And Then They Were In Love And Lost

Chapter 3

Finally, on Sunday, the team got the call and was spun up. All the extra training was finally brought to light as they would retrieve one of the CIA's most wanted terrorists. He has been known to work with every known terrorist cell in some form and has one of the highest pulls in weapons sales worldwide. No one truly knows his real name as his alias changes with each cell he works with, and each weapon bought is arranged electronically, but he has gained the nickname of Phantom. Mandy and Davis were working on the target package all week and just waiting on the confirmation of his last sighting by JBad so they could get the green light from the upper brass. This would be a retrieval mission alongside identifying and destroying his primary location for his current weapons stash within his known compound. Wheels up was in 3 hours, and the team slowly filed out of the ops room to gather their go bags and inform their families that they were spun up and leaving right away.

Clay, Liz and Sonny had no one to call or any affairs to really get in order with their partners or homes before they left, so they all headed directly to their cage room to start getting their gear ready to load on the plane. Liz went into her cage and started packing up her ruck and go-bag, but she stopped and focused on the little stuffed donkey in a white tutu and wedding vale Sonny had gotten her after the last mission her can Clay went on recon as a married couple. He always joked they could be a paid of stubborn asses when put together, and he finally found the perfect gift to keep in their cages to remind them of their crazy antics. Clay's cage sported the same stuffed donkey, but his wore a black top hat and tie. All Liz could think about when she saw her donkey was the fun times she and Clay had pretended to be a couple and how she felt safe and loved, even if it was just pretending. But was it act for him, or did he get that same tug in his heart just like her when they were together on recon missions? Does he feel the same affection and security when he looks at the donkey he keeps in his cage on his top shelf beside the seal Davis got for him and his Bravo t-shirted teddy bear Blackburn got for him once he hit his one-year mark after being a rookie for what felt like far too long? Blackburn always had a soft spot for Clay as he was on the same team as Ash, so he met him as a child a few times and knew how growing up with him as his father before he went to live with his Grandparents in Africa was no easy task. He hoped for Clay to get put on Bravo and kept dropping hints about how Clay's personality, gifts and visions would fill a gap Bravo was missing in Jason's ear whenever he could ever since Clay came on as a strap for a mission early in his training. Blackburn saw potential, and he was not going to let it go.

Clay glanced at Sonny and saw him nod his head towards Liz's cage, hinting for Clay to look over. Clay looked over and watched her pick up her donkey and gaze at it for a moment like she was reminiscing and smiling before she put it back on her shelf and continued to gather her gear. He then looked at his own and smiled, hoping she had the same memories of them being together and having fun blending in as a couple while they got the pictures needed for their recon mission. He couldn't help but take a few of her and a couple of selfies of them as they pretended to pose along the fountain in Spain in front of the table their HVT was sitting at while he met with another known terrorist. He kept those pictures in his nightstand at home when Davis gave them back to him, saying how cute they were and that these pictures may have slipped in with the ones of the HVT. She always rooted for Clay to be happy and had a massive grin on her face as Clay's cheeks were painted pink, realizing he was caught trying to hide the pictures and say that the target moved when they were trying to get him in the background while attempting to blend in.

................

"Bravo 1 to HAVOC, we have reached our location. I repeat, we have reached Doberman." Jason communicated as they all filed into line behind the one four-story building he planned to use for overwatch. The team decided to go with dogs' names to honour Cerbs' birthday coming next week.