Warning: Rated T for strong language.

A/N: Hi-y'all! Thank you for your feedback.

Mojotom – thank you for your thoughts and feedback. I am not a big fan of "Fifty shades of Grey" so if it comes across that way…glad to know for future.

Moonxue – You never know what is instore for Lexie.

Chapter 16

Mark

Mark and Derek were sitting in one of their black SUVs at the port in Seattle where all of their shipments came in and out of the city the following evening. Their intel and tips from agents watching had alerted that there had been some unusual attention in the last twenty-fours. All coinciding right after the attack on Addison's turf.

They watched in the shadows of the port, doing something they hadn't done in years—a stakeout. It was a brutally cold night out, both of them holding cups of coffees in their hands as they each took a sip and scanned the horizon of the port.

His mind should be completely focused on why they were here, but all he could think about was that when he had gotten the call that morning from Derek telling him he needed to get back to the mansion, that he hated having to remove himself from Lexie. Especially, after he knew that something was still on her mind and she was refusing to let him in and tell him what was bothering her.

She had thought he had been asleep, but the moment she started becoming restless, his eyes opened immediately. He had to fight against his better judgement to want to wake her, but after their rather intense love-making, he had been so tired. He knew that she had been running low on sleep having worked straight while he had been under her care. The time that she had off to recuperate and rest, she then spent with him.

Every time her body twitched, he would hold her a little tighter or do what he could to offer her some comfort and let her know that even in her subconscious he was there for her and wouldn't let anything happen to her. That included waking her up if he had too.

His body stiffened when her smaller body next to his started to tremble, a weakened moan escaping from her lips. She turned into him, clutching at him with such intensity, as if she was afraid that he would disappear into thin air. He pressed her tighter to him, but it did little to ease the shakes in her body.

He couldn't take it any longer. His hand came to wake her up out of whatever was plaguing her nightmare, until her voice whispered something that made his body turn cold.

"No. Mark, no. I love you." She panted, her breaths coming quicker and strained. "I promise. Please don't make me do this."

Promise?

She was having a nightmare. Hearing the words, I love you, should want to make him bolt from the bed and run, but it did the opposite. It made his heart beat faster at the possible notion. What he didn't like was whatever in the dream he was asking her to do, she clearly was pained to have to do it.

It's a dream. Just a dream. She can't control her emotions here.

The sound of her gasp, her body violently bolting upright, pulled him from his own thoughts. He wanted to remain awake and instantly sooth her, but even he recognized that sometimes in moments like these, having a moment to work through the emotions on her own might be what she needed.

He fought against the instincts to want to hold her and scare away whatever nightmares had plagued her, but instead closed his eyes. He could hear her slowly getting her breathing back under control, her gaze drifting over him every couple of seconds. He no doubt felt that she worried she might have woken him.

He pretended to stir slightly, but that was done to give her the assurance that in this moment he needed to touch her, feel she was with him just as much. His movements were brief and to the naked eye just appeared to be something any lover would do in bed together when his hand touched her thigh. It seemed to do the trick, getting her to slide into his side and hold onto him.

Her head rested on his chest, but he could still feel her beating heart thundering against him, even though her breathing had returned to a more normal level. Something had definitely spooked her, and the thought it had to do with him or possibly his job, made his face scrunch up in despair.

This is what he feared. Already, after a couple of days, what he did and trying to have her too was already showing signs of the fact that reality was his job was dangerous. If he allowed her to get close to him, she could become a target. Addison had already seen her, and he knew without a doubt she would stop at nothing to find out more about her.

There was this feeling of impatience deep inside him. He was normally a cool, calm, and collected man. In their line of work, they always had to play for the long haul. One wrong move could bring down years of work. Not knowing what was troubling her, was killing him. He had to find out.

She tried to lie to him and tell him that it was nothing, just a bad dream. People had bad dreams all the time. He had a few of his own throughout his life, the hardest being after his mother had been murdered. The images he had seen because her murder took place right in front of him. He had experienced the shakes, night sweats, the gripping fear—all of it. He sensed whatever Lexie had been dreaming about was exhibited in a lot of those same symptoms. It made him want to know desperately what the hell could have spurred that on so abruptly.

