Thank you Lulubelle09 for putting this challenge out there for us. We have all had fun with it!
Standard FF disclaimers apply.
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I NEED YOU!
The canopy of thick vines and low hanging trees disguised their retreat as they carried the wounded men from the hell hole that that they had been trapped in for the past several months. Semi-conscious, the men barely understood what was happening to them. Even in their serious conditions, they had already been moved around to several locations in an attempt to prevent just such a rescue as they finally got tonight.
A special team made up of former Army Rangers had taken on the assignment to find this group of scientists and businessmen that had been abducted from the top secret research lab that they were building in the heart of the amazon jungle in Ecuador.
A very large, very tall man had been keeping watch over one end of the enemy camp as the operation took place. It was the careful eye of the man they called Tank, who kept them all safe, and allowed them to escape without detection. He and his partner entered the camp first. Without a sound they moved stealthily and one by one the guards were laid down in their final resting places. It was their job to do and they did it well, skilled as they were with the hunting knives they both carried.
At once the rest of the team in came to free the prisoners. Tank and Lester continued their watch, and it was then that Tank noticed the change in the calls of the birds in the trees surrounding the compound. He made a hand signal to the team, indicating that they needed to become invisible as quickly as possible. Moments later, no one was in sight when three small, dark skinned men snuck around the thatched huts with their large automatic weapons ready in their hands.
The men were confused, they had seen the team, it had been their job to watch and they came down from their hiding places to take care of the intruders, only they could not find them. Suddenly they ran into Tank. Or rather he ran into them, literally. None of the men would ever recover from their encounter with the big man.
On his signal, the team resumed their search of the huts. They were looking for four men. They found them. Starving, severely dehydrated, and injured, no doubt the result of the torture they had been subjected to by their captors. With great care Ranger assisted his men as they securely strapped the incapacitated men into the stretchers that they had brought for just this purpose.
Tank kept his careful watch as they silently prepared to leave the camp that now only held dead guards as its occupants. It was eerily quiet as he followed the team. He and Lester would be the last ones to leave the camp. Cal and Woody were doing a thorough check of each of the huts. Tank watched as they moved from one hut to the other. Each was checked and stripped of anything that looked important. Everything was going according to plan, exactly on schedule, right up until they approached the last hut.
The cracking noise from the softest footfall on the rickety bamboo step made them all freeze. Tank cocked his head to one side, he heard another unexpected sound. They all held their breath, and they heard it again. Tank motioned the other men back. Ranger saw what was happening and was immediately by his side. Extra precautions were taken before he entered the hut, Tank and Lester now each had a gun in one hand along with the knives they still held in the other. Several tense moments later Ranger emerged with a small cloth bundle in the crook of his arm. The look on his face prompted his friends to take immediate action. Lester took the bundle from him, and Hal inched around him to search the hut. Tank stared at him. The look they exchanged spoke volumes. No one ever wanted this to happen.
With the powerful beam of his flashlight, Hal surveyed the interior of the small hut. It was unlike any of the others that they had seen. Covering the walls were strips of fabric stuck in the loose slats as if they had been washed and hung up to dry. Buried in one corner, under bamboo mats and scraps of cloth that may have been blankets at one time, he found a thin ledger type book stuffed with wrinkled papers that had been smoothed out, folded and carefully tucked inside. Letters he noticed. Methodically he filled his pack with the items he could recover. He bowed his head and covered the body of the woman lying in the middle of the floor. His eyes met Rangers as he came out. No, this was not what they ever wanted to find during one of their missions.
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Helen Plum was yelling again, she had to in order to be heard over the happy noise in the park. She stole a glance at the hibatchi grill that was perched on the end of the picnic table, the burgers needed to be flipped. Once again she looked over at Frank who had just been wrestled down to the ground by Mary Alice and her best friend Tony in a friendly game of Frisbee. Little Nicky ran and jumped on top of the pile giggling as Frank grabbed him and started tickling him. Shaking her head at the antics of her husband, she shrugged and went back to the grill.
With a quick twist of her wrist, the burgers were turned over. A slice of American cheese was placed on the top of each burger to melt as they finished cooking. Helen turned again to call the family to dinner. Stephanie and Valerie helped round up the troops and herded them to the table.
This scene had become a regular occurrence in the past couple of months. Helen and Frank hosted the family BBQ in the nearby park in order to have a fun excuse to play with the grand kids, and to help the young mother of newborn twins that lived across the street. She could always use a break because along with the twins, this little family also boasted two active boys ages four and six.
