Chapter Twelve

They were all geared up and gathered in the conference room going over the plan. Movement at the port indicated the ship's arrival was imminent. A quick check narrowed down the likely vessel with an estimated arrival time. The team would wait until the container was offloaded and in its designated slot in the container yard before moving in.

Roman, Reyes and Natasha would start surveillance within the next hour. Once the container was delivered and the situation was assessed, Natasha would initiate the takedown. If history held, there would be three armed guards at the port and two with the container. They needed as many of them alive as possible, and they needed the takedown to be as discrete as possible.

They needed Vlad to think it was just bad luck his shipment was discovered, and all the guards had died in the raid. That was going to be the tricky part. If Vlad got spooked, he wouldn't come. If Vlad knew the guards had survived, he wouldn't come. Their best bet was to keep the team as small as possible. Confined to just a few trusted people. Vlad had eyes and ears everywhere.

Montero would run the interrogation, assuming they managed to take one of more of the guards alive, and coordinate with a medical team that would evaluate and transport an unknown number of women and girls. Roman planned to sit in on the interrogation. Getting information out of people was one of his many talents, although admittedly his methods were probably far less civilized than the ones Montero planned to use.

A lot of tension filtered through the room. There was a lot riding on this takedown. This could be the make it or break it moment. If things went well, they would learn when and where Vlad would be arriving in the US. If it went poorly, well the whole operation could go up on smoke.

Roman and Reyes rode together. Natasha went with Montero. She figured Roman probably got hives if he spent too much time with law enforcement. She didn't really blame him. If it wasn't Montero, she probably wouldn't have wanted to ride with him either.

She enjoyed Montero's company and it gave her a break from Reyes. Things were getting far too complicated with him. She'd blurted out the whole Ranger thing. She really didn't know why she'd felt so compelled to tell him anything. Reyes was not in her corner. She would do well to remember that.

She'd seen Reyes and Stephanie together. She figured their history was a lot more complicated than it looked. She knew the story from Roman, but still that bond went deep.

Montero looked over at her. "Are you OK?"

Natasha nodded. She was as OK as she could be anyway. The monster that had raped her and trafficked her was within striking distance and that was a heavy enough burden, without the whole Ranger thing.

He was acting even weirder today than usual. The look on his face when she walked in had been nothing short of haunted. She had a bad feeling she had Nikko to blame for that. Natasha had been terrified when she saw Nikko talking to Stephanie. She had been terrified Nikko would just blurt everything out to Stephanie just to punish Ranger.

Nikko was never one to cut anybody any slack, especially Ranger. She knew Nikko blamed Ranger for breaking because Nikko judged Ranger based on his own experience. But Natasha knew different. She and Nikko grew up hard and fast. Nikko in particular had been ruthless, because he had to be. Ranger wasn't like them. At least he hadn't been.

Ranger had come from a good family. A family that loved him. He might have been a bit of a wild child, but he was soft. Soft like children should be. He'd never lived on the street, gone hungry, been brutalized or killed anyone. The fact that Ranger had broken under torture, god how could he not? That's what normal people did. There was no shame in that and there was no blame.

The real tragedy, as far as Natasha was concerned, was what happened after. Ranger was supposed to have a good life. A normal life. Instead, the experience had changed him. He'd left college and gone special forces. He had closed himself off from love and relationships because he thought he had to pay a penance. He'd become a mercenary. He'd become just like her and Nikko.

Natasha had no doubt that Woodward would have killed Ranger. In her mind there was never an option and she never had a moment's regret. Natasha learned a long time ago that you had to live your life under the circumstances under which it existed. Not as you wished them to be.

Right now, Natasha's only fear was Ranger would screw up his relationship with Stephanie out of misplaced loyalty. They had already been through far too much. Stephanie had broken through Ranger's walls and pulled him out of his self-imposed exile. She knew their relationship hadn't been easy. The Vega thing had truly been the worst.

Natasha figured if they could get past that they could get past anything. But why? As far as Natasha was concerned, Stephanie didn't really need to ever know, but that would be for Ranger to sort out. Natasha didn't know much about relationships and she sure didn't know much about trust, so who was she to judge? She had to talk to Ranger and soon.

Montero's voice yanked her back. "This one seems personal to you?"

"It is" Natasha replied.

"Do you have enough distance to be objective?" Montero asked.

It was a fair question. Natasha thought about it for a minute. "Yes, for this part anyway." To his credit Montero didn't grill her about why it was personal. He just accepted her answer at face value.

