As soon as they were settled on the massive plane and in the air Briley slipped her well worn Bible out of her bag and flipped it open to her spot which she had marked with a purple ribbon fading through the many shades to sunset pastel violet at the end. She was reading 2 Peter and Jude and considering the parallelism between them. That was something Summer, who was a pastor's daughter, had pointed out one evening. She read contentedly as they flew until she finished Jude and the plane was dipping lower in the sky to land. She bowed her head in silent prayer and when she opened her eyes Summer was smiling at her. "What were you reading?" the blonde asked as Briley shut her Bible with a slight crackle of pages.

The dark brown haired woman was well aware that everyone else was listening for her answer. "To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you to His glorious prescience without fault and with great joy- to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen," Briley recited while slipping her Bible back into her bag. "Jude verses twenty-four through twenty-five." Summer nodded with a grin as the plane touched down.

"Yes," Kinsey said when the plane came to a complete stop.

"Glad to be home?" Carter teased.

"Of course," the red headed woman said with a smirk. "And you aren't. Besides Summer is the only one here who speaks Chinese anyway."

"I didn't know that," Lennox said, standing and stretching.

"Pastor's daughter," Summer said with a shrug, standing also. "Come on. Let's get off this plane." They did with wide grins as they stepped onto the damp tarmac of the California NEST base. The clouds from rain that had obviously happened earlier in the day were flowing away with a slight fall breeze and sunset painted the sky several hews of fall orange that temporarily took Briley back home.

She swung her duffle bag over her shoulder and headed toward the woman's barracks with Summer and Kinsey behind her, determined to put her things down before dealing with Jazz. She dumped her bag on her bunk and then left, yawning widely as Kinsey and Summer both waved tiredly at her. She walked back to the gravel road and walked along it, her boots crunching crisply on the gravel. It didn't take long to reach the footpath but still the sun was almost gone when she reached the overhang. Jazz was there, liquid silver paint glittering in the last rays of sunlight. His holoform slipped sunglasses up on his forehead and turned to grin at her.

"Hey," Briley said, irritation evaporating some when she saw him. "I figured you'd be up here."

"So Shanghai was a mess?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Definitely," Briley said, wincing slightly. "One Decepticon turned out to be more like three. Sideswipe got one with Arcee's help, Ironhide and Optimus killed the other two, and Skids and Mudflap ended up fighting each other."

"As usual," Jazz said, looking not at all surprised.

"Yup, as usual," Briley said. "Which brings me to the next subject. I don't need extra protection."

"Sooner or later the 'Cons are gonna figure out who ya are ta meh and then you'll end up captured or dead," Jazz said, turning to stare at the last light of the sun.

"I can take care of myself. Besides it isn't my time to go yet," Briley explained, her voice calm.

"Ya don't know that," Jazz replied, genuine worry in his voice.

"Some trustin chariots and some in horses but we trust in the name of the Lord our God, Psalms 20 verse 7," Briley said, sounding exasperated. "It isn't just for show."

"How do ya know? How do ya know it isn't just a scam," Jazz snapped, whirling around to face her. This time it was Briley who stared at the now dark sky.

"I didn't always believe either," she said. "Susanna and I had an older sister named Jessica you know."

"What does that have ta do with this?" Jazz asked but his voice sounded calmer.

"We called her Jessie," Briley continued. "Jessie and I were both involved in the community Christmas drama the year I turned thirteen. She was seventeen and a good driver. Mom let her drive me to and from practice. It was slippery that night and a van lost control. We were hit head on. The engine was wrecked and part of the car exploded somehow."

Briley swallowed and brushed a couple tears away. "Jessie was killed instantly and I was thrown twenty feet away and somehow survived even though a piece of glass was embedded in my forearm." She tilted her left arm, revealing the long white scar on her skin. "Afterwards I was so angry at God. What little faith I had was crumbling. I couldn't understand why I lived and Jessie didn't. Two weeks later Mom told Susanna and I the truth."

She took in a shuddering breath and closed her eyes for a minute to compose herself. "Jessie was sick with skin cancer. The doctors had gave her maybe six months to live because they had caught it too late. Jessie had been in constant pain and would have been as her health steadily deteriorated until she died. Instead she was struck in the temple and died instantly. I, who was thirteen and had nothing wrong with me, who should have been crippled from the force that I landed on my back, survived unscathed." She turned and looked Jazz full in the face. "So you see I have someone else watching my back until it's my time to leave this world. Have a little faith in that at least." Jazz nodded and then hugged her. Briley leaned against him and then sighed, pulling away reluctantly. "We should probably head back," she said. "I have a feeling the Chinese government will do their best to raise hell after last night."

Jazz shook his head with a slight laugh as his holoform phased and he flung open the passenger door. Briley slipped in with a slim smile and rode in silence until he dropped her off at the female barracks. "Love you Bri," he said.

"Love you too," Briley said as he turned and left her at the door. With a genuine smile she pressed her fingertips to her lips and then blew him a kiss before vanishing into the building.

Author's Note: Whew! That was a difficult chapter for me to write. Thanks to MissShelz (well confidence is one thing he is most definitely not lacking in), a Wiccan, PJ-NCIS-TF-26, and Riptide2 for reviewing the last chapter! I own nothing but my OCs