A/N: Warning – This chapter contains graphic depictions of violence. If that sort of thing offends you, stop reading when Hal's POV starts. This will be the rest of the chapter. These parts can be summed up in 5 words …. "Joe gets what he deserves!" This chap is also quite a bit longer than my norm. I hope this makes up for the delay in getting it out. Also I hope that it is all you expected it to be. :-)

~~~~~~~~ J

SPOV

I pulled into the underground garage at Rangeman on auto pilot. My brain was a mass of jumbled thoughts. From Bobby and my fledgling relationship, to the talk I had to have with my friend shortly, to the reason that talk was needed. Any one of my family of friends here would gladly help me, but I had a feeling that this one thought he should have a shot at redemption. I found myself on the elevator and beside his cubicle before I realized I was heading there.

He was the first to speak up, "Morning Bomber."

"Morning. Is there somewhere we could go to talk privately? I don't want anyone to overhear." I explained.

"Sure," he started. "Follow me."

He led me to the stairwell. We went up a floor so we ended up on the landing between the fifth and sixth floors.

"So no one coming from an apartment on four will accidentally run into us," he told me.

"Thank you, my brain is on short circuit at the moment. I'm glad one of us is thinking straight." I confessed.

"Now, what's on your mind? What's got you so upset and worried looking?" He asked me with a hint of fear and a lot of concern in his voice.

"It's time, time to end it all. I don't want to live my life in fear of what he will do to me anymore," I said with a shaky voice.

"You know I will help you any way I can. What do you want to do?"

"I want to confront him then … then kill him," I uttered.

"No. No way will I let you do that! You don't need a death on your conscience, even a lowly life like his." He tried to convince me.

"I need to at least talk to him, face to face and let him know he has no hold over me any more, that I'm ready to move on with my life." I sighed.

He took a deep breath too, resigning himself to my decision, then he spoke again. "Okay, so what exactly do you want to do and when do you want to do it?"

The noise of the stairwell door clicking closed startled us both into silence. Our heads automatically shifted to the source of the sound. The shock was easily read on both our faces. It was Hector. He only spoke two words.

"I'm in." He said it with such conviction that I was not going to argue with him. And the look on Hal's face told his story; he was too scared to deny him either. When I finally found my voice again, I could only stutter.

"Huh, wha... what do you mean?"

Hector's eyes hardened before he relieved my confusion. He started off in broken English, but by the end he had given away his secret that he knew perfect English.

"You know what I talking about. I hear you and Hal talking about getting the bastardo who hurt you. I want in." He said the last part with an emphatic note, bordering on menace. He knew we would not be able to tell him no, but I had to ask him.

"How did you know? The cameras don't have sound, do they?"

"They all have sound, top of the line. Only Boss or I can turn audio on. Now when do I get to play?" Yikes that was an evil smirk and the most devilish gleam I have ever seen in his eyes; or anyone else for that matter!

"It would be extremely helpful for us to have him tag along," Hal stated.

"I know. But I still want my shot at him. I deserve to confront my abuser. You can't deny me my right of closure." I pled with tears forming in my eyes. Hector had me in his arms within seconds, consoling me with gentle rubs of his hands and warm words of comfort.

"Shhh …. Angelita, we will not deny you the closure you need." Hal added his own, "We'll be there the entire time."

I stayed ensconced in Hector's brand of safety for several minutes thinking the whole time, 'I'm so lucky to have such good friends that I consider family.'

"How about tonight?" I asked timidly when I could once again gather my thoughts.

"That's fine with me," Hal paused. "But what's the plan?"

"We snatch him from his bed then take him to the woods and go from there," Hector suggested.

"I like it, sneaking up on him and grabbing him in the dead of night," I giggled. That evil gleam came to Hector's eyes again. I was so glad he was on my side.

"We better get back to work before someone gets nosy and comes to see what's going on. Les is on monitors with Ram and I wouldn't put it past Les to interrupt us." Hal commented.

"Deal. We'll meet in the garage at say 1 AM or so" I put out there. They both nodded in agreement and we split up to work again. I walked down a couple of flights of stairs. I had someone else to talk to. I refused to keep secrets from Bobby and starting us out on the wrong foot.

I knocked, then entered his third floor office. I knew he was going over the yearly physicals, setting up a schedule for the next round of examinations; so he would be here knee deep in paperwork and maybe craving a break.

I saw the relief apparent in his eyes, along with a gorgeous smile.

