Jade spent the rest of the afternoon talking with her brother and father even though she was still pissed at her brother. Nicole and Emily came back later and Nicole insisted she stay for dinner. So while dinner was being made Jade talked to a very energetic Emily who was chattering about the movie Finding Dory and all the fish in the movie and what her favourite parts were.

"Emily leave Aunty Jade alone." Jade smiled and waved her hand as it wasn't a big deal. Listening to Emily talk made her feel guilty for missing out on the early years of her life. It also gave her an ache in her chest at the thought of how she didn't have any children herself.

"So Jade, Paul tells me you are in the Army. What do you do?" Jade shrugged her shoulders and rubbed her arm. Nicole could tell she didn't feel comfortable so Nicole gave her a warm smile pretending not to notice the scars on her arm.

"So you have a partner?" Jade cringed involuntarily at the thoughts of her love life.

"No, not at the moment. I was engaged for 5 years, but my ex-fiancé cheated on me while I was overseas every time and spent all my money on my last tours on his whores. I was seeing someone recently, but that fell through." She didn't want to say anything about what happened with Marcus and Nicole didn't push her to say anything.

"Well, those men don't know what they are missing. I can tell you are a very intelligent and bright, beautiful woman." Jade smiled as she continued to colour in a princess with Emily.

"Your brother tried looking for you. He did for years, but every time he tried the private investigator couldn't find anything on you. It was like you didn't exist." Jade didn't want to say anything, so she focused all her concentration on the drawing. It made sense why her brother couldn't find her. If she was on a tour where she wasn't meant to be they wiped all her data so she was essentially a ghost.

Throughout dinner, Jade was kept company by miss Emily who insisted she sit next to her. By the time dinner was over Jade promised to visit again and promised she would take Emily to the park sometime next week. When Jade finally arrived back at her apartment later on that evening, she had a smile on her face and felt pure happiness something she hasn't felt since she was a child. She felt as if they had filled a small hole in her heart that had been empty since her family broke apart all those years ago. So as Jade went to bed with a smile on her face she wouldn't admit it, but she was glad she found her brother and father after all this time. Even if she was still angry at her brother.

Over the next few weeks, Jade spent more time with her brother and his beautiful family that she was going with them on family outings to the park beach and even the aquarium.

Time was flying and each day Jade felt herself getting physically and mentally stronger. So she wasn't surprised when a few weeks later she got a call asking her to come in to fill out her clearance papers to go back into the field.

"Here you go Corporal Jennings's and congratulations on the promotion." Jade looked confused at first and looked down at the paper in her hand as her commanding officer walked into the room.

"Jennings, if you could come into my office for me." Jade followed him into his office where she was told to sit.

"I was hoping you would hear from me first about your promotion, but I guess you already know." Jade didn't know what to say as she sat there thinking before she spoke.

"Sir, I'm grateful, but I didn't do the Sergeant course so how-" Her commanding officer smiled at her before opening a folder that was on his desk.

"Where should we start? You have shown exemplary leadership skills during all your tours and in particular your last tour. We recognise your efforts and sacrifices that have been made and we believe you deserve the promotion. With no need to do the course." Jade smiled again and so did her superior before his face became serious and he pulled out another folder.

"This is your new assignment, you will meet your team today after this meeting and you have a month to prepare. We are sending you back over with the best of the best and you as our Alpha leader of this mission. The brief is in the folder with all the information you need." Jade quickly flipped through the folder as adrenaline ran through her veins knowing in a month she will be back in int action leading the elite team known as the Alpha squadron for the first time. She had been in the Alpha squadron for a few years and now she finally got to lead the best of the best.

"Thank you, Sir." Jade stood up once her superior did, and they guided her into a gym like a room where she waited for her team to arrive.

While Jade waited, she took a few deep breaths and opened up the folder and started reading up on her team. As always, her team comprised males, and it worried her that they wouldn't want to listen to a woman in charge. She smiled when she saw that she had Corporal Tucker so she skipped his profile already knowing his information from the tour before.

"Sergeant." Jade turned around and felt her blood spike at the sound of her newly appointed rank.

"Lance Corporal Mass." Jade held out her hand and shook hands as they were all going to be in civilian attire.

"Sergeant Jennings." She took in the man before her. He wasn't a bulky guy, yet he wasn't thin either. The perfect kind of man that would be strong, quick and agile.

"What do you specialise in?" She asked while she waited for the others to arrive.

"Bomb detection." Jade unconsciously rubbed her arm remembering the IED that they had no idea was coming for them.

The next two men to walk in were Corporal Taylor and Sergeant Smith, both had done many tours were very skilled like Jade in a range of specialities.

"We are just waiting on Corporal Tucker before we start, in the meantime here are our briefs read through them familiarise yourself with the mission cause when we get over there I want this to be clean and precise with no casualties and no if not minimal injuries. It will be dangerous and for those who do not wish to partake I will not hold you against it." Jade looked at her men as she saw Corporal Tucker slip into the room.

