Okay, I was convinced to continue this story. Not a whole lot of movement in this chapter, but setting up for some exciting events in future chapters. I have a rough idea of where to go with this story, but I always love suggestions too. Oh and I forgot last time… I don't own anything and I'm not making any money. One last thing, a warning for language, Tank and Ranger really have potty mouths! I changed the rating to M for language and adult themes.

I pulled out on to Haywood and started driving aimlessly. I had no idea where to go. I'd long since given up my apartment. Going to my parent's house was out of the question, I couldn't take the "I told you so" I know my mother was just dying to dish up. That also ruled out Joe's, not only for that reason, but also because even though we remained friends it just seemed wrong to run to him about something going on between Ranger and I. I couldn't go to Mary Lou's and be around Lenny and the kids right now. Just thinking about children brought on another onslaught of pain in my chest. Ranger fathered another child. It was just so hard to wrap my head around. It dawned on me that I didn't even know if it was a little boy or a girl.

Finally it was too much for me. I pulled the car over to the side of the road and just sobbed. I cried so hard I couldn't breathe. I cried for all the memories that Ranger and I had shared, and I cried for all the memories that I had hoped we would share in the future that would now never be. One of the hardest things about this situation was realizing how much I tried to pretend that I didn't want certain things from Ranger because I didn't believe he could give them to me, when deep down maybe I really did want those things. I really tried not to think about having kids with Ranger, because he had made it clear that there was no place in his life for more children. But knowing that he now shared another child with someone else, well I couldn't even try to fool myself into thinking that there wasn't a part of me that desperately wanted to have Ranger's child. To bring a life into this world that was born of the love we share. Shared. It was going to take some getting used to, remembering that everything that I had been so sure of in my life this morning was no longer reality for me.

As the tears started to slow, the full impact of how much had changed started to hit me. I had no place to live. I doubt I could continue to work at Rangeman and see him every day. Oh God, what if he moved her into the building. Is he going to marry her like he did Rachel? Whoa, slow down Stephanie, you're getting way ahead of yourself. I couldn't even think straight. I needed to clear my head. There was no way I was going to be able to make any decisions in my current state. I knew where I wanted to go. Now I just had to figure out how to get there without being tracked. I needed some time alone.

The first thing I did was drive to the nearest ATM and take out as much money as I could, but it was only $500. I then went to a convenience store and bought a prepaid cell phone. I drove to the bonds office and parked, and then I called Mooner. It was almost 11:00 at night but I figured he'd still be up.

"Hey Mooner. How's it going?"

"What's up, Steph? Me and Dougie just were just working on our costumes for the Trekkie Convention in Hoboken next week."

"Sounds like fun. Hey, you or Dougie don't happen to have an extra vehicle in the back you've been trying to offload do you?"

"Well it just so happens we've got this little S-10 pick-up available. Why, you send another one to car heaven and need a new set of wheels?"

"Something like that. Can I ask you a huge favor? Can you drive it over to the bonds office and pick me up? I will drop you off back home."

"Sure Dudette, I'll be there in like, fifteen minutes."

I disconnected the call and waited for Mooner. Half an hour later he pulled into the spot next to me. Mooner never was all that good at being on time, but I was just glad he came at all and was able to help me. I left my Rangeman cell phone, purse and keys in the Bronco, only taking my cash, ID, bank cards and checkbook. I locked the Bronco, knowing that Rangeman had multiple sets of keys they could use when they came to retrieve the car. I hopped into the truck with Mooner and I tried to make my best attempt at a smile.

"Hey Mooner, Thanks for coming."

"Anytime, dudette," He said, looking at me with concern. I tried to do some damage control while I waited for him, but I knew my eyes were still puffy and red. I looked like crap. "Everything okay, Steph?"

"Yeah, I'm fine Mooner. I just need to get away for a little while." With that I turned and looked out the window and the rest of the ride was filled with an awkward silence. I could tell Mooner wanted to ask more, but didn't, and for that I was grateful.

