I'm sure that after all this time assurances are in order, so no, I'm not dead, nor have I fallen off the face of the planet. However, work, school, and my collection of various hobbies do take their toll on the time that it takes me to write with any decent frequency. I will try to keep this fic updated on as much of a reasonable schedule as I can, but I make no promises.

Anyways, this is chapter one of this fic, inspired by the request sent to me from the lovely shadowhuntersfan1616, who I will have to apologize to for how long this lump of words took me.

Well, that's about it. Enjoy!

"I don't like this, Blackburn, not one fucking bit. Who's idea was this anyways?" Jason growled, throwing the folder in his hand back onto the table so aggressively that a few of the papers slipped out and settled on the table next to it.

"As I already told you, Jason, these orders came from so far above my head that I can't even imagine who they originated from, and I don't like this either. As far as my understanding goes, nobody does," Blackburn replied. He could feel the migraine coming on, and it wasn't even 9 o'clock yet.

Standing around the table in the ops room, the two of them had been looking at and reading over their latest orders from command, and said orders were making Jason more and more ready by the second to pull his hair out of his scalp. Said orders, the gist of them as upsetting as it was, were only a few short pages repeatedly telling them that under no circumstances was any Bravo team member allowed to have any association with one Clay Spenser, until further notice. As Clay was being investigated for the release of classified information to his father, Ash Spenser, he was on complete lockout from everything and everyone. He was being suspended from his position in the Navy, and was supposed to be reinstated or terminated permanently depending on the outcome of the investigation.

"This doesn't make any sense, dammit! We all know that he's not the leak! The Brass knows that, they know that he's a valuable member of our team, that we need him," Jason yelled.

"Of course they know that, Jason! Anyone with eyes can see that," Blackburn shouted, finally at his wits end. Jason kept saying the same thing over and over again, and while he was of the same opinion, he knew that nothing either of them could say was going to change the situation at hand. He ran his hand through his hair one more time for good measure, and then leaned his weight against the briefing table.

"Listen, there isn't anything we can do about this right now except to follow orders. You know that. Go back to the cages and let the rest of the boys know. I'll talk to Clay when we get done with the briefing. The foreseeable future is gonna suck, but there's nothing we can do but wait it out," he explained. He watched Jason lower his head and mutter a few more curses, until he pulled his shoulders back and stormed out the door. Blackburn sighed for what must've been the hundredth time that day, and turned his eyes back to the cursed papers on the table.

"Yeah, this is really gonna suck," he muttered, knowing just how pissy of a mood Jason would be in for the next whoever knows how long.

~SEAL Team~

Clay couldn't figure out why everyone was staring at him in such a cold manner as he walked through the base on his way to the cage room. As far as he knew, he hadn't participated in any especially dangerous stunts lately, so that shouldn't be it. He started walking quicker; the cool stares were beginning to get under his skin. Finally making it to Bravo's cages, he sighed in relief as he walked into the room and closed the door behind him. Nobody looked up as he moved through the room to his cage, but all the other guys were already there, so he figured they must have known that it was him.

When he came to a stop in front of the door to his cage, he stared in bewilderment at the official summons to the briefing room. Damn. He'd only just gotten there, how could he already be in trouble?

"Anybody know why the brass wants to see me this early?" he asked, not really directing the question at anyone in particular. He was hoping that one of the guys might shed some light on the situation.

When nobody answered him, he turned around to face the guys, looking at them quizzically when he realized that all of them were still studiously focusing on the various projects that they happened to be working on, and not a single one of them had even glanced up at him.

"What's with the silent treatment? I swear, whatever stunt y'all think I pulled this time, I didn't do it," he said. Still, no one answered him. He was starting to become concerned, but he had an official summons and some brass to go appease. Hopefully.

"Whatever, be assholes then," he muttered, dropping his duffel bag just inside the door to his cage and heading back the way he came.

On his way to the briefing room, he met nothing but more cold stares, and he couldn't help but feel a little upset. He didn't understand the reason why people were treating him this way all of a sudden. He thought he'd finally started to make some progress with people, that he'd finally stopped being public enemy number one.

Eventually, he came to the briefing room door, and reached for the handle. Before he could turn it, he remembered that this was an official meeting, so he raised his fist and knocked. He heard a voice tell him to enter, so he turned the knob and walked in.

Upon his first visual inspection, he noticed that his own everyday uniform was suddenly much more out of place than it had been in the hallway moments earlier. Everyone else in the room, including Blackburn, was in their dress uniforms, but there hadn't been anything about him wearing his own dress uniform when he'd skimmed the letter he'd received. Nobody told him to sit down, probably because this was definitely not a social call, so he remained standing at rigid attention in front of the occupants of the room and waited for someone to speak. It didn't take long for his wait to be over.

"It has come to the attention of the United States Navy that Ash Spenser has written a new book, detailing events and information which are highly classified. This information is secured to the highest degree, or so was believed, and therefore is not common knowledge to most people in the United States Navy, let alone the general public. Do you understand what I've said thus far, Petty Officer Spenser?" Admiral Belrose asked.

Clay stood in shock. He understood, and he knew exactly what the Admiral was implying. Shit. "Sir, I'm conscious of the fact that our missions and briefings are classified, and I would never do anything to jeopardize the integrity of that. Furthermore, I was not aware of the book released by my father, Ash Spenser, as I cut ties with him and lost any tabs there may have been on him when I was nineteen years old," Clay explained stoically, though, internally he was anything but.

He hadn't given any information to Ash, hadn't even spoken to him in just a little over five years. In the early days of him being in bootcamp, he'd had to come to terms with the fact that every single thing the man he got his last name from did, past or present, would cast a shadow over him for the entirety of his career. It sucked, he hated it, but he hadn't quite figured out a way to overcome that heavy blanket that was his father's mistakes.