Tony was the six year old, he liked to play with Mary Alice because she pretended to be a horse. He loved horses, even if he never tried to be one himself. Nicky was happiest when he was playing with Frank, which, as it turned out was nearly every day because Frank couldn't get enough of the little guy either. Every afternoon Helen would roll her eyes as she looked out the window and saw Frank teaching him the finer points of baseball, basketball and sword play all while he was on his knees in order to be at Nicky's height.
"Hands up!" Stephanie said, and four sets of hands shot up into the air. Each hand was wiped down with a moist towelette before they started to eat. At the end of the table, Valerie sat down with Lisa and tried to play the same game with her, but Lisa never seemed to like getting her hands or face cleaned, instead she started squirming and crying until Valerie finally gave up.
Plates of half eaten food were still scattered along the picnic table. The mess went unnoticed for the time being. Frank and Helen were sitting at the table talking in hushed tones as they watched Stephanie who was lying down on the large soft blanket had been spread out under the big oak tree. She was playing 'possum', pretending that she had fallen asleep. It worked every time. Before long, all of the kids were curled up around her taking naps after their active afternoon.
Helen was counting her blessings today. It had been so much fun watching Tony and Nicky. She gazed over at Frank, he looked content. It was keeping them both young having these kids around. Valerie's girls loved playing with the boys, Angie was a little babysitter, keeping them in line and Mary Alice loved having some boys to rough and tumble with.
Helen looked at Stephanie again. Her biggest blessing of all was that she had quit working at Vinnie's. Something about a promise she had made to Ranger before he left on another assignment. Helen did not care why, she was just glad that she had stopped getting calls about cars blowing up and she was happy knowing that Stephanie was safe when she went to work in the RangeMan building.
Behind her closed eyes, Stephanie was thinking about Ranger. She worried about him, every second of every day that he was gone. She had made a decision before he left. And so had he. By promising him to be careful while he was gone, she had pretty much changed her whole life. Joe was gone. It was never really about him anyway. They were never meant to be together. She had discovered that she would only be happy with Ranger. It hadn't been that hard for her to realize it, but she hadn't said anything, she figured that he might not be ready for it yet. It didn't matter, she loved him and she would wait.
Nicky suddenly snuggled up closer to her and Stephanie wrapped her arm around him. The kid liked her, and she had been surprised at how that had made her feel. She had always said that she was not good with kids. Along with her nieces, Nicky and Tony had shown her that she had been wrong. She had a lot of love to share, and kids respond well to that. She liked how that felt. Not that she would be having any of her own any time soon, but now she was not freaked out about the idea of it being a possibility someday. She closed her eyes again, wondering how Ranger was doing right now, wherever he was.
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Ecosystems around the world were affected by the rainforests and jungles. The research that was going to be conducted in the newly constructed lab was intended to provide answers to the declining population of birds in the remote amazon jungle. Drs Taylor and Dutton had been excited to get the labs up and running. They had finally obtained funding from a large pharmaceutical company. After years of negotiations, the construction had just been completed. The grand tour inspection included several executives from the company that wanted to come and make sure that their money had been spent wisely.
Unfortunately they got more than they bargained for. The fact that they represented a drug company angered some of the nearby cartel leadership. They did not ask what the research was all about, they only felt that their business was being threatened and they acted accordingly.
The local government had sanctioned the research facility, hoping to bring even more American dollars into their coffers. So they were on alert when the drug lord made his move. Immediately the military was there to fight the cartel hit men. The scientists and businessmen got caught in the cross fire.
There was a standoff, and immediately the strategy was changed. The cartel kidnapped the men along with the woman who had come to provide translation services for the short time that the men from pharmaceutical company would be here.
International incidents were always a concern for the State Department. The fact that it involved top security projects and wealthy business men made it an urgent problem. Several attempts were made to negotiate a solution. When that failed, Ranger and his team were called in to steal back these important men.
They did not know about the young lady. In all of the intel that had been gathered, she had not been mentioned. The government wanted the scientists back, and the company wanted their executives found, but no one seemed to be looking for her. But they had found her, and her baby. It did something to the hearts and souls of these hardened men. It did something to Ranger when he had picked up the tiny bundle and looked into the eyes of the child, too weak to even cry.
Within twelve hours of the raid on the compound where they were being held, the men had been returned to the states. Ranger and his team, however, had not. They were still in Ecuador trying to cut through red tape. All over the helpless infant that had been found near the body of the dead woman.
