Ten Years Ago

"Admit it, you enjoy this." Jay said with a grin, pulling her deeper into his side when she flushed.

"I never said I didn't like it, I just said it also made me feel bad."

She couldn't see his face but she knew by the way he kissed the top of her head it had softened, an understanding he felt intimately.

And not all that distantly.

After all it had only just been a year since he'd left the Rangers, giving up on the career and the life he had wanted for himself since he'd been old enough to want anything, just two months since he'd traded that uniform for another. Green to blue. He didn't love being a rookie again but he knew if he wanted to climb the ranks of the police force he needed to put his time in and she knew that while part of him struggled with it the other part was enjoying his lack of leadership responsibilities. Tess really hoped one day he would fully forgive himself for the attack that had killed so many of his team, preferably one day soon but she pushed the thought off to focus on his fingers absentmindedly playing with her hair.

"I get it. But we like the surprise. And so does Lydia."

"Tess!"

They both turned, fully expecting to see her aunt but instead it was her coworker and friend Kathy, though her smile was just as happy.

"Did you just get back?" She asked excitedly, abandoning the exhibit she was supposed to be organizing to come over and give her a tight hug.

"Yeah, last night."

"Ugh, I am so jealous of you." The other woman said with a warm smile, and a sly look towards Jay. "Having adventures all over the world and coming home to a hot boyfriend? My sixteen-year-old self's dream."

Tess laughed, partly at Kathy but mostly at the redness on said boyfriend's cheeks. "It is a good life. Do you know where Lydia is?"

"She is potentially getting a man of her own."

"What?"

She gave Jay a look while Kathy chuckled, that was a lot of intensity considering he knew the older woman often exaggerated, though the wiggle of her brows suggested maybe she wasn't this time. "We have a shipment coming in tonight, a tomb figure from the Han dynasty. 9 A.D. The dealer is actually supposed to help me authenticate it but we were having lunch when he stopped by- of course it's not surprising he took an interest in her but she seems to have taken one back. She took him to her office to show him some of her private collection."

Well then.

Kathy laughed again, at both of them this time, then gave her another hug and welcome home before she went back to preparing for her new artifact. While Lydia's focus was on the middle east, mainly Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan Kathy's was China, but while their areas of expertise may differ the two had been fast friends ever since she'd started working here. Not that she was really thinking about the other woman anymore. Her attention was torn between picturing her aunt flirting, not uncommon but not common enough for her to be comfortable with it, and snickering at Jay who looked very uncomfortable at the thought. He just rolled his eyes when he noticed her laughing, pinching her side when she snorted when his chest puffed out once they got close but then she poked her head into her aunt's office and her good mood shattered.

"Tess-"

"Shit-"

She grabbed the man she had last seen almost a year ago, buying stolen artifacts from a band of Sudanese warlords as soon as his hands raised, realizing a second after she slammed him on top of the side cabinet with one arm twisted tightly behind his back that he'd lifted them not to grab her aunt but to try and appease her.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! You fucking cunt!"

"Hey!"

"What did you just call my niece?!"

"Niece?" Clark squeezed out, apparently deeming it worth putting himself in even more pain to crane his neck to look at her aunt before he returned to her, his face scrunching with displeasure. "Fuck. You're still a cunt but you are still totally gorgeous."

It wasn't rage but fear that had her twisting his arm even higher, ignoring his curses to look Lydia over. She was fine, straining against the arm Jay held out in front of her. She was angry but Jay…

He realized at the same time she did exactly how bad this was.

And then Tess watched the understanding dawn on her aunt's face, with a guilt that had her going so rigid her knuckles went white.

"Well we're in a pickle aren't we?" Clark said with a hoarse laugh, craning his neck again to look them all over, his brow arching as he gave Jay another look. "And who are you?"

"You don't get to ask questions." Tess said tightly, the fear that ran through her so strong it almost went wild, forcing her to let go before she did something she'd regret.

Something Jay and Lydia wouldn't forget.

At least when she spun Clark around to face her his wide eyes told her he also knew he was in a dangerous situation, though that didn't stop him from bristling and adjusting his collar. "I don't think that was necessary."

