Obviously, I don't own The Brave or any of its amazingness.

...

"Look, do I want you to come with us? Of course I do. But that's why we have procedures in place, so guys like me aren't making decisions that we're not qualified to make. Now, I put you in harm's way and you're not ready? Something happens to you?"

Top's voice had trailed off and his blue eyes had darkened at the thought of losing Jaz again.

"I'd never forgive myself."

The words replayed over and over in Jaz's head as the Humvee bumped along the desert road. "Guys like me...I put you in harm's way...I'd never forgive myself..."

Jaz shifted her gaze from the bland landscape out the window to the young captain riding shotgun beside Preach. Adam's hand loosely gripped his weapon and he glanced back as if he could feel Jaz's gaze.

Unspoken tension coursed back and forth between them as Jaz held eye contact. Her first mission after her capture, and she expected there to be some subtle differences, but Top was being extra protective. He'd split them up between the Humvees, keeping her with him, which wasn't necessarily uncommon, but it was hard not to over analyze every choice he made. He kept saying she didn't have anything to prove, but his words before her last mission had imploded continued to ring in her ears.

"Oh, and I won't even mention how you almost dropped the kid."

His voice had dripped with irritation and his eyes cut straight through Jaz's heart. Rationally Jaz knew it was probably just an outer expression of his frustration over the op going bad and not meant personally, but as much as she hated to admit it, it hurt. She felt betrayed, belittled, untrusted. Her father was the king of passive aggressive insults and of all the men in her life, Top was the one she had never seen traces of her father in. Until that moment.

"I don't - I don't know if we have to have a dark side to do what we do, Jaz. But I know that I met mine."

Top's words from their late night, post op fireside conversation rang in her ears.

"And no matter what I do...that guy never goes away."

It was almost like he was issuing a warning, to stay clear of him, of trusting him too much, of opening her heart to him. It was too late for that, but the confusion of all the confidence he had placed in her before mixed with the frustration he had taken out on her put Jaz in a state of turmoil.

Jaz realized she was still looking at her captain, her stare now more of a glare with all the internal conflict pulling at her heart. Heat tinged her cheeks as she jerked her eyes back to the window.

"Talk to me."

So many thoughts and feelings fought for first place in her brain, most of them ones she wasn't quite ready to voice much less share with him.

"Jaz."

Concern laced his usually confident voice.

"Look, if you're still upset with me because of our last mission, fine. But I need to know you are on and with us today, one hundred percent. I'm not risking anyone else on this team because one person is having an off day."

His assumption more than irritated her. Her eyes flashed in immediate fury as she snapped back to the present. The man was infuriating.

"Top, really?! Make up your mind. You ether trust me, or you don't. If you can't trust that I will give everything I have for this team, this family, then you and I have more problems than I realized!" Jaz knew how insubordinate the words sounded as they spilled out of her mouth, but by then it was too late to take them back.

Might as well get it all out now. "If this is how it's going to be, why did you even come back for me in Iran?" Her voice started our strong but was barely a whisper by the time she finished her question.

Adam withdrew a sharp intake of air to snap back but stopped short as Preach cut in.

"Cap, we're nearing the compound. Jaz, I'm glad to have you back on overwatch. I wasn't looking forward to my turn covering your position."

Jaz and Dalton both huffed a few deep breaths, the severity of the militant situation they were entering providing an anchor to focus in and restore the calm that was customary.

"Thanks, Preach. I'm ready." Jaz directed the last half of her comment towards Dalton, who refused to acknowledge her.

" Top..." it was half a statement, half a question. Adam finally looked back at her with an inscrutable look in his eyes.

He held her gaze for a long moment, then roughly cleared his throat before barking out, "All right then, let's go."

Preach looked on silently and wondered if Jaz had seen the sudden sheen of tears in Dalton's eyes just before he broke contact. These two needed some major help in communicating with each other. As a man, Preach had a pretty good idea where Dalton's head was at, not only feeling guilty of all that had transpired in the last month, but also realizing how important Jaz had become to him personally and not knowing how to reconcile all that in his mind and heart. As a dad of teenage girls, Preach could clearly see Jaz's desperation for approval and accurately read her outburst as a frantic scramble for the stability and confidence she had come to expect from the man who was stealing her heart but unknowingly crushing it at the same time.

There were a few perks to having a wife and three teenage daughters, after all.