Hi everyone! This chapter took a bit longer for me to get up, but it's that time of year and the silly season left me stupidly busy, as I'm sure many of you are the same. As always, thank you for reading and commenting. You are all the best! Hope you enjoy :)

I don't own The Brave or its characters... But I wish I did!

Chapter 28

The next morning, they were all up early as they needed to be at the airport by 9am.

Surprisingly, Jaz was the first one up and put the coffee on just as Preach joined her in the kitchen.

"Smoothie?" He asked her as he started to make his own.

"No thanks, I'll just stick to caffeine for now." Jaz responded, the tiredness still evident in her voice.

"How you sleeping, Jaz?" Preach asked in his easy and caring way.

Jaz was quiet for a moment and hitched herself up to sit on the kitchen bench, "It's varied. I'm fine when I'm with…" She trailed off, a little embarrassed.

"With Top?"

She just nodded in response.

"But I'm guessing not so great when you're alone?"

She nodded again in response.

"I'm proud of you for seeking help. There's no shame in it, we've all done it at some stage." He tried to put her at ease, "And you know how happy I am that you and Top are giving yourselves a chance."

Jaz looked up and smirked, "All your hints finally got across huh?"

Preach laughed, "I was beginning to wonder if they were getting across at all."

"Trust me, they did. I just don't think we saw it then." Jaz muttered.

"It's the obvious that's sometimes difficult to see." Preach said while smiling.

They both looked up as Dalton walked into the kitchen, "Preach, are you preaching again?" He asked, walking over to the coffee pot to pour himself a mug, then standing next to where Jaz was sitting on the bench.

"Just telling Jaz here all of your bad habits." Preached joked.

"I don't have any bad habits." Dalton defended himself, to which Preach and Jaz both laughed out loud.

As Dalton just looked at them baffled, Amir and McG joined them in the kitchen, seeking coffee.

"What's all the excitement about?" McG asked, prancing about topless like usual.

"Nothing. I'm hitting the shower." Jaz announced as she hopped down from her perch on the kitchen bench, taking her mug of coffee with her.

Preach watched Dalton, whose eyes followed her until she disappeared from view. He smiled to himself and thought how glad he was that these two had finally given in to what had been brewing between them for years. Now if only he could assure them that it would be an easy road from here on out, but he knew they still had a lot of obstacles to hurdle. He hoped like hell it all worked out for them.

A couple of hours later, Preach dropped all four of them off at the airport and said his goodbyes.

Dalton left him with a last few instructions about Patton, who would be staying with Preach's family while they were in DC.

They were going to try and meet up again at some stage, possibly in Montana, but it was still up in the air at the moment. The four who were leaving were just thankful that they had spent time with Preach and that he was definitely on the mend.

While they were all sitting at the gate waiting to board their plane, Dalton's phone rang and seeing the caller ID on his phone, he stepped away from the group to answer it.

"Deputy Director Campbell."

"Hi Adam."

"Good to hear from you." Dalton replied, trying to keep the surprise out of his voice.

"Likewise. McGuire told me you were going to be in DC as of this afternoon."

"That's right, I have a meeting with Captain Harris tomorrow."

"That's good to hear, and I understand that Jaz also has an appointment with Captain Harris."

"She does."

"That's also good to hear. I was wondering if you could drop by my office at some stage this afternoon? I have something I need to talk to you about."

"Uh, yeah. I'll come straight from the airport, it's on the way to the hotel anyway."

"Great, I'll send a car for you. See you then and safe flight."

"Thanks Patricia."

When he hung up the phone he frowned a little and took a moment to wonder what Patricia needed to talk to him about. Realistically it could be any number of things, but he'd by lying if he said he wasn't worried that she had somehow caught wind of him and Jaz. It wouldn't surprise him, she had eyes and ears everywhere.

Shaking himself out of his daze, he told himself not to panic, he's sure it wasn't about Jaz at all.

Walking back to re-join the others, Amir glanced up, "Everything ok, Top?" He asked.

"Yeah, that was Patricia. I'm going to see her straight from the airport so I'll meet you guys at the hotel a little bit later."

