Disclaimer: Not mine, I wish.

A/N: Sorry for any glaring mistakes, I edited this at three in the morning, which probably wasn't the best plan, but I wanted to get it posted. I appreciate every single review :) I swear when I get an email notification about a new review I do a little internal happy dance.

Chapter Seven

Ranger

Lester must have gone to get Bobby, because before I could pull myself together, he pounded down the stairs. I saw the brief look of concern pass over his face before he wiped his face of worry and knelt down next to where I was on the ground, holding Stephanie. Tears were still running down her face, and she was still trembling. Bobby started asking her about any injuries, but she wasn't really responding until he let out a sigh and looked at me, suggesting we bring her to the ER because he was worried about her lack of response. That finally caught her attention.

"NO!" She yelled. "No hospital. No ER. I'm fine. Really. Just take me back to Haywood. Please? I need... I need to be somewhere familiar. Please, Bobby."

"If I let you come back to Haywood instead of the ER, you're going to have to let me check a few things here first." Stephanie slowly nodded, so Bobby checked her pulse, and started asking her questions.

"Were you hit on the head? Drugged?"

"My head is fine. I think he drugged me... things are a little hazy."
"Do you know what day it is?"
"Sunday?" Stephanie asked, looking at me for confirmation. I felt my jaw tighten and glanced at Bobby before I looked back to Steph and told her, "No, Babe. Today's Monday." She paled and looked at Bobby with wide eyes.

"Shit, sorry, Bobby. He must have drugged me. I don't remember being gone that long. But I feel fine, really, just get me the hell out of here." Bobby gave her a long look, and finally nodded. Les let us know that while we were busy with Steph, the guys had called all clear, so we were safe to leave. I stopped at the top of the stairs just long enough to order Tank to take the guys and search the area for this dickhead. He nodded and Les, Bobby and I headed out and loaded into the SUV, with Les driving and Bobby in the back keeping an eye on Steph, whom I had yet to let go of. She was curled in my lap and still hadn't stopped shivering, although as soon as we'd gotten out of the house it had lessened considerably.

"Cold, Babe?" I asked. She just nodded, keeping her eyes shut. I wanted to start asking her what happened, if she knew who he was, what he wanted, but I didn't want to overwhelm her. There would be time for that later. What mattered now was getting her back to RangeMan and keeping her safe from this current lunatic, whoever the hell he was. Just as I was opening my mouth to tell Les to crank up the heater, my phone started ringing. When I saw the number on the screen, I felt myself tense up.

"Shit," I muttered. What I really wanted to do was throw the damn phone out the window, but when duty calls I have to answer. No matter what fucking crisis I'm in the middle of. These assholes couldn't have waited a few days, could they. I flipped open my phone, trying to get a grip on myself before I chewed out some random suit.

"What!"

"Something came up. No team this time, just you. Your pickup is scheduled for 1800. You'll be briefed on the way to your drop point." The voice on the phone was brisk, no bullshit, clearly expecting nothing but compliance.

"Hooah." I replied darkly, and hung up. Fuck. That was only a few hours from now. I looked over at Bobby, who nodded in understanding. At least we'd gotten Steph back, and I trusted my team to find and take out Moreno. I couldn't imagine going into god-knows-where with Stephanie still missing. She was safe now, she was fine. She seemed basically unharmed, and I could get my head in the game.

We pulled into Haywood and I brought Steph to the medical suite on two. I gently set her down on the exam table, and knelt down to look at her.

"Babe. I have to go." I can't believe this. Not now, goddammit. My contract was almost up. Stephanie looked at me, and I knew she understood the unstated 'in the wind'.

"How long?" Stephanie asked, sounding like she was trying very hard not to break down. I felt my chest tighten. I hated leaving her right now. Shit, I hated leaving her any time.

"Don't know, babe. Could be a few days or a few weeks. I doubt it will be longer than a month, but I just don't know. They call, I go. It's how it is."

"OK. When do you have to leave?"

"Tonight. I have to go finish up a few things and then I have to take off." Stephanie took a deep breath, and looked at me, her eyes wide and shining. She was trying not to cry. Didn't that just make me feel like the world's biggest tool.

"Stephanie, right now, there is nothing more I want than to be able to stay here with you. You know that. But this is something I have to do. Just... shit." I ran my hands through my hair in frustration. Of all the timing, now is when I realize I love her, and there's no turning back. I love her. I can't believe I've shut this out for so damn long. I've been such an idiot. And now, now I have to take off and who the hell knows what will happen next. Focus, Mañoso. Now is not the time. You can kick your own ass later. "I wish I had more time to tell you all the things you deserve to hear. But I gotta go. When we do this, I want to do it right. So for now, can you just be strong for me?" Steph nodded as her tears finally started falling. I ached for her. I wanted to take away all her pain, be the superhero she thought I was. I wrapped her in my arms and breathed in her scent one last time. "Be strong for me, babe. I'll be back. Wait for me." I felt her nod against my chest. I gave her one last kiss on the top of her head, and turned to leave. I didn't think I'd be able to walk out the door if I saw the look on her face.

Just as I reached the doorway, I heard her soft voice say, "Don't get shot." I had to smile, even as this was tearing me apart.

"Don't go crazy."

And I forced myself to walk out the door.

