AN: Firstly, OH MY GOODNESS. Thank you, thank you, thank you to the reviewers and those that favorite(d?) my story and for my first follows. It means the world as I had completely given up on writing for several years now and I feel encouraged so I will continue. Also, I have no Beta, therefore all mistakes, typos and terrible formatting (yikes!) on the previous chapter were due to my own blunders...I ask for forgiveness. And if I missed responding to your review, I am sorry and it was appreciated!

Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine (minus Keith, that cute surfer is mine), but I promise you the plot is from my tired brain and I make no money from this. Thanks JE.

Warning: I'll put it here AGAIN. With a huge sigh if you didn't read the rating. I will try not to upset/offend anybody but I am assuming you understand what the rating means.

Now...On with the show!

Previously: As he was about to try to make conversation, his words died in his mouth as the bartender turned and lifted her eyes to him. And the world stopped as he saw her bright blue eyes.

"Beautiful?"

Chapter Two

Pensacola, Florida
September 9, 2016
1645

Diana froze in her spot. She had tried to get accustomed to calling herself Stephanie but it didn't feel right. She had admitted to Keith that perhaps she was wrong about her name. Unless she was certain she had asked for Keith to still refer to her as Diana though they disagreed.

She tried to school her features to not give away her thoughts; yet the stranger who had come into the bar seemed to see through her. He was very handsome; she would have to be bind to not notice. His eyes, the slight smile on his face when he strutted in the bar, all of him was so familiar. And that terrified her.

"That's a strange thing to call your bartender," She jokingly started as she approached the guest. Once he made eye contact with her she could see the confusion which usually plagued her.

His grip had loosened on his drink, causing the Corona to spill on the bar. Diana quickly grabbed the rag she was using and methodically wiped the spilled drink up as she asked if he wanted a refill. She mentally cursed herself for choosing a tank top over a shirt that would cover more of her scars. The regulars were so accustomed to her appearance they never stared. She felt as if this stranger was analyzing and memorizing every injury. This silent assessment unnerved her.

Lester was glad he had long ago mastered the art of the blank face or she would have known her statement confounded him.

"Stephanie, we both know you're not a bartender," Lester began carefully. He watched while Stephanie messed with her outfit and pulled her hair into a messy ponytail. He slowly stood up and waited for her response. His relief barely outweighed his anger at her disappearance and lack of explanation when she saw him.

What the hell was she thinking? Did she run away and choose to loose all contact with Rangeman? Her family?

"You know-"

"Diana, who's your friend?" Keith had approached the other side of the bar from the back office.

Stephanie hesitated which infuriated Lester as he slightly shook his head at her, "Lester Santos," he shook Keith's hand once and noted he was strong. Not military based on his stance and haircut though.

"Keith Henson," Keith observed the tension between Diana and Lester and was concerned about the sudden arrival of this man that knew her.

Lester tried to restrain himself from reaching for Stephanie; it was necessary to answer the questions that had plagued them. He was overwhelmed by his desire to protect Stephanie as he noticed how lost she appeared. Keith had positioned himself next to Stephanie and placed a possessive hand around her waist. She gave him a slight smile and his grip loosened.

"Can we talk," Lester was referring to Stephanie, but he was gauging Keith's reaction. His intimidation aura apparently still made some people uncomfortable as Keith shifted nervously. "Privately," he added to Stephanie.

"Sure," Stephanie moved to the opening of the bar and as she walked to Lester she gave him a slight smile and led him to the tall tables with umbrellas that were located on the outside patio.

The other guests had left giving him and Stephanie privacy. She asked Keith to bring them water as she selected the table closest to the beach. She was trying to give herself something happy to focus on as this conversation would be unpleasant for them both. Lester wasn't thrilled about being this exposed and he was displeased that obviously Stephanie still did not take her safety serious if this was where she wanted to have this discussion.

He selected the chair across from her and tried to relax though he hated having his back so exposed. Once Keith brought them waters and gave Lester what he assumed intended to be warning glare, she sighed.

"I-I don't know where to start," her whispered confession enraged Lester. After all this time, THAT'S what she has to say? That is her response?

"Why?" His control of his temper was given away by the cold, tightness of his voice.

"I don't understand," Her eyebrows scrunched slightly.

