Author's Note: Reuploading since the first version was messed up. I'll be uploading some of my previously posted stories again.

Chpt. 1 TPOV:

"Taylor here," I answer the phone after finally finding it in the dark bedroom.

"Jason Taylor?" a voice I don't recognize asks.

"This is Jason Taylor, who is this?"

"My name is Raymond Steele, I…I don't know if you remember me."

Holy fuck. Talk about a blast from the past.

"Of course, General Steele," I quickly turn on the light and sit up in bed. "It's been…what 10 years since you retired sir?"

"Nearly 8, let's not make me any older than I already am Taylor."

"Of course not sir," I chuckle. "How the fuck have you been?"

"I've been….in hell Taylor," he sighs. "I need a favor-"

"Anything sir."

I served under General Steele for several years before he retired; I met his two daughters on several occasions and even attended his wife's funeral. We kept in touch the first year or so after he retired but since I was still in the service I was shipped around too much to maintain regular contact. Then, fuck life just got in the way and I never looked him up again.

"I was told you're in personal security now?" he asks.

"Yes sir, I've been working the private sector since I became a civilian again," I confirm.

"I need to hire you," he blurts out.

"Sir?"

"Not for me, I need….I need to hire you for Ana."

"Ana…your daughter?"

"Money isn't an issue…I'll pay whatever your going rate is."

"Hold up," I interrupt him before getting up to pace the floor. A quick glance at the alarm clock confirms what I thought, it's the middle of the night, the sun isn't even due to come up for a couple more hours.

"You're in Seattle right?" he asks.

"Yes, I am. I have a live in full time contract with someone."

"Do you have someone you could…that could protect Ana?"

"Yes, that's not an issue-"

"Thank god. Whatever the cost Taylor, just tell me and I'll get the payment to you."

"Why don't you tell me why Ana needs protection sir? She's what 20, 21 years old now?"

"She just turned 24," math was clearly not my strong point.

"What does a 24 year old need protection from?" I ask forgetting that my boss is only a couple of years older than her, but of course he's the exception to every rule.

"It's bad Taylor," his voice drops. "They got to her; they hurt her. I need to get her away, as hard as I've tried I can't protect her here. A car is packed, she's just waiting my instructions on where to go. Tell me you can protect her Taylor. Assign whoever you need to, I'll pay whatever the price."

"Sir, of course, I'll assign someone to her. I'll make sure she's safe," I assure him hearing the panic in his voice. "Just tell me who I'm protecting her from."

"It's her sister's ex."

"Kathryn…Kate's ex?" I recall his younger daughter's name.

"He killed her," he sighs. "The bastard killed my fucking baby and got away with it."

"Holy fuck," I hiss.

"He's coming after Ana now, I can't lose them too. I'll do whatever it takes; I would take her into hiding myself but he's got eyes on me at all times. If I go he'll follow me."

"Where is she now?"

"With a buddy of mine, he doesn't know the location yet. She's borrowing his car to start the trek, then I have her switching cars with someone else in Oklahoma. If need be I have someone in Nevada she can get another car from."

"You think he'll tail her across the country?"

"I wouldn't put it past him."

"Why is he going after Ana?"

"She has something he wants and she won't let him have it."

"What could she possibly have that he wants so badly?"

"His son."

"FUCK," I slam my fist onto the table.

"My Katie…she left him when she was pregnant after tried to make her lose the baby by beating her. She obtained a restraining order and even filed assault charges but the police somehow lost the evidence against him before the case could go to trial. He tried to kidnap the baby from the hospital when he was born, which did get him arrested and thrown in jail for two months-"

"Two months? For trying to fucking kidnap a baby?"

"They charged him with custodial interference or some shit like that," the anger in his voice is obvious. "The only good thing that came out of it was he gave up his parental rights in exchange for a lesser sentence and agreed to not charge him with kidnapping and a mess of other charge they were dragging up since he endangered the lives of countless others. Things were quiet after that for a little while; I thought we were finally able to move past the nightmare that had become our lives since Kate met that fucker."

"What happened?" I hate to ask but I need to know what I'm dealing with.

"About a month ago he found Kate again; she had moved out of state and even changed her name to try to get away from him. But he's powerful, he managed to find her. He became pissed when she wouldn't let him see her son and started threatening her. She again got a restraining order against him, but…well you and I both know those things are just pieces of paper. Before she had the baby I trained her on how to shoot; she even had a permit to carry a concealed weapon. She didn't leave the house without it."

"What happened?" I cringe.

