CHAPTER 64

ARRIVING LATE TO THE PARTY


"Oh God" Dianna grumbled as soon as she arrived in a dusty bus at a dusty parking lot, in front of a dusty Camp Larkin. "This looks sadder than the other Camp I was deployed with Echo" she grumbled again, to herself, and soldiers around her chuckled.

"Yeah, I imagine. And Camp Larkin just keeps getting worse" one of the soldiers said, they were already kind of friends with Dianna. They all came together, some of them for the first time, others were veterans of Afghanistan, and they all were in a bad mood, just as Dianna.

"Camp Larkin is the biggest one" a CIA analyst told in front of Dianna. It was her first time there too, and just like for Dianna, it would be her last. Camp Larkin was being dismantled.

"It is. It looks sad from the front, but the area is big, at least. DEVGRU teams are usually deployed to here" the soldier explained to the CIA girls. "With which team are you ladies working?" he asked.

"We're both with Bravo. They arrived a couple of weeks ago, a little over that. I had to stay behind to help out during a series of interrogations in Africa, for almost a month" Dianna explained. "In a ship" she grumbled, hating to remember about USS Keating. The soldiers made a disgusted face, everyone hated being deployed in ships.

"I'm arriving now because they requested another analyst, don't know why" Samantha let the soldiers know. Dianna imagined why she was being called, maybe Nick or someone else requested another CIA analyst to handle important intel so that Jessica wouldn't touch it. Dianna wasn't sure, because they were all talking a minimum to her, in case Jessica was accessing their phones illegally, somehow. She was missing Jason immensely, but she couldn't back down. They broke up.

Still, Dianna managed to ask Davis how Jason was doing, after all it's normal to be curious about an ex, so Davis gladly sent her some information about him. He was bored out of his mind because they had no important ops so far. She also told Dianna that unfortunately Jason was spending more and more time with Jessica, and that she needed to be prepared to seeing them together, a lot. Dianna knew Jason was purposely flirting with Jessica, but she felt shivers when she read those texts, they were too real, and too harsh.

When Dianna was urgently called to be sent to USS Keating, she and Jason had to quickly agree on some things. They decided Jason would try to find out about Jessica, and then the four of them, which were Jason, Nick, Davis and Dianna, would see if it was better to try to switch her loyalties or just expose her to the CIA.

And during the discussions that unraveled that day, Jason and Dianna unfortunately had no problem in finding a reason to break up, so he could flirt with Jessica: they wanted different things in life. Dianna wanted to have a family, kids, husband, the whole package, settle down in a few years. Jason already did that, and marriage didn't work out for him, while being Bravo One. So, there was no future there. They felt miserable, but parted in sort of a friendly way, but with a lot of awkwardness between them.

Dianna packed some bags and left for the USS Keating, and Jason went back to his apartment, then almost two weeks later he deployed to Camp Larkin, in Jelalabad, Afghanistan, with Bravo. Where Nick managed to request the assistance of Jessica.

It was a heartbroken way to finish their beautiful story, but both of them knew there was no reason for them to get back together. Neither of them was willing to change their minds.


"Hi guys" Dianna waved at the Bravo boys, entering their cabin, just after she dropped her bags in her cabin. The guys all stood up, they were playing videogame and cardboard games.

"Heeey" they loudly greeted her, and she gave them a hug. Dianna noticed Jason and Ray weren't there.

"Where's Ray?" Dianna asked, avoiding asking about Jason. The boys all knew that they broke up.

"He's outside running. I think Jason is with him" Clay answered, uncomfortable.

"Oh, that's ok. I'll try to find him, and say hello to Davis too" she explained, getting out of the cabin.

Dianna didn't know Camp Larkin, so she got a little lost and didn't find anyone. She ended up in front of the cafeteria and decided to get something to drink, then walk back to the Command Center that was on the other side, and where Davis would probably be.

But as soon as she stepped inside the cafeteria, she saw Jessica sitting in there, facing the entrance of the cafeteria, joyfully chatting. With Jason. That had his back to the entrance, so he didn't see Dianna.

She hesitated, but Jessica saw her, and she thought that maybe it would also be weird if she didn't greet her, even though she broke up with Jason. They had a friendly break up, and she actually missed seeing him, so Dianna smiled and made her way there. When she was almost arriving, Jessica smiled at her and Jason turned to see who was she smiling at.

