink, if it was roofied then the nail polish would change to green. It was just another level of defence for Emma to have and it made Clay feel better. He had also shown her behind Jason's back some self defence moves so she would be able to protect herself if something came up. He also showed her how to get a gun or knife out from someone's hand. Clay just hoped she would never need to use it.

"I've been using it and I told my friends all about it. You can get it up here in a few local spots so we all use it no matter what. My one friend, Jackie, a couple of weeks ago, she went to a party alone and she was wearing the polish and one of her drinks came back with something in it. She didn't drink any of it and she dumped it out. She also told all of the girls there about her drink before she headed out. She also reported it to campus police and they went in to shut the party down and searched the whole place and everyone for any drugs."

"I'm glad she was wearing it and did something about it. Unfortunately, college is a breeding ground for bad people just as much as it is for good people. You really gotta be careful when you're out. I want you to have fun, but it's gotta be safe fun. Sexual assault, it has the power to kill you. It destroys lives and your life is far too bright to ever be dimmed out."

"I know, I'm safe I promise. You taught me what I need to know to be safe. Don't worry about me. You focus on getting better yourself."

"I'll be fine."

"I'm sure Dad is doting on you and refusing to leave you alone." Emma said with a smirk. Send Jason Hayes into a war zone and he's cool and collected. But have one of his kids sick, he turns into a mother hen on steroids.

"He got Blackburn to give the team two weeks off. He shows up every few hours with something for me to drink and soup." Clay said with a smirk.

It was a little weird for Clay to have someone around him like this when he is sick. He had gotten so used to doing it all on his own. To suffer through it on his own. It was weird, but also nice to have Jason around to help him out. Even if it was bringing him some water or some soup.

"Yup, that's dad. You missed it from growing up, he was crazy when we got chickenpox." Emma said with a huge smile.

"Thankfully I've already had those."

Emma looked down at her watch before she spoke. "Shoot, I gotta go. My class is gonna start in twenty. Let me know how you are feeling and I'll see you in person when you get back from tour."

"Be safe and I'll see you soon."

"I love you brother."

"Love you too sis." Clay said with a warm smile.

The call ended and Clay put his phone back down. Talking with Emma always made him feel better. She was the perfect sounding board when his brain was stuck and if he ever needed someone with a strong moral compass outside of the team, Emma was always his go to person. Clay never expected for his life to change so drastically when he was drafted into Bravo. Adam once told him the teams were family, Clay didn't really believe it. But now he knew just how true it was and he couldn't have been happier. He had a family now and he was never going to let them go.

A huge shout out to NurseLaura for all of the medical advice. I also want to take this time to thank all of our Front Line Workers all over the world doing what they can for all of us.

Please review, it gives me motivation and makes me feel good. I just spent a week in the hospital and could use some virtual love!