As the alarms went off and people yelled for the flares Jason, Clay and Trent knew they were in trouble. When the tail was hit they were thankful it missed them, but they knew they would be going down...and going down hard. As the helicopter spun its way down they were thankful that the pilot kept his cool and kept the rotors upright. Most of them were thrown from the helo on the last spin before the helo hit the ground nose first, Jason was thrown into the beam that was the edge of the opening hitting his head hard, the pilot was killed on impact and the co-pilot's legs were broken and twisted.

When Clay picked himself up he quickly realized he was on the ground a few yards from the helo and ran towards it. He heard Trent doing the same from the other side. As he saw Jason's head hanging out of the helicopter he hoped that the man was alive. When he saw that he was he breathed a sigh of relief...until he saw the blood dripping from the man's head and leg. As Clay tried to help his leader walk Jason yelled out in pain. He rushed to get him morphine as the bullets started flying.

Of course they would survive a crash only to be ambushed...why wouldn't they? Deep in enemy territory they were sitting ducks. Jason clung to Clay's voice, the only comfort in the chaos and the youngest member of Bravo quickly took charge of their situation. Seeing your brothers die...especially Medders, who was younger than he was who survived the crash with barely a scratch on him only get blown away with two rounds to his lungs; it messes with you. As Trent busied himself tending to the wounded Clay ran back to the downed helo to get supplies, hoping that he would be able to reach someone on SAT Comm only to find that he had no way to contact anyone from TOC.

Ray, Sonny and Brock watched in horror as the helo with their Brothers went down...hard. With no one able to tell them if their were survivors they circled back as close as they could firing on those who were ambushing their team. When the order came to get out of their Ray thought Sonny might jump out of the helo just to get to them. Landing several clicks away Ray had never seen the man run so quickly as to get to them. As they came upon two kids who were out hunting the two had a yelling match-Ray shutting Sonny down and pissing him off by pointing out that he was being emotional.

When they reached the top of the ledge overlooking the downed helo Ray did another coms check. Hoping, just hoping that someone had survived. "Any Bravo Element, this is 2. Coms check. Over." Ray said into his mic.

"About time." They heard Clay say and the team breathed a sigh of relief. They had at least one Brother still alive...and still a smart ass.

"Copy that 6. Coming to you. Do not fire to the west. I repeat. Do not fire to the west." Ray said before the team rushed down the side of the mountain.

Clay felt like he could breathe again hearing Ray's voice. Help was coming. "Hey Brother." Ray said a few minutes later when he reached his position.

"What's up Boys?" Clay said with a grin.

"Like what you've done with the place." Sonny said as he clapped Clay on the shoulder. "Reminds me of Pottery Barn."

As Clay led them back to the farmhouse he knew they were concerned with the rest of the team. "We took five causalities between the ambush and the crash."

"Any KIA?" Ray asked, still not seeing Jason as they walked into the farmhouse seeing Trent working on the co-pilot.

"Yeah." Clay said grimly.

"Jason?" Ray asked, they had seen him and Trent dragging him to the farmhouse before the pilot turned them away.

"He took a hard hit." Clay said looking towards the back room and seeing Jason wobbling towards them.

"How hard?" Ray asked.

"Not hard enough." Jason said as he stumbled his way out of the back room, relying on the wall to keep him upright.

It didn't take long for Ray, Sonny and Brock to see that Bravo 1 was down for the count as far as anything tactical, despite his constant mantra that he was fine. His head was NOT fine. As Ray communicated with TOC to come up with a plan Jason eventually went back into the room and sunk down against the wall. Seeing Sonny attach himself to Clay Ray decided to send the kid with him and Brock to take out the SAM. To get a little payback for what he had been through, and also to allow him time to assess Jason on his own.

As the remaining team held down the house Ray went into the back room to tell Jason that QRF was inbound and to get ready for ex-fill...only he wasn't there. Jason had gone out the window to go after Nouri. When Ray walked up on him he watched as Jason yelled at the dying man and it seemed like he was normal Jason again...only when he turned around there was something about his eyes, something was off.

When the two got back to the house to meet the rest of the team it became more obvious that someone was wrong...he seemed shocked when Clay told him about the two rounds that Medder's took to his lungs...that he wasn't dead, that he had been alive and talking...only he wasn't alive...he was dead when he had been dragged into the house. They didn't have time to think about that though because their ex-fill bird had arrived and they had to climb back into a helo after just crashing in one.

When Jason climbed into the first thing he did was feel for Medder's pulse, they had to have been wrong. He had just been talking to him. Finding no pulse Jason leaned back against the wall. As they went higher Jason felt Clay's hand grab onto his arm and he leaned his head against the Kid. He didn't know if it was more for Clay's comfort or his.

When Clay felt Jason's head lean against his arm he knew he had done the right thing reaching down to hold the Master Chief's arm. Logically he knew he should be scared to get back in a helo but he wasn't. That bird was his way to safety. A way to get Jason to a doctor, he knew there was more than just a concussion that the man was dealing with, he just didn't know what that was.

