A/n: well, she slept for half an hour, woke up for a bit, then went back down for FIVE hours!!! Miracle of miracles! This child does not sleep through the night yet, so this is amazing! Thanks for the congratulations and support! Writing is a stress reliever and you can bet I have my share of stress with all these kiddos! Haha! Anyway! The chapter y'all have been dying for...Enjoy!

Adam walked through the house, dropping his bag at the foot of the stairs on his way out to the backyard. The cool air conditioning was a welcome relief from the stifling heat outside. He could see Jaz's tanned legs on a lawn chair. He eased the back door open and was greeted by a wave of heat; silently he pulled his t-shirt off and slung it onto the picnic table.

He stepped quietly to the chair beside Jaz and saw she was sleeping, laid out in a black bikini, sunglasses perched on top of her head. A book lay propped open on her stomach.

Adam sat and studied her. The sight her made his breath catch in his throat and he had to remind himself that she had a boyfriend now and that things would be necessarily different. He lamented that he had blown it so royally with her and allowed himself a few moments of wishing for things to be back the way they were, before their last night together.

Adam stretched out on the lawn chair, wiggling around to get comfortable. The chair squeaked and in an instant, Jaz shot up, grabbed her handgun from her bag beside her and had it pointed at him.

Adam threw his hands up and responded, "Easy there, Tiger! It's just me!"

Jaz's face registered profound shock and confusion. So much so that she forgot she was still aiming a loaded gun at her captain's head. "Top? What are you doing here?"

"Preach invited me early. I gather he did the same for you?" Adam's voice was matter of fact. Slowly he put his hand on top of Jaz's gun and lowered it.

She let out an emotion-filled sigh and returned the gun to her bag, slipping her sunglasses down on her nose. Her adrenaline was fading and she felt oddly uncomfortable sitting here in nothing but a bikini. Thankful she'd brought a sarong out, she reached for the bright floral fabric and slipped it around the back of her waist, cinching it up around her armpits and twirling the fabric ends into a knot around her neck. It wasn't much, but at least it covered her exposed midriff and skimmed the tops of her thighs.

Adam tried to give Jaz privacy as her hands fluttered nervously with her sarong, but her movements drew his attention like a moth to a flame. The sarong was a bright coral color and accented Jaz's olive skin flawlessly. She was still as breathtakingly beautiful as she was the last time he had seen her.

"So...you don't call, you don't write...what's been going on with you the last two months?" Jaz offered, keeping her gaze carefully averted.

Adam swung his legs over the side of the chair and leaned his arms on his knees. His clear blue eyes flashed defiantly. "Hey, I called, like seven times. And I definitely wrote. You refused to take my calls," he countered, surprised with her accusation and a little perturbed by it if she was honest with himself.

Her eyes sprang to his is defense. "Not trying to call you a liar, Top, but I swear I never got any messages from you, and definitely no emails." Her brows knit together in confusion.

"Didn't your boyfriend tell you I stopped by a few weeks ago?" Adam didn't intend it to sound so much like a barb, but it came out curt and defensive.

"My what?!?" She snapped, much like she did to Alex Hoffman when he'd accused Adam of being her significant other.

"The guy...at your apartment...he said you were heading to his place for a few weeks and swept you a bear hug and kissed you when you came in the door," Adam detailed the scene that had replayed over and over in his head.

"Eddie? He's..." Jaz glanced around, searching for the right words. "He's like a brother to me. Don't you remember Elijah's brother? I went to visit his family a few weeks ago...I wasn't going just for Eddie. We used to all three road trip down, and I thought it would be fun for old time's sake to do it again."

Jaz stood and moved to sit on the edge of the pool, dangling her legs in the water, putting some much needed space between her and the man who had not yet stopped meeting her in her dreams.

So softly that Adam almost missed it, she said, "Why do you even care, looked like you found your own companionship before we even left DC."

The betrayal still cut deep. It was the one piece she hadn't reconciled in her mind. After all they had been through together, the things they had shared and the closeness they had enjoyed, for him to just ignore her and chose a random bimbo to spend his last night in the Capitol stung.

Adam shut his eyes, regret filling his stomach. She was right. He had no room to be upset. Still, now was his chance to finally set things straight. He rose and tentatively stood behind her, not wanting to push so hard that he pushed her away.

