Here's the next chapter for you all, enjoy!

I don't own The Brave or any of it's characters... but I wish I did!

Chapter 4

Dalton stared at Jaz. He was in disbelief right now that she was there, sitting on his porch.

He took a beat, took a deep breath and then walked over to sit down next to her.

"Since when do you not respond to texts?" he fired back at her.

"Fair call," Jaz responded quietly with a shrug, and then continued "but an emoji? I didn't think you even knew how to use them."

"Patton and I have both learnt a few new tricks in the last week and a half." Dalton smirked.

"Patton huh? Now this I can't wait to see." Jaz said, while still scratching Patton behind his ears.

Dalton just sat and watched her playing with Patton. Should he ask her why she's here? Why it's only been eleven days and she's already left New York? Why she chose to visit him and not Preach or McG?

After a few more seconds, he made up his mind to leave that line of questioning alone for now. She looked tired. In fact, she looked exhausted and that was not how you were supposed to look on leave. He would come back to it eventually, but for now, he would just take it with a grain of salt and admit to himself that it was nice to see her.

Really nice.

"How long ago did you arrive?" he asked.

"About half an hour ago. Any longer I would have broken in." Jaz answered matter of factly.

"I have no doubt, that's why I'm surprised to see you sitting out here. Come on, let's go in. I need a shower."

Jaz appreciated that he hadn't given her the third degree just yet about why she was there. She had no doubt he would eventually, but after a long drive with only her thoughts to keep her company, she's not sure if she was ready to have that conversation right now.

Truth be told, she's not sure she has the answers to the questions she's expecting just yet.

Thankful for the reprieve for now, she follows him inside and can't believe what she sees.

"You said this cabin was rustic!' She accused.

"No, I said it was too rustic for my sisters." Dalton corrected.

Jaz recalled their conversation, "No neighbours, no postman, no mailbox even, is what you said".

"That's true. But I like it that way. My sister's on the other hand are not fans. There's no big shopping mall or coffee shop close by. There's a whole slew of other stuff they've used as excuses for not coming up here very often. For me though, it's heaven."

Jaz took in his words and stepped further into the cabin.

It was far from rustic.

The living room had two very comfy looking couches and a large TV fixed to the wall. It was decorated in neutral tones and the rug, the side tables and lamps made it very cosy looking.

The kitchen off to the side wasn't large, but not small either. It had a stainless steel oven and cook top, and a matching fridge, microwave and dishwasher. In front of the granite kitchen bench was a six-seater timber table that actually looked like it had been passed down a few generations. In fact, it was the oldest looking thing she had seen so far in the cabin.

Jaz was wide eyed and turned around to face Dalton.

"Seriously?" she asked. "This is not what I expected for a mountain man."

Dalton just shrugged, "It's you guys that always tease me about being a mountain man, and I suppose I do live in the mountains. That's not to say that I want to live with less creature comforts than we do in the Quonset hut though."

He watched her as she continued to explore. There were two bedrooms on the other side of the living room and a bathroom containing a double shower.

"Two bedrooms and a double shower? This is practically luxurious."

"I won't tell you that I'm thinking of building a third bedroom as well." Dalton teased before continuing, "For my sister's kids, if they ever all come and visit."

"Or for Amir and McG when they need babysitting." Jaz proposed.

They both laughed at that, and Jaz realised how much she missed the other guys too. McG and Amir were the closest thing she had to a sibling relationship and their rapport with each other meant more to her than she would probably ever tell them.

Dalton broke into her thoughts, "Ok, I'm going to take a shower. Make yourself comfortable, feel free to make yourself coffee or grab a drink from the fridge and we'll figure out dinner when I'm done."

"Thanks." Jaz replied simply, and wandered into the kitchen to find the coffee.

Dalton watched her for a few more seconds before heading into the bathroom.

He stood in the shower and thought about Jaz being right there in his cabin, right there in his kitchen. To say he was surprised was an understatement. He wanted to ask her a million questions, but he knew that wasn't really their style. He and Jaz connected on a different level to their other teammates, and they have talked about the hard stuff before. But he didn't want to frighten her off straight away. She had obviously left New York so quickly and come here for a reason, and he knows if he waits, he'll eventually find out why that is.

Sometimes all you can do, is wait.

Jaz was sitting on the couch, which was as comfy as it looked, sipping a cup of coffee when Dalton came out of the bathroom in just his towel.

In his defence, he had forgotten all about taking some clean clothes into the bathroom with him. He wasn't used to having guests much at the cabin, and other than walk across to his room stark naked, like he usually did, the towel would have to do. It's not like Jaz wasn't used to seeing him with his top off anyway.

Jaz did her very best not to choke on her coffee as she watched Dalton walk over to his bedroom and quickly close the door. She had seen him countless times without a shirt on, all of her team for that matter. Seen a lot more on some occasions too, which was unavoidable in the close quarters in which they lived in and some of the situations they got themselves into on missions.

