Disclaimer: All the characters you recognize from the Stephanie Plum books belong to Janet Evanovich.

A/N: Thanks so much to everybody who's following this story or has even favorited it and of course a big, big thank you to those who reviewed. Your words are the fuel to my engine ... hehehe ... Anyway, I'm happy you like the first chapter and I hope that you will enjoy the second one just as much. Here we go.

The second chance

Chapter 2

December 23rd, 1620 hours

Badakhshan mountains, Afghanistan, near the Pakistani border.

A nasty, ice-cold wind was blowing down the mountainside, causing the four men's cheeks to burn and their eyes to water. In the distance, down in the valley, the simple buildings of a small village were barely visible in the increasing twilight.

"Shall I fire?"

Skip, their sniper, lay on the frozen rock at the edge of a cliff, his eyes trained on their target a mile away, and waited for his CO's order.

"No, not without clearance by command," Ranger replied while watching the movement of the group of Taliban through his binoculars. "Kaminski? Radio in that we made contact and request permission to fire."

"Aye."

The man called Kaminski quickly divested himself of his backpack and started to assemble his radio gear.

"Sir, I have the target in perfect view. In a few minutes it will be too dark for a safe shot." Skip adjusted two small wheels on his sighting scope to accommodate the wind and looked over his shoulder at his commanding officer.

"I know, doesn't change the chain of command. Kaminski?"

"We're in a dead zone; there's no signal. I need to move further up the mountain."

"Let's make the hit," the fourth man, Akroyd, interjected with a grim face. "Our MO is to eliminate El'Amir. Contacting command won't change that. I say go for it and then let us get the hell out of here. We are so deep in enemy territory that we can't sneeze without alarming anybody."

"Negative, Akroyd. Our orders are clear. Track down El'Amir, radio command, eliminate target after clearance."

"And what if he moves out tonight? It took us thirteen days and nights to find him. This was supposed to be a three day operation. Our provisions are long used up, we all have a severe cold with fever, are dehydrated and beyond exhausted. We're in desperate need of water, food and medical care."

"I have a clear line of fire, sir. It's now or never," they heard Skip's voice in their com units.

He was still lying face-down on the rock, his eyes focused on the target in the scope of his sniper rifle, his finger stretched out next to the trigger.

"Negative. We abort for today. Let's move further up towards the mountain top and contact the base. Afterwards we'll come back down here and rest for the remaining night. At sunrise Skip will take up position and we'll finish this assignment."

Ranger's voice was calm, his orders clear and the young men surrounding him obeyed without further objections. He knew that Akroyd with his barely twenty years was the weak link in their small group, but the guy had scouting talents that made him irreplaceable on this mission. He reminded him a lot of himself in younger days. Full of heat, ready to take on the world, yet not used to what combat stress and hard-core survival meant. Watching him struggle brought back memories of his own first mission gone bad and how he'd looked up to his commanding officer and his calm and quiet manner even when shit hit the fan. Now, he was thirty-five and the one in the front seat and he had to lead his small team on a suicide mission where they had to invade enemy territory deeper than anybody ever before, constantly dodging the enemy that was spread in small groups all over the mountains. Their survival was deemed unlikely, but they signed up anyway because eliminating El'Amir, one of the leading heads of the Taliban and responsible for the death of uncounted American soldiers and civilians, was important not just for the safety of their compatriots in this country, but also for the Afghan people who were suffering under the Taliban's brute violence.

"Get your night vision gear ready. It will take us several hours to reach the peak."

The men mounted their devices to their helmets and minutes later they were on their way up the mountain under Ranger's lead.

December 24th, 0830 hours

Snow had started to fall over night leaving the men wet and freezing but at least they had something to quench their thirst with and sooth their sore throats. Now in the morning, the sky was bleak with deep hanging clouds and the snowfall had become so heavy that they couldn't see further than fifteen yards. Ranger stood behind Skip at the edge of the cliff with his binoculars in front of his eyes and cursed inwardly. Even with their high-tech gear there was no chance for them to see the village in the valley or the enemy hiding there. To make things worse, he and his men were in a bad shape, cold, sick and starving, but the weather left them no other choice than to wait for the snowfall to lighten up. Around midnight they had reached the mountain top and had finally been able to contact the base they had taken off from fourteen days ago. Their orders were clear. They were given permission to eliminate El'Amir as soon as there'd be another contact. After their mission was completed, they were to march east over the next mountain range and cross the Pakistani border. Once on Pakistani ground they'd be picked up by a Blackhawk and flown out – if they made it that far.

