Chapter Thirteen : A Delicate Approach

"You're late." Eric frowned at Theresa when she entered the war room. Every other member of Bravo was already present and seated when she arrived.

"Sorry," She gave him an truely apologetic look. "I came as soon as I got the message."

The Commander's lips quirked up ever so slightly. "It's okay, just take a seat so we can begin."

Nodding, Theresa did just that and took a seat behind Trent and across from Brock. Eric took a seat infront of Lisa, leaving Mandy and an older man standing in front of Bravo team. The female CIA took a step forward before she addressed them. "Everyone, meet Oliver Carter. Carter is going to inform you about your target."

"Why do you need a team of Seal's to take one man out?" Ray questioned, looking between Mandy and Carter.

"Because we're not taking him out." Mandy informed them before gesturing for Oliver to take over.

"Luka Baljic, Serbian weapons broker." Carter said, eyes glancing at Bravo team. He paused on the brunette woman - who Mandy told him to avoid when possible and not anger when in a room together - and he didn't see what could possibly put that flash of fear in Ellis' eyes. She was small and looked delicate. "We have reason to believe he's the guy supplying the Taliban with the .50-cal armor-piercing sniper rifles they've been using against our APCs." Theresa frowned, wondering why something about that sounded familiar.

"Those are the weapons that killed the four marines a couple weeks ago in Kandahar?" Sonny asked - clearing Theresa's confusion in the process, the female Seal remembered being told about it by Eric - and Carter hummed in agreement.

"Is it wrong that I want one of those?" Theresa asked no one in particular, but everyone at the table shook their heads 'no'. Then a hopeful smile lit up her face as leaned over the table, turning her head to the left. "Hey, Lisa, think you can make it happen?"

"I can try." She promised with a smile as Bravo looked at their youngest with various expressions of amusement and smiles.

"Cool." Theresa grinned happily. The smile dropped from her face when she opened the manila folder on her desk. Bodies of fellow service men and civillians filled her vision as she paged photo after photo.

"Next shipment's a load of SA-7s." Carter said as Theresa slammed the folder shut, harsher than what was necessary. Doesn't matter that she's seen worse - there was only so much she could stomach in one day.

Other than the slammed folder, nothing gave Theresa's inner turmoil away. Not her face, not her eyes, not her body language. Unless, you knew what to look for. Jason and Brock did know what to look for - tensed shoulders, fisted hands, hard eyes, set jaw. Right now, she ticked all those boxes.

The two exchanged a glance, looked back at her and watched as she breathed in and out before relaxing, and nodded at each other. She is fine.

For now.

"Baljic's due in Estonia in 72 hours to oversee delivery of his next shipment to his runners, chiefly this man, Abukhan Kadyrov, Chechen national." Mandy went on, just as unaware of the silent conversation between Bravo One and Five and Theresa's anger as the rest of the room.

"Ex-Excuse me." Ray butted in, sounding incredulous. "These guys are shipping weapons to Afghanistan via Estonia?"

"They obviously don't know how to look at a map." Jason deadpanned, sighing quietly in relief when all the tension left Theresa.

"Maybe they thought we wouldn't figure it out that way." Theresa suggested with a shrug. "Kind of clever if you think about it. I mean, Estonia is as small as Syria and if the CIA didn't have snitches everywhere, they probably would have gotten away with it. Then again, kind of dumb when you think about the fact that they'd probably have to go around Africa to get there."

"We prefer informants." Mandy corrected.

Theresa shrugged with a roll of her eyes. "Same thing."

"We're confident in our intelligence and our analysis." Carter said and Theresa glowered at a spot on the table. Last time she heard those words coming from a 'friend' of Amanda, was before the shit show mission in Iran. Willing herself to ignore the distrust and lack of confidence in Mandy - because there was detailed information and thorough explaination offered - the female Seal listened as Carter was saying, "Where your expertise comes in is coming up with a way to snatch Baljic that does as little damage as possible to our diplomatic relations."

"Maybe I'm just a little bit behind here, because Estonia's still in the E.U. right? Why don't you just get the local authorities to pick him up and hand him over?" Jason asked.

Mandy hesitated, "There is some concern the Estonians might be reluctant to arrest him."

"They're in a delicate situation, diplomatically." Carter told them.

"And we're worried about offending someone's delicate sensibilities when trying to apprehend a weapons dealer, because?" Theresa inquired icily, looking up with a raised eyebrow.

