A V E R Y
'All right. Listen up,' Damien yelled over the commotion in the prep room. 'We have one shot at this. So we have to get this right.'

We all murmured our agreement and he nodded, satisfied. 'Okay, then. Masks on, everyone.'

I slipped mine over my face and pulled my braid out, resting it in the middle of my back. Then whilst I pretended to check the guns on the holster resting on the back of my waist, my gaze flew to the doorway and I nodded.

A figure slipped through, and nobody noticed as he slipped through, brushed my hand with his and moved to stand a few paces behind me.

His strikingly blue eyes were warm, and I knew if the black mask wasn't on, his dimples would appear and make me smile just by the sight of them.

I caught Maddie's eye and she walked over to Mason, pulling him out of the room as I strutted over to Damien. 

'Hey.' I said, pulling the mask off of my mouth.

He looked at me and smiled, doing the same. 'Darling. Do you need something?'

'Can I not talk to my dad without wanting something from him?'

Damien laughed, but I saw him swallow at the mention of him being my dad. 

I sighed. 'Years of this, and you still don't understand how much I - we - love you? You're our dad, Damien. By blood or not, you are our dad.'  My voice was soft, and I lowered it even further at the last few words.

Damien smiled again and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. 'Thank you. Now, go on, we need to get going.'

I gave him a quick hug and walked away. Maddie was waiting outside.

'Done?' I asked, linking our arms together.

She squeezed my arm and her eyes twinkled beneath the mask. 'What do you think I am? A bloody invalid? Of course it's done - it was child's play.'

I laughed and pulled her into the van with me, Mason already inside.

Now I was just praying that this went well.

***
M A S O N

Avery was beautiful. I knew that, but as she tied her hair up and slipped on her mask, it hit me like a sucker punch to the gut.

She turned a little and I slipped out of the shadows, my mask already over my face. I had various weapons in my arsenal, but Avery had lent me a few extras to have.

My hand brushed hers and then I stood just behind her, watching her team work together, laughter and gossip filling the room.

It was so different here. Back with the Damnation, we were always quiet and composed before a mission.

Before we went and butchered innocents.

A distinctly female figure walked towards me, and by the warm brown eyes and caramel skin, I knew it was Maddie. She tilted her head to the side and I followed her out of the room until we were outside, multiple vans parked in front.

She gestured to one of them and I stepped inside.

'Listen here, buddy.' Her voice was quiet and soft, but even I knew that it would be a fool's move to underestimate her.

Maddie took her mask off and watched me with a cool stare.

'I love her like a sister. In fact, she is my sister. And her sisters are my sisters too. So, yes, I let her go with you and stay for a few nights because she's happy with you.'

I didn't speak.

'She hasn't been happy for a long time. You have brought some joy back into her, and for that, I am forever grateful, but if you ever, ever-'  Maddie jabbed a finger into my chest, '-even think for a split second that you can hurt her, or if you try to do anything will ill intent towards her...'

I had the nerve to swallow, but even that seemed inappropriate at this time.

Maddie leaned forward until she was right in front of me, her eyes filled with emotion. 'I know many ways to kill a man, Mason. Many, many ways. So if you hurt her... I will personally come to castrate you and then gut you like a god damn fish. And I will enjoy it.'

Her breathing was slightly erratic by the end of it.

'Are you always this threatening to people?' 

She smiled and tapped my head with a hand. 'Only to those who pose a threat to the ones I care about.'

I nodded. 'Well, rest assured that I don't plan on hurting Avery. I'd never do that. Ever.'

Maddie pursed her lips and then grinned. 'Good. You have to stay here and we'll come out in a minute.'

Crossing my arms over my chest, I smiled back at her. I was so damn glad that Avery had someone who looked out for her like her best friend did. They were fiercely protective of each other.

Like me and the twins.

The van door opened again after a few minutes and Avery herself came in and sat beside me. Maddie followed a second later, sliding the door shut behind her and settling in at the back of the van. She pulled her phone out and tapped away. I knew she was trying to give us privacy, however useless it was.

