Gabriel stood at attention.

"I want to call you a sonuvabitch, but your mother's a nice lady, so I'll stick with calling you the bitch." Lieutenant Leon Cassidy was a tough-as-nails kind of guy and the last person Gabriel should be pissing off, but he did anyway.

Gabriel said nothing, keeping his gaze somewhere over the LT's shoulder where he could see a stuffed wooden bookshelf. The LT was in his home office, which provided them with all the privacy they needed for this talk. Kid had double, and then triple checked to make sure their connection was secure. The monitor Kid had used for their meeting was one of those that had uncanny levels of resolution, which meant Gabriel could see every minute twitch on his superior's face.

He was pissed-pissed.

"So," the other man continued after the pause, "what did you find out while you went solo?"

"That I can't, sir," Gabriel answered curtly.

"Damn right you can't!"

Gabriel watched as the LT released a harsh breath, slumped back in his seat, and ran a hand through the buzz cut of his salt-pepper hair. He counted to three in his head then said, "Though, I know where Lanster's next shipment will be coming in and a rough timeline of when."

Leon stared at him for a second before letting out a bark of laughter. "You actual bitch! But–" sharp brown eyes cut to him and Gabriel could physically feel the weight of his CO's gaze "–you won't be able to do one iota about it if you don't fix the shit-storm you're in. What's your plan, son?"

Gabriel still didn't like it but he gritted his teeth and relayed all the relevant info.

Leon leaned forward on his elbows and linked his fingers together under his chin.

"And you're sure about this Moira girl?"

"Positive, sir," Gabriel immediately replied.

"You think she can do this?"

"I believe she's determined, sir."

The Lieutenant raised a dark brow at him. "You like her."

Gabriel knew he wasn't able to stop himself from reacting if he were to go by the upward twitch on Leon's mouth. "I like her alive, sir."

"Are you fucking compromised, Hudson?"

"I've been compromised for a while now, sir."

Leon didn't quite roll his eyes but it was a near thing. Clearly, the Lieutenant was done with his bullshit. Then, he moved to sit back in his leather high-back office chair, expelling a long breath as he went. "Whatever you say. I'll let the others know what's going on, because surprise, surprise, they actually worry when one of their dumbass teammates goes off and does something dumb. We'll see you tomorrow."

Gabriel managed to snap off a salute before the monitor went dark. He released a breath he wasn't aware he was holding and made his way to the mini-fridge in the corner. He pulled out a soda, ignoring the beer because while it was five o'clock somewhere his mother taught him proper drinking etiquette. She didn't raise a neanderthal. He popped open the can, took several long gulps, and trudged up the stairs to rejoin the others on the first floor.

He was only mildly surprised to not find Kid and Cowboy lurking around the kitchen hoping to catch what he and their CO were talking about. Instead, they were sitting in the living area across from each other, playing a game of chess while Moira had curled herself up on one end of the couch, reading something on the tablet he had given her. They all looked up at the sound of his footsteps.

Moira was the first to speak. "How'd it go?"

Gabriel took his time answering, tilting the soda can back to his mouth as he made his way towards her and perched one leg on the armrest of the couch. She shifted and her shoulder pressed against his thigh purposefully. "There was a lot less yelling than I anticipated."

Kid laughed. "You should've seen him when we first got the news. I think he met up with the chaplain for a couple of hours after that."

"I'm pretty sure he went to the confessional afterward, too," Cowboy adds before moving a pawn on the chessboard. "He wanted to have all bases covered."

Kid narrowed his gaze at the move before nudging one of his knights back. Gabriel studied the board and decided not to tell Kid of the trap Cowboy had set up for him.

"What did he say?" Moira asked and when he looked back to her, she was watching him closely, dark eyes searching his face. She was worried for him. That really shouldn't surprise him.

So, he tried to give her his best reassuring smile and hoped it didn't look like Heath Ledger's Joker. "Nothing I can repeat in front of a lady without my mom somehow finding out and ending up with a mouthful of soap."

Moira huffed, an amused smile curving at her lips. "So, he's cool with the plan?"

"More spicy than cool, but-" he shrugged, "-same difference. So you and Kid leave tomorrow at four in the morning."

Kid gave a dry whoop without looking up from the game. "Good ol' oh-four-hundred."

