CHAPTER ONE

Tank has spent the last three hours in this room. He had promised Rachel that he wouldn't leave Julie's side until she arrived from Miami in the morning, and so he stood, resolutely, inside the door to the examining room while she was looked over. The nurses understood. This poor child had been through hell the past week, and was quiet and in shock.

While the daring rescue of Julie and Stephanie was successful, it was bloody and the fact that all of their lives may change momentarily hasn't escaped him. Ranger was still in surgery to retrieve two bullets that pierced his Kevlar, and to make repairs to holes that were ripped through his neck and right arm.

One of the nurses brought Julie to her room on the pediatric wing, and then to the bathroom and helped her shower, and Tank moved closer to that door. A look of benign irritation ran through the woman at that point, but it did no good. Tank remained.

He knew that this was where he had to be, because if he wasn't in this antiseptic, fluorescent, sterile room with Julie, he'd be balled up somewhere in a corner of St Francis Hospital, crying. All 6'6" of his big assed self; along with Cal and Hal and Bobby and Roy and Zero and Hector, and all the other RangeMen lining the halls, waiting.

At least he had a job to do.

Julie whimpered as they got her back in bed and started an IV. Tank demanded an explanation. He wasn't thrilled to hear that she was malnourished and dehydrated; nor was he willing to allow any narcotics to be administered. The doctor's argued with him, but he stood firm. "No drugs!"

"She needs sleep, more than anything else right now, sir, and this will help."

"No. I will stay with her, and I will watch over her. If her mother wants her to be medicated, then when she arrives you may do so. I am her fathers' emissary, and he would not want this for her." His deep, sonorous voice was quiet, but brooked no argument. He stood close by, hovering, and casting a shadow that seemed somewhat ominous.

"There's really nothing else we can do for her then, except what rest and sleep and time can do. We'll leave the door closed for you, sir," the blond nurse murmured to Tank, as she passed him at the doorway, glancing briefly at him with a deep appreciation of his incredible maleness.

Tank took a seat next to Julie. He held her hand for a moment, then patted it, placed it back down, and leaned back with his eyes closed for the first time in hours.

A long silence was interrupted. "Uncle Charlie?" Julie whimpered as she opened her eyes and stared at the massive ebony man sitting next to her.

"Yeah, Pumpkin, I'm here."

"'k," she said, and put her head back down. Silence again took over.

A few minutes later, Julie whispered. "I think I shot Chuck, Uncle Charlie."

"Yeah, I know Pumpkin. I know."

He took her thin hand into his. It pleased him more than he cared to admit that she remembered him and how she had started calling him Uncle Charlie long ago. He hadn't seen her in almost five years. He stared down at the small fingers, the olive skinned hand lying safe inside his huge black paw. Precious, he thought, lost for a moment in the past.

"You don't need to worry, not any more, 'k?"

As he held her hand, thinking of the events of the days past, and how she almost had died, she whispered, so quietly that he had to strain to hear her.

"Uncle Charlie? He said he needed to kill Ranger."

"I know Pumpkin. You were very brave, do you know that?" She sniffed. A tear ran down her face. A few minutes later she spoke again; words he didn't know how to respond to.

"Is my daddy gonna die, Uncle Charlie?" Tank squeezed her hand tighter. He didn't say a word.

"Tio, I'm scared."

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After the first hour or so, an uneasy alliance was struck between the Trenton PD and the RangeMan employees.

As the cops filed in and out of the larger waiting room on the hospitals third floor, Joe sat silent and resolutely, holding Stephanie close to him. He acknowledged each RangeMan with a nod of agreement when they came to her and asked if she was OK. Did she need anything? No, he shook his head on her behalf. Some glared, and anyone else would have been angered at the obviously territorial way these big goons tried to….

Morelli surprisingly was past caring and like everyone else in the room, and the hallways, it seemed a truce had been declared. Like it or not, there was a lot of feeling here, and most of it for Ranger and some for Steph and all of it hoping for the best. Morelli was just concerned with getting her home and tucked under some clean sheets in a bed in a home where nothing bad had happened.

With a shiver of regret, he realized it probably meant he'd be tucking her in at her parent's home, and not his. Certainly not hers. Would she go back there this time? Ever again? Would Rangers' men be able to wipe away the horrors she witnessed?

Did he have the ability to convince her it was time to give up her apartment, and move in with him again? For good this time. Be done with all the chaos and finally just love him? Could she just LOVE him; let him love her?

On the way to the hospital, she admitted she loved him. She was of course under extreme stress, probably in shock, but she rarely admitted such a thing. Could it be true?

She shuddered in his arms, suddenly coming to herself again. "Joe? Anything?"