Clay didn't let go of Jason until they were both safely on solid ground. Ray immediately got in Jason's face demanding he get his head checked out. "Showers Kid." Clay heard Sonny say, pulling him from where he still stood by the helo. The adrenaline was wearing off and he just followed Sonny's voice. As he stood under the hot water watching the dirt and blood swirl down the drain he wanted to punch something. They shouldn't have lost five men today. They shouldn't have crashed. They were scheduled to go home at the end of the week and they almost died today.

"Stayin' in there all day Goldilocks?" Clay heard Sonny ask and he quickly shut off the water.

Once he was dressed he once again heard Sonny's voice, "Pretty Boy you going to stare at your reflection all day or are you coming with us back to the hooch?"

"Comin'." Clay mumbled, too lost in his own thoughts to come up with something sarcastic to say.

Once they were back in their quarters Clay sat down in his chair, staring at his laptop but never opening it. He heard Sonny yammering on, trying to get him to snap back at him but he couldn't. Finally Clay stood up and walked over and sat down on Sonny's bunk, he didn't have the energy to climb the ladder to his own.

Seeing the look on Clay's face Sonny shut his mouth right quick and sat down on his bunk next to him, "Jason is going to be fine." He told the Kid.

"The other five weren't." Clay said, looking down at his hands. "Echo team wasn't." He said a little louder. "Brian wasn't!" He snapped and looked over at Sonny as his eyes filled with tears.

"Dammit Kid." Sonny said, reaching over and squeezing Clay's shoulder until Clay crumbled and all of the emotion spilled out partially due to the adrenaline crash and partly because the Kid had held everything in for months.

As Clay let the tears fall Sonny pushed him over so he was laying down on his bed and he sat down on the floor, leaning back against the bunk. Clay reached for his shirt and held tight as he fell asleep, crashing quickly with the adrenaline. Sonny grabbed hold of Clay's wrist and held it as he too drifted to sleep. His brothers alive and safe.

When Ray came into their quarters he kicked Sonny's boot, "Where is Jace?" Sonny asked, not letting go of Clay's wrist.

"Went to talk with Mandy." Ray said, "Want to tell me what the hell you are doing on the floor."

"Is he okay?" Sonny asked, ignoring Ray's question.

"Says he is." Ray told him, crossing his arms and waiting for Sonny to tell him why he was on the floor.

"Adrenaline crash." Sonny told him.

"Kid was crying." Ray pointed out.

"Watched five Brothers die today."

"Jace said the kid did good." Ray told him.

"That all he say?"

"All that made sense."

"Doctor cleared him?"

"You want me to help get him in his own bunk?"

"Kid is fine." Sonny told Ray, feeling Clay tighten his grip on his shoulder. "Kid is fine."

Mandy watched Jason walk towards her, splitting from Ray's path to their quarters. She knew he wasn't okay. That his way of coping was the mission so she refilled her cup of coffee and greeted the Bravo Team Leader with a smile. "How are you feeling?" She asked, knowing he likely wouldn't tell her the truth.

"Leg hurts worse than my head and my head is on fire." He told her, surprising her, he didn't have the energy to lie.

"You should be in bed...probably in the hospital." She said, reaching out and touching his arm. As much as she tried to distance herself with the team something about Jason drew her in.

"Cutter." He said, launching into his story.

As he talked she packed up a laptop and he followed her back to her quarters, "If we are doing this you are going to do it laying down before you pass out." She said, pushing him down onto her bed before she sat down next to him.

"Norani said his brother was in Parachinar." Jason repeated for the hundredth time.

"You have to give me time to work." She told him, "Rest."

"I cant...I close my eyes and I...I just cant."

"You want me to get Amy?" Mandy asked in a judgy tone.

"No. I came to you. I need you." He said desperate.

Setting her laptop aside she looked at him, "Lay down." When he did she draped a blanket over him, "You are safe here."

"I can't sleep." Jason told her and she saw the fear in his eyes.

Pulling her laptop so it was balancing on one knee she scooted over where Jason leaning into her side, "If you cant sleep, at least shut up long enough for me to work."

As she typed, pulled up as many documents and dug though as much information as she could find she felt Jason melt into her side, quickly falling asleep.

Nearly ten hours later Jason was still asleep in her side when Ray knocked on her door before letting himself in, "He is suppose to go back to be rechecked." Ray said nodding to his still sleeping friend. "He been out the whole time?"

"About ten hours."

"He seem okay to you?"

"PTSD." Mandy said, "He was scared to sleep."

"You think his head is okay?"

"His leg seems to hurt worse."

"It should. It is full of stitches. He was hit with a piece of one of the blades. Trent said it missed anything major but it was big."

"You give me a few minutes and I will get him over there." She said closing her laptop.

"Thanks Mandy." Ray said before walking out.

"Jace?" Mandy said as she ran her fingers through his hair, "You need to get back to med for your recheck."

"Safe here." He mumbled, still asleep.

"You need to go to med so that when I get the green light you can go after Abad." She said knowing the name alone would be enough to wake him.

"You found something?" He asked, opening his eyes and sitting up, wincing when he moved his leg.

