Hope you all like this one!

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

Chapter 5

The day after her surprising arrival in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Dalton drove himself and Jaz into the closest town. He pointed out a few shops to her in case she needed to get anything, and they did a massive food shop to stock the fridge, freezer and pantry.

There were considerably more sweet treats in the shopping trolley than Dalton was used to. Jaz had a sweet tooth, and with that in mind, he made sure he had the ingredients for s'mores since he liked to have an open fire some nights to sit and stare at the stars. They also got more beer and some wine, and Jaz made sure she had the ingredients for lasagne. She insisted on cooking dinner that night, and Dalton wasn't going to argue with that.

After finishing the food shop, they headed back to the cabin, unpacked all the food and decided to take Patton for a walk.

Jaz was amazed at all the hiking paths that there seemed to be around the cabin and Dalton promised to show some to her the next day. He thought she might like to see the waterfall that he had visited the previous day at some stage, and there was a lake super close to the cabin that he liked to swim and fish in.

He really loved the surrounds his cabin was located in, and hopefully Jaz will too.

About 20 minutes into their walk, they reached a viewpoint where Jaz stopped to take some photos on her phone.

"Wow, this view is amazing." She said as she continued to take a few more photos from different angles.

'This whole mountain range is pretty spectacular," Dalton commented and it made Jaz turn and look at him.

"You don't throw words like 'spectacular' around very often, Top." She chided.

"That's because there are very few things that are spectacular," Dalton reasoned.

"Fair point." Jaz continued to look all around her, "This is definitely the greenest place I have ever seen. Sure beats the concrete jungle of New York, and the aridness of Incirlik."

"What about Mongolia?" Dalton asked.

"That was definitely green, but the Russians trying to whip your ass kinda ruined the beauty of it."

"Ha! Copy that." Dalton laughed out loud, and Jaz joined in with him.

Being able to laugh about some of their missions was one way they were able to stay sane. It wasn't always the way, some left them feeling broken, sombre or frustrated. But that particular mission had been a success, when it really shouldn't have been. It'll be one they never forget.

Although they laughed about it now, Jaz will never forget that mission for a very different reason. She remembers taking out the sniper with a shot through his temple as he was about to fire his rifle at Top in the kill box. When Top hit the deck immediately following that, she had assumed the worst and thought the sniper had still hit his target. Despite Top's agonising cries as he told McG he hadn't been shot, but just had multiple broken ribs, the relief she felt had been palpable. They'd all been in close situations in their deployments, but when it was Top, they hurt a little bit more.

Patton barked at them both suddenly as if to hurry them up.

"So bossy," Jaz commented as they continued on and Dalton just chuckled.

When they returned from their walk, Patton curled right up on his indoor bed that Dalton had bought him and went straight to sleep.

"Must be nice to be a dog." Jaz envied.

"Yeah, what a life… but feel free to have a nap if you need one, there's still plenty of time before dinner." Dalton offered.

Jaz contemplated the idea for a moment but decided against it. She thought she would be better to push through and hopefully have another good night's sleep.

Instead, she went into the kitchen to start making the lasagne.

Jaz freely admitted that she was not good in the kitchen, and didn't really have the mother figure to learn such skills from, but one thing her Mum could cook, was lasagne. It was one of the few things she would and could cook on base, although now that Amir had demonstrated such a flair in the kitchen, they were all happy for him to do most of the cooking.

She managed to find all the paraphernalia that she needed and had it prepared quite quickly. She prepared a quick salad to go with it and there was garlic bread to whack in the oven too once they were ready for dinner.

Dalton was outside, clearing some fallen branches from around the cabin. He caught sight of her through the kitchen window and had to stop for a moment. Who would have thought that Sgt Jaz Khan would be there in his kitchen? Cooking! He had a small smile on his face as he continued with what he was doing. He couldn't deny that he liked having her there.

A few hours later, they enjoyed their dinner with a glass of the wine they had picked up in town. As Dalton cleared the dishes away, Jaz poured them another glass and remained sitting at the dining table.