Her identity and her story were finally provided by one of the scientists, when he was finally conscious. Maria Consuela Sanchez de Ibarra had been widowed before she sought employment with the lab. Dr Dutton was sympathetic to her plight, as she was expecting, so he hired her. After the kidnapping, the cartel had no intention of taking care of her, and she was treated as badly as the men. She died alone, days after delivering the baby herself, and just hours before Ranger and his men found her.
More searching revealed that Maria's husband, Matthias, had been killed in a territorial battle in the village. In an effort to defend their quiet safe lives, the men had fought the invasion of the cartel. They had lost. Maria knew that she was taking a risk by working for the lab. But it was the only job she could find, and she had wanted to be able to provide for her baby. Never had 'in the wrong place at the wrong time' ever been more devastatingly true, as it had been for Maria that day.
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As quietly as they had left, the team came back to RangeMan. Stephanie watched as they filed out of the elevator on the fifth floor. She waited, but Ranger was not with them. Her heart felt stabs of pain, he was not there. Her eyes searched Tank's for an explanation. But before he could say anything, her vision blurred and went dark. She fainted.
Waking up in Bobby's office, Stephanie did not say a word. If he was not coming back, she did not want to know. So she asked no questions that she didn't want the answers to. Bobby sat with her, soothing her with words that she did not hear, couldn't comprehend. Finally Tank came down to talk to her. She wouldn't, just couldn't look at him. The pain of what he might say was just too much for her.
"Stephanie, we need to talk," he said gently. She shook her head, still not looking up.
"No," she managed to say in nothing more than a tight whisper.
Her eyes were shut when she felt a phone being pressed into her hand. "You've got a call Steph," Tank said. Her heart lurched in her chest and her eyes opened, seeing Tank smiling and nodding.
"Ranger?" her strained voice said as she placed the phone by her ear.
"Babe," he said. "It is so good to hear your voice, are you alright?"
Tears streamed down her face, yes she was alright, he was alive, safe somewhere. The relief washed through her body, leaving her weak after all the conflicting emotions she had just experienced. She couldn't speak, and he seemed to know that so he continued talking to her. He couldn't give her details about his location or why he was still there, but he could say the things that he knew she needed to hear.
"Stephanie, you know that I love you." She nodded, and a smile lit up her tearstained face. 'And I love you' her heart yelled, but she still could not say a word. But he could hear the catch in her breath, he knew how she felt.
"I am trying to work something out," he told her. "But I can't do this without you." His grip tightened on the phone, he would be there with her, holding her, if he could trust the officials here to do the right thing. Instead, he sat in a sterile government building, holding a week old infant in his arms. This tiny little boy needed him. Needed a family. He was alone in this world and Ranger didn't know how to explain it, but he knew it was up to him to help him, he was supposed to be the one to watch over him.
This was the most unlikely situation. A child in his arms and the love of his life on the other end of the phone line. But it was right, they were supposed to be together, he just knew it. He was at a loss on how he was supposed to explain this to her. But he needed to try, here, now.
"Babe, I need a favor." He knew if he asked please, she would do anything he asked. But this was too important to force an answer like that. They both knew it was time to be together. He had just never imagined that it would happen this way.
Stephanie finally found her voice. "Of course," she said. "Anything you need."
Ranger took a deep breath. He needed to do this right. Well, as right as he could under the circumstances. He opened his mouth to speak, but he could hear muffled sounds from her phone. The phone dropped, but fortunately the call was not cut off. He listened, straining to hear what was happening, although he had a pretty good idea.
Tank picked up the phone and handed it to Stephanie. She was in shock, which was to be expected. But the smile on her face was radiant, and he just wished that Ranger could see it. With one hand she lifted the phone back to her ear. In the other hand she held the photograph that Tank had just handed to her.
Ranger smiled up at her. That is the first thing that she saw. That smile, the one that was just for her, made her heart leap with joy. There was something else in that smile. A question?
"Stephanie," Ranger finally said, after moments of silence where he could just hear her breathing. "I would like to introduce you to someone."
It was in that moment that she saw the small bundle that Ranger was holding close to his chest. A tiny hand reaching out to grab onto his shirt. Ranger was holding a baby? Stephanie's mind was whirling. She never expected to see this. Never ever imagined what it would be like to see him with a child in his arms. Tears sprang to her eyes. It looked perfect. He looked perfect. It felt right.