"Tell me the truth...is your head okay to do what you want to do?"

"It's not my head that is the problem...it is my head." He said looking at her with sad eyes.

"Would you tell me if it wasn't right?" She asked.

"How long have you known me."

"After this one your team is going home."

"That is not..."

"After this one your team is going home."

"You coming with us?"

"Jason if we do this today...I need your head right."

"I need to do this Mandy." Jason said, tears in his eyes that he refused to let fall, "For Steve."

Six hours later the mission had the green light. Bravo team was going to get Abad then they were going home. It was a deal Mandy made with Blackburn for Jason's sake, she knew that from her quarters he went over to Amy's before med and she saw her pack up and disappear a few minutes later. They were really going to do this. They were going after Cutter and expose all of the corruption that resulted from the war.

As Bravo team carried out their mission she was with Davis on over-watch. As the guys sacked out one by one she laid down on the floor under the table to get a couple hours of sleep while Davis kept watch and then they switched, neither one wanting to leave in case something happened again. Once the family feud let up Abad and two security guys tried to escape out the back and the guys were on it. They had him down and within minutes they were on their way back to the base knowing this time they had taken down the men who had taken out Echo Team.

Once they were back Davis pulled Jason aside with the list he had asked for about Steve's things. Five minutes later the two of them plus Mandy were digging up Steve's garden. Five minutes after that Mandy was loading the hard drive info onto her computer and they were coming up with a plan to take down Cutter.

As the rest of the team was sitting around, halfway lifting weights and just goofing off Blackburn walked over and pulled Sonny aside. "You asked me to talk to some people, track down Danny Cooper? He is in the VA in Hampton." Erik told him once they got away from the group. "Danny's a civilian now so his records are sealed and it was hard to get the nurse to talk but from what I could put together the Virginia Beach police found him in his car with a needle in his arm."

"Son of a bitch." Sonny said, looking over to where Davis was standing.

"Yeah well, that's not the compassionate response I was expecting."

"I don't mean him...I mean this whole damn situation." Sonny said leaning against the truck and putting his head down briefly, "What the hell am I suppose to tell Davis?"

"You could start with the truth, it is always easiest to remember." Erik said patting Sonny on the shoulder before walking away. Erik knew that him and Davis were close, that Danny was both of their friends...and he knew that Sonny didn't handle emotion very well.

"Thanks Boss." Sonny said before Erik was out of earshot.

Jason, having the information from the hard drive rushed over to Cutter's office building, storming into the office and very calmly, for him, laid out the facts. Cutter was done. When Cutter refused to admit it on record Jason left even more pissed off than he went in. He went to Davis and asked for a map of the base before going back to find Mandy. She was able to talk him down from murdering the man by agreeing to share all of the information with her buddy at the press...the one whose Daddy was a Senator. Rather than being tried in court he would be tried in the public eye and his life as he knew it was over. It wasn't the same as putting a bullet between his eyes but it was as close as he could get.

Still amped up Jason went to find Ray...and by find I mean confront. As the two argued, in a way that two brothers argue Jason knocked him down. Used the worst things he had against him. Told him he couldn't trust him...that until his shoulder was fixed he was off Bravo... only he wasn't doing it because he was mad at Ray, at least not entirely. He was doing it because he couldn't have his second in command question where his head was at. Ray could read him like a book though and instead of yelling back he just let Jason get it out...knew that eventually the man would calm down. Knew that if it came to it Jason would always have his back, the man knew no other way. He also knew that his shoulder needed surgery...and until it was medically cleared there was no point in arguing with the man.

Sonny stuck close to Clay as they packed up and boarded the plane home. Finally, when Sonny clipped his hammock right next to Clay's after take off Clay finally said something. "This plane not big enough for you?" Only he didn't receive a response from his smart ass brother and he instantly saw just how not okay Sonny Quinn actually was and he sat back up, thankful he had not yet taken the Ambien that Davis had given him. "I suck at charades Brother...what's going on?"

Ignoring the 2nd clip for his hammock he slid down to the floor against the crate and after clipping the hammock for him Clay sat down next to him, "Danny is in the ICU. Cops found him with a needle in his arm."

"Davis's Danny?"

"My BUD/S Brother Danny...and yes."

"Shit."

"What am I suppose to tell her?"

"She doesn't know?"

"Blackburn looked into it for me."

"How long?"

"A while."

"When are you going to tell her?"

"She is taking me back to my apartment...was going to tell her we need to detour." Sonny shrugged.

"You want me to go with you?"

"You have Stella."

"You call me Sonny I will be there."

"You don't really know Danny."

"Wouldn't be going for Danny."

"I don't do so good when we are off rotation."

"You saying you are going to miss me?"

Sonny just looked at Clay and the youngest member of Bravo Team watched as Sonny's eyes filled with tears. "The crash...we thought we lost you."

"Right here Brother." Clay said leaning his shoulder into Sonny's.

"How long do you think we will be off rotation?"

"Few months...until Ray's shoulder is fixed and they know Jason's head is okay."

"I'm not going to make it..."

