Thanks for the lovely feedback on the last chapter. I truly appreciate every single word.

I've had to do a little bit of research into DC for the next few chapters, and being an Aussie, I just hope the few tid bits in there are correct. Feel free to correct me.

Hope you all enjoy this :)

I do not own The Brave or any of it's characters... But I wish I did!

Chapter 30

Dalton, Jaz, McG and Amir all had breakfast together that morning while deciding what to do for the day. None of them had any plans, and Hannah was working so Amir was going to spend the day with them too.

Since Amir had already done some sightseeing while he had been in DC, he offered some tips for the day and they were happy to be led by DC's newest temporary resident. Of course, McG couldn't help but tease him, knowing the reason for his lengthy stay, but Amir just kept threatening not to cook on their next deployment, which shut McG up pretty quickly.

Amir wanted to take them to a place he had yet to get to, mostly because he wanted to take some photos while he was there. The observation deck at CEB Tower apparently had 360 degree panoramic views of the city, and he was keen to capture as much as he could.

"Aw man, more photos we have to wait for you to take." McG complained once Amir mentioned taking his camera.

"There's a café and bar up there too." Amir offered.

"Sold." McG agreed quickly, easily assuaged by the promise of food and drink.

Rolling their eyes at him, they went back to their rooms to grab what they would need for the day.

Taking advantage of a brief few minutes of privacy, Jaz walked through the adjoining door between their bedrooms and seeing Dalton grabbing a sweater from the wardrobe, she went and stood behind him, put her arms around his waist to hold tight and pressed a kiss between his shoulder blades.

Smiling at her sudden appearance behind him, he turned around in her arms and pressed a kiss to her lips, "You're still like a ninja, you know that?" He asked, once he had pulled away from her lips.

"Uh huh." She acknowledged before kissing him again. She was secretly very happy with her ability to sneak up on him. Not much got past Adam Dalton, but she was capable of doing so, whether he was happy with that or not.

Holding her close, Dalton returned Jaz's kiss, it was impossible not to and he very briefly wished that they hadn't agreed to Amir's plans and that they could just spend the day together behind closed doors. But at least they still had their nights, just for the two of them.

Jaz pulled away just as things started to get heated. Without even needing to speak, they both knew that if she hadn't pulled away just then, they would have been a lot later than expected to meet Amir and McG in the lobby. And they didn't like to keep anyone waiting. It wasn't how they operated, both in the field and in life in general.

"We'll continue this later." Dalton breathed out, catching his breath. Jaz's kisses still left him breathless and they needed to leave this room before he gave in to the need to kiss her again.

"Mmhmm." Was all Jaz could reply. Dalton's kisses made her dizzy with want, and all of a sudden their night together seemed so very far away.

The observation deck at CEB Tower, turned out to be amazing. Amir was pretty satisfied with the photos he was able to take, and the others made do with some great pictures on their phones.

While Dalton didn't find it quite as spectacular as the Blue Ridge Mountains, even he had to admit the view was great. It was a very clear day and they could see most of the city's famous landmarks and monuments, which they all hoped to visit in the next couple of weeks.

As usual, Jaz took a few selfies of them all and quickly sent them to Preach, before wandering over to where Dalton had headed, looking out the window.

"I know what you're thinking." She said as she sidled up next to him.

"You're psychic now?" He quizzed her.

"You're thinking that the view isn't as spectacular as the Blue Ridge Mountains." She said smugly.

Turning his head to look at her with a grin on his face, he praised her, "You are psychic."

She chuckled, "Told you… and I agree with you."

He was thrilled that she seemed to love his mountains as much as he did. He was hoping like crazy that they would be able to spend a lot more time together there.

As promised to McG, they had lunch at the café and continued to enjoy the views. Their job took them all over the world, but they were rarely in one destination long enough to appreciate it, let alone get to explore it. They were taking advantage of all the time they had, even if it was in their home country.

Over lunch Amir got a text from Hannah, asking him to ask the team if they all wanted to have dinner at her apartment the following night. With no other plans to speak of, they all nodded their head in agreeance.

McG, with his one track mind, asked Amir, "Can your girlfriend cook?"

"Actually she's an excellent cook. She specialises in dessert." Amir said as the corner of his mouth quirked up, almost baiting McG.

McG looked at him, trying to read his facial expression. In the end, they both just cracked up laughing; not in disrespect of Hannah, but just in respect of their banter and friendship.