When we pulled up outside his house, I pulled out my checkbook and asked, "How much for the truck?"

"Don't worry about it Dudette," Mooner said. "We'll settle up another time."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. You've always been good to me. Is there anything else I can do to help? Do you need a place to crash?"

"No Mooner, but thanks for offering. You're a good friend."

I walked around to the driver's side and hugged Mooner before watching him make his way back into the house. Then I settled into the driver's seat and headed in the direction of Point Pleasant. Something about the beach just always seemed to make everything better for me.

RPOV

I had been beating the shit out of this bag for going on three hours. It wasn't making me feel the least bit better. But at least the physical exertion was keeping me from demolishing the entire building. For the first 45 minutes after Stephanie left, I broke half the furniture in our apartment. Then I collapsed on the floor and balled like a fucking baby. It was pathetic. When I finally pulled myself together, I knew sleep wasn't even a possibility, so I came down to the gym to try and either work myself into exhaustion or find my zone and figure out a way to fix this. Right now I was pretty sure I was closer to exhaustion than any kind of solution.

I glanced at the clock. It was almost 6:00 am. That's strange, where are the guys who usually work out before the morning shift. Glancing around I was surprised to see Tank leaning against the far wall with his arms crossed over his chest. Just as I was thinking Gotta be more aware of my surroundings, the bag swung back and knocked me on my ass while my head was turned looking at Tank.

I heard Tank's booming laughter from across the room. My muscles were so sore I couldn't even get up off the floor, so I crawled over to the wall and pulled myself to a sitting position leaning back against the wall. Tank walked over and handed me a cold bottle of water before sliding down the wall to sit beside me.

"Where is everybody?" I asked him.

"They were all afraid to come in here. Saw the way you were beating the shit out of that bag and decided to steer clear in case you decided you wanted some time on the mats."
Ranger grunted thinking that given the condition he was in he would probably be the one to get his ass kicked.

"What the hell is going on, man?" Tank asked.

"I fucked up."

"Well, that's obvious, but could you be a little more specific?"

I rolled my head first to the left, then to the right stretching my sore neck muscles. I wasn't sure how much I wanted to tell Tank. Part of me wanted to spill my guts but another part of me knew Tank would be very angry with me about what I had done. Tank has never been like the other guys and the way I used to be, he didn't believe in sleeping around. Always believed women should be cherished and treated like they were special. And I had the most special woman there was and I did the unthinkable to her. Worst part is, I knew. I knew how much The Dick had hurt her. And I went and did the same thing only this was ten times worse because now there was a child involved.

"I don't want to talk about it." Yeah, I was taking the coward's way out. So what.

"Too fucking bad, Carlos," Tank said, using my given name just to annoy me. "Something is going on here, and that something is definitely not good. It's affecting you, my friend and business partner, and its affecting Stephanie, who is like a little sister to all of us. That means it's affecting all the guys, which affects our business. So I don't really give a shit that you don't feel like chatting. Now tell me what the hell happened last night!"

"How the hell does anyone even know something happened?" I asked, feeling my resolve not to talk about it weakening.

"Well, let's see. At 15:00 yesterday, Stephanie left her desk and went into your office looking for a jump drive. Six minutes later she exited your office looking like someone just ran over her hamster and went straight up to seven. She didn't return to her desk, didn't finish the search she was working on, didn't even log off her computer which is all very unusual for her. At 21:00 you returned to Haywood and went up to seven. Then at 22:00, Steph leaves by way of the stairs. She walked down seven flights of stairs Ranger, the girl who keeps a minifridge under her desk so she doesn't have to walk the thirty feet to the breakroom to get a drink, took seven flights of stairs. And she never came back. Then you're down here tearing into that bag for three hours like that bag insulted your mother. The whole fucking building knows something is wrong Ranger. Come on, tell me what it is, maybe I can help."

Sometimes living in a monitored secure building really blows.