Moira bit down on her lower lip as her gaze returned to the tablet but it wasn't so she could continue reading before she nodded. "Then he drops me off at the airport where I make sure I'm caught on camera and be prepared to be intercepted by the CIA at any point from then on."

Gabriel eyed the way her hands were gripping the edges of the tablet as if her life depended on it. He flicked his gaze back toward Kid and Cowboy only to find that they had momentarily abandoned their game and were watching him with identical looks of expectation. They're obviously waiting for his move. He sent them a glare before focusing back on Moira.

He leaned forward to place his almost-empty can of soda next to the chess board and slipped off the couch armrest to kneel in front of Moira. She was still frowning, unseeing, at the tablet and kept her bottom lip between her teeth. Slowly, as to telegraph his movements, he brought his hands up to cup her down-turned face making her meet his eyes again.

Using a thumb, he tugged her lower lip free and only barely stopped himself from kissing her. "You'll be fine, Moira. Remember, we're going after Lanster's men so you'll only have to keep an eye out for the CIA. I may only trust Sloan as far as I can throw him, but I know he's a good man. You'll be in safe hands."

She leaned into his touch and took a deep breath as her eyes slipped shut for a few seconds. Then she nodded. "Yeah. Okay. Okay."

She was obviously not okay, and Gabriel couldn't blame her, but there was a fire in her gaze—a determination that he'll make sure to protect, even if it kills him. He vowed all of this in his head as he reached down for one of her hands and planted a kiss in the middle of her palm. He caught sight of the way her chest hitched and when he chanced a peek at her face, he found her cheeks had gone red and her eyes were blown.

He smirked.

If he can avoid getting killed though, he would, just to see how many more expressions he could pull out of this woman who was quickly becoming very, very important to him.

The sound of gagging drew his gaze to Kid who was making a scene out of imaginary projectile vomiting. "Good God, I do not need to know what Hawk's bedroom eyes look like. Save it for when your ass is safely out of the line of fire."

"Real mature, Kid," Cowboy said. "Checkmate."

"What?!

While Kid hurled accusations at Cowboy cheating, Gabriel got back to his feet, brow twitching in annoyance that his moment with Moira had been cut short. Moira, however, laughed, so he sat aside the murderous thoughts that were swirling in his head.

With that situation sorted out, he made his way back to the kitchen and checked the refrigerator, taking a brief inventory of what he bought and nodded to himself.

"Are you going to cook?"

He looked over his shoulder at Moira who was tossing his soda can into the trash can.

"I have to start working on lunch now since those two are with us," he replied. "They won't stop bitching if I don't make enough."

Moira grinned. "Need help?"

"I would appreciate it."

"Oh, hey, Hawk!" Kid called out. Gabriel raised a brow at the blond who had twisted in his seat to face them. "I'm reclaiming my bed tonight. Sleeping on that couch in the basement was hell on my neck."

"I call dibs on the pull-out," Cowboy said as he plopped his ass on the spot Moira had vacated and sent Gabriel a saccharine smile as he patted the top of the backrest.

Gabriel narrowed his gaze at the two men he had trusted to watch his six on multiple occasions and wondered, not for the first time, how he got stuck with them. He turned back to Moira. "Do you want to order take-out just for the two of us?"

That prompted the bitching.

(He ended up frying some fish fillets, steamed several stalks of asparagus for a side drizzled with salted butter and a large bowl of potato salad. Never let it be said Gabriel hadn't done anything for his team. For dessert, they finished the rest of the brownies Moira had baked. It was almost criminal how good they tasted and Gabriel was more than ready to fight for a whole pan if Moira hadn't stepped in and promised to bake him some more once they were home.

He was so holding her to that promise.)

After lunch, they went over the plan once more, going through what-if scenarios because shit rarely never not hit the fan. Three hours into planning, Gabriel noticed the nervous energy in Moira as her leg bounced while her eyes were trained on one of the monitors where Kid had pulled up a map of the CIA's headquarters and pointing out various exits and entrances. Cowboy was sitting next to her on the basement couch, cleaning one of his handguns while watching something on the tablet he had set up on the coffee table. Then he looked up and caught Gabriel's gaze before pointedly tilting his head toward Moira.

Gabriel didn't need to be told twice.

