Chapter Text
January 2018 - Yemen
I had mixed feelings about this spin up. I was glad to be back with the team, happy to be back at work trying to make a difference, but I had to leave Charlie at home and that was tough.
Tassy was still in Egypt. I dropped Charlie off at Ray’s house before sunrise this morning before we headed out. Charlie was half asleep and didn’t complain. I did get a hug and a kiss from her which meant everything to me before I left. I felt guilty for leaving her with Naima. RJ was only a month and a half old, but I didn’t have any other options I could trust. Charlie liked her babysitter, but Abby was only eighteen and in school. I didn’t think her parents would want her staying overnight at my house, and I certainly didn’t want her inviting her friends over without any adults around.
Jameelah and Charlie were friends and I knew the girls would be excited to spend time together. Hopefully Tassy would be home before the next spin up. It would be one less thing I needed to worry about. Despite the odds of Hamza going after my family again being very small, I still worried. He was out there somewhere and controlled a large criminal network. He had an endless supply of scumbags to do his dirty work for him.
Mandy was working on it, but since the kidnapping attempt he had gone quiet. I would just have to bide my time until we had enough intel to get a mission green lit. Thank God I was a patient man.
It was time to focus on today’s mission. Alpha team was riding with us and the long flight enabled me to get caught up with Derek and the rest of the guys before I hooked up my hammock to lay down and start a new book.
Yemen is one of my least favorite places. There was a reason it was on the State Department’s list of countries to avoid at all costs. We were in search of a cell phone and had been watching a particular house throughout most of the night.
No one ever wanted their door kicked in and their house overrun by a Navy Seal team. I got that. It won’t make for your best day ever. Our rookie, Clay Spencer made it worse by shooting a girl in the shoulder as we breached the house. Now we had a screaming mother, a severely injured young woman, a seriously pissed off father and a scared little boy.
To Clay’s credit he felt enormously guilty. He and Trent began medical treatment immediately. He shot her in the shoulder but he must have nicked an artery. There was so much blood. I was tasked with securing the father. He was upset and angry, but compliant enough. If all I had to do was play babysitter I could live with that. He was a doctor and was most concerned about his daughter’s condition.
I could relate to that. The scene reminded me of Tassy’s tent in Mali. There was just as much blood there too. It really was a miracle we saved her. I understood the father’s fear and the anguish caused by not being able to help. It was torture watching one of your loved ones bleeding out and not knowing if they would survive. The father in me felt bad for him, but until we found the phone and figured out who was part of a terrorist organization, the soldier in me did his duty and held him at gunpoint.
In the end the injured daughter was part of the terrorist organization. Trent and Clay kept her alive long enough to finally get to the bottom of everything. We barely got out in time. Jason was pissed at the cake eaters who were more concerned with saving their own asses, but with Blackburn’s help everybody got want they wanted. Easy day.
“How’s it feel to be back Metal?” Jason asked, handing me a beer before sitting down next to me on the plane ride home.
“It was good,” I replied. “I’m back where I belong, doing what I need to do.”
“Good. It should have been easier than it was.”
“Yeah, but tensions run high and Clay had something to prove. He’ll settle down eventually. Despite today he may end up being the best of us all.”
“You may be right. At some point you and I are going to have to hand the mantle off to the younger guys.”
“Speak for yourself old man,” I chuckled.
“Hey, you’re only a couple years younger than me,” Jason defended himself. “Seriously though, I know I can’t do this forever. I just don’t know how to do anything else, how to be anybody else.”
“I hear you brother,” I replied. “As great as it was having a couple months off it gave me time to think about the future. I don’t know what I’m going to do either. Our set of skills doesn’t help out on a standard resume unless we go the private security route. Tassy wouldn’t want me doing that and I want to be home once I’m done here.”
“I’ve had offers. They’re lucrative, but I get what you mean. I missed so much of my kids’ lives doing this. I don’t want to miss out on a lot more. Mandy wants a kid of her own eventually too. Neither of us are getting any younger. If we have a child I’d like to be around to watch them grow up.”
“Tassy will love being an aunt. You two better get on that soon,” I smile thinking about Jason taking care of an infant. “I can’t believe Charlie is almost five. It goes so fast Jase.”
“I know. There’s just never a good time.”
“There’s not. You just have to embrace the chaos. For the record you and Mandy will be great parents.”
“Thanks Scottie. I hope so.”
As soon as we were done at the base, Ray and I headed to his house. He couldn’t wait to see his wife and kids and I was anxious to see Charlie. This was the first time since she was a baby that she stayed with Naima. I was concerned that she’d miss her mother and me too much, especially after what happened in Egypt.
I really had no reason to worry. Charlie and Jameelah were playing princesses when we got there. She was thrilled to see me, but seemed fine. Naima said she did well and was extremely well mannered.
“She missed you most in the evenings, right before bed,” Naima told me as Charlie went to get her suitcase.
“I usually read to her or we talk before bedtime. It’s our time together. It’s understandable she missed that.”
“She’s doing remarkably well Scott since the kidnapping attempt,” Naima commented.
“Yeah. She’s had some nightmares but that’s getting better. Kids really are resilient.”
“Keep an eye on it. You never know what may trigger an episode.”
“I will. I’ve told her she can always talk about it or ask me questions too. I’m not sweeping it under the rug.”
“Good. Hopefully she won’t have any lasting effects.”
Charlie couldn’t stop talking about all the fun stuff she and Jameelah did over the last two days. She was giggling and smiling and that meant everything in the world to me.
“Did you get the bad guys Daddy?”
“We did, but this time the bad guy was actually a girl,” I told her.
“A girl? Why would a girl be bad?”
“It’s no different than a boy being bad Charlie. Girls can be influenced by the wrong type of people. They can rebel against their parents. Sometimes they are just born without knowing right from wrong and there’s no one around to teach them the difference.”
She appeared to think about that for a moment as I watched her in the rear view mirror.
“I think there are still more boys that are bad than girls, but I’m glad you stopped her from hurting anyone.”
“Thank you sweetheart. There are more bad boys out there, which means I will have my work cut out for me once you’re older.”
“Daddy, boys are yucky. I don’t want to be around them.”
“You may change your mind someday Charlie, but don’t worry, I’ll always protect you and make sure nothing bad happens.”
“I love you Daddy.”
“I love you too Charlie.”
I ordered pizza for dinner and then we watched Frozen again before Charlie got ready for bed. I read to her before turning off the light and crawling into my own bed. I was exhausted and even though I didn’t suffer any injuries, my knees and back were hurting. It was just another reminder that this job would never get any easier.