Chapter 34

It was time. Everyone was in the room now back from their adventures and preparing to make this recovery a success. They were finding their boy and bringing him home. Finally, a plan was made, distractions planned out so they could sneak off base, equipment was gathered, and everyone was fed and rested, so they had all the energy needed to go hunting for the kid and be back to their plane late evening and head home. It was time to get dressed and head out.

Just as everyone was finishing loading their rucks, Steve came barreling in looking for Davis. Steve was their main guy on Bravo support that stayed in the command center and worked behind the scenes always to bring Bravo home when they got into unexpected tight situations. He was as loyal as they came, and everyone owed him their lives at one point or another.

"Davis, I got something." He scrambled as he went over to the laptop they had along the table, opening it and going to town on the keys bringing up a video screen.

Everyone gathered around with confusion painted all over their faces and hope in their heart. Did he have a word or, better yet, a visual of their boy?

"What do you have?" Davis asked as she grabbed Liz's hand, who stood beside her, looking like she was about to lose her composure.

"I watched their feeds along the border, and they spotted a body. There is no confirmation of who it is and if they are alive, but it's a soldier based on their clothes. He is dressed all in black with his dog tags peeking out, but I could not zoom in enough to get a clear read, and his head is covered in mud with no helmet on. It's hard to see the hair colour with the amount of dirt, mud and debris. He is very pale and not moving. I'm so sorry, guys, I can't identify him, but I thought you should know. Have a point to head to first, maybe?" Steve reported trying to stay as professional as possible, but his composure faltered as his breath hitched when he told them he could not identify if it were Clay.

"Let me see," Jason demanded as Steve started the feed focused on the soldier they could only presume was dead.

"What is the body build?" Ray asked.

"Standard male. Not overly large or tall." Steve noted not making eye contact.

"So, Wonder boy fits. But we can't prove it's him. OR that he is dead." Sonny piped in as his fists clenched at his sides.

"I dunno Son, this body is looking more and more like he fits the bill. I would never want to admit it, but it could be Clay. I don't think the Russians would be this close to the border, and we all know Clay would be trying to head home." Ray said as he bit his lip. Sometimes he hated having to be the voice of reason even when he did not believe his words or at least did not want to accept them.

"The dog tags are in his hand, not around his neck," Liz spoke up as she focused on the image on the screen.

"What?" Jason asked as he leaned closer to the screen and then turned to Liz. He knew she was hurting and trying her best to be there, but her emotions were winning all her battles today. And it crushed him. She was still so new to this job, and as tough as she was, this was her family, and it was hard to go through any of this. He was fighting those battles internally but had way too much experience being Bravo 1 to win these battles. The three-foot world, right? Leading needed to come first.

"The man is not Clay. He is holding dog tags. And when we were in the woods, I got a glimpse of one, and I could have sworn I didn't see any chain around their necks." Liz spits out a little more forcefully than she meant, but she had to get it out before breaking. She was trying to believe her words and put on a solid face.

"You sure? Things were hectic back there, and with the bullets flying, you may not have gotten that great of a look." Trent asked. He was on her side, but his mental compacity was on high alert as there was a high chance his injures would have taken him away, so this soldier laying there… dead was the logical explanation. It could very well be Clay; it should be Clay, logically.

"I saw it." Liz stared him down. She knew he was not trying to fight, but he was thinking with facts.

Jason looked at Liz and studied her face. He knew Trent was right, but Liz had a keen eye, and if she was looking at a target through her scope, she might have seen something they missed. She also had a sixth sense when it came to Clay. They truly had a twin-type connection, and in his gut, he believed she would know if he was dead. Clay was the same when she was missing. They understood each other more profoundly than anyone could even imagine. As Liz met his gaze, a tear welled in her eye, and she tried to look away and down at her feet, hiding her emotions. Jason knew her habits as he felt like he had a hand raising her and watching her grow, leading to him knowing what she needed. Reassurance. Her walls were cracked, and she was scared.

"Hey. Shhhh." He leaned in and pulled her into him, "We believe you. It's ok."