"No, Cupcake, not yet."

And a sigh escaped her lips in a long and low moan. Cal looked over at her, and Hal jumped to be of assistance. Carl Costanza, one of her oldest friends, and a member of the Trenton PD, got there first. Hal stepped back, frost in his eyes, but he turned away.

"Steph? Hey, darlin' ya need anything?" Carl asked.

Joe kept silent.

Why him? He's just sitting here holding her, with a territorial arm around her; she's lying in his lap. Why the hell do all these men just flock to her like he can't take care of her?? He felt her shake her head and he looked down and saw the tears starting again.

"Leave, Costanza!" He growled.

"Sitting here is killing me Joe. I can't sit here. What's going on? Why haven't we heard anything? Oh, god, Ranger!"

"Steph. Breathe. Damn, I think it was better when you were catatonic, in shock. Calm down, you're gonna have all of RangeMan over here, thinking I hurt you."

Joe ran his fingers mindlessly through the shock of curls that covered Stephanie's head. He loved to feel her hair, to smell it, bury his nose it those curls. "Steph. One of the things I love about you is your lack of hysteria. You've seen it all Cupcake,… Let it be. They are doing all they can for Ranger. Ok? Cupcake, look at me. You know I love you." Joe touched her cheek, and stared into her blue eyes. They recognized the words he spoke and she relaxed a bit.

"I don't want for Ranger to die. You know. Cupcake. I hate the way Ranger looks at you. I hate the way you run to him, instead of me when you need help. I hate seeing him undress you with his eyes. But I have to admit, he takes care of you. His team has never let you down. They try to protect you. They offer their lives for you. I'm not a fool. I know they do it because he pays them. But no one is paying him."

Joe stopped. Stephanie was just looking at him with the strangest look. He rubbed his hand over her forehead, protectively, and tugged her up into his arms and held her while she tried to settle down again.

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Hours later, Tank leaned over Joe and touched Steph's face, gently touching her cheek.

"Girl, wake up…"

She searched wildly for a moment at the sound, and then a shiny bald head, a dark scowl, filled her vision.

"Tank!" She sat up abruptly, waking Joe from his uneasy rest.

Stephanie got to her feet, and Joe unfolded his lanky frame and settled behind Stephanie, holding her about her waist. As they did so, a silent army of RangeMen gathered around their friend. Tank stated quietly---"He's out of surgery, not out of danger. He's in recovery, but not awake. He was hit pretty badly. He took five rounds…extensive damage to his…"

"Tank, I need to go see him" Stephanie whispered.

"Will you go rest after? Because you look like hell, Stephanie."

"Yeah, thanks big guy, so do you," she pleaded, "I need to see him…"

Tank wrapped his arms around her shoulder and Joe knew he wasn't needed. He was forgotten in fact. In the scheme of things, he wasn't there. He flopped down in his chair to wait.

"Recovery is this way," he said, leading her past the open door of the next family waiting room. Conscious only of the fact she was shaking, he forgot who was in that room. Murmuring to Stephanie as he kept her on her feet, he jumped when he heard his name.

"Charlie!" And he was tackled by a large black woman.

"Baby, its ok, he's gonna be good. Don't cry" he said, as he tried to juggle both Stephanie and his sister Cynthia. He realized he was not going to get Stephanie upstairs quietly so she could she could see Ranger and then get her home to bed. He had to deal with this first.

Manuel appeared directly behind Cynthia and he heard Stephanie suck in her breath. For in front of her, beyond Tanks' huge, strong arms that were holding her up, stood –Ranger?"

"You're Stephanie," he said, taking her in his arms and squeezing her softly. Tank stood back, holding Cynthia by the hand. "I can guess by your reaction Carlos never told you about me?" Manuel whispered in her ear, before releasing her back into Tanks' arms.

She stopped shaking and looked at this man. No. Not Ranger. But, just barely. His hair was curlier. He wore no earring. But other than that…the same milk chocolate skin, the same eyes. Smile. A bit shorter, stockier. The voice, that was different, this man didn't hide that he was a product of the barrios of Newark. Manuel reached over and took Cynthia's arm.

Stephanie was really beginning to appreciate Tank. She'd have to apologize to him again for the way she's always getting him hurt, because the fact was, it was a good thing to have a solid wall, which came complete with arms, to grab and hold you when needed. Not something she'd ever considered before, but definitely something that was a bonus in life. Stephanie leaned back into Tank, and he didn't fail her, standing solidly as a wall should.

"Stephanie, this is Manuel, Rang---Carlos's brother. And Cynthia, my sister; Manuel's wife." Tanks voice reverberated in his chest.

