"Welcome to Bravo" Blackburn congratulates me shaking my hand.
"Thank you" I reply feeling almost giddy I can't believe this actually happened.
"So Jason tells me you have some serious martial arts skills" Blackburn hints meaning Jason probably told him about the handstand thing.
"Yeah I do" I duck my head sheepishly.
"That's a good thing to have in this line of work" He comments thankfully not dwelling on it too much.
I wear my new Id badge around my neck all the way back to my house only to have my good mood shattered by a horribly familiar car sitting in my drive way. Robert. I scramble for my phone dialling 911 while running up the steps I'm sickened by seeing him near my sister.
"What are you doing in my house"? I demand sharply noting that Taylor looks super creeped out and scared.
"Chatting with Taylor here" He says in a sickly sweet voice.
Thankfully the cops chose that moment to walk through the door.
"He needs to leave! He's stalking me" I point to Robert.
"Sir you need to leave" They order him to leave my house thank god.
"Sure" He agrees strolling right out the front door, the look in his eyes chilling me to the bone.
A couple of tense moments go by before I can make words move past my lips.
"I want a restraining order" I state putting my hands on my hips.
"You'll need a third person to make a statement that this man is in fact stalking you" The officer counters snidely.
"Ok" I hit the number one speed dial on my cell phone and wait for Jason to pick up his phone.
Jason point of view
"Come on Sonny! Ray is kicking your ass" I yell over to Sonny himself.
He mutters something about Ray having less things to carry in his backpack I shake my head opting to cut them some slack the team being down a man right now.
My phone starts ringing squinting down at the display in the bright sunlight I see that it's Rollins.
"Hey uh can't really talk right now I'm running drills" I say wondering why she'd be calling me I told her the team was running drills this morning.
"I need you to come to my house" Is all she says.
I can hear other voices in the background besides her and Taylor why are there other people in her house.
"Why"? I ask her wondering what is happening why she sounds so stressed out.
"I'm going to tell you something and I don't want you to overreact ok Jason" She cautions.
Overreact? What the hell is going on over there?
"Ok"
"Robert was in my house"
"I'm on my way" I end the call totally seeing red somewhere in the back of my head I remember calling out to Ray telling him to finish the drill.
I run off the training range in full kit not that I really noticed all that matters to me is making sure Rollins is okay. I jump in my truck and speed over to her house concerned by the cop car sitting in front of it, not good. I jog up to the door before I even get it open I can hear Taylor's voice she sounds pissed.
"Taylor" I say getting in between her and the cop.
"Sir? Who are you"? The cop asks.
"Master Chief Hayes" I toss over my shoulder keeping my hands on Taylor's shoulders holding her in place.
"My sister called him! Pay attention" Taylor snaps trying to get around me.
"Taylor! Calm down where is Rollins"? I ask her seriously.
"Kitchen floor. You have to tell these guys Robert is stalking Kenzie, they clearly don't believe me" She growls glaring at the cop.
"This guy has physically assaulted Mackenzie Rollins and is now stalking her! Do something about it" I order using my 'I'm in charge' voice.
"Yes sir" The young cop stutters walking out the door.
"Oh god? Were you about to leave"? Taylor gasps.
"No we were running drills" I tell her looking down realizing I'm still in my gear.
"She almost kicked hurt them Jason, if I hadn't told her to go to the kitchen I'm not sure what she would've have done" Taylor shakes her head nervously rubbing her hands together.
"Lock the door" I sigh making my way over to the kitchen.
I sigh again when I see her huddled up in the corner of two cabinets knees hugged to her chest, I sit down across from her and wait.
"How is it that I can deal with the worst people in this world has to offer but this makes me want to crawl under a rock and never come out"? She wonders after a while.
"When you are dealing with those bad guys it's not personal. This, what's happening now is personal" I answer leaning my head back on the cabinet door.
"I'm not there. I'm in my own house it shouldn't be happening in my damn house Jason" She snaps.
"You're right it shouldn't" I agree wishing to hell it wasn't happening things were supposed to be better, she's on Bravo. Not feeling she isn't safe in her own home.
"Were you getting spun up"? She asks pointing at my gear.
"Nope just drills" I clarify dusting off my pants.
"Do you have to go back to the range"? She hedges looking at me over her glasses.
"Nope" I shake my head thankfully that eases the nervousness in her eyes.
We sit there for a while longer then Rollins heads for the couch while I call Blackburn not trusting the local cops to actually get anything done.
"What the hell Jason? You ran off the range in the middle of a training exercise"? Blackburn rants.
"You remember when I mentioned Robert Acker"? I gloss right over his mini rant cutting right to the chase.
"The guy giving Rollins trouble"? He asks.
"Yeah he's stalking her and today he was in her house" I explain.
There's a pause on the line probably him collecting his thoughts after the initial shock.
"Police involved"? He questions.
"Yeah but the ones who responded are idiots" I mutter rubbing the back of my neck frustratedly.
"I'll make some calls" Blackburn offers.
"Thanks" I end the call.
"I've got spare clothes in my truck I'll be right back" I say to both Rollins women.
