CHAPTER 20

YEMEN

Everyone at the plane was really excited about getting deployed again. Not that they wouldn't miss their families and loved ones, but because they were just happy to be doing something else other than training soldiers from other countries. All the guys missed the adrenaline, and Dianna and Jessica were just happy to have something to do.

Davis and Jason, on the other hand, were sitting apart from the others, catching up and looking concerned, both of them with their hands in the pockets.

"Can't you tell me something before the briefing?" Jason asked, concerned.

Davis looked down. "Waiting for an update. I'll brief you all soon, I promise. The intel should be confirmed in the next hour".

Jason kept quiet a few seconds. "Can't even tell me country?" he tried, biting his thumb.

Davis sighed. "Yemen".

Jason looked at her. "What the fuck is in Yemen?"

"Trouble" Davis answered, mysteriously. "But what I can tel you is this will be a job mostly for our interrogators", Davis added, looking at Dianna and Jessica, sitting next to each other. They were talking to the guys, and seemed to be getting along.

Jason stopped biting his thumb and grazed his stubble with his hand. "I don't like it. I have a bad feeling". Jason rarely saw cases in which a DEVGRU team only provided escort and security to CIA agents and interrogators while they questioned assets and prisoners. They were all urgent and ended up being high risk, a lot more than anticipated before.

"Yeah. Me too". Davis admitted. She watched Jason gazing at Dianna, then she cleared her throat, changing the subject to something lighter.

"So" Davis started, poorly disguising a naughty smile, "you and Dianna suddenly disappeared from the bar".

Jason disguised his smile too, not looking at Davis. "Yeah, Dianna was tired. You know, from the things that happened the day before" he lied, because they told Davis everything that Will did and she knew that Dianna was staying at his house. Dianna asked to be the one telling the team guys what happened, and she would leave out the part about what exactly Will did inside of her apartment.

"I'm sure she got tired" Davis now was naughtily smiling. She turned to him. "Just remember that if things escalate, you both need to fill all those endless relationship forms. She's a civilian, but still work with the Navy".

Jason looked down. He knew that, he made his research. The problem was if Dianna wanted to be in a relationship with him. He knew she was close to Davis by now, so he clumsily tried to extract some information from her. "Why are you telling me this? You know something I don't?"

Davis laughed. "Nice try. But no, she's very private about those things. But to be honest, she mentioned to me still in Bogota that she didn't date co-workers, because she liked some time apart and being more independent. Of course, she said that to me because I asked her what she thought of Brock" Davis chuckled.

Jason kept looking down, and he didn't know what to think about that piece of information.

Davis knew Jason for years, and she knew he was a lot softer than he let people know. He married his high school sweetheart, after all. But he also had the tendency of pushing people away when something bad happened, or if his ego got hurt. So she thought it would be best if he acted a little more cautious with Dianna.

"Look. It's not easy to have a relationship with a co-worker, Jason. You've only worked in two ops with her so far. And in half of these times you and Dianna nearly killed each other during a very public and dramatic fight" Davis reminded Jason, and he glanced at her, stern. She raised her shoulders, "Maybe, I don't know, you should take things slower with her. First. And see how you guys work together this time, and during deployment. Then decide on something", she advised.

Jason knew she was right, but he also knew that he skipped a few steps with Dianna, because he already spent a lot of time alone with her, and in the same house, on top of that. They shared moments of tension and angst. And he wanted her, bad. But he also knew that their job was really stressful and he could never know how they'd react again, so he nodded. He was about to say something, when the plane phone made a beeping sound, and Davis immediately got up to answer it. She looked at Jason, stern, then turned to Blackburn, who was alone on the other area of the plane and nodded at him, who nodded back. Jason stood up because he knew, it was time for the briefing.

"Ok guys, so listen up" Blackburn clapped his hands together, while everyone gathered around the central area of the plane, where they had the computers, phones and maps.

"This last Friday, at about 1530 hours, local time, in a tribal area in north Yemen, the convoy of the U.S. Ambassador Nicole Marsden was attacked at a local street, near the market, after she left a public reunion she held with a local tribe leader. Yesterday, the CIA agents were able to identify two of the guys who helped on her kidnapping, and this morning, with the help of the Navy seals that were handling the security there, they could get them for questioning. They are being held at the outpost of the U.S. Embassy, and your job is to secure the outpost and interrogate the prisoners, to find out what you can about the site where the Ambassador is being held and who kidnapped her. They suspect of an armed militia that is enemy of the local tribe leader that Ambassador Marsden was reuniting with at the day she was taken. The thing is, after five years of civil war in that country, there are a few tribes fighting to initiate another civil war in there. So… good luck. We'll arrive there in about four hours".