"Sadly, some Serbian hard-liners still regard this guy as a hero." Oliver informed her, wondering why she was glaring and a little unnerved by her. She scoffed and he was grateful when she looked away in favour looking down at her laptop. He was starting to understand why Mandy warned him about her.

Ray asked, "So, what, he fought in Bosnia?"

"Commanded a Scorpion division." Carter answered and if she wasn't excellent at controling her facial expressions, her face would have fallen along with her stomach.

"Oh, that's not good." Jason commented.

"No." Carter agreed. "Baljic's personally responsible for the murders of over a thousand Bosnian Muslim civilians."

"What? So he's an arms dealer and a war criminal." Ray stated dryly.

"At least he's not lazy." Sonny noted.

"His mother must be so proud." Theresa grumbled snidely, pushing up from her chair to go to the small counter with coffee supplies and make some for herself. Snickers echoed in the war room from her comment.

"Must be, like, what, 20 years since we went after a war criminal?" The Texan asked.

"Baljic's weapons have killed dozens of American servicemen, which is why we now consider him an imminent threat.1994, Travnik. The massacre I told you about. Kandahar, two weeks ago. Take your pick." Carter said, showing the images that Bravo has in their folders on the monitor screens.

"I've seen worse." Theresa said, mostly just to break the tense silence in the room.

It worked as Bravo grouped around a map of Estonia. Jason, Ray and Lisa stood. Eric sat on the corner of the table - Sonny sitting on a chair next to him and Ray on the other side. Theresa finished making her coffee and sat infront of Brock on the other side of the table. Mandy and Carter stood near the monitors.

"What's the security like?" Ray asked, thinking about a game plan.

Carter took half a step forward and answered, "His protection detail's made up exclusively of guys who served under him."

"So they're war criminals, too." Ray nodded.

"Highly skilled war criminals." Theresa reminded him.

"He doesn't go anywhere without at least two or three of them." Carter informed them as Theresa wondered what fighting style they are trained in and what it would be like to go hand-to-hand with one of them. Being trained in eight different types of martial arts gave her a wide variety of moves and tricks to take down her opponents. If the person she was fighting knew the one martial art or it's moves that she used, she simply twitched to another to gain the upper hand in a fight. Still, it is possible for someone to kick her ass if they know even half of what she does. Especially people as highly trained as a member of the Scorpian devision.

"Look, anyone want to make a case for taking him at the hotel?" Jason asked, bringing Theresa out of her musings. Everyone stayed quiet. Although she had a tacial mind, she was nowhere near where Jason, Ray and Eric is. Shooting and fighting is more her department.

"It'd be a tough sell to Command, anyway." Eric consoled him. "State Department's real worried about the destruction of private property."

"Oh, it's good to know the priorities." Ray snarked.

"Hmm." Eric hummed his agreement.

"Okay, we know the priorities." Jason conceded. "Hotel's out. Too many variables, right?"

"Way to many." Theresa nodded, thinking about the possiblities. "The roof, the stairwells, front and back enterances, windows, the civillians that could get caught in the crossfire should a gun fight break out, possible hostage situation, causing a possible international incident."

"We could wait till he comes outside, nab him in the street." Sonny suggested.

"What if he doesn't leave, only orders room service?" Ray countered.

"Okay, look, anywhere else we're sure he's gonna be?" Jason asked, looking at the two CIA Agents.

"Only thing we know on his itinerary is the Kadyrov meet." Mandy answered him.

"A when and where would be helpful." Theresa noted, looking at the male spook inquisitively since he seemed to know the most about this guy.

"Where's the Port of Tallinn." Carter said, tapping on the paper map. "When's variable. It depends on when the shipment arrives."

"Should be in the next 72 hours." Mandy assured them.

"Can we hit him in the port?" Sonny questioned.

Theresa looked thoughtful, "We could stake out the hotel or the port. We know he's gonna move in and out of both those locations within the next three days."

"Military's got security at the port, right?" Jason asked Mandy, who hummed in agreement.

Sonny chuckled and Theresa snorted in amusement as he said, "Good one."

Jason rose his brows, "What?"

"I'm sorry, we're supposed to be afraid of the Estonian military?" Sonny question, exchanging a grin with Theresa.

"Their not very skilled, so not much to be afriad of." Theresa noted, throwing her head back and pulling her elastic band out of her hair, curls falling and framing her face as she lifted her head.