Late that afternoon, after getting back to the hotel, Dalton and McG hit the gym, Jaz went for a swim in the pool and Amir went to upload his new photos on to his lap top.

A couple of hours later, they all reconvened in a booth at the hotel bar. They ordered drinks and a few snacks; none of them all that hungry after their relatively large lunch.

Jaz and Dalton could only think about each other, and were thinking about how they nearly didn't make it to the CEB Tower this morning. Needless to say they didn't stay late at the bar, both claiming to want an early night before their appointments with Xander the next day.

McG and Amir were left looking after them knowingly as they made a quick getaway towards the elevators.

"I'm both super happy for them… and super grossed out."

"You're just jealous." Amir responded dryly.

McG nodded slowly, "You might be right, dude. It's been a while…"

Noticing him trailing off, Amir looked up to see McG smiling that killer smile of his towards a pretty lady at the bar.

"Something tells me that drought is about to break."

Early the next morning, Jaz roused from where she was sleeping with her head resting on Adam's chest. With a crick in her neck, she pressed a quick kiss to Adam's chest before she rolled over to lie on her other side. Sensing her movement, Adam followed her, spooning behind her and placing one arm under her neck and his other arm around her waist to pull her close to him. Both still naked from the night before, their bodies fit together perfectly.

Jaz blinked her eyes tiredly, stretching her neck out, not quite sure if Adam was awake or just instinctual. It wasn't until she felt him press a kiss to the back of her shoulder that her question was answered. She smiled to herself sleepily as she felt him continue to press his lips against her shoulder and then make his way up her neck.

She snuggled back into him, never tiring of the feel of him so close, and felt him pressed hard up against her back.

She felt his hand flatten against her stomach, holding her tight against him and as his lips paid special attention to the area just below her jawline, his hand drifted up her lithe body to cup her breast.

Moaning at the feel of his hand on her, she pressed herself into his hand, arching her back so her ass rubbed up against his cock. He massaged her breast softly and deftly, enjoying the humming sounds she made and the way her beautiful body moved in response.

Bending up the arm currently under her neck so that it crossed her chest and took over the massaging on her breast, he let his other hand wander back down across her stomach and down to her heat, where he found her already wet and waiting for him.

He teased her clit slowly, dancing around it with his fingertips so that she moved her hips in search of him. Smiling into her neck, her gave her what she wanted and rubbed her so that her hips rocked back and forth, sliding against his cock, causing him to moan with her as he ground himself against her back.

With the feel of his hands all over her and his lips hot on her neck, Jaz needed more.

"Adam, please." She pleaded quietly.

Needing no further invitation, she felt Adam lift her leg slightly, positioned himself at her entrance and with one deep thrust she felt him fill her up, her eyes nearly rolling back in their sockets at the instant pleasure.

Holding onto her hip as he thrust up into her from behind, Adam used his other arm to tilt her head back towards his so he could kiss her lips.

He felt so close to her like this, so intimate. Every inch of her was wrapped up by him and he cherished every single part of her.

Jaz pulled her lips away from his, to moan even louder. Every part of her was ablaze, every part of her craved his touch. She lifted his hand from her hip and placed it back at her apex, keeping her hand on his as he began to tease her clit once again.

Adam continued to thrust into her, undulating with her as she rocked with him. Increasing his pace, he could feel Jaz start to tremble and he rubbed her clit even faster and latched onto the pulse point on her neck as she fell apart in his arms.

Crying out her ecstasy, she held his hand even harder against her as he teased out all the shockwaves unfurling themselves throughout her body.

Hearing her be so uninhibited with him, made him thrust faster inside of her, seeking his own release. In no time at all he followed her into oblivion, as he felt himself come fast and hard inside of her. He wrapped his arms around her to hold her tight as he continued to jerk inside of her and buried his head into her hair, inhaling her scent.

"Jaz." He breathed into her ear in reverence to what she did to him.

Bringing her hand up to his cheek, she twisted her neck around to press her lips to his hers as they were both still trying to catch their breath.

Not moving from this position, both so comfortable in their intimacy, they fell asleep, waking up in exactly the same position when their alarm went off a couple of hours later.

"Jaz, good to see you again." Xander greeted her as she walked into his office the next day for her appointment.

"You too." She said, sitting down after Xander gestured towards the seats.

"So, how did you feel after our first session?"