"Hey honey, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company? Not that I'm complaining mind you," he grinned.

"I have to talk to you about something," I eased my way into the conversation. I could see confusion clouding his eyes.

"Something wrong?" He wondered aloud.

"Nothing bad … maybe, it really depends on your point of view or how you see it," I started my tale.

"You're starting to freak me out a little Tiger," he took a deep breath then sighed.

"Sorry. I just decided that with all the changes in my life lately that I need closure with all this crap with Joe. I've talked to Hal and Hector and we're going to kidnap him later tonight, then take him to the woods and let me confront him before the guys take care of him for me." I finished.

I saw too many emotions flash across his face; starting with relief, then moving on to confusion, concern, then finally ending with a touch of anger. I started to worry a bit with the anger that was still present in his eyes.

Then he asked me, "why now and why Hal?"

I explained how I felt about us starting our relationship without secrets, then I reminded him about how it was Hal who inadvertently let it slip that I was staying with him, which led to Joe finding and kidnapping me. He nodded his understanding.

"You know I can't let you do this without me, don't you?"

"I thought you would want to tag along and it would make me feel much more comfortable and safer if you were by my side." I smiled lovingly at him then leaned in to press a soft kiss on his lips. His answering grin was nearly blinding in it's intensity. I felt a flutter in my chest area.

"I'll see you after we finish our work for the day." I told him, then he stood up for what I thought would be a hug and small kiss to get me through the day. It ended up being a 'rock my world' type of kiss that left me breathless, speechless, and swaying on my feet; good thing his arms were wrapped tightly around me.

"Have a good day at work Tiger and don't let Rodriguez filling your inbox bother you. Remember he's just doing his job and trying to keep you busy so you don't go stir crazy at your desk. Now off you go," he said as he playfully smacked my bottom then added with a wink. "Be good."

With that, I stumbled out his office door and headed for the elevator to take it up to the fifth floor and the work grind.

Time seemed to crawl by, but the work day was finally over and Bobby and I went home to rest for a few hours until we met with Hal and Hector later. I was beginning to get a bit nervous, but I knew it would bring me the closure I so dearly needed and craved.

It was around 1 AM when Bobby and I left to meet the others at Rangeman. We made it across town in record time due to the lack of traffic. Hal and Hector were already seated in the only plain black panel van that Rangeman had on site. The tracking system on board had been disabled by Hector.

The look of us all wearing matching black outfits was not a shock; plain black tees with black cargos for the guys and black jeans for me. None of us spoke until after Bobby and I had climbed up into the back seat and Hal started the vehicle, then I voiced a few of my concerns.

"Did anyone see us leave? Does anyone know what's up? And what are we going to do once we get to Joe's house? It's in the Burg, gossips abound." I fretted out loud.

"First of all, the cameras in the garage were scrambled when we left," Bobby began to easy my worries. "So no one saw us leave, but one other person knows where we're going and what we're planning to do. I had to tell Tank about our plans, just in case this all goes FUBAR and we need back-up. Tank is training a newbie on the monitors tonight, that's how the cameras ended up being scrambled just when we needed them to be. And as for what we're going to do when we get there …." He trailed off and glanced up to Hector in the front seat. "Did you get everything we need?" Bobby asked him.

"Si, it was easy to acquire. I have many connections still," Hector replied, passing something back to Bobby. It looked like a syringe filled with God knows what, if Hector had anything to do with it. I questioned Bobby as soon as he tucked it into one of his pants pockets.

"What was that?"

"Something to cover our asses later," was all he said in return.

"Where are we taking him after we knock him out and grab him?" I had so many questions and fears about this little operation. They reminded me earlier to make sure that my stun gun was fully charged because part of the plan was to let me use my stun gun to knock him out. Just a bit of payback for when he kidnapped me. Then we would drag him out to the awaiting van and load him up for the next phase of our plan.

"That's the funny part," Hal chuckled. "We're taking him to the same cabin in the Pine Barrens that he took you to when he stole you before. Diesel was eager to tell us all about it if we agreed to take pictures for him since he was too busy to join us. He really, really wanted to by the way."

"Sometimes I think that cousin of his Wulf scrambled some of his brain cells when they were kids, with the way he acts." I sighed out. The guys laughed lightly. It was beginning to ease my discomfort and fear of the unknown going into our plan.