"Dianna! Thought you were arriving only next week, from what Nick told me" Jessica friendly greeted her, more than usual. But since Venezuela, she always seemed more friendly when she occasionally saw Dianna at the CIA, a few times. Maybe she felt guilty, Dianna assumed.

"I finished earlier. You know me" Dianna said, standing next to their table. "Hi" she awkwardly greeted Jason, slightly smirking, who was watching them talk.

"Hey" he said, barely glancing at her and looking down at his plate. As if Dianna was interrupting their conversation. Her smirk vanished, and even Jessica felt uncomfortable.

"Davis is at the Command Center. Do you know where it is?" Jessica quickly said, trying to help Dianna out of the awkward situation, because Jason basically ignored her.

"Yes" Dianna answered, numb, then she nodded at Jessica and left, not even buying her drink.


"Girl! Yes, finally. I told Nick you'd come earlier" Davis cheerfully greeted Dianna, and Nick was walking to them too, happy. They both gave her a strong hug, wanting to know everything about the series of interrogations that Dianna performed for almost a month. She told them what she could, then in the end she pulled Davis a little to the side.

"Jason was rude to me. When I went to greet him and Jessica" she said, and she felt her voice coming out shaky. Davis frowned, and it made her more anxious. "Do you know why? I thought we parted in kind of good terms" Dianna said, confused.

But Davis was as confused as she was. "I don't know, I thought so too. Are you sure he was rude? Maybe he was acting weird because he needed to give attention to Jessica, and it would be awkward for him to do that in front of you given your history, you know?"

Dianna squirmed, but Davis was right. And to tell the truth, Dianna wasn't in the mood to watch Jason act all joyful with Jessica either, she was feeling miserable already, as it was.

"Maybe. Any news in that department?" Dianna quietly asked, looking sideways to see if someone was listening. Davis gestured with her head for them to go outside to talk about it.

"He says there's more to it" Davis quickly said, in reference to Jason, walking with Dianna towards the external gym. "That maybe she's not bad, she's being blackmailed or something like that. He said she sounds sincere, and that he would 'dig deeper' to find out what she's hiding" Davis gestured the quotes.

Dianna swallowed, anxious. "What does he mean, she's not bad? We were kidnapped because of her, Davis. Tortured. We almost died" she reminded her, and Davis nodded, agreeing.

"I know. I told him the same, but he said I needed to 'trust his gut' on this. I think that he even thinks that she's not a spy or the reason why we were kidnapped".

"What? That's absurd. What's going on, huh? Did she put a spell on him or something?" Dianna was exasperated, and gesticulating a lot. Davis had to gesture for her to calm down a little, and Dianna took a deep breath. She could cry.

Right at that moment, Jessica and Jason passed by them, talking and smiling, and he was accompanying Jessica to the Command Center. Dianna watched, in disbelief, while Jason took his hand from inside his pocket and placed it on Jessica's lower back while she was getting inside the room, with him following her. As if they were a couple going inside a restaurant. They didn't see the girl outside, but Dianna clearly saw what was going on.

"Oh my God, Davis. What have we done?" she mumbled, about to cry, blankly staring ahead.

Jason was being seduced by a spy.


Jason breathed in while he waited for her to answer the door of her cabin. He was a little nervous, but he was Bravo One, he could do this, easily, he kept repeating to himself.

"Oh. Hi" Jessica answered her door, wearing a large t-shirt and a wide smile. And nothing else. "What… are you doing here?" she asked, leaning on the door frame a little.

Jason looked behind him and sideways. "I wanted to talk to you" he said, anxious, and Jessica thought it was cute how Bravo One always acted a little nervous around her.

She smiled at him, affectionate. "Sure, come in. I was about to read a book before going to bed" she said, and she wasn't lying. "Can I get you something? I only have water" she chuckled.

Jason glanced around her cabin, still with his hands in the pockets of his puffy jacket.

"You said that maybe there was something going on here close to J-Bad. Something like a new terrorist cell" Jason quickly said, agitated.

Jessica gave him a crooked smile and sat on her bed, crossing her long legs. She knew what this was about.

"You're getting bored, huh" she said, already knowing him very well. She was talking to Jason everyday now, usually having lunch and dinner with him, and lately, breakfast too. They were getting along great, and he confessed to her how this draw-down was getting to him.

"Not just bored, Jess. I'm dying here" Jason loudly said, agitated. "I've been fighting this war for this long, almost two decades, for what? For us to just be friends with Taleban all over again? Why did I ruin my marriage for, huh?" he sounded desperate.