Pausing for a few seconds to gather her thoughts, Jaz remembered talking about Hossein and the guilt she had felt after he had been killed. Like she had told Adam, it wasn't any easier talking about Hossein, even though she had already spoken to him about Hossein that day at the lake. She still felt some small amount of guilt about his death and the fact that he was Adam's friend. But speaking about him did take a tiny, miniscule weight off her shoulder. She doesn't know if she'll ever be free of that guilt, but she hopes she can find a way to live with it more peacefully.

And that's exactly what she told Xander, except she left out the part about speaking to Adam about it.

Xander had the list they had put together in the last session in front of him.

"What would you like to talk about today, Jaz?"

"I think what I would like to talk about is a big statement."

"I understand that." Xander nodded in sympathy.

Looking down at her hands where she was unconsciously twiddling her thumbs, she whispered, "Elijah. I need to talk about Elijah."

"Ok, let's talk about Elijah."

Jaz took a deep breath, not knowing quite where to start.

Elijah had been the first person to ever make Jaz feel like she belonged to something, or just belonged in general. He was the first person to ever show any interest in her, not romantically, but just as a human being.

At school she had just been another student with a fucked up home life, they weren't unusual in Queens. At home, she had just been a disappointment. When she first joined the army, she had been just another recruit, wanting to escape something and serve their country. In other teams, she had been viewed as just another female wanting to prove that she was as capable as the men and to other CO's she was just a token female making up the numbers for the sake of equality.

Elijah hadn't seen any of that. He just saw someone he wanted to find out more about, and by gently chipping away her rough exterior piece by piece, he got there slowly.

He made her smile and he made her laugh, sometimes so hard her sides hurt for days. He made her feel included and for the first time in her life, he made her feel like she had a family. The whole team were that way, but Elijah had been her person. She'd never had a best friend before, never really had a friend at all, but something in Elijah made her happy.

He'd been full of life and happy-go-lucky. The whole team relied on him for his positive attitude and infectious enthusiasm for everything. Jaz had never thought she would like someone with so much zest for life, but he had been her sunshine. He had brightened up her world and made her happy.

Losing him, especially so quickly like that, had broken her heart. Her whole world had dimmed and the lightness that had gradually been creeping its way into her heart had darkened. She had been angry. Angry at the asshole that shot him. And angry at Elijah for leaving her.

And that's exactly what she told Xander.

After a few moments, Xander asked her, "Are you still angry?"

Jaz took a deep breath, "I'm still angry at how he was taken away from me, away from all of us. But I don't think I'm angry at him, it was just easier to feel anger than anything else."

Xander just nodded his head in understanding, "You know it's ok to be angry. It's a feeling and no matter how much it hurts, it's better to feel something than feel nothing. It's ok to feel whatever you are feeling. It's not wrong to feel whatever you are feeling, so long as you are able to recognise it and from here, we try to process it and help you cope with it. We'll work with that anger."

"I, umm – I miss him." Jaz admitted quietly. It wasn't news to her or anyone else, but saying it out loud wasn't something she was good at. Not something she felt comfortable with. The tears prickling her eyes, wouldn't fall, she wouldn't let them, but the ache in her heart was difficult to ignore.

Speaking softly to her, recognising how difficult this was for her, Xander asked her, "How has your team changed since Elijah passed away?"

Jaz thought about it. A lot had changed, and yet so much was still the same, "Well Amir joined the team, and I was pretty horrible to him at first."

"Nothing wrong with a bit of hazing." Xander joked, understanding her reason for giving Amir a hard time.

Jaz smirked and then continued, "We're a close team. We already were when Elijah was alive, but probably even more so now." She stopped and looked at Xander expectantly, "I suppose you're going to tell me that something good always comes out of a tragedy?"

"I wasn't actually. But it sounds like you think something did."

Jaz thought about Amir and the friendship she had with him now. She thought about McG and Preach and the familial relationship she had with them; how they had looked after her and tried to make her laugh. And she thought about Adam. She didn't even know where to start with him, but it made her smile.

Xander watched a small smile spread across her face and she looked up at him and just said quietly, "It did."

"So you blame yourself for Elijah getting killed?"

Dalton stared into space in Xander's office later that afternoon, that tragic day running itself through his mind over and over.

"I feel responsible. He was under my command and he followed my orders. I've lost people before, but never one under my command. It's my responsibility to bring everyone home safe"

"You and I both know the environment you work in and the nature of your work is extremely unpredictable and often volatile. And the risks involved… well this isn't your average 9-5 job. Elijah knew that too. You all do. It's why you have plans, and plans for plans. And it's why you have letters written in case any mission is your last. It doesn't make loss any easier, but it's never the fault of one person."