The van slowed and rolled to a stop, making me take in my surroundings. We were in the alley behind Joe's house. Everything lay dark and quiet. There was no need for streetlights in the alley and all of the residents had turned in for the night hours ago.

We all jumped down out of the van, leaving all the doors ajar so we could hop back in easily for a fast get away. Hector walked around to the driver's side and crawled back in since we were leaving the van running to further aide the ease of our escape.

Bobby, Hal and I silently crept through Joe's back yard and up to the back door. Hal took out his lock picking tool while Bobby and I kept a look out. He had the door swinging open in under thirty seconds.

We tiptoed our way upstairs to his bedroom, hardly making any noise; even me, I was a woman on a mission tonight.

Joe was sprawled on his back, out like a light and snoring heavily. The empty bottle of Jack Daniels on the bedside table had to be the reason he was passed out. Still not wanting to take any chances with him waking up in route to our destination, I buzzed his side with my stun gun; holding it for several seconds longer than needed. Hey, I was still pissed and this opportunity was just too good to pass up.

Hal scooped Joe up and over his shoulder. As we made our way back to the entry point, we passed by Bob lounging in the kitchen by his food bowl. He was sitting up with his tail wagging and whining for me to pet him. I patted him on the head and passed him the dog treat I had in my pocket as I told him "good boy", then I added some food in his dish to make sure he would be okay for a few hours. We closed and locked the back door again as well. The trip back to the van was uneventful. Hal threw Joe into the cargo area of the van and closed the door behind himself. After we all jumped back in the van, Hector sped off.

Joe was quiet the whole way to the Barrens, I was disappointed I didn't get to give him a few more volts, I really wanted him to wake up. Bummer.

Hector pulled up to the very familiar looking cabin in the woods. We all got out of the van, Hal grabbing our prisoner once again, and hiked up to the front door.

I heard a rustling noise and turned to look behind me. Elmer, the fire farter was peeking out a dingy window from behind even worse looking drapes. He simply smiled and nodded in our direction, then covered his eyes, ears, and mouth in turn letting us know that he hadn't seen anything and would not give up any information if ever asked. I knew he liked me.

We had no problems getting Joe into the cabin, he still hadn't roused. Which was a good thing because we still had to get him immobile. Hector moved to the kitchen area to grab a chair. Hal sat Joe down in it, then they tied him down quickly. His feet were each tied to a separate chair leg and his hands were cuffed behind him. We decided not to duct tape his mouth shut just yet.

We had Joe's chair situated in the center of the room. We all stood behind him, out of his line of sight, a few feet away, and waited for him to awaken.

It only took ten minutes or so for him to start shaking his head, trying to clear out the cobwebs that the jolts from my stun gun had given him. The groans and moans coming out of his mouth sounded like a wounded animal; good.

After a few more minutes he found his voice, "What the fuck? Where am I?" He looked around and finally realized where he was exactly. "This is my house in the woods. How the hell did I get here?!"

I stepped out from behind him and into his line of vision. I kept moving until I was directly in front of him, my version of a blank face in place. He had the audacity to smirk up at me like he thought he still had the upper hand.

"You didn't have to kidnap me Cupcake, I would have come willingly. You must have enjoyed your first trip here to return. Now let me loose from here and I'll show you how grateful I am to have you back." He sneered.

"Shut up asshole!" I growled back at him. "You are not in control here, I am," I gloated.

"Only until I get free. Then I'll teach you a proper lesson about control," he said through gritted teeth. This was when he finally heard the numerous growls coming from behind him. Then I smiled evilly, knowing what I wanted to say to him at last.

"You're done with your lessons. I will never go back to you Joe. In fact, I have moved on," I glanced up at Bobby. He took his place by my side in front of Joe.

"Moved on? With who? Him? You gotta be joking! None of those thugs are good enough for you. You're mine, always have been, always will be. It's just a matter of time before I take you back, once and for all!" Joe all but screamed.

"No Joe, I've changed, gotten stronger. You no longer have me to push around, beat on, or rape. No more," I seethed.

"Rape?! How could I rape you? You are my wife. That is my pussy. I am entitled to take it, when ever I want it. It belonged to me, still does..."

I reached forward and slapped him hard across the face to stop his tirade.

"Not anymore!" I bellowed. "You've abused me for the last time. Now it's my turn."

I watched as the red hand print on his face got darker and the vein on the side of his neck started to pulse. It made me feel better, stronger. So I decided to do it again from the other side. The loud smack sounded throughout the entire room. I looked up to see the guys grinning at me with sheer pride in their eyes.