"I know how you feel. Like I told you, for almost two decades I'm also fighting the terrorists, and it cost me my marriage too. The custody of my son. But maybe this is a sign that our work actually was worth something, right? To bring peace" she affectionately said to him, and Jason exhaled. She was right, in a way.

"Still. I need to keep my mind occupied. Please tell me all you know. Maybe Davis could work with something like that" Jason asked, calmer now.

Jessica sighed, crossing her legs to the other side, and Jason blinked, still standing up in front of her.

"You know that I'm not linked to Bravo anymore. Or any DEVGRU team. Thanks to your ex, I lost my position with you guys, so the intel I get, I hand it to the CIA and they decide which team will act on it" Jessica calmly explained to him, and Jason squirmed.

"Dianna is an interrogator. It's Nick who is the agent that took your spot back then" Jason reminded her, leaning on the wall but still facing her.

"You don't have to defend her, Jace. I know she was the one who chose who she wanted to work with" Jessica said, raising an eyebrow, and Jason swallowed.

"It wasn't exactly like that, no" Jason tried to explain, pouting.

Jessica stood up, taking a couple of steps towards Jason, and he looked at her up and down. Her white t-shirt was a bit see-through with the lamp turned on next to her, and he could see she wasn't wearing any bra underneath it. He wasn't sure about the panties either.

"What are you doing here, Jace?" Jessica suddenly asked, smirking at him and standing close to him. Jason breathed hard, and kept quiet.

"I told you, I need something to occupy my mind" he finally said, blinking and not moving.

Jessica chuckled. "I like you, Jason. You know that. I like our conversations" she said, crossing her arms.

Jason smirked at her. "Me too. You understand me, Jess. It's nice to talk to someone who also can't stand still" he chuckled, and she chuckled with him.

"Yeah. I can't. I get bored easily too. But I have my methods to fight it" Jessica said, smiling, and Jason smirked at her.

She casually took off her t-shirt in front of him, and Jason could barely notice that she was completely naked in front of him and she kissed him, squeezing Jason against the wall. Jason raised his arms, not sure what to do, and pushed her back from the lips, to not touch her body. But Jessica understood he was kissing him back, so she wrapped her arms around his neck, and wrapped one of her legs around his hip.

"Jess" Jason mumbled, turning his head to stop the kiss, and he grabbed her by the waist to gently make her distance her body from his. "Wait" he said, desperate, and she finally stopped kissing him and stood still, in front of him.

"What's wrong? Don't you want me?" she asked, confused. It wasn't the first time he got into her cabin, but it was the first time he was there at night. It was 9PM and he invented some lame excuse to be there.

"I do. Oh, I do. Yes" Jason stuttered, grazing his hand on his beard. He looked down, because Jessica was still standing naked in front of him. "I just. Sorry. I just don't want to have sex with you as a rebound after Dianna" he exhaled, feeling vulnerable. "I really like you, I think we should take it slow" he explained, and grabbed her t-shirt on the floor, handing it to her, without looking at her.

"Oh" Jessica felt ashamed, but it felt nice at the same time. He admitted he was interested in her for more than sex. She quickly wore her t-shirt back, and Jason finally turned to see her again.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come here at night. It was my fault. I was just really anxious about that intel. Maybe we can talk tomorrow, then?" Jason said, blushing, and Jessica smirked at him and nodded. "Ok then" he said, and quickly walked to the door. "We'll talk tomorrow. 8AM?"

Jessica walked to the door with him. "Ok. Deal" she said, and he smiled back at her while opening the door, and he quickly walked out, while Jessica watched him leave, smirking. Jason breathed in, closing his eyes, relieved that he managed to avoid Jessica.

But right in front of him, there was his ex watching all of it, horrified.


Dianna was calmly walking to her cabin, with a diet coke can in hand, when she saw Jason smiling at Jessica and leaving her cabin, at night. She could perfectly see that Jessica, also smiley, was naked underneath the white t-shirt, because the light of a lamp close to her was on, and she was fixing the collar of her t-shirt, pulling her hair from under it, as if she had just put back on the t-shirt. Jason finally turned and left the cabin, and he breathed in, with his eyes closed and smiling and looking down. Happy. Satisfied.

