Chapter 2

As far as operations went this one was pretty straightforward. Ivan Shevchenko was a local arms dealer for the Russian mob who according to their intel would be handing off a small cache of weapons tonight at one of the city's shipyards. They'd only learned about Shevchenko three nights ago when one of his men, Gregor Agin, had killed a man for cheating in a game of Durak, a popular Russian card game. Intelligence had caught the case because Agin had decided the best place to deal with the cheat was in the middle of the illegal gambling hall they'd been playing in. The crime scene had been a mess, four dead and multiple injured, but luckily for Agin he hadn't been caught in the crossfire and when they'd finally grabbed him this afternoon it hadn't taken long for him to agree to offer information in exchange for a plea deal. Which led to why he and his team were currently vesting up.

The plan was to wait in the stacks of shipping containers for visual confirmation that weapons were being exchanged and then go in and round everyone up. Straightforward, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong; there was a tightness in his stomach, an instinct that years of combat in Afghanistan had honed. It was that instinct that told him what he wanted to do. Where he wanted to go.

"Jay."

He blinked and realized Voight had finished talking, everyone already several steps from where they'd gathered by his truck to go over the plan and all giving him strange looks. He ignored them. He might not be able to explain this feeling but he knew better than to ignore it. "I want to go high."

Voight's brows rose but Jay held his stare and after a brief moment understanding dawned in his Sergeant's eyes and he nodded. "Alright. Find a roost."

He supressed a sigh of relief and gave a grateful nod back, quickly grabbing his rifle from the back of his truck. Once he found a container that would give him a good vantage point Kevin gave him a boost up, passing him his gun before heading off to find his own place to hide. They only had to wait about ten minutes for the first car to show, though none of them recognized the three men who got out, and another twenty after that for the rest of the party to arrive.

"Alright, stay sharp." Voight said over the radio as two more cars pulled in, five men getting out this time. "Jay keep an eye on Shevchenko. I don't want him slipping away."

"Copy." He replied quietly, already slowing his breath as he followed the group through his scope.

The tightness in his stomach grew stronger as he watched them interact, watched the way Ivan gave a nervous smile and waved his hands, appearing to apologize for his lateness. Whoever the man across from him was he wasn't the arms dealers normal contact, and seemed a lot higher up the ladder than he was used to. The second man made a motion and Ivan held up a finger, gesturing for two of his men to grab something from his car, and Jay didn't know why but the slimy smile on his face had him gripping his rifle tighter.

"Wait till we see the cash-"

He stopped hearing his Sergeant, stopped hearing the distant cry of seagulls and feeling the briny breeze on his cheek. He stopped breathing. Because it wasn't guns that Ivan's men pulled out of the trunk, it was a woman.

It was Tess.

The bag over her head meant nothing, not when he knew every line of her body, every dip and curve and dimple, not to mention his necklace shone like a beacon.

She still wore it.

His heart tugged, sharply, painfully, the most wonderfully familiar ache and for the first time in five years Jay felt like he could breathe again. And then the men holding her shoved her to her knees, Ivan smirking as the bag was yanked off and rage began coursing through his veins like wildfire. He would kill them. If any of them so much as touched a hair on her head, which they already had judging by the blood on her left temple, he would kill every single one of them.

Distantly he could hear his team talking, trying to figure who she was, how this changed the plan but he didn't pay them any mind. His attention was locked on Tess. She was smiling, looking like she was completely unbothered by the situation but he knew better, knew the razor-sharp mind behind those beautiful ocean eyes. She was trying to figure a way out. Was her team here? He didn't think so. If they were they would have seen his by now, would have made contact if only so they didn't put her in more danger. No whatever was happening, however she'd been taken she was on her own. Except she wasn't because he wasn't going to let anyone hurt her. She spoke calmly to the second man as he took a few steps toward her, exchanging a tense look with Ivan as he did, and there was something about him, a sense of controlled savagery that had the fire inside him burning hotter. And then he turned back to Tess and nodded, smiled at her, and between one breath and the next his gun was pointed at her head. But she was faster. She had already grabbed the barrel, holding it still as she twisted so the bullet hit her arm, and the moment he saw her move Jay fired his own shot.

But he didn't aim for the man before her, or for any of the others as they started and reached for their own weapons. No, he aimed straight for Tess, for her upraised hands and the thick rope that bound them.

A pang shot through him as the force knocked her and the stunned man to the ground, a litany of I shot her, I shot her, I shot her running through his head but then hers whipped towards him and everything went still. It was like he was back in the desert, in two moments in time, and when her eyes locked on his he could see that same spark, the will to live, to fight.