He was growing more frustrated when she refused to want to talk about him, shaking her head and telling him she was fine and that it was over, but as he pulled her back to look at him—he knew that was a lie.

She moved so quickly, that even after all his years of practice and experience to expect the unexpected, he was caught of guard when she swung her leg over his body and straddled him. He saw it in that second. Whatever had happened, wouldn't be solved by words and talking. She needed reassurance that he was here. He was with her. That made whatever had been in her dream trouble him more.

He gave her what was needed, telling her that he was there and then let her run the show. Let her take what was needed. He would give her anything to get that look off her face. When they had both been sedated and the emotions released, she had curled back to his side and they stayed there for the remainder of the morning until he had to leave. He tried to get her to sleep, but neither of them fell back asleep.

"You going to tell me what's on that mind of yours?" Derek asked, taking another sip of his coffee.

"Nothing," he replied automatically.

Derek turned to him in the car. "You do realize I am the only person that you can't lie too, right?"

Mark stared out over the port. "I'm fine."

"Which means you're not." Derek paused. "Is it about Lexie? Did she say she didn't want to see you again?"

Derek had been with him when he had left him off at Lexie's. The fact that he had not returned back to the mansion until this morning should have told him the opposite, but the fact that he was quiet and lost in his own thoughts, instead of present in what they should be doing told his best friend that had to be the only reason.

"If your worried about Addison, so far she hasn't made any movements. I think she knows it wouldn't be wise," Derek added.

Mark grunted. "She's careful. She will want to wait until my guard is down."

"Which we won't." Derek assured.

"Which we won't." He looked over at his friend. "How is Big Grey?"

Derek couldn't help but grin just at hearing her name. "She's dark and twisty and difficult to get to know—" he turned back to meet Mark's gaze— "—but I fucking love it," he said.

"You always did like a challenge," Mark mused.

Derek punched him in the arm. "Why else do you think I have stuck with you for so long."

The laugh died on their lips when they noticed movement coming from further down the port. Men dressed in long coats and gloves hovering around two shipping containers. Mark reached at his side for the binoculars, Derek doing the same.

"Do you recognize any of the players?" Mark asked.

He could see the slight shake of his head out of his peripheral vision. "None of them look familiar, but then again they are all wearing cloth coverings from their nose down."

They both looked at each other. "Either we have a new player, or one of our crime bosses is attempting to do something under our radar," said Mark.

"We could have a team here before they would be done, but if we do, it would tip our hand before we know what is really happening."

Mark rubbed at his beard thinking about his next move. "It's always about the big picture. Get agents close enough they can gather as much pictures as possible of whomever is around those crates. I want to know what is in those crates. We can review with command later," he advised.

Derek took out his phone and started typing away. After a few minutes he put the phone down on his lap. "It's done."

They waited there in the dark shadows as the men—a group of ten—finished their conversation and inventory of whatever was in the crates. Even with the binoculars they were unable to see inside due to the heavy steel doors blocking the contents once they were opened.

"Derek, look," Mark exclaimed.

On the side of one of the containers were the same Russian's scribbling left on Addison's burned down restaurant that had been attacked the night before. Whomever had been behind the attack was the mystery guest tonight at the port.

"You still don't think it's the Russian's, do you?" Derek guessed.

Mark shook his head. "No. I think it's too nicely wrapped in a bow considering what has recently occurred. They're angry and want revenge, but they wouldn't be so presumptuous to make a move this quickly. Whoever is behind this, wants me to think it's them. They want me to lose my cool to start a war."

"Undermine your leadership," Derek observed.

"Exactly."

"Do you think command knows about this? Is this why they are pushing so much for you to create some alliance?"

Mark dropped his binoculars, his eyes narrowing. "I've been the crime lord for the last three years. I have managed all crimes bosses without so much as a step out of line. This isn't making sense for a disruption or change of leadership now. Something else is going on here, and we need to figure out what."