"The brake lines in her car were fucking cut," I hear a glass slam on the table. "Completely fucking severed; by some miracle her son wasn't in the car with her. He should have been; she should have been taking him to day care before she headed into work. But, Ana had driven up to surprise her over the weekend and at the last minute decided to stay an extra day to spend it with the baby."

"He tried to fucking kill both of them?"

"Yes."

"What do the police say?"

"He has a fucking alibi," he grunts. "I've hired the best PI in the country to start working on it; something doesn't add up. It was either him or one of his buddies that he paid off to cut the break lines. He's behind it I'm sure."

"And now he's going after Ana?"

"Unbeknownst to any of us, Kate had met with a lawyer and had an iron clad will drawn up that awarded Ana full custody of her child should something happen to her. He had no idea the will existed."

"Now, he wants the son that he signed his rights away to and then tried to kill?"

"I don't know why he wants him so badly now when he tried to…kill him when my Katie was still pregnant. But Ana has full legal custody of that child and he will need to kill us both before I allow him to take that baby away from us. I need to get her away from here; he's too close. When I heard you were in Seattle…it was perfect. That's about as far away as she can get from him."

"She's going to drive to Seattle with a baby?" I ask.

"Yes, she's ready to leave in a moment's notice. It'll obviously take her a few days."

"Why not fly? She could be here in a couple of hours."

"He'll be watching the airlines, no doubt he has her name flagged."

"Let me work on some things, my boss….he has a private jet, if I can talk to him perhaps we can fly to her."

"No commercial airports Taylor," he warns. "They're going to want names and identification of everyone on board."

"Okay, private airport," I think aloud. "We'll give them fake names for Ana and the baby; I'll make sure they don't need identification from Ana and the baby."

"You figure out what you need to, but I'm going to have Ana start her trip. She can detour to meet you somewhere on the way. The sooner I get her out of the state, the better."

"You're sure she's up for driving this distance?" I can't imagine a young girl driving across the fucking country with a baby.

"Annie is stronger than you remember her being," he says proudly. "She's armed and not afraid to shoot. She'll protect that baby and do whatever is needed."

"Can I call you back in a couple of hours when I figure out the details?"

"I'm using a series of burn phones, I'll call you in a few hours from one of them."

"She has a burn phone as well?"

"Several, she's going to dispose of one a day. No internet, wifi capabilities, just calls. They can't be tracked."

"Call me at 0800 your time," I instruct.

"Taylor I can't-"

"Don't even sir. After everything…this is the least I could do."

"Jason, what's going on?" Gail asks as soon as I end the call. "Who needs your help?"

"My old General," I sigh. "I don't know all the details yet, but one of his daughters was killed by her ex and now that guy is going after his other daughter who has custody of…the deceased daughter's son."

"Holy shit," she gasps.

"I know," I shake my head. "I only met General Steele's family a couple of times, but both girls were so well behaved and as sweet as could be. The last time I saw either of them they weren't even teenagers yet; it was at their mother's funeral."

"Wait…if the ex killed the one daughter why isn't he in jail?"

"Apparently he has an alibi but General Steel is hiring someone to break that."

"So his daughter and the baby are coming here?"

"To Seattle, yes. I'm going to assign Sawyer to Ana once they get here. As soon as Mr. Grey wakes up though I need to get him to agree to let me use the jet. Ana and the baby are going to drive across the country alone. If Mr. Grey will let me use the jet, I can meet them somewhere-"

"Did his schedule change? I thought you were flying out with him this morning?"

"Shit Gail you're right! We're supposed to be in Indiana…this could work. I just need to get the pilot to change the flight so we land at a private airport."

By the time the boss is ready for his run, I've sorted out some preliminary details for this…mess. I've identified a private airport not far from the commercial one we were supposed to land at. I hold off contacting the pilot as I know I need Mr. Grey's approval. It would be different if this was something involving his safety, but this is…personal. I've also identified a diner a couple of hours away where I could meet Ana at and bring her and the baby to the airport together so we don't leave a car anywhere that could give our location away. I've contacted Sawyer and told him to be ready to go, he needs to be with Mr. Grey when I'm picking up Ana.

"Mr. Grey, a word," I ask as we return to the penthouse following our usual five mile jog this morning.

"Yes Taylor," he says.

"I…I need to alter our travel arrangements slightly for later today."

"Is there a threat? Has something happened?" he immediately asks with obvious concern.

"Not against you sir."

"What aren't you saying Taylor?"

"I received a call from a general I was in the service with last night…well early this morning. His daughter is in trouble and needs help. I want to assign Sawyer to her; I'll take care of his contract and payments sir-"

"Who pays Sawyer is the least of the problems Taylor. Who the fuck is his daughter and why does a child need protecting?"