This felt different somehow.

It felt a lot more intimate, there in his cabin, and without any of the others around.

His broad shoulders, strong arms and well defined abs, had her wondering what they would feel like under her fingertips, or on top of… No.

Jaz had to force herself to quickly think of something else. She had just turned up here and the last thing she needed was to make things awkward because of her school girl crush on her Captain.

Before her thoughts went any further, Dalton joined her in the living room in a pair of jeans and one of his army t-shirts. Her favourite t-shirts.

"Should've known you'd go straight for the coffee." He teased her.

"It was a long drive and the coffee I grabbed at a service station tasted like McG's."

That made him shudder and chuckle at the same time.

"Ok, dinner." he stated. "I was going to have a steak, but there is only one of them, so I'll see what else I've got."

"Sorry for just dropping by, you have your steak, I can just have a sandwich or something." Jaz offered.

"Nah I've got stuff in the freezer and don't apologise. It's good to see you." He said simply with a smile on his face.

Jaz watched him as he peered into the freezer, feeling the warmth of her coffee spread all over her as he said it was good to see her. She had questioned her decision to come here for the entire drive. Why didn't she fly over to see Preach, or McG? She wasn't sure, but she knew from the feeling of ease and safety that she had felt since she first saw Dalton turn that last corner from his hike, she had made the right decision.

"How do you feel about frozen pizza?" Dalton broke into her thoughts.

Jaz was still a bit lost in her thoughts so she just nodded her head and gave him a thumbs up, to which he returned the gesture and put the oven on to start warming up.

They were both sitting back on the couch, drinking beer and watching of all things, a military show on TV. They had polished off the pizza a couple of hours ago. Jaz hadn't realised how hungry she had been before remembering that she hadn't eaten anything since her breakfast that morning in New York. That seemed so long ago now. She couldn't believe that this morning she had been in that tiny apartment and now here she was in Dalton's luxurious cabin, in Pennsylvania.

As if reading her thoughts, Dalton thought he would broach the subject that they hadn't yet spoken about.

"So, are you staying?" He asked softly.

"Um… I mean… if that's ok." Jaz stuttered out before continuing, "I know you offered, but I wasn't sure if you meant it or not."

Dalton gave her an easy smile. "I wouldn't have offered if I didn't mean it."

"Thanks." She said simply, with a small smile and a note of relief in her voice.

"Stay as long as you want. Have you got stuff in your car? Let's get it and then I'll show you your room."

"My room," she mumbled to herself with disbelief. She had fully expected to be sleeping on a couch, or in a tent.

After retrieving Jaz's bags, Dalton led her to the other bedroom, which was right next to his. It had a queen size bed, two bedside tables, a chest of drawers with a mirror above it and a built in wardrobe.

Jaz just shook her head and burst out laughing.

"Rustic, my ass!" She blurted out.

He joined in with the laughing and said with his hands in the air, "Again, not my words. But hope this is ok for you. The bed is actually freshly made and there are towels in the bathroom when you need them."

What he didn't tell her was that he had made the bed up fresh the day after he arrived at the cabin. Sub-consciously he had hoped she would come, and if she didn't, at least the bed would be ready for any other visitors.

"Well I'm going to turn in for the night, is there anything you need?" Dalton asked.

The early morning and the all day hike had him buggered, and he knew if he went to bed, she would too. And she looked like she desperately needed sleep.

Jaz just shook her head. She was exhausted herself and the big warm bed in her room, her room, looked very inviting.

"Ok then, try and get some sleep. You know where the coffee is if you're up early. Goodnight." With that, Dalton headed for the door.

Just as he brushed past her, she reached out and placed her hand gently on his arm and although it caught him a bit off guard, he stopped and couldn't help but look down into her big brown eyes.

She whispered, so quietly he could barely hear her, "Thanks, Top."

That's all she said. That's all she needed to say. Dalton could see by the appreciative look in her eyes and her soft smile that she was happy to be there.

He was happy to have her there.

He kept his eyes on hers, softly put his hand on top of hers and replied gently, "You're welcome, Jaz."

She looked right back into his eyes and he felt his breath catch slightly. He reluctantly pulled both his hand and eyes away and he left her and went into his own room.

Dalton entered his bedroom, still slightly in disbelief that Jaz was actually there. He didn't know whether to blame Preach or thank him for putting this whole idea into his head. And now she was right there on the other side of his bedroom wall. Their rooms on base were right next to each other as well, but there were three other guys sharing walls too. This time it was just the two of them.

Jaz was both physically and mentally exhausted. Being back stateside had been an absolute mind fuck for her, and it had only been less than two weeks. She still didn't know if coming here was the best thing, but she could figure that out when she was less fatigued.

