there is a truth in your eyes , nate

Nate had to admit that he was getting worried about Cassie. She said she'd be working late because she had a cake that she needed to finish up, but now it was starting to worry him. He contemplated heading over there to see if everything was all right, but with Sarah fast asleep in her crib, he didn't want to wind up waking her up only to realize that he'd been overreacting. He had to learn to take it a little easier where Cassie was concerned. He wasn't used to being a husband by a long shot so he had a hard time determining whether he was being irrational or if it really was his gut instinct kicking in.

A father and a husband in a few short months. Who would have thought a man like him would have it in him? And all before his brother managed it too... Not a whole hell of a lot sooner, but sooner nonetheless. Especially considering the fact that Nate had never really figured himself as a family man. He still didn't really figure himself to be a family man, at the heart of it. But he was trying. Damnit, he was trying. And it wasn't like there was some kind of an instruction manual that came with this shit, but by God, there damned well should have been.

His cell phone rang. He kept it attached to his hip at virtually all times. He didn't think there was much chance of him being called out on a surprise deployment as it would be. There was enough work to keep the deployed boys in action, but it wasn't like any major events had gone down recently. He suspected his brother was expecting orders for deployment just about any day now, but he should have still been in the clear. He picked up the phone on the second ring. "Xav-" But he was cut off by a panicked voice on the other end. It was Cassie.

Almost immediately adrenaline flooded his system, kicking him in to overdrive. Every inch of his SEAL training went into effect as the words rang through his head. Bakery. Destroying. Help. Please. His hand tightened on the cell phone in his hand and he stalked over to the neighbor's house, pounding on the door. Lucky for them, it wasn't too late in the evening. And beyond that, the woman that lived there with her husband was a stay at home Mom. The husband worked nights. "I need you to keep an eye on Sarah. She's sleeping. The baby monitor's on the kitchen counter. Bring it over here if you have to. I have something I need to take care of." Blunt and to the point, and he was pretty sure he was scaring the shit out of his neighbor with the look in his eyes. "Cassie's in trouble." He said by way of explanation. "Go. Go!" She said, practically shoving him back towards the door.

The entire time he'd been talking to the neighbor, he'd muted his end of the phone so nothing would come through from his mouthpiece. He'd been listening to the scuffle at the bakery while he prepped himself. He was trying to gather as much information about the situation as he could. There were at least two different voices he heard. And Cassie's panic. Not to mention, he'd heard the distinct sound of a hand hitting flesh. Some some of a bitch was going to hurt. Badly.

Nate stormed back into the house and into the room he kept all of his equipment locked up in. He shoved open the closet that he'd converted into a gun lock up and grabbed his Sig Sauer 220, holstering it at the small of his back. He also grabbed his go bag that he always kept loaded up with a lot of small little goodies that generally came in handy on a last-minute deployment. This was a last minute deployment. No man fucked with his woman. That was the end of it.

He slung everything into the bed of his pick up and headed towards the bakery. He stopped the truck about a block away, killing the lights. And then he grabbed his Ka-Bar from his go bag, tucking it into the top of his boot. A second he placed in between his teeth as he checked both the clip and the slide on his 9mm and got ready to get down to business.

They were at the front of the store. Nate had parked himself in the alleyway across from the bakery and was concealed in the shadows. Three of the sons of a bitches and one of them was manhandling his girl. Nate forced himself into the same state of calm that he managed whenever he was going into a DA situation. Direct Action. This was definitely Direct Action. And these guys were no pros. They were amateurs. And it was all in the way they held their guns. All in the way they thought they were invincible.

They weren't. And they were going to find that out the hard way.

Nate crept across the road. There was a garbage can out near the road. He kicked out with a booted foot and knocked it over. "What the hell was that?" There was a pause as if they were looking out the door for someone. "Go check it out." Perfect. Just what Nate had been looking for. The second the guy managed to make his way out the door, Nate reached out, wrapping an arm around his face and cutting off his oxygen supply as well as muffling his panicked cries... if he would have had the time to get one out. Nate hit the artery in the guy's neck with enough force to black him out. He gently lay him down on the ground. A hell of a lot more than he deserved.

