A/N: The characters are JE's. I don't own them, I just borrowed them without permission.

This short ties in between Stronger and Birthday Surprises.

Thanks to Mud for editing.

Follow up 1

"Moxie."

"No."

"We've been at it for two hours now. Let me at least take a break."

"No." Was it that hard to believe?

"But Moxie."

"I said no, damnit. Stop the whining Les and start taking this serious here. I don't want the same disaster the next time when we're shipped out, just because you guys can't throw a dart. Now do it again."

"Please. Let me take a break. My arms hurt and I'm gonna be sore tomorrow."

"Stop acting like a little girl. The more you whine, the longer it will take. I'll let you go when you hit the target three times in a row. But there's gonna be another session tomorrow."

I didn't really enjoy torturing the guys one at a time here, but other than Ranger, they all had serious problems hitting the mark with a tranq dart. Made me wonder if they'd ever played darts.

"No, we usually played pool." There went the ESP again.

"Lester Santos, just get your ass in gear. I've better things to do than watch you." I went over to correct his stance once again. And then I adjusted his arms, like I had done a dozen times already.

He finally decided to throw the darts like I had shown him. I watched him with hawks eyes, but in eventually he got the hang of it and I decided to let him go for the day.

When we made our way up to the break room, Les asked me about my first experiences with the darts. "How long did it take you to get the hang of it?"

"Not sure, but it was one of the things I got rather quick. The guys were kicking my ass to get me to speed up, so don't you dare and think I've been pushing you, because that was nothing."

"Okay, but why do you want us to get professionals at throwing stuff."

"A professional is an amateur who didn't quit the training."

"Huh?"

"At the beginning in boot camp, did you go there, already perfect with your gun?"

"Not perfect, but I'd picked up a few things already."

"When you started shooting, did you hit the target every time?"

"No, but with training I got better." We were finally getting somewhere.

"And you knew that in the army, being able to shoot really good may one day safe your life, so you tried everything to get better at it. Right?"

"Yeah. Where are you going with this?"

"Just wait. When we were shipped out, how would you've incapacitated the guards while we got out the hostage without them knowing that someone's there?"

"I don't know. If you hadn't been there, we'd probably have them taken down and when we had the hostage out tried to hide the bodies a little."

"Which version would be the easier one?"

"Yours."

"Thanks Les. I don't want to torture you deliberately. I'm just trying to give you another tool that's helped me on numerous occasions now."

"What do you mean numerous occasions?"

"For one, the mission TK took me on, we used them. And then the one we all went together. But I've also been using them to take down wily skips. I have a lighter tranq in them, but the skips sleep the whole way to the station. You don't have to listen to cursing and their threats. You just send them under and then have a good trip. Only problem is, you have to get them into the car, but Lil's pretty good with stuff like this."

"How come he never told me anything about it?"

"No idea. That's something you'll have to ask him."

"Okay. I see now where you're coming from, but I sure don't like it to be tortured at the gun range again. Makes me feel like boot camp all over again."

"I know Les. But I prefer boot camp over being captured every day of the week."

We made our way through the hallway, when I stopped at my office door. "Les, I just remembered there's some paperwork waiting I need to finish. If you see Lil, can you send him to me please?"

"Sure."

"Oh, and you should ask Bobby to give you some cream for your wrist. He'll know what to give you."

"You serious?"

"Absolutely. Same time tomorrow in the gun range."

"Moxie, you're evil."

"Don't I know it. Now go and get some lunch or Tank might have eaten it all."

He nodded and was on his way.

I stepped in my office and once again took the time to look around. Ranger and the guys had surprised me with my own office two weeks after we came back from our mission. It took Ranger and me half an hour to christen the desk, half a day later all available surfaces had been christened. But I still loved to have my own office, instead of working in a cubicle. I even had a plaque with my name and function next to the door.

The office itself was done in a light blue, to accentuate my eyes, Ranger had said, with a large window wall. The floor was a dark, expensive hardwood, just the way I liked it best. I wasn't a fan of carpet and Ranger obviously knew that. One wall was covered with cases to hold files. In the corner between the door to the hallway and the door that connected my office with Ranger's was a dark leather couch, complete with an armchair and a glass coffee table. My desk itself was magnificent. Done in a dark wood, sturdy yet feminine, I had no idea where he'd gotten it, but I loved it. The various drawers held everything I needed and the top of the line laptop on top of it was way more advanced than every other computer I'd ever worked with. I'd started to refuse all the luxuries, but Ranger's only response was that I deserved it to be spoiled and had shut me up with a kiss.

But the best detail was the small bathroom Ranger had installed for me. It was small, but it even held a shower. As I was the only woman at RangeMan, next to Ella, I'd always had to go up to our apartment to take care of business. Now I just had to walk a few steps. I shared it with Ranger, but it certainly had gotten handy a few times already, especially to clean up after an unplanned but very enjoyable encounter before we were to meet a client.

Thanks for reading. I'll add to this occasionally, not only shorts that tie in between the main stories, but also alternative POVs of certain situations or stuff that happens parallel to Birthday Surprises but isn't essential to this story.

Feedback is greatly appreciated, especially with tipps what to improve. TIA, Kat