"God, Tank. I screwed up so bad. I don't even know how to tell you what I did."

"Come on it can't be that bad. It's not like she caught you on the dining room table with Joyce Barnhardt." Tank said with a snort.

My chin hit my chest. "It wasn't Joyce and it wasn't the dining room table." I said quietly.

Tanks head snapped up and he looked at me with wide eyes. "You've got to be fucking kidding me! You cheated on Bomber? What the fuck is wrong with you!" Tank yelled.

Yeah this wasn't going well. "Tank, nothing you can say to me will be any worse than what I've already said to myself. But if it's all the same to you I'd rather not hear it all again."

"I just don't understand. I thought you loved her. How the hell could you do that to her?" Tank asked shaking his head.

"It was that damn last mission man. You know the more I try to explain this the dumber it sounds even to me."

"Well, you better try, man. Just start at the beginning."

"When I got the call for that last mission, it seemed like it was going to be so easy. I still had a year left on my contract, but my handler said if I completed that assignment, I'd be out. Free. I wanted that so bad. I just wanted to be with Steph all the time. The mission, it was Ana-"

"Shit" Tank muttered under his breath.

"Yeah, thing is, she was my target. She turned. She was trying to sell some intel to the Iranians. My objective was to switch the disks she was carrying. The agency didn't want her to suspect the switch they wanted to monitor the drop, but couldn't risk the sensitive information actually reaching the other side."

"So you slept with her to get the intel? What the hell were you thinking?" Tank questioned me.

"It wasn't like that. I tried several other ways; the two agents she was with were very suspicious. And you know Ana, she was all over me every time we were alone. I had decided to try and break into her hotel room while she was sleeping, but she woke up. Thought I was there for sex, like old times. I thought about just walking out, aborting the mission. But they promised me my freedom. I just wanted it to all be over. God, the more I try to explain it the more my reasoning sounds so stupid."

"I can't lie to you, man. It was a very stupid thing to do. I'm really surprised at you. But I can see you're obviously beating yourself up, so I don't feel the need to pile more guilt on you. But how in the hell did she find out?"

"It gets worse Tank. Three weeks ago Ana showed up here and told me we have a son."

"Holy Shit!" Tank exclaimed.

"You're telling me," Ranger said dryly.

"Are you sure? Did you have a DNA test?"

"Yeah. That's what Steph found in my office."

"Why the hell didn't you tell her? How could you let her find out like that? Damn, Ranger, I'm trying not to want to beat the shit out of you right now, but I can only imagine the hurt Bomber is feeling right now. I think the choice you made on that mission was wrong, but I can almost understand why you did it. But how could you keep up the lies? You had to know it was going to come out. Why didn't you tell her?"

"I don't know Tank. Honestly, I hoped and prayed for the last year and a half that Steph would never find out about what happened. And really, it didn't seem like there was any way she would. I know it sounds terrible Tank. But I really didn't want to hurt her, and I didn't think she'd understand. I felt disgusted with what I had done. Then when Ana showed up, I was absolutely floored. And I really didn't believe it was my kid. I used a condom. I don't know how this happened. I only got the DNA results the day before yesterday. I didn't know what I was going to do. I was still trying to wrap my mind around the whole thing. Hell, I'm still in shock. I can't believe this is happening."

"What are you going to do now? What about Steph, where does she stand?"

"I have no idea what to do. Steph says she can't forgive me. She left me. Said she'll get her stuff in the next few days. I can't face this without her. I need her. Now more than ever. What the hell am I going to do?" Ranger lamented.

"Don't even start Ranger. Don't start feeling sorry for yourself. Don't start thinking about what you need and how hard this situation is on you. You might be my friend Ranger, but you made a real ass out of yourself here. Steph gave up everything to become a part of your life Ranger, and when she did she became a part of our lives too. I have no idea how you're going to fix this, but you better figure it out, man. If you don't you stand to lose a lot more than just your woman."

Tank stood up and stalked out of the gym, slamming the door behind him.