A few moments passed. "What the hell is he doing?" There was another pause. "Go check on him. See if he pussied out on us." And tango number two approached. There was no ceremony with this one. He slammed the stock of his Sig into the back of the asshole's head as he passed him. The guy went down like a ton of bricks. "What the hell!?" Nate used the temporary distraction to advance in the doorway. He didn't hesitate. Didn't think twice. Cassie was close to the asshole, but not close enough that he couldn't take a shot. He was a damned good shot. "You see... the downside of bein' a dumbass in the good ol' US of A... is that you never know when you're gonna wind up takin' a Spec Ops soldier's woman in hand." He said bluntly. And before Nate knew what was happening, the asshole was reaching for a pistol tucked into his jacket pocket. Amateur.

Nate didn't hesitate. BANG. One shot right in the meaty part of his thigh. He dropped instantly, screaming in pain and let go of Cassie. "Baby, I want you to go into the back room and stay in there until I knock on the door and give you the date that we were married, alright? Call the police." He waited until Cassie was clear as he kicked the pistol well out of range of any of the goon's hands. BANG. "Whoops. Hand slipped on the trigger that time." He commented, planting another slug just left of the asshole's head. "You shot me you crazy son of a bitch!" Nate crouched down real low and close to him. "You're lucky that's all I did." He fisted a hand in his hair and got right in his face. "You ever even think to lay a hand on another woman like that again and so help me God, I'll know, Son. And I'll find you. And I'll finish the job. Remember my face and remember it damned well."

Nate gave him a little lovetap on the temple as well and knocked him out cold. He then proceeded to tie each of them up with quick ties that he kept on hand for such an occasion. Though, generally, they got used while he was on deployment... not in his own damned back yard. Once they were all secured, he headed to the back of the store and knocked on the door before giving her the date that they were married, only a short while ago. He nudged the door open after holstering his weapon again. "You okay, Baby?" He asked, concern flooding his tone and expression.

The moment he managed to open the door, she all but threw herself at him. Suddenly he was damned glad for the fact that he'd holstered his weapon again or she would have barreled right into him and either set the damned thing off or seriously bruised his sternum. But it seemed, at the moment, that she was more concerned about him than she was about anything else at the moment. And, really, it was a new feeling for him. He couldn't recall a time where he'd left on deployment and had had someone waiting there at home for him. He tried not to keep himself attached but now... Well, hell, now he was about as attached as a man could be. And he didn't regret it in that moment. Not in the least. The woman in his arms was incredible, caring, giving and loving. What man wouldn't want something like that to come home to?

Being cared for was a nice feeling. It was a damn nice feeling. And while he knew that his mother and brother had missed him when he'd been deployed, it just wasn't the same thing. Family was family. This...? Well, this was something entirely different. All he could do at the moment was snake his arms around her and hold her close. She was freaking out and she had every right to be freaking out at the moment. Nate knew that he hadn't been in any real danger per se with those guys. He was the faster, better and more trained shot. They wouldn't have had time to get a shot off before he managed to take them the hell out. But Cassie didn't know that. She'd never experienced anything like that.

"I did, Cassie." He said levelly. He couldn't have her thinking about the what ifs. If she did, she'd drive herself absolutely insane. And so, he gave her the best piece of advice he'd ever been given on his first deployment. "Don't think about it." He murmured gently, rubbing a hand up and down her back, making his best wild assumption at how to ease the emotions of a woman clearly in duress. He'd never really had to worry about this kind of thing and sincerely hoped that he wasn't screwing it all right the hell up. But then the other words she said kicked in... She couldn't imagine not having him in her life? And she was kissing him. Lord, was she kissing him.

She stood there in his arms for quite some time. It took him a moment to regain his bearing after reeling from her words. How had this whole situation progressed from something beyond a wedding arrangement in which he got to keep custody of his daughter into something that he honestly couldn't imagine living without now. And he really couldn't. Time would only tell whether or not Cassie could manage to handle all of this... to handle him. But in time, they'd see and they'd see where things went. If he had to deal with the fallout later, he would. He'd have to learn to. But for now, he was going to hold on for dear life. "I couldn't imagine life without you in it now either, Darlin'." He admitted, brushing a kiss across her temple.

After a long moment, she finally pulled back and looked at him. Rather than answering her question about how bad it was, he decided to sooth her otherwise. "We'll get everythin' put back to rights." He told her. And that was all there was to it. He said it with an air of authority, hoping to hell that she'd believe what he was telling her. He'd help her in whatever way he could. She had to know that. And then she asked the hardest question of all. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Because some people do idiotic things for idiotic reasons, Cassie. You can't understand it or reason with it because you're a good, honest person. Those men...? They weren't. And they deserve everythin' comin' to them now."