"We will be fine."

"Easy for you to say, you have Stella to go home to."

"We've got you Brother." Clay said, "You take your Ambien?" Sonny held it up. "Take it." When Sonny wavered, "Take it Brother, I am right here."

They sat there on the floor of the plane until Sonny started leaning into Clay's side, the medicine taking effect, "Come on Brother." Sonny grabbed hold of Clay's hand and let the Kid help him into his hammock.

"Pretty Boy?" Sonny asked when Clay stepped away.

"Yeah Brother?"

"You will really come if I call?"

"Any time, any day."

"Okay." Sonny said closing his eyes.

Clay moved his hammock closer to Sonny so that when he was in it their shoulders would be touching. What Sonny said, about not making it...and having Stella go home to he thought back to his first deployment and coming home. Being away from the brothers, and sisters, that he ate, drank, fight and slept next to for months on end makes you feel like a part of you is missing.

Instead of setting up a hammock like the rest of Bravo Team, Jason sat down on the straps and put his head in his hands. Mandy saw Erik watching him too and once everyone else had found a place to nest for the next eighteen hours she moved over and sat next to him. "We got them Jason." She said, only loud enough for him to hear.

Mandy saw him nod into his hand and felt his leg move to it was touching hers and she put her hand on his back pulling him towards her. After a couple minutes he lifted his head and looked at her with tears in his eyes, "I didn't have sex with Amy."

"Not my business Jace."

"Steve talked to her...I..."

"You Team guys...Jason it is okay to show them when you are not okay."

"I had to tell them it was okay to sleep in Echo Team's beds...I couldn't tell them that I..." Jason told her.

"You didn't sleep this deployment. You were reckless. You almost died." Mandy said, her voice breaking.

"But we got them." Jason said bumping his shoulder against hers.

"You want to tell me what is going on with your head?"

"I keep seeing them."

"Them who?"

"The ones we lost."

"PTSD?" She asked, Jason nodded. "Your leg?"

"Still hurts."

"Concussion?'

"Is nothing."

"You need to sleep." Mandy told him. When Jason looked at her again she felt the pain in his eyes, "I will be right next to you for the next 13 hours." Jason laid down with the top of his head touching her leg and she moved her leg so he was using it for a pillow. "Close your eyes Jason." He did. "Relax." He did. "Breathe." He did. "Sleep." She said, cupping his face and neck in her hand.

When his lips parted in sleep she leaned back to relax but kept her hand on him. Seeing Erik staring at her she nodded at him and like she suspected he walked over and stood in front of them. "They talk to you and Davis."

"Yes."

"They okay?"

"You already know the answer to that."

"How long do they need to be off rotation?"

"Six months." Mandy said, daring him to argue.

"Why that long?" Erik said thinking she would say a few weeks.

"Ray needs surgery to fix his shoulder."

"Jason already said he would be teaching green team until he was cleared. What else?"

"Pretty sure Sonny has something going on...and I doubt they got all the shrapnel out of him." When Erik nodded like he knew she wondered what was going on, "Sonny let Clay sleep in his bed after the crash. Two have been together since then and I have never seen Sonny attach himself to anyone like he has with the Kid."

"What about him?" He asked, nodding to Jason.

"He needs to actually talk to a therapist."

"PTSD or concussion?"

"Both."

"What did you say to him to calm him down?"

"Told him to lay down." Mandy said, looking down at the sleeping team leader.

"You told him to lay down?" Erik asked in disbelief.

"Like you said, they talk to Davis and I."

"Before this deployment you didn't let them in."

"What are you asking?"

"What changed?"

"Lost Echo Team...and I have been attached to Bravo for over a year...I can only hold out for so long."

"Jason came to you after the crash."

"Not a secret. He talked to Davis too."

"Is he okay?"

"Jason, Steve and Adam came up together from what I gather. Their kids all grew up together. Nate and Ray... Sonny, Danny and Davis...you have different generations separated by a couple years. Jason has been a team guy for two decades, leading Bravo nearly half that time... team guys go to their older brothers... older ones look out for the younger ones."

"So Jason hasn't had anyone to talk to."

"Him and Nate were best friends...and Alana..."

"Is he going to be okay?"

"Give him time."

"Six months?"

Mandy looked down at Jason as he slept and she ran her thumb across his cheek and he rolled into her, "I think being off rotation will be almost as hard for them as being deployed."

"You care about them." Erik said, "They trust you."

"Trust is earned."

"I have never seen Jason relaxed before." He told her with a sad smile.

"Glad we got them all home."

"You ever try to talk to them like that?"

"Six months?" He said, not acknowledging what she asked him.

"Nate!" Jason yelled out in his sleep nearly falling to the floor of the plane in the process and Mandy immediately pulled him into her, wrapping her arms around him and repeating his name until he wrapped his arms around her, gripping her shirt tightly and burying his face in her neck.

"You are safe here." Mandy whispered into his ear as she looked at Erik who she was surprised to see had tears in his eyes. "I've got you Jace...you are safe." she told him again as she pulled him back down to the straps, this time making herself as comfortable as she could to hold him.