"I agree," said Derek. His brows scrunched together as he looked over at his friend looking out at the window with a forlorn expression. "What is it?"

"I'm starting to wonder how much command knows that we don't know about." he speculated.

Derek looked back out just as the containers were closing up, SUVs pulling around for their mystery guests to pile in.

"You think they are purposely withholding information from us?" Derek asked in surprise.

Mark shrugged. "I think Tom and Bruce have been wanting to push the envelope for a while and have been looking for a way in. The directors look to me because I am in the field and closets to the information. Maybe they need something more to tip the scale in their favor to make me change our game plan."

"Like forming an alliance with Addison," Derek interjected.

"Like forming an alliance with Addison," Mark repeated tersely. He watched the last of the men climb in as the SUVs started to speed away out of sight, the two containers left behind already starting to be loaded onto a fairy. "I think we need to start being more careful on all of the information being given."

Derek's brows shot up. "Like double-double agents?"

Mark squinted out into the open night hoping it might give him all the answers he was seeking. There was a nagging feeling in his gut that something was amiss here. Something that felt off. He learned long ago from one of his first instructors in the academy that his gut was the ultimate lie detector. That some day it might be the only thing that could determine in a hairy situation if he were to live or die.

Over the last sixteen years, his gut had never steered him wrong when he got a feeling as strong as this one. He wouldn't be one of the best damn agents out there with the strongest closed cases if he didn't follow through what it was telling him now.

"A wise man once told me, 'be careful who you trust, the devil was once an angel.' From this moment forward, you are the only person I am trusting with anything," he told him, looking his best friend in the eye.

He could see the surprise straightaway in Derek's eyes. "Your serious?" He blew out a breath when Mark nodded. "Alright. I'm with you. You know that."

"I do."

The sound of a ping on Derek's phone, filled the quiet of the car. Derek looked down at his device, scanning through the contents of whatever message he had just received. Mark noticed the tensing of his shoulders, the way his body stiffened, and he didn't like it. Derek very rarely ever showed any sort of emotion when it came to the job.

"What is it?" Mark asked.

Derek took a long swallow. Mark's frustration was growing when no words were coming from his friend's mouth. What could be that bad that he wouldn't just spit it out already? It…the words died in his head. No!

"Don't get mad…"

"Spit it out. Now." he growled.

"The tail assigned to Addison…they lost her," came his reply.

Mark couldn't remember the last time he had driven this fast with this much of a purpose. It was stupid in this moment, with the possibility that Lexie could very well be in grave danger at the hands of Addison Montgomery, that all he could think about was his driving record.

It had to have been his third year out of the academy when they were working a serial killer case. Their suspect, David Anthony Bosner had managed to fall under the radar for over three decades with almost fifteen women murdered. He was a sick bastard that like many other serial killers, liked to keep trophies of their killings.

His greatest mistake came on his last victim—the fifteenth victim—when he had let his guard down and left a piece of DNA behind at the crime scene. Though the scene had been combed through multiple times, it was when Mark and Derek that were assigned to the case, they had noticed the tiny detail.

His final victim had fought back, causing David to leave his blood at the crime scene. By the time they had had learned of his identity the only thing Mark could think of was getting to him as fast as he could. The local PD had searched his home, but had learned David left in a haste.

Mark had combed through his file repeatedly in hopes to make it is mission to stop him before he harmed anyone else. It was his and Derek's quick thinking about remembering that David—who had been an outcast his entire life with no friends—only had one person his entire life that meant anything to him. His childhood friend—Rebecca Ramsey—who had died in high school. The same Rebecca that he modeled all of his victims after.

Her family had a place out in the country that David and Rebecca always spent the summer there when school had been out. It was Mark's idea to get out there and see if that had been his next stopover before ultimately disappearing again. David already had a forty-five-minute head start, but thanks to his ability to drive like a race car driver and understand the logistics of the streets—they had made it time—making sure that David Anthony Bosner never hurt another human being on this earth.