She was so shocked with that image that she just stood there, paralyzed and holding her can, and when Jason finally looked up he almost bumped into her. His smug smirk immediately faded and he slightly opened his mouth, looking guilty as hell. Dianna also had her mouth open, because her chin dropped, and she kept staring at him, feeling her eyes fill with tears, but before that, she also could see that his lips were slightly shining, because he had lip balm on his lips. Jessica's lip balm, that were slightly pink. Jason quickly turned back and saw that Jessica was still watching them, from her door. He turned back at Dianna and walked pass by her, but stared at her, serious. He slightly shook his head, for her to know that nothing happened, but Dianna didn't see that. She was already looking down and walking fast to her cabin. She barely found her key in the pocket of her jeans and unlocked the cabin, and started to cry as soon as she walked inside.

She also continued to walk until she reached her bathroom. She quickly knelt in front of the toilet and threw up, because she thought that was the most disgusting thing that Jason could ever do to her. Ever. She quickly reminded when she threw up after Will, aka Dead Guy, jerked off in her apartment.

Dianna leaned her back on the wall, still sitting on the floor and holding her knees, and couldn't stop crying for at least an hour. "He looks like the type of guy that breaks a woman's heart", her mom told her, in that hallucination. Of course, it was Dianna telling that to herself. And she ignored her own consciousness. He broke her heart so many times that she couldn't even count. But she took her time and started to count, it was about time. She shouldn't have postponed that list.

First, he accused Dianna of being the one responsible for having a stalker, right after they had sex the first time, just because she didn't want to go home with him immediately. What a gentleman.

Then, the classic one, when Jason heard some lame gossip and didn't hear a word she said to him, when she was acting incredibly vulnerable and confessing that she wanted to be with him but couldn't sign the papers, and he just decided that she was a player and, apparently, a slut.

After that, he fooled around, slept and dated his own doctor, rubbing in Dianna's face when she came back, even after he found out that she left to train and join the CIA, her dream job. Again, such a gentleman.

The list continued, Dianna bitterly reminded herself. Because he kept asking to get another chance with her, without breaking up with his own girlfriend first. That's how much he wanted her back, not willing to stay single for even a day unless he was sure Dianna would take him back. And idiot that she was, she forgave him in less than a week.

Not long ago, Jason let her know that it was ridiculous of her to think about owning or renting a house now, because after all, for him, she wouldn't want to marry or have kids for the next ten years, at least. He had it all, a loving wife, two kids, many friends, all before he was thirty, but for her to even want that, is ludicrous. Probably, he thought that she had to choose between career and personal life, she couldn't have both, because there's no way that she would find a husband that would help her out in a house or with kids. Like Jason had Alana to help him. Of course, it meant that Jason would never be that guy, if he even wanted to marry and have some sort of family with Dianna. And she's not even thinking about kids, just the marriage would be enough, for now.

That was confirmed right before Dianna left for her deployment to the USS Keating, because she perfectly remembered the conversation they had back then, almost a month ago.

"We need to come up with a reason to break up. Jessica probably knows we're solid for a while now, Dianna" Jason told her back then, agitated.

Dianna swallowed, and decided to take advantage of the opportunity to extract information from Jason, which she was great at.

"We could say you cheated on me" she tried, and Jason turned to her, offended.

"Everyone knows I'm faithful, always. Besides, it would harm my reputation, no thanks" Jason grumbled, annoyed.

Dianna swallowed again, relieved with his answer, but still nervous.

"Maybe… because we want different things in life?" she suggested, watching him attentively. Jason turned to her again, pouting.

"Like what" he asked, not very convinced.

"Like" she licked her lips, to disguise her anxiousness, "That I want to have a family, be married, maybe kids. You know, a 'normal' life, and you don't, you've done that before" she suggested to him.

Jason pouted, pensive.

"It could work" he said, and Dianna's heart broke into a million pieces. "I mean, that's a solid reason to break up when a guy is divorced, or widowed. I think she would easily believe that" he said, looking excited at Dianna. "And this way we don't have to be mean to each other, right? We could still talk to each other during deployment, and kinda be friends" he said, joyful.

Dianna made a huge effort and smiled at him. "Yeah. You're right" she said.

And with that sad discovery, Dianna just had time to pack some bags and Jason drove her to the airport, giving her a farewell kiss still inside the car, so that no one would see it. It would be the last one they would share in a long time, and they both knew it.

Now Dianna was having a feeling that that kiss probably was their last one, ever.

.