Mackenzie Rollins point of view
Jason emerges from the main level half bath wearing blue jeans, a light grey t-shirt and a plaid shirt over it. He joins me at the kitchen island where I'm pouring a cup of hot chocolate to warm me up now that I'm suddenly feeling cold and exposed.
"I'm sorry I pulled you away from work" I say holding the mug in both hands.
"No don't do that. None of this is your fault, Blackburn is going to make some calls and take care of this" Jason says leaning on the island across from me.
I sigh out loud feeling a small bit of relief knowing Blackburn is looking into this.
"Got my ID cards today" I add smiling a little at him.
"Look at you go" He smiles back.
"Yeah it's pretty cool" I agree trying and failing to fight back a yawn.
"You tired"? He asks carefully.
"A little. I was up early this morning visiting Clay, meeting with Blackburn then this whole mess when I got home this afternoon" I mumble looking down at my hot chocolate.
"Go to bed Rollins" He orders softly nodding towards the stairs.
"Come on" I sigh shaking my head at him.
"Bed. You need sleep" He repeats putting his hands on his hips.
-The next morning-
The sounds of voices downstairs pulls me out of a surprisingly peaceful sleep. I throw on some sweat pants and a hoodie and toss my hair up in a messy bun grabbing my glasses I go down to see what all the noise is about. When I get to the bottom of the stairs my heart is warmed to see Bravo team in it's entirety in my kitchen.
"Did we wake you"? Taylor questions meeting me at the landing.
"No. Did Jason stay here all night"? I ask her under my breath.
She nods her head.
"Where did he sleep"? I continue looking over at the Bravo team leader.
"The recliner by the window" She answers plainly.
Damn she pulls me to the kitchen where I get passed around getting hugs from the guys.
"Nice pj's" Clay snickers into his coffee cup.
"If you didn't have a bad knee" I trail off letting him fill in the blanks.
"Kid has a point" Sonny joins in.
"Sonny" Taylor shakes her head but she's smiling too.
I fake a right cross aimed at the Texan I laugh too when he jumps which causes the rest of them to burst out laughing.
"How did the meeting with Blackburn go"? Ray asks me.
I grab my wallet off the counter by the sink and show him my brand new ID card in the window slot in my wallet.
"Look at you" He beams pulling me into another hug.
"Pretty sweet" I say into his shoulder.
Stepping back I show the cards to Sonny and Clay it ends up with my wallet being handed around so all the boys can get a look.
"Tell me something why does she look great in her picture but I look hungover"? Sonny wonders handing my wallet back.
"Because she's a lady" Jason comments lightly shoving Sonny's shoulder.
"Whatever" Sonny mutters returning to make some toast.
We chat and have breakfast all of us enjoying the simple and easy atmosphere that we have. But we all pause when a bunch of dings sound looking over at Taylor I ask the silent question 'did my phone ding too'? She nods.
I open the message and frown it's not a Bravo team alert it's an alert for another team and a text from Blackburn.
B- Sorry about this Echo team needed a profiler for their mission
Me- You have to tell the guys about this. They won't like it
B- Nope definitely not
We drive over to the base I'm sitting in the front seat of Jason's truck unsure of how to bring up the fact that I was spun up just not with them.
"Who is the team leader of Echo team"? I ask him.
"Steve Porter. Why"? He replies.
"I did get spun up just not with Bravo" I blurt ripping off the metaphorical bandaid.
"What"? He demands.
"Blackburn said their team needed a profiler and that they heard about me" I explain carefully.
"But you are on Bravo team" He points out.
"Yeah I am but Blackburn said he still had a couple things to finalize" I sigh looking over at him.
The implications settle on his shoulders as well as the realization that I'm not going with them.
"Steve is a good guy he'll keep you safe" Jason says after a couple minutes of silence.
"That's good" I nod.
We get to the base and to the Bravo gear cages Blackburn is waiting for us I notice he and Jason shared a look.
"Briefing in ten" He calls out before walking off.
"Guys Rollins isn't coming with us" Now it's Jason's turn to pull the bandaid.
There's a simultaneous what from all the guys not that I blame them I was shocked too when I read the text.
"Echo needs a profiler" I offer knowing it won't make them feel any better.
"But you are on Bravo" Ray states crossing his arms.
"I am but not all the paperwork is done and until it is" I trail off looking at Ray.
"That's not right" Sonny mutters.
They all hug me as they walk out the room words of concern and to be careful said as they go, I smile as Trent gives me the stern team medic warning 'Do not come back to this base injured or I will be grumpy' I chuckle at his dorkyness.
I end up in the Echo team gear cage room.
"You must be Steve Porter"? I wonder walking up to the guy in the middle of the room.
"You must be Mackenzie Rollins, LT Commander Blackburn said you were the best" Porter compliments shaking my hand.
"That's me" I smile at him.
He introduced me to his team his phone beeps but something tells me it's a text from Jason.
"Let me guess Jason Hayes"? I ask him.
"He says if anything happens to you he'll kick my ass" He reads off his phone.
"Little tip it won't just be Hayes" I comment.
"So I gather"
...