'Hey.' 

'Hi, love.'

Avery squeezed my hand and let go, leaning a little into my side.

'You ready for this?' I asked, my voice low.

She sighed and her shoulders collapsed a little. 'I don't think I'll ever be ready for this kind of stuff.'

Kissing the top of her head softly, I put an arm around her. There was something that had affected her in the past - that much I knew. I wasn't going to push her on it, though. Some memories were too painful to revisit; I had experience first-hand on that topic.

I wanted to get to a place where she was comfortable with telling me anything.

I wanted her to to want to tell me.

The van stopped and we all pulled the masks over our faces. The door was opened and we climbed out. I looked anywhere but at him as Damien watched us from his position a few meters away.

He signaled and we walked over to him and the crowd of people already forming a circle. 

'We go in now. Avery and Maddie take the top floor and get the girls, if there are any. Eric's team take the bottom floor and Danny goes for the outside to secure three area.'

He proceeded to explain exactly what we were trying to find. As I had said, it was papers, weapons and... Girls.

Trafficked girls.

Checking the magazines of my guns, I stood beside Avery and waited for the signal to go in.

Damien motioned and we crept along the side and through the back door.

Inside, long lights flickered dimly. The light itself was sparse, and only the bare walls and dirty floor could be seen.

The state of the place was atrocious, a cloying, damp smell filling the room.

I was praying to god that there were no girls here. I really was.

Avery's figure moved solidly in front, her gun cocked and angled. She looked hot in her suit, and the various weaponry on her only added to that.

Only you would find that a turn-on.

I shook my head to rid it of any distracting thoughts and held the gun up higher.

On the count of three, we burst in, the doors slamming open. Avery and Maddie were scanning the area back-to-back, guns raised, both of them with a gun in each hand.

'Clear.' Avery murmured, lowering one of the guns, the other still upraised. She held a finger to her lips and pointed at another door.

We repeated the process and scanned the next room. There was nothing.

How? I knew that there would be stuff here. I knew it from numerous sources. And so did Damien.

So where the hell was everything?

Avery fastened a gun into the holster at her waist and turned to me.

'Where could they be?' she asked, her eyebrows drawn together.

I opened my mouth to reply when Maddie stood and raised a hand in the air. We quietened immediately and she cooked her head to the side, the act purely one of a predator catching its prey.

Avery was watching her friend with slight alarm.

And then we heard it.

The sounds of girls sobbing, whimpering. They weren't speaking, just making incoherent sounds.

The sounds were coming from around us, but there were no other rooms on this floor.

Avery paced the room, her ponytail swishing. Every few steps she'd stop to knock on the walls, shake her head, and move on.

Maddie joined her a second before I did, tapping and testing the walls for a secret room.

A false-bottom of sorts.

I was running my hands over a particular section of damaged wallpaper, when Avery came up and slammed the button of her shotgun where my hand had been two seconds ago. The wall caved in and Avery smiled grimly. 

The cries were louder now and I punched the wall, my fist crashing in. We pulled at the plaster and it came away; behind it was a door. It was locked

'Assholes.' Maddie murmured. 'Did they think a little lock would keep us?'

'They always seem to underestimate us, don't they?' Avery said, pulling a hair clip from her head and slipping it into the lock. After a few turns, the door unlocked and she shoved it open. We piled through and what we saw inside made me sick.

Five girls were huddled by the wall, and one was standing with a crowbar in her hands, her expression set in defiance. All the girls were injured in some way or other - bruises all over their bodies, open cuts against pale skin.

'Hey, hey, it's okay. We're not going to hurt you.' Maddie lifted her hands up, her expression soft. 

'That's what they said. And then they hurt us. And beat us. Forgive me for not believing you in the slightest.' Crowbar girl spat, her voice a little shaky.

'What's your name?' It was Avery's voice that spoke this time.