"Question, everything in here is relatively new, except this dining table and chairs. What gives?" Jaz quizzed him when he sat back down.

Dalton went quiet for a minute and looked down at the table and ran his hand over it, "This was actually my Mom's table and chairs. Our childhood was far from perfect, but some of the few happy memories were of meals eaten around this table. My old man was getting rid of it, so I snatched it up and brought it here. It doesn't quite fit in with the décor, but it's the only thing I have of hers now."

Jaz looked down at the table like Dalton was doing and just ran her hand over the aged wood. It was kind of nice to think that this table had been around since Adam was a kid, and she ached for him at the childhood he alluded to. He had made small comments about it before, but this was another little piece to add to the puzzle.

"Maybe one day, your kids will have this table too." Jaz said softly.

Dalton looked up at her. "Yeah maybe… if I ever go down that path."

They sat there for a few silent moments, without knowing they were both thinking about the same thing. Would people that came from childhoods like theirs, want their own family? Neither of them had given it much thought, but moments like these brought it to the forefront of their minds.

Jaz had gone to bed relatively early that night. She was tired and she still felt like she was catching up on sleep from deployment. Sure enough, as soon as her head hit the pillow, she was out like a light.

Dalton had stayed up for another hour or so, reading on the couch, while Patton snored on his bed. Just as he was starting to turn out the lights and head to bed himself, he hear a small muffled noise come from Jaz's room.

He walked as quietly as he could towards her bedroom door and stood and listened for a minute. Nothing. But just as he started to walk away, he heard her cry out "No."

He stood there for a little bit longer until he heard her in a louder voice repeat, "No… No… No, no, no!" He knew she had nightmares. He also knew what it felt like to be held hostage in the middle of a nightmare, and without a second thought, he slowly opened her door and walked towards the bed.

Jaz was lying on her back, her long dark hair splayed around her, the covers kicked off, and still crying out.

Dalton walked right up to the side of the bed and softly called out her name. When that didn't work, he sat on the side of her bed and put one hand on her shoulder and called her name again.

His touch on her shoulder seemed to do it. Jaz suddenly sat bolt upright and grabbed the wrist of the hand that was resting on her shoulder, ready to take out the enemy.

"Hey, it's just me. You're safe, you're safe." Dalton spoke his words softly, but firmly. He repeated them again, until he could see Jaz's eyes start to clear and recognition set in, her hand still gripping his wrist.

"You're ok." He repeated again, and Jaz's eyes looked up at his as she removed her tight grip from his wrist.

"Sorry – I, um… bad dream." She managed to stutter out.

"Don't be sorry." He continued to speak to her gently, "Want to talk about it?"

Jaz held his gaze for another couple of seconds, before slowing lowering her eyes to her hands, now gripping the blankets.

"Nah, I'm ok." She responded quietly and with that Dalton lowered his grip on her shoulder, trailing his hand down her arm and letting it cover both her hands on her lap.

"You sure?"

She just nodded, feeling a bit embarrassed that he had to witness this. It wasn't that he didn't know she had nightmares. They all did from time to time in their line of work, Jaz more so than others after this last deployment. It also wasn't the first time that Dalton has woken her up from a nightmare. But she was embarrassed that this had happened whilst on leave, at only her second night at his cabin.

"Well then can I get you some tea or anything?"

"No it's ok, you should get some sleep, but thanks... for this." Jaz whispered as she kept her eyes lowered, his hand still covering hers.

"Ok, if you're sure." Dalton gave her hands a squeeze before removing it from hers and was relieved when she squeezed his back.

"Top…" Jaz called out as he walked towards the door. He turned back around to look at her, "Can we go fishing at some stage?"

"Fishing?" He looked at her quizzically.

"Yeah." She didn't offer anything else.

"Uh… sure. But try and get some sleep, yeah?"

Jaz just nodded at him again and lay her head back down on the pillow. She took some deep breaths and stared up at the ceiling. She wasn't sure if she could go back to sleep straight away, but she was exhausted and hoped sleep would overcome her again soon.

