Continued thanks to my amazing beta, Cristi0819. She makes me and my writing look so much better than it is truly.

Chapter 7 - Tank's POV

"I want his apartment and work under surveillance until he is spotted. His cars need trackers and the minute someone gets a chance, pick him up and throw him into a holding cell. He's responsible for hurting our Bombshell. Anyone who wants a turn can have at him, but he needs to stay alive and I want him conscious when I get there." I hung up with Hal and nearly hurtled my phone across the room.

I knew our teams would find Mathis and do it discretely, but I couldn't wait to get my hands around his neck. Rubbing my hand over my face and head, I covered my mouth trying to hide the smirk at the thought of making him scream. Mathis was going to suffer for a while and I would make sure he was completely broken for what he'd done to my Little Girl. Steph's agony and insecurities from this morning would stay with me for some time to come and I would make sure to pull that memory up when I had her attacker in front of me.

Steph was on the couch with Hector and Lester, both of them making her smile and laugh a little which eased a bit of the hole in my heart. Just knowing that she could laugh and that our friends could still comfort her, that her light wasn't completely extinguished gave me some hope.

Hector gave me a small nod and moved into the kitchen while Lester kept Steph distracted. "What do you want to do with Robbins? I can take care of it." Hector's voice was low and hard, his eyes chillingly cold. This side of Hector hadn't made an appearance very often in the few months that he had been dating Lester, and he never showed it when Stephanie was around. He took his role as her guardian angel seriously and he never let her see his most dangerous persona.

"I need him for a little while longer." I met Hector's eyes and knew that neither one of us would have any qualms about killing Robbins, but still I needed him for information and I wasn't sure about killing him. It wasn't that I'd regret the action, if anything I'd be glad to do it, but I didn't think we could do it cleanly. There might be some suspicion over his disappearance since he had publically dated Steph and everyone in Trenton knew of her connection to RangeMan. "I haven't decided totally what to do with him yet. I'll let you know."

He nodded and was about to say something when Steph appeared behind him. His face changed instantly, softening so quickly I almost didn't believe it. Steph was wringing her hands and chewing on her lip as she looked at me. Lester was standing behind her, his hand on the small of her back.

"What is it Steph?" The look of uncertainty on her face threatened to tear me apart.

"I don't think I've fed Rex or given him any water." She looked like she might cry at the thought of neglecting her little pet.

I shook my head. "You fed him and gave him clean water before we went to your apartment yesterday, Little Girl. I'm sure the little guy is fine."

She continued to wring her hands, her eyes flickering between me, Hector, and Lester. Bobby was standing back watching, but she didn't see him. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." I nodded and tried to give her a smile, but she was so nervous and anxious that I knew I wasn't getting through to her.

Lester touched her shoulder and she turned to look at him. Her face looking for answers that I felt at a complete loss to give. "Beautiful, why don't you take a carrot up to Rex as a little treat?"

Her face relaxed at Lester's suggestion, then she looked at me smiling just a bit though her hands were still wringing against her stomach. "Is that okay? Can I have a carrot?"

It wasn't like Steph to ask for permission or seek approval and it ate at my gut a little to see it in her now. "Of course, Steph. You never have to ask. Help yourself to anything in this house, anytime." I moved to the fridge and pulled a carrot from the crisper. She gave me a huge smile as I handed it to her and while I loved seeing her smile, I hated the vulnerability she was exuding.

"Thanks." She sighed and took it from my hand. I watched her walk off; her gait was still tentative, giving me a more honest picture of how sore she truly was.

Bobby frowned from the edge of the room and approached us as Steph went upstairs. "It's a normal traumatic response, she can't make decisions. We just need to be patient with her. When she asks for permission it's because she can't make a decision, so we just need to help her by giving it to her."

Lester nodded. "I did a little reading last night, too."

"A little, only all night long." Hector chuckled.

Lester shrugged his shoulders and looked at Bobby. "I did some reading on rape trauma syndrome. She seems to be fitting into the stuff I read, difficulty concentrating and in making decisions, not to mention the bewilderment and tremors." He curled his fingers into fists. "I hate seeing her shake so much."

"She's the strongest person I've ever known, I hate seeing her so unsure." I let out a deep breath. "Mathis is going to pay very painfully for this." My sentence was more of a growl than well-formed words, but it was answered by three other growls and I knew that we were all on the same page about the end of one James Mathis.

Bobby stretched his neck to the side, trying to relieve some of his tension. "She asked me about counseling." I raised my eyebrow, surprised but pleasantly so, wanting her to get any help she needed to recover. "I'm compiling a list for her of RangeMan approved counselors."

