Tank's POV

My phone rang early Saturday morning, pulling me from my sleep. I'd been working almost non-stop with Ric being in the wind, and we'd pulled every available man, myself included, for security at Julie's dance last night. The night was a success as far as we were concerned. Julie had a great time and we had assured that Ric wouldn't want to strangle the boy she went with when he returned.

My phone fell silent and then immediately began ringing again. I rolled over and picked up the phone, unhappy that my morning was obviously going to be cut short.

"Talk," I growled, not even bothering to look at the caller ID.

"Tank? This is Matt Chandler, Captain Manoso's handler," I heard the tentative voice on the other end of the phone, and I immediately sat up. He never called to let us know that Ric had made his check-ins - it was just a coded message sent to us.

"Is everything okay?" I asked. I swear, my heart had stopped beating.

"I'm so sorry. He was caught in enemy fire when he went in for the capture and he didn't make it," Matt whispered. "I didn't think this was a phone call I would ever have to make."

I'd known Matt for quite some time - he'd been my handler, too - and I knew he would take this hard. He took great pride in watching out for his operatives. I was quiet for a full minute and finally heart his tentative voice again.

"Are you there still, Tank? I need to tell his wife, but I know instructions are to notify you first."

I felt the tears running down my face and swallowed hard. "Yeah, I'm here," I whispered. "This all feels like a nightmare. His wife - she just found out that she's pregnant. She is so damn excited, Matt. Now we have to tell her that he's not coming back." I choked out.

"What time do you want me there to tell her?" Matt asked quietly.

I shook my head and then realized that he couldn't see me. "Les, Bobby and I will tell her. She's going to fall apart." I was silent again as I thought about what was going on. "Damn it!" I roared, turning and hitting my pillow hard.

"Please let me know when I can come to thank Mrs. Manoso for her husband's service," Matt said quietly. "I know that you know the routine too well, but all of our resources are at your disposal. Anything at all that you need - you just name it. He had updated all of his paperwork with us, so she's taken care of."

"She's taken care of either way," I corrected him. "She's one of us; we won't let her down."

I hung up the phone and managed to type out an emergency text to Les and Bobby telling them that I needed to see them in my apartment ASAP. They walked in, both grumbling about being tired, as I walked out of the bathroom. One look at my somber face and they both got quiet. They'd seen this haunted look on my face before when we'd lost men in the field, and they instantly knew.

"Fuck. No, no, no. It can't be!" Les growled. He sunk to his knees in the middle of the living room, the look on his face practically begging me to tell him that he was wrong.

"I just got a call from Matt. He…" I choked back tears. "He got caught in enemy fire and didn't make it. I told him that we'd tell Steph."

Bobby sat down heavily and we were all silent for a few moments as we reflected on our fallen brother. Ric was the best of the best; he wasn't supposed to die out there. Little Girl, Julie, and the new baby all needed him here. After a bit longer, Bobby stood up.

"I'm going to go to the medical suite and get something that I can use to sedate Steph if needed. She's going to be inconsolable. Julie's not going to be much better. We can't leave them alone, but we also need to tell the guys and Ric's family," he began listing off. It was one of the things that made Bobby such a good medic - he was calm and methodical in the midst of the worst situations.

"I'll call the guys together and notify them after we've spent some time with Steph and Julie. Then Les can go tell the family," I offered. It seemed right since Ric's parents were his aunt and uncle.

Les and Bobby agreed, and then Bobby slipped out to his offices to gather what he needed to have on-hand in case Steph needed medical intervention to calm down after we wrecked her world with the news we had. I called Ella and asked her to leave a light breakfast for the girls along with some tea outside the penthouse and then waited in my apartment for Bobby to return. Les and I both stood there silently as we realized that Ric was really gone.

Bobby returned a few minutes later, and no one said a word as we went up to seven. It was early, and I knew Steph would still be asleep. I hated to wake her up, but we couldn't keep this from her for even a little while - we all knew how important honesty and not withholding information were to her. We let ourselves in with the fob and walked into her bedroom. She looked so damn peaceful lying there asleep, and I had to turn around and walk out of her room for a minute in order to get myself together. I felt like we were about to rip her whole world away from her, and I hated it.

I returned a few minutes later and nodded toward the guys. We all perched around her on the bed and then Bobby began stroking her hair. "Steph? Sweetheart, we need you to wake up," he whispered. She began stirring lightly and murmuring in her sleep as he continued trying to rouse her. She opened her eyes a bit and sat up quickly when she saw all three of us sitting there around her. Her eyes darted around to each of our faces and she turned pale.

"No. No, it can't be. Please tell me this is a nightmare," she begged.

Bobby gathered her into his lap and began rocking her as Les and I grabbed her hands.

"Little Girl, I'm so sorry. I just got the phone call," I choked out. "It is a nightmare, but it's really happening. Ric was shot during the capture, and he didn't make it," I whispered.

She sobbed openly and then began thrashing and hitting Bobby. Les and I went to grab her hands and he stopped us.

"It's okay, guys. Let her get it out," he whispered as her little fists continued pounding his chest.

"He promised me! He promised me that he would come back home to us!" she yelled. "Ric never breaks his promises!"

The commotion must have woke Julie because she stood in the doorway and fell down and began shaking as she sobbed. Tank quickly got up and picked her up. He carried her over to the bed and held her, whispering to her and rocking her as I did the same with Steph.

"I'm so sorry, Jules," Tank whispered. "Your dad loves you so much. I know this is hard, but we'll get you through this."

Steph and Julie suddenly clung to each other cried together as we all sat there and offered our support as best as could.

"Oh, god!" Steph cried out. "We have to tell the guys, and Ric's family. They're going to be heartbroken."

Our sweet, big-hearted Steph. She was in the depths of her own personal hell and was worried about the people around her.

"We'll take care of it, Beautiful," Les whispered. "We'll make sure they all know."

"No, I need to be there, too," she objected. "I promised him that I would be strong, and him not coming home doesn't change that. I have to do this, for him," she begged.

We all exchanged glances and then Bobby spoke up. "I'll let you be there to tell them, but you have to promise me that you'll let us take care of you. We have to make sure that you and the baby are okay; we can't lose one of you, too."

She nodded and hiccuped as she continued crying. "I'll do whatever you tell me to," she agreed. "I just need to feel like I'm doing something to help."

We all sat in her bedroom for quite a while that morning, mourning and giving each other comfort. We managed to get Steph and Julie to both eat a bit and finally she asked us to gather all the guys in he conference room and then call the Manosos and ask if they could come a bit later in the day.

A/N: Please don't shoot me. Or maim me. Or send hate mail. But you can feel free to leave your comments and reviews as long as you're not calling me horrible names. The next few chapters will be super heavy and angsty but I promise there will be a HEA.