Preach returned from scouting the immediate area, "As DC reported, I didn't see or hear anyone else. Jaz managed to take out all six armed combatants with just her knife."

"I'm sure she was wishing for a gun," Dalton muttered.

They all knew he was right. While Jaz was proficient in a bunch of different fighting styles, and various types of weapons, she was an expert with any type of firearm. She felt naked without a gun but Dalton never let her take one with her on her city trips. After all, she was only going shopping, not infiltrating an enemy camp. He couldn't have possibly imagined the events that had unfolded today. Of course, that didn't stop him from blaming himself anyway. His team's safety was his responsibility.

They could all hear the sound of sirens approaching in the distance and it was enough to disturb Jaz. McG looked down as she shifted position. A few seconds later her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at him. It took a minute for her to focus.

"You found me," she whispered.

"Of course we did. You were late for dinner. You know how Top feels about it when we don't return from day trips on time."

Jaz did know.

"But I think you're off the hook. Top saw you on the news so you have the best possible excuse for being late. He switched from unhappy to worried in the time it took him to watch you being attacked. By the way, nice work, Jaz."

"I had to live. I didn't want you putting a smart ass remark on my tombstone," she whispered.

McG smiled down at her, "I probably could have come up with something good. Maybe something involving the sin of vanity?"

Jaz wanted to reply but she was exhausted. Instead she leaned more firmly against him while trying to ignore the burning pain from her wounds. As she looked down she saw blood traveling through the IV line attached to the needle she could feel in her hand. She knew Top had to be close by but he was out of her line of sight. She closed her eyes and snuggled back into McG's warmth feeling his arms tighten around her. A second later she felt him press a kiss to the top of her head and she was incredibly grateful that they had found her. A little while later she heard him digging around in his bag. It was unfortunately a sound she was familiar with from previous team injuries. His hands began gently touching her hand.

"Preach, could you unhook Top? I'm going to switch Jaz out to fluids."

She heard the murmur of Preach and Top talking though she couldn't catch the words. It wasn't long before she felt Top crouch down next to her. His movements were as familiar to her as her own. When she wasn't as woozy she would have to give some thought as to why she was so aware of him. She opened her eyes and saw the worry in his. Preach and Amir had also crouched near him and shared the same expression.

"Hey," she said to them, "thanks for coming."

The sound of gurney wheels rattling into the warehouse cut off any reply they would have made. McG got to his feet, still holding Jaz in his arms, and laid her gently down on the mattress making soothing sounds as she groaned in pain.

"McG, can Jaz make it back to base?" Top asked.

"Actually there's a trauma center not far from here."

"Not easy enough to secure. I want her safe. Until DC gets the news out that this was a case of mistaken identity, there's the possibility that more people could come gunning for her."

McG didn't like delaying her medical treatment but he also knew that Top was right. He spoke to the local paramedic briefly who then injected Jaz's line with medication. He waited a few minutes for the morphine to take effect before her looked at her wounds again. After some poking and muttering under his breath he replaced the blood-soaked bandages with clean ones.

"She can make it back. The bleeding is slowing and I don't see any obvious signs of infection. We gave her some morphine so she'll be comfortable for the trip."

Dalton noticed some of the tension in Jaz's face had indeed disappeared. Additional blankets were added to the original blanket that McG had given her and she was strapped to the gurney to keep her safe. Her hair had fallen across her eyes and he took a second to brush it out of the way. No one noticed as he brushed his thumb across her soft cheek a couple of extra times.

Jaz slept peacefully while they waited for the military medics to arrive. When they did finally appear, she was gently loaded into their ambulance and McG and Dalton jumped in the back with her. They were almost back to base when Jaz startled them.

"They were great boots," she sighed.

McG looked down at her and smiled at the out of the blue comment, "Is that what you were planning on buying?"

"I was going to get other things too but the boots were such a good deal I had to go and get them. Maybe next time I'll just shop on-line."

Dalton remembered seeing her carry a bunch of store ads to her room after breakfast this morning. Actually he guessed that was now yesterday morning. She'd had the look of a woman on a mission and the rest of them had stayed out of her way.

The entire team was sensitive to the fact that she was the only woman on the team. They never made a big deal out of it but they knew her desires were different. She had more clothes than the rest of them put together. While she enjoyed trying on new things, and creating new outfits, the male contingent of the team just wanted a couple clean shirts that didn't need to be ironed and pants that were easy to move around in. Her unique needs were one of the main reasons why Dalton never turned down her requests to go into the city. She didn't ask often. However, this was one time he wished he had put her off. It would have been easier to deal with her anger than see her hurting.