Dalton went into his bedroom and got himself ready for bed. He was still confused about the fishing comment. He didn't know Jaz liked fishing, but if it's something she wanted to try then he was all for it. He was happy to try and keep her busy while she was here, and fishing happened to be one of his favourite past times.

He just hoped she would be able to get some more sleep tonight.

Preach had always said Dalton could sleep through a jack hammer, but anything related to his job or someone he cared about and he would wake at the drop of a hat.

Two hours later, that's exactly what he did.

He woke suddenly, hearing restless cries coming from Jaz's room again. He got up, threw on a t-shirt and once again walked into her room slowly and carefully.

Her cries were much louder this time, "NO! Stay away from them, NO..."

This time Dalton put both of his hands on her shoulders and was prepared for her to fight him off again. It took a little longer to rouse her this time, but when she did come around, she once again sat bolt upright and nearly butted heads with Dalton.

Jaz's breathing was ragged and she was covered in a thin sheen of sweat. Dalton changed his grip on her shoulders so he was holding her upper arms and whispering soothing comments, just like he had earlier.

Jaz didn't say anything. She was still caught up in a haze, trying to distinguish between her nightmare and reality. She tried to concentrate on taking deep breaths, and the strong hands gripping her arms.

As she started to calm down and her heart rate lowered, she couldn't believe it had happened again, on the same night.

They sit there, with the only light coming from the living room that Dalton had switched on when he got up to check on her. Jaz was still concentrating on her breathing and Dalton just ran his hands up and down her upper arms trying to soothe her.

"I'll get you a glass of water." He said and went to stand up.

Jaz quickly reached out and grasped his hand, as if afraid to be left alone.

"I'll just be a second." He responded as her put a hand on top of hers comfortingly, then walked into the kitchen.

When he returned, he handed it to her, turned on the lamp next to her and went and sat on the other side of the bed.

Jaz mumbled her thanks and took a long sip and with it, she could feel some of the tension leaving her body like a wave retreating from the sand. She took another couple of sips before turning to Dalton.

"Sorry I woke you up." She said so quietly he almost couldn't hear her.

Dalton looked back at her, his eyes showing concern that made her look away, "Same as before, you don't need to apologise, ever."

He was obviously concerned. Twice in one night, wasn't easy to cope with, and she looked exhausted again. These nightmares were taking their toll on her and he wondered how often she was still having them.

"Want to tell me what it was about?" Dalton ventured softly.

Jaz sat there for a few moments and thought about it. She wasn't sure was could tell Dalton what she dreamt about, especially as he featured in a lot of the nightmares and he had been in both of these most recent ones.

"Maybe some other time, I don't really want to talk about them right now." Jaz whispered, hoping he would understand.

"Well, whenever you're ready… If you want to." Dalton was still sitting next to her on the bed, and after a few more minutes sitting in silence, he went to stand up, figuring she might want to go back to sleep again, given it was only just after midnight.

As he went to stand, he heard her whisper, "Top?"

He stopped and looked at her. She had once again turned to look into his eyes.

"Do - do you think… you can stay… just until I fall asleep?" She whispered, barely audible.

He looked down into her big brown eyes and saw the plea in them. He nodded and whispered back to her, "Yeah, I can do that."

He instantly saw some relief in her eyes and saw her take another deep breath.

"I'll be back in a sec." With that, he got up off the bed, went and grabbed his book from his room and turned off the light in the living room.

He came back in and settled back on the other side of the bed with his book, "Do you mind if I read? I'll turn the lamp off when I leave." He asked.

"Brushing up on your astronomy tales?" Jaz tried to lighten the mood, but Dalton could see the brave front she was trying to put up by using humour, so he went along with it.

"Gotta get them down pat before our next lesson." He said with a smile, at which Jaz smiled back.

"Get some sleep Jaz, I'll be here."

Jaz smiled her thanks at him again, turned away and snuggled under the covers. Dalton opened up his book, where he had previously folded the corner down to hold his place, but before he started to read, he looked at the back of her head, with her long dark hair spilling over the pillow.

