Title: A Recon Mission

Author: Robin

Disclaimer: The characters belong to JE, this nonsense belongs to me.

A/N: This short is set after The Dating Game – Alt. Ending and The Next Step. A Tank/Ranger conversation about our girl, Steph.

Rating: R for language

Ranger's POV

The vibration at my hip startled me, but my body had been well trained not to betray my surprise by even a twitch. This was a good thing since I was perched on a tree limb about ten feet off the ground. I pulled the phone off my belt, glanced at the number and flipped it open with just a little impatience.

"Speak," I said softly, not wanting my voice to carry in the quiet night.

"Where you at, man?" Tank asked. If he noticed my less than civil greeting he didn't mention it.

"I'm offline. There something you need?" I asked quietly, knowing he didn't need anything. He was just keeping tabs on me.

"Nope," he answered. I could hear the smile in his voice as he continued, "I was just wonderin' if you were trying to add stalker to your rap sheet."

I sighed. Of course he knew where I was. Knew how pathetic I was. Knew I was in her parking lot, in the middle of the night watching her apartment. Hopefully he didn't know about the whole tree thing. Talk about ruining my rep. "It's not stalking. I'm doing reconnaissance." Sounded like a good justification to me.

"You're acting like a love-sick fool," Tank snorted. There was a pause before he said, "I suppose you know Santos is there."

"Yup." I glared at the Rangeman issued black Explorer on the other side of the parking lot. Of course I knew he was here. I had the capability to call into our system and find out the GPS location of any of my men at any given time without having to go through the control room… one of the perks of being the boss and a way I could keep tabs on my motley crew. But I'd needed common sense not state of the art GPS to know that he'd be here tonight. This is where I'd be if I were him.

"You been there long?" Tank asked.

"Nope." I'd only gotten here a few minutes ago, right after Santos. I knew this because his engine was still hot when I'd touched the hood, the auxiliary fan still working to cool it down. I was parked around the corner and had walked over. It was a nice night for spying, perfect temperature and no humidity. Steph had her lights blazing and windows open wide to let in the Jersey-fresh breeze, giving me a view of almost her entire apartment from my perch. I saw her moving in the kitchen and bustling around, straightening her already tidy living room.

The odd thing was there was no sign of Santos. "What time do you show Santos arriving?" I asked.

"About ten minutes ago. Why, they goin' at it already?" I closed my eyes at that mental image and nearly lost my balance in the process. My hand shot out, grabbing the trunk to steady myself. Wouldn't that be the icing on this crappy cake if I fell and broke a leg under her window?

"No," I gritted out when I finally settled in again. "Don't say that kinda shit."

Tank was laughing when he said, "Hey, I'm just sayin' things got pretty hot between those two in the conference room today. I don't think it'll take long." That thought settled like a lead weight in my stomach. "So, what are they doin'?"

"Nothing. He's not in her apartment," I said, craning my neck to see every corner of the parking lot, hoping he wasn't watching me watching her.

"Where the fuck did he go?"

"Dunno," I wondered. At that moment, Steph stopped what she was doing. I froze hoping she hadn't heard me, but relaxed when she looked at her door. She walked over and peered through the peep hole. She paused for a moment and I could see she was smiling. "Wait," I whispered, "Steph's opening the door."

The door swung open and I watched as Steph pulled Lester into her apartment and into her arms, kissing him hello with enthusiasm. My throat constricted at the sight and I wanted to close my eyes, but I really didn't want to fall out of the fucking tree. "Why the fuck am I watching this?" I asked myself.

I realized I'd said it aloud when Tank answered, "I don't know. Why are you doin' this to yourself?"

I shook my head trying to figure it out myself. "I love her. I want her. I have to figure out how to get her."

"You realize you do this wrong and you'll lose more than just her, right? Like the respect of the guys." There was a long pause. "Like respect for yourself." This last statement was made from below me and I looked down to see Tank standing at the base of the tree.

Fuck. This was embarrassing.

"Get the fuck down here, man," he said.

I slipped from the limb and dropped to the ground beside him, landing with a quiet thud. Avoiding his eyes, I sat down on the curb, rested my elbow on my knee and propped my chin up with my hand. Wordlessly Tank sat next to me.

"I'm worried about you," he said finally.

Me too. "I don't know what happened to my life. I used to know what I was doing. Now I don't," I said, my eyes fixed unseeingly on a distant point.

I'm not sure how long we sat there, in the parking lot, on the curb, next to the tree, under the window of her apartment where she was in someone else's arms. I groaned, hell, I'm starting to think like a country singer.

Finally, Tank said, "Come on, I'm taking you home."

I shook my head, "I've got it. I'm parked around the corner.

"You're not driving yourself. Christ, Ranger, you smell like a damned liquor store."

"That's what happens when you drink a bottle of scotch by yourself. Nasty stuff," I shuddered at the memory of the biting liquid before continuing. "But, that was hours ago. I'm fine now."

"Sure, because you usually hang out in trees," he returned sarcastically. "I'm also taking you home 'cause if I let you out of my sight, you'll probably end right back up there. Or up the fire escape and in her apartment. Or getting your ass handed to you by Santos."

"Pfff," I said, waving a hand at him. "I could take him and you know it."

Tank spread his hands, palms up and shrugged, "Normally, yeah. Tonight, I'm not so sure."

Well that was a deathblow to my ego. Not only was Lester with my woman, but now Tank thought he could take me. "You're not helping," I said.

"Sorry, man. I told Steph I'd back her play, Ranger, and I will. But, you're my best friend and we'll figure something out," he said, getting to his feet and offering me a hand. "Tomorrow."

He pulled me to my feet and we did the one-armed man-hug thing. "Thanks, Tank," I said.

As we separated, there was a noise at the window above and together, Tank and I looked up. Steph was leaning out her living room window, staring down at us.

Shit.

The end…