"Take cover under the trees and rest, I'll take over first watch. We have to wait for the weather to clear up," Ranger spoke into his com-unit and heard the men grunt in response. Due to the snowfall their descent through the night had ben arduous and they didn't have the chance to take a rest. Their bodies were outspent and working at their limit. They needed time to sleep and recover. Looking for shelter for himself, he finally moved under the deep hanging branches of a spruce, covered himself with needles and twigs and closed his eyes, his mind fully alert for the slightest noise. In his ear-piece he could hear the deep breathing of his three men already asleep.

Be vigilant, soldier, and let them rest. Otherwise they'll be too exhausted to function.

Three hours later, a faint chiming of bells caused Ranger to open his eyes and take in his surroundings.

"Kaminski, Akroyd, Skip."

Immediately the different breathing patterns in his ear changed and he knew his men were awake.

"What's that?"

"I don't know."

"Stay covered," Ranger warned them. "It makes no sense to retreat and risk leaving tracks in the snow."

Ranger had lifted his head and was trying to see past his feet, but the snow was still falling heavy and there wasn't much to see. Listening to the chimes coming closer he could feel the muscles in his body tense and his right hand inched to the handgun strapped to his chest. Then he could hear the unmistakable sound of a dog barking.

"Fuck," sounded Akroyd's voice in his ear-piece.

"Stay calm and wait. Sounds like shepherds. With a little luck they will pass without realizing that we are here," Ranger strained his ears to determine the direction the noise was coming from, but the snow was tampering with the sound. He wasn't worried about the animals wearing the bells and the herders accompanying them were a calculable risk, but even with the thick snowfall the dog would be able to pick up their scent and that was bad news.

After two minutes of anxious waiting there was no doubt that whatever was out there was moving in their direction.

"Everybody, stay calm. Have your guns ready, but no moving until it's absolutely necessary and no one shoots except to defend himself. We don't know whether there are Taliban lurking around here and we need to avoid a confrontation if at all possible. If we want to complete this assignment it's necessary that we stay undetected."

"Aye," came Kaminski's reply while the other two answered with 'sir'.

Three more agonizingly slow minutes passed by, but finally a group of mountain goats with their young goatherds appeared between the spruces Ranger and his men were lying under. The four men pulled their feet further under the branches, making themselves as invisible as possible. The goats with their chiming bells completely ignored them and the herders didn't seem to pay attention either. Ranger sent a quick prayer to heaven and kept his eyes trained on the men accompanying the animals. They were four young boys and one old man and luckily they were completely focused on the path they were following. Then it happened. The guard dog escorting them stopped a couple yards away from the tree Kaminski was lying under, his nose in the air, sniffing.

Go on, Ranger tried to prompt him, there's nothing there for you, but the dog stood frozen in place and eyed the spruce in front of him.

In contrast to Akroyd and Skip, Kaminski had already been on a few missions and Ranger trusted him to keep his cool, but the situation had FUBAR written all over it. Grabbing a fir cone, Ranger cautiously threw it in the opposite direction to distract the dog, but it didn't work. Helplessly, he had to watch as the animal started to lift his lips and snarl menacingly. Instantly, one of the boys went over and tried to make the dog go with him, but it refused to move even an inch. Instead, it stayed focused on Kaminski under the spruce and barked between snarls. The boy looked suspiciously at the tree, stepped closer and started to poke his hiking stick between the snow-covered branches. The four soldiers held their breath and then everything happened at once. The young goatherd became aware of Kaminski under his cover of twigs and needles and called out to his companions, the dog attacked Kaminski's leg who shot the animal and grabbed the kid while Ranger, Akroyd and Skip jumped up and overpowered the remaining herders, holding the old man at gun point.

"Fuck!" Akroyd yelled, completely losing his cool. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! What now?"

They had rounded the group up and made them kneel on the ground, their guns aimed at their heads.

"We can't let them go. They'll run straight down to the village and inform the Taliban."