McG and Amir just nodded, but Dalton didn't miss the look of apprehension in Jaz's eyes. He sat down next to her and didn't say anything directly to her, but he pressed his thigh right up against hers and he felt her press back in return. It was a small comfort to both of them, but Dalton still wanted to talk to McG and Amir.

"Listen, I don't want to put you guys in any difficult situations, and I would never ask you to lie for me…"

"For us…" Jaz interrupted.

A ghost of a smile crossed his face before turning serious again, "Right. So if at any stage this gets difficult, please talk to me, to us. I understand."

"We both understand." Jaz reiterated.

"If what gets difficult, Top?" McG asked, looking nonchalant.

Amir shrugged his shoulders, "Top, we lie for a living. We're spies. I know we don't lie to each other, but we've got this. You won't have anything to worry about from us."

"Amir, I understand your situation with Hannah also…" Dalton said gently.

"No need to worry about that," Amir stopped him, "Your situation is completely different. I haven't said a word to Hannah. It's not my place to, or my business."

Dalton let a glimmer of a smile cross his face, appreciating the support. He wasn't entirely comfortable with potentially putting his team in a problematic situation, but the support they were giving him and Jaz was amazing.

He felt Jaz place her hand on his knee and he grasped it with his own. He was worried about Jaz too. They wanted to be together, but the intricacies of this situation hadn't escaped him, hadn't escaped either of them. If this all went sideways, he didn't want Jaz getting caught in the crossfire. Her career would be at stake and that is the last thing he would want.

They were making this up as they went along, and he hoped like hell they somehow found a way to make it work.

Dalton and Jaz were seated together on the plane and McG and Amir were a few rows in front of them. It was going to be quite a long flight, so they were glad that they could spend this time together, relatively alone.

"You ok?" Jaz asked him, looking at him out the corner of her eye, noticing he had been quiet since they had taken their seats.

"Yeah, all good." He answered her as he turned to face her.

Jaz huffed out a laugh, "Liar."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He challenged her quietly.

Jaz looked at him knowingly, "You're worried about seeing the Deputy Director."

"I'm not worried, per se…" He defended himself, "I'm just curious as to what she wants to see me about."

Jaz nodded her head slowly, "It could be any number of things, right?"

Dalton nodded his head in agreement, "Right."

Jaz chuckled quietly to herself, in a small amount of disbelief.

He couldn't help but smile at the look on her face, her beautiful face, but had to ask her, "What's funny?"

"It's just, you're usually the confident one. Always telling the rest of us that it's going to be great."

Dalton couldn't help but chuckle at that, before Jaz continued.

"Now you've got to believe that yourself."

Dalton's face softened and he leaned over to grasp her hand, "You're right."

"Huh, who would've thought?" Jaz huffed.

He brought her hand up to his lips, still entwined with his, and kissed it softly. He was curious about what Patricia wanted to talk to him about, and he was trying not to worry that it was about Jaz. She was right though, it could be for an endless amount of reasons, so for now he was going to enjoy this quiet time before they hit DC, which reminded him of one other thing he needed to discuss with Jaz.

With her hand still in his, he held it against his chest, twisting his fingers around hers before broaching the subject.

"Listen, Jaz. When we're in DC… I think – I think we might have to, umm…"

"Lay low?" She finished off for him.

He looked at her, relieved that she seemed to be on the same page as him.

"It's ok, I figured as much. There are eyes and ears everywhere in DC." She shrugged matter of factly.

"Yes there is." He agreed with her, hoping they could still spend some time together.

In all honestly, what he wanted the most was for Jaz to get the help she needed. He didn't want to hinder that for her in any way. He just wanted her to be able to sleep through the night and get through her days without guilt, remorse, pain and hurt.

He wanted that for himself too. He wanted it for them.

They landed right on time and before they disembarked from the plane, Dalton and Jaz had one last private moment to themselves prior to entering the whirlwind that is DC.

As the plane taxied towards their gate, they both leaned their heads back against the head rest and took a deep breath, as if accepting their fate to be inconspicuous for however long they were in DC.

