This story follows immediately after 'When You Say No' and uses the same multi-POV concept. Enjoy.

Ranger's POV

I dragged myself out of my seat and waved at the guys who were lucky enough to be heading back to Trenton. I nodded to Tank and told him I'd be in touch. Tank knew the ropes and he was perfectly capable of running RangeMan in my absence. I just hope I am not gone too long or my Babe might have second thoughts about letting me into her life as more than just a friend. It would also give Morelli time to weasel his way back in.

Perhaps I should call Tank and ask him to keep an eye on Morelli. If he goes near Steph, I should probably have Tank pay him a visit to discourage his interaction with my Babe. I trusted my Babe, but I definitely did not trust Morelli. Then again, he never trusted me around Stephanie, so fair is fair I suppose. I ran my hands through my hair and patted my pockets to make sure that everything was still there.

I even patted my back pockets, knowing that I hadn't actually put anything there, but it was sort of a habit of mine. Despite my habit, I was surprised to find that there was something in the back pocket of my cargoes. I had only worn there for a short time on the trip down here a few days ago, so whatever it was it must have been put there or left there from Trenton.

I looked around at the other four people climbing off the plane and reached into my back pocket. The paper in my pocket was a folded sheet of yellow legal pad paper, and my breath caught in my throat when I unfolded and smoothed out the paper.

"Wow Boss, that's a great drawing of Steph. Where did it come from?"

I looked up at Leister and growled. The smile disappeared from Leister's face and he continued walking to the waiting cars. I looked down at the piece of paper and thought back to my departure. Babe patted me on the ass and I shrugged it off at the time. Now I was sure that was when this paper made its way into my pocket.

There were two cars waiting for us at the airport. I would travel with the two agents and Leister would travel with Fiona. This worked for me because I hadn't really had much of a chance to talk to the guys back at the office in Atlanta. I wanted to get more information from them about General Matthew's mental deterioration.

Once inside the car, I pulled out the drawing and looked at it again. This time, I noticed that Babe had added to the words below the drawing. Under my scrawl saying that I wished the baby in the picture was mine, Babe added, 'Wishes can come true."

I smiled at the possibility of having a baby with my Babe. I always pushed those ideas the furthest part of my mind, but lately I wasn't having that much success in suppressing them. I carefully folded the drawing and replaced it in my pocket, making a mental note to talk to Babe about it later.

I turned in my seat and looked at the two men in the back seat. They were both sitting there, looking a little apprehensive. I smiled at them and said, "There is no reason to be nervous gentlemen. I am not planning on doing anything to you or Miss LeBlanc. In fact, I'm hoping that the three of you can help me get rid of the General. He is clearly no longer fit for duty and he needs to retire."

I saw Agent Polanski pale at this statement, so I figured I should clarify. "I don't plan on retiring him permanently. I'm not going to kill him. If something had happened to Leister, I might have considered it, but it is clear that the man is not all there, so there's little point punishing him. He needs help and the rest of his staff and operators need a new leader. I plan to make that happen as quickly as possible so I can get home and get on with my life."

Agent Polanski looked over at Agent Williams and nodded. He then took a deep breath and said, "We shouldn't have gone along with this last mission. We knew there was something wrong, but we were too afraid that the General would fire us. All three of us, Agent LeBlanc included have wanted to get out for a while. Maybe this is our chance. It's just too bad that the General won't be able to give us any recommendations. Going from Black Ops to any other government agency of police force requires a letter from your commander. That won't be possible for us."

I thought for a moment and said, "Would either of you be interested in working for RangeMan? I have a few friends in the FBI who would consider 6 months at RangeMan as a good starter. I could also explain the whole General situation."

Williams looked at me and said, "No offence Manoso, but your firm doesn't exactly have the best reputation for working inside the confines of the law. Why would the FBI consider working for you helpful?"

"Working for RangeMan is about following orders, no questions asked. It's a lot like being in the military. We also have a very strict training regimen. All our staff must pass a set of tests that are much harder than those required for the FBI. They know in advance that RangeMan staff would pass all their field tests at Quantico with little difficulty. Besides, I'm fully aware of the legality of some of the missions I went on for the general. They were all a little grey. I've worked many cases with the FBI in recent years and we have a lot of respect for each other. My good word will go a long way."

This time, Polanski asked, "Where would we have to be stationed? Which RangeMan office? I know you have several."

I nodded and said, "Ideally, you should be stationed at the head office because that's where I am, but if there are personal circumstances that make that difficult, we can discuss one of my other offices located in Boston, Atlanta or Miami. I don't need an answer today. You can even try your luck out in the real world. You might find you have no problems."

Williams nodded and thanked me for my offer. He said he'd think about it and Polanski nodded his agreement.

When we pulled into the front of the hotel I said, "Gentlemen, we'll be staying at a hotel tonight. I know you probably have your own places locally, but we need to keep our presence in D.C. unknown for as long as possible.

"I'm expecting to get my ultimatum from General Matthews any time now, and once I know he's back, we can come out into the open. We'll all stay at the same hotel and I would appreciate it if you stayed there. RangeMan will pick up the tab for any room service, so make yourselves at home.

"We'll meet at 0900 to make a plan for tomorrow. I'll talk to Leister Santos and Miss LeBlanc as soon as they get to the hotel."

Both men nodded and climbed out of the car and collected their bags from the back. They went into the lobby to wait for the rest of us. Leister and Fiona's car pulled up behind us and I walked over to relay the same message.

About 10 minutes later, I threw my bag onto the 2nd double bed in my hotel room. I looked at my watch and it said that it was just after midnight. I worried for a moment about waking my Babe if I called her, but figured she'd rather hear from me now than in the morning.

"Ranger?"

"Yeah Babe, it's me. Sorry to wake you so late."

"S'ok Ranger. I was hoping you'd call when you landed."

"Babe, I found the drawing you put in my pocket this evening. I read what you wrote on the bottom. Did you mean it?"

"Unhmmm, yeah, but I didn't mean tomorrow or anything."

I laughed and said, "Maybe we should get a bit of practise in before we commit to anything this life altering."

I heard my Babe sigh and say, "Yeah, practise. Lots and lot of practise."

"Does this mean the whole three date rule is no longer needed Babe?"

I heard a ruffle noise and then Babe said, "I think it's necessary now more than ever Ranger. We actually need to make sure that we really are on the same page."

"You're right Babe. Why don't you go back to sleep. Tomorrow is your official first day at RangeMan. I'm sure you'll have a full schedule so I don't want you to be too tired."

"Good point Ranger. Will you call me tomorrow?"

"You can count on it Babe."

Well, that's how this one starts. More to come soon.

L.