That night, sleeping in their room's right next to each other, they both fell into a long, deep slumber, both exhausted from their long day. No nightmares invaded either of their dreams that night and it was the best sleep the both of them had since returning from Turkey.

The smell of freshly brewed coffee is what roused Jaz from her dreamless sleep the next morning. She took a few moments to remind herself of where she was and then stretched before getting out of bed and going in search of the coffee.

Dalton was standing outside on the back veranda with a coffee cup in hand and Patton sitting at his feet. After pouring a mug for herself, she opened the sliding door and stepped outside to join him.

He turned around as he heard the door open and smiled at Jaz.

"I should have known the smell of coffee would wake you up." He teased, knowing her morning routine very well after 3 years of working together.

"Yeah well, you're one of the few that makes it how I like it." Jaz's voice was still sleepy, but Dalton took the compliment. She didn't hand them out easily.

He looked at her and was glad to see her looking less fatigued this morning. He had no idea how long she was going to stay, but he thought being out here, in the great outdoors would hopefully help with the sleep she so clearly, desperately needed.

"Sleep ok?" he checked with her.

Jaz smiled lazily and nodded her head slowly, "Like a log. That bed is amazing. We need to get mattresses like that on base."

"Oh yeah, I'll put in that request to the Deputy Director for our next deployment." Dalton replied tongue in cheek.

"Great, then I have a few other things to add to that list." Jaz teased right back.

They both laughed and continued to sip their coffee. This felt so easy. I mean, they did this for the large part of the year anyway, so it's not like sharing a morning coffee was a new thing. This time, though, there wouldn't be any of their team joining them.

That thought reminded Dalton of something and he turned to face Jaz again.

"Hey, if you're going stay for a little bit, can you do me favour? Text the guys. Tell them you're ok. It's up to you whether you tell them you're here or not, but they're worried. The only thing that stopped us launching a search and rescue was that we could see you had read our messages, even when you didn't reply."

Jaz turned and looked him right in the eye and noticed the slightly pleading look. It made her lower her eyes and look away. She hadn't stopped to think how her team might react when she hadn't answered any of them. She should know better. Their communication is what made their team elite.

"Yeah… Sorry I hadn't thought about it like that. I'll text everyone soon." She said as she turned back to him.

That was good enough for Dalton. For now at least.

He nodded to her and asked, "Breakfast?"

And with that, he had broken the slightly uncomfortable direction the conversation had taken for Jaz.

"Hell yes, I'm starving." Jaz replied enthusiastically and they both headed back inside to top up their coffee mugs and start breakfast.

After a filling breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast and after Jaz had showered, Dalton asked her what she wanted to do for the day.

"Do you need to go into town for anything, or return your hire car?"

"I've already paid for the car for a week, so I may as well keep it for now. But I don't want to ruin any plans you had, you don't need to baby sit me." She answered.

"I didn't have any concrete plans, I like to take each day as it comes when I'm up here. How about we head into town? I could do with stocking the fridge and pantry, especially now you're here…" He trailed off.

"You saying I eat a lot, Top?" Jaz asked with raised eyebrows.

That twinkle in his eye was back again. "That's exactly what I'm saying."

"But first, you're going to text everyone," he reasoned with her and she nodded at him as she went to get her phone.

Jaz sat and thought about what to text her guys. She didn't really know what to say to them, since she didn't exactly know what was going on in her own head. She wasn't sure if she wanted the guys to know she was in the mountains with Top either. McG would have a field day with that, and Preach… well she could just imagine Preach smiling to himself on the other end of the phone. She would fill them in eventually.

For now she would keep it simple, and casual, like she had always been a part of the ongoing conversation. She picked up from where they had left off yesterday:

Since when do you use emoji's Top? LMAO

I've left NY to do some exploring.

Will keep you all up to date now I've come out of hiding ;)

She sent it to the group chat, and was happy she had done what Top had asked. She realised she should have done it sooner. It sometimes still took her by surprise that there were actually people who cared what she was doing and where she was. Who actually cared for her as a person and who actually cared about her full stop. That took some getting used to.

She was inundated with replies straight away:

She's alive! – McG

Hey stranger, you've been missed – Preach

Good to hear from you, finally! – Amir

Take care, Jaz – Top

Jaz looked across the room at that last reply from Dalton, and he gave her a nod and a thumbs up as if to thank her for sending the message.

She obviously didn't want them to know where she was for now, and he understood that. He would play along for now. He didn't know how long they could keep it from the rest of them, especially since they had all planned on visiting each other over their leave. But he didn't know how long Jaz was planning on staying. A couple of days, a week, more?

For now, he would just take it day by day and just be thankful that he knew where she was, and that she was safe.

He couldn't deny he was looking forward to spending some time with Jaz, just the two of them. He wasn't sure he wanted the guys to know that just yet either. If only Preach could see them now.

This chapter was fairly light, it gets a bit heavier in the next couple of chapters. Hope you liked it :)