"Ok, then let's make sure we do this right." Montero reached over and squeezed her hand. "You know the friend thing is a two-way street. If you ever need to talk, I'm around."

Natasha smiled. She'd never really had a friend before, but it sounded like a nice concept. She squeezed his hand back.

"Thank you."

Roman was looking at Reyes. Oddly, Roman seemed less scary than usual. Reyes figured once you had met Nikko and Tasha, everything else was just a cakewalk.

"You good?" Roman asked.

"Yeah, I'm ready." Reyes replied.

"About Natasha?"

Reyes thought about that for a minute. Did it bother him that Tasha was a very well trained operative and a co-owner of NNS Global? No, not really. Everyone he knew was just a slightly different version with slightly different skills from Roman, to Ranger, to Steph to him. They had all taken lives in the name of the greater good.

"Nah, I'm good with it." Reyes finally said.

"You like her?" Roman asked.

So now he and Roman were having a heart to heart? Next thing you knew they would be braiding each other's hair and have sleepovers. "I do. A lot."

Roman nodded. Reyes figured Roman had exhausted his word limit for the day, so he was surprised when Roman continued. "She's complicated, but worth it. I think the two of you will be good together."

Reyes just snorted. Tasha's favorite, and sometimes only, word with him was fine. Somehow the together part of that sentence sounded unlikely as far as Reyes was concerned.

"She's into you, and if you can't see that you are a fool. Just try not to fuck it up" Roman said.

Reyes nodded. Yeah, he'd try but so far, he wasn't exactly batting a thousand. He wasn't even sure he had a bat.

They all got to the Port of Baltimore and took up various points of surveillance. Now it was a watch and wait game. Something Reyes had done a lot of during his tenure with the teams, but something he always thought sucked.

A little after 11PM, the container was moved to its designated slot in the container yard. Natasha gave the green light and they all moved out. Five guards and three of them. The odds were pretty good.

"I've got the two to the north, Roman you take the two in front, Reyes one of the guards just went around the side of the container. Follow him. He's your guy." Natasha's voice was low and soft in Reyes' ear.

"Roger that" Roman and Reyes both said.

Reyes went around the side of the container and found the guy. He was gearing up to rape one of the women. Dammit. That would make a clean takedown difficult with the woman in the mix.

In Reyes' book, the fact he was getting ready to rape a woman should earn him a bullet to the brain, but Tasha needed the guards alive. Reyes did some quick bargaining. Surely one of the other guards would be taken in, and this douche bag was expendable. Reyes sighed. That was a hard one, but he had to try. Reyes would have to improvise.

Reyes put down his M4 and walked around the side of the container. His Glock was in his waistband in the back.

"Hey man what's going on?" He called to the douche bag. He hoped the guy would think he was just port security. The douche pulled his weapon and pointed at Reyes. Reyes put his hands up

"Easy man. Look I didn't know you were just having a little fun."

Reyes was ever so slowly inching forward into striking range. By the look in the guy's eyes Reyes figured he was about to get shot, and he really hated getting shot.

"Look I just heard something going on. I just came to check it out. I'm not here to mess with your fun. Just got to do what the bosses tell me. You know how it is." Reyes inched closer.

Out of the corner of his eye Reyes saw a black blur. What happened next reminded him of something you would see on the nature channel. Natasha took a flying leap taking the guard to the ground while simultaneously choking him unconscious. Reyes thought it was the most beautiful thing he had just about ever seen. It was like a panther taking down a water buffalo.

Natasha had the man unconscious and zip tied in about twenty seconds. If Reyes didn't think he was in love before, he knew he was now.

"Good job pretty boy. I was afraid you were just going to shoot him."

Natasha said something to the woman and gently helped her up guiding her around the corner. "I'm glad you didn't get shot" she called back to Reyes.

"Me too darlin'. Me too."

Reyes and Natasha went around to the container and opened the door. The first thing that hit Reyes was the smell. It was sweat and filth mixed with terror and despair.

Reyes did a quick head count. There looked to be nine females still in the container. Most appeared to be in the fifteen to eighteen year old range. Then he spotted them. Two children. One was around eight and the other was maybe five.

Reyes immediately moved towards them. He desperately wanted to get them out of this filth and horror. He held up his hands and moved towards them, talking in a low soothing tone. Reassuring them he wouldn't hurt them.

They screamed in terror and scooted away from him. Reyes immediately stopped and took a step back, and then he saw it. Blood mixed with filth on their legs. Those animals had raped and brutalized these two precious little girls. And to the girls, Reyes was just like them because he was a man. They were terrified of him.

