Disclaimer: I own none of the recognizable characters so credit Janet Evanovich with that honor. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated.

Chapter 1

Tank and Lester sat huddled in a corner of the hospital waiting room. The rest of the chairs were occupied by off-duty Rangemen, and friends and family of Stephanie Plum. Once again she had been the target and her wounds this time were serious enough to warrant some worry.

Magazines lay littered unread on coffee tables, cardboard carafe's of coffee sat with paper cups, creams and sugars placed throughout the room. There were numerous plates of sandwiches, fruit, bottles of water, and even some desserts to sample as the need or wish arose. For the most part, the room was quiet with only a few spoken whispers here and there.

Ranger walked into the room with Bobby trailing behind. Everybody rose to their feet and moved uncertainly toward the men. They were looking for facial expressions or body language to gauge their next feelings. Would it be dread, or relief.

Ranger cleared his throat. Everyone was hanging on his next words.

"She is holding her own. They removed two bullets that miraculously missed any vital organs. She is in recovery now and will be moved to a private room shortly. Her words to me before going into surgery were to tell you all that it was her fault for tripping the trap. She said not to blame yourselves. She was chasing her skip and didn't know we were in the area looking for ours. It was bad luck all around, but at least she will heal completely and nobody else got wounded or killed."

He walked over to Frank and Helen Plum. He shook Frank's hand and gave Helen a quick hug. He was not a touchy feely person but felt the need to reassure his in-laws. Frank looked at his eyes and saw only pain and concern. He nodded and patted Ranger on the back.

"It's late and we will leave you for the night. Call us if you need to. I spoke to Edna. She was making plans to fly home from her bus trip but I told her to hold off until I heard from you. She will be home in five days anyway. I am tempted to tell her to extend her stay. It is so much quieter at home without her. I haven't been awakened by the police bringing her home late at night for a month."

Ranger chuckled in spite of himself. Their battles were legendary and being a member of the family now he was subjected to weekly dinners at the Plum residence with all its drama, innuendo and hi-jinks that Edna could bring upon one household.

Lula and Connie were waiting by the door. Ranger walked to them. They had been worried for their friend and were there to lend them their support and friendship. Connie had already called Vinnie and updated him on the situation and had already made plans for flowers to be sent as soon as Stephanie was able to receive them. As usual, she had not asked permission. Vinnie knew which battles to fight and one as small as this was not worth it.

Ranger then strode over to Tank. He sat down heavily in the empty chair and put his head in his hands and sighed. "I just about lost her Tank. I don't know how long I can do this."

Tank put his large hand on Ranger's shoulder and squeezed. It was meant to comfort but Tank was very strong and his hand strength was considerable. Ranger winced in spite of himself, but felt better. His best friend understood.

Tank looked around the room. "The schedule is posted, men. Anyone not on shift, prepare to move. We have a company to look after. We are all tired and concerned for our Bomber, but you heard the boss, she will be fine."

The men not on duty prepared to leave. Bones and Woody had the first shift and headed down the hall to stand guard on the room. Tank, Bobby, Lester and Ranger stayed back. The room was now empty.

Ranger looked at them. He looked at Bobby before his next remark. "I take full responsibility for this. It is on my shoulders, and Bobby is not to be held in judgement. He was against it from the start."

The men nodded and stood up. Tank and Les each patted Ranger on the back. They prepared to leave. Bobby looked at Ranger. "You take off with them, Bobby. I will stay here until she is ready to leave. Have Ella send me a change of clothing."

He looked down at his blood stained uniform. Ranger had slowed the gushing blood from Stephanie's femoral artery before she could bleed out. If he had not been as strong as he was, she would not be laying in a hospital bed, but would now be taking up a spot in the morgue.

Ranger stood up and headed to the room. Stephanie was being moved from the gurney and onto the bed as he watched. The nursing staff were very efficient and making it look easy had her resting as comfortably in a hospital bed as they could arrange. She had a breathing tube, heart monitor, and bags of antibiotics, saline and blood hanging from a number of hooks on a pole by her bed.

With a nod to Ranger, they left the room, rolling the gurney in front of them. The door closed and Ranger was alone with his Babe. She looked so tiny in the big hospital bed. Her color was very pale from the loss of blood and as he looked at her, he could see another unit dripping precious life giving liquid into her. Her breathing was shallow but he knew that she would get stronger as the night progressed. He had been down this road too many times not to know the procedure.