Bobby

When Lester came to tell us that they'd found Steph, that she was alive, I could feel the weight being lifted off my chest. Les took my spot and sent me to the basement to check on Stephanie before we headed out. I grabbed my medic bag and tore downstairs, needing to see for myself that Stephanie was alive.

Steph was curled up in Ranger's arms, wearing a giant black t-shirt. I didn't see any pants. She looked dirty and tired and scared. Ranger looked like he was holding his whole world in his arms. He was whispering to her that she was his life, she was his light, that he needed her spark to see his way through the night. Well damn if that wasn't the most emotion I'd seen out of him since... well, shit, since ever. If he weren't saying it all in Spanish I'd think he'd finally gotten his shit together, but the fact that he was acknowledging it at all was, for Ranger, a massive step.

I walked over and kneeled next to them to get a better look at Stephanie.

"Hey, Bomber, you scared us," I said as I tried to get a decent visual assessment with her still wrapped up in Ranger's arms. "Have you been hurt?" She glanced over at me and looked away without responding. "Steph? Is anything broken?" Nothing. She was just staring blankly at her clasped hands. I looked at Ranger. "If we can't get a response, we might have to take her to the ER. She looks okay, but maybe they could..."
"NO!" Steph interrupted. "No hospital. No ER. I'm fine. Really. Just take me back to Haywood. Please? I need... I need to be somewhere familiar. Please, Bobby." She looked at me and she looked like she was trying to hold it together, but her tone barely hid her desperation.

"If I let you come back to Haywood instead of the ER, you're going to have to let me check a few things here first." Stephanie nodded reluctantly, and I knew she was keeping quiet about something, but I had to get this going so we could get her back to the safety of RangeMan.

"Were you hit on the head? Drugged?"

"My head is fine. I think he drugged me... things are a little hazy."
"Do you know what day it is?"
"Sunday?" Stephanie asked, looking over at Ranger, unsure.

He glanced at me with a flash of tightly controlled anger, before telling her, "No, Babe. Today's Monday."

She looked at me, visibly shaken. "Shit, sorry, Bobby. He must have drugged me. I don't remember being gone that long. But I feel fine, really, just get me the hell out of here." I looked over her, assessing. She didn't seem disoriented. She didn't look like she was in a lot of pain. She was still shivering, but that was probably from being stuck in a fucking basement wearing nothing but a t-shirt. I might as well evaluate her at Haywood. If she needed the ER, we were close, anyway. I gave her a nod and we headed out.

On the drive back I continued to watch her for signs of injury or illness, but she seemed ok. She looked like she was trying to hold herself together in front of Ranger. He still hadn't let go of her and I could see the tension in her eyes. That was unusual. Typically when something happened with Steph, as soon as Ranger was with her, she calmed down. Something was going on, but I wasn't going to bring it up until we were back in the building and I knew for sure that she was safe and unharmed.

Ranger's phone went off, and when he looked at it I saw his expression turn cold as he cursed to himself. I knew that look. Had it myself from time to time. Something somewhere in the world had gone FUBAR and Uncle Sam needed Ranger to go fix it. I heard him give his acknowledgment, and nodded at him, telling him I knew who called. My eyes were on Stephanie and she didn't appear to have heard anything. Her gaze was about a million miles away, and she looked – I don't know, she looked tense, brittle, like she was about to break apart. And in the back of her eyes, I saw a hardness that hadn't been there before. A hardness I had seen before, in the guys I worked with. It was something I had hoped to never have to see in Stephanie.

We finally got to Haywood and Ranger took her to two. I knew what he had to tell her, so I went up to five to give them a few minutes of privacy. The guys surrounded me, asking about Steph, wanting to make sure she was okay. I'm not sure how reassuring I was – I really didn't have it in me at the moment to put a lot of effort into it, I was too concerned about whatever was going on that Stephanie wasn't saying. Wading through what seemed like every RangeMan employee, I found Tank. He had organized the search of the area surrounding the house, leaving Ram to head up the team in the field, so he could return here to handle the expected influx of information. I told him about Ranger's call, and he headed to his office to begin the necessary preparations for Ranger's absence. I waited around on five as long as I could, wanting to give Steph and Ranger their time to say goodbye, but knowing I needed to get Steph checked out as soon as I could. Ten minutes later my patience ran out and I took the stairs down to my medical suite. I passed Ranger in the hall and he looked like hell. He definitely looked like he could inflict whatever damage necessary to complete his mission. I wouldn't want to be whoever the psychotic assclown was that he was going after, that's for damn sure.

I entered the exam room, trying to lock down my emotions so I could focus on treating Stephanie and not on how much I wanted to be out there looking for the asshole that did this. Stephanie was on the exam table, looking lost without Ranger next to her. I smiled at her and reached over to hug her, to tell her that she would be fine, that Ranger would be fine. When my fingers brushed her arm she gasped and scrambled away from me, looking panicked. What the hell?

"Stephanie?" I asked softly, trying to calm her down. "Stephanie, it's me, Bobby. You're safe." She looked up at me and I saw the fear start to diminish, leaving... shame? Was she ashamed? Of what? "Stephanie? Can you tell me what happened?" She burst into hysterical sobs, and I was at a loss.

What in the hell had happened in that basement?