"Nate." She heard him cry into her shoulder and as she felt him start to shake as his breath got hotter and her shirt soaked through with his tears.

She leaned her head against his and held him into her, looking up to see Erik wiping his own eyes as he walked towards the back of the plane. Ray walked over and sat down next to them a few minutes later and kissed the top of Jason's head, "Got you Brother." He said, only loud enough for Mandy and Jason to hear. He stationed himself where Mandy could lean on his shoulder as she held Jason and that was how they stayed for several hours.

As the plane touched down Mandy watched as Jason put his mask back on and said goodbye to all of his guys before climbing into his own truck. After watching all the others leave she went and climbed into the passenger seat of Jason's truck. "Call Alana and tell her that you are back safe but you are going to stay with me for a few days." He didn't argue and instead drove straight to her apartment, following her inside and plopping himself down on the couch.

"Uh Davis...we need to make a detour before you drop me off." Sonny said as he and Davis walked towards her car.

"I'm not going to a bar our first day back."

"Forgot how clean it is here."

"You always say that."

"I do?"

"Yes."

"Now, there's no dust, and dirt's in the ground where it should be."

"This what you wanted to talk to me about-on the plane?"

"Nah. But I do think we should stop somewhere, uh, before you drop me off."

"Stop somewhere? Wait you don't think its just a little bit early for all that? Or maybe you just realized you forgot toilet paper?"

"Yeah...It's Danny." Sonny said once they were in the car.

"What?"

"Look, look...I wanted to tell you earlier, but I just...I just couldn't find the right moment."

"Okay Sonny, you're scaring me, so just go ahead and tell me."

"Blackburn told me that he's in a little bit of trouble."

"Talking about Blackburn told you something? Why-why would Blackburn..."

"Davis look at me...its drugs. Okay? And he's not doing good."

"What? He od'd?"

"He relapsed. Cops found him in his car."

"Where is he?"

"He's at the VA Hospital." Sonny told her, and that is where they went. By the time Sonny caught up to her she was standing outside the doors to Danny's room with tears streaming down her face. When he looked through the windows he felt the tears fall from his and he wrapped her in his arms. Their friend was hooked up to life support, tubes and hoses everywhere.

"The nurse said tomorrow they are going to take him off life support. He hasn't had any brain activity since they brought him in." Lisa told Sonny.

"Fuck." Sonny mumbled, he figured it was bad from what Blackburn told him...if Danny would have been aware that they were looking for him he would have called back himself.

"I can't...I can't lose anyone else." Lisa said out loud as Sonny was thinking it.

"They...they can't do anything?" Sonny asked, feeling his legs drop out from underneath him as he slid down to his knees.

"We need to say goodbye." Lisa said as she took a deep breath and bent down to Sonny's level. "You with me 3?" Lisa asked gently.

After a second Sonny stood up, looked at his friend and pushed his way through the door into Danny's room. Sonny sank down into the chair that was next to the bed as Lisa sat gently on the bed next to Danny's lifeless body. "You could have had the world." She whispered, "Why?" She asked him, squeezing his hand gently even though she knew she wouldn't get an answer.

"Davis?" Sonny said, barely above a whisper.

"Yeah?"

"That man has been standing outside the door watching us for the last twenty minutes."

When Lisa turned around to look the man walked in, "Lisa?" The man asked and she stood up and the two embraced.

"Sonny this is Danny's brother." She said, recognizing him from a photo Danny had shown her.

"Hey Brother." Sonny said, trying to blink away the tears that had been in his eyes since they walked into the hospital.

"My parents have already been here to say their goodbyes. When Erik called yesterday and said you were on your way back and had been trying to track him down...they didn't find his phone or anything on him...we didn't know...but the last time I talked to him he said he had been staying with Lisa."

"Is there anything we can do?" Lisa asked.

"No. The VA is going to cover the burial. We lost Danny a long time ago...seeing him a few months ago...it was like he was saying his goodbyes...he said he was going to come down here and see an old buddy...then we heard about Lisa...then... my mom got the call three weeks ago."

"Who is going to be with him when...?" Sonny asked.

"My parents flew home this morning. I will fly home with his body the day after tomorrow." Danny's brother said with no emotion.

"So are you going to be with him when they take him off life support?" Sonny rephrased.

"No." The man said, "The doctor called and said that two people were here with him and I wanted to see if it was...anyway, they are taking him off life support at 3am when the law dictates he is legally brain dead."

"The law?" Sonny said, feeling the anger bubbling up inside of him. This man was talking about his brother like he was nothing...Danny wasn't nothing.

"Is it okay if we stay with him?" Lisa asked, moving over and sitting down on Sonny's lap to keep him from losing his shit.

"Do what you want. All the paperwork is signed."

"Do you even know your brother?" Sonny seethed, "Know what Danny has been through?"

"I know he had the choice to enlist or go to jail and we only saw him a couple times after that...after he was blown up and then again after he was addicted to pain killers. The brother I knew...he didn't make it back home." The man shrugged. "Stay as long as you want." He said before turning and walking out of the room.

