Author's Note: Thanks for all the great reviews. Hopefully you will enjoy this last chapter as well.

Dalton watched as Jaz continued trying to push through the hazy feeling from the morphine she'd been given. He could tell she had questions and she wanted answers.

"Who were those guys, Top?"

"Believe it or not, it was a case of mistaken identity. They thought you were the princess of a small country experiencing some political unrest."

She snorted.

"I'm sure they were plenty surprised too, Jaz. They thought they were going to easily capture her but ended up tangling with you. They were probably wondering when the princess went through combat training."

"One less problem for her to worry about."

"More like six less problems for her to worry about."

Jaz's memory from earlier was unreliable. She remembered three assailants but she had to admit she was pretty hazy after asshole number three. The pain and the blood loss were more of an issue at that point. Her movements had become more or less automatic with the goal of staying alive. When she didn't think she could go on any longer she had decided to find a safe place to wait for help. She had known it was coming if she could just hold out until it arrived. She was lucky the team had managed to find her because the plan had originally been to alert them to her presence when they got close. Unfortunately by then she had already passed out.

She must have drifted off again because the next thing she knew bright light was shining in her face and people in masks were all around her. She rolled away, to the consternation of the people around her, hit the floor with a thud, and backed into what felt like a wall. She flinched as someone crouched down next to her and pushed their mask down. It took her a second to realize it was McG.

"Of course you would wake up now, Jaz. We only needed two more minutes. We were about to give you some anesthesia and close your wounds."

Her teeth started chattering. She couldn't decide what was worse the burning pain or the chill of the room. She looked down at herself to see she was in a flimsy hospital gown that was rapidly staining with blood. It occurred to her that throwing herself on the floor might not have been her best idea. She closed her eyes for a second to try and gather her scattered thoughts. The sound of gloves being removed caught her attention a second before a warm hand stroked down the side of her face.

"Everything's alright, Jaz. Trust me to keep you safe. Once we get your wounds closed we'll get you right back out to everyone. Top is pacing the floor and Amir and Preach are trying to stay out of his way. We don't want to make them wait too long or Top will come in here."

She opened her eyes and focused her attention on him for a few seconds before nodding her head. He gently wrapped his arms around her and picked her off the floor carrying her the few steps back to the gurney. It was a good thing too because she didn't think she could have walked back herself. He pulled his mask back up but didn't bother with his gloves since he wouldn't be the one closing the wounds. Fortunately for Jaz, he had found a plastic surgeon who could minimize the scarring. Instead he held her hand between his own. He was well aware that she was putting her trust in him when she was having such a difficult time processing what was happening.

"We're going to cover your mouth with a mask, Jaz, and I want you to count backwards from 10."

He nodded at someone above her head and she watched as the mask came over her nose and mouth. She instinctively held her breath.

"You need to breath, Jaz," McG wryly informed her.

She took a halting breath and then another one.

"I don't hear you counting," McG teased.

She didn't hear anything else. The next thing she knew it was quiet and she was warm for the first time in a long time. She struggled for a couple minutes to pry her eyes open and was finally successful. The room was pretty dark which was much more soothing than the bright light of earlier. She heard movement to her left and turned her head to see Top looking at her.

"You're going to be fine, Jaz. In fact, if everything goes well, we'll be going home in the morning after you've eaten."

"Okay."

"McG said you were confused in the OR. How are you feeling now?"

"Okay?"

Top smiled at her, "You answered my question with a question. Are you in pain?"

Now that he mentioned it she could feel pain gnawing at her from multiple locations.

"A little but I don't want anything else. The pain medications mess with my head. I need to think."

"Actually I'm the one that needs to think. You just need to rest and heal."

She was distracted by McG's entrance, "I see my favorite patient is awake. How're you feeling?"

"I just asked her and she's hurting."

"I'm not surprised you're having some pain, Jaz. You were shot twice, ran around with the bullets still in you, had field surgery, irritated the wounds again in the OR, and then had more surgery to close the wounds. I would be surprised if you weren't having any pain which is why I'm here."

Top drew her attention back to him with a, "See, even McG agrees that pain is to be expected. I also know he agrees with me that a little bit of pain medication is the best thing for you."

"No, Top. I'll be fine."

She felt warmth flow through her and looked suspiciously in McG's direction in time to see him pull a syringe out of the line.

"If looks could kill I'd be dead on the floor," he said with a chuckle, "It hasn't been that long since we got out of the OR, Jaz. I know the pain doesn't seem terrible right now but it's going to get a lot worse when the rest of the anesthesia wears off. You'll live, unlike your poor cell phone, but you're going to hurt. Sleep is the best thing for you right now. I promise we'll switch you over to oral pain meds later today."