They rolled their heads towards each other and smiled wryly at each other.

"We got this." Dalton said softly.

"Hell yeah."

Dalton leaned over and captured her lips with his. He lingered on her lips, kissing them over and over again, tasting her as deeply as was socially acceptable on a full flight. She was intoxicating and he would kiss her all day if he could. He reached his hand up to cup her cheek, caressing his thumb against her cheek and she kissed him back just as passionately.

Eventually pulling away from each other, both their eyes were glazed over and they were both catching their breaths. They rested their foreheads against each other and just breathed each other in.

They had this.

The car that Patricia had sent for Dalton was already waiting by the curb. With a wave to the guys and a lingering smile at Jaz, he was whisked away while the others got a cab to the hotel.

They were staying at the same hotel they had been when they first got back from their deployment, which was a fairly central location in DC, close to the DIA and close to restaurants and bars. Since they didn't know how long they would be staying yet, they were happy with the location, since they would be able to walk to most venues.

McG had taken care of the reservations so he checked the three of them in, and after he had a bit of a chat with reception, they escaped to their rooms to unpack. Amir was also staying at the hotel, well technically anyway. The others had no doubt that he would be spending some nights at Hannah's.

An hour later they were downstairs in the hotel bar having a drink and just relaxing. They'd text Preach to let him know they had arrived and were waiting to hear from Dalton.

McG noticed that Jaz was even quieter than usual and thought it was time for big brother McG to swoop in.

"You all good, Jazzy?"

"Sure, except for the company." She said dryly, but with false bravado.

McG knew she was trying to cover up her worry about Dalton's meeting with Patricia, but he didn't want to harp on it. They could deal with it when Dalton arrived. Instead he went and did what he thought every good mate would do, and brought himself and Jaz a shot of tequila.

"Really?" Jaz exclaimed when he set it down in front of her.

"It'll help you relax a little, right Amir?" He looked at Amir for back up.

Looking apologetically at Jaz, Amir answered, "For once, I actually agree with him on this."

"I hope you recorded that. Ok, cheers to Amir probably getting laid tonight."

Jaz couldn't help but burst out laughing at McG's statement and the look Amir gave him in response. These two were fucking hilarious and they certainly managed to take Jaz's mind off of Dalton and Patricia.

With the tequila taken care of, Jaz asked Amir, "So are you seeing Hannah tonight?"

Amir couldn't help but smile, "Probably after dinner, depending on her work."

"Told you so." McG couldn't help but add with a smirk on his face.

When Dalton arrived at the DIA, he was ushered straight into Patricia's office, where she joined him a few minutes later.

"Adam, good to see you." She greeted him with a smile on her face, as he stood up from the chair he had been sitting in.

Like her son, she knew Adam was a gentleman at heart, and it always made her smile that despite what he had seen and lived through in his military life, that part of him never changes.

"Likewise." He returned her greeting and waited for her to sit down before taking his seat once again.

"So… fill me in." Patricia urged him.

In that split second, Dalton wondered what the hell she wanted him to fill her in on. Surely it couldn't be about Jaz. They had literally only sorted themselves out a few days ago, it couldn't have been made public… right?!

"On Preach… how's his recovery going?" She prompted him.

Dalton took a massive breath internally and hoped like hell there wasn't a shred of the relief he was feeling, showing on his face. He usually had a great poker face, but Patricia was a pro, not much gets past her.

He spent the next few minutes filling the Deputy Director in on Preach's progress and his conversations with his doctor's, physio's and McG from when he had attended the rehab session.

She seemed pleased, as like the rest of them, she had been extremely worried about Preach, especially considering he had sustained his injuries saving her life. She had spoken to Preach herself, quite regularly, but wanted Dalton's objective opinion. She had wanted to get out and visit him herself at some stage, and still hoped to do so when she had a spare minute. They were a special team and she would do whatever it took to take care of them.

"And Jaz, how is she?" Patricia asked him, looking right into his eyes.

There came that massive internal deep breath again and some quick thinking before he answered her, "She's still having quite a lot of nightmares, apparently. Thankfully McGuire managed to convince her to seek some help. As you know, she spoke to Captain Harris in Incirlik and felt comfortable enough to talk to him again here in DC."