Reyes had seen some real horrors in his day. He'd seen his buddies blown to bits by an IED, a guy's head blown off right beside him. He could still feel the warm spray of blood on his face and the metallic taste. He had seen bodies shredded by fifty caliber rounds, but nothing prepared him for this.

Reyes felt the bile rise in his throat. He swallowed hard trying to control his reaction. He was pretty sure he was going to be sick.

Natasha swam into his view. She was standing between him and the girls. She placed her hand on his chest. "Not now" she said. Her voice was low and firm.

She squatted down and began talking to the girls. She was speaking in Hungarian or maybe it was Russian. Reyes wasn't really sure. He knew English, Spanish, and passable Farsi, but that is where his language skills ended.

She reached out her hand to Reyes. Reyes took it and she tugged him down to squat beside her. She kept talking to the girls. The five year old remained huddled and soundlessly crying in the corner.

Finally, the eight year old tentatively reached out her arms to Reyes. "Come on darlin'. I've got you." He said as he picked her up in his arms and carried her out.

The five year old wrapped her arms around Natasha's neck. She picked her up and carried her out.

Reyes handed the girl over to the medical team. The five year old had a death grip around Natasha's neck and she was working to convince the girl to go with the medical team. She was patient and seemed to know the right thing to say and do.

Clearly not something that came naturally to Reyes. He knew he could be a big, scary looking guy but when that little girl had screamed in terror at the sight of him, it had cut straight through him. Part of him wished he had killed the guard. Every one of the twisted bastards deserved to die as far as he was concerned. He figured there should be a special place in hell for men that hurt women and children.

In addition to the dried blood and grime, he could now see bruises in the distinctive pattern of a hand print on the little girl's thighs. Yep, Reyes thought. He was definitely going to be sick. At least he made it around the side of the container before he puked his guts out.

He sat down on the dock and put his head down, willing the world to stop spinning. He knew he would be reliving the horror from this night for a long time. He'd seen rape victims before. He'd just never seen one so young, and he just couldn't process that right now.

Natasha came up beside Reyes. He steeled himself for the inevitable pretty boy ribbing he was about to get. A ribbing he probably deserved having just puked like a rookie.

Instead, he felt her squeeze his shoulder and then she sat down beside him. She ran her hand down his arm and intertwined her fingers with his. She just sat with him holding his hand.

Natasha could feel the horror and rage rolling off of Reyes in waves. She knew a man like Reyes couldn't understand how someone could harm a child. It was Reyes' instinct to protect, not to harm. She knew this night would cost him just a little bit of his soul. She also knew he would do this night a thousand times over if he could save just one girl. He was a very good man.

"We fucking failed Tasha" Reyes spat. "We fucking failed."

"We rescued ten girls. Don't lose sight of that."

"But they had already been raped. How do you classify that as anything but an epic fucking failure? How is that just Ok with you? In what fucked up world is that a success?" Reyes was angry. He knew he wasn't angry at Tasha and he shouldn't be taking it out on her, but he couldn't help it.

Natasha's voice was calm and quiet. "I wished we lived in a perfect world. A world where children were precious and all men respected women, but we don't live in that world. So, we do the best we can. Anyone we get out is a victory, because now they have a chance. Every predator we takedown is one less. So, you keep doing what you're doing because it makes a difference."

"But that little girl. How is she ever going to get over this?" Reyes was horrified to find he had tears in his eyes. She should be playing with teddy bears and barbie dolls not having some sweating pig thrusting inside her and shoving his dick in her mouth. Reyes was pretty sure he was going to puke again.

"Yes, Reyes, she was raped and the road to recovery will be a long one. But you saved her from years of abuse. Of probably dying. You gave her a chance to heal and have a normal life. That is something."

Reyes snorted his disbelief.

Natasha didn't know why she told him what she did next. She'd never talked to anyone about her past. Not even Carlos. It just wasn't something she shared, but for some reason she felt compelled to tell Reyes things she'd never told anyone. She couldn't seem to just keep her damn mouth shut. For some reason she didn't want to keep secrets from him, and that terrified her.

"I was eight when Vlad took me. I was twelve when Nikko got me out. I was raped pretty much every day in between, usually multiple times a day. Every single time took a little part of me. The longer you are in, the harder it is not to lose yourself completely." Natasha's voice was flat and emotionless.

"I realize I'm not exactly a role model for normal, but there are lots of women that live wonderful, beautiful lives. This doesn't have to define her. She's not fucking irreparably broken Reyes." Now, Natasha did sound mad.