'Yara.' 

Avery walked until she was in front of her and Yara dropped the crowbar. She clasped hands with the girl and the look on her face was enough to make me wonder what exactly she was like when she exploded.

'Are you hurt?' Her voice was death. Quiet death. 'Did they hurt you?' It was directed at all of the girls.

'No. Just a few cuts and bruises.'

'How long have you been here?'

'A week. I got here first, and the rest of them came just days after me.'

Maddie blew out a breath. She tied her hair up and crouched in front of the girls by the wall. One by one, she cut through the ropes binding them and the handcuffs constricting them. The smallest girl whimpered as her cuffs fell off and launched herself at Maddie, wrapping her arms around her in a hug. 

'Thank you,' she cried, tears falling onto Maddie's leathers. 'Thank you so much.' 

Maddie squeezed the girl and let go, wiping her tears with a gloved hand. 'No need to thank us. We're doing our job.'

At her words, every single one of those girls straightened up and something in their expressions changed. Fear became defiance, sadness became anger. They weren't afraid anymore. 

The rest of Avery's team led the girls out, throwing jackets from Maddie, Avery and I around the shoulders. Maddie left with them a second later to check if we could leave, and it was just the two of us left in the room.

***

A V E R Y

'You doing okay, love?' Mason asked me, his mask in his hands.

I shook my head. My hands were still shaking from the adrenaline; at least, that's what I told myself. 

'This is so hard. So sad and so hard.' I whispered, barely noticing as he moved to stand beside me, pulling me into his warmth. 'I hate doing these kind of things, yet I need to. I have to get them out myself, for my own peace of mind.'

'Avery...' There was a question in his voice. 

I squeezed my eyes for a second. and turned fully into him. He stroked my hair whilst my head was against his chest. My voice wouldn't come out for a few seconds. 'Y-Yes. The answer to your question is yes.'

Mason swore and held me tighter as I worked to swallow the lump from my throat. 

'I'll tell you the story one day,  but-'

'You don't have to.'

I swallowed again. 'I know. But I want to. Just... just not right now.'

We stayed like that for a few minutes, me holding onto my composure and Mason for dear life.

'Stay with me tonight?' I asked, my face in his neck.

He pulled back and kissed my forehead, blue eyes searching mine. 'You didn't even have to ask, love.' 

We walked to the others outside and got into the vans again. According to Damien, we had all the things we had come to get. His men were still loading the illegal weaponry into the extra vans - there was so much of it that they'd been packing it for half an hour already. I settled in next to Maddie and she looked at me, a question in her eyes.

I pulled out my phone and texted her, seeing as apart from Mason, there were still a few of the men inside with us.

I'm okay. I swear. Just a little shaken. 

Maddie looked at her phone and tapped out a reply. 

Sure?

I'm sure. 

Okay, but if you need anything... 

I'll come to you. I know. 

Maddie smiled and was about to put her phone away when I sent another text, my hands shaking ever so slightly.

I need to tell you something. It's not that important right now, but I want to tell you anyway.

It was time she knew. Her and Mason. Perhaps even my sisters needed to know. Her eyebrows drew together slightly but she nodded.

Okay. Let me know when.

I put my phone away and felt someone's eyes on me. Mason smiled when I caught him staring and leaned forward.

'Sleep,' he murmured. 'We've got another hour at least here. You might as well get some rest, love.'

I pulled my phone out and sent one last text.

I nodded and my head drooped onto Maddie's shoulder, who moved slightly to make it more comfortable. Within minutes my breathing slowed and my eyes fluttered.

I'd worry about everything later. For now, I was in desperate need of some sleep.

Sophie. I need your help. You and the girls.

***

My computer is up and running! Thank god I can write properly now. 

The tension is rising in our story... Comment and let me know what you think will happen next! I love reading and seeing your comments.

Vote and comment if you liked it, loves.

As always, thank you for the continued support. See you guys soon!

-M