"Women, right?" I knew RangeMan had a list of great male counselors trained in dealing with combat PTSD but the idea of sending Steph into a room with a man alone was something I couldn't handle. Bobby wouldn't send her to someone who wasn't cleared by RangeMan background checks, of course, but still I didn't want to leave anything to chance.

"Yes." He chuckled. "I'm unwilling to leave her alone with a man either, plus it'll probably be easier for her to talk about it with another woman."

"I want to have another chat with Robbins this morning. Who can stay with her?" I didn't want to leave her but at the same time I needed to have this chat with Robbins on my own.

"We will." Hector spoke up as he tugged on Lester's hand. It was obvious that the two of them wanted some alone time with their friend and adopted little sister and I knew that if anyone could make her laugh, they could.

She still hadn't come back downstairs and I was starting to worry about her. I knew she was safe here, but she hadn't been very far from me for very long in the last few days. I needed to change and strap on my holsters before leaving and all of that was in my bedroom.

When she didn't respond to my quiet knocks, I opened the bedroom door and found her sitting in my armchair. She was looking out the window, her legs curled up to her chest. "Steph, are you okay?"

My voice startled her, causing her entire body to flinch. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and let out a deep breath as her eyes met mine. "I feel a little like I'm going crazy. I can't think straight and I can't remember simple things, like feeding Rex."

I sat on the stool in front of her, my hands reaching for hers. "Those pain pills just made you groggy Steph and as for going crazy, you're not. You've had quite a trauma, Little Girl. Your mind is just trying to cope."

She bit her lip and moved closer to me, her hands gripping mine tightly. "I can still feel his hands on me, I smell him sometimes. I've tried washing the smell off, but it just won't go away. I turn the water as hot as it will go and I scrub so hard, but I still smell him. I just want to forget that he ever touched me. I can't make his touch or smell go away."

Her words were breaking my heart, but I wanted her to feel free to talk to me. I didn't want her to censor her thoughts or emotions. "Oh God, Little Girl, I wish I could take that from you, wish I could suffer it so you didn't have to. I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you from this." I'd been beaten, tortured before but even in my wildest nightmares I couldn't imagine the violation she was enduring. Mathis' final days would be agonizing and I would erase him so that she could feel safe, but her tears and words now let me know that it wouldn't be enough, that she would always carry a bit of what he had done with her. I would give her whatever she needed to feel safe and secure but I was at a complete loss at how to help her ease her suffering.

Trying to calm my rage before it seeped out in front of her, I took a deep breath and looked down at our joined hands. Her sleeves had ridden up a bit and I could see the hand print bruises on her pale skin, the sight of those enraged me further making it even more difficult to stay calm. She let go of my hand and threw her arms around my neck, pressing her torso against mine.

Wrapping my arms around her waist I pulled her onto my lap. She wrapped her legs around my waist and held onto me for dear life, hiding her face in the crook of my neck. I rubbed her back and kissed her cheek trying to provide something, anything to make her feel less fragile.

After a few minutes, she loosened her grip and placed a quick peck on my ear lobe. "Thanks."

Smiling, I let my hand cup her cheek, my thumb lightly caressing her skin. "Anything for you."

She smiled and moved from my embrace, sat on the chair and looked at me. "What's the plan for the day?" Her ability to pull strength from deep inside never ceased to amaze me. I knew it was forced and while I didn't want her to pretend to be okay on my account, I also understood the need for a little normalcy too.

"I need to go to RangeMan for a bit. Lester and Hector are going to stay here with you, ok?"

"Ok. Will you be long?" I watched as her hands began pulling on each other, her nervousness expressing itself with small tremors and hand wringing.

Placing my hands over hers, I held her gaze wanting her to feel assured. "I'll be as fast as I can." She nodded as I moved to get some clothes. "I'm going to change in the bathroom then come back here and get my holsters and guns. Do you want to wait here or go downstairs?"

As I gathered my cargos and t-shirt, I watched her from the corner of my eye. She was struggling with what to do. "Um, can I wait for you?" I'd already told her she could, but it was obvious that Lester and Bobby were right. She was having trouble making decisions.

"Of course, Steph. I'm going to shave and change and then I'll be back. Just relax there for a few minutes." I hurried through my shave routine, wanting to get moving and back here as soon as I could.

Steph watched me closely as I put my weapons on. Her eyes fluctuating back and forth between the weapon and my face. I couldn't read what was going on in her mind, despite the usual transparency she carried. I didn't push for her thoughts either, figuring she would share if and when she was ready. When I was done, I held my hand out to her. "Ready?"

She smiled and nodded, taking my hand in hers. I kissed her forehead one last time, leaving her in Hector and Lester's capable care as Bobby and I headed to RangeMan.

