CHAPTER 13

JASON COLLECTS HIS REWARD – 5x14

You have to fight just as hard inside the wire as you do outside.

Jason gave the whole team that advice and yet he didn't even follow it when it mattered.

But now he was going to fight as hard as he could for his own happiness. Because he understood, finally, that he deserved to be happy, and he was worthy of love.

His fight wasn't going to be an easy one, because he knew he broke Mandy's heart in a selfish way, and she was right if she never wanted to see or talk to him again. But he had to try, he had to fight. If there was even a slim chance, he couldn't let her escape.

So he found out her address and drove to her house, it was a couple of hours from his place. He parked his truck and he thought that Mandy's house was just like a dream cottage, white picket fence and all. Even though years ago she said that she didn't need a full white picket fence dream family. Maybe she decided that she wanted that after all.

He was feeling as nervous now as he was when he knocked at her room in J-Bad; but now Jason was a focused person, and had his demons under control. He was healing.

"What are you doing here? How did you find me?" Mandy answered her door, shocked to see him. She crossed her arms, confused. She had some makeup on and looked healthy. Her hair was shiny. And he thought she looked beautiful as always.

"Well you're not the only spook friend I've made in this war" Jason stated. She laughed at him, she missed him so much. He looked great, calm and collected, and charming as usual.

Mandy said that that wasn't the best time, she had book club in a few minutes. Jason thought she was making that up. "Really?"

She stared at him, and smirked "What do you want?"

"Look, the way that things went down between the two of us, it's just not sitting well"

"We were having fun, until you weren't" She disregarded, but could still remember all the pain she felt from how he treated her.

"I was being tortured with a lot of things that had nothing to do with you"

"You wouldn't let me help" she almost interrupted him.

He felt guilty about how upset she must've been feeling. He exhaled. "I just didn't want to put all that stuff on you, you know? Have you become collateral damage"

"So we're back in J-Bad and you need help picking up the pieces?" she bluntly asked. She would never go back to being his hotel fling. Her heart would never recover from that.

"No, it's on me to pick up the pieces. I owe it to the people who care about me to do that"

"That's good" she smiled. At least he was trying to fight his demons, it seemed.

"I also owe it to myself to fight for what I want" he added, staring at her.

Mandy had to laugh, he was really charming, but it didn't work on her anymore. "Hum, I think I've had my share of nights in Rehoboth for a lifetime".

He came closer to her and gathered courage, "Well, I want more than that with you".

She was shocked and couldn't hide it. She was ready to let him go when she opened the door and saw him. She thought that, at best, he wanted to regain her friendship. Now his brown eyes seemed sincere and affectionate.

They kept staring at each other, while Mandy gathered her thoughts, when some of her friends from the book club showed up. She didn't have the time for this right now, it was too unexpected. "I have to go, I'm sorry" and closed the door.

Jason couldn't hide the disappointment on his face from her reaction to what he said. But she had every right to shut him down, he knew that. He got back to his truck and drove home, feeling empty and stupid. But he didn't regret coming after her now; he regretted letting her go that night at the hotel. It seems that he really missed his chance with her. He just spent the next hours drinking in the darkness of his apartment, feeling sorry for himself.

…

Mandy couldn't stop thinking about Jason and what he told her that afternoon. She wanted to believe him and then make a decision, because if he truly wanted her, all in, she wouldn't think twice about taking him back. She tried to forget about him and move on for all these last months, as she tried that for years before; it didn't work. But the thing is she still didn't have all the information she needed to make an informed decision. She needed to talk to him and figure things out then. He had to tell her everything and convince her that he was worth it. She knew she deserved at least that from him.

…

When Jason opened his apartment door, thinking it was Emma, his heart almost got out of his chest. It seemed that he still had a chance of getting Mandy after wall, because she was at his doorstep, looking cautious but determined.

"You drove all this way. That means you like me" Jason threw his charm at her as soon as she opened the door, so it would hit her like a slap in the face.

It didn't work as fast as he thought, though. "Slow your roll, I've got a question", Mandy cut him off, not amused by his ego.

"You could've called"

"Interrogations are more effective in person".

He immediately asked her to come in, hoping he could convince her to take him back.

"Been in hutches in J-Bad with more charm" Mandy couldn't disguise her reaction to the sadness of Jason's place. No wonder he hated staying here on his re-entries.

"What damaged were you talking about in my place?" she went straight to the point, she needed to know.

"My head, mostly. TBI"

Jason's words took the air off Mandy's lungs. She knew exactly what TBI was, and she just felt sorry for him. She understood him now, she knew him well enough to know that finding out he had TBI was one of the worst things that could happen to Jason. She asked him if that's why he pulled away.

"There's that, and also all of the terrible shit that I've seen and done during this terrible war, made me think that I didn't deserve happily ever after" he said honestly to Mandy.