Xander watched a myriad of expressions cross Dalton's face; expressions that would have been invisible to the untrained eye.

"Yeah." Dalton agreed solemnly, knowing that he himself, would say the same thing to anyone else who felt guilt in a situation like this.

"Is there something else weighing on your mind from Elijah's death?"

It was as if Xander could read his mind. It was Jaz. Knowing she had lost her best friend and had been right there to witness it, was devastating. He could still see Elijah lying in Jaz's arms where she had caught him, refusing to let go of him. Knowing the very small amount he did about her family and her upbringing, the loss of Elijah had no doubt been crushing.

He told something of that effect to Xander, hoping he came across as a concerned CO and not anything else. Even before these last few weeks with Jaz, this had weighed on him. This team was special and they were close, losing a member was hard. But it had been especially hard on Jaz, and that had affected him more than he had realised.

"You know Adam, it's a great quality of a CO to be concerned about his subordinates, especially on a team such as yours. You're making split second decisions, in highly dangerous circumstances and facing extremely tense situations that 99.9 percent of the population have no idea actually exist. You're fighting continuous battles that those same people don't even know are going on. I'd be perturbed for you if you didn't show concern for your teammates. It's what makes you a great leader."

Dalton just sat and took his words in. His team was special. They were a family and he would be at a loss if anything happened to any one of them.

But something he couldn't tell Xander, and he's not sure if he ever would, is that if it happened to Jaz, it was that bit harder to cope with. That bit harder to process. And that bit harder to let go.

When Dalton walked back through the hotel, returning from his appointment with Xander, he saw Jaz sitting in the hotel bar with an untouched coffee sitting in front of her, staring into space.

He had seen on their group chat that Amir was at Hannah's apartment already and McG was in the gym, so he approached her and sat down in the chair opposite her, smiling once she noticed him.

"Hey."

"Hey" He returned, noticing the weariness on her face, "Not touching your coffee?"

"I thought it would wake me up, but now I'm just debating a nap."

"Tough day?"

"Kind of. I've had worse though." Jaz admitted, "How was yours?"

"I've had worse too. Go take a nap, we're not due at Hannah's for a few hours yet."

She nodded, conceding that she was desperately in need of one. Looking at him coyly she asked, "Want to join me? Just to sleep," she clarified.

They had been up late the night before and up again early this morning. Dalton didn't need much encouragement, "Your place or mine?"

Despite having adjoining rooms, they were still entering their own rooms separately. They couldn't be too careful, not knowing who could be watching, so they gave the appearance they were in separate rooms.

Once they had entered, Jaz walked through the door, undressed and hopped into the king size bed, where Dalton soon followed her.

Snuggling up next to him, Dalton pulled her close. He loved these quiet moments with her. He loved every moment with her, but these quiet moments, when it was just the two of them, not necessarily doing anything, just enjoying the others' company were probably his favourite.

His need to have her close to him grew exponentially every day, to the point where it scared him how much he needed her next to him. Lying here like this, wrapped around each other and just breathing each other in… there was nowhere else he would rather be.

Jaz surprised him by whispering, "I talked about Elijah today."

Dalton held her even tighter as he took a deep breath and admitted, "Me too."

She lifted her head slightly to look at his face, "You did?"

Dalton just nodded in response.

"I miss him." Jaz murmured, resting her head back down on his chest.

Leaning forward to kiss her forehead, he whispered back, "I know you do. I do too."

Jaz held him tighter with the arm that she had wrapped around his waist, and Dalton stroked her hair off her face.

"Get some sleep, we can talk about this later." Dalton said softly to her.

Pressing a kiss to his chest and breathing in his scent, she closed her eyes and felt herself drift off to sleep. She had never been more comfortable than she was when she was wrapped around this beautiful man.

The way he held her, the way he comforted her, made everything a little bit easier and a little bit lighter.

Thanks for reading! I wanted to post this chapter a few days ago, but that didn't happen - sorry!

The topic of Elijah continues into the next chapter too.

Let me know what you thought and as always, thank you so much for continuing to read and especially to those who leave comments :)

Oh, and to those who say they are glad I'm continuing this story - I have no intention of stopping any time soon. I have lots of ideas for this!