She could already feel the medication pulling at her. She hated the feeling and couldn't stop herself from tensing her muscles which just made her pain worse.

"Don't fight it, Jaz, I'll still be here when you wake up," Top assured her as he rested his hand on top of her smaller one.

He was true to his word. The next time she woke her room was full of sunshine. He stood almost immediately and pushed the bedside table over to her.

"Just in time for your breakfast delivery. Amir cooked for you."

He pulled off the lid and she confirmed immediately that this was no hospital food. Amir had made her cinnamon swirl pancakes.

"Amir said this would be more gentle on your stomach than most of his other meals. He also broiled you a couple pieces of Canadian bacon for the protein. He suggested you eat the pancakes first to see how your stomach does with them before you try the bacon."

She picked up her fork and ate a few bites. It was good but she wasn't really hungry. She pushed it aside and looked back to him.

"When can I leave?"

"McG said in a couple hours if you keep down what you ate."

"I'll be fine," she said confidently.

"We'll see. I'm going to head back to the hut to shower and change. McG's coming. Stay out of trouble until he gets here."

As soon as he turned his back she stuck her tongue out at him. She knew it wasn't very mature but come on. She managed to survive an attack by six assailants while wounded. She was pretty sure she could survive in a hospital room until McG came back. Once he was gone she scooted to the side of the bed and stood using her IV pole for support. She unplugged it and pushed it in front of her to the bathroom. While she didn't have any clothes yet, she figured she could at least wash up.

When she came out, McG was sitting on the side of her bed with his arm crossed, and a look of disgruntlement on his face. She hurt and she knew the sweat beading on her pale face wouldn't go unnoticed. She saw he put a bag of her clothes on the chair next to the bed.

"I bet you were probably out of that bed before Top was down the hall, weren't you?"

She would have given him a dirty look if not for the fact that her entire focus was on getting herself back over to the bed. He was already standing next to it when she finally arrived. When she finally eased her butt back onto the mattress he bent down and gently picked up her feet putting them on the mattress before pulling the covers to her chin. She closed her eyes and he grabbed a washcloth and dabbed at the sweat on her face. When the task was completed to his satisfaction she heard him took a seat.

A few minutes later when the pain waned she opened her eyes to discover the whole team was in her room and that the sun was gone. Preach was looking at her from the foot of the bed.

"When did you get here?" she asked.

"A couple of hours ago. Top and McG have been here most of the day and Amir and I got worried when they didn't bring you home."

"As I told them while you were sleeping, we'll take you home but you have to be more careful. Your wore yourself out this morning so much so that you slept the day away. You need to be willing to ask for and accept help," McG told her.

"Your other option is to stay here a few more days to recover and I'm starting to think that might be the better option," Top told her.

Crap. If Top decided she was staying she was going to be staying. An order was an order. She put on her most innocent angelic face before replying, "I was wrong before. I apologize for jumping out of bed the second your back was turned. I think the pain medication affected my judgment."

She thought she saw McG roll his eyes and realized she might be laying it on a bit thick. She focused her attention back on Top who was stroking his beard and watching her.

"Okay, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Don't make me regret it."

She kept a solemn look on her face as she nodded her head but inside she was doing a happy dance because she had won that round. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Preach turn away to hide a smile from Top. Clearly Preach could see what was going on in her head.

Two hours later she was bundled into what looked like a golf cart and driven up to the front door of their hut. She carefully got out with Top's help and walked into their space. It was comforting. There was no place like home even if it was military housing. She made her way to her bedroom and found that someone had already turned back the covers. Exhaustion washed over her in a wave and the bed looked inviting. After lowering herself to a seated position on the side, she closed her eyes for a second before a sound caught her attention. She opened her eyes to see that Top had knelt down in front of her and started unlacing the shoes that McG had put on her. Once he had them off he helped her lower herself to the mattress and she was quickly covered up. Sleep came quickly.

The next morning she was gradually pulled awake by two smells. The first was the scent of cooking food and the second was a much more comforting smell: Top's aftershave. She stretched very carefully and turned her head toward the window blinking in the sunlight. There was a box on the chair in the corner. She was fairly certain it hadn't been there the night before. She pushed herself upright, quietly cursing at the pain, and got to her feet. She shuffled her way over to it. Gently she lifted the lid and was shocked to see the boots she had planned to buy. For a second she thought this might be a pain medication induced dream. Tears blurred her vision when she touched them and discovered they were in fact real. She smiled and turned towards the doorway just in time to see Top turning away. While the boots were gorgeous, she would cherish them more because of the thought and care that he had put into finding and purchasing them for her. They were her very first gift from him. The flutter in her chest caused by the gesture made it almost worth getting shot. She put the lid back on the box and headed out to join the men of her team including the one man that held her heart.