Patricia held his gaze a long moment, before nodding her head, "That's good to hear. She went through a lot."

"Yeah, she did."

"And yourself, are you ok?"

One last internal deep breath, "Well as you know, I'm here to see Captain Harris also. You could say that I need to exorcise some demons too," he grimaced as he said so.

Patricia smiled slightly at that, "Don't we all?"

"Copy that." Dalton returned with a similar smile.

"Ok, I'm glad to hear everything is on track for now. Keep me updated if anything arises that I should know about. Sgt McGuire has been great at keeping me updated on medical matters."

"Will do." He said evenly, even though the relief he was feeling was palpable.

"Now, while you're here, I need to run a few things by you for the next deployment and I need a few signatures on some paperwork. Have you got time?"

"Yeah, whatever you need."

He would do whatever was needed; whatever made him feel like he wasn't hiding a massive secret from his boss.

He managed to get out of there just over an hour later and before walking to the hotel, he text Jaz to let her know he was on his way.

Just leaving, where are you guys? – Top

In the bar at the hotel, meet us here? – Jaz

Sounds good, I'll check in, dump my stuff and see you there – Top

:) – Jaz

Dalton smiled at his phone while he walked to the hotel. It had been just a couple of hours and he already missed Jaz.

"Top, over here." McG called out with his hand in the air, as he saw Dalton enter the bar and look around for them.

"Tequila already?" Dalton asked noticing the empty shot glasses on the table.

He slid into the booth next to Jaz and immediately sat so his thigh was pressed against hers. She turned to look in his eyes and what she saw in them made her smile. Clearly what they had been worried about, hadn't come to fruition and when he smiled back at her, those eyes that made her insides melt, looked clear and light.

"Depending on what the Deputy Director wanted, may determine if we need anymore…" McG lingered, hoping that Dalton would spill his guts.

Dalton chuckled, "She just wanted to check on Preach, chat about our next deployment and get me to sign a bunch of paperwork."

"Nothing to worry about." Amir observed.

"Nothing to worry about." Dalton echoed.

"I'll get us some more drinks." Amir said, standing up and walking to the bar.

McG looked from Dalton to Jaz, and back again, "I'm going to, uh – hit the bathroom."

Jaz and Dalton laughed to themselves, these two were as subtle as ever.

"So everything's really ok?" Jaz asked, just wanting one more confirmation.

Dalton reached his hand under the table to lace his fingers with hers. He felt her hold onto his hand tightly as she looked up at him with those beautiful brown eyes.

"Never in doubt, didn't even need to lie." He teased.

Jaz rolled her eyes mildly, thankful that they lived another day. They weren't making light of the situation because it was complicated and problematic. They were going to have to be super careful here in DC, but she was willing to do that. Just having Adam close by was enough for her for now.

Squeezing his hand again, enjoying the warmth for a few more seconds, she pulled her hand away from his and after exchanging wry smiles, they both placed their hands above the table as Amir approached with their drinks.

Dinner at the hotel was their usual affair. Joking, laughing and giving each other shit. All that came with being a beloved member of Special Operations Group 7.

No one went hard on the alcohol. Jaz had her appointment with Xander at 10am the next morning and she wanted to be clear headed for that. McG was going to accompany her to the appointment, so he also took it easy. They had stuck with just the one tequila shot for the evening.

After a couple of hours, Jaz turned to the others, "Ok, I think I'm going to call it a night."

Dalton shuffled out of the booth, to let her get out. As she stood up, she very gently brushed her hand against is and he smiled at her as he met her eyes.

"Want me to walk you to your room?"

"Nah it's ok, you stay with the guys a bit longer. Text me later though?" Jaz said quietly.

"Definitely."

"Bye guys." Jaz directed to McG and Amir, before leaving the bar and heading towards the elevator.

Out of habit, Dalton watched her until the doors closed behind her, before turning back to the guys and continuing their conversation.