All the men looked at Jade and gave her a head nodded putting their trust and faith into her hand.

"Right let's get to work."

Later that afternoon Jade was in her kitchen cooking dinner for her dad and her brother's family as she had invited them over so she could tell them the news. It worried her how they would react and the fact she couldn't give them much detail on what she would be doing.

She was just putting the food in the oven when the bell rang and Jade went to answer the door.

"Hello." Jade gave everyone kisses and took the bottle of wine off her dad and placed it in the fridge.

"Aunty Jade." Jade picked up Emily who started chatting about her day as everyone got comfortable.

"Does anyone want a drink or snacks dinner is another half an hour away?" Jade put down Emily as she grabbed out beers for her dad and brother and she poured herself a glass of wine and Nicole a glass of lemonade.

"It's a nice place you have Jade." She smiled and took a sip of her drink.

"I only rent defence housing, they put me in here." Nicole nodded noting how it was comfortable to live in if you had a small family, but she thought how lonely Jade must get with just herself in the apartment.

"Is the lift always out of service," Paul asked and Jade nodded.

"Yeah, I refuse to take it after getting stuck in it a few times. It was a pain trying to move in because it wasn't working on the day." While dinner cooked Jade and Nicole started on the dessert with the help of Emily who kept eating all the icing.

"Dinner should be ready in a minute," Jade announced as she took dinner out of the oven before taking another sip of her wine.

"Okay, I'll set the table." Her father stated as he got to work on the table and Jade dished out the food onto plates.

"So Jade any news back from work." Her brother asked halfway through dinner. They still had a strained relationship, and she hadn't forgiven him yet, but she could talk and be civil with him.

"Actually, I did. I have been all cleared, and I even got a promotion." Her father smiled proudly at his daughter and all she had achieved.

"That's great news." Nicole stated giving Jade a nod of approval.

"That was why I invited you all around and to also tell you in a month they will deploy me." Everything at the table stopped, and it was as if everything was in slow motion. She watched her Dad's shocked clear on his face, she watched as Nicole covered her mouth and her brother roughly place his knife and fork on the table.

"You won't be front line right?" Her brother questioned and Jade stayed silent knowing she couldn't say much.

"I can't tell you what I am doing, but my Commanding officer gave me and my team a mission and I have to execute the mission and do my general duty overseas." She watched as the anger become clear on her brother's face and she didn't understand why he was so angry. This was her job and she had been doing it for years.

"Can you tell us where you are going?" She shook her head because if they knew it could put her family at risk if anything happened.

"Paul just relax, Jade has done this before and it is your job." His wife tried to reason with him, but it pissed him off that his baby sister was once again putting herself in danger.

"I proud of you Jade and I can't stop you, just promise me you will be safe and come home safely." Jade grabbed her father's hand ignoring the look on her brother's face.

"That I can do. I am very well trained at what I do and I have the best team who will have my back. It's a real simple mission. Not much risk. "Jade lied, but seeing the look of relief on her father's face made her feel less likely about lying.

"How long will you be gone?" Nicole asked.

"3-4 months it all depends on how quickly we can get the intel we need and complete the mission." Paul was still not happy, but after getting a stern look from his wife to shut up, he did as he was told and finished his dinner in silence.

Once dinner was finished Jade and her father cleaned up while her brother and his family sat in the living room talking in a hushed whisper.

"What made you decide the army, Jade?" Her father questioned knowing few 18-year-old girls would make that life choice at such a young age.

"First, I wanted to rebel against mum and do something that would get me away from her and piss her off. At first, I would only do my 4 years as general duty then become a nurse. However, after my training, I was offered this job because I excelled at everything. They offered to pay for my medical degree, but after conversations with supervisors they offered me a job at which I could excel at and here I am 12 years later." Her father said nothing wishing all those years ago he fought harder for her so she didn't have to be risking her life.

"You can still become a nurse Jade, you're still young." Jade had thought about it. She had basic medical training and knew if she wanted to she could, but at the moment she was still happy in her job and maybe in a few years if she ever settled down she would think about leaving and becoming a nurse.

"We will see." After dessert and a few drinks, her family had to leave as Emily had fallen asleep on her couch watching cartoons on her tv.

"Thanks for having us, Jade." Nicole said as Jade walked them out.

"No, the pleasure was all mine. We should do it again before I go, I'll just have to see when I am free." Both the woman said bye and Jade faced her brother.

"I'm sorry I overreacted." Jade waved her hand knowing it was okay.

"It's fine Paul." Emily stirred in his arms so they quickly said goodbye and Jade watched them descend the stairs before Jade went back into her apartment. She couldn't help, but look next door wondering where Marcus had been stationed and if he ever planned on telling her that he was leaving or he was just pulling her along for the ride.

Sighing, she turned back into her apartment and went straight to bed knowing these next few weeks would be very busy getting herself and her team ready.