She turned and examined him through her sunglasses. She noticed several fresh scars on his chest and wondered what had happened. Begrudgingly she scooted over a tad and motioned beside her. "Sit."

He sat, cross-legged, and his right knee rested lightly against her left thigh. He took a breath and glanced quickly at her before focusing his gaze across the pool, fixating on a spot on the fence.

"About that..." he began.

"You don't have to say anything." Jaz offered.

"No. I want to explain. Not that it makes it okay, or any shade of acceptable, but I need you to know," Adam insisted.

Jaz stayed quiet, her own eyes focusing on the water in front of her.

"For the last...I dunno, six months or so... I've become..." Adam paused. Infatuated sounded so juvenile. "...enamored by you."

Heat rose on Adam's cheeks, admitting the truth out loud. "I tried to fight it because it wasn't appropriate for me to feel anything but professionalism towards you. Involving any kind of romantic feelings in our line of work could prove deadly. So I denied it to myself and to anyone else that would ask. Mostly Preach."

"After we almost lost you in Tehran," Adam continued. "I knew I couldn't lie to myself anymore. You had become more important to me than anything else, more than my job, more than my own life. Jaz, Patricia was working up exfil plans for the rest of the team, but had we failed in our rescue attempt, there was no way I was leaving you behind. I had already determined that I was stay and find you or die trying."

Jaz let out a slow breath, not realizing she had been holding it, stunned with Adam's confession. "Wow..."

"And after that, all I wanted was to protect you, keep you safe. It killed me to think you might be put in a dangerous place again. You were growing more and more special to me, every time we'd talk by the fire or pair up out on mission. We got together so perfectly and worked together so flawlessly. It was like...it was like we were meant to be together."

"So why throw it all to hell after we got back?" Jaz wondered sharply.

"I'm an idiot. Plain and simple. I had this big apology planned for that night and—"

"Apology?" Jaz cut in. "For what?"

"For being such a jerk to you after Jarif spooked at the tea house and I reamed you for improvising. That low blow over missing your shot? Jaz, that was all completely uncalled for. If I had a problem with what you had done, I should have addressed it calmly and in private, not in the heat of the moment and in front of the entire team. I was wildly upset we'd lost Jarif and to be honest, I didn't even realize I had done it until we debriefed. And then I asked you an impossible question, after I had just put you in a vulnerable place that you never deserved to be in." Adam hung his head. "I am so, incredibly sorry, Jaz."

Jaz took a moment to soak in his words. They were like a balm on a burn that hadn't been able to heal for a long time.

"Top. I appreciate your apology. And I accept it, I forgive you, whatever, but I made the decision to go after Jarif on my own. I'm a big girl and no one makes decisions for me. You didn't force me into anything." Jaz looked at Adam and touched his arm when he didn't look at her.

Adam turned his head toward Jaz at her touch, but kept his eyes averted. "I'm not done."

His voice trembled, barely a whisper. He reached a hand up to fiddle with his beard, pinch his lip between his thumb and forefinger.

"That last night..." Adam's eyes flickered to Jaz's face and Jaz saw infinite regret pooled in them. "You were there, in that dress, looking sexy as hell, and everything I had planned to say to you left my brain. I literally couldn't put two coherent words together, looking at you. I was desperate not to make a fool of myself. That's why I didn't speak to you, why I kept my distance. I was afraid I'd ruin everything."

Jaz gave a dry, humorless laugh at the irony.

"I left with that girl, trying to get you out of my head. I thought if I could just get my mind off of you, I could get back some control, and we could talk and things would be better."

"And did it? Did you get it out of your system?" Jaz dreaded the answer, but she needed to know.

"I tried. Jaz, I tried to let her be enough for me. But every time I closed my eyes, it was you in my arms, you I was kissing, your skin I was feeling," Adam's face was redder than Jaz had ever seen it. His eyes were closed now, brows scowled together in disgust at his own foolishness.

"Jaz, I tried for hours, but I couldn't do it. And believe me, I wanted that release, but ... not without you."

He trained his eyes on the fence again, steeling them against whatever response Jaz would give, clenching his jaw in embarrassment and the exposure that his honesty had revealed. What kind of man couldn't perform with a beautiful woman?

Jaz sat in stunned silence. That was not the explanation she had expected, not in any of her imaginations. She bit her lips together nervously and the hurt and frustration she'd held towards him for the last two months melted away. Slowly, the realization that he hadn't actually been with that other woman sunk in.