He pushed off the wall he had been leaning against and strode over. Moira's attention snapped to him.

"Is everything all right?" she asked, brows furrowing in concern.

He didn't reply, instead, he held a hand out to her. She eyed it for a second and slowly slid her smaller hand into his, slender fingers wrapping firmly around his palm. He gently tugged her to her feet and led her to the stairs and out of the basement. Once they were in the living room, he released her hand and turned to face her.

Her mouth opened to say something but he beat her to it. "What do you know about physical self-defense?"

The frown deepened. "I took karate lessons for a whole year when I was thirteen. Why?"

"I can work with that," he said, nodding as his eyes traveled down to the pair of skinny jeans she's wearing. "Change into some loose pants and meet me out on the back deck."

Her gaze followed the direction to where he jerks his thumb toward the back patio. "Is there a reason for this?"

"Yep."

After a second, she nodded. "Okay."

Gabriel didn't have to wait long as not even halfway into stretching, Moira came back, stretching her own arms and rolling her neck.

"So, you gonna teach me how to throw a punch?" she asked with a small smile.

"I hope not." He tilted his head and eyed her figure. She was average compared to the females in his field, but her height definitely gave her an advantage. At the end of the day though, that won't help her one bit if she didn't know how to utilize it. "Ever seen Miss Congeniality?"

She grinned. "Only about a couple hundred times a year."

He huffed in amusement. "Then you know S. I. N. G."

"Solar plexus, instep, nose, and groin," she listed off, ticking them off with her fingers. "Right?"

"Right," he nodded. "We'll start with that and build around it."

"Why are we doing this all of a sudden?" she asked when he motions for her to step closer. "Are we expecting for me to get in a fight?"

"No, but you might." He turned her around so her back was to him before wrapping his arms around her, one across her waist and the other over the front of her shoulders. "You need to be prepared for that. I need you to be prepared for that."

He opened his mouth to continue but the words got stuck in the back of his throat when he felt her shudder against him. Gabriel would've thought it was a bad sign if the tips of her ears weren't suddenly turning a bright red. He suppressed a groan and gently knocked his temple against hers. "Behave."

She sputtered but didn't say anything and, instead, shuffled a bit on her feet so she was properly balanced.

Good girl.

"Solar plexus," he said.

She immediately grabbed the wrist of the arm he had across her shoulder, twisted her body towards him before driving the elbow of her other arm toward his stomach and stopped before the blow could land. He dutifully loosened his hold on her waist in response to the "hit."

"Instep."

Moira mocked stomping on his right foot.

"Nose."

Again, an elbow came up to his face and stopped just shy of actually hitting his nose. He didn't flinch, but it was a close thing.

"Groin."

He thought he saw a small smile tug at Moira's mouth but then she had a fist swinging towards his junk and it took all of his willpower not to actually flinch.

"Alright." He fully released her and stepped back with his hands raised.

She turned around to face him and triumphantly planted her hands on her hips. "How'd I do?"

"Fairly good for someone who took lessons when she was thirteen," he answered with an approving nod. "Let's improve on that, shall we?"

They spend the rest of the afternoon on the back deck, running through different scenarios and different techniques Moira could use. The sun was already setting when they stepped back into the house, sweaty and a little out of breath, but definitely feeling accomplished.

"Y'all have a weird sense of foreplay," Kid said from where he was sitting at the bar, not even bothering to look up from his phone and whatever he was typing on it.

Out of his peripheral, he could see Moira's face go red. Gabriel didn't hesitate to smack the guy upside the head as he passed by him and asked Moira, "Water?"

"Yes, please," she replied, clearing her throat, so he tossed her a cold water bottle when they reached the fridge and grabbed another one for himself.

Cowboy chose that moment to emerge from the basement, holding a Monopoly box. "Okay," he said, nodding at Gabriel, "I just got off the phone with the rest of the guys. Everything's finalized and ready to go."

"And you're holding a game of Monopoly because?" Moira gave the box an amused raise of her brow.

"Thought it'd be a good way to pass time," Cowboy replied with a shrug and a smile.

Gabriel watched as Moira tilted her head to the side, and, after a moment, said, "Let me shower first."

Cowboy made a show of bowing and sweeping his arm toward the stairs going up and Moira laughingly curtsied before tossing a wink at Gabriel over her shoulder. Gabriel's mouth twitched in amusement.