"While we are aware that your claims of having no contact with Ash Spenser can be sustained in time, right now we are taking immediate action," Admiral Fox stated. "From this point until further notice, you are not to have any contact with your team. You are being suspended from active duty pending the investigation of this leak of information. Do you understand the orders that have been given to you?"

Clay's head was spinning. In the course of thirty minutes on what should have been a run-of-the-mill morning, his whole world was crashing down around him. Suspended from active duty? No contact with the rest of Bravo? How could his life have gotten this fucked up when it wasn't even ten o'clock in the morning yet?

"Yes, sir. I understand," He answered quietly. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Blackburn lowered his eyes and shook his head ever so slightly. In that moment, he knew that he was completely alone in this fight. He had no one to watch his back, no one to cover him, and even though he wasn't currently on a mission in some foreign country, he figured he may as well have been, because he felt just as much in the line of fire as though he was. He was loathe to admit it, but that scared him. He'd grown used to having his team at his back, to be there for him and he for them. When they faced a problem, they faced it together. Now, he was totally alone.

"You'll be given a call when you are permitted to return to base, but until then, your ID badge will be rendered invalid. You may collect what personal belongings you need from your cage, and then you will be escorted off the base. You're dismissed, Petty Officer Spenser," Admiral Belrose said.

Clay didn't know what else could be done, so he snapped into a salute, and turned towards the door. When it closed behind him, he leaned his forehead against the wall. Behind him, the door opened again, and he came to attention as he turned around. Seeing Blackburn standing in front of him, he fought the urge to relax his body. At the moment, this was not Bravo's Lieutenant Commander that could give just as well as he could take, and let his boys get away with far more than any other team commander would. No, this was his escort from the base, he could feel it in his bones.

"Come on, Clay. Let's go get your stuff," Eric said softly, almost gently. Clay was hoping, dammit he was praying, that Eric didn't believe that he'd given any information to Ash. Blackburn knew him better than that, all the guys did. Yet, as his mind wandered back to the rest of Bravo in the cage room that had completely ignored him, the dark thoughts of abandonment began their steady creep towards the front of his mind.

He began following Blackburn back down the hallways that he'd just come down not even twenty minutes ago, and a sinking feeling wormed its way into his heart. Had the guys known the reason for the summons? He wasn't allowed to have any contact with them, which means that any call or texts he sent would likely be ignored. He didn't want to plead his innocence, he just wanted them to speak to him. They were his family, the only one he had, and he didn't want to be unable to talk to them.

What was he going to do?

When they came to the door of the cage room yet again, Blackburn opened the door for him, and then stood in the doorway as he made his way over to his cage. He picked up his duffel bag, as well as grabbing his favorite hoodie off the shelf that he kept it on. He grabbed his picture of himself and Brian, as well as one of him with the rest of the guys of Bravo, and stuffed them into his bag. He knew that he likely wouldn't be allowed to take home anything that was military issued, so he didn't even try. Instead, he shot one more look around the room at his team, and felt his heart cramp when none of them looked at him. Well, none of them except Cerberus, who never really stopped wagging his tail.

Cerberus' tail wasn't wagging, and his eyes were the saddest Clay had ever seen them. If nothing else about the rest of the day had upset him, this would be the thing that made him crumble.

Clay turned towards Blackburn, and together they walked back into the hallway towards the parking lot. While Eric walked with his usual confidence, head held high as though there would be anybody stupid enough to cross him, Clay walked with his eyes to the ground, and his shoulders slumped. Blackburn seemed to notice this, because when they finally made it outside to the parking lot, he put a hand on Clay's shoulder. Clay looked him in the eyes, and he saw the compassion the Lieutenant Commander held there. They stood like that for a few moments, before Blackburn spoke.

"This won't be forever Clay. They'll figure their shit out, and when they do, you'll be back with us in no time. Just hold on until then, okay?" Blackburn held his gaze until the younger man nodded slightly and then he released his grip on Clay's shoulder. He smiled sadly, and then motioned for Clay to get in his car. Clay did, starting the engine, and pulling out of the spot he'd been parking in for the larger part of a year.

He pulled up towards the front gate, rolling down his window when the gate guard indicated him to. Clay became confused when he held his hand out, before he remembered that he technically didn't have a valid badge, and therefore wasn't allowed to keep it. He handed it over, trying his best not to show how much the action pained him. He pulled out of the base, roaring down the road and making it to his apartment without actually remembering the drive itself. He locked his car up and headed for the stairs, making his way inside his apartment, which seemed oddly quiet now, even though in here, nothing had actually changed.

Pulling his boots off, he collapsed onto the couch, trying his best not to seem like a fainting princess, or something else that Sonny would use to taunt him with, before realizing that he didn't actually have to worry about that right now. Maybe not ever again.

'No, Clay. You're not allowed to think like that. Remember what Blackburn said, and keep your head in check," admonished a voice that sounded suspiciously like Ray. Clay shook his head. Easier said than done. He turned on the TV and tried hard not to think about how hard the next however long this took was going to be. Even if he was proven innocent, would things ever be the same?

Would Bravo ever be the same?

Okay, so seeing as how this is only the first chapter of the few that I have panned, I think it's pretty safe to say that our boy is gonna get a lot worse before he gets better. Is that too mean of me? Probably, but I don't see any of y'all complaining.

As always, feel free to leave me a review/comment, but keep in mind that any and all hateful or hurtful statements will be sent to Cerberus for chew toys. Stay tuned!