Amir was next to leave, heading over to meet Hannah at the DIA. As he left, McG just nodded knowingly at him with a big grin on his face, causing Amir to just roll his eyes in response.

"Alright Top, I'm gonna run out to the store on the corner and get a couple of supplies before hitting the sack. You need anything?" McG asked Dalton.

"Nah man, I'm good."

"OK, you wanna meet me and Jaz down here for breakfast in the morning?"

"Yeah sounds good." Dalton was happy with that, he had been hoping he would be able to see Jaz before she went to her appointment.

"Cool. I'm pretty sure I have the adjoining room to yours, so knock if you need anything."

Dalton quirked his eyebrows at him, "Fantastic. I have to listen to you snore all night?"

"Just like being at home, hey?" McG chuckled before setting off and Dalton just shook his head as he watched him walk off.

Five minutes later, Dalton was in his room and while he unpacked a few things, he text Jaz.

Hey, you asleep yet? – Adam

Not yet, thought I'd wait up for you – Jaz

Dalton smiled as he finished putting all his stuff away and sat down on the bed to continue texting.

You should get some sleep before tomorrow – Adam

Easier said than done – Jaz

Adam had a think about it. Jaz didn't sleep well when she was alone. That was when the nightmares claimed her. Maybe he should go and see her and stay until she fell asleep. He really wanted her to be well rested for tomorrow.

I'll come and say goodnight, text me your room number – Adam

While he was waiting for Jaz to reply, he heard a knock coming from the door adjoining his room to McG's room and got up to answer it.

"You were quick, I thought…." He trailed off when he saw that it wasn't McG standing there, it was Jaz.

She was dressed in her pj's, a tank top and shorts, her hair was tied up in a top knot and her eyes sparkled from seeing the confusion in his deep blue eyes.

Dalton was shocked and opened his mouth to say something, before closing it again. Shaking his head slightly, he eventually asked her, "What are you doing in McG's room?"

Jaz looked at him with a smirk and with that deep raspy voice of hers, she replied, "It's not McG's room. It's mine."

"Does McG know that?"

"He arranged it."

Wow. McG had lied to him just minutes ago, and quite convincingly at that.

He wasn't pissed. He was impressed.

Jaz watched him shaking his head amusingly at himself, "Is that ok?" She asked in a low voice.

Looking back at her and meeting her soft brown eyes, he very deliberately lifted a hand to grab hers and slowly pulled her forward to close the door behind her.

He backed her up against the door and lifted her hand that was entwined with his, above her head, before lifting her other hand to do the same. Holding her in place there, he stared deep into her eyes before he lowered his head to hers and leaned forward to capture her lips with his own.

She responded instantly and chased his lips with her own when he pulled back slightly. Feeling the atmosphere around then becoming rapidly charged, Dalton moved his lips back towards hers and kissed her slowly, but deeply and hungrily.

Jaz could feel every part of her melting, every part of her wanting to wrap herself up in this kiss, and when he pulled back from her, it took her a good few seconds to be able to open her eyes back up. When she did, he could see the heat and desire reflected in them.

"Does that answer your question?" He asked her very deliberately.

She didn't answer him, but she broke his hold on her hands and wrapped hers around his neck, kissing him back, just as longingly and just as fervently, leaving them both breathless. She started to walk him backwards towards the bed, removing his t-shirt as she did so and starting to unbuckle his jeans.

He finished removing them while she made short work of her own clothing.

They hadn't been with each other in every sense of the word since they were back at the cabin, and that week following, up until this very moment had been a rollercoaster of emotions, taking its toll on both of them.

Their need for each other was immense.

With all their clothes now removed, Jaz pushed Adam down so that he was sitting on the bed and she stepped between his legs to kiss him again. She would never get tired of kissing him. His lips were so perfect and they moulded against hers like they were made for each other.

She pulled away to press her lips along his jawline, feeling the softness of his beard against her lips. She continued kissing down his neck, taking her time to breath in his scent, his own masculine scent that turned her on like never before.

She started to lower herself to her knees as she ran her tongue along the length of his neck, enjoying the growls of pleasure she could hear in his chest. Her lips kept travelling down from his neck, across his collar bone, kissing her way over his chest, while her hands followed their journey.

