Down Under
Chapter 1
SapphireJ

I don't own anything except the story line. This is the sequel to New Beginnings.

Stephanie looked around the table and saw them all looking at her. "So, which one of you guys is my husband?"

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"No, Nie. WE are not picking." Tank ran his large hand over his bald head. "YOU are picking who you want as your husband for this mission. We need you to be comfortable in your role of the wife."

Stephanie looked around the table. Lester, Ranger, Tank, Manny, Zero, Hal, Bobby, Ram, and then back to him. She knew who she wanted as her husband, but what would everyone else think?

She stood up, walked right in front of him, and held out her hand. "Would you be my husband?"

His eyes danced as he asked her, "Are you sure?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "If I wasn't sure, I wouldn't ask." She felt all the eyes on her, but she didn't care. She knew she made the right decision.

He stood up, took her in his arms, and kissed the top of her head. "This is going to be good."

Tank looked at the men; all but one seemed pleased with her choice. That one will just have to deal with the decision. She picked whom she wanted.

Agent Mayhew cleared his throat. "Alright, now that we have the married couple, let's get down to business. We need to get the documents started so we can get you to Australia."

"Tank, who all is going to be in Australia?" Asked Stephanie as she sat down and felt one pair of eyes on her. She knew she'd be questioned later about her decision.

"Just the two of you, Nie. The rest of us won't be able to do anything until a later time. You two need to get established and make friends."

Agent Sanchez looked at Stephanie. "Since it seems you get to call the majority of the shots right now, what are your names going to be? I will need first and last names so I can get your passports, marriage license, and all other documents done."

"We'll keep the names the same." Stephanie smiled at him, "just change my last name to his."

Looking at Agent Mayhew, she then asked, "When do we leave?"

"Well, it will take me a day to get all the documents fixed, and then we can book your flight. I'd say you two will be flying out by the end of tomorrow or the next morning. Best to say good bye to your family soon as you will likely be gone for a year."

Tank stood up and nodded to everyone. "Meeting dismissed."

They all stood to walk out when she heard it. "Steph, can we talk?"

She knew he would want to talk, but she had hoped it would be later, after work. She knew he was upset…she had seen it in his eyes.

She shut the door and sat down next to him, not sure what to say.

"Why? Why him, and not me?" She saw the hurt in his eyes, hurt she caused.

"I don't know what to say to make you understand. I feel it is the best decision, and I'm not changing my mind." Stephanie went to stand up, but he stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"We could make it work. You know that."

"Do you really think we could have made it work? Come ON!" Stephanie threw her hands up in the air in frustration. "You know better than that. At one time, yes, you and I could have made it seem real as a husband and wife. But not now; not after everything that has happened."

"Stephanie. Yes, we could make it work. You and I have chemistry. You can't deny that. We work well together. You don't need him; he's never been the man for you." He stood up and tried to pull her to him. "Think about it, please?"

"NO, Ranger! Besides, what did you think would happen? I'd go there with you and Lester, pretend to be your wife during the day and then spend my nights with Les? How would that look to the family once we get in with them? Huh?"

She saw the look in Ranger's eyes and realized she was wrong. "OH HELL NO! You thought… Oh my God, you thought that just you and I would go to Australia and you could make me forget about Lester. Didn't you? You wanted to be my husband for this so you could try to win me back?" Stephanie stood up and slapped Ranger across the face. "You sorry son of a bitch. You can't just be happy for me can you?"

As she paced the room trying to reel in the anger, she decided she needed to go to the gym to pound the bag before she did something else to Ranger. "You listen to me you arrogant bastard. I LOVE Lester Santos, do you hear me? I am in love with him, and nothing, I mean nothing you do or say will change that. You had your chance, and you fucking blew it. I can't wait to go to Australia, and get the hell away from you."

Ranger sat there stunned, he knew she loved Lester, but he still hoped that a part of her still belonged to him. He knew he had fucked everything up, but he still thought they were getting back on track. He wanted to take her in his arms, and never let her go until she admitted that she was still in love with him.

"Babe, please…"

She cut him off. "Don't babe me Ranger. You lost that right a long time ago." She got in his face and made sure he was looking at her. "You will call me Stephanie or Steph. That is all." With that, she stormed out of the conference room.

The guys stood in the hall, and watched her walk out. While Tank knew without a doubt that Stephanie would pick Lester, he also knew that Ranger was hoping for a second chance. He had tried to tell Ranger not to expect it, but Ranger wouldn't listen.

Lester, Bobby, and Zero watched the monitors and saw Stephanie head for the gym. Les knew she was about to blow and wanted to know why. He marched into Ranger's office slamming the door shut behind him.