He had to smile at her a little when she called him her hero and claimed that he was always coming to her rescue. "Hey... an eye for an eye, right?" He soothed, running a hand along her back as he offered her a small smile. He would have thought that comforting a woman like this would feel odd to him but... with Cassie, it kind of came naturally to him. It was the strangest damned thing and yet, he wasn't going to complain in the least. He knew that something was happening between the pair of them. But hell... they were married. What was the point in fighting it? What was the point in resisting something that he had never thought he would have but now that he had it, he didn't want to let it go. "You're forgettin' how much of a hero you are to me too. Without you, Baby, there wouldn't be a hope in hell that I'd still have my daughter. And I doubt you realize how grateful I am for that... For you." He admitted to her.

"You push it out of your mind every time it creeps up on you because you know you won't give those bastards the satisfaction of knowing that they screwed your life up." He said. And he was speaking from experience. Sometimes, it was the only way to get through a day without breaking down. He knew exactly what she had thought that the sick bastard in the other room was going to do to her. But if Nate wasn't mistaken, he'd made the son of a bitch piss himself. Let it be known damned well that this woman was off limits for any sort of bastard that was out there on the streets. She was his and he'd protect her to the bitter end. He'd do whatever it took to keep her safe and, compared to some of the situations he'd been in, this was a hell of a lot tamer than normal. Those guys had been a joke. They'd been amateurs at best, but he figured that even amateurs had more capability than those morons. But he wasn't going to bring that up. In the moment, all she needed was comfort.

Which was why he was surprised when she pulled away from him. And yet, at the same time, he understood it. She still had her pride to her and, in the moment, she was trying to make sense of everything that had happened. She was stubborn as hell but, truth be told, he still didn't know her quite well enough at the moment to know what she was thinking. She was guarded in a sense and he really wished that she wasn't. It'd go a long way towards letting him know what he had to say in order to make everything right in her world again. She deserved so much better than this...

He looked at her when she started having second thoughts about the way she'd responded and reacted. "If you would have told them where the safe was, they would have still trashed the store and then they would have made off with the money." He said sternly because he wanted her to realize that she hadn't reacted badly. He wanted to make damned sure that she'd have the means to protect herself in the future... but he didn't blame her for the way she responded in the least. And once they were done trashing the store and taking the money... lord only knew what they would have done to her. "You stalled long enough for me to get here, Baby. Long enough for the cavalry to arrive and I can't fault you for that."

And then she was turning towards the destruction. A part of him wanted to stop her, but at the same time, he knew she needed to see it. She needed to understand that men capable of causing that destruction on something as innocent as a bakery had no fucking scruples. They wouldn't have hesitated to do whatever the hell they pleased with a weak and pliant woman. And the fact that she had resisted had likely saved her further damage. He doubted she realized that though and he sure as hell wasn't going to tell her that. She wanted to go home. He understood. She was devastated at the moment. But they couldn't go home just yet. He followed her towards the front doors, knowing that she needed to make it outside and catch some air.

She stopped there and looked so damned lost and vulnerable that it made his chest ache. "Come on." He murmured, gently corralling her outside of the building to stand there in front of it. He pulled her into his arms again and held on to her for dear life. She looked like she was ready to fall apart at any moment and he didn't want that to happen. He would be the glue that kept her together if he had to. "You're safe and sound, Cassie. That's the most important thing. I'll take you home as soon as I can, all right?" And then he'd provide his own brand of security for the bakery. One that the cops would never be able to top. "We just have to make it through this first and then I'll make sure everything'll be all right." And he would. He damned well would.

He looked down at her when she questioned him when he claimed that she was a hero to him as well. She didn't seem very confident in what he was saying. He had to give a small laugh and a shake of his head. "You don't give yourself enough credit." He commented. And as far as he was concerned, she truly didn't. "I don't know many people who would be willing to marry a man that they barely know just so that they can hold on to custody of their daughter as well as keeping the job they love." He said pointedly. "And that kind of kindness and caring isn't something that you find every day out there. Not by a long shot." And it was the truth. He had seen so much violence and anger in the world that the rare acts of kindness, caring and generosity always hit him straight in the gut. And lord knew that he hadn't come from a very good family lifestyle to begin with.

