They had just tortured a man.

Jasper had never felt like this before. He’d already been having a hard time with the fact that Sawyer often took the law into her own hands and did things that most would frown on, that he would frown on. He knew his team was legally in the right, at least to the WMC, but Jasper wasn’t sure that made any of it okay. His internal scales of right and wrong were thrown off. A boy’s life was most likely at risk, but they had just done something, just crossed a line, they had never needed to cross before. Something they often talked down about the WMC for doing.

“Jasper, get out of your head, we’re nearly there,” Elijah scolded him.

“Roger that,” Jasper growled, glaring at the cowboy. He trusted his team, he needed to. They were the law, the enforcers and protectors for Magi everywhere.

They had just tortured a man. Not just letting Sawyer kick the shit out of him, but let the wolves do serious damage, let Zander heal him slightly, then re-break the weak spots. He’d known that was what Zander had been doing.

Jasper looked through the front window, leaning to see between the front seats. The Explorer was slowing down, and Jasper saw the gate.

“I got this,” Elijah growled, making the interior of the Explorer heat up to near uncomfortable levels.

“No, you don’t,” Vincent said as Jasper watched the gate get eaten into the earth and disappear. Quinn had handled it from the other Explorer.

Jasper was knocked back into his seat as Vincent slammed back on the gas and sped down the old dirt drive.

It was another two agonizing minutes until they saw the old, decrepit farmhouse. Jasper closed his eyes and focused. They had to save this boy if he was here. They had to stop Cory, if he was here. This had to end, and he could come to terms with what they had needed to do later.

Vincent stopped them nearly fifty yards away, Zander pulling up next to them. They all jumped out, and Jasper looked at Sawyer, who was glaring at the cabin. They were too far away to really tell if there were any Magi inside.

“Me and you,” he told her. “If we can get in and judge the situation, we can either handle it or call the team in.”

“Good idea,” Vincent agreed, walking around the front of the Explorer. “We’ll wait right up by the door. If we all just barge in, we can spook him.”

“That’s right,” Jasper sighed. “Sawyer?” He was concerned that she hadn’t even acknowledged him yet.

“Let’s go,” Sawyer whispered and began walking away. Jasper looked over at her. She was carrying her daggers. He walked behind her and put a hand over her shoulder. He didn’t react this time when she cloaked them about ten yards from the farmhouse and the world went black and grey, colorless and bleak, even in the harsh light of the Texas afternoon.

Such a bright day to go hunting a serial killer.

As they got closer, he glanced back at the team. They were arming up, just in case.

“Sawyer?”

“We’ve done this before,” Sawyer whispered back and began to go through the wall, Jasper keeping a hand on her and making sure to phase at the right moment, so he didn’t lose the cloaking or another limb.

Once inside, Sawyer pulled him to her. He was thankful for the enchantments that Elijah had put on the leg. He’d finally explained that the prosthetic would react and act like a normal leg, instead of a dead weight. Jasper didn’t really understand it, but something about an enchantment that would react to signals from the nerves.

He was thankful for it, though. Sawyer had pulled him hard enough to nearly knock him off balance, since he had no idea what obstacles were there. They were slightly behind a large set of boxes and crates, so she dropped the cloak, as well, letting color return to their worlds.

He glared at her and she pointed. He followed.

An older teen, or young man, Jasper decided, looking distraught, pale, sweaty, and nervous as he paced around. A young boy, sitting on the floor, looking scared and worried.

Cory has his father’s brown hair that went in every direction as he ran a hand through it. He was lean and tall, looking half starved.

“Gabriel,” Cory mumbled. “I need you to listen okay? You can help me.”

“Help you with what, Cory? Why are we here? What happened?” Gabriel answered, starting to stand up.

“Don’t move!” Cory roared. Jasper nearly jumped at the sudden escalation. Gabriel just got teary eyed, looking terrified and sat back down. “Nothing happened. I took you away from that awful, sinful family and now you can help me. Together, we can do this.”

“Do what?” Gabriel asked, confusion and fear warring on his pale, young features, his blonde hair falling away from his eyes as he looked up to Cory. Jasper’s heart was racing. Gabriel wasn’t in danger yet. Cory had him here for another reason.

“Help me do God’s work, of course!” Cory snapped. “Like we talked about in church. You said you wanted to be a good Christian, and I’m going to give you the chance. Together, we can earn our places in Heaven, and the Lord will accept us, even though we’re demon-touched and tainted.”

“I don’t understand,” Gabriel cried out.

Jasper did. Cory thought he found a fellow, a friend, a protégé.

Good God.

Sawyer moved even closer, and Jasper could nearly feel her shaking. They were both assessing the situation silently, trying to find out the best way to intervene.

They never had the chance to figure it out.

Cory backed-handed Gabriel as the younger boy kept trying to understand.

“You need to understand. I thought I told you, already!” Cory roared.

Jasper started to run forward and bumped Sawyer. She cursed, and Jasper saw a black knife fly through the room and slice Cory’s arm. He’d knocked her aim off.

Cory screamed and held the wound, looking wildly to where the dagger had come from.

Jasper and Sawyer were outed. There was no turning back now.

“Get Gabriel,” Jasper roared, running for Cory who had turned to run the other direction. He was headed for the back door, and Jasper hauled after him. He was slower than he’d once been, still unused to the new prosthetic, but he was going to catch this guy.