"I do. What are you doing here?" She snapped when he went to make a retort, wisely letting it go.

"Working. And flirting with a beautiful- okay, okay!" He held his hands up again when she took a threatening step towards him and Tess didn't know whether to be thankful or terrified when Lydia interjected.

"Is it a fake? I swear if you're trying to bring a fake into my museum-"

"I like your feisty side. Less so yours. It is crazy how the two of you look so similar yet only you make my stomach turn."

"You're going to want to watch the way you speak to them." Jay said tightly and though logically she knew her aunt was safe on the other side of the desk Tess still felt a combination of grateful yet terrified when he came over to stand beside her. "Now answer their questions."

"It is not a fake. It's just… not the only thing coming in. The plan is for me to slip it out, no muss, no fuss."

"And if you were caught?" She asked tersely, expecting his grimace- they both knew what had happened at their last encounter.

"I'm supposed to have two 'friends' with me who'll make sure things go smoothly."

"Who are they?"

Clark hesitated, a clear sign they weren't actually friends but when she took another step he answered her, albeit with a nasty look. "An old associate. He feels we parted… less than amicably and has decided this is how I'm to make it up."

"So you double-crossed him and now if you don't get him what he wants he's going to kill you." Jay said dryly but she refused to let herself look at him, to give any indication that he was someone who mattered to her.

Someone who could be used against her.

But the truth was all of this could be.

And she didn't even know how far this went.

"Who?

"You don't know-"

"Who?" She asked again but this time Clark snapped back.

"Or what? You might have me cornered but unless you're going to kill me right here right now you have to let me go and that leaves you just as fucked as me."

There was a very tense moment of silence, because he was right and they all knew it, but then-

"There's a storage room in the basement no one ever goes into. I have one of the only keys." Lydia said evenly and she felt safe enough with Jay beside her to briefly look back at her aunt, soothed by the evenness in her gaze. There was no fear, no judgement.

Just trust.

A glance at Jay showed the same and while her insides still felt like a hurricane the ground beneath her feet feel steady enough that when she turned back to Clark she smiled. Right before she smashed his head back into the cabinet and knocked him out.

She still couldn't believe this was happening.

One minute she'd been tucked into Jay's side, excited about surprising her aunt that she was home and just a few later she was trying not to freak out that Lydia was watching her and Jay stuff a dirty art dealer into a metal trolley. She'd even found them rope to tie Clark up with, her face finally going pale and tight as she watched them tie him up but she still didn't seem all that bothered. That was probably part of the reason it didn't feel real. And now Mouse was here too, another person dragged into her mess. Realistically Tess knew this wasn't her fault, it wasn't like Clark had followed her here, it was a random fucking coincidence but it was still happening because of her and she didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. If she and Clark hadn't seen each other, didn't know each other then Kathy would have been left alone with him and those thugs and who knows how badly that might have gone. With her here she could at least mitigate the risks. But that also opened everyone up to future complications and that…

It terrified her.

The idea that her work might follow her home, that all these enemies she was making might take their revenge not on her who deserved it but her family, on Mouse or Jay or Lydia… Tess didn't think she could handle that.

She didn't want to know what she would change into if she did.

"Alright, Greg is here."

"I'll go bring him down."

Lydia's hand on her arm brought her out of her head and she quickly shot her a smile, an unconvincing one by the way Jay took over as soon as she rounded the corner. But she didn't have the energy to process this right now. She didn't have the time. If she was going to be in control of this she needed to be in control of herself and the fastest way to do that was to centre all her chaos in the person she trusted most to take it. And he did, wrapping one arm across her shoulders while the other cupped the back of her head a second before his lips pressed against her hair, warm, tight and safe. Trusting.

This was fucking nuts, but they were going to get through it.

Together.

The second they heard footsteps coming back down the secluded hall they separated but there was only a mild release of tension when they saw it was just Mouse and Lydia. Tess honestly hadn't realized that much time had passed. She needed to get her head on straight.