She moved to pull her hand back and stand up, but Reyes stopped her. God, he thought he was a total tool. No wonder she was so focused on getting Vlad. No wonder she had devoted so much of her life to taking down human trafficking networks, and here he was acting like all victims were broken beyond repair. He literally could never say the right thing to this woman. So many things clicked into place.

"Darlin, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that happened to you. I'm sorry I'm mad and lashing out at you, because you don't deserve it. But, mostly I'm sorry for making you think, for even one second, that you aren't the most amazing woman I've ever met, and believe me I've met some pretty amazing women." Reyes pulled her into his arms and hugged her like she was the most beautiful, precious thing he'd even seen, because she was.

They stayed that way for a while. Natasha was afraid she would see pity and maybe even disgust in his eyes. She had no idea what had compelled her to confess her dark past to Reyes, but she did and now she'd just have to live with it. She was pretty sure whatever budding relationship had been happening, it was over now. That was a lot to handle, and that was just the half of it.

Natasha pulled back and stood up. Reyes stood up with her. He grasped her chin and turned her to look at him. Pity was not what was in his eyes. Admiration and heat. Serious heat. Ok, so that was unexpected.

"I'm glad you told me" he said.

"Look, I know it's a lot and it probably changes things" her voice trailed off. How did you say it probably changes how you look at me. How you feel about me. How did you say that without acknowledging that there was something between them?

"I hate the fact that something bad happened to you, but it doesn't change anything. Why would it? Look, if there are things that make you uncomfortable, you just need to tell me, and we will work around them." Her reaction at the hotel now made sense to him. At the time it had come out of left field, but knowing what he knew now, it made sense. Even her relationship with Nikko also made more sense. Her loyalty to him and his protectiveness of her.

"Things that make me uncomfortable?" Natasha sounded confused.

"Yes, across the board, but in particular when we make love. You just need to be more vocal about what you like or don't like. Just think of it as enhanced dirty talk." Reyes was giving her his wolf grin.

Natasha's mouth popped open and hung there for a second. "When we make love?" She knew she sounded like a parrot. Heat pooled low in her belly and her mouth went dry at the thought.

"Yes darlin'. You and I both know that is exactly where this is going." Reyes locked eyes with her challenging her to contradict him.

Reyes was right. She shrugged and held out her hand to him. They were both aware he had purposely said make love. Not sex, but make love. Reyes had just upped the ante and they both knew it.

"Come on let's wrap this up and get out of here" she said.

All five guards had been taken alive. She nodded to Roman and Montero. Roman tossed her the keys to the SUV and headed off with Montero to start the interrogations. The last of the girls had been transported to the hospital. They were now in the hands of the medical staff and the assigned social workers.

"Come on pretty boy let's go." Natasha climbed in the driver's side of the SUV. They drove in silence for a while. Natasha knew Reyes was still struggling.

"How do you ever forget seeing that?" Reyes finally asked. "How do you get over it?"

"You don't. You just put one foot in front of the other and you distract yourself." Natasha shrugged. "It's different for everyone."

Reyes was only mildly surprised when they pulled up in front of his apartment. Of course, Tasha would know where he lived. By now she probably knew all his deep dark secrets.

He was surprised when she parked, unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the SUV. Reyes got out and they went up to his apartment.

Reyes' apartment had views of the Potomac, with floor to ceiling windows. It was all hardwood with blues, gray, and cream. It had a masculine feel to it. Natasha noticed that while it was tasteful, it didn't have much in the way of personalization. It almost felt like Reyes had moved into the model and that had been that.

"Have you lived her long?" she asked.

"A while" he replied. He was eyeing her like he wasn't quite sure what to do.

"So, I'll tell you what works for me." She told him. "Order Chinese, drink beer and watch crap TV. Are you in?"

Reyes grinned. "Yeah, I can do that."

"Ok, go take a shower and I'll order the food."

Reyes headed off to the shower. "Menus are in the drawer next to the stove" he called over his shoulder.

Natasha dug through the menus and finally found a place that was open until 2AM and placed an order. Reyes came out. He was dressed in sweats and an old Metallica t-shirt. His hair was wet and he was barefoot. Natasha couldn't believe she was getting turned on by his bare feet. She was hopeless.

"I put a t-shirt and a pair of boxers in the bathroom if you want to take a shower." He told her.

Natasha nodded and headed into the bathroom. Being in Reyes' shower and using his soap and towels felt weirdly intimate. She'd touched every inch of his naked body, but somehow his soap freaked her out. How stupid was that she thought.