He was always fleetingly surprised whenever she willingly kissed him. And it seemed that she was more and more comfortable with the idea of it. It was curious indeed, but he wasn't going to complain about it in the least. in his eyes, as far as he was concerned, he was still the good for nothing kid that had blossomed into a man that was entirely too similar to his old man for his likings. He knew, logically, that they weren't anything similar. Nate used his abilities and strength to do some good in the world. His father had done nothing but destroy everything in his path... including the fragile trust of two sons who would have otherwise adored him and adored having a father figure in their lives. But it was what it was and they'd been dealt the cards they'd been dealt.

He nodded at her when her attitude towards what was to come changed slightly. "You're damn right it will." He commented, smiling at her. "And this time, you're gonna have the security measures and paranoia that only a SEAL can throw into the mix." He said pointedly. He was going to make a point of ensuring that she was taken care of while she was at work. Especially if he was going to be out on the job. He wanted to make sure that she'd be okay if she spent any long nights at the bakery again. He'd never be able to forgive himself if something happened to her while he was gone and he wasn't able to be there to stop it or to protect her. Perhaps it was foolish, considering this would have happened whether or not he was or was not married to her, but still... He cared about her. She was far too good for him, but he wanted to make sure that she was safe.

He understood her shock and confusion. He remembered back when he'd just joined the Navy and had gone on his first ops as a SEAL. He remembered the mindless bloodshed he'd seen and everything that was downright screwed up about the lot of it. He remembered wondering why the hell one human being would do this to another human being. And it was all the same now. How did those guys not have a conscience? And what would have happened to Cassie if he hadn't have gotten there when he had? No. No he couldn't think about that at all or he'd loose control, go back into the store and beat those goons on the floor to within an inch of their life. It was bad enough that he was going to have to explain why one of them was shot in the leg. Whoops. He gave her a reassuring look as she seemed to continue on about how she should have just told them where the safe was. "You're okay, Cassie. That's what matters most of all at the moment. We'll get the bakery all sorted out. I promise." And they would. Together.

He looked at her when she asked what would happen if they happened to wake up. "They're not goin' anywhere, Cass. I used flexi cuffs on them... They're basically giant zip ties. We use 'em when we're on deployment when it comes to restrainin' hostiles. If we trust them while we're out there, not a hope in hell are those dumbasses gonna break outta them." He could sooth her mind about that one small thing at the very least. He wished he could make the entire night infinitely better for her though. And then she was practically stretching her body against the length of his own. He wrapped his arms around her, knowing that she needed the comfort in the embrace of another person. He was more than happy to oblige in this case. Pudding. Christ. He didn't understand where the hell the name had come from, but she was the only woman in the world that could get away with calling him that. He shook his head though. "You don't need to thank me. We're married, Cass. All the hard times you go through are my hard times too." He said simply enough.

Nate looked at her when she said that she didn't think that he gave the world enough credit. And for a moment, he actually felt a bit of shame in that. He had lost his faith in humanity a hell of a long time ago, but he supposed that that was just what happened to a kid that was beaten down by life time and time again. He had wanted, from the earliest time he could remember, to be strong enough one day so that no one would ever victimize him again. He had wanted to be tough enough so that the words that other people threw his way no longer hurt him. He had wanted to eventually be a good enough man that no one would feel the need to remind him of the bad blood that coursed through his veins and the way he had been as a child and through his teenage years. He'd been no good. He was still no good. Especially not for a woman who was as incredible as this one.

She was sunshine in his life and he sure as hell didn't deserve that much kindness... that much goodness there at his fingertips. He didn't know why she was there with him or why she wanted to be in his life in any meaning of the word... but she was there. She had been willing to help him and he had made a vow to himself that he would be good to her. He would always be good to her through thick and thin. She deserved so much better than him and yet he was all he had to give her. Every part of him and he'd make damned sure that, some how, some way, she saw that. She saw that he was in this for the long haul. She saw that this was about more than him keeping his daughter as far as he was concerned. Because somewhere along the way, she'd started a little flame up in his heart and, as the days passed, it only seemed to grow in intensity.

He gave her a funny look when she said that she had owed this to him. How the hell could she ever be so indebted to him that she felt the need to marry him and bind herself to him in a way that he had never imagined that she would? He'd been there to help her with the smaller things in life that she'd needed a hand in, up until now. He considered this to be a big thing in life because it sure as hell didn't happen every day of the damned week. "You didn't owe me anythin'." He commented gently. "But I appreciate it all just the same." He wanted to say more but... while he had a wealth of emotion and feeling inside him a the moment, Nate had never been terribly great at vocalizing them. He showed them in other ways, sure... but he could never quite bring himself to say them.