"It's not about being afraid, knuckleheads." Ray interjected. "It's about avoiding the possibility some unlucky Estonian MP sticks his nose in, gets himself smoked, poor son of a bitch ends up starting a war.

"I'm just saying, my money's on us." Sonny stated and Theresa grinned at him, nodding in agreement as she leaned over the table to hold her hand out for a fist bump that the Texan easily returned.

"Okay, keep in mind we're operating low-viz in a NATO country." Lisa reminded them. "That means no helos, all indig weapons."

"Great." Theresa groaned. "Also means Glocks and AKs and no rifles, right?" She scowled, looking at Lisa.

"Sounds about right." Davis nodded, arms crossed over her chest. Well, at least I get to take my Glock and my knives, Theresa consoled herself.

"Hit him in transit, vehicle to vehicle." Jason said and Theresa's scowl vanished as she visibly lit up with excitement.

"Seriously?" She bounced in her seat.

"Whoa." Sonny reeled back in surprise.

"Yeah?" Ray asked his boss.

"Kickin' it old school." Trent nodded with a grin.

Jason nodded back, "That's right."

"Oh, this is going to be so awesome." Theresa gushed with a beam on her face. "I've never done one before."

Lisa looked incredulous. "Seriously, when's the last time you ran a vehicle-based vehicle interdiction?"

"Ah, man, it's like riding a bike, Davis." Ray waved her off. Waved her off again when she gave Theresa a pointed look, "Tessa's a quick study."

"It's like riding bikes." Jason said as all of Bravo stood up and herded together to leave the room, following behind their Master Chief.

"I'm on point." Ray said as they walked.

"You're not on point." Jason denied as he reached the door and opened it. Theresa glanced at Carter again, something inside of her shifting uneasily. She doesn't trust him. She doesn't like him. And it wasn't about the mission, she was satisfied with the information given and had no problem with it. But the man himself? Something was off about him. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she'd be watching him like a hawk and so help him if he so much as sets a finger out of line, she'd knock his ass down.

"I'm on point!" Ray repeated as Theresa walked through the door and into the hallway, watched her brother's take their phones.

"No, you're not." Jason denied yet again as the female Seal pulled her phone out of the plastic container against the wall before shoving it in her leg pocket.

Theresa then slipped away from the team, needing to blow off some steam. She didn't know why Carter irked her so much. He just damned well did and it frustrated her to no end, making irrational anger and annoyance flare up in her chest and spread into mind. She took a deep breath and clenched her fists before shoving them into her pants pockets - she didn't want to lash out in her anger and accidentally hurt one of her team mates.

Jason, who was still arguing with Ray, stopped in the middle of his sentance when Trent exclaimed, "Hey where's Tessa?"

"Maybe she went to see Spenser." Brock suggested with a grin.

A thundercloud appeared above Jason's head. "I'll give her twenty minutes, then I'll go looking for her."

"Might not like what you find." Ray smirked at his best friend, all teasing. He knew as well as anyone on Bravo that Theresa wouldn't step over that boundry line - even told them in so many words she wouldn't. But it is hella fun to rile Jason up.

"I'm gonna kick his ass someday soon." The Master Chief grumbled, his team snickering at his expense.

SEAL TEAM

Half an hour later Jason found her in the gym, pounding furiously into a sand bag. A vacancy of two meters was all around her, people avoiding the area around her out of fear for begin hit in the crossfire of her assult on the sand bag. Every now and again someone eyed her warily and the Master Chief supressed a snort of amusement. Theresa had no idea how afraid some of the people on base are of her. It was a reputation well earned, considering how much crap she got in the begining for not only being a woman, but young as well.

Relief was evident on faces as they spotted Jason making his over to her - him being the only person that she listened to without question or objection was just as well known.

With laser focus she stepped back, jumped on the nearest bench before launching herself into the air, spinning around and landing a vicious kick to the sand bag. Repeating the action with her other leg before going back to hitting the bag with her fists, completely caught up in her workout.

Jason tried to sneak up on her to put her in a headlock. It didn't work as she caught his arm the moment it came into her line of vision before violently twisting it behind his back, her other arm going around his neck before she knocked his knees out from under him with her own.

Recognising him immediately when she glanced at his face, Theresa let go as if she'd been burned. "Shit, I didn't know it was you. Sorry."

"No worries." He gave her a reassuring smile as she went for her water bottle. "I see your senses are still as sharp as ever, even when you're focused."

"Thanks." She smiled as she worked on controling her panting breathing.

