Thank you SO MUCH for the feedback on the first chapter. I wasn't sure if anyone was going to read this, and really loved getting the reviews. They definitely made me want to keep writing the next chapter a little more quickly. :)

Chapter 2

Buck closed the door to his room behind him. He paused, debating going back in and trying to talk to Morgan. With a resigned sigh, he headed down the stairs instead. If he knew anything about Morgan, it was that she wasn't going to tell him anything she didn't want him to know.

When she was five years old, she had got it in her head that she could run a racket in her little kindergarten class. She had fleeced at least half the kids of their crayons, glue sticks, hair ribbons, and anything else that caught her eye, selling them at a profit to other kids, before the teacher had caught on and told their mother. Fifteen year old Buck had stared down at his little sister, all ribbons and curls and innocent-looking as could be, and damned if the little angel hadn't stared him straight in the eye and told him it was none of his business unless he intended to help her go back into business.

Buck couldn't hold back the smile at the memory. He had left home not too long after that, but frequent visits back to Morgan assured him she wasn't going to need the protection of her big brother. If anything, the first boy who broke her heart in high school had needed protection from Morgan.

He went into the kitchen, ignoring the sink of dishes he and JD kept meaning to get to, and flipped open his laptop. He knew Morgan could take care of herself. What he didn't know, was whether she would be honest with him.

He pulled up the website for the University of Nevada Las Vegas and clicked on a calendar of school breaks.

School was in full swing both this week and the following week.

He stared at the schedule, trying to figure out why Morgan would be in Denver instead of at school. Concern had him frowning at the screen. Concern that was multiplied because he knew whatever was going on, no way would Morgan willingly tell him. Unless she needed money for bail, and even then he had his doubts she'd come clean. He leaned back in his chair, dragging his hands over his face.

"Hey Buck," JD said, coming into the kitchen.

Buck snapped the laptop shut and shoved it aside. Upstairs, he could hear the shower turn on.

JD's eyes went toward the ceiling.

"Morgan's getting showering before we go out to eat. You want to come?"

The kid's ears turned pink and he shook his head quickly, eyes straying to the ceiling once more. "Uh, no," he said. "I got plans with Casey later."

Buck nodded. He looked around the kitchen and JD followed his eyes. "You think we should clean up some?" He tried to see the townhome through Morgan's eyes.

JD heaved a sigh. "I suppose."

Buck unbuttoned the sleeves of his shirt, rolling them back, and faced the sink of dishes.

#

Morgan let the hot water stream over her, tilting her face into the spray. She relished the heat, imagining it burning away the last six months of her life. It only took wrapping herself in a towel and looking in the steamed up mirror to prove that fanciful notion wrong.

Morgan ran her fingers lightly over the bruises at the base of her throat. Ten marks, one for each finger that had wrapped around her neck, squeezing off any air. She could almost feel the crushing pressure now, cutting off her breath, making it impossible to suck in oxygen.

She abruptly turned away from the mirror, pulling long hair forward to cover the marks. The black eyes and cut lips had long since healed. Her broken rib was mostly healed, it only bothered her on occasion now.

But none of that mattered. She was in Denver now. She was with Buck and Chris, who had proved himself to be just as much a brother to her.

She thought of the blue eyed man in Buck's office suddenly. She had the feeling he would be just as fierce in protecting someone in his care as Buck and Chris could be. But where Buck's expressive face would always go straight to anger when someone he cared about was hurt, and Chris would get deadly still, that man had looked at her with concern. He hadn't said anything, hadn't hinted to anyone that he had seen the marks, but Morgan had got the distinct impression he wasn't going to forget about them.

She hoped he would. The past was over and reliving old nightmares served no purpose. No purpose other than to remind her of hard lessons learned. Hard lessons that told her no way would she trust the blue eyed agent Buck worked with, no matter how much concern he looked at her with.

Depositing her clothes in the hamper that evidently just served decorative purposes since Buck and his roommate's clothes seemed to be on the floor next to it, rather than in it, Morgan kept the towel wrapped tightly around her and stepped out of the bathroom, nearly crashing into the young man she had seen in Buck's office earlier.

"Oh boy," the guy squeaked, glancing at the towel wrapped around her, then looking anywhere else.

Morgan took in the bright red that spread across his cheeks and welcome amusement chased away the lingering ghosts of her past.

"You must be JD," she said, as if they were meeting on the street and both fully clothed.

"Yep. Yep I am. And you're, uh, Buck's sister." He kept his eyes fixed on the ceiling.

"Morgan," she said, holding out her hand.

The guy who looked like he had to be her age, winced and gingerly shook her hand for the briefest second before jerking his hand away.

"It's nice to meet you," she said.

He gave a twitch of his head that she took to be a nod of agreement.

Morgan started to go around him toward Buck's room, but unable to resist the sheer panic that seemed to be taking over the young man, she paused next to him, leaning in and speaking softly. "Don't worry, JD, I don't bite. Unless you like that sort of thing."

