A/N not mine, I own nothing.

Someone for Her, Chapter 4

We each had a folder that held all the intelligence that was had on me and the Moambi op. All of my team, and Ranger and Binkie were the only ones who knew anything about the op, but only Les and I knew the whole story, and some of the things that were about to come out would piss Ranger and Tank off. I sent Lester a look that begged his forgiveness. He nodded at me and I began.

"Gentlemen, what is in this file needs to stay in this room. I want to explain a few things before you open them. Lester and I, as I am sure you noticed, have always shared a special bond. Ranger, at one point it was as strong as the one you and I shared. Actually, it was stronger.

"Sadly, that bond was broken in a way that has torn people apart for centuries. Our friendship took a long time to rebuild after everything that happened, after what I caused to happen..." Lester interrupted me.

"Beautiful, you have to stop blaming yourself for it. You heard what the doctors said, there was nothing that you or I could have done to save her."

"I could have backed out of the damn mission, Les! She might have had a chance if we had been here. Damn it! Why don't you get that?!" I screamed at him.

"And this is why we are just friends, Beautiful. We weren't healthy together, almost as bad as you and Morelli."

I was deflated in those few words, he was right. After everything had happened, we became toxic as a couple, but as friends, nothing could tear us apart.

"Would someone explain what the hell is going on here?!" Ranger shouted at us.

I took a deep breath, "Before we left on the mission, Lester and I found out we were expecting. The mission was classified as low risk, so I decided to take it anyway. I was almost six months along before the op had ended. I had been able to keep it concealed. Our medic, Marc, was handling my prenatal care. He had the training for it and we used it to our advantage. As some of you already know, he was KIA in the next mission he had been assigned.

"Anyway, at our extraction I went into premature labor. They were able to get me stable and to an airbase in Germany. Once there, however, I gave birth to our daughter. Sofia didn't make it, she was stillborn. Lester and I fought for a long time after that. About two, almost three years later, I was back in Trenton. My short-lived marriage was over, and you all know the rest of the story."

There was a stunned silence that filled the room. I raised my eyes to look at them.

"The tat that says Sofia with the the angel wings above your heart. That's why you have it Santos?" Ranger asked him.

I saw Lester nod slightly, his eyes were closed and his shoulders slumped.

"I lost two of the most important women in my life that day. Things were never the same between us, and it just got worse.

"We decided to separate and try to be friends again. I really think it worked out for the best."

Ranger gave me a strange look. Tank put his arms around me and whispered,

"I'm so sorry you went through that."

Ranger spoke up next.

"Is that why you told the family you were marrying the girl of your dreams, and then it was off?"

Lester only nodded. Neither one of us could say anymore about it. General Nealy called for a thirty-minute) break, knowing that the high emotions in the room were not conducive to the rest of this meeting.

Everyone except Tank, Ranger and me left the room. Ranger gave me a resigned look. Tears were filling my eyes. The raw emotions of losing my daughter were boiling over.

Tank pulled me into his arms as I gathered myself together.

"Babe?"

"I'm okay, Ranger. I just...well, I know that is all in the file. So, I wanted you all to hear it from me, not in some impersonal file. We kept quiet about Sofia, because not only is it a painful memory, but we didn't want anything to be able to connect Lester and I together.

"God, we were so excited when we found out. The first person we told was Abuela Rosa. In the end, she was the only person we told. She was a big help to me afterwards. When I married Dickie, she was disappointed with me. She hasn't spoken to me since, and refuses my calls. Anyway, that's not the point. Can you give Tank and I a few moments please?"

"Sure, Babe. There's about 15 minutes left, I'll go get some coffee."

He left Tank and me alone in the room. I was sitting on his lap, while he rubbed circles on my back.

"Steph, Baby Doll, I get it. I understand why you never told us. It doesn't change anything, I still want to date you, have a relationship with you.

"I respect that you and Santos share a special bond. I'm glad that you do. He'll always try to help keep you safe. Even if you can hand us all our asses."

"You need to be sure that you want the baggage that comes with me. There is a lot, and while I don't get called up as often as I once was, I still do about once a year for a few days."

"I can handle this. You of all people should understand that I can."

I nodded and a few moments later, everyone filed back into the room. I realized that we could handle this.

General Nealy nodded at Nighthawk, who began to speak.

"The Moambi family were a low-level threat with money laundering. They were beginning to escalate into human trafficking. They had begun to kidnap tourists to sell to the highest bidder, more specifically, they were only going after American tourists. We sent a team in, with Shadow and Santos in charge. They were to appear as a newly-married couple on their honeymoon.

"Once the op was over, we had no reason NOT to believe that the entire family was taken out. However, our new Intel shows that we were wrong. We also have a traitor in our ranks. I am not 100 percent sure, but we believe it may be Thompson. He seems to have a connection to the family. One that cannot be explained away. We have found a record of marriage between him and the eldest daughter of the family, Anjoi; we think this is how they found Shadow. He had access to those pictures and her entire file. I'm not sure how he gained it, because there are only six people who have that clearance. Our first objective will be to find out who has betrayed our country."

We were instructed to open our files. A phone rang and I could hear Nighthawk cursing under his breath as he answered. The look on his face as he hung up said it all, I was the pooch and I was being screwed.

A/N thank you again Miss. Maggie!

Also, Thank you for all of the awesome reviews! Honestly, I am surprised by it! We are slowly building Tank and Stephanie's relationship, so bear with me as we pull through a few things first.