Mark swerved again, a loud wail of a horn sounding behind him, as Derek grabbed the handle up by his passenger door. He was only a few blocks from Lexie's apartment, and he was going to get there if it killed him.

His entire body was tense on the drive over. His mind shifting between all of the possibilities if Addison had come to see Lexie—or worse taken her hostage.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

This is why he had the no personal attachment rule. This is why he never deviated from that rule. He tried to tell Derek this would happen. That anyone that involved themselves with a Sloan would end up hurt—or worse—dead.

He shut his mind from possible images of Lexie being somewhere in pain or worse dead. He couldn't even fathom the thought that someone as beautiful and innocent as her would have harm come to them. You did this. You selfish bastard.

"Mark, breath," Derek said next to him.

His nostrils flared, as he rounded the next corner her apartment complex just in his sights. He pulled to the entrance throwing the car in park, as he threw open the door. Even in his heightened state, the cop in him still took in the surroundings.

The street was quiet and nothing seemed out of the ordinary from the few times he had been here or driven this way. Mark knew though, even when things seemed like normal, dark secrets and scary things loomed behind doors.

He reached for the gun behind his back, rushing into the apartment building, taking the stairs two at a time, as he reached her floor. He knew that Derek would be waiting downstairs. First to make sure to stop anyone if they attempted to get away, but also to assist if he were to need backup. His brother knew this was something he had to do for himself. Alone.

He paused at her door, listening to see if he heard any sounds. What he really wanted to do was bust the damn thing down, but he still wasn't sure that Addison had even been here. He could hear shuffling around in the apartment, but he didn't hear any voices or sounds of distress.

He lowered the gun to his side, to keep in concealed, as he knocked on her door with the back of his fingers.

"Just a minute."

Her voice was at ease and relaxed. He immediately put the gun back behind his back. He still wasn't comfortable they were out of the woods yet. For all he knew, someone could be in there and she was tasked to get rid of him. Make him think everything was ok. Another part of him hoped that she was actually going to look through the peephole before she opened the damn thing. It was late for anyone to be making any kind of house call at this time of night.

Her eyes opened wide as she opened the door, seeing him standing before her. "Mark…what are you—"

"Can I come in?" he cut her off, needing to make sure she was first and foremost safe.

She stepped aside instantly, allowing him in. She was still in her normal clothes. If he had to guess based on her appearance and the fact that her takeout was still sitting on the counter, she had just back from her shift at the hospital. He sighed inwardly that everything seemed in place and once in he couldn't hear of any other noises other than their own two voices.

Her brows scrunched together. "Is…is everything ok?"

He let the worry lines smooth out and a smile form on his lips. "I missed you," he said. It was true, he had missed her since this morning. He shut the door behind him with his foot.

Her lips equally carved into a smile as well, but he could also sense something was a little off. She was happy he was here, and he could see behind her eyes that she too was thinking the same thing that was on his mind constantly. The two of them alone, in a private space, with a need to have their bodies pressed together.

"I missed you too," she replied, coming to wrap her arms around his neck and pull him in for a quick kiss. She pulled back, but kept him close. "I was just going to take a shower. Do you want to stay for dinner?"

He shouldn't. After this evening down at the port and now that Addison had slipped her tail, he should be back out in the shadows making sure everything was safe and secure. With her lithe body in his arms, her eyes telling him exactly what she had planned should he stay, made it difficult to turn her down.

"I will," he said at last.

Good. She kissed him again, and unclasped her arms from around his neck. "Make yourself at home while I take a quick shower and get all of today washed away."

He watched her walk into her room, immediately pulling his phone from his pocket and sent a message to Derek.

Addison Montgomery had been here, and recently. The lingering of her expensive perfume told him she had been here. Lexie was trying to put on a neutral face. Whatever reason for Addison's visit had been one that she wanted Lexie to keep from him. That wasn't going to happen.

Because as soon as Lexie stepped back into the room, come hell or highwater, he was going to get the information from her.

A/N: Thanks for reading.