A/N: This starts during The Unlucky One.


"Will you shut up about the case?" Paige shouted, looking at him for the first time since they entered the truck. "This is not just a case. Some of them aren't even eighteen! They're girls Mike! Girls! They didn't make it out of there, they're still in there. Lina's still in there."

Her was face bruised. Her leg wrapped. Because of Sulla. Eyes haunted. Because of Lina. Trust shattered. Because of him.

Paige looked at him with tear filled eyes, pleading for him to do something. Anything. But right now, right this moment there wasn't anything he could do for her.

It took everything in him not to pull Paige into his arms. Promise her that he would fix this. He could feel the hostility rolling off her in waves and could tell that the last thing she wanted right now was his comfort and assurances. He was lucky Paige was even talking to him. Lucky she hadn't blown their covers. If he had been able to carry a gun to the site, he was positive she would've stolen it and shot the place up to rescue her girls.

"Don't you think I know that? Don't you think I considered that?" Mike asked, meeting Paige's eyes. Trying to keep his eyes from drifting to the bruise on her face that Sulla saw fit to give her when he was dragging her kicking and screaming. The second he heard Sulla's hand make contact with Paige's face, he almost blew his cover. But he wouldn't risk not walking out of there without Paige. So he kept silent.

His calculated, controlled demeanor vanished the moment he realized Paige was missing. He couldn't think straight. Couldn't focus on anything other than getting her out of there. He lost count of how many protocols he broke. Didn't question where the money came from to "buy" Paige and now that she was safe, he didn't care.

He crossed lines he didn't think he was capable of crossing. Maybe Briggs poured vodka down Lawrence's throat first, but he held him down. Briggs didn't put the bottle in his hands. Didn't tell him to pour most of a half gallon of vodka down Lawrence's throat. He did that. He'd like to blame that on the guilt he felt for not being able to secure Paige a team or on the fear of not knowing where she was, but he made a conscious choice. What was bothering him wasn't that he did it, but that he'd do it again in a heartbeat if it meant finding Paige.

Seeing her picture on that disgusting website made this more real than he ever could've imagined. He knew the facts. The numbers. Saw the faces. But it took seeing hers to make it real for him. Nothing could ever make him forget the fear he saw in her eyes. No matter how ironclad Paige's cover was, she couldn't fake that. No matter what, he had to get her out of there.

Paige begged him to buy Lina. Begged him to leave her in there. But he couldn't. Not because she couldn't take it. Not because she would be more valuable to the operation on the outside - which was true, but not the deciding factor in his decision if he was honest with himself. But because he couldn't take it. He couldn't live through another second knowing she was at the mercy of those monsters. Sulla wouldn't hesitate to torture or kill her if he found out she was a federal agent. That wasn't a risk he was willing to take.

Mike slammed his hand on the steering wheel, frustrated. With Paige. With himself. But he made the best decision he could under the circumstances. Why couldn't Paige see that? Why couldn't she take a step back and look at the big picture? She was wrong if she thought he didn't care about her girls. He leaned back, closing his eyes for a few seconds, trying to gather his bearings.

"Did you? Seems like your goal was to get me out of there. Mission accomplished, Agent Warren, you saved me at the expense of all those other girls," Paige said, her voice filled with animosity.

They hadn't been in the truck for more than a minute before they started arguing. Part of him thought they needed to cool down. Go home. Regroup. Get some rest and then reconvene. Figure out the best way to shut down everything for good. They were both on edge. Agitated. Raw. But Paige was never one to back down from an argument. She wasn't some shrinking violet that hid from adversity. She loved a challenge. She was strong. Fearless. That was why she put herself under as Anika. Part of the reason why she wanted to stay.

"I'm not going to apologize for getting you out of there. If your cover got blown, you'd be suffering a lot more than a wrapped leg and bruised face. Sulla could've killed you."

"If you're expecting a thank you, you're not going to get one."

The moment he chose to lie to her, about talking to Sulla to buy Lina instead of her, he knew she would be pissed. But he thought she would see reason. Look at things logically. Realize that saving Lina now wasn't the answer. That they had to shut this place down for good. Sending up a team to bust things up now, without a link to Solano would only shut it down temporarily.

"You can hate me all you want, but I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you."

"I can't live with myself if something happens to Lina. I promised her that I wouldn't leave her. If something happens to her, if someone buys her, that's on you."

His anger and frustration getting the best of him, he found himself saying the one thing he shouldn't. "I'm not the one that put her on the bus to Sylmar, you did."