"So, wanna tell me what's eating at you or do you want me to call Brock?" Jason raised a brow at her as she squirted water into her mouth, looked away from him and swallowed. She looked back at him, offered him the bottle and when he shook his head 'no', she took another sip and chewed on the inside of her cheek.

Theresa swallowed her water, watched Jason as he waited for her answer before she sighed and admitted, "Carter."

"What about him?" The Master Chief frowned. As far as he knew, the seasoned CIA Agent hadn't done anything to piss Theresa off.

"He bothers me." She shrugged, drank some more water as she glanced around the gym. She scowled when she noticed all of the eyes on her and Jason. Nosey fuckers.

"Is it him that bothers you, or is it the fact that he is Mandy's friend that bothers you?" Jason challenged, looking at her with a raised eyebrow. Theresa didn't answer him, just put down her bottle and walked back to the sand bag and started laying into it once more. Jason sighed lightly, "It's been thirteen months."

"Yeah, Jason, I know." She smiled fakely at him, not stopping her assult but thinking that she should. If she continued much longer, her hands would swell and shooting a gun would hurt like a bitch. "I can count days and months."

Jason stayed silent for a while. He walked forward and held the bag steady for her. "You gotta forgive her."

"Why?" Theresa spat angrily, the force of her punches almost causing the man to stumble.

"Because she didn't know the intel was bad." He said gently, knowing that a delicate approach was the only way to deal with an emotional Tessa or she would lash out the only way she knew how - with violence and anger.

"I told her the intel sounded dodgy." Hit, hit, hit, hit. "You told her something didn't feel right." Hit, hit, hit, hit. "Brock told her something was off." Hit, hit, hit, hit. "She didn't listen. You and I went into that building and low and behold, what did I find? A bomb made especially for us by the terrorist bomb maker we went looking for." Hit, hit, hit, hit, hit, hit. She looked back at him, eyes suspiciously glassy. "If I didn't tackle you out the window, we both would have been charcoal, Jason."

"I'm fine." Jason said, giving her a pointed look.

"You could have not been. We both could have not been." She retorted with a look of her own, momentarily stopping her punching. She blew out a deep breath, "It was just some miracle that the team was watching the perimeter instead of inside with us."

Jason's lips twitched at that, "You believe in miracles?"

"I did that day." She glared at him, resuming her attack on the bag.

"You want to sit this one out?" Jason asked, looking at her in contemplation.

"You think I'd sit out a mission when I think we're in danger? I might as well quit the Navy then." Theresa scoffed, giving him an offended look. "If you guys go down, I'm going down with you. There's no if, and or but about it."

"So, it's not about the mission, it's just about Carter?" Jason clarrified.

"Yeah." She nodded, stopping her punching for a final time.

Jason sighed and saw that nothing he said would make her change her mind about Ellis' friend. "I'll talk to Mandy, find out if there's anything to be concerned about."

"Geez, now why doesn't that make me feel better?" She snarked, giving him a glower.

"Do you trust me?" Jason countered seriously.

"Yes." There was no hesitation in her answer and it made Jason hide a satisfied grin. Being in the line of work that he is, the simple pleasures of life - waking up with his wife in his arms every morning, a hot shower or bath every night - was often something he had to pass on. So, he took it where he could get it - taking his kids to school when he was home, doing grocery shopping with his family, knowing he has Tessa's unconditional trust.

"Then trust me now." He said, looking into her eyes. It was silent between them for a long while before she finally answered him.

"Fine." Theresa grumbled as she walked to her water bottle and picked it up, but the smile tugging at the corners of her lips let Jason know that she wasn't that bothered anymore.

"Okay, now let's go. We gotta run through our plan."

SEAL TEAM

After running through the plan until they got it under twenty seconds, Theresa was sweat and smelly. She was pounding that sand bag earlier and now after practicing the snatch-and-grab plan for Baljic for two hours, she smelled worse than a dumpster. Stopping by her cage to let Jason know where she'd be if they needed her and grabbing her duffle that held a change of fresh clothes and her toiletries, Theresa made way to the communial showers.

Taking her time to wash away all of the dirt with her calming fragranced shower gel (which did absolutely nother for her anger) - instead of just hastily shampooing her hair and washing herself down with the excess foam and water from her hair like she does when on a limited time frame - washing her hair and conditioning it thoroughly.

When she stepped out of the blessedly hot shower, the strawberry scent of her shampoo and conditioner filled the woman's bathroom. Dressing quickly and taking a look at the time, Theresa wondered when they would let Bravo know about when they would depart.