"And now?"

"Maybe being with you is my reward for all the blood and the trauma", he answered emotional, looking at her and feeling very vulnerable.

Mandy was moved and couldn't hide her happiness "You should have used that line on my doorstep", she teased, smiling.

Jason's heart filled with joy by Mandy's answer, "Well, you were rushing me" he joked at her. She ran to him and kissed him, and he took her in his arms, noticing how much he missed her.

As usual, his phone interrupted their moment, and Mandy immediately told him to go to the team; they had plenty of time later to catch up.

…

When Jason found out that the team was called for another urgent op and that they would leave as soon at 1200 the next day, he didn't want to waste any time enjoying the few hours he had left in the U.S, especially because the mission could take some time. But he also wanted to spend time with Emma. So he called Mandy even before leaving base to see if she would want to go to dinner with him, and they could call Emma and Brad to join them. Mandy was waiting at his place, and immediately accepted. He even said that they should go to that place that she always talked about, La Mer, that was in his neighborhood. "Jason but it's french cuisine. Are you sure? Maybe we can go to some other place where you like the food" Mandy was happy that he immediately thought of including her in his family dinner.

"No, let's go there. You were always going to that taco place, also, I want to try out this restaurant you love so much. And Emma would love to go there, I know" He answered smiling. "I'll call Emma and see if they can join us there. I'm almost at the apartment".

So there they were, all four of them at that chic restaurant. Jason even wore a blazer for the occasion. He and Mandy were already sitting at the restaurant when Emma and Brad arrived; Mandy obviously knew someone important at the restaurant, as usual, so they sat them at a great table.

Mandy was feeling a bit nervous, even though she already knew Emma for years, but she gave Mandy a tight hug as soon as she came, and Brad was a very easy going person, so they all got along great. Emma could see how happy and relaxed her dad was with Mandy, as she hadn't seen him in many years, and it was nice how protective they were of each other. Her dad needed to be taken care of by someone. Mandy and Emma were already making arrangements about Stella's baby shower that was going to happen the next day, they had both received a text from Stella inviting them, so they would help to organize the party with Naima and buy some stuff together. The only person that was still a bit uncomfortable was Brad, but that's because he was already nervous around Jason, and now Mandy seemed very protective about Emma as well. But apparently, as Jason and Mandy let him know vaguely, as long as he treated Emma well, he would never be harmed, or disappear, or lose a limb. Maybe those weren't their exact words, but Brad got their message loud and clear. Emma reassured him that they were kidding. Probably.

…

Jason and Mandy left the restaurant after Emma and Brad and she was walking towards Jason's truck, but he held her hand and pulled her closer, holding her and kissing her in front of the restaurant. She teased him "Hmm, why's that all about?"

"Just wanted to kiss you and show you off. That you are officially taken."

Mandy blushed "You mean, that I'm yours?"

"Well, if you don't mind putting it this way, then yeah. You're mine" Jason smiled.

"Where have I heard that before?" Mandy giggled, and made Jason blush. She never misses anything, huh, he thought.

…

They arrived at his place and Jason walked to his small kitchen to offer Mandy a drink or something, to help her relax. She accepted a whiskey, but not because she wanted to relax, but because she wanted him to drink too, and now that they were 'official', she wanted to loosen his tongue a little and charmingly interrogate him without his knowledge. She was too curious to wait. And she was good at her job.

They sat on the couch, facing each other. Jason kept staring at her, obviously having some naughty thoughts, so she took advantage of it.

"So… we've known each other for many years" she started guiding the conversation.

"Yeah" he took a sip of his whiskey, raising an eyebrow.

"Was there any specific moment where you wanted to, you know, have me?"

He almost choked with his drink.

"I mean, obviously after you were separated, or divorced, you know" she quickly continued, now almost regretting her question, "And that's okay if you never saw me in that way before J-Bad as well, it's just that, you know, sometimes you were very flirty with me" she noticed that her interrogation techniques were not as well applied when she tried them with Jason, apparently his playful brown eyes made her thinking a little confusing. She was just blabbing, so she took a sip of her whiskey to just shut up.

Jason was feeling too amused by her direct question. She was obviously losing her interrogator touch.

"Well, yeah" Jason just answered, not shy at all. Then he took another long sip of his drink, while she waited for him to continue developing the answer. "Oh, you want me to tell you specifically when it was? Because you just asked if there were any moments", he teased her, gesticulating.

She smiled at him and tried to regain control of the conversation "I was just asking that to tease you, you don't need to feel awkward about it" she said, feeling absolutely awkward about it.

Jason suddenly put his glass at the coffee table and sat closer to her, putting his hand on her leg and caressing it "I don't mind the question at all. I just thought that maybe it was easier if I refreshed your memory". He smirked at her and took her glass and put on the coffee table.