Jason talked to the guys for a while about the op, then made his way to where Dianna was laying on the bench, on her side, with her coat under her head, with sleepy eyes. She was definitely uncomfortable.

"Told you to sleep at my place when you had the chance" he stood up in front of her, teasing.

She blinked. "But if I didn't go to my place I wouldn't have this jacket to put under my head" she joked, opening a sleepy smile.

He chuckled, then sat next to her head and held her head up, taking her jacket and making her head rest on his thigh. She accepted the upgrade, but mumbled, "But how will you sleep? You must be tired too".

He covered her arms with her jacket and slightly touched a lock of her dark hair, then he stopped and looked away. "I sleep anywhere. Don't worry". He waited until she fell asleep to watch Dianna for a while. A few hours earlier, she gambled her career so that he wouldn't risk his. Even if she wasn't interested in him, Jason would protect her anyway he could.

"I told you to lay down" Dianna said, annoyed, to Jason. "How can you be so stubborn?"

"I don't understand why you're making such a fuss about it. I just have some light muscular tension on my back. It'll go away" Jason said, gesticulating and muffling a grunt, while discreetly caressing his back. His lower back and side were aching, all the way to his hip, and he thought he was disguising it well, but not enough for Dianna, apparently. She noticed his pain as soon as he got up and watched him as he made his way from the plane to their jeeps, and now he moaned a little coming out of the jeep, walking to the U.S. outpost.

"Look, we'll get in there and all I have to do is watch you guys interrogate some dudes, so I'll put some special lotion on it or something, and I'll be good as new, ok?" he stated, annoyed.

Dianna looked at him, walking beside him. "Fine. But I'll keep an eye on you".

"Not much to do there, Dianna-mama. He's reaching that age by now. The 'right before retirement' age" Sonny passed by them, mocking Jason, because he heard their conversation. Jason gave him a killer stare, and they walked into the building.

Dianna glanced at him. "Are you really that old?"

Jason looked at her, indignant. "What? How old do you think I am?"

She raised her shoulders. "I don't know, I thought you were like 40, 41. But everyone keeps teasing you about your age".

He looked at her for a while, then looked down. "They think that Seals are not supposed to last too long. We either get seriously injured or dead. So they just tease me about retiring" he explained, annoyed.

Dianna was annoyed too. "Well, if they knew better, they'd be Bravo One, right? I mean, if you're still efficiently leading and operating, being at the top of your game, I don't understand why you should retire, unless you want to".

Jason glanced at her and smiled, feeling a lot better. It was nice to have someone defending him.

Jessica and Dianna talked about the case still at the plane, and agreed they'd do the interrogations together, with Jessica leading the questioning but Dianna being free to ask any questions to the prisoners, because they didn't really have much information about them. Jessica admitted to finally googling Dianna, and also admitted she was very impressed. But made it clear that she was still the first interrogator and, at least on that case, she wanted to lead. Dianna saw no problem with that and agreed, as long as she was free to ask questions too. This way, she knew she was free to observe more attentively the prisoners reactions and mannerisms.

They decided to talk to the CIA agent and the three Navy Seals who captured the rebels first, also to understand what really happened during the kidnapping of Ambassador Marsden, and what intel they got so far. Jason, Ray and Clay joined them.

Dianna pouted when they heard pretty much the same thing they already knew and was on the file they read. She looked at Jessica, and she was pouting too. She glanced to the other side, and the guys were pouting.

"Look" Dianna tried to see if she missed something. "Let me confirm what you're telling us then. So, the rebels attacked the vehicle Ambassador Marsden was in right after she left the very public reunion she had with the tribe leader, taking her and killing one of the two Seals that were escorting her. An 'undercover' CIA agent that was publicly watching everything nearby saw it all happening, and could get a photo of the plates of the cars that ambushed Marsden right in front of the market, and those cars were found parking in front of the house of one of the guys you captured. Then you guys" she pointed at the two Seals in front of her "went there and found the guy who owned that house, and with him was another guy, and they both had the Ambassador's watch and necklace at the coffee table. Right in front of them. Where they were talking. When you guys broke into the house" she finished, and the CIA agent and the Seals nodded, and raised their shoulders.