Nate watched her as she bravely opened the front door to the bakery. He was there with her, lingering just behind her as she went on inside. The gasp she gave just about scared the bajezus out of him, but he just went on in and stood in the center of the room in plain line of sight of the men who had turned his wife's world upside down in a matter of moments. It was amazing how it could take a lifetime to build up something as renowned as Cassie's bakery, and only a few moments of savagery to break it all down again. But he'd help her rebuild it all. He absolutely would.

And then she was trying to rationalize something that, for a woman like her... gentle, sweet and loving, would never be rationalized. It was mindless and it was cruel and it was all about money. "There's any number of reasons, Cassie." He said gently. "Ranging from 'they didn't see it' to 'they're dumbasses'." He commented dryly. "And honestly, my money's on the tail end of that particular spectrum." He murmured as he took a moment to continue surveying things. Anything to keep his mind off of the fact that one of those unconscious sons of a bitches had their hands all over his woman. Nate would have loved to cut those hands off and teach the bastard a thing or two about how to treat a woman. Any woman. Not just his woman. But he would have paid twice as badly for having touched his woman if Nate would have let himself go after him. He had to keep himself in check though. He had to. He'd already done enough damage that he'd have to answer for.

He smiled at her when she made the comment about SEALs trusting the flexicuffs. Nate wouldn't have trusted them with a criminal who was a bit more crafty. Flexicuffs certainly wouldn't have held him for more than many... five minutes... but then, Nate and the rest of the guys who were qualified to wear the trident were trained in escaping and evading. Those idiots on the floor could barely tell the difference between the broad side of a cow's ass and a national park. And there she was again... worrying over him when the only thing she should have been worried about was herself and getting through the monumental blow that had just been dealt to her life. "This was unavoidable. It's life and you're gonna get through it with me at your side." He said simply and then laughed when she immediately thought of Sarah. "She's fine. She's with the neighbour at the moment. "I'll give a call up in a few minutes and make sure everything's fine." He murmured, soothing her. He smirked then. "Look atchu, bein' a Mama Bear." He grinned.

He knew it didn't make sense. It never made sense. Violence and cruelty in the world had certainly never made sense to him, and yet he fought violence with violence on a regular basis. There was no other way to get through to those people in the world who would victimize those who were innocent and pure of heart or those who were generally weaker than they were. There was never any justification for it and yet they did it all the same. They were without morals or a higher calling. They were without any sense of dignity or honor. They were precisely the type of people that the men who had just destroyed his wife's livelihood were and it drove him insane to think that he couldn't do anything more to soften those sons of a bitches up. He'd already walked the border on what was and wasn't appropriate, but he knew well enough that he hadn't done any lasting damage and that if it came down to it, there were a number of people who would have his back.

And there she was, thinking about how much of an expense this was going to wind up being. He sighed and shook his head. "We'll get it sorted out, Cassie. I know it's all very overwhelming now, but we'll get everything worked out soon enough and you'll be back in business before you know it. If I have to, I'll call in a few favours and get a group of friends here to help put everything back together again." He told her. And he'd gladly do it. Dallas would help. He knew that damned well. And he had a few friends that would gladly make the trip out to lend a hand. Friends that Nate had done more than his share of good deeds for in the past. "We'll get through this all." He reassured her. And he'd make sure that they did.

He shook his head as he watched her little fit of fury. She was a feisty one, but the fight was slowly draining from her. She was tired as hell and she, no doubt, just wanted to go the hell home at this point. But they still had the police to deal with. Nate would do everything in his power, however, to make sure that everything was taken care of relatively quickly so that he could get her home again and put her to bed. "Take it easy, Cass. You're gonna hurt yourself, Darlin'." He murmured, trying to get her to see reason at the moment. He just wished the god damned police would stop taking their sweet time and show the hell up. With the rate in which they were moving, a hell of a lot could have happened to Cassie by now if she would have been relying solely on their lazy asses.

"Well then so be it." He murmured. "We'll get through it together, Darlin'. We just need to keep a level head about it all and think smart." He reassured her again. He certainly hadn't left his little girl at home alone. The neighbor was probably worried sick about what was going on, so Nate would be sure to thank her in the biggest way possible when they managed to make it back home again. He smiled at Cassie and kissed her forehead when she said that she was in love with his daughter. His baby girl was remarkable as hell and he loved her to pieces. He didn't know how something so beautiful could have come out of such a nasty situation such as the one that he'd been in with Sarah's mother. His little girl would never cease to amaze him and neither would the woman beside him.

