Character's don't belong to me. I'm just borrowing them for a short time. Lyrics in bold italics belong to Maroon 5. I heard their song and thought of Ranger and Steph.

No beta - mistakes are mine

Daylight

RPOV

I knew this was coming. I knew it from the moment I woke up to the phone ringing, that this was the day. This was the last day to spend with my Babe. I have one last mission to do for the government and then I am out. I refused to resign anything they offered me. I am too old, too tired, and too much in love to continue this life.

When I first got out of the Ranger's, I was young and thought I was invincible. I could do it all. I could save the world. I was an idiot. The operations were hell. I can't even begin to describe what I was forced to do in the name of "national security", but I did it. The money was good, and doing the operations let me start RangeMan. Too bad that it is going to be all that's left after I'm done.

I got the call early this morning and knew from the tone of the conversation with my handler that this was going to be a bad mission. When he faxed the information of what they wanted from me, I knew it was all over. This was, indeed, my last mission.

I notified Tank, my second in command, that I was leaving and let him read the operations folder. With one look, he understood what was being asked of me. Nothing was said as I nodded my head to him and walked out of the office. I only had one day left and I was going to live it.

I pulled up to Steph's apartment. It was a Sunday, so I knew she would be home. She likes to take at least one day to "pamper" herself. God, how was I going to tell her?

It took Steph and I a while to get our shit together, but when we finally admitted to each other how we felt, it was amazing. I have never felt so free in all my life. No more hiding my feelings. I promised her when we started our relationship that I would always be open and honest with her; but how could I be honest about this? How was I going to tell her that this was our last night together?

I slowly walked up to her apartment and picked the poor excuse for a lock. When she heard the door open, she poked her perfect beautiful head out of her bedroom and smiled at me. I gave a small smile back. I didn't have the heart to give any more.

"Hey Batman. What brings you to my humble abode today? Did we have a date that I forgot about?" She smiled again and walked toward me.

"Hey Babe. No date. Just need to talk to you." She could tell by my tone and the look on my face that she wasn't going to like this talk. She could see the worry and sadness that I felt and suddenly her face crumbled and she began to cry. Shit, this is why I didn't do relationships.

I took her into my arms to comfort her. She knew what I was here to say. "When do you leave?" I heard her faint whisper of the question she never wanted to ask.

"I have to be in Washington tomorrow afternoon, so I need to leave here when the sun comes up. I'm so sorry Babe." I didn't know what else to say to her to make it easier.

"When will you be back?" Shit, how do I tell her that I probably wouldn't ever be back? How do I break her heart? All I could do is sigh and pull her closer to me.

"I don't know, Babe. I don't know." She understood the meaning of my uncertainty. She knew what I couldn't say. She shook her head and lifted her head from my chest to gaze into my eyes. Her crystal blue eyes were shinning with unshed tears, but she pulled my head down to hers and kissed me. The next thing I know we are in the bedroom and both wearing far less clothes than a second ago.

After hours of making love to the woman who held my heart, I knew I needed to leave soon. I didn't want to stay all night because it would just make it harder on her, but I couldn't make myself leave.

Here I am waiting, I'll have to leave soon

Why am I, holding on?

We knew this day would come, we knew it all along

How did it, come so fast?

It felt like just yesterday that we agreed to a relationship. I fought my feelings for her for so damn long. I was siting in my office working on paperwork when I got the emergency page that Steph was in trouble. I took off out of my office yelling for backup and ran to my Turbo.

It took me seven minutes to get to the location where she had activated her panic button. What I found when I got there scared the crap out of me. She was inside a quickie mart holding a box of Tasty Cakes. As scary as that is, the maniac waving a gun in her face was what caused my immediate panic. She looked scared, but when she looked out the window and locked eyes with me her fear disappeared and determination took its place.

I knew what she was going to do and I didn't want her to get hurt and began to yell at her to stop, but it was too late. In one swift move, that the guys taught her, she pulled the gun out of the crazy guy's hands and had him face down on the cold floor. She pointed the gun at him with a triumphant smile on her face. I was shocked at first and then so damn proud of her.

We all ran inside and as the guys took control of the guy on the floor, I took her into my arms and gave her a panty ruining kiss.

"Don't ever scare me like that again." I sighed and kissed her again. After that day, we were together. We never spoke about what we were doing, but we both knew that we belonged together. She was mine and I would always be hers.

I warned her that I could get called away, but she didn't care. She wanted me for as long as she could have me and I wanted her for the rest of my life. Which turns out was coming very soon.

