As Clay was driving back to base, he thought about the conversation he was going to have with Jason. He knew he was going to get an earful of warnings to not hurt Emma and all the things that dads usually say to their daughters' boyfriends.

He asked himself what he was going to say to Jason to put his mind at ease. He had to make it known to Jason that he wasn't playing around with Emma's feelings. He deeply cared for her not just as his prospective girlfriend but as a member of the Bravo family. He felt that he had a duty to care for her as well as Mikey and Ray's kids.

So, he'll tell him that. But thinking about looking into his boss' eyes and having a candid conversation about dating his only daughter had his hands sweating a bit. Furthermore, they would be having the conversation on an aircraft, 40,000 feet in the air, with no escape.

They all arrived at the tarmac in good time, and it was about 20 minutes till wheels up. They had just shut the loading door, and everyone was getting ready to go. Clay was getting his hammock set up and his things stowed away. Brock was playing fetch with Cerb, Ray was going over details with Davis and Sonny and Trent were talking about something.

Jason walked up behind him and clapped him on the back. "You ready?"

"Good to go, Boss" Clay gave him a thumbs up. As Jason was walking away from him, he stopped him. "Hey Jace?" Jason looked at him. "Thank you."

Jason gave him a nod and laid down in his hammock.

Once they were at cruising altitude and everyone got settled into the long flight, Clay slowly swayed in his hammock. He wasn't sleeping. He was thinking about Emma and the kiss they shared before he left. That led to thinking about what kind of first date he was going to plan for her. He knew she wouldn't want something outrageous, it had to be low key and intimate. Perhaps he could just take her to dinner and a movie or a walk on the beach, yet that didn't feel special enough for her.

He saw Jason approach from his peripheral, so he sat up in his hammock. He wondered when his boss was going to finally approach him for the dreaded conversation.

Jason sat down on the seat next to his hammock, so Clay moved to sit next to him. They sat in silence for a few minutes. Jason stretched out his neck, cracking it and Clay fiddled with the Velcro on his pants pocket.

"Alright, we can't postpone this conversation any longer." Clay clapped his hands together and looked at Jason.

Jason sighed and tilted his head to stare at the ceiling. He still didn't speak.

"Come on, Jason. It's me."

Jason finally looked at him. "I know, that's the problem." He shrugged his shoulders. This single statement made Clay fear that Jason was going to go back on his decision to let him date Emma. "Why her? You're a young, fit, Navy Seal. You could have any girl you want. Why does it have to be my daughter?"

Clay thought about it. He had noticed all the amazing things about Emma over the couple of years that he'd known her. She was incredibly generous; she would give you all the cash in her wallet if you needed it. She was beautiful. Her long hair would whip in the wind as she sat next to the pool during their team barbeques. She spoke with maturity and strength in her voice. If you were wrong, she would tell you that you were wrong and then explain why with logic and reasoning.

"There are a million reasons, Jason. I could sit her for the whole plane ride and talk about her, man. You raised one hell of a daughter. Without making this conversation more awkward than it already is, I'll just say that she's fucking awesome. She's mature, driven, and tough. And I can't get her outta my head." Clay said with a smile. "I wracked my brain to figure out how I could explain to you just how much I value Emma as a person. She's a member of this family and I know that a complete shit storm would come down on me if I ever treated her badly or disrespected her. But I need you to know, Jason, that her being your daughter and part of the Bravo family is not on top of the list of reasons that I would treat her the way we all know she deserves to be treated. I'm not sure how it snuck up on me but we kind of just started being aware of each other. I never ever thought about her like this whenever I first joined Bravo. I was hardly even aware of her in any way besides being your daughter. But then little chats here and there at team get togethers. And then after not seeing her for a while and then she was on the tarmac last week and I couldn't look away. The top reason for me is because she's a beautiful person inside and out and I wanna do right by her."

Jason stayed quiet for a couple of minutes, absorbing Clay's words. He looked Clay in the eyes and spoke with a low tone. "If you break her heart, I'll break your head. Is that understood?"

Clay nodded his head in understanding. "Understood, sir. The last thing I want is to hurt Emma."

Jason stood up. "This stays between me, you and Emma. These guys have watched my kids grow up for the past however many years. Nothing gets said, until it needs to be said, because I will not have this team distracted because of your personal life."

"I agree, trust me. You finding out was stressful enough for us."

The fact that Clay was referring to himself and Emma as an 'us" had Jason sighing with discomfort.

Jason walked back to his hammock on the other side of the plane. He dropped his weight heavily into a seat and put his head in his hands.

"You still keeping whatever is going on between you and the kid in the dark or would you like to share with the class?" Jason popped his head up at the sound of Ray's voice.

"Nothings going on." Jason shoved his hands in his pockets and shut his eyes.

"Bull. You beat the kid into the ground during training yesterday and now you're having heated conversations in the corner. Somethings up."

Jason looked back at Clay's now sleeping form then back at Ray. "Something happened but it's fine now. If he walks the line and keeps his promise."

"And what promise is that?"

"Nothing that's necessary talking about right now."

"And if this mysterious promise isn't kept? Then what happens?

Jason thought about this question. He didn't necessarily know what he could really do if Clay ended up breaking Emma's heart. Sure, he could beat the shit out of him and enjoy doing it but kicking him off the team wouldn't be possible. No DRB would dismiss a member for that.

"Not really sure, I'll get back to you on that." Jason said.

Throughout the flight Jason poured over his thoughts and opinions of this newfound relationship between the youngest member of his team and his daughter. After searching his soul, he found himself to have made a bit of peace with it. He just worried about the awkward moments that lie ahead. Clay picking Emma up for dates. Or her calling to say she was staying the night with him. That was the one thing he found most difficult. While he loved his daughter, they didn't have the kind of father-daughter relationship that granted him talks about that part of her life. One part of him was sad about that but another part was happy to be oblivious to anything to do with it. His baby girl was an angel and his heart clenched when he thought about her saying that it was too late for him to have 'the talk' with her.

He knew Clay. He wasn't a caveman. Jason had seen him show proper respect to all women he had encountered. He just couldn't fathom the fact that this guy would eventually be behind a closed door with Emma. It would make any father clench their fist.

But he supposed that if he were to have anyone in his daughter's life. Having someone as honorable as a brother he ran into the fire with would be his first choice.