Dalton's heart ached for Jaz, and what she had been through on this last deployment. Despite all of Jaz's bravado, he knew that she had a big guard up around herself, and not many people get through that guard. Elijah had to a large extent, and the other guys have in their own ways, even Amir. But he wondered if any of them, will ever manage to completely tear through those walls she has up.

As he continues to stare at the back of her head, he couldn't help but hope that he could be that person. He just didn't know how.

The next morning, Jaz slowly started to feel herself waking up. Before opening her eyes, she snuggled into her pillow and enjoyed the feeling of comfort, warmth and safety that this bed gave her. It even smelled comfortable.

She slowly started to blink open her eyes, against the sunshine in the room, and realised that her nose was pressed up against a strong shoulder. Her head was on her pillow, but as she became more aware of her surroundings, she realised that Dalton was lying on the pillow next to her, fast asleep.

He was lying on top of the covers, with his book sitting open on his stomach, his head facing her and she could feel his breath on her forehead. She also saw her left hand laying on his chest, gripping his t-shirt, and his right hand covered hers, holding on to her wrist.

No wonder the bed even smelled safe, it was Dalton's scent that she had awoken to. It was just… him. It was familiar, and it made her heart flutter.

As she was trying to decide what to do, she felt him start to stir and watched him as he went through the same realisation she had just gone through.

Dalton lay on his back as he felt himself wake up. He realised he was holding onto something with his right hand and as he opened his eyes, he noticed the hand he was gripping, the dark hair next to his shoulder and the big brown eyes that moved to look into his.

He'd fallen asleep in Jaz's room. It wasn't the sun shining into the room, the lamp was still on. And now here they were, holding hands.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep in here." Dalton mumbled while turning his head to look up at the ceiling.

Jaz was silent for a couple of moments before saying, "Well that's what books on astronomy will do to you."

He chuckled while still holding on to her hand and he appreciated her attempt to once again lighten the mood. He was waiting for the awkwardness to settle in, but it didn't.

He looked back down into her eyes, "Did you manage to get some sleep?"

She smiled softly at him, "Yeah I did. Thanks for staying with me."

They continued to look at each other for a few more moments, both a bit bewildered that this felt so comfortable. Studying each other's faces for any signs of discomfort, neither of them found any.

After a bit, Dalton let go of the grip he had on her wrist and sat up, "Coffee?" He asked her, even though he already knew the answer.

"Yeah, thanks." Jaz answered softly and watched him walk out of the room and into the kitchen to start the coffee. She just lay in bed for a few minutes longer, still not quite believing what had happened. Although the first half of her night had been interrupted, after Dalton had stayed with her, she slept deeply and soundly.

Dalton spent the day showing Jaz some of the hiking trails that he had told her about the previous day. They were vast and differed in difficulty level, not that the harder trails would be a problem for either of them. They were soldiers and were used to much tougher terrain than the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Jaz was caught up in the beauty of her surroundings. She loved the hiking, as she loved the feeling of euphoria that physical activity provided. She also loved seeing Top so passionate about where he lived, for part of the year anyway. She never had that feeling about New York.

She also loved just watching Dalton. Watching his strong arms as he pointed out land marks. Watching his eyes light up with amusement when he teased her about something. Watching his ass in his well fitted khaki's whenever he walked in front of her. In fact, it was sometimes difficult to keep her eyes off of him.

Dalton pointed out alternate trails as they explored and with the high level of spatial intelligence expected of them in the Special Forces, Jaz was able to map out the area in her head for future reference.

Dalton was happy to see Jaz enjoying herself and taking lots of photos along the way. He teased her about them all of course, but he even let her take some selfies of the two of them. When she looked this happy, he had trouble keeping his eyes off her. He liked the light in her eyes as she laughed, the curls of her hair that had come loose from her top knot, and the way her shapely legs and ass looked in her leggings.

They spent most of the day out, and all that fresh air had them suitably tired, including Patton.

