Chapter 1

Present Day

"Signora forte!"

Tess grinned and reached over the counter to bump her fist against Tony's, his preferred method of greeting when the shop was too busy to give bear hugs. The man was in his eighties, and still built like an ox, and ran what was in her opinion the best butcher shop in Chicago's Little Italy. He also never failed to put a smile on her face. His nickname for her, 'strong lady', came from when he witnessed her kick a mugger's ass a few years back when the man mistook her for an easy target, and ever since he'd taken a special shine to her.

"What do you want?"

"Some prosciutto, a few chorizo sausages and two ribeye please."

He also loved that she spoke Italian.

She stepped back to let the next customer order as Tony went to get her items, quickly pulling out her phone when she felt it buzzing against her thigh and smiling as Jay's face lit up her screen. He hated the photo she'd chosen, 'I'm not even smiling' he'd complained, but she loved it; she'd snapped it just last week while he was making his morning coffee. And hadn't yet put on a shirt. In her eyes it showed Jay exactly how he was- tall, brooding, and handsome, a compliment she knew he enjoyed even if he outwardly grumbled about it.

"Hey there Ranger."

"Hey. You out?"

"Yeah, I'm at the butchers. How little do you think I eat?" She said to Tony when she saw him holding up a small portion of prosciutto, who laughed loudly before cutting more. "Why, what's up?"

"We need your help."

Instantly she went on alert, a little more than was necessary but given their lines of work she told herself it was understandable. Advisable really. "You got it. I'll be there in… twenty-ish minutes."

"See you when you get here. Remember, you can use the front door this time."

"Funny." Tess could practically hear his smile through the phone and knew she was matching it as she hung up, just in time to see Tony sliding three packages across the counter.

"Duty calls?"

"Always."

She gave him a hundred-dollar bill and another fist bump, another reason he liked her so much was that she always left a healthy tip, then hurried back to her car. "Cas? I need you to look something up for me."

She was starting to feel sick. It wasn't as though she was a stranger to crimes like these, she'd seen children hurt before, seen them trafficked the way they were being now, seen them killed while they played on the street, casualties of a war they weren't a part of or because they'd been forced to join one, to make choices no child should ever have to. And every time it made her blood boil and her stomach churn but if Tess was honest that wasn't the only reason she felt ill.

If she was honest, it wasn't even the main reason.

No, the narrowed gaze of Trudy Platt as she walked into the 21st Precinct was the cause of that. Well, not the cause. A symptom maybe. Truthfully she found the woman hilarious, she'd been at Molly's last weekend and her witty one liners combined with their dry delivery had had Tess's mouth sore from grinning but a wary friendliness outside of work did not translate to trust on the job. That had to be earned. And Tess didn't doubt she could get it, from the formidable Desk Sergeant or from the rest of Jay's teambut whether she wanted it…

It didn't matter what she wanted. She was back in Jay's life which meant she needed it, and could debate the advantages and liabilities that came with how much later.

Had Platt not been in the middle of dealing with a very irate looking citizen Tess was sure she would've had something to say but as it was she simply waved her towards the bullpen, buzzing her up when she reached the gate. The question of how the woman would respond when she found out Tess didn't need her permission was automatic but again she pushed it back, pushed all of it back until she could focus on the task at hand.

Finding the tiny humans, and the monsters who had taken them.

Jay was already waiting for her at the top of the stairs, his brow arching slightly as he looked at the bag in her hand.

"I told you I was at the butchers." She teased as he went to take it from her. "I'm not going to leave it in the car- you're going to cook these later."

He shook his head but she caught him sneaking a peek as she turned to rest of the group, exchanging wide smiles with Kevin, Adam and Kim, slightly more forced ones with Hailey and Vanessa; they had seen each other a few times in the three weeks since that first night at Molly's but the two women remained hesitant around her and honestly she didn't really blame them. They didn't just have the right to be wary of her, they were right to be. She had just enough time to look back at Jay to see what he thought of her being here, relieved mostly though given that he'd no doubt been the one to suggest bringing her in that wasn't a surprise, then turned to Voight as he stepped out from his office.

"Thanks for coming."

"Anytime."

"Jay'll get you caught up-"

"No need." The room went silent about as fast as she'd thought but she kept her smile easy, and her eyes locked on the Sergeant. "I may have taken your invitation as permission to do that myself."

Tess had considered not, going into their systems wasn't just a show of skill but a potential breach of trust, not to mention an actual breach of their security but while that last point might make some of the others nervous she didn't think Voight would care. And he didn't have any trust in her, not yet. This was how she would earn some. And as for her skills… well, this was one area where she didn't mind showing off. But this was still his house, so,

"Apologies if it was an overstep. Jay's mentioned what you were working on so I know we don't have time to waste."

There was another pause as everyone waited for his response and even a few small intakes of breath as his jaw ticked, clearly they'd all been on the receiving end of his temper at some point or another but then his shoulders relaxed and he dipped his chin, and just like that the tension eased.

Well, most of it.

A certain blonde detective didn't look too pleased but that wasn't something she had the time to address right now. Or the willingness, quite honestly.

"What do you got?"

"The black hat who set the site up-"

"What's a black hat?"

Vanessas' tanned cheeks flushed when everyone looked her way but Tess just gave her a kind smile as she explained. "A kind of hacker. There's roughly six kinds, black, white, grey, red, blue and green, and no, I don't know who decided to colour-coordinate that system. A black hat will sell their services to anyone who can meet their price. The one who set this site up lives in France-"

"You found him already?"

She nodded in response to Voight's question, following his gaze as it slid to Jay and holding back a smile when he met it with his 'I told you so' raised brow. His trust in her wasn't surprising but it was always touching, a reminder that no matter what he had her back.