It had to be soon, like, within the next two hours soon.

Stepping out of the bathroom, damp hair hanging loose, she sweeped the hallway out of habit. The left first, then the right and when she went to take a step to the left, she smacked face first into a muscular chest. Hands gripped her hips for balance as she fisted his shirt to do the same. Something inside of her - that had recently been awakend - wanted her to press even closer to the body not even three inches from her own.

Normally, being this close to someone, Theresa would feel uncomfortable and would take the option of falling on her ass rather than being touched by someone she didn't know. She hates people touching her and getting into her personal space - even Bravo and the Hayes' know they have to let her initiate contact or make sure that she can see touch coming.

There was only one person on this whole planet who she wanted to be closer to - something which still threw her world upside down, because all of these new feelings and urges that was coming to the surface is strong and powerful and unknown and more than a little terrifying and to top it all of, it made her struggle with her self control worse than normal - and that was a certain cocky blue-eyed; blonde haired idiot that made her stomach flutter and her heart race.

So, then it could only be Spenser she bumped into.

Theresa may be emotionally stunted, but never let it be said that she is stupid.

She looked up, breath catching as soft blue eyes locked onto hers.

"Hey you." The female Seal greeted. Realising the position they was standing in - practically embracing each other - she pulled away from him before taking two steps backwards, a deep blush staining her cheeks as she did so.

Spenser gave her a half smile as his blood rushed to his cheeks as well, her stomach fluttering at the sight of his upturned lips. It knocked her off a bit whenever it happened, but she was starting to assosciate that feeling with the blonde in front of it. No one else has ever made her feel this before.

"Your hair is wet." He noted, somewhat stupidly. Not for the first time, Clay wanted to hit himself. Why did he become a moron in her presence?

"Yeah, that tends to happen when you shower." Theresa snarked lightly, shrugging her duffled up higher on her shoulder as she gestured to the room she walked out of with her free hand.

Spenser wore on his bottom lip, inappropriate images flashing across his minds eye. Images involving the two of them in a shower with soapy, wet bodies and- the blonde shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. He really didn't need her figuring out his real feelings for her. Luckily, this wasn't a problem as the female Seal started talking again.

"So, about what we talked about earlier, it's okay if you're angry at him. Just make sure that you aren't consumed by it."

They started walking, going nowhere in particular, just walking together. Silently enjoying the other's presence. Spenser contemplated her words for a few seconds, "Is it wrong that I don't want to go to his signing?"

"Nope, not at all. It's your choice and yours alone." Theresa assured him firmly.

He hesitated, "And if I want to see him? To confront him?"

"Then that's your choice too." Theresa shrugged easily.

"I don't know what to do." Spenser admitted with a sigh. "Part of me hates him for everything he's done. The other part just wants to go yell at him and ask him why."

"Then hate him and go yell at him and ask him why he did what he did. There is literally nothing stopping you." The female Seal said as if it was obvious and that simple.

"Like he'll answer me." Clay scoffed with a glower, fisting his hands in anger.

"Then at least you'll get to say you tried, which is more than he can say." Theresa said with a smile and Clay found himself relaxing, anger vanishing like mist in front of the sun. Her phone buzzed against her leg just as she shrugged. "Or don't go see him, if that's what you want. Just . . . whatever you do, make sure that it's for you." She pulled her phone out of her pocket as she spoke, read the text. Wheels up in thirty.

"I have to go." Theresa gave him an apologetic look, not knowing why the hell she did it in the first place. She doesn't owe him anything. So, why did it feel so right to do it?

A slight frown pulled at his brows, "You know what I just realised?"

"What?"

"Most of our conversations always end with you having to go."

"Well, don't feel to bad, Spenser, cause this conversation is still not over."

"What more is there to say?"

"Plenty." She mock glared at him before breaking out into a reassuring smile.

Clay was still basking in that brilliant and beautiful smile of hers that never failed to make his pulse spike when she walked past him and broke out in a light jog, the smell of strawberries following her.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

this was a first for me. normally i don't put claresa scenes in the middle of the episode - just in the begining and the end, sometimes both - but it was needed.

thank you so much for the comments! they mean so much to me and makes me smile like a loon.

Sneak peak for the next chapter:

"I think of you as Spenser. Cocky blonse with dead on accuracy and pretty blue eyes."

"You think my eyes are pretty?"

"Oh for fuck sakes."