Ten Years Ago

He really, really wanted to hit this asshole.

Tess's quiet noise of affirmation was his only sign he'd said that aloud but he couldn't help it. Yeah Mouse was tailing Lydia as she walked Clark out, both to keep her safe and to clone the phones of the thugs trailing him but he still didn't like seeing the other man next to her. Especially when he used the fact that he knew Lydia wouldn't risk blowing their cover by outright smacking him in response to the kiss he planted on her cheek before finally leaving. Such a fucker. It made him glad Tess had broken his nose last year. But while her niece kept her eyes on the computer screen to track their way back Jay used her distraction to look her over.

She was not doing great with this.

She wasn't doing bad, she was too good for that but it was clear this had thrown her. And how could it not? This, the museum, Chicago, they were supposed to be her safe places, where she came to get away from the chaos and danger of her ops. Her home. And now it had been compromised. Only temporarily but still, Jay knew how that was messing with him, the instincts screaming that he should grab them all and take them someplace safe so he knew Tess had to be fighting her own.

But hers looked like they were telling her to do something entirely different. Tess looked like she wanted to fight back and that made him feel better about everything.

Until he realized after watching her a little longer that she wanted to fight alone.

"We are not on foreign soil." He said quietly, watching as she startled a little, lost in her own head before she glanced at him and her shoulders immediately started curling in.

Three years and she still didn't understand how well he could read her.

Granted he didn't always get it either but despite being way less comfortable with vulnerability he had a better understanding of relationships. Tess on the other hand was unfortunately used to not being looked at, not being seen. Except by him. And he had the feeling that the longer she did this job the harder that was going to get.

Which was why he had to put the work in now, so he'd always be able to.

"If you want to make the plan, that's fine. We'll follow you. But this is our city too." Jay told her firmly, a touch more than he wanted but he needed her to take him seriously. "And you don't get to tell us that we can't fight for it."

For a minute she was quiet but then her head lowered. "I'm sorry."

"I get it. But we're in this with you." He said softly, swivelling the chair so she had to give him her full attention, had to let what he was saying sink in. "You just have to let us be."

He only got a second to see that land on her before Mouse and Lydia walked back in and while he might know her best they knew her pretty damn well too. Her aunt seemed the most understanding but also the most disappointed and he knew that would hit Tess hard, and while he also knew she hadn't intended to hurt any of them she had to know that wasn't an option.

"You talk her out of being a martyr and doing this alone?" Greg asked him, making a face at her when she glared at him, though it fell when Lydia gave her one of her own so he quickly ran a comforting hand down her back.

Jay didn't want her to feel ganged up on- just the opposite, he wanted her to feel supported.

He just wanted her to know that she had no choice but to take their support.

"I did." He answered, giving her another comforting brush along her back as Lydia took a seat across from them, both he and her aunt ignoring the kicks Tess and Mouse sent each other under the desk while they got themselves situated.

"Good. Now let's come up with a plan to make these assholes regret ever coming to our city." The older woman said fiercely and for the first time since all of this started each of them smiled.

Tess didn't like the plan.

And he couldn't even blame her because if he was in her shoes he would hate it too.

Because they'd all but cut her out of it.

They hadn't meant to, it had just happened. He, Greg and Lydia had shared a lot of hopefully very subtle looks to convey their concern as it had become more and more obvious that Tess couldn't be involved, at least not the way she wanted to be. But the more clear that became the more she had stopped looking at any of them. Not entirely, she just hadn't made full eye contact. And while he couldn't say it wasn't in a bad way, because none of this was fucking good Jay's only solace was that he didn't think she blamed them; Tess understood where they were coming from and even agreed with them. But she definitely wasn't happy about it either. And he understood that but…

He couldn't deny that he didn't entirely hate it.

Not that he'd told her that.

And hopefully she hadn't been able to sense it on him either because not only would it have pissed her off he was pretty sure it would have broken her heart too. He knew the value Tess put on his belief in her, knew from talking not just with her but with her team how integral it had been not just to pulling her out of the darkness he'd found her in but to her development as an operative in general. And he fucking loved that. His girl was a badass and he didn't ever want her to think otherwise, especially not from something he had said or done. And while he knew that she had the most to lose if this went wrong that didn't mean the rest of them didn't have any stake in this. Yeah he and Greg might be out of the military now but they were still trained for this kind of situation and she knew that. And he knew she respected it. But Lydia… Chances were if they hadn't gotten involved it would've just been Kathy left alone with Clark tonight and thinking about anything bad happening to her was awful enough. But to think that Lydia could've been involved in this?