"What happened to you?" Lester allowed himself to really study her now that they were out in the open and what he saw caused pause. There were jagged thin scars along both of her arms reminding him of knives, the smaller scars on her face appeared to be from old burns. Her nose bent a little to the right now and her upper chest had lines that ran down into the top of her shirt. When he realized the pattern were parts of letters he froze. The makeup on her face hid many things, but he recognized a scar that ran along her forehead.

It couldn't be.

"Stephanie," He began more delicately, taking her fragile condition into consideration this time.

"Is that my name?" Those words broke his heart. Once the hopeful look in her eyes reached him through his rage he understood her condition.

"Do you remember you?" He could picture Tank smacking him and Bobby's incredulous look before the sentence finished; yet he seemed to have hoof in mouth disease.

It started with her sharp breath, than slight shaking shoulders. Lester missed the in between parts before she began sobbing while he stood up and pulled her to his chest without considering the severe ass beating he would receive when Ranger found out. His left hand held her to him by the back of her head while his other arm circled her waist, preventing her from pulling away. He felt like an ass for pushing her so hard. His rational brain knew Stephanie would never just desert them; his feeling of abandonment had made him resentful of her.

"Beautiful, you don't know who I am," It sounded like a question though this acknowledgment drove a want to put her in his car and drive straight to the airport.

"I'm sorry," She sobbed her voice breaking and she gasped for breath, he chuckled to himself, recalling a time when he caught Stephanie crying and she had referred to it as 'ugly crying.' Her body continued to shake as she looked up at him, "I should explain, if you have the time."

Lester laughed at the irony before he lead Stephanie back to her seat and pushed it back to the table once she was comfortable. As he moved his chair closer to hers and dropped down, he smiled, "I've waited ten years to find you. I'll give you all the time you want."

Carlos would be pissed when he found out that Lester had not called immediately when he found her, but he wanted her to defend herself before he called the core team. Lester and Carlos had had several heated discussions over the years concerning his relationship with Stephanie. The men always assumed that if Carlos did not man up and express his true intentions with her Lester would be more than thrilled to assume his place in her life.

"I guess I should start at the beginning," Her discomfort was apparent as she turned slightly towards the emerald green water of Pensacola Beach, "at least, the beginning for me," Steph seemed to transform before his eyes as he saw pain, fear and a deep sorrow takeover her.

Lester chose to wait her out as this was her story to tell. Though after a few minutes he wondered if he needed to prompt her.

"I don't remember who took me or why," the team had always assumed Ranger was the why, yet the who had worried them as no one had ever bragged about taking "Ranger's Woman." Stephanie took a sip of water as she carefully traced one of her scars. Lester took her hand carefully to calm her and her shoulders relaxed slightly as he ran his thumb along her knuckles. "I remember a dark room, concrete floors...it was smooth and freezing. There were multiple men and they hurt-assaulted me every way you can imagine. I don't have to tell you this, do I?"

Lester waited for her to look at him before he responded, "Only tell me what you want to."

This seemed to satisfy Stephanie though this raised his concern on what she may choose to leave out, "I can't tell you how long I was there. Maybe a few days? I don't think it was any longer than that because they couldn't seem to contain themselves," The context was made clear and he clenched his teeth to stop his response.

"They enjoyed if I screamed," Her eyes were looking out at the ocean but they weren't with him. They were in that hell she survived. "I refused to beg them to stop until they began to burn my face, hands and feet."

Lester shut down all emotion as she continued, taking several breaths before he looked at her. She was seeing his reaction and she looked at him with pity. Her compassion always enthralled him. He knew how she lost her memories. Those monsters did more than break her. Her very self was obliterated.

"Dental records were useless when they tried to ID me. The damage to my teeth caused me to have to have six crowns," She self-consciously touched the side of her face with her other hand and Lester reached to cover her hand with his. She smiled slightly and closed her eyes. He was about to ask her to stop when she began to speak.

"The gunshot wound that should have killed me caused the brain damage that the doctors believed caused my memory loss. I loss other skills. Keith had to teach me how to drive and his dad had to teach me about cell phones, computers and other things like that. She removed her hand from her face to grab a napkin from the table. She dipped the napkin into her forgotten water and used it to begin wiping the makeup from her face. Lester waited for her nod of consent before he lightly traced the scar that ran along her forehead.