"Oh Ranger," she whispered. It sent magical shivers up and down his spine. It was a sound of awe, of reverence, she understood. It made his heart soar. He hugged the baby in his arms, and the contented sigh he made was heard all the way to Trenton. Made its way straight into her heart. She stared at the perfect little fingers. It was really all that she could see of the baby, but it was enough.
"I don't know quite what to say," she finally spoke. Then she waited for the explanation that she knew would be coming. Instead he asked her a question.
"Babe, is Tank there?" Stephanie was about to tell him that Tank had been here the whole time, but when she looked up, he was not anywhere to be seen. The confused look she gave Bobby made him laugh. Just then, the door opened and Tank walked back in the room.
"Uh, yeah," she said slowly, watching her friend walking toward her. What was he holding? Handing to her?
"We talked about this," Ranger started to say, but he immediately amended his statement. "We almost talked about this before I left," he said. Tank took the photo from her hands and replaced it with a small black velvet box. Ranger seemed to know exactly what was happening. "Open it," he said.
"I need you Stephanie," he whispered. Tears were in his eyes, and she could hear them in his voice. She joined him with tears of her own. "I need you to marry me," he finally said.
As Stephanie removed the ring from the box and slid it onto her finger, she heard the faint cry of the baby. It did something to her, deep inside and she knew that they were going to be a family. Her emotions were spilling over. "Carlos!" she said, her voice full of wonder, and awe with that thought.
That single word told him what he needed to know. His world was complete, more complete than he would have ever guessed possible. But her next words sealed it for him. "I need you," she said, the love evident in the tremor of her voice.
The baby softly cried out again. Stephanie laughed, "We need you!" "Now'" she quickly added.
In the most unlikely of settings, Stephanie stood in the infirmary at RangeMan and said I do into a phone. Ranger and the baby said their I do's from the other end of the line, in a secret location in some far off country. She did not care. They were together in the way it mattered, in their hearts. 'I love you' whispered a dozen different ways bound their hearts, their lives. Even if distance kept them apart.
A single man could not, by law, take a child out of the country. Only married couples could adopt. Even now that he was married, he had to pull a whole bunch of strings to accelerate the process so that he could return home with his new son. Home to his new wife.
For two days, Stephanie packed and repacked the Cayenne. She had tried to include everything that she could think of that the baby would need. The car seat was properly installed behind the driver's seat. She had blankets, and stuffed animals, changes of clothing, diapers in three sizes. There were containers of three different brands of formula with three different kinds of bottles, just in case. The list went on and on. Everything that Mary Lou had ever mentioned using for her kids had shown up in the car.
An hour before they left to meet Ranger at the airport, Ella and Louis came down to the garage. She pulled out the diaper bag. As Louis emptied the car, she took everything out of the bag and then stocked it with the things that Stephanie would need. They had been going over this for several days now. Stephanie was nervous, and Ella had tried at every turn to reassure her that she was going to be just fine.
Tank walked over to the SUV with Stephanie, and Ella handed her the diaper bag. "You may choose one animal for the baby," she simply said. With a sheepish grin, Stephanie walked over to the box that Louis held up to her. She pulled out a small chipmunk that reminded her of Rex. It would be just the right size for the baby.
Ella hugged her before she climbed into her seat. "You are going to love him, and that is all that matters!" she whispered into her ear. Stephanie nodded, the words slowly sinking into her head. She did love him. And she loved Ranger. Her shoulders lost their tension, she sat back in the seat. Everything was perfect.
The small plane taxied onto the carpeted tarmac waiting for their arrival. Stephanie and Tank waited, keeping their eyes on the door as the plane came to a stop. Even before the stairs were rolled over to the side of the plane, the door opened and Ranger appeared smiling at her.
As soon as he could, he moved down the stairs carrying the baby in one arm and pulling her to him with the other. Their first kiss as husband and wife was interrupted by an insistent cry from the baby. Ranger smiled down at him indulgently. "I'd like you to meet Matthias," Ranger said.
Stephanie looked into his eyes. "Carlos Matthias Manoso." she stated. And she bent to kiss his forehead. Much to her surprise and to her joy, Mat settled down instantly.
Tank had been overseeing the removal of Rangers bags and loading them into the trunk. Paperwork was completed and he ushered the new family into the car. Soon they were headed home. He looked at his friends. They may have all needed each other, but Tank smiled as he thought that they were also the luckiest people in the world.