"Before you go," Kid called when she started making her way up. She raised her brows quizzically and Kid continued, "Are you okay with cheeseburgers and fries?"

"We're making burgers?" Moira asked.

Kid shook his head. "Nah, but there's this place nearby that delivers and they have the best cheeseburger and garlic fries combo in the world! And I can say that with confidence."

"Well, if you say so," Moira grinned, "I'm down for it."

"How's she holding up?" Cowboy asked as soon as they heard her close the guest bedroom door.

"About as well as you'd expect," Gabriel replied, downing the rest of his water and crushing the bottle up into a ball to toss in the trash can.

"She's a strong one," Cowboy said softly.

Gabriel frowned at the wooden floor. "I know that. But I still hate this plan. She'll have no one but Sloan at her back."

"And we'll have Sloan's."

Gabriel said nothing else, knowing that if he did, all their planning would go down the drain. So he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. In less than forty-eight hours, this would all be over, Moira would be safe and he'd finally take some time off from work to stay with his mom and explore this thing between him and Moira. He was still worried about how their relationship started, but the only way to go was forward and, if Moira decided after all this that she'd rather not be with Gabriel then...he'd cross that bridge when he got there.

"Alright!" Kid clapped, bringing Gabriel out of his thoughts. "Food's gonna be here in about thirty minutes. Operation: Pre-Mission Greasy Foods is a go."

"I'll go set this up." Cowboy gave the Monopoly box a little shake. "You playing, Hawk?"

"Nah, I'm good."

He ended up being the banker though and sat next to Moira while he chowed down on some truly greasy cheeseburgers and phenomenal fries. He'd lost count of the number of times he had tried to recreate said fries since the cook refused to share the technique and ingredients every time he tried bribing the other man for them. One day...

"Alright, I quit," Cowboy announced after a truly impressive yawn that triggered the rest of them to yawn as well. "We have an early start tomorrow, we're gon' need all the sleep we can get."

"I win though." Kid smiled smugly because he's not wrong. He's got the most properties, the most money, and all three of the most expensive lots on the board with a hotel on each of them. Then he grinned at Gabriel. "Have fun on the couch, Hawk."

Gabriel wordlessly sent him the middle finger before they all got up and started cleaning. The game was put away, the paper plates and empty soda cans were thrown in the trash, and Gabriel lost a game of rock-paper-scissors to Cowboy over who got to use the main bathroom first.

"You can use the one in my bedroom, Gabriel," Moira said when Cowboy disappeared into the bathroom and he was getting ready to wallow in his defeat in the darkness of the living room.

She was already on the first steps of the stairs, a hand on the banister.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

She smiled. "I'm sure."

Gabriel honestly didn't want to intrude, but he was admittedly tired and he took quick showers, so he followed Moira to her room.

"I'm guessing you know where everything is in here," she said as she pushed the door open.

"I'll be out of your hair in no time," he told her, stifling another yawn as he made his way to the set of drawers he knew had extra clothes.

After he got what he needed and turned back around, he found Moira standing by the bed, watching him. When he met her eyes, she cleared her throat. "You can stay here, actually."

He blinked.

She continued: "I mean, it's not the biggest of beds but it can fit us, and honestly a sore neck is the last thing you'd need for tomorrow and we all need to be in tip-top shape so we could share the bed but only if you want to because I don't want you to feel like you have to–"

"Yes."

"–that's the last thing I want to do– I mean, what?"

Gabriel smiled at her. "Thank you for offering to share the bed with me, Moira. I appreciate it and would love to take you up on that."

For a moment, it looked like she'd blue-screened before she blinked in rapid succession and cleared her throat again, smiling back. "Okay. And, by the way, that sounded like a weird come-on."

He snorted in amusement as he made his way to the bathroom. "Get your head out of the gutter, Moira."

"Hey!" she cried after him with a laugh.

He made sure to wink at her before closing the bathroom door.

In a handful of hours, he was going to send her off on a dangerous task all by herself, while he and the rest of his team hunted down Lanster and God only knows what chaos they would all run into. He was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. He was going to enjoy the last few moments of peace he could get with Moira and pray that they all get out of this relatively unscathed.

He wasn't going to even entertain the possibility that they don't.