"We have to tie them to the trees, finish our job and leave."

"They'd freeze to death. That's not an option. Besides, they'd probably be missed and searched for which would mean an uncalculable danger for us," Ranger answered Skip and Kaminski calmly, his mind working a mile a minute to find a solution.

"Who cares whether they die?" Akroyd was beside himself. "What the hell are they doing here anyway in this weather?"

"I care. They are unarmed children. Civilians. They are not the enemy."

"We don't know that," Akroyd snarled. "For all we know they sympathize with the Taliban. They have to go."

"No!" Ranger looked at him and tried to make the young man in front of him see the truth. "What do you want to do? Shoot them? Killing them would be a war crime and bring us straight do The Hague. These kids are nothing but goatherds and the old man is their chaperon. Look at them Akroyd. They are civilians. They have nothing to do with our mission, they were just at the wrong time at the wrong place. We are no cold-blooded murderers."

Akroyd was right in his face and Ranger could see the confusion, anger and fear in his eyes born out of an overwhelming situation.

"We can't set them free. They'll betray us."

"We can and we must! There's no other choice." Ranger stared him straight in the eyes, exuding raw power and dominance out of every pore. He looked at Skip and Kaminski who were watching them closely. "This way or that way the mission is compromised. We will let them go and start moving over the mountain range. That was it, gentleman. We are on the retreat. I won't unnecessarily risk your lives by staying here. In this weather it will probably take us another two days before we'll reach the rendezvous point so let's see to it that we arrive there safe and sound."

The young soldiers in front of him looked defeated, but didn't object.

"Go, you are free!" Ranger said to the old man after helping him up. The man just looked at him, trying to understand. "I said go," Ranger waved his hands down the hill in the direction the group had been moving. "You are free."

The old man quickly spoke to the boys still kneeling on the floor, helped them up and pushed them forward. Turning back, he stretched his hand out and Ranger could see relief and gratitude in the old, wrinkly eyes.

"Be safe and merry Christmas," he told the old man and shook his hand before turning back to his own men and ordering them to move.

December 24th, three o'clock in the afternoon

Steph motored down the ramp into the Rangeman garage and parked in her usual spot next to Ranger's Porsche. Seeing the sleek, black car brought a smile to her lips and she quickly patted the envelope tugged away in the front pocket of her thick winter jacket. She was just getting out of her car, when the door to the stairwell banged open and Lester and Bobby muscled their way out of it.

"Beautiful."

"Bomber."

Les reached her first and with a shriek she found herself up in his arms in a breath constricting bear hug before he pressed a sloppy, wet kiss right on her lips.

"I missed you so much, Beautiful. You can't just vanish out of my life like that right before Christmas. How am I supposed to deal with all the god-awful merriness without you?"

Steph laughed and squeezed him close. Now that she was here she suddenly realized how much she had missed her friends.

"Now, now," Bobby interjected while cautiously removing Steph from Lester's embrace. "Let the girl breath and greet her favorite medic."

He enveloped Steph in a tight hug and pressed a lingering kiss on her curls before whispering in her ear. "Good to have you here, Steph. I know you long for Ranger to be back and being here might make you miss him even more, but we need you, too. You are our light, especially at this time of the year with many of us not having a family to turn to for love and support."

Steph squeezed him and quickly kissed his cheek. "Sorry for not coming around lately. You are right, I struggle a little with Ranger gone, but I promise I'll do better from now on."

"That's all I want to hear," Bobby leaned back and smiled down at her.

"So, Beautiful," Lester pulled her back and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "You ready to move this party up to five? The guys are anxious to see you plus I saved you some of Ella's gingerbread cookies yesterday."

"I promise I'll be with you in a few, but first I need to go up to Ranger's apartment."

"You want us to accompany you?" Bobby looked at her with concern written all over his face.

"No, I'm fine. Promise. Go ahead and prep a perfect mug of coffee for me and I'll join you in a minute."

The two men vanished in the stairwell and Steph stepped into the elevator waiting for her thanks to someone at the monitors sending it down for her. Fobbing her way up to seven, she couldn't help but smile into the camera. Yes, she missed Ranger, but being greeted by Les and Bobby the way they did and feeling their love and support had left her with a warm fuzzy feeling in her heart.