He pulled a straight backed chair to the bed, sat down and took her small hand in his. He prepared for a long night and hoped that she would open her eyes soon. He played with her wedding band almost hypnotically and let his mind wander.

~~~o0o~~~ Flashback ~~~o0o~~~

He and Stephanie had disappeared in the dead of night eight months ago and headed for Las Vegas. They were quietly married with only Tank and Lula as witnesses to their personal vows in a small chapel off the strip. They had then arranged to take a month off and had travelled to a number of Caribbean islands, soaking up the sunshine and getting to know each other as husband and wife. Tank was kept appraised of their destinations and whenever they phoned he relayed that the winter was hard and long and they were much better off where they were. It was setting up to be the longest winter in New Jersey's recordable history and spring could not come soon enough.

They had talked about finding a place to live outside of Rangeman, but either they didn't like the place, it was not set up for a proper security system or time constraints made the distance too far to consider. Consequently they were still occupying seven in the building and seemed to be quite comfortable there. The commute was so much quicker and Stephanie loved how she could take an additional forty winks leaving her plenty of time to still do her usual routine and make it to work in time for the morning meeting.

She refused to budge on her exercise routine before lunch time but barely balked at range practice or self defense training now. She had been cleared for wearing two guns and a knife and could get herself out of handcuffs almost as fast as Ranger. Lord knew she had to. In the beginning she would find herself handcuffed to everything in the apartment at one time or another as her husband would sneak up and cuff her to anything within reach. It was now actually quite erotic and she had even caught him a time or two, quite a feat in her opinion.

Business was good. Security took on a whole new meaning during recession and crime was big business. Rangeman was poised to move into a new city and final plans were underway. They were in the legal stages of acquiring and amalgamating a number of small businesses in Detroit. A building had been procured and was being renovated at that moment and would be ready in a month.

Ranger had planned that he and Tank would reside in Detroit for two months setting it up to Rangeman standards with the help of Cal and Ram. They both had family in the area and had leapt at the chance to move closer to home. They had rekindled some romance with former girlfriends and it was starting to look serious. They were being groomed to take over that satellite and felt honored to be chosen. More staff would be hired or transferred as needed and business grew.

Lula and Stephanie had made plans to travel back and forth. Lula was not yet ready to make a full time commitment to that relationship but hearing that Tank would be away that long had changed her outlook on her Tankie Bear being out of her sight and arms for too long. Stephanie had rolled her eyes at Ranger's suggestion that she wait for him to come home on weekends. He had reasoned that 14-18 hour days left little time for them. She countered that he needed to have the business up and running and she could help in the research and apprehension departments. Her other suggestion that having a female in the office would keep the cougars of Detroit at bay had made him blanch in spite of his stern expression. She really did have his six.

The time had flown by and starting up Detroit had gone smoothly. Tank and Ranger had returned and Cal and Ram were turning into a good team. They were slowly adding in more staff. Eric and Junior had joined them and were helping enlarge the business. Some contract employees had joined the team and they were all hard at work. The Core Team had made frequent trips there and came back with positive reports.

~~~o0o~~~ End of Flashback ~~~o0

He looked at her. They had started to talk about having a family. Time waits for no man and their biological clocks were starting to chime quarter hours. Ranger had completed all his contractual obligations over a year ago so he no longer feared the late night phone calls taking him away from his babe.

Ranger looked down. His Babe was starting to stir. Her eyelids began to flutter. He watched carefully as her eyes slowly opened. She tried to focus. He stood so that she did not have to strain. She knew he was there. They always knew when each other was close. He squeezed her hand gently and she attempted to smile around the breathing tube. Ranger leaned over and gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead. She looked at him and he knew the questions she wanted answered. He spoke. "Hey, Babe. Nice to see those big, beautiful eyes. You will be fine. The bullets missed everything important but you will have a couple more cute scars."

Her eyes tracked him as he carefully sat on her bed. She tried to move to give him more room but winced at the pain. He rubbed her arm lovingly and spoke again. "The doctor said you will be out of action for awhile. One bullet clipped your femoral artery so you will need a little more blood to replace what you lost. You will be on very restricted duty for awhile as you heal. The other shattered a rib so that too will take some time to heal. I've had a rib injury like that and Babe, it's going to hurt like a bitch."

He swallowed and looked at her. "Stephanie, I just about lost you this time."

She lifted her hand and rubbed his arm soothingly. Her eyes closed and she drifted off. Ranger shuddered in spite of himself. He had done it for love and concern, but would she forgive him when she found out?