Jaz pushed her sunglasses up on her head and shifted towards him. His face was glued to an imaginary spot on the fence. "Adam."

It was the first time she had ever used his first name, and the significance was not lost on either one of them. Adam's eyes flitted closed at the sound. His name had never sounded so good.

"Hey...Top," Jaz waited for him to make eye contact. When he did, she thought she could nearly drown in the depths of emotion that were there. Her voice dropped to a whisper, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Those ocean eyes, honest and deep, searched her own. "I'm sorry," Adam whispered again, barely audible.

Jaz broke eye contact and looked the other way, blinking away sudden surprising tears. "I thought...I thought you didn't care."

Adam boldly reached a hand out to turn her face back towards his. His touch was tender and soft, like the kiss he had pressed to her cheek as they went through customs those months ago. He gently wiped her tears with the pad of his thumb.

"That could never happen," he said each word slowly and purposefully.

Jaz's eyes flickered down to his naked chest. His muscles strained through his skin, even without flexing. She remembered feeling that solid chest behind her, every breath she took, under the floorboards of that truck for those long nine hours driving out of Iran. She reached a curious hand to trace the new scars that carved rugged tracks through his skin.

"What happened?" Her voice was thick with concern.

"I, uh, took my motorcycle into battle with a semi...Yeah, the semi won," he nodded sheepishly.

"Top! When did this happen? Why didn't you tell me?!?" Seriously, the man was infuriating.

Adam chuckled. "I tried calling. You never picked up."

"Wait," Jaz looked at him with inquisitive eyes. "Did you change your number? I kept getting calls from an unknown number and I thought if it were important they would leave a message!" Those last three words were pointedly insistent.

Adam wrinkled his nose in playful disgust, "Yeah, I hate leaving messages!"

"Seriously?!? That was all you?!?" Jaz shoved Adam's shoulder, more forcefully than she intended.

He toppled off balance and splashed into the pool. The tension of the previous hour broken, Jaz laughed. It was a laugh filled with relief, and it was the most beautiful sound Adam had ever heard as he rose up out of the water. The sun glinted off the water droplets skimming over his chest and Jaz didn't stop herself from staring. His boyish eyes sparkled and his smile was back. He reached out a hand towards Jaz.

"Give me a hand up?" He asked.

She extended her hand without thinking and soon joined him in the pool, drenched and laughing. After an attempt or two to dunk him back under (which didn't work, he was much too conditioned to predict her moves and avoid them cleanly), his hands came to settle on her waist, drawing her closer to him.

Her eyes bravely searched his as her hands traveled up his arms and came to rest interlocked behind his head.

"I'm going to kiss you," he stated.

"You better do it then," she challenged, an unbidden smile barely keeping in check.

"Say my name again?"

"Captain Dalton?" she offered innocently.

Adam rolled his eyes and raised one eye brow.

"Top."

"Jaz..."

"Adam."

Before she was done speaking, his lips had claimed hers, one hand cupping her head toward his, the other drawing her body close to his, drinking in her skin, memorizing every curve.

Electricity ignited her soul and she gladly surrendered to his touch. His wet hair was thick under her fingers and she could feel his heart beating wildly in his chest next to hers.

Finally they were breathless and spent. Parting just enough to focus on one another's face, their easy camaraderie returned, that unspoken, in sync communication that was like magic back in full force. Adam hoisted himself out of the pool, then reached down to pull Jaz onto his lap. She wrapped her legs around his waist and cuddled up in his arms. She was finally home.

He stood, easily lifting Jaz as he did so, and retreated to the brightly colored beach towels piled on a nearby pool chair. Holding Jaz with one arm, he snagged two towels with the other hand and deftly flicked them open onto a sunny spot in the grass.

Carefully he lowered Jaz to the ground, taking care not to let her go too soon. He stretched out beside her and tugged her head onto his chest. She snuggled comfortably onto his still wet skin, cherishing every beat of his heart. Her eyelids grew heavy. Nightmares would have no place here, and she dropped off into a deep and dreamless sleep where she knew with all her being that she was safe.

Adam breathed in the warmth of the moment. He never expected her to be so receptive and he was grateful he had been honest with her. Humiliating, yes, but this, this was totally worth it. And now, with her wet hair dripping cool little streaks down his neck and chest, her body curled into his, her hand resting softly on his chest, he was finally home.