She let the water pour over her and wash away the horror of the night. She reminded herself they were one step closer to finding Vlad. When she had seen that little girl, she wondered if that is what she looked like. That same vacant look, unable to process the horrors of what had just happened to you. She shook off the thought and got out.

The t-shirt was down to her knees, but she put on the boxers anyway just because it felt weird to be in Reyes' apartment with no pants. It was bad enough she was wearing his clothes. Clothes that smelled like him, and made her tingle. She shouldn't have come up. That had been a mistake. He just looked so lost tonight. Reyes needed a friend, and she could do that. Just put everything away for one night and just be his friend.

The food had arrived while she was in the shower and Reyes had set it out on the coffee table. He handed her a beer and motioned her to the couch.

They sat on the couch and ate greasy Chinese food and talked. She learned he grew up in Texas on a ranch. He had three older sisters, and had been the only boy. His father had died when he was a teenager.

Reyes had wanted to stay home and help his mom with the ranch, but she had refused. She didn't want Reyes to give up his dreams. Reyes had been accepted to the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland and she had insisted that he go. Reyes went and had gotten into SOAS – SEAL Officer Assessment and Selection – and went on to become a SEAL.

Reyes eventually left and joined Kincaid Securities, mainly because he wanted more control over the type of jobs he took. He wanted to make a difference. She learned he and Ranger had worked together over the years, and he had met Stephanie when everyone thought Ranger was dead. He spoke about both of them with respect.

Even though he didn't see them as often as he would have liked, he was close to his mom and his sisters. His mom had recently remarried to a man Reyes liked. He was really glad his mom had found someone and had more help.

He clearly loved his three sisters and talked about them with pride. One was a doctor, one was a vet, and the other was an artist. All of them sounded accomplished and hilarious. Some of the stories he told about growing up with three older sisters made Natasha think maybe she was lucky she didn't have siblings. They had certainly not cut the boy any slack.

Everything about Reyes seemed normal and adjusted. He was everything Natasha wasn't. She couldn't imagine ever fitting into Reyes' world, and that made her a little sad. She figured it was probably always going to be just her and Nikko, because no one else was as screwed up as the two of them. To his credit, Reyes didn't push Natasha to tell him about her past.

They never bothered to turn on the TV and eventually fell asleep together on the couch.

The next morning Natasha woke up a little before 7AM. She was wrapped in Reyes' arms. He'd pulled a throw over them sometime during the night. It felt safe and warm, and she fit with him like they were made to go together. She needed to get out of here. Last night had been a mistake.

"I should go" she said and started to sit up.

"Is that what you want to do?" Reyes asked her.

"No" she answered before she had time to think about it and talk herself into saying yes. Yes, would have been the smartest thing to do. The safest thing to do.

Reyes pulled her on top of him. "Good. But I do need to ask you something."

Reyes felt Tasha do that slow roll thing with her hips and grind down on him in all the right places. Blood rushed to his dick so fast he was pretty sure he saw stars. She was giving him that sly, knowing smile. It's not like she could miss what had just happened.

"You want to talk?" Her voice sounded like she was practically purring.

No, he thought. He really didn't want to talk. Talking was the like the dead last thing on his mind, but speaking of dead he really did need to know a couple of things before this went any farther.

"What's the deal with Nikko? Am I going to get crosswise with him?" Reyes asked. His voice sounded strangled.

Natasha smiled. Ah yes, the Nikko question. She should have been expecting that. Nikko could definitely be scary, and her relationship with Nikko didn't fit in the nice little buckets set by polite society. "Nikko is my family and he is my business partner." She paused for a moment. She figured she would answer the real questions he wanted to ask. Had they ever been lovers and were they still lovers. "We haven't been lovers in years."

Reyes weighed that information for a minute. "Good, because I'm not sharing you" he growled and stripped off her t-shirt. He really liked that she was wearing his clothes, in his apartment. His possessiveness should have frightened them both, but it didn't.

An hour later they were still laying on the couch, but they were both naked. Reyes decided as much as he liked her wearing his clothes, what he liked better was no clothes.

"We have to go to work" she groaned. "But first, we need to eat. I'll make breakfast while you get ready."

Reyes got up and headed to the bathroom. "You know darlin' if you can cook, I might just have to marry you." Reyes figured he was only half joking. He was doomed and he knew it.

Natasha watched his bare ass disappear down the hall. She knew he was joking, but somehow the thought didn't scare her at all.