"What in the God damn fucking hell is wrong with that cock sucking mother fucker?" Sonny blew up as soon as he was out of the room and Lisa slapped her hand over his mouth to quiet him before they got kicked out. "Danny was a hero. A fucking SEAL!"

"I know who Danny is." Lisa said, moving her hand from his mouth to his cheek, "I know who he is."

"Fuck!" Sonny said, sitting back down in the chair. Lisa sat back down next to Danny and traced the lines on his face, watching the artificial movement on the ventilator breathing for him. "Davis...I...fuck!"

"You told Clay on the plane, didn't you? After Blackburn talked to you...you told Clay." When Sonny just looked down at his hands she moved from the bed to the armrest of the chair, "Sonny Quinn you have never kept anything from me before."

"I didn't know how to...and Blondie was...when he...I...so when I...he..."

"Thank you." Lisa said, leaning down and kissing his cheek. "Thank you for not telling me on the plane."

"I couldn't save him." Sonny said, pulling down the bill of his hat and covering his eyes with his hand, "I should have saved him and I couldn't."

"Sonny this isn't your fault."

"We almost lost Jason and Clay...and I couldn't do anything...I couldn't save them..."

"Sonny they are okay. You all made it home."

"Jason asked me to look after Clay...and I almost lost them both."

"Sonny do you want me to call the boys?" Lisa asked him.

"They didn't know Danny."

"Does it matter?"

"I do not do so well when we are off rotation."

"Tell me something I don't know." Lisa said with a smile as she lifted Sonny's hat so she could see his face. "I'm calling Jason."

"The Kid." Sonny said looking into Lisa's eyes. "I will call Clay."

"Hey Brother, Miss me already?" Clay answered on the first ring.

"Can you uh..."

"Where?"

"VA Hospital. Danny's room." Sonny told him.

"I will text you the room number." Lisa said over Sonny.

"On my way." Clay said before hanging up his phone and jumping out of bed.

"Where are you going?" Stella asked him.

"VA Hospital."

"I thought you said everyone was okay?"

"Danny. Sonny and Lisa are there with him and..."

"And they need you."

"Stella..."

"I'm not mad...is there anything I can help with?" She asked, surprising Clay.

"I don't...I really don't know...Blackburn told Sonny that the police found him with a needle in his arm...and him and Davis...they were a thing before we left but...they came up together...the three of them."

"Go. Let me know if you need anything." Stella said, crawling over and kissing him as he threw on his shirt.

"I will text you." He said as he was running out the door.

When he got there he looked down and saw what room number they were in and skipped the elevator and ran up the stairs, stopping only when he got to the doors to Danny's room. Pausing only long enough to see Sonny staring at his hands and Davis sitting on the bed holding Danny's arm against her.

"Hey." He said quietly as he walked through the door.

"Hey Clay." Lisa said, turning around and allowing Clay to see the tear tracks down both her cheeks.

"What is the..."

"They turn off life support at 3am." Lisa told him. Clay looked down at his watch and saw that it was after ten and looked back at Davis. "His parent's left this morning...his brother left a few hours ago."

"Some brother he is...that fucker didn't even have the God Damn decency..." Sonny started to rant.

"Woah Brother." Clay said walking over to him and putting a hand on his shoulder, "Some people aren't as good with emotions as you." Clay smirked and Lisa laughed.

"I do not get emotional." Sonny barked at him.

"That line doesn't sound familiar at all." Davis said, looking to Sonny.

"Why three?" Clay asked, his hand still on Sonny's shoulder.

"Amount of time to legally declare him brain dead." Lisa answered before Sonny had the chance.

"There no chance that he will wake up?"

"He hasn't had any brain activity since they brought him in."

Clay looked between Sonny and Davis and over to Danny before grabbing a folding chair and setting it next to where Sonny sat. "Tell me about him. I only met him when we were hanging out at the bar...didn't know him before...tell me about him."

As the two took turns telling stories of the three of them over the previous decade Clay watched the time click by on the clock on the wall. Around 2 Davis laid down, wrapping Danny's arm around her as she snuggled her back into his side and she closed her eyes, listening as Sonny continued to tell stories.

A quarter to three a nurse came in and smiled seeing Lisa laying in bed with Danny, "I am glad his family made it home to be with him."

"Will he be in any pain?" Sonny asked her.

"The doctor will give him morphine. Then he will disconnect the tubing for the ventilator. They won't pull the tubing out because it could be painful. When the machine is no longer pushing oxygen into his lungs his heart will stop. Just like going to sleep."

"So no pain?" Sonny asked again.

"No pain."

"How can you be sure?"

"I promise you that we will take care of your Brother and he will feel no pain." The nurse said to Sonny.

"Who all will be in here?" Lisa asked, not opening her eyes.

"Myself and the doctor. And the three of you."

"How long will it take?"

"Not long, maybe a couple minutes. Once his heart stops the doctor will record the time and we will step out. You can take as much time as you would like."