He made a choking sound and scrambled across the hallway to the room she assumed was his, the door slamming behind him.

Morgan's lips twitched in a smile. The kid was clearly no threat.

Back in Buck's room, she looked at the clothes she had brought. She went to Buck's closet and rifled through the clothes on hangers until she found the sweater she had given Buck for Christmas two years earlier. She wondered if he had ever worn it.

She pulled on the navy blue turtle neck sweater that hung halfway to her knees with a pair of leggings. Dinner out with Buck didn't require any effort in her appearance.

Buck was closing the dishwasher when she got downstairs. He turned and a smile split his face. "You ready to go?" He pushed at a couple buttons on the dishwasher.

Morgan nodded.

Buck reached out to tousle her hair, messing up the already messy bun she had pulled the wet mass into.

She shoved her feet into fuzzy Uggs and Buck gave her a look.

"What?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You're awfully bundled up for September," he commented, his mustache twitching with humor as he looked at her turtleneck sweater and shearling lined boots.

"Denver's colder than Vegas," she said archly. "Now are you going to buy me dinner or not?"

Buck grinned broadly and held the door open for her. "Well I'm sure not going to let you go hungry. Your temper when you need to eat is scary."

#

Vin finally shoved aside his paperwork, relieved he wouldn't have to look at the words that swam in front of his eyes until Monday. He stood and pulled the lightweight jacket from the back of his chair, feeling to be sure his keys were in his pocket still.

"You have plans tonight?" Chris asked.

Vin shook his head. "Pizza and my couch," he said. "A couple beers."

Chris nodded in understanding. The week had been slow, which made it harder for Vin than a week where they saw action. Being cooped up inside, trying to catch up on paperwork, planted in a desk chair for days on end. It all added up to a special brand of torture for the sniper.

"I'm heading over to The Saloon. You think your couch will wait?"

Vin nodded. "Anyone else going?" he asked, looking around the empty bullpen.

Chris shook his head, his own keys in hand.

Even the air of the parking ramp was better than the stuffy air inside the federal building. Vin went to his battered Jeep and got in, rolling the window down to let the cool breeze in.

At the bar and grill, he found a space in a lot that was quickly filling up and went inside, figuring there would at least be a couple seats at the bar available, but Chris was already seated at a table. With Buck and his sister.

Buck yelled his name and waved him over. His sister, Morgan, looked up at Buck's greeting and tensed.

Vin kept his gait easy as he approached, just how he would approach an ornery horse to show he wasn't a threat. He wasn't a threat, but he didn't get run off easy.

"Mo, this is Vin. He was at the office earlier," Buck said.

Her eyes, a mix of gold and brown, flicked up at Vin with disinterest that he may have believed if he didn't also notice the way her fingers tightened on her menu.

"I remember," she said shortly.

"Nice to meet you, Morgan," Vin said, taking the chair across from her.

She gave him a nod and he could almost see her trying to get a read on him. Determined to put her at ease, Vin picked up the menu he had memorized. "The burgers are good. Inez has some sort of secret seasoning she uses."

Morgan put down her own menu. "I'll be back in a minute." She shoved her chair away from the table and headed through the crowded bar toward the restrooms in the back.

Vin watched her make her way through the crowd, not missing the glare she gave some guy who made a comment to her from his perch at the bar.

Once she disappeared down the hallway that led to the bathrooms, Vin brought his attention back to the table.

Chris was looking at him, the same way he had studied him earlier when Morgan had showed up in the bullpen.

Vin took the beer the waitress set in front of him with a nod of thanks. He took a long drink.

Thankfully Chris didn't say anything. He picked up his own bottle, but Vin knew his every move was being logged by the older man as far as Morgan was concerned.

"You remember the first time you met Morgan?" Buck asked suddenly, looking at Chris.

A smile played at Chris' lips. "Hard to forget."

Buck turned to Vin. "Chris came home with me to Vegas when we were on leave from the Navy." The humor in his eyes dimmed slightly. "Our ma had just passed, Morgan was staying with a family friend who worked with our ma." Shaking himself out of whatever memories that brought back, Buck went on. "Morgan, this little twleve year old, took one look at Chris and told him he'd better watch my back when we deployed or she'd make him wish insurgents had tortured him with a slow death."

Vin smiled, but wondered at what Morgan would have been through to harden her enough as a preteen to stand up to Chris Larabee.

"And she's been making my life a living hell ever since," Chris muttered without conviction, taking another drink.

Buck let out a laugh, but whatever he was going to say was cut off by a scream and a crash from the back of the bar.

Vin was on his feet, hand on the gun he still had holstered since he hadn't stopped at home after work. He knew Chris would still have his gun.

There was an angry shout, followed by another crash and Vin pushed his way through the crowd, knowing his teammates were right behind him. And knowing they were as aware as he was of the fact the chaos was coming from the direction Morgan had gone.

#