He ran him hand along the tear tracks to wipe her tears.

"I was paralyzed in my legs for five years, the last surgery I had restored most of my leg functions though I can't run," her pain was apparent and Lester tried to tell her to stop.

"The warehouse that they used was abandoned until Keith's father decided to buy it from the family that had inherited it. The original owners had died and the family had finally settled the estate so it was back on the market," The bitterness in her voice sharpened her features as she dawned her own blank face. "They left me early that morning, that was what they always did and Keith's father had arranged to tour the warehouse with the owner's children. They found me in a back room."

Lester wanted to know what the police did after this.

Stephanie appeared to be following his train of thought, "The police did open an investigation. Poor Mr. Henson about had a heart attack at the sight of me. Not because of fear mind you, he was enraged that I was treated that way and than left like trash. He insisted the police keep this quiet and out of the media for fear of retaliation by the men who took me. Of course, there wasn't a way to identify me so that limited their options. There weren't any missing women who matched my description for the last few months and of course my accent gave me away."

Her genuine smile squeezed his heart.

"Eventually other cases came in and I was forgotten. Old paperwork with few options," The disregard for her stroked Lester's anger as he tried to make sense of all of it.

"Mr. Henson had several powerful friends in Miami who took care of me. They paid for the surgeries that saved my life and Keith and his father both watched over me as the work was made on my teeth. I was scared to death when they explained to me what was going to happen."

She paused, giving Lester time to collect his thoughts.

"And now?" Lester was worried to ask.

"Keith's family is very successful throughout Florida and the Gulf Coast especially in the restaurant and bar industries. I am what is considered a "floating employee" throughout the Pensacola area. Mr. Henson thought that mine being here would allow me to heal and it has. Keith manages this bar along with two restaurants his family owns in Destin and Fort Walton. I work as a day bartender here and hostess at the other restaurants. It's a small life, but it's enough."

"But your employment?" Lester wondered how she could be employed with no identity.

Stephanie laughed as she pulled out her ponytail and shook out her hair, "I took the citizenship test and once I was achieved citizenship I chose my name, Diana Henson."

Les released a breath as he realized at least she wasn't married to Keith. This raised the question of their exact relationship.

Several other questions ran amuck in his mind as they continued to watch the waves in silence.

Who did this to Beautiful? Was this an enemy of Ranger's or her's? Most importantly, why did they not ensure she was unable to leave that warehouse?

Trenton, New Jersey
September 9, 2016
1800

Carlos shuffled through the paperwork that seemed to have stacked up and taken over his desk over the last few days. Tank had taken the day off to spend with Lula and he knew the extra work was added to his desk to keep him distracted. He would have been amused if he was unaware of Tank's real motivation. After making a satisfactory dent in the files, Carlos unlocked and opened his desk drawer.

He paused before moving aside his dog tags, and a ringbox that would probably not be opened to remove the last picture taken of her.

Lester and Stephanie had been working together as partners for around eight months when this picture was taken of her making her one hundredth successfully returned FTA to the station. She was wearing her Rangeman uniform with her Body Receipt held in the air like a trophy as she smiled enough to see most of her teeth. Carlos held the picture as he ran his finger carefully over her face, sending up a silent prayer that he would find her.

"Babe," he said to his empty office. It was foolish as he knew she would not appear. His phone vibrating brought him from his musings.

Carlos sighed out loud, a smile following as he knew who caused this change in his behavior, he saw Lester was calling him.
Reluctantly, Ranger answered the call, assuming his cousin was hoping to regale him of his adventures in Florida.

"Yo."

AN: Please don't throw any fictional popcorn at me. I was going to just leave it with Les and Steph meeting but I didn't think that was fair. Plus, Carlos was insistent to make an appearance and we know he's very convincing.

Also, this is fiction. I have heard of a few cases where women and men have survived severe injuries such as Stephanie did with similar physical limitations. I included the teeth/foot and hand burnings to explain how the hell she went missing for a decade without anyone identifying her. I know I took some liberties and distorted reality as far as her recovery. AND here's the thing: I want a strong Stephanie who rises above all changes including her injuries.

Thanks for reading...now...go review Babe.