Now she just had to show that she had theirs.

"I'm running his info now but that's mostly just to give the French government everything they need to nail his ass. The site itself is what I think we should focus on. The way they set it up was stupid. Smart, but also stupid."

"How so?" Adam asked, not even looking at Kevin as he pointed a finger at the man, a clear command not to make a comment on his technical skills, or lack thereof, and this time she only half smothered her smile as she responded.

"The whole point of the dark web is to be able to browse anonymously but whoever is in charge of your ring wanted to be able to limit and monitor who was coming and going- which was good for them but also for us."

"How?"

The demand in Voight's voice had her raising her brow, just a touch and then she let it drop as soon as she saw he'd noted it; she didn't want to start anything with him this early on but she would be damned if he didn't learn to treat her with respect. "They had it made so that everyone who wants to access the site needs to have a registered account linked to it, which means that I can trace those scumbags right back to the dingy basements they're creeping in."

"But the tech lab said-"

"She's better than the tech lab."

Jay cut Vanessa off quietly but firmly, without even a glance at the detective, which neither she nor her partner seemed to appreciate but seeing as how his gaze stayed locked on her Tess didn't think he even noticed much less cared.

"What is it you need from us?" He asked her, and though she wanted to care about the two unhappy women to her left, and in truth she did, the smile on his lips was so bright she couldn't help matching it.

"A law book. I don't actually know if I know what's legal for you."

"Screw legal. You can get these bastards, you do it as fast as you can." Voight said with a shake of his head, and though she understood his desire to move quickly she couldn't hold back her irritation at his interruption.

And his tone.

She really did not like his tone.

"How I do it doesn't affect my speed. I'm not just going after the people doing this in Chicago- I'm going to find everyone who's ever logged onto that site and every child who was ever trafficked through it."

Surprise rippled through the room and hit right up against Jay's pride, which was so strong Tess actually felt her cheeks warm. But she kept her gaze locked on the Sergeant, let his eyes search hers as he weighed what he knew of her with what he'd been told, his desire to lead with the ticking clock and he must've found what he was looking for because he quickly huffed, his own little smirk tugging at his lips as he shrugged.

"I get a little fuzzy on the rules sometimes. But I'll get you someone who loves em'." With one last look at Jay he pulled out his phone and headed back into his office, no doubt to call someone from the State's Attorneys office.

Well.

All things considered that had gone pretty decently.

"You said less than an hour."

She turned to see Adam shaking his head at Jay, the two men sharing a broad grin, and raised her brow. "You bet on me? How much?"

"Not for money."

"You didn't bet money?"

Adam and Kevin started laughing and even Kim chuckled but Jay just rolled his eyes and crooked a finger at her. "Come on. I'll show you where to set up."

"You're staring."

"I'm glad you're here."

Jay's voice was soft but without the teasing tone she'd been expecting so she stopped what she was doing to look him over; he seemed fine, indeed wearing his 'look at my girl go' face so she just bumped her chair against his and went back to work.

He seemed surprisingly relaxed about having her here, especially considering he was still tense whenever they met up with his friends at Molly's. Not a lot but there was always a noticeable tension when they first arrived, and an enthusiastic, determined kind of passion when they got home, not that she was complaining. After spending five years apart four weeks wasn't nearly enough to sate the fierce longing they still felt but every night they fell asleep next to each other and every morning they woke in the other's arms it sunk in more and more that this was real, that one month was going to turn into two, into three and four and seven. A year. More.

Whenever the tightness in her gut grew too strong Tess would remember that, and though it never went away entirely it loosened enough that she could keep going.

That was all she wanted.

To go forward.

Being here was a big step in that direction, and one she'd been waiting for. They went to Molly's at least once a week, twice if Jay didn't drag his feet so she'd become pretty familiar with his team and they with her but given how their first meeting had gone she was glad that this time they were coming to her for help. And that she was able to give it. Though she could have done everything she needed to from her tablet she had let him set her up downstairs, partly because she didn't need to show off that much and partly, mostly, because it got her away from Hailey's piercing gaze.

It was exactly what she hadn't wanted. To come back and be the other woman, the dirty mistress, and fine, maybe she wasn't either of those things but it was still a shitty feeling. Maybe that was why Jay was sitting down here with her instead of with his team, though he had insisted the whole point of her being here was that they hadn't had any leads to chase.

They would soon. This kind of tracking was child's play to her; it was only going to take another hour before she'd have the people responsible for creating this horrific ring, not to mention all their customers and though she could've done it faster she meant what she'd said to Voight. What mattered here wasn't doing it fast, it was doing it right. The best way to get these assholes, and hopefully each of the eleven children they were responsible for taking, was to do things by the book.

It was no wonder Jay despised cases like this. Tess considered herself lucky her work centred around adults because having to see these kinds of images routinely, and more often than not to be unsuccessful in getting the children back… she didn't know how he did it. Except she did. Jay didn't know the meaning of the word quit on a good day but on days like this?

He had a special well reserved to pull from on days like this.

One that ran deep and dark.

She finished up a couple checks then turned to find him still watching her, still with the same half smile on his lips and softness in his eyes. "Done already?"

"Not quite. Letting a program do its thing."

"So impressive."

There was that teasing tone, in that quiet timbre that even all these years later still made her stomach tingle, especially when he pulled her chair closer after she took his hand. "I'm glad I'm here too. I know how much these cases mean to you."

The softness grew but so did the heaviness, the same one that had been weighing on him ever since he'd come home three days ago and told her about his newest case.

The same heaviness that had sat on his shoulders for a decade.