"Yeah, that's what we just told you" the CIA agent answered Dianna. "And why did you" then he gestured the quotation marks, "when you said I was undercover?"

Dianna stared at him, a blue-eyed, pale skin, light blonde hair, very tall, CIA agent. Everyone kept silent until he understood what she meant.

"It's just a little too perfect, huh" Jason added, in case someone still didn't get what Dianna meant with her summary of the events. He glanced at the Navy Seals, they were a bit uncomfortable too. And they wanted revenge for their brother. They weren't a DEVGRU team, but they were Navy's elite, and Jason liked them.

Jason and Dianna looked at each other, and he understood her look. Something was odd, and he felt it too. So, he asked Ray and Clay to check the security in and around the outpost, with the other guys from Bravo, and Jason and two of the Seals geared up and joined Dianna and Jessica to the room where they were keeping the prisoners. They'd interrogate them to find out something more.

Jessica took the lead during questioning, as they agreed. Both of the prisoners spoke English. They started interrogating the brother-in-law of the owner of the house. Jessica made the standard questions, and the guy started to say, distraught, that he didn't know anything, when she only asked him three questions. It was too fast, Dianna thought, and she glanced at Jason, who was seated next to her, against the wall of the room. He glanced at her too, stern.

Jessica, however, felt confident, and raised her voice a bit.

"You see, if you don't speak what you do know, you'll spend the rest of your life in a small jail, in the shadow, shivering of cold" she dramatically said. And the guy dramatically reacted, telling her a lot of things. Like almost the exact address of where Marsden was being held.

Jessica looked at Jason, with a victorious expression, but he was looking at Dianna. He got up and walked out of the room, and Dianna quickly followed him.

"Jason, you can't be serious. It's obviously an ambush" she tried to walk to where he was, but his footsteps were double the size of hers. And he wasn't stopping, his back pain was suddenly gone. She stopped walking, and sighed. "Jason" she called him with a low voice, and he stopped after a couple more steps, and turned to her.

"He gave an address. You know I have to check that. I don't have a choice". He told her, reasonable, but his face was concerned. He was concerned because he'd have to take almost the whole team with him, risking their lives too. The guy said there were at least four armed men guarding the captivity site.

She swallowed, and walked slowly to him. "I know. It's just…" she didn't finish the sentence, because Jason turned and kept walking. "Be careful. Please" she yelled to him, and he turned quickly to glance at her, and disappeared, calling the team from the hallway.

He couldn't let Dianna come too close to him, or he was afraid of not thinking straight about what he had to do. He had to check the place, so he left her. Jason asked Ray and Clay to stay back at the outpost, just in case, with two of the Seals, who knew the outpost well. The other Seal went with Jason, because he knew his way around the streets there. Since Bravo Team also had Full Metal now, who joined them at the plane, they were going to the rescue of the Ambassador, if that was really the case, with a team of six heavily armed men. He briefed Davis, who was at the airport in the plane, and she felt it was all very awkward too. She sent a drone and the place really was guarded by two visible men, but she couldn't know on the inside how many were there. But the mission was on, they needed to go there, at least to check it out.

At the outpost, Dianna insisted they should interrogate the other prisoner, even though Jessica wanted to make him wait, so he'd 'feel nervous'. But Dianna insisted again and Jessica finally agreed.

The prisoner sat down and Jessica started to ask him the basic questions, asking exactly the same questions as she did to the other guy. Right at the beginning, he wasn't saying anything, but again, when Jessica asked a third question, he was also talkative, saying he didn't know anything. Dianna meddled in the interrogation, going completely out of the rules when she let it 'slip' some information about the other prisoner. "Well, your brother-in-law also didn't know anything, and he ended up very talkative, huh" Dianna dangerously said, and the guy kept quiet and relaxed a bit. She noticed it perfectly. Jessica didn't see it, and she touched Dianna's arm, to shut her up. But she needed to confirm her doubts.

"Well, I hope he wasn't lying, because our guys took him with them to make sure he was telling the truth" and the prisoner had an alarmed face for a second, but then he looked out and looked down. As if he was resigned. Dianna now was confused again, and changed the words, to watch his reaction.