Liz let go of Davis's hand with a squeeze as she leaned into Jason's chest and embraced the hug. She was scared, and his arms were one of the few things that made her better and able to build herself back up. She looked at him like a father, and he was always there for her. His comfort and belief meant so much to her. Her arms wrapped around his waist as she clung on, and he leaned down and rested his head on her head, whispering to her that it was ok and she was so strong and needed to hold onto that to bring Clay home. This was a small moment they shared and needed. Both of them needed a moment in their bubble to let it out and compose themselves, and the team respected this as they slowly closed the computer and shuffled off to the other side of the room to gather their rucks and guns.

"Do we think it's him?" Sonny whispered as he peeked back at Jason and Liz, still embraced in their three-foot world. He didn't know what to think as his mind was scrambled from Trent's logical words and Liz's wishful words. He refused to believe it was his best friend, but they had no confirmation to go either way.

"I honestly don't know. I want to believe it is not him, but who else would have headed over to the border, with dog tags and all dressed in military standard blacks?" Trent said as his hand ran through his hair. "Logically, his potential wounds can and should take him, and who knows what else he ran into over there, but it's Clay. Nothing is logical with him. And if he met another Russian soldier, I would always put the odds on him, wounded or not. He is a force to be reckoned with and would fight like hell."

"As I have said repeatedly, he's a stubborn bastard, and no one will get in his way." Ray tried to chuckle as he shook his head. Memories of Clay being a little shit, causing trouble, ran through his mind. They have been proven time and time again how stubborn Clay is, and there was no doubt in him.

"We will go get him back no matter what, and can't think about anything else. When we find him, then we can process the situation and potential it can be him, but for now, all we can do is focus on the fact we are bringing Clay back." Brock finally pipped in. He has been very quiet, processing and observing things. He was not big on words, but he always knew what was going on with each of his team members and knew when he needed to speak to reassure them all and when not to talk, as they needed to get their thoughts out and off their chests. He was always the silent man taking the words that spewed out of their mouths and offering a silent arm to lean on and a hand on the shoulder to stead them.

Looking around the row of Bravo, Davis made eye contact with each of them and then nodded, getting a sharp firm nod in return. Everyone agreed that it was now just about finding Clay, no matter their situation.

"Steve, can you keep tapping into their feeds? Set up in here and be our eyes along with Davis?" Blackburn asked as he bent down and gathered a few unclaimed things along the bed.

"Yeah, they don't keep tabs on us, so I can stay here and send a message to Drew back in TOC and have him keep us in the loop of their movements." Steve nodded as he moved back over to the laptop dragging a chair over to the table and starting to get set up.

Jason and Liz headed back to the bed to gather their things. "You coming?" Jason asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hell ya, I am. We are missing our boy, and there is no way I will stay back here and not help bring him home." Blackburn huffed at Jason. Challenging him to try and get him to stay back.

"Well, we could use a Bravo 7 since Liz is scared of that number, and I hate not having an order." Jason chuckled, accepting Blackburn's help and trying to ease the tension and help everyone relax enough to think straight.

"Hey! We all know 7 is an unlucky number, along with 13. No way am I putting that patch on my arm. Luck already has a beef with me. I don't need to paint a target on my body." Liz protested, swatting Jason's arm as she walked past him to grab the last of her gear.

"Good thing I'm not superstitious, although the more I am with the Wonder Twins, I am leaning towards the possibility it can exist." Blackburn shook his head as he grinned at Liz.

He was their commander and should not have gotten close to his team, but he has always thought that made him and Bravo so successful. Bravo, Davis, himself and all the support teams were like family. You put all your trust in your family, and there is always a success. He felt easy knowing they were comfortable enough to joke with him as needed, and he was always invited to team fun outside of the Navy, but when it came to it, he had all their respect, and they followed his orders with easy and put their lives in his hands. Well, except for Jason. He knew he had his trust, but the following orders had some grey areas that started giving Blackburn grey hairs. How fitting. I guess it was the balance that their team needed as Peter Pan and Tinkerbell gave Jason grey hairs. He was only passing this along to the next in command. Only fair.

"Alright, let's move out. Everyone has a job to do and knows their roles. So let's get on it." Bravo 1 was back in business.

Everyone's smiles and joking faded as they focused and gripped their guns attached to their chest and headed out to the doors; with Steve's nod, the lights flickered and then all power outside shut down. They were in the dark and undetectable for the next two mikes to get off the base and into the woods to hike out to the border a few miles away.

It was go time.