"She's not a child sir, in fact she's only a few years younger than you. She was preparing to leave…I assume one of the Carolinas to drive to Seattle this morning-"

"Why the fuck would she drive to Seattle? Get her a plane ticket Taylor!"

"The general believes her name has been flagged by the man who is after her, if she tries to fly commercially he'll know."

"Is this some sort of jealous ex boyfriend shit? I don't want to get involved with any drama Taylor. Lord knows I have enough fucking drama in my life."

"It's her sister's ex boyfriend-"

"Taylor!"

"He killed her."

"Wait…the ex boyfriend who is after this girl killed her sister?"

"Yes sir."

"Fuck Taylor."

"I want to request that the pilot land the jet at a private air field not far from where we were originally scheduled to land. I'll have the transportation rerouted to the private airstrip."

"Won't her name get flagged there?"

"I'll use a fake name for the itinerary…and for a cost they won't ask for verification of each guest."

"Do what you need to do. Just keep the fucking drama away; with everything going on at GEH and the acquisition coming up I don't need anything showing up that would raise concerns."

"Sir…thank you-"

"Contact Thomas and get our flight plan changed."

"Yes sir. I also have Sawyer joining us, he'll be with you during your meeting while I arrange to meet Ana a couple hours away."

"She can make it to Indiana today?"

"I'm waiting for a call back but she should be able to make it to Ohio where I'll meet her and then we'll ditch the car she's using and I'll bring her to Indiana where the plane will be waiting."

He nods and doesn't say anything else before turning to go towards his bedroom. I head into the private quarters that Gail and I share, slowly letting out the breath I hadn't realized I was holding. If Mr. Grey had refused to allow me to change airports, my back up plan was to fly out, meet up with Ana and drive with her all the way back to Seattle. I can't imagine Ana driving across the country by herself…let alone with a baby. I remember when Sophia, my daughter, was a baby…there's no way I would take any long trips with her. She hated the car, hated being confined…hell she hated not being able to do whatever she wanted from a fairly early age. A several day car trip never would have been an option with her.

"Taylor," I answer the phone the moment it rings.

"It's Ray."

"I was hoping to hear from you soon sir. I just finalized our plans; we're going to meet Ana and fly them to Seattle."

"She left a couple of hours ago heading west; I'll contact her and have her put in the coordinates to meet you and detour there."

A few hours later we're Indiana, having landed at the private airport as previously arranged. We've adjusted the flight data to reflect two new passengers that we will be picking up and bringing back to Seattle with us. For a price, the airport staff will look the other way on the usual standard requirement for an identification verification of all passengers. I think in addition to the price it helps that my boss is well known and the likelihood of him carrying out illegal activity is nonexistent.

"You'll be back in time for take off?" Mr. Grey asked me before we went our separate ways.

"Yes sir."

"See that you are; I have a tight schedule and don't want to be here any longer than necessary," he instructs as if I don't know his schedule. His schedule is linked to my phone; every time a change is made I'm alerted. I know his schedule better than he does.

"Yes sir."

"What's the plan when we land in Seattle?" he asks. "I have a conference call with China I need to be on-"

"I will have two vehicles waiting at the airport for us," I interrupt him quickly. "Sawyer will take you back to Escala for your call; you should arrive about 30 minutes before your call begins. I will take Ana and get her checked into a hotel where she'll spend a few days until I find her an apartment. Then Sawyer and I will switch off and he'll be with Ana."

"Very well."

The drive to the dive diner that I found to meet Ana at in Ohio is non eventful. I spoke with General Steele when we landed in Indiana at which time he confirmed that Ana was well on her way to Ohio and then again to confirm she arrived at the diner. Pulling into the parking lot, it's exactly what I expected it to be – a dive place, just off the highway where it would be crowded enough that Ana wouldn't stand out yet not too crowded that she wouldn't be able to find a table to sit at easily. The parking lot is large enough that the car Ana is driving won't easily be spotted if left for a few hours. General Steele is arranging for someone to pick up the car overnight and bring it back to the friend Ana borrowed it from.

Walking into the diner I wave off the hostess and instead head straight for the back corner where General Steele said Ana was sitting. Sure enough, in the farthest booth from the door, tucked into a dark corner is a young blond woman wearing large sun glasses sitting next to a baby in a car seat. Although she has a cup of coffee in one hand, her eyes are darting around the room, obviously aware of everything going on around her. I approach the booth slowly; her hand tightens around the cup she's holding when it's obvious I'm going to approach her.

"Ana?" I ask quietly although there's no doubt that this is General Steele's daughter. Not only does she match the description he gave me, but her behavior is one of someone trying to hide.