Steph continued to stare. The hard edges, the closed, blank face that belonged to Ranger; those too were missing from this copy of him. Finally, she heard Tank's low, vibrant rumble, and it registered. Ranger's family. Oh, this had to be bad….the family showed up! Family has never joined RangeMan in the waiting room before.

All the air left her. She began trembling again and Tank tried to get her to stop shaking. Manuel broke eye contact with Stephanie and looked to Tank for a progress report.

"What have you heard?"

"Not a lot, Manuel, but, it's good. Mama inside? I want to do this once, and then get Stephanie upstairs to see Carlos."

A small round woman approached Tank, and he swallowed her in his embrace. "Mama, it's ok. Carlos will be ok."

Stephanie missed all of this….all she could hear was a loud buzzing in her head ... "ok ok ok. Ranger ok Ranger ok".

Tank's arms formed a protective barrier around her from the noise and the distraction. It was suddenly too much. She started to slip from his arms to the floor, but he slid down in time with her and had his arms about her. He propped her on his knee and looked into her face. His eyes searched hers for meaning. "Ranger. I need to see him. Before I collapse."

With one firm move, he had her in his arms, being carried to the elevator. "Check back in a minute, ok? I need to get Steph settled."

CHAPTER TWO

Stephanie froze when she walked into his room. The light was lower; it was silent, except for the ventilator; the heart monitor, the faint whirring and beeping of the machines that were keeping him alive. He was swollen, and covered in tubes and bandages, and so utterly not the strong dark dream that she knew.

His skin wasn't that yummy mocha latte that she loved to touch, but a sour dirty dishwater grey. His chest rose and fell, but not in the natural gentle rhythm that she knew he had when sleeping. His gorgeous black hair, not long enough for the ponytail she loved, lay limply on his pillow. The scent of him wasn't intoxicating, but was the scent of hospitals… antiseptic, sterile; something just beyond a natural smell. She gulped back the feeling of needing to heave.

Tank went straight to his side, and sat down. Inwardly, he needed the seat. This was worse than he had anticipated. Outwardly he knew to put on a good face for Stephanie.

"Hey, boss" he said quietly, touching Ranger's hand. "It's done. It's over. We've kept your girls safe. Julie is ok. Steph is ok. Now, we just need to work on you, 'k boss?"

He sat for a few minutes. Stephanie still hadn't approached the bed, but Tank knew she was there, and that her breath was regular, and she was straining to find the nerve to approach the bed.

Tank stood, and said, "Well, Ranger, I'm going to check on Miss Julie. I promised her she could come see you. I'm leaving Stephanie to sit with you till I get back. But then she needs to get some rest too."

He guided Stephanie to the seat. She didn't move, or notice as Rangers' mother, brother, or the Merry Men all filed in to visit for a few minutes. They tried to talk to her, but she didn't hear. She sat, zoning, staring at his face. Waiting.

Joe came in a while later, and quietly took her hand. "Now, Steph, let's go. I'll take you home."

She started, drawn out of wherever she had gone. "No. I can't go back there! God, I can't do that!"

"Steph. To my house. Not the apartment."

She looked blankly at him.

"Ok. To your parents then. But out of the hospital, ok?" She was like a dishrag, he was able to just draw her limp body to him and guide her toward the door but she looked back with a pleading air at Ranger. She stopped, let go of Joe's hand and returned to Ranger. She took his hand in hers. She bent down to his cheek and kissed him. She bent to his ear, and she whispered, "I love you."

A single tear formed at the corner of her eye as she stood back up and took Joe's outstretched hand. He winced. He had heard what she said.

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Rachel and Ron were picked up at the airport in the wee hours of the morning. Hal brought them directly to St. Francis Hospital and then straight to the pediatric floor. Stepping off of the elevator, Rachel moved immediately to the doors that were guarded by two large men. Instinctively she knew that they were Ranger's men, and that her daughter was inside. She said "I'm her mother" but there was no need as Hal pushed open the door.

Tank was sleeping in a chair by Julie's bed. He woke, and stood quietly, letting go of Julie's hand. He came over and hugged Rachel.

"It's ok, doll, Julies' fine…." he wiped a tear from her face, released her and grabbed for Ron's outstretched hand, as Rachel went to the bed. Julie stirred, and Tank said, "I'll be outside."

After breakfast, Julie was released from the hospital. She told her mother she wasn't going back to Florida until she got to see Ranger.

"Of course, dear," Rachel said, holding her hand. "I want to see him too."

Rachel was still overwhelmed at all she had learned about from Tank and Julie and the FBI over the past few hours. She gazed at her daughter, but didn't see a small girl any longer. She saw for the first time that her child was truly Carlos's daughter. Always she had been astonished at how much Julie looked like Carlos, behaved like Carlos. It wasn't a comforting thought, because truly, she didn't care for Carlos' attitude toward life.