Nate was fairly used to the looks he got from the police whenever he was confronted with them. He looked to be the military type and there was no denying the fact that there were a fair number of men in the military - spec ops to be exact - who had had more than one brush up with the law. Hell, Nate had had his share of them back when he was just enlisted and a complete and utter hothead. But he held his ground and looked the cop right in the eye, his gaze unflinching. The little show of support Cassie gave by wrapping her arm around him went a long ways towards tempering a snarky comment on the tip of his tongue. And then Cassie looked up at him with those damned eyes and Nate knew that he needed to take charge for a moment.

"There's three guys in there. Two of them were put out by a tap to a pressure point and should be comin' around any minute now. The third one had his hands on her and pulled a weapon on me. I was a quicker draw. If you wanna see my sidearm, there're two rounds missing. One's in the bastard's leg, the other's in the ground in the store." Nate looked up and pointed to a store across the street. "There's a security camera mounted on that buildin' that looks to be facin' the street. If you don't believe me, I'm pretty sure all the proof of what happened'll be right there on video for you. Now, if you need us to come to the station, we'd be more than happy to do that... in the mornin'. For now... My wife is exhausted and traumatized, I have a little girl at home who's with our neighbour at the moment and it's damned late, Sir." Nate said, looking the man straight in the eye.

Yeah... Nate knew the feeling a little too well. His concern for her was probably the only thing that was keeping him from a stay in jail and assault and battery charges at the end of it all. Those bastards in the other room had turned his woman's life upside down and had hurt her where it counted to her most of all. And that didn't sit well with him at all. Honestly, it might have been a little therapeutic for his wife to go over into the room and start wailing on those sons of a bitches, but at the same time, he knew damned well that doing something like that would do more harm to her spirit than good. Cassie was a pure little soul. She didn't believe in violence and the fact that she was even contemplating doing something like that was a testament to just how upset she was at the moment. He wanted to get her home and get her to forget about the night.

And then she was starting to worry about the money that it'd take to fix everything up. But Nate wasn't kidding. They wouldn't need to hire on carpenters. A good portion of the guys he knew were damned handy. Dallas knew a hell of a lot about all that kind of stuff and so did he. They'd grown up dirt poor on a ranch that had constantly needed tending to. That being said, most of the time, they were left to do the work. They could get this place fixed up with a little extra manual labor. It was simple as that. They could and they would get it all done. "Hey... Hey... Don't you worry about the money right now, Cassie. You have enough on your mind and I promise you... it won't cost nearly so much as you seem to think it will." He told her. They'd get it all sorted out.

Nate stood there in front of the police with that same unwavering gaze. He could tell that they were suspicious of him, but honestly, with Cassie's arm wrapped around him like that, what the hell were they so fucking suspicious of? It wasn't like he was coercing her somehow. As Cassie spoke, one of the other officers approached him. "Where's your sidearm?" Nate tossing his head over his shoulder. "Small of my back in a holster." The officer eyed him. "May I?" Nate nodded and held both of his arms up in plain sight. The officer reached for the gun and checked the rounds. Just as Nate had said, there were two missing. "While you're at it, grab my wallet." He commented. That'd probably solve a lot of problems right then and there. "Left back pocket."

A moment later, the officer fished the wallet out of his pocket and opened it up. Immediately, he was greeted with the sight of his military ID. "Chief Petty Officer Nathan Xavier." He said, holding the ID up so that his officer buddy could see it. The man glanced over his shoulder. "Navy?" The officer asked, arching a brow at him. "Special Warfare Division." And then the officer clued in. "Now. You know who I am and you know damned well that you'll be able to get ahold of both of us if you need anything, but please. Just let me make sure my wife and baby are taken care of for the night." The officer finally nodded reluctantly. "We'll have to keep a hold of your sidearm for now." Nate nodded. "I don't need it to keep my family safe." He said before he wrapped an arm around Cassie. "Come on, Baby..." He murmured to her as he started leading her towards the truck.

His mouth was set in a tight, angry line as they headed back to the truck. It clearly pissed him off that they treated him as if he were some kind of criminal in his eyes. He'd seen and done more shit than those boys would ever know and everything he'd always done had been in the name of his country and they had the audacity to treat him like a common criminal even after everything that he'd proven to them in being honest. But he had to let it go. They were just doing their job... "We'll get you home... I'll run you a bath and make sure Sarah's in bed and then we'll head to bed, all right?" He asked her. She needed the chance to unwind even a little bit.