Mandy and Jason were at the Taco Joint that he went to after every deployment. When they were ordering Mandy noticed he was off but it wasn't until he wandered away and was talking to someone that she couldn't see did she realize just how off he was. She told the lady at the counter, asked them to help clear the area so she could get him and go. When he knocked a table over, stumbling backwards she could see the terror in his eyes and got into his face. "Jason!" "Hey! You are safe. Look at me Jason. My eyes. Who do you see?"

"Mandy?" He asked, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Here where Jace?" She asked, putting her hands on his arms and holding him steady.

"We are..." He started, then finally looked around and saw the chaos he had caused in the restaurant. "Sorry...sorry..." He said trying to pull away and run but she stopped him.

"We are going to take our food to go and we will go where it is quiet." She told him, "You with me?"

"Yeah...yeah...I'm with you." He said not daring to move.

As the manager brought over their food in a bag Mandy tried to pay him for the disturbed plates that Jason had knocked over but he pushed her away, "Take care of this guy...without him we wouldn't have half of our business."

"Let's go." She said to Jason as she ushered him out and to his truck where she had him climb in the passenger seat. "Do you want to go home or to the hospital?"

"I don't...I..."

"I will take you back to my place but tomorrow I am taking you in to talk to someone."

"Mandy?" Jason asked.

"Yeah?"

"Don't leave."

"I wont."

Once they got back to the apartment they ate their food in silence and then she led Jason into her room, locking the bedroom door behind them...if he did wake up and freak out it would be one more barrier to him getting away from her. "Aren't you worried I will hurt you?"

"Bravo 1, I have seen the things you have done...the lengths you have gone to protect your people...and I am one of your people...so no...I am not afraid of you hurting me."

"That makes one of us." He mumbled as he stood at the edge of the bed.

"Take your boots off at least before you get into my bed." Mandy said as she kicked off her own shoes. She grabbed an over sized tee with the Bravo insignia on it and slipped into a pair of yoga pants before looking over at Jason who still hadn't moved.

She slowly walked over to him and put her hands on his arms again like she had done in the restaurant. "I am here...I just..."

"I am going to help you." She told him. When he nodded she reached for his shirt, pulling it off and setting it on the dresser. When she looked at him again he knew she was asking about his pants...he nodded again and she unbuttoned his pants and slid them off his hips as he sat down on the edge of the bed. "Foot Jace." She said reaching to untie his boots. She traced the line of stitches that ran nearly the length from his hip to his knee. "Does it still hurt?"

"Not bad." He said, looking her in the eye, "Why are you doing this?"

"When the helicopter went down...you had to be alive...I knew you weren't okay...I saw them dragging you...every time you go out on a mission it has been from my intel...my research...and when...I just need to know you are safe."

"You keep me safe." Jason said staring into her eyes. "You do. You and Davis."

"And now you need to get some sleep." She said, flipping the blanket down and motioning for him to lay down. "Hey," She said, seeing the fear in his eyes, "I keep you safe, remember?"

"The doctor is standing outside the damn door watching us." Sonny said.

"It is three." Lisa said, "Times up."

"Do you want me in here or...?"

"Stay." Sonny and Lisa said in unison.

"Staying it is." Clay said, leaning forward and folding his hands and bowing his head.

"Are you praying?" Sonny asked him.

"Sonny!" Lisa snapped.

"I didn't know Pretty Boy was also a Churchy Boy."

"Fuck you Sonny." Clay said without looking up.

"Can you ask him to make sure he doesn't hurt?" Sonny asked.

"Ask Him yourself Sonny." Clay said turning his head and looking over at his Brother as the doctor walked in.

The doctor gave a sad smiled and nodded to the three of them and Lisa rolled over and put her arm around Danny, her hand resting over his heart. The doctor unhooked the vent hose from the mouthpiece, turned off the alarms and stepped back. When the monitor showed a flat line he looked up at the clock on the wall and walked out. As soon as the door swung shut the two men heard Lisa sobbing into Danny's chest and both of them instantly had tears in their eyes.

Lisa was one of the strongest women that they knew, she kept them alive and was able to put up with their shit without blinking. While Clay and Sonny knew the deployment had been hard on her she kept it to herself and put 100% into keeping them alive. They hated seeing her upset. They hated that one of their Brothers lost his life...and despite the fact that it was an overdose they knew it had been a failure of the military doing follow up care to someone who had given himself for his country.

"Come on Davis." Sonny said as he bent over and scooped her up in his arms, "Danny's gone." As Lisa clung to him Clay grabbed their things before they walked out.

Clay climbed into the driver seat of Lisa's car as Sonny climbed into the back, still holding her. He didn't know where else to go so he drove them back to his apartment. When he opened the apartment door he found Stella sitting on the couch grading paperwork. As Sonny walked in behind him he sat down on the couch next to Stella still holding Lisa who was now crying silently.

Stella walked over and wrapped Clay in a hug, "He is gone?"

Clay barely had time to nod before Sonny called out from the couch, "Please tell me Pretty Boy has something to drink."

Stella walked into the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of whiskey and handed it to Clay. "You want me to stay or go?" She asked.