After they showered, and had eaten the left over lasagne for dinner, they both sat on the back veranda with a beer, enjoying the relatively warm evening air.

"You still wanna do some fishing?" Dalton asked, remembering her request from last night.

Jaz gulped down her beer and looked down at her hands briefly before answering, "Yeah."

He waited to see if she said anything else, but when she didn't, he added, "Ok, I'll show you my favourite fishing spot tomorrow then."

Jaz just nodded at him with a small smile on her face, that didn't quite reach her eyes.

Dalton figured she must be tired after their day exploring. They could discuss fishing more in the morning.

On that note, they finished up their beers and decided to call it a night. Without knowing it, they were both remembering how they woke up that morning, and how comfortable it was. They lay in their respective beds, both reading a book, while both thinking of the person lying on the other side of their bedroom wall.

Jaz was still reading an hour later when she heard Dalton in the throes of a nightmare.

She could hear him calling out the names of their team mates, and hers was the last name he said, and then repeated.

She did exactly what he had done the night before and crept into his room to try and wake him and free him from the nightmare.

He was still calling out, "No… no… not Jaz. Jaz!" That made Jaz momentarily slow her approach, before thinking better of it and going to sit next to his prone body on the bed.

"Top… Top, wake up." She said soothingly, putting one hand on his chest. As if it was a reflex, he grabbed her hand and immediately woke up.

"Jaz?" he asked after a few seconds, checking it was really her.

"Yeah it's me." Jaz responded softly, keeping her hand on his chest, "You ok?"

Dalton took a few more seconds to take some deep breaths and then responded, "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for waking me up."

"Just returning the favour." Jaz replied simply.

They sat quietly for a few minutes, not speaking, just appreciating their current reality over the one in their nightmares.

Dalton thanked her again and told her to go and get some sleep, so Jaz reluctantly moved her hand away from his chest, said goodnight again, and then went back to her room.

They once again, both lay in their beds, thinking about the other.

Jaz knew they all had nightmares, but hearing Top having them was always hard. He was their Captain, their CO. He was a master tactician and the one they all looked to for leadership and guidance. But hearing him have nightmares, also made him human.

Dalton was annoyed at the nightmare he had just had, and that Jaz had heard and had to wake him up. He's not ashamed of the nightmares, they all had them, but he didn't want her to have to look after him. He wanted to do that for her. He thought about it for a bit longer, but exhaustion eventually took over and he fell back asleep.

Jaz was still wide awake on the other side of the wall. Hearing Dalton call out her name in his nightmare had all sorts of questions going through her head, and she was worried about having a nightmare of her own.

She couldn't stop thinking about how comfortable and safe she had felt when she woke this morning to Dalton lying by her side. She craved that feeling again and the warmth it provided. But she could hardly wake him up and ask him to come and sleep next to her again.

After another half an hour of staring at the ceiling and thinking through her options to get any sort of sleep that night, she decided to put her ninja skills to good use.

As quietly as she could, she got up and crept into Dalton's room. She ascertained by his deep breathing that he was fast asleep, so trying not to wake him, she pulled back the covers on the opposite side to him and crawled into bed.

She was immediately overwhelmed by the instant comfort it gave her to just breathe in his scent. She didn't touch him at all, she just curled up facing away from him and let the warmth of his body heat wash over her.

All of a sudden she felt him stir and she held her breath, waiting for him to notice her in the bed. What he actually did startled her sightly. He rolled over so he was spooned against her back and put one arm around her waist and pulled her close.

She didn't move a muscle, but figured out by the continual deep breathing, that he was still asleep.

Jaz started to relax again. She would try and wake before him in the morning, so she could slip back into her own bed and he would never know she was there.

For now though, she was going to enjoy the comfort that Top provided. And how amazing it felt to have his arm around her, holding her tight to his chest.

This felt so natural.

With that thought, she drifted off and joined Dalton in slumber, both sleeping deeply and dreamlessly and curled around each other.

What do you think? I would love to know :)