This is our last night but it's late

And I'm trying not to sleep

Cause I know, when I wake, I will have to slip away

I didn't want to sleep even though I was exhausted. I could sleep on the damn plane. This was our last night together and we were going to damn well spend it wrapped in each others arms. I wasn't leaving her until I absolutely had to. I would wait until the last damn second. We both knew what was coming and both of us were holding on to what we could.

And when the daylight comes I'll have to go

But tonight I'm gonna hold you so close

Cause in the daylight we'll be on our own

But tonight I need to hold you so close

Damn daylight. Why couldn't it stay dark forever? Knowing that when the sun comes up, I wouldn't have my Babe in my arms any longer was the hardest thing to deal with. Knowing that this was our last night was agonizing.

I could feel Steph crying in my arms and just held her tighter. I can't imagine what's going on in her mind.

"I don't want to be alone." Her broken voice came out of nowhere. She sounded so terrified and it broke my heart to know that she would have to learn to live without me.

"You'll never be alone, Babe. You'll always have the guys. Lean on them, please." I wanted her to have a support system. I wanted her to know that with or without me, they would always be there.

"It won't be the same." It took every thing I had not to call the General and tell him to fuck off. God, this was killing me. I can't even speak because my voice would crack and give away too many of my emotions. I tried to stop the tears, but they fell from my eyes anyway. We clung to each other and allowed ourselves to grieve for what we were losing.

Here I am staring at your perfection

In my arms, so beautiful

The sky is getting back the stars are burning out

Somebody slow it down

God, someone please stop the sun from raising. I want to hold this woman in my arms for the rest of my life, but I only have that privilege until the sun come up. We spent the entire night making love and crying together. The joyous tears shed were because we got to experience so much love in the short amount of time we were together. The painful tears came when reality set in and we knew that this was all going to end.

This is way too hard, cause I know

When the sun comes up, I will leave

This is my last glance that will soon be memory

This is the hardest fucking thing that I've ever had to do. I've never once regretted my decision to join the army until right now. Knowing that once that damn bright ball of burning gas come up, I have to leave. I have to go to hell and I will never be back.

I can see that damn sun peaking in her window and I know that my time is up. I make love to her one last time while the sun burns out the last of the stars. As we climax together we both let the tears fall and I hold her so damn close. I kiss her one last time.

"Stay in bed, Babe. This is how I want to remember you." I pull away from her and she clutches my arms. I kiss her once more and climb out of bed. I quickly put my clothes on and lay back down with her. The tears have stopped, but she looks so damn sad.

"I love you so much Stephanie, and I'm so sorry that I'm leaving you like this." I brush her beautiful hair back from her face.

"I love you too, Carlos. I will always love you." She cupped my face with her little hands and picked her head up to kiss me. It was a goodbye kiss and I tasted the saltiness of her tears. I held on as long as I could, but I knew it was time to go.

I stood and grabbed my small bag. I looked one last time at the love of my life. This was all I was going to get. A memory. Our someday came to an end when the sun came up. She smiled at me and that little show of support gave me the strength to walk away. I turned and left her bedroom, her apartment, her life.

Driving to Washington DC was tortuous. I usually spend my time driving to clear my head and prepare myself to do whatever I needed to do. I couldn't clear my head today. I thought about the woman who I left behind and what she must be going through. I thought about the dreams that we would never get to make come true and about the life that we would never get to live.

I never wanted to stop because I don't wanna start all over, start all over

I was afraid of the dark but now it's all that I want, all that I want, all that I want

I used to be scared of the dark, but I would give anything to go back to last night and to live it all over again. I would spend the rest of my life in darkness, as long as I could spend it with her. I know that's not possible. Last night would have to be enough to keep me sane, until the end. Which would probably come sooner than later. I didn't expect to see too many more sunrises, not that I would ever enjoy them like I used to.

I used to look at sunrises as the dawning of a new day. New opportunities to be had and new people to meet. I used to great them with anticipation and excitement. Now, laying on this mat in the middle of a fucking jungle, I greet them with disdain and anger. Today was the last time I would see a sunrise.

Today I will give my life to ensure the safety of people who I have never met. Today I will sacrifice myself in the name of national security. Today I will die so you can be safe at home. You do not have to thank me, but just be thankful that there are men like me who chose your happiness over their own.

I would much rather be in bed with Stephanie. I would much rather watch the sunrise with her in my arms, but I chose this life and I will complete my mission. Daylight is here, it's time for me to go.