Hal tossed Bobby the roll of hot pink duct tape we had brought with us. It was time to shut Joe up, I was tired of hearing his nauseating voice. Hal took two steps forward and grabbed both sides of Joe's head roughly. Bobby tore off a piece of the tape and slapped it down across Joe's mouth none to gently.

Now was the time when I was extremely glad we grabbed Joe from his bed in the middle of the night. No time would be wasted stripping him. He was already down to wearing just his boxers. Now I had to determine what I wanted to do to him first.

I was wearing my thick combat boots that I usually wore to work, as were all of the guys. I took a step closer to Joe, picked my right foot up, and brought it back down as hard as I could manage right across the top of his bare foot. I could have sworn I heard the faint crunch of a couple of his toes breaking.

I didn't care. I repeated my actions on his other foot, satisfied with the grunt of pain and tears beginning to form in Joe's eyes.

Next I started kicking where ever I could reach; ankles, shins, calves, and his knees. I was in a zone by the time I made it up to his hips and groin area. I took immense pleasure in bringing my foot and at times my knee down on his favorite body parts.

"How does that feel Joe? The 'boys' still miss me!?" I cried out in my rage.

I was beginning to lose it. Fortunately Bobby saw the signs of my hysteria and gently pulled me off of Joe while whispering quietly to me.

"That's enough Tiger. I think you got it all out now."

I sobbed into his shoulder as he walked me over to the corner of the room so Joe was out of my line of sight. Both Hal and Hector were beside us in an instant checking on me. I ended up being enveloped in a brief group hug. That helped me to calm down even further.

I heard Bobby's informing Hal and Hector in a soft tone, "She's done for the night. I'm taking her out to the van while y'all finish up here. Let me know if you need me to come back in for that injection."

"No amigo," Hector began. "I got that. Being on the streets gives you all kind of education. I know what to do and how to do it."

I felt Bobby nod his head in agreement from against mine where it was resting as he passed the syringe from his pocket to Hector. He turned us around, then led me back out the door and to the waiting van.

HPOV (Hal)

I was extremely relieved when Bobby led Steph out the door because the beast that resides inside me was well past ready to come out and play, and I knew that Hector was also nearing the point of no return. We gave each other short glances and nods toward the corner of the cabin out of Morelli's line of sight so we could discuss a plan of how to proceed.

After talking it over for a few minutes we decided the best plan was no plan, shoot from the hip so to speak, as long as we kept to our two word motto; 'maximum pain'.

We ambled back to our spots standing in front of Morelli. He looked up at us with unmistakable hatred and anger in his eyes and just a hint of fear. The fear was what my beast fed on and he was starved for action. The hatred and anger did not concern me in the least. Before he could so much as blink up at me I punched him with all of my strength right in the middle of his smug face, shattering his nose easily. The blood that splattered on our shirts made Hector and I grin evilly. The beast inside of me sighed happily.

I didn't give Morelli much time to recover from the pain that was obviously radiating throughout his face. I stomped my size sixteen and a half combat boot down on his bare foot, grinding it down as I did so. The sound and feel of the fragile bones of his foot crunching under mine was satisfying my inner beast even more.

Morelli screamed out in pain, but with the tape on his mouth it was muffled considerably. I repeated the same process on his other foot, he deserved a matching pair after all. Beside me, Hector was practically twitching with excitement. It was his turn.

As soon as I stepped back to give Hector room to work I saw the flash of silver in his hand. He had his favorite butterfly knife out and flipped open in less than a second. It was resting in his hand while he caressed it gently. It must have been hard for Hector to decide where to make the first cut. I caught his eyes then quickly flicked my line of sight down to where I thought he should go. The smirk that appeared on his face told me that he agreed.

The first two cuts were so fast I hardly saw them. But the slow trickle of crimson from the X-shaped shallow wounds was unmistakable. Hector was fast to give him two more across his other nipple to make them look the same.

More delicate slices into various parts of his stomach and chest followed. None of them were ever too deep to cause a sufficient blood loss, Hector always had a way with knives. He was a master, a true artist. I enjoyed watching him play and I could tell he was also enjoying exacting our brand of vengeance.

Hector backed away slightly, signaling me that it was my turn to play again. By this time Morelli's groans of pain had died down to barely discernible whimpers, time to take it up a notch.