"Stay." Clay said, fighting the tears that were burning his eyes. Stella kissed him before pushing him towards Sonny and Lisa. "Go be with your family."

"Oh Oh the good stuff. You got a good woman here Blondie. Don't fuck that up." He said grabbing the bottle and taking a swig, ignoring the glass that Clay was holding out.

"Davis you can lay down if you want." Clay said nodding towards his bedroom.

"I don't want to be alone." She whispered back.

"You aren't." Clay and Sonny said in unison as Sonny stood up, her still in his arms like she weighed nothing and carrying her into the bedroom, laying her in the middle of the bed Clay and Sonny laid down on either side of her.

Stella watched from the doorway as Lisa curled into Clay with Sonny holding both of them. As soon as Lisa fell asleep Clay closed his eyes, once Clay was asleep Sonny shut his. Stella walked into the bedroom and closed the shades knowing the sun would be coming up soon before covering the three of them with the blanket that had ended up on the floor from earlier that day and as she tucked it around Sonny he turned over and faced her, "I thought we lost him." He said, barely above a whisper as a tear slipped down his cheek.

"But you didn't." Stella whispered to him as she wiped the tear from Sonny's face, thankful that all of them had made it home, feeling like she knew Sonny better than anyone else on the team because it seemed like he was always in the background doing something obnoxious when her and Clay had a chance to talk during their deployment. "I am new to the whole team thing."

"So far you are doing pretty damn good." Sonny said reaching his arm around and putting his hand on the top of Clay's head.

"You treat him like he is your little brother." Stella said sitting down on the bed next to Sonny.

"Bravo's my family." Sonny told her. "Pretty Boy is as annoying as a little brother would be."

"You always made sure he would smile...even when he..."

"Did he tell you about the crash?" Sonny asked her, pulling his arm back down and resting it on his chest.

"Just said that him, Trent and Jason went down and you guys saved him."

"Their helo was shot down, it didn't just crash...Jason took a hard hit and the Kid really stepped up. Kept them alive while they were under heavy fire. Kept Jason calm when his head injury had him...scrambled."

"Danny?" Stella asked, anxious hearing the details from what Clay had been through.

"Danny, Davis and I came up together. When we were training for green team we got called up and our humv hit an ied. Danny got his leg blown up and they medically retired him...during his string of surgeries he got addicted to pain meds and it went from there. He would get cleaned up then would relapse. Before we left he was doing really good and Davis and him...they were kind of a thing but a few weeks in he stopped calling her back."

"That when he od-ed?"

"Don't know when exactly but Blackburn looked into it and we went from the plane to the hospital."

"You called Clay there but he didn't know Danny?"

"Pretty Boy and Davis talked during deployment...uhh...long distance relationship...uhh..." Sonny said, clearly unsure of what he should say.

"That...yeah..."

"And he did know Danny...he was in town a few weeks before we shipped out. Was usually with me or Davis at the bar in the evenings."

"Sonny who has your back?" Stella asked, putting her hand over his. When he shrugged she noticed him glance over at her sleeping boyfriend, "Clay?" She asked.

"Blondie has...uhh...the last couple weeks have been..."

"Sonny, you have been there for him...let me be here for you." Stella whispered to him and his eyes quickly filled with tears.

"Not in here." He whispered sitting up. She put her arm around him and led him back out to the couch. "I don't want to wake them up." Sonny said putting his head into his hands.

"I don't know what is okay to ask..." Stella told him, her arm still around him.

"He has a way of getting under your skin." Sonny told Stella, looking in at Clay and Davis.

"That he does." Stella said, leaning her head against his shoulder, her arm still around his back.

"I cant decide if I want to punch something or cry."

"So cry." She said pushing into his side. "You guys have been through too much and I know you can't talk about a lot of it but you cannot let it eat you alive."

When Sonny let out a sob Stella looked into the bedroom to see Clay's eyes on her. She put her finger to her lips and pointed at Lisa before turning her attention back to him. "You are safe here."

Sonny leaned into her and shook his head. "I am safer there." He exhaled through silent sobs.

Stella turned and pulled Sonny into her and held him, "We got you...and I know the rest of Bravo would say the same thing." As she held Sonny she started rocking him back and forth, still feeling Clay's eyes on her, "I got you." she repeated until he fell asleep.

When she looked up Clay was standing in front of her, "Thank you for doing that." He said, sitting down on the coffee table.

"What you do...it scares the crap out of me. I hate every second of it...but this...seeing how you guys take care of each other...Hell I think I have seen Sonny in his boxers more than I have seen you...the way you guys treat each other...I am trying Clay." She said with tears in her eyes.

"I know." He told her. "You want me to take him? You have to be exhausted too."

"I don't want to wake him." She whispered as Sonny let out a soft snore.

"He wont wake up...just have to keep a hand on his shoulder."

"He said he doesn't like to be home."

"When we are home he is alone...when we are gone...he always has someone with him...we don't even get to shower alone...maybe a curtain between us but he is never more than a few yards from any of us."

"Are you guys really okay after what happened?"

"I don't think I have been okay ever...but being with Bravo...I at least have a family now."