Sawyer blinked between Cory and the back door. Jasper skidded to a halt as Cory barreled into Sawyer and was promptly over-powered. She sent an elbow to the young man’s head, dropping Cory to the floor. Jasper got a momentary glance at her face.

It was cold and furious. Anger consumed her. He’d seen this before. She thought her face was emotionless, and maybe it was to others, but Jasper saw the pure fury in her eyes—that dangerous anger that made people fear her. Only someone who knew true rage could summon that sort of emotion in their eyes. And that rage? That rage was deadly.

It was terrifying and oddly beautiful, to see a woman so dangerous. He knew Zander was entranced by it, and Jasper took a moment to admit that he kind of was too. Sawyer was a woman who felt deeply, in all ways. That was admirable, even if he normally saw the grief, guilt, and rage.

“We have the boy,” Vincent called out. Jasper turned and saw Gabriel crying as Zander knelt in front of him and checked for injuries. Jasper turned back to Cory and pulled out his handcuffs.

“Thank God he decided to run instead of taking Gabriel hostage,” Jasper said, snapping one wrist into a cuff, then another, both behind Cory’s back. Once those were on, he just left the young man on the floor, chest down. He wouldn’t be going anywhere. The team didn’t use normal handcuffs under any circumstances.

“Yeah,” Sawyer mumbled, staring down at the serial killer. He searched her face and noticed the anger had faded. Something else had taken its place. Regret? Guilt? Confusion? He didn’t really understand it. “He’s young, isn’t he?”

“Nineteen,” Jasper sighed, also looking down at Cory. “Too young to be a serial killer.”

“I… I was an assassin at nineteen,” Sawyer whispered.

Jasper snapped his gaze back up to her face. She looked up and he saw grief in her eyes.

“What are you thinking?” Jasper asked quietly. Elijah walked up to them and hauled Cory off the floor and looked between them without saying anything.

“Nothing,” Sawyer mumbled. “Let’s just get out of here.” She began to walk away from him and toward the rest of the team with Elijah.

“Alright.” Jasper said, wondering where her head was. He needed to know, needed to understand. He wasn’t good with feelings, but he wanted her to know she could share hers with him. He would listen. He would always be willing to listen. “Wait, Sawyer.”

She turned and walked back to him, not meeting his eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

“He’s just like me,” Sawyer groaned, waving a hand to Cory. “All he wanted was to be… good in the eyes of those he respects and loves. That’s all he wanted.”

“Sawyer,” Jasper gasped. “You and him... you are not the same.”

“Aren’t we?” Sawyer growled, looking at him with so much pain in her eyes. “Aren’t we?” she asked again, weaker this time.

“No,” Jasper said, reaching out to her. She evaded his grasp.

“We’ve both done terrible things to try and prove ourselves, try and do something right and good in the world. We’re both labeled as monsters.” Sawyer glared down at her hands. “You didn’t knock my aim off. I couldn’t kill him. I couldn’t do it.”

“Sawyer, he killed innocent people. You’ve never done that. You are more like this team then you are like him,” Jasper said with a conviction he now felt. They had just tortured Stevenson to save a boy, and Jasper knew, in this moment, that he could live with that. Just like he knew that Sawyer wasn’t evil, or a monster. She was just like them. Just like him. He had no right to judge her anymore. He’d never had a right. “And you’ve saved innocent people. He doesn’t do that. He’s looking for something that doesn’t exist because his father spent his entire life bastardizing his very feelings and identity. Look at this case, Sawyer. You used all those skills that I bash you for having as skills we could use. That made this team stronger, that helped us find a killer. You belong with us, and you are nothing like Cory. Sawyer, you are good. You aren’t, and have never been, a monster.”

He hoped his words meant something. There was a long stretch of silence as he realized they were the only two people left in the farmhouse. Sawyer only looked at his face like he’d given her a gift and was left speechless.

He opened his mouth to say more but didn’t get a chance as Sawyer’s hands took hold of his shirt and pulled him into a kiss that silenced all thought. He stood, shocked, but only for a second before grabbing her hips and yanking her closer to deepen the kiss. Her tongue dove into his mouth this time, and she claimed him. He loved every second of it and, at the worst possible moment in his life, he got hard as her body pressed up against his.

He chalked it up to the adrenaline of catching a serial killer and saving a young boy’s life. That must be why he could get a boner at this moment.

A cough made her pull away, leaving Jasper bereft and wanting more. Jasper turned to the offending noise and saw Zander there, smiling.

“Well, look at this!” Zander laughed. Sawyer groaned, and Jasper saw her roll her eyes. “Do I get one?”

“No,” Sawyer bit out as she turned on her heel and left the farmhouse. Zander continued to laugh as he smacked Jasper in the gut.

“We’ll talk to her at home, eh?” Zander chuckled. “Let’s get out of here. We need to haul Cory back to Stevenson’s place while Sawyer, Vincent and Elijah take Gabriel to Dallas. We’re stuck on waiting duty for Dallas to send a few more guys to pick them up.”

“Sure,” Jasper mumbled a bit petulantly. Of course, he got to kiss Sawyer again and immediately lose her to the job again. “Fantastic.”

“How was it?”

“Amazing.” Jasper sighed.