I walked around behind him and I grabbed his hand at the wrist, holding the cuff out of the way with one of my hands then used my other one to snap his fingers one by one. A quick twist of his wrist had those small bones breaking as well. I did the exact same damage to his opposite hand and wrist. My inner beast quivered with glee. I strutted back in front of him. One more small dose of pain from me and my beast would be sufficiently sated. With a sharp kick I relocated Morelli's kneecap to the inside of his leg. I shifted away to let Hector have his final bit of fun.

This time the cuts to Morelli's arms and legs were deeper and bled a touch more freely. The final one to the outside of his right thigh I thought was exquisitely beautiful. It looked to me like it would require at least thirty stitches to close up, that is if we were planning to do something like that.

I also knew that the last thing Hector had planned would be especially painful for Morelli.

The look of fear on Morelli's face when Hector flashed his largest knife, made an actual smile form on my face. Hector gripped the waistband of Morelli's boxers in his left fist then slowly cut the material away. I helped Hector out by yanking the tattered cotton from beneath Morelli's ass and tossing it behind us. We took this time to snap on two pairs of latex gloves each.

Hector got the most feral and menacing glow in his eyes as he gazed down on Morelli's now exposed privates. The absolute terror present in his eyes and the pleading whimpers coming from Morelli's taped mouth only made Hector's grin grow in size. I got his attention and reminded him, "Don't forget the smack."

I watched as Hector removed the syringe Bobby had passed him earlier from his pocket. He laid it aside momentarily while he took a rubber tourniquet from a different pocket. He tied it tightly around Morelli's bicep then pulled it snugly to make sure it was as tight as it needed to be. He tapped on Morelli's inner elbow to find a vein. Once he did, he inserted the needle and pushed down the plunger, flooding the vein with the drug. After that Hector removed the tourniquet. The fear and adrenaline Morelli was now displaying should have the drug pumped sufficiently throughout his body in a couple of minutes.

With that done, Hector reached down with one gloved hand and snagged Morelli's right testicle, pulling it down and stretching the loose skin slightly. One quick flick of Hector's wrist and Morelli's right nut was separated from his body. The scream of pain that came from behind the tape would have been Earth shattering if not for the tape that was in place muting it. Another flick of Hector's wrist and Morelli's left nut also hit the floor with a slight thud. But Hector was not quite finished. This time he grasped Morelli's pride and joy about halfway down the short shaft, pulling it taut as well. Seconds later Morelli's dick joined his nuts on the floor with a thunk. Hector felt he needed to add a taunt as well.

"Now where are those 'boys' of yours, gringo? Oh, that's right, they're on the floor." Hector actually giggled at his own humor.

I didn't attempt to stop the chuckle that escaped my own throat. I quietened my laughter down before I made my own comment, "Nice touch amigo."

He locked eyes with me and announced, "Time to end it. You do the honors."

I nodded my understanding, then stepped closer to the battered and bloodied man before me. I gripped Morelli's head in my large hands and twisted sharply, nearly turning it completely around on his neck; effectively ending his pitiful excuse for a life.

I let out a sigh of relief that it was all over and Steph would now be able to move on with her life. Added to my relief was the fact that I now felt free of the guilt I had been carrying with me for weeks. It was my fault that Steph's location was leaked and as a result she was kidnapped by the scumbag that was now lifeless in front of me. But that was all over now. I rectified my error with pain and blood.

Our asses now covered, we untied the body from the chair and removed all traces of our being there. Looking down on the body of Steph's abuser, I pulled my phone from my pocket. I snapped several pictures to share with Diesel. I had a promise to keep after all.

After we walked out the door and locked it behind us, we headed back to the van. On my way I peeked over to the rusty trailer a few hundred yards away. Upon seeing the parted curtains, I gave the occupant a salute in signal that all was done and to make the call in a couple of days. The lights inside flashed on and off three times telling me that my message was received and would be followed.

Hector and I joined Bobby and Steph in the van. The ride back to Rangeman was silent. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts. I glanced in the rear-view mirror to the back seat. Steph seemed to be taking things well. She either didn't notice the blood soaking our clothes or she was just plain ignoring it. I hoped this was a sign that all would turn out well down the road. I wanted nothing but peace and happiness to be found in her future. With Bobby right there beside her supporting her, I knew she would make it. It would take time, but she would get there …... eventually. #######

A/N 2 : There will only be one more chap of this story coming, the epilogue. I will wrap things up and hopefully answer in remaining questions you have left. If not, feel free to PM me. :-) Rain (J)