Mandy was very aware of her pathetic lack of reaction as he took her hand and made her stand up.

…

"Hmm, where do I begin?" Jason said, in a husky voice, teasing her "You see, there was that time when Clay went with us as a strap, to help capture that Abu Samir guy", Mandy remembered that mission, it was one of the biggest ones that she organized, and they found out there was an american hostage with him, so her rescue turned into a priority, but Jason did everything to get Abu Samir as well.

Jason switched places with a confused Mandy at the sofa, making her sit on the left side while he sat on the right. He only then continued, "You showed me how important it was to capture that guy alive, so you could dismantle an entire network, and I made everything I could to bring him to you, still breathing, but we couldn't", he caressed her cheek, "Then at the end of that op, I sat right beside you, like this, feeling really bad that I disappointed you, but you reassured me how important were the team's accomplishments that day, because we rescued that woman from endless suffering, and we erased from the face of the Earth a horrible man. You were trying so hard to make me feel good about what happened".

Mandy remembered that moment, she felt guilty about the way he kept apologizing to her for not bringing the terrorist alive.

"And this is one of those moments that I really wanted to have you, like this" Jason stated, kissing her passionately.

All of a sudden, he took her blouse off, then his shirt. Then he grabbed her hips and made her stand up in front of him; he slid down her pants, took them off, then took her hands, making her sit on his lap.

He started kissing her body, taking her bra off. Mandy was loving every second of it, imagining him doing it to her at the plane – while it was empty, of course.

He raised his hip a little, with Mandy still sat on top of him – which demands a lot of strength, Mandy noticed – and pulled his pants and boxers off. He entwined his finger at her delicate navy panties, and looked at her, asking for permission. "I don't mind these" Mandy immediately let him know, understanding what he wanted, and even though this was actually an expensive piece of underwear, she preferred his idea. So he just ripped out her panties, slightly hurting her skin but leaving her dizzy with desire. He lifted her hip and very slowly put her down on his erection, making a deep humming sound, while Mandy shuddered of pleasure.

"I really missed you" Jason confessed against her lips, loving the sensation of being inside of her again, his rough hands squeezing her buttocks.

She wrapped her arms around him and teased "Is this how you imagined it?"

"No" he honestly answered "This is better than I imagined"

She blushed and clenched around him while she moved up and down slowly, shivering uncontrollably, then after a while Jason grabbed her hips and laid her on the couch on her back, and he was on top of her, admitting "...and this couch is way more comfortable for my body than the bench on that plane", he added, laughing, and Mandy joined him laughing, she truly missed his playfulness.

He kissed while he thrust hard inside of her, keeping his body very close to hers, and when Mandy was close to reaching her orgasm, he slowed down, almost stopping completely, and Mandy whined, but he didn't care.

"Did you feel it too?" he asked her, with a husky voice, kissing her neck.

"Feel what?" she was gasping, and had no idea what he was talking about.

"That day. Did you want me too?" he stared back at her, thrusting into her slowly, very slowly now. He couldn't hide his insecurity, but he was curious to know.

Mandy smiled and caressed his stubble "You're making the same face now as you did that day. Just some extra wrinkles now" she teased.

He laughed, but kept thrusting slowly "You didn't answer my question".

"I'm sorry. Don't I want you now?" she giggled, then she purposely started contracting her walls around him, rhythmically, stroking his member with some technique that blew Jason's mind.

Jason was feeling her pulsating in waves around him, and he looked at her speechless, mouth open.

"Well?" Mandy called him; he was so close to coming, in a matter of seconds.

Jason started thrusting inside of her fast and hard, holding one hand at the arm of the sofa, and the feeling of her around him, tightening in waves and pulses, was making him lose his mind "Fuck, Mandy" he was gasping "I can't" he couldn't finish a sentence, and stared at her, she was smiling at him with those playful emerald eyes. He took his fingers and pressed her clit, rubbed it, flicked it, he didn't even know what the hell he was doing, he just wanted her to come with him, he was so close.

Mandy was gasping and couldn't keep herself from moaning loudly, feeling his desperation, and she was so close to coming. But she wasn't holding anything back now, she was biting his ear and pulling his hair, pulsating and clenching around him, she wanted him to suffer of pleasure too, as he did to her before.

Jason was shivering and groaning now "Please Mandy", pleading her to come but also to don't stop, he finally felt her clenching hard around him, so hard, and saw her shut her eyes and stop breathing, and immediately he came inside of her, in one deep thrust, they both almost screaming together.

They were both breathless, hearts racing, sweating, and speechless for minutes.

When they could breathe again, they looked at each other smiling happily for their accomplishment, but soon enough they noticed they had a confused and furry spectator staring at them from the kitchen, the hair-missile himself, Cerberus.