And she did. She pulled back from the fist sent her way, rolling atop the man and sending her own into his face, to his dark delight, but just as quickly she rolled off, narrowly avoiding the bullet one of his men sent her way. Jay put him down, watching only long enough to make sure she was covered as his team emerged from the stacks and then he rolled off the container, landing in a crouch before he took off. By the time he reached them his team was already heavily engaged but from the way the Russians were taking cover behind their vehicles it wasn't going to be long before they were dead or surrendering. Satisfied they would be dealt with he looked for Tess, unable to spot her through the chaos until her cry pierced the air. Even through the gunshots he could hear it, could hear the crack the sound of her pain sent through his heart. She was a hundred yards away, shoved against the railing of the dock by the same man she'd been fighting earlier, his hand now wrapped around her throat.

Jay saw red.

He started making his way towards her, pushing through the fight, barely even noting when he used the butt of his rifle to bash someone's nose in when they came at him. He was too busy watching her. Watching the way she looped her arms with her attacker, using the railing as an anchor as she shoved him over the side. As he pulled her with him.

"TESS!"

Her name tore from his throat and he broke into a sprint, ignoring the bullets that came his way, the shouts of warning from his team; none of it mattered. Nothing but her. He had just enough sense to wait until he'd cleared the firefight to throw his gun to the ground and start ripping his vest off, his fingers scraping against the Velcro, but before he could dive in after her another scream filled the air.

"Don't jump!"

His knees went weak with relief as he skidded to a halt, half running into the railing before he frantically leaned over the edge and then there she was, and when their eyes met the world went still once more. It was just her and him and every moment they'd shared, all their history and love. It was the bond that had always been between them, that despite the pain and distance of the last five years was as strong as it had ever been. Looking at her now Jay felt like he was whole again. But that feeling was over in an instant and he quickly ducked down, bracing his knees against the bottom railing and his right hand against the rough wooden post before he slipped through the space between the slats, his heart dropping as he finally took in her position. She was ten feet above the water, one arm wrapped around the thick dockyard rope, the other clinging to the same post he was. He stretched as far as he could, grabbing her left forearm in a vice grip as soon as she came within reach.

"I got you." He did. He could feel her, the warmth of her skin, the strength of her grasp as she held onto him. She was here. She was here.

"I know." She breathed, a wide smile on her lips as she stared up at him. The certainty in her voice and the love and trust in her eyes made his stomach do flips.

He was pulled out of his head by Kevin dropping to his knees next to him, his partner cursing as he took in the situation. He went to take her other hand but just as she reached for him a shot rang out from below and Kevin jerked back, a bullet lodging itself in the wood where his arm would have been. Jay swore as Tess dropped, letting go of the post so he could grab her with both hands, his hold all that stopped her from falling into the water below. He could see in her eyes that she wouldn't have minded, and knew perfectly well that she was capable of ending this herself, but he wasn't going to let her. If she went in, he would too.

The man in the water started screaming in rage, firing shot after shot but unless one hit her Jay wasn't going to let them faze him. Instead he locked his eyes with hers, and together they moved. He swung her, left then right, and just before she smacked into the pillar she kicked off it, letting out a cry of pure will as she launched herself upwards. Kevin cursed again as he lunged forward and grabbed the back of her shirt, and the sudden silence told him that one of his team had at last taken out the shooter. It was a dark satisfaction that rushed through him at the thought, the man deserved worse for what he'd tried to do, but dead was dead and he would take it.

Together he and Kev pulled her up, holding her steady as she climbed through the railing, and the moment Jay was certain she wouldn't fall back through he was yanking her into him. Her name ran on a loop through his mind as he wrapped his arms around her, one hand cupping her head and the other holding her arm, his eyes rapidly flicking between injuries. There was a slight graze on her wrist from where he'd shot her, which he still couldn't believe he'd done, and a slightly deeper one on her upper right arm, as well as the cut he'd noted earlier on her temple. In between assessing them he caught glimpses of her tattoos, including two new ones, some kind of script on her left bicep and what looked like a black bird on her chest; they were beautiful, and distantly he couldn't help wondering what other ones she might have gotten. What the stories behind them were.

"Hell of a shot Ranger."

His eyes lifted and he found her looking at him softly, that stunning sapphire gaze filled with love and mischief and trust and he couldn't help but smile. Jay pulled her into him, burying his head in her hair as hers nestled in his shoulder, breathing her in and letting her scent surround him. He knew his team was watching, wondering, but he didn't care.

He was home.