"But we need to be sure of the address. So if you cooperate and tell us where the Ambassador is being held, our Seals will take you with them too, to make sure neither of you is lying. Understood?" Dianna was almost whispering at him, with a dangerous voice, but because she was also trying to disguise the despair she was feeling, because she was sure something was wrong.

The guy took a second. Then looked at her, and raised his shoulders. He looked relieved. He finally said, "He wasn't lying. And I'm not lying too. I can go with them and show them the place".

Dianna was gobsmacked with his answer, and she didn't hesitate for a second when she ran out of the room, while yelling at a confused Jessica. "They're attacking here, take everyone downstairs. Now!"

"What" Jessica jogged to her, now desperate too. "How do you know?"

Dianna continued to run, and just yelled "He prefers to take a chance being with Bravo than with us. Because with us he'll die with the bombing, and with Bravo they'd just keep him imprisoned"

Dianna ran as fast as she could until she reached the security room where Clay was. "They're attacking here. Probably with missiles. The biggest ambush is not for Bravo, it's for us. Gather everyone, call Ray and make a plan, we need to go downstairs, now!"

Clay's face turned white and he immediately called Ray on the comms. Bravo Two was outside with the other two Seals, and the guys saw some movement right at that instant, on the street. Some big vehicles approaching. They knew they'd be overtaken if they used missiles, so they ran back o the second building, to protect a smaller area of the outpost and the dozen people from the US Embassy, Dianna and Jessica, as well as the CIA agent, that were inside. Clay was running like crazy upstairs to help the other guys and protect the second building. They got ready to fire some shots from the second building.

In the meantime, Dianna grabbed the satellite phone that was with Clay, to call Davis at the plane.

"Havoc, this is Blackbird. They're coming here. At the outpost. The ambush is for us. Probably missiles or bombing. Call Bravo to come back, now"

Davis didn't even wait for Dianna to finish her sentence, and she grabbed the comms next to her.

"All Bravo stations, this is Havoc. Blackbird found out the ambush is at the outpost. Probably missile incoming or heavy bombing. Make your way back immediately".

Jason looked at Trent, that was driving one of the vehicles, and he immediately hit the breaks, as well as Brock, at the vehicle in front of them. They turned and made their way as fast as they could, and Jason head was almost exploding from the tension. They were all focused to get back to the outpost, but they knew it would take them a while.

At the outpost, Dianna finished the call to Davis and put the radio on the back of her pants, while aggressively grabbing the prisoner, the second one that was interrogated. The coward one. She took one of the handguns that Jessica and the people from the Embassy were laying on a table, gearing up, and made the prisoner go with her, upstairs. Where the missiles would hit first.

Ray and Clay almost screamed of despair when they saw Dianna getting to the roof with the prisoner, yelling at her to go back down immediately.

"I'll go soon, just a second guys" then she made the prisoner kneel at the most exposed area of the roof, and pointed the gun right to his head. "Where are they? Where are the missiles coming from?"

The guy closed his eyes and started praying. "I'm risking myself here, asshole, so if you don't make yourself useful to us right now, we'll go downstairs and leave you here, to take the hit. Downstairs is a lot safer than you think" she lied. She knew downstairs wasn't an anti-bomb shelter, but he didn't know that.

"I… I don't know" he stuttered, desperate. Dianna discreetly nodded at the guys, and they all started to walk away, leaving the guy, handcuffed and with his feet chained, there.

"Wait! Wait" he yelled, and they came back. Ray was glancing around, the heavier vehicles were maneuvering to shoot something at them.

"It's… there's a missile coming from the north" he confessed. Dianna asked where from the north. "At the street next to the pink square building" the guy was crying.

"What else is coming?" now Clay was asking, dangerously. He knew it wasn't just one long range missile.

"A car bomb. A car bomb. In there" he nodded, at one of the main gates. Ray looked, and it really was a great spot for a car bomb, so a lot of rebels could go in there, at once, and the bomb would destroy almost all of the vehicles parked at the outpost patio, so they'd have no way to escape. They needed to take down that car bomb, so the Seals went down to gather some heavy weapons.

"How many missiles in total?" Dianna asked, angry, but the guy had no balls anymore, he just wanted to go inside. "Two, and the car bomb. I swear" he then started to cry, begging to be taken inside.

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