"So what's the plan?" Lydia asked as they came closer and even though she'd assured them Clark wouldn't be able to hear them, or anyone him, she still wished her aunt had taken her suggestion she go home to heart.

But she was a Ryan woman and they took stubbornness to a whole new level.

"We find out what they're smuggling in, get it first and make sure no one knows we're involved."

"Did Coulson say we could expect any help?" Jay asked and for a second she just blinked at him.

"I didn't call him."

Now he was the one blinking, nothing but pure confusion on his face. "Then who were you texting earlier?"

"Finding out who Clark's 'friend' is. Mattias Ollson- a Swede who privately enjoys illegally procured art. He's not all that dangerous on his own but he knows a lot of people."

Jay nodded slowly, so much like the soldier he'd been, the cop he was now as he took it all in before he looked back at her. "Are you going to call him?"

"What's the point?" Mouse interjected, thankfully taking the brunt of his friend's heavy stare. "The agency can't do anything on our soil- they'd just pass it off to the feds which would make this way bigger than I think any of us want it to be."

"But shouldn't you let him know?" Lydia asked, so simply it sent a wave of guilt over her.

Because she should.

She'd known him for five years now, he'd more than earned her trust but while his first loyalty was to his team rather than the agency he still had obligations to them. Had repercussions he would suffer if he went against them. But it wasn't like she could keep this from him forever.

"Let's figure out what else Clark knows first. I'll call him once we've made a plan." She said after a moment, both thrilled and terrified by the way they all followed her lead.

Even Clark.

He'd woken up by the time they all slipped inside the storage room, still pissed but accepting that he had little choice but to work with them.

"I also don't think that was necessary."

"I do." She retorted, shoving that manic feeling down as he looked the others over, his brows raising when he saw Mouse before she brought them back to her. "What're they smuggling in?"

"Allegedly… the Imperial Seal of China."

Oh.

"Well shit."

"Oh my god."

"What is that?"

"Only one of the world's most important lost treasures." Lydia answered Jay, her aunt unable to hide her excitement. "The Chinese called it the Heirloom Seal of the Realm, carved from the Heshibi, a sacred piece of jade. It went missing over a thousand years ago."

"And now it may have been found. And I helped with that." Clark said amicably but his hopeful smile faded when no one returned it.

"How do you know it's the real deal?" Tess asked warily, trying to figure out just how bad this may get.

"I don't. And neither does my friend-"

"Mattias."

Now his face really went sour but he inclined his head to show she was right. "All he knows is that it could be, so he wants it. I get it to him, or I get killed. I'm hoping you have a better offer."

"You help us get it or you go to jail."

"Where he can then have me killed?" Clark replied with a scoff.

"If we do this right he'll never know you were involved. But that depends on you." Tess said tightly, praying that she was about to make the right choice. "The shipment comes in tonight. What time?"

"Eleven o'clock."

Late so there would be less witnesses.

If this had gone according to his plan it would've been just him and Kathy there.

"Are you supposed to see Mattias before then?"

"Nope."

"What about his men? Where were they supposed to meet you?" Jay asked sternly, he and Mouse giving the other man identical looks.

Except this time Clark wasn't deterred.

"They're already with me." He answered evenly, smiling as he watched them all tense. "Do you really think a man I double-crossed was going to give me the chance to do it again? They've been on my ass since I got in this morning. Honestly I'm surprised they haven't sounded the alarm yet."

Fuck.

She ignored his pleased little smirk to whip out her phone, scanning the museum's security feed before smothering a curse. Sure enough there were two heavily muscled men slowly making their way through the exhibits, clearly out of place since they already had a couple security guard's attention. And she didn't know if they could handle them.

But she could.

"I can take them."

"Not without causing a scene." Clark rebutted but she just held his stare.

"I take men like them all the time without causing a scene." She said quietly, her resolve and satisfaction growing as she watched that smirk fade. "And I will. Then I'll get Mattias and drop you all off at the feds and make sure everyone knows that you are to blame. Or you can go out there, act like everything's fine and do what we tell you to. What's it going to be?"