Today, for the first time, she was relieved that so much of her father was in her little girl. Rachel was sure that she could never have been as brave as Julie apparently had been. She considered with a small grin that she would have to retract that long bitching out she had given Carlos, after finding that he spent one of his rare weekends with Julie at a firing range. Oh, she had been LIVID, she recalled in the elevator. Almost tore him a new one, and was he shocked! Rachel had never been as angry at him as that day.

Their marriage had been one of necessity, of chivalry really. They never had the huge argument to end all arguments and cause their marriage to end. He probably had had no idea she had it in her. And now it looked as if she'd have to take it back. Carlos's idiotic way of bonding with his daughter apparently saved her life.

Rachel's thoughts came back to the present as they approached the door to his SICU room. Julie's hair reached her waist. Rachel had French braided it in one long plait. A memory of herself as a child assailed her for a moment as she watched Julie march forward. The nurses tried to stop them.

"I'm sorry there are too many visitors for Mr. Manoso already. You can't go in there now."

"Well," Julie said, standing as tall as her ten year old legs would let her stand, trying to stare down the nurse, "Mr. Manoso is my FATHER and I will see him. You can't stop me!!!" And she let go of her mother's hand and ran into Rangers' room. Rachel just shrugged at the nurse. Yep, her father's daughter for sure.

Julie stopped short once she got inside the door. She hadn't expected what she saw. Ranger was not awake. He looked very sick, and weak, and this wasn't something she knew how to deal with. She put her arms around Rachel's waist and buried her head into her belly.

This was a memory too, Rachel recalled sadly. The day her father died. He had been sick, she knew that, but she was only eight, and didn't really understand how final death would be. She could see herself, standing just as Julie was, hugging her grandmother's waist, Abuelita Maria stroking her braid, as the priest said there was nothing more to do but pray for his soul.

She choked back a wail, and brushed a tear from her eyes, the eyes of that eight year old Rachel; and hoped that history was not about to repeat itself. It had hurt too much the first time.

Rachel looked toward the bed, and saw a woman sitting in the chair nearby. Stephanie was already back from her parents home. She had slept fitfully; waking repeatedly from what she had hoped was just a very bad dream. A nightmare, really, in which Ranger was shot. When she woke the third time, and realized it was a very real thing, and not the subject of her overactive imagination, it seemed pointless to stay in bed.

She showered and tried to eat something, and she tried to ignore her mother and grandmothers questions. She had her father drive her back to St. Francis, and one of the RangeMan guys got her coffee and a still untouched box of donuts. She had settled back in the chair by Rangers bed before the sun was up.

Stephanie looked over at the sound of the door opening, and smiled softly and reached out when she saw Julie. Julie quietly went to her, and Steph put her arms around her, pulling her close, letting her eyes take in Ranger on the bed.

"Julie, it'll be ok. Tank said the doctors fixed Ranger up real good." Stephanie wasn't sure who she was saying this for, Julie or herself. She looked over then and saw a woman and man standing still behind them.

"You must be Rachel," she said, standing up and letting Julie go for a moment. Rachel and Ron spoke quietly with Stephanie for a few minutes, Rachel hugging Stephanie and thanking her for saving Julie's life.

Reassured by Tank as well shortly afterward, Rachel decided the best thing to do was to take Julie back to Florida. She needed to get this girls' world straight again. Waiting for Ranger to wake up was not going to help.

Julie didn't want to go, but after some time and prodding by Stephanie, Tank and her parents, she finally agreed to leave. She was scared. More scared than when Chuck had taken her.

Ranger looked not like the strong handsome man they told her was her birth father. He wasn't that somewhat stern man she spent time with occasionally; who would tell her he loved her as he left her. That part of seeing him always made her happy and sad. When he left, even though he acted like he wanted to leave, he always told her he loved her. He called her Querida, she recalled. It made her happy, but she never knew why. Lying on the bed was someone who she might loose.

That kind of thought was difficult for a ten year old to process, but somehow, she felt a connection to Ranger that she had never felt before. She saw him get shot trying to save her life. She killed a man so that he wouldn't die. Her life had changed. And her relationship with this man had changed. She knew he loved her, even though she didn't get to see him a lot.

Julie picked up Rangers' hand again and whispered goodbye. She placed it back on the bed, turned around and took her mother's hand. Half way to the door, she stopped, and ran back to the bed. She climbed onto the bed, and kissed Ranger on the mouth.

"Te amo, daddy" she whispered.

She got down again and walked away, without another glance. Steph saw her wipe the back of her hand across her face as the door closed.