Up on seven she entered Ranger's apartment with her key and let herself be enveloped by the calm always greeting her here. This was Ranger's place and looking around she realized it suited him and his uncommitted lifestyle to the dot. It was masculine and elegant, but it was just a meaningless shell without any hint who the owner was or what was important to him. It missed the mementos, the little things that would make it homey; just like the man didn't allow himself to get too comfortable and give up any information about himself.

Standing in the open apartment door, she wondered where she should place her letter. In the hall next to the silver platter for his keys, in the kitchen on the breakfast bar or on the nightstand next to the bed? In the end she decided the hall was the right place. That way he would see the envelope when he'd enter his apartment and could make up his mind when and where to read it. For a moment, Steph stood there, staring at the white square holding her most secret thoughts and feelings. That was it. The moment she'd leave the apartment and the letter behind, Ranger would once and for all know how she felt about him. She loved him. God, she loved him so much. But how was he supposed to know that if she never really told him? Taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders, she turned around and let the door fall shut behind her. Shall fate take the reins. However Ranger would decide on the matter, she would have him in her life, but now at least there was a small chance for a shared future.

"Angel," Cal wrapped her up in his arms when she stepped off the elevator on five. "It's so good to have you here. Please tell me you'll come tomorrow so I can watch you unwrapping my Christmas gift for you."

"Aaaaw, you have a gift for me? You are the best." Steph smiled up at him, pulled his face down to her and kissed the flaming skull on his forehead. "I'll be at my parents in the morning, but I promise that afterwards I'll come over here and spend the afternoon with you. Perhaps we can convert the conference room in a movie theatre and watch some Christmas classics."

"As long as it isn't Ghostbuster," Cal laughed good naturedly and quickly grabbed Steph's hand that wanted to hit him to press a soft kiss on her knuckles.

It took a while to come to the end of the welcome wagon, but after she had hugged and kissed all the assembled guys on shift, the jolly atmosphere started to settle and Steph walked down the hall to Tank's office.

"Hey big guy," she stuck her head through the crack in the door. "You busy or do you have time for a hug?"

"Little girl," Tank straightened up and gave her a dazzling smile. "A hug is just what the doctor ordered," he opened his arms and pulled Steph close when she jumped on his lap. "I saw you entering Ranger's apartment," he pointed at his computer screen that showed an infinite loop of the in-house security feed.

"Yeah, I brought the letter upstairs that I wrote yesterday."

"Did you write plain and honest how you feel and didn't hold back?"

"Yep, everything's out in the open. Now it's up to him to make a decision."

"I'm so proud of you. If he should keep the stick up his ass and decide for the friend route, just let me know and I'll take you out on a date that you'll never forget."

Steph looked at his face and saw how serious he was.

"Tank," she cupped his face with both her hands so he'd know she meant every word. "No matter how Ranger decides, I hope to go on this date with you. I want to spend an evening with you and see how you are outside of work. You and the guys here are my best friends and adopted family and I love nothing more than seeing you all relaxed and laid-back."

"In that case let me start planning," Tank smiled at her, took her hands in his and kissed both their palms. "You'll be here for a while?"

"Yes, Lester said something about gingerbread cookies and I hope Bobby and he have a cup of sugary, creamy coffee ready for me. It's time to tread the guys to some of my trademark moans. I know they are waiting for them," Steph grinned and pressed a big kiss on Tank's cheek.

"I have to finish these reports but perhaps we can all do Shorty's for dinner?"

"Do you really have to ask?" Steph smiled causing Tank to laugh.

"No, I guess in your case I don't."

Steph skipped out of his office and walked down the hall. Lester and Bobby were in the control room shooting shit with Brett and Junior and even from the distance she could see the plate with cookies and the mug of steaming coffee waiting for her. Thankful for the wonderful friends she had, she walked into the room, stepped behind Lester and slung her arms around his waist.

"Hey Beautiful," he turned around, wrapped her in his arms and softly kissed her hair. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, everything fine. Just happy that I have you and Bobby in my life," she smiled up at him and enjoyed the comforting feeling she always got when she was in their arms. They weren't Ranger's, but they'd do until the man of her heart would be back and she'd finally feel whole again.

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