On the drive over, Bobby filled me in a bit on Robbins' night. Bobby had checked him out in the morning. No serious injuries, but the guys had worked him over pretty good. The thought of it made me chuckle. By now Robbins' was probably a quivering mess in the holding cell, terrified of every sound and wondering when the next beating would come. I was glad for it because I knew Steph was feeling worse than that and I wanted him to understand what true vulnerability felt like.

Entering the holding cell, I saw Robbins curled up in a corner. His face was swollen and bruised and his eyes were absolutely frightened when he saw me approach. Squatting down in front of him, I smirked as he looked at the floor. "You need to answer a few more questions and then I might just let you out of here today." He nodded quickly, his eyes glancing up at me, waiting to hear what I had to say.

"Did you call Mathis after Steph disappeared at The BlueMoon?" I was working extra hard at controlling my temper. I wanted to beat him to a bloody pulp, but I needed this information.

"I tried, but he never answered." Robbins' voice was quiet and weak as he answered.

"Does Mathis know Steph is associated with RangeMan in anyway? Does he know who we are?" I needed to know if Mathis was going to be watching his back or if we were going to be able to surprise him.

"Not from me. I never mentioned it. We had run this little ruse before. We didn't talk about the details, he just saw me with the girl and did his part."

His words enraged me and I reached out to grab his throat, squeezing tightly as his hand tried to tug mine off him. "This is not a little ruse, you dumb fuck. You allowed Stephanie to be raped. I could rip your throat out right now and no one would ever find your body."

I released my grip and stretched my neck, rolling my shoulders as I tried to get some control. "I'm going to let you live, for now. If you tell anyone about this, I'll kill you without a second thought." He nodded his agreement. "If you try to contact Stephanie in anyway, I'll kill you. If you come near her even by accident, it will be your last breath. Do you understand?"

"Yes." He answered, his breath ragged but his eyes hopeful.

"RangeMan will be keeping a very close eye on you. We won't let you do this to any other women either, got it? If you leave town, we'll keep tabs on you. We will be over your shoulder for the rest of your days, understand?" I would make sure that we kept trackers on him and that he knew he was being followed for a very long time. He would never be off my radar.

Letting him live was a tricky decision. It could backfire, but at the same time killing a fire fighter wouldn't likely be skimmed over as easily as some other lowlife. I'd hoped our beating would leave an indelible mark on his mind and keep him in line.

I left him curled up on the floor and Bobby went in to clean up. Upstairs I called Ram and Woody into my office. "Bobby is cleaning up Robbins. When he's done, I want Robbins' taken home and dropped off discretely. Trackers need to be placed on all his vehicles and bugs planted. I want surveillance on him constantly for a while."

They both nodded and smirked a little. Ram took a step forward and ran his hand across the back of his neck before looking me in the eye. He asked, "How bad was she hurt?" The pain in his eyes was obvious. Steph was well loved by every man in this building and I knew that not having all the details was slowly killing them.

I met his eyes, unsure of what to say. I didn't want to lie to him, but I didn't want to talk about exactly what had been done to her either. The story was Steph's to share, not mine.

Ram nodded, seeming to understand and said, "So bad, you don't know what to say and can't hide it completely from your face. This Mathis we're looking for, he's more responsible than Robbins?"

"Yeah, he caused the bruises you saw." None of the guys were dumb; I knew they'd figure it out eventually.

Woody's hands were clenching and stretching as he too figured out the full weight of what had been done to Steph. "We'll find him."

I couldn't help but chuckle, realizing that he was stating the obvious as well as his intention to make Mathis pay. "Of that I have no doubt."

After they left, I took some time to review the file Rodriguez had pulled on the man who had attacked Stephanie. James Mathis had been arrested twice before for battery, but there was no history of sexual assault, at least none had been reported. He was six inches taller and at least 80 pounds heavier than she was; she barely stood a chance against him sober without her stun gun, let alone being tipsy. Those thoughts had me changing my mind about letting Robbins go free. He'd let her get in a position where she couldn't defend herself.

Closing the file, I walked downstairs to the gym. I needed to run off some of the energy and anger I was feeling. Beating on Robbins had helped a little, but so much of it was stored in my muscles that it actually made my body ache. Running on the treadmill, my mind kept racing with images of Stephanie.

Sprinting rather than jogging the usual five miles, I was completely spent physically by the end because of the speed and intensity. Grabbing some water, I relaxed on a bench, a towel draped over my head as I tried to calm my racing heart beat and mind. While I was determined to help Stephanie reclaim her life, I was equally determined to hear Mathis scream in agony for making that reclamation necessary. As she reclaimed her life, I was resolved to prove to her that I wanted to be the man who would love and protect her for the rest of her days.