"What the fuck did you say to her?" Lester had his hands clenched at his sides, and his nostrils were flaring with each breath. He thought for sure things had settled down between the three of them, and that they were going to be friends.

"I don't owe you an explanation." Ranger tried to shove past Lester, but Les held his ground.

"When you hurt the woman I love, you DO own me an explanation."

Ranger smiled at Lester as he got close to his face. "I told her the truth, that it should have been me she picked. I would do much better undercover than you would." Ranger shrugged and smiled. "She and I have worked the married part before, and we were damn good at it."

"Don't you get it man? She isn't in love with you anymore. You hurt her more than anyone in her life. You were her best friend, and you fucking lied to her." Lester was almost shouting at that point.

"Oh and you have never lied to her, Santos? You have told her the truth about everything?" Ranger had a smirk on his face and he just knew he had Lester there.

"Yes, Carlos, I've told her everything. She knows all about my past. Steph and I have sat up many nights just talking. She knows I was engaged and what happened. She is fine with that. She knows about my time in the Rangers. I have NO secrets from her." Lester walked closer to Ranger and leaned towards him. "Stay away from her. I hope you will use the time that she and I are gone to get your life together. I thought we had things fixed, but evidently, I was wrong. I won't let this happen again."

With that, Lester walked out and slammed the door shut. He counted to five and heard Rangers fist hit the wall. He walked to the monitors, saw Stephanie was still in the gym, and headed there to make sure she was okay.

OoOoOooo

Stephanie saw Lester walk into the gym, but she didn't stop punching the bag. "He's a fucking asshole, Les. He wanted me to pick him so he could get me away from you. He hoped that if he and I went to Australia, and you stayed here, that I would end up back with him. He just doesn't get it. I hate him right now." She stopped punching the bag and sank down to the floor. "I hate him so fucking much. Why is it that almost every guy in my life ends up being a jerk?"

Lester sat down next to her and wrapped his arms around her. "Steph, I'm sorry he is acting like that, and I'm sorry he hurt you again." Lester kissed her temple and pushed the hair out of her face. "I hope that you don't think I'm a jerk. I would do anything to protect you, Steph. I really do love you."

She leaned into him and relaxed a little. "I love you, too, Les. I know you're not a jerk. You and my dad are about the only two males I can count on. I can't wait to get out of here, and away from everyone else." She looked up at Lester and kissed him softly before standing back up. "I need to finish working out my frustrations."

He gave her his wolf grin. "Baby, I can help you work out any frustrations you have." She smiled at him, and then pushed him to get back to work.

OoOoOoOo

After work, Stephanie and Lester headed to see her dad and grandma. They let them know that they were going to be out of the country for at least a year, if not longer, but that they would find a way to keep in touch. Frank was glad to know that Lester would be with Stephanie, he really liked him.

They went back to their house and started to pack some things. They were told by the agents that they would have a house in Australia, so they just needed to pack one suitcase each with some clothes and toiletries. They could always purchase more once they arrived.

Once they had stuff packed, they decided to head to bed. They needed to be at RangeMan early tomorrow morning to sign the papers and get their info. They would be flying out soon.

Lester pulled Stephanie into him and held her tight. He had his hands on her stomach, tracing circles with his fingers. He loved feeling her near him. "Steph?"

"Hmm?"

"I know how you feel about marriage; do you think we can really do this?"

"Les, I know you and I can do this. If I were to ever get married again, I hope it would be to you. I know you would never hurt me or cheat on me." She snuggled into him more and kissed his neck.

"I would never hurt you, Baby." Les took a deep breath, reached under his pillow and pulled out a box. "Steph, would you marry me?"

Stephanie stopped kissing his neck, and froze. Not sure she heard him right she sat up and looked at his eyes. She knew then that she did hear what she thought. "Les, you really want to marry me?"

"Yes." Lester nodded and sat up next to her, taking her hand in his. "I had planned on asking you this weekend, but then this mission came up. If you don't want to, I understand. I just thought…"

She kissed him to shut him up. Their tongues fought for control. She climbed on top him, straddled his legs, and looked at him as a tear rolled down her cheek. "I love you Lester Mateo Santos. Yes, I will marry you. Anytime, anywhere."

Lester took the ring out of the box, slipped it on her finger, then leaned up, and kissed her. He was so excited she said yes. He was surprised to find he wasn't worried about her leaving him at the alter; he knew she wouldn't. This time, it was right.

They spent a few hours showing each other how much they cared and finally fell asleep around three in the morning, knowing that the next day would bring a lot of changes.