"Do you have ID?" she asks before confirming who she is.

I raise my eyebrows, impressed that she didn't take my word for who I was and hand over my driver's license. She compares it to something on her phone before nodding and handing it back to me. She quickly types out what I assume is a text message to her dad before looking back to me.

"Did you have enough to eat? We can get something to take with us if you would like."

"I'm fine, I'd rather just…get out of here if you don't mind," she answers hesitantly.

"Of course," I toss a few bills on the table to pay for whatever she had and offer my hand for her to stand. She cautiously takes my hand and stands before grabbing her purse and reaching across the bench for the car seat.

"Let me-"

"No, I've got him," she insists lifting the heavy car seat in her arm.

I sigh but don't argue even though everything in me wants to insist she allow me to help her. I have to remind myself that right now she doesn't know me; all she likely knows it that her father told her I would help her. I don't know nearly enough about who her sister's ex is, but if he has guys that he can pay to kill someone Ana has every right to be cautious about trusting someone she doesn't know. She follows me out of the diner to the SUV that I rented for the trip.

"Let me strap the car seat in," I insist after opening the door and watching her struggle.

"I can do it."

"I know you can, but let me," I say gently trying not to argue. "You get into the car next to him and I'll get in on the other side to install the seat."

She glances around the parking lot, almost as if she's making sure that no one else is around before she slowly climbs into the back of the SUV. I watch her wince as she moves and I recall General Steele's words from our call last night: "they got to her; they hurt her."

"Do you need a doctor Ana?" I ask once I'm seated next to the car seat.

"No," she answers quickly. "I…I was checked over by…someone who used to be a medic. I'm fine."

"If you need to see someone, I can find someone who will be discrete," I assure her.

"Thank you, I'm fine though," she insists.

I look down between us at the baby who is looking up at me with these big blue eyes, just taking everything in. He was so quiet I assumed he was sleeping, but it appears I was wrong. How could someone want to kill their own child? This baby…no more than a few months old, is the most innocent person in the world yet someone wanted to fucking kill him?

"Taylor?" Ana's voice reminds me of what I'm supposed to be doing.

"Do you need anything for him before we reach the airport? Formula, bottles, diapers, clothes-"

"I have everything I would need for about a week," she interrupts.

"Gail…my girlfriend, is picking up a few things today so once we land in Seattle you should have everything you need but if there are other things you need we can pick it up."

"Thank you."

I strap the car seat in tightly and drive to the other end of the parking lot where the car Ana was driving is parked. I unload the few bags from her trunk and load them into the SUV. It's obvious she left in a hurry based on how little she packed for herself and the baby. I leave her car keys locked in the car as she instructed, before getting back into the SUV. Ana remains in the back, where I expected her to be, with her hand protectively on the car seat. She's quiet for the entire ride, several times I check on her thinking she might have fallen asleep but it's obvious she is still too wound up to sleep. She's constantly checking behind us, obviously worried someone is following us. I don't tell her that I've been watching since the moment we pulled out of the diner and that she doesn't need to worry. I don't tell her this because I know saying it won't bring her peace of mind; it won't reassure her that she's safe.

"The flight crew will load your bags into the storage areas; is there anything from the back that you need?" I ask her as we pull up to GEH's jet right on time.

"No, everything I need is in the diaper bag back here with me," she answers.

I park the car, quickly getting out and sliding into the back seat to unlatch the car seat from the vehicle.

"Getting in and out of the jet can be tricky," I warn her. "The stairs are a little steep and quite narrow. Let me take him for you, just until we get inside-"

"I can manage-"

"I'll go in front of you, you can follow behind me so you can watch what I'm doing. I swear to you Ana, nothing is going to happen to either of you."

"I…." she doesn't argue and barely nods in agreement. I can't imagine what she's been through; losing her sister the way she did and then having her sister's killer/ex come after her? And having to protect this little guy on her own?

"If you have a gun with you, we'll need to secure it before take off," I say remembering General Steele saying she was armed.

She nods before reaching into her bag and producing a small, loaded hand gun. Reaching behind the seat I grab the small gun safe I use for traveling in Mr. Grey's jet and open it. She looks between the case and me several times before reluctantly putting the gun in the safe.

"Do you have any other guns?" I ask.

"There are two more in the bags in the back," she gestures towards the back of the SUV. "I have permits for all of them."

Wow…she came prepared.

"Ready?" I ask.

She nods and opens the door to get out, not taking her eyes off of me until the last minute. I wait for her to come around the SUV before I take the car seat out and close the door. The airport staff are busy loading the luggage when Sawyer comes down the steps to assist us.