Every part of Adam shivered in response as goose bumps riddled his skin from the effect Jaz's lips and hands were having on him.

As her lips moved down over his stomach and approached the area of him aching in anticipation, he held his breath in eagerness of the pleasure that only Jaz could provide.

Resting her hands on his thighs, she sought out his eyes and locked their gazes together. She held that gaze as she lowered herself down to take the tip of his cock into her mouth and lick the small bead of pre-cum that had already appeared in readiness.

Adam couldn't tear his eyes away from Jaz's as she took him into her mouth and as she started to slide her mouth up and down him, he felt quivers deep down in his abdomen. He entwined his fingers in her hair, giving him something to grasp, something to hold onto and something to help him stay in some sort of control.

He threw his head back in a deep moan as she took his whole length into her mouth, feeling himself touching the back of her throat. She held him there for a couple of seconds as she hummed, sending vibrations of pleasure throughout his entire body, before she brought her head back up to lick the head of his cock with her tongue once again.

He moved his hands from her hair, to cradle her face and brought her up to kiss her. Any longer and he would have come too quickly and he wasn't done with her yet. He kissed her hungrily, his tongue searching deep in her mouth and he could taste his own saltiness on her, which only turned him on even more.

His kissed his way down her neck, before bringing her to her feet to stand in front of him again.

He wrapped one arm around her waist to hold her close, while his other hand swept up her body to cup her breast. While he massaged her breast with his large, capable hand, he placed his mouth over her other breast and sucked her nipple into his mouth.

The shocks waves emanated all the way from her breast, right down to her core as he continued to tease her nipple, biting on it softly all the while rolling her other nipple between his fingers.

Adam let his hand drift down her rib cage, following the curve of her waist around to caress her ass, kneading it in his large palm, still holding her close to him with his strong arm.

Lifting his gaze to meet hers, he let her hand migrate around to her front, cupping her in the palm of his hand, while his middle finger sought out her clit.

The impulses that her body emitted, had Jaz moaning out loud as Adam rubbed his finger across her engorged nub quicker, feeling how wet she already was. When his mouth latched back on to her nipple, she could barely stand it.

"Adam… Adam, I need…" Jaz struggled with her words, the pleasure her body was feeling not allowing her brain to function effectively.

"I need to be inside of you, Jaz." Dalton practically hissed, taking the words right out of Jaz's mouth.

Jaz nodded, relieved that he was on the same page, and he manoeuvred her even closer to him. The loss she felt as he removed his finger from her clit, was soon satiated, as he sat her down on his lap, helped her to wrap her legs around his waist and lowered her slowly down onto his length, all the while looking deep into her eyes, as if looking right into her soul.

Her hands that had been resting on his broad shoulders, came up to cup his face as she leaned forward to kiss him at the same time she rocked her hips against his.

They kissed deeply, tongues battling for domination as Adam's hands found their way to Jaz's hips and supported them and guided them as she moved herself up and down on his cock.

With all that had happened in the last week, they pressed themselves as close together as they could. Adam buried his head into Jaz's neck, and in turn she laced her fingers through his hair, holding on tight for support and leverage as they undulated in tandem and feeling the need for each other reaching new levels.

They both knew that they wouldn't last long and as their moans got louder and louder, they gave in to the ripples of ecstasy, both crying out with pleasure as they released everything they had been feeling, everything they had been wanting to do for the last week.

Gripping each other tight as their bodies still quivered from the shock waves, their chests heaved and their skin tingled.

Words escaped them, but they weren't needed. Right in this moment, all they needed was to feel each other's body heat and the immense amount of comfort and contentment that it provided.

Hope you all enjoyed this. Please be honest and let me know what you thought, I love hearing from you :)

I'm off work for 6 weeks now, so I intend on writing up a storm! I haven't had a chance yet to acknowledge you beautiful people who left a comment on my previous chapter, but I promise I will in the next day.

For those of you who celebrate, Merry Christmas! And to all of you, be safe, take care and enjoy the end of 2018 XXX