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Adam Dalton chose his team carefully and he knew their files inside and out. He thought he might know his team better then anyone else knew them, except maybe the director. She had helped him work through the initial files putting together the team and she helped him each time he had to introduce a new team member. His initial team had been made up of men he knew personally or by reputation. They worked well together and he was proud to serve along side them and lead them as well. He had been ecstatic (or as ecstatic as he got) to steal Preach away from the SEALs. The man was legendary in the tech world and could make practically anything from a few bits and some wires. He was older and more religious than Adam (not hard he wasn't religious at all) and with that came a sense of calm and an ease that made it very easy to get along. Jimmy came next, a man he had gone through delta with. Adam knew what a shot Jimmy was and was willing to trust him with his life, and he did multiple times over the years. Elijah and McG had been recommended together (he would later
realize that their former commander really just wanted them gone) and he was happy to have people who already worked well together. McG was a spectacular medic a blend of both compassion and skills. He could think on his feet and was willing to try anything. Elijah was a bit of jack of all trades which made him an asset in a team that could be called up to serve in a million different situations. The team worked well together and Adam didn't see any reason to change anything until of course Jimmy announced his retirement.
They were due to rotate home and so Adam decided to make the decision in DC with Patricia. He wanted some additional insight. By the time the team had finished their debrief and had been released to spend some much deserved time home, he knew he didn't have much time to pick someone and pick someone who would gel with the team. He was envisioning a huge stack to sort through and was already dreading it when he showed up to HQ. Instead he was greeted with two files, the first was textbook perfect with a list of records from sniper school and the second was a kid just starting out almost no background. Adam was confused but thinking he should pick the first guy until he saw Patricia's notes he's a dick but well qualified but I think McG might murder him in his sleep was on the first file the second note was even more interesting don't discount her because she is young and female. I want you to read this paper then let me know who you want to meet with. Adam was puzzled, under the files he found a print out titled Applying Subtle Changes in Barrel Cosign Angle Calculation to Distances greater than 2,000M stamped with classified. He sat down for some dense complicated reading (math had never been his thing). He was amazed while the math was over his head but who ever wrote the paper also was able to make it make sense to a regular guy and applied it to real life situations. He wondered why Patricia was making him read this paper and then he looked at the author J. Khan same as the second file. He then started digging in more deeply, reading that she was a math wiz who joined the army right out of high school (he was sure there was a story there) and now was training with delta forces. He was even
more curious to meet this kid (look she was 23 to his 33 she was a kid). He had thought when he first sat down with only two files that surely he would go with the first guy arrogant sure but with a record to back
it up but now he was seriously considering this kid (girl, woman, crap this was hard). He then stopped to think about his current team, how would they react to either of these candidates. Preach would be cool with who ever, probably take on a father like role to the young kid and possibly ignore the arrogant dick (Patricia called him that first, he was just continuing to do so) McG and Elijah were the wild cards, as always. They both tended to flirt but they could usually be counted on to be professional. They joked and pranked to let off steam and he wasn't going to stop them. Whoever he chose would have to be a good fit for the team. Which was another strike against the arrogant dick, there would probably be a whole bunch of tension if he couldn't take a joke and everything about this guy screamed can't take a joke. Adam sat and thought and realized he wanted the math whiz kid, or at least he wanted to interview her first. He dashed a quick email to Patricia:
Can you set up a meeting with Khan?
-A
And waited for the reply hoping she wouldn't insist that he meet with both. Either she was expecting his response or didn't want to deal with the arrogant dick either (probably both) and quickly responded:
She is coming in tomorrow at 9am
Adam was strangely apprehensive about the meeting. He wanted it to go well, he wanted her on his team he thought she would be an asset both as a sniper on overwatch as well as undercover, there were lots of situations and places his all male team couldn't get involved in. Looking back over her file he learned she was also a polyglot speaking French and Arabic fluently and dabbling in Russian, Czech, and Finnish (random but another plus). The next morning promptly at 9am trying not to show how nervous she was Jaz showed up at the DIA. Adam watched her arrive and was shocked by this tiny woman, she looked so young but also carried herself with a confidence that came from knowing she was good at what she did. He watched as she centered herself in a way that only snipers can and walked into the conference room he had taken over with confidence but not arrogance. As they sat and talked (he refused to call it and interview) he was even more convinced that she was exactly what the team needed. When he finally got around to asking about her paper he learned it was the last in a long string of them starting before she even joined the army (well fuck she was published at 17 in a classified journal she didn't get clearance to read until recently). Several hours into their conversation Patricia poked her head in asking Jaz to come sign some paperwork. At her surprised look Adam realized he hadn't gotten around to asking her officially to be on his team. With all the formalities taken care of the next hurdle was having his team meet Jaz. He wondered if it was better to do so stateside or on base in Turkey.