That she was now, whether any of them liked it or not?

If anything happened to her Jay honestly didn't know what he would do.

He couldn't lose another mother.

And he couldn't lose Tess. And if they didn't play this exactly right there were just too many ways that he could. Mattias may not have met her before but even though they had solid plans to get him arrested, and put away, they all knew there was no guarantee he or his men would stay behind bars. And if they recognized her on a future op they could put it, her and all of them in danger. Which meant that Tess couldn't be a part of bringing them in. It also meant she couldn't be the one to stay with Lydia and Kathy, either protecting them or swapping out the potentially fake seal for a genuinely fake one. Instead that task would fall to he and Mouse, but more on his friend than him. He'd offered to get his superiors involved, this was the kind of thing the Chicago Police Department should be involved in but just as he was worried about the blowback on Tess she had the same fears for him. So he agreed to take a backseat too.

While Tess waited in a car outside in the museum he would be hiding inside, somewhere close enough that he could provide backup if needed but not so close that he could be spotted. That was fine by Jay, it actually made him feel better about making Tess sit out but he knew she felt bad. She hadn't said that of course but it hadn't taken more than a look to see it. And he knew her well enough to know why.

She thought she was taking an opportunity away from him. This was the kind of thing lesser cops had built their careers on but he didn't give two shits about that. He knew his worth, his skillset and his work ethic and he had no problem making his way up the ranks on his own merit. That was what he wanted, but especially if it meant keeping the people he loved safe. This was all just… A fucking shitshow to be honest. Part of him felt like it was his fault for pushing Tess to surprise Lydia in the first place but not only did he know that kind of thinking wasn't helpful he also knew they'd all feel worse if they'd done nothing and someone else had gotten hurt. Especially Kathy. She was a loudmouth and a flirt but she was a good woman, and Lydia's friend. This was just a bad situation that none of them could have avoided but he couldn't stop feeling like it was just the beginning.

A harbinger of all the different trials they'd have to face.

Not exactly a helpful line of thinking but he'd been sat behind these crates for the last hour, and had been thinking non-stop about this for the eight before that so he was in a bit of a spiral. At least they weren't going through this entirely alone.

True to her word after they'd made the plan and gotten Clark out of the way Tess had called Coulson to loop him in on everything. He'd been beside her during that conversation and while she hadn't put her CO on speaker it hadn't been hard to realize that he wasn't just going to support them but that he actively agreed with them. That was the first time he actually saw Tess calm down and in the hours before they'd had to get into position Jay had done everything he could to make sure she knew they were on her side too. And she did. He'd seen the trust in her eyes as they separated, the understanding that as hard as this was on her they had her back. It made the wait easier, though nothing stopped the tightness in his stomach when she texted to let them know Clark and the thugs had finally arrived.

It all went smoothly, almost worryingly so but Mouse and Clark were able to switch out the seals with no one noticing and as soon as the art thieves were gone he booked it to Tess, the two of them tailing the group to Mattias' hotel. It was pretty dumb in his opinion to do business where you planned on sleeping but then most criminals weren't that bright. The FBI agents Coulson had arranged for scooped them up easily and then all that was left to do was deal with the potentially fake seal.

Also the potentially real one.

"Did you decide what you want to do?" He asked Tess after they made it back to his car, they'd followed the group into the hotel to make sure no one slipped away, confused when she nodded but didn't answer.

He knew better than to push her but after two minutes of silence he was about to but then finally she turned to him, her sapphire eyes more wild than he ever remembered seeing them. "Are you really okay with me taking the lead on this?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Oh his sweet girl.

She didn't even need to answer he could see it so clearly on her face. He forgot sometimes how new she was to this kind of work, and how different her opinions were from other soldiers. And with how little they'd worked together and all the difficulties they'd faced last time he should have anticipated that she would feel bad about running lead on this, whatever her actual involvement in the plan was.

"Tess, you're the most trained out of all of us." Jay reminded her gently, grateful for that lack of experience when he could see how she relaxed as he continued. "I know it wasn't easy for you to take a backseat on this but just because we were a bit more on the frontlines doesn't mean we don't trust you. If you have a plan then I'll do what you need to see it through."

"Even if it's mildly insane?" She asked after a moment, still nervous but with that soft look that said she knew she didn't have to be.

"Babe, most of your plans are insane."

That got her to smile, squeezing his hand before she told him her idea.