"Ana, this is Luke Sawyer. Luke this is Ana," I introduce. "Ana, Sawyer will be assigned to you as your CPO while…you're in Seattle."

"Thank you," she says quietly shaking his offered hand.

"Glad to be able to assist," he says. "Who do we have here?"

"This is Teddy," Ana smiles sadly at the baby sound asleep in the carrier.

"You'll both be safe with me, ma'am," he assures her.

"The boss secure?" I ask.

"Yes, inside and working," he nods.

"Let's go," I gesture to the plane.

Carrying the car seat at my side, I awkwardly make my way up the narrow steps to the jet thankful that I insisted that Ana allow me to carry the car seat. As we agreed, Ana is behind me, watching my every move and Sawyer is behind her. I don't miss the questioning look from Mr. Grey as I walk onto the jet carrying the baby. I purposely left out the part about Ana bringing a baby with her. Mr. Grey is a very…unpredictable person. I can't say I've ever seen him around children, let alone babies, to know how he feels about them.

"Mr. Grey, this is Anastasia Steele. Ana this is my boss, Mr. Grey," I introduce.

"Thank you for…letting me join you," Ana says quietly, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Of course," he says.

I let Ana decide where she wants to sit, and it's not surprise that she picks the last row of seats on the other side of the jet and settles the baby against the window, furthest from everyone. Given that this is a luxury jet, there's plenty of space between the rows so I can easily attach the car seat to the seat. Ana secures the diaper bag on the floor in front of the car seat where she can easily reach it if she needs something.

"Can I take your jacket before we take off?" I offer.

Ana stands from her seat and slowly unzips the large jacket she's been wearing since the moment I saw her in the diner. I have to force myself to school my features when the jacket slips off her shoulder revealing her left arm in a sling. She had the sleeve tucked into the pocket to make it look like her hand was in her pocket the entire time. I was too busy focusing on getting her here safely to realize that there hadn't been an arm in the jacket sleeve. I take the jacket from her before handing her a large, soft blanket hoping that she'll be able to relax once we take off.

"Thank you," she whispers.

"Let me know if you need anything," I instruct. "There's food and drinks that will be available once we take off, but if you need something before then you let me know."

She nods as I check over her and the baby one final time before heading over to where Mr. Grey and Sawyer are seated. Surprisingly Mr. Grey appears to have been watching me and Ana the entire time; I assumed he would have gone back to whatever he was working on.

"Have they seen a doctor?" he asks, gesturing towards Ana the moment I sit down.

"She says a retired medic checked her over," I answer.

"I'll see if my mother can meet us at Escala," he types away on his phone barely looking up.

"Sir, that's not necessary. I can arrange-"

"She's working overnight, but she'll come over as soon as her shift is over," he interrupts reading the text from his mother.

"Appreciated sir."

"Does the baby need anything?" he asks.

"No sir," I answer quickly. "She has everything and I asked Gail to pick up a few things that she might need. Gail will meet us at the hotel tonight; Sawyer can take her to pick up anything she needs in the morning."

"She can't stay in a hotel," he snaps.

"Sir?" I know I told him all of this earlier.

"It won't be secure enough," he points out. "Even with Sawyer there, you know as well as I do security is questionable at best in most hotels."

I know he has a point, but considering I learned of this need less than 24 hours ago I haven't had a chance to secure something better for her. I'm hoping the hotel room will be temporary and that I'll be able to get her into a short term apartment, but finding one with decent security will be a challenge. Even though she'll have Sawyer with her, I need the building to be secure.

"I have a few leads on some short term apartments I'm going to look into-" I lie.

"She can stay at Escala."

"Sir?" I know I didn't just hear what I thought I heard him suggest. Judging from the look on Sawyer's face he heard what I heard too.

"Roz and Gwen are moving out of their apartment in two weeks, maybe three depending on the construction in their new house," he reminds me. "The apartment they're in will be vacant; Ana and…the baby can stay there."

"Sir…that's a very generous offer," to say I'm shocked would be an understatement.

"Until the apartment is available, they can stay in the penthouse," he surprises me further by saying. "If the spare room in your quarters isn't enough, Gail can set up one of the guest rooms upstairs for them."

"We…she can stay with us," I quickly say. The spare room in our quarters is sitting empty anyway.

"It'll be safest for both of them," he nods before glancing over at Ana one final time. Her hand is on the car seat, but it looks as if she may have fallen asleep or might be close to falling asleep, although it's hard to tell with the sunglasses she's still wearing. Given that her arm is in a sling I can only imagine what she's hiding behind the glasses. Suddenly I'm glad that Mr. Grey insisted on contacting his mother, even though I'm not sure Ana will be happy about it.