Here is the dark version of Chapter 6, for those who wanted it. ANGST alert! Let me know what you think.

Mission in Columbia- Ch. 6- Dark Version

I left the OR with a deep sigh. We had spent what seemed like forever with Steph. Christ, I was exhausted. For the first time ever, my knees gave out and I sunk into a chair. I needed a minute to calm down. I put my head in my hands for a moment and noticed that my hands were shaking. My hands never shook, not even in a firefight, never. Not even when my life was in danger. But the stress of fighting for Steph's life had them shaking uncontrollably. I knew the guys were counting on me to save her. I waited a minute or so for the shaking to stop, then I forced myself to get up. I had to go tell the guys about Steph.

Ch. 6

Bobby's POV

I sat there trying to still my trembling hands and keep the tears from my eyes. My arms ached from doing compressions on Stephanie for over an hour. That doctor was useless and so I had to do everything. And I tried everything. I kept pumping her over and over and over while they did the blood transfusions. Nothing worked. I did compressions over and over and watched the flat green line trace across the screen with no movement, indicating she was dead. The doctor tried to get me to stop, but I worked on her long after that, hoping that THIS shock or THIS round of drugs would work and I would save her. But it didn't, and after almost an hour of watching that straight green line bouncing up and down as I continued my endless pumping her chest, blurry through my tears, I finally had to admit defeat. The room went from mass confusion to perfectly still and silent except for the wailing alarm on the heart monitor indicating the futility of my efforts.

I looked down at her beautiful blue eyes, staring into oblivion and I caressed her check. " I am sorry, honey. I am so sorry. I tried everything." I picked up the BP cuff and threw it against the wall. No matter what I tried, nothing worked. I felt so fucking useless- all my muscles, all my strength and I couldn't bring her back.

I knew Ranger and the guys were going to hate me. Hell, I hated myself. Part of me wanted to go back and work on her some more, to keep trying, not to give up, like I could get her back if I just kept at it long enough. But I knew it had been too long for her to ever come back. I forced myself to go out and tell the guys. And Ranger.

Woody's POV

We were spread out all over the hospital, firing and killing as many of the enemy as we could. Ranger was right out in the open, firing all over the place, like fucking Rambo, not caring if he got shot. As soon as I saw Bobby come out, I stopped firing. He looked very tired, but his face was impassive so I couldn't tell if it was good news or bad news about Steph. Eventually, Ram also saw him and he stopped firing. Ranger was still firing away. So Tank came up behind him and pointed to Bobby. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at Bobby , waiting, as if he were a fucking magician about to perform a trick or something. Ranger had a look in his eye that I had never seen before, somewhere between furious and homicidal. The way he looked at Bobby, I was worried that he might turn the anger on Bobby if there was bad news. I got myself ready to help restrain Ranger, just in case.

Bobby 's face was impassive, but as he got closer, we could all see the tears brimming in his eyes. Oh, no. Oh, shit, no! He went up to us, to Ranger in the middle of the group and his voice broke as he spoke. " I 'm so sorry . We, I… lost her." He broke down when he said that and I patted his shoulder as a masculine form of comfort. " I tried everything, CPR, drugs, shocks, nothing worked. Her heart was just too long without blood to pump. I spent almost two hours working on her – trying to get her back, but I couldn't." He looked into Ranger's dark smoldering eyes, and said, "I am so sorry. " Bobby put his head into his hands and his body shook. He must have been in agony since he'd been the one trying to save her. I had never seen him cry before, but I am sure he was shedding silent tears of frustration and helplessness.

None of us moved, in shock that the unimaginable had become reality. Steph was dead. I felt my heart overtaken by an immense emptiness and an almost unbearable pain. For the first time since I was a child, I felt myself on the verge of tears. I couldn't even imagine how Ranger felt. He stood there unmoving, not even blinking after he had gotten the news. Tank came over and put his hand on Ranger's shoulder. " I am so sorry, man.", he said, his voice breaking. That must have spurned Ranger back to reality because he charged at Bobby and knocked him on the ground. " You fucking let her die. Why didn't you save her you bastard." Ranger was punching Bobby in the face and stomach. Bobby was just taking it, not even trying to defend himself, as if he felt Ranger's accusations were true.

It took Ram, Tank, and I to get Ranger off of Bobby. Bobby had at least a black eye and probably several cracked or broken ribs from Range punching him. Ranger seemed to have gotten all the anger out of his system, and stood slumped over. " I want to see her, " he said through gritted teeth. " I want to see her." Tank came over and put his arm on Ranger's shoulders. " Ranger, man, you don't want to see her the way she is now. You want to remember her full of life with her beautiful smile and blue eyes." Ranger tensed and repeated, barely above a growl, " I want to see her." It occurred to me that a guy like Ranger, used to being in control of every situation, wouldn't take anyone else's word that she was dead, not even the word of a trusted friend. He'd want to see for himself.

Bobby was picking himself up off the ground. " Ok, man. You can see her. Just give me a few minutes to get her cleaned up." Tank grabbed Ranger and pulled him off to the side so Bobby could get up.

Bobby's POV

I went back into the hospital OR and was taken aback at seeing Steph lying so lifeless on the table. I still couldn't believe that she'd never smile at me again. I knew Ranger would want to see proof for himself that she was dead, but I wanted to clean her up so that his last memory of her wouldn't be like this. The aftermath of a resuscitation, especially an unsuccessful one, is usually messy. There were empty syringes on the floor, dumped there in haste after administering them to her. I took the tube out of Steph's throat and the tube needle from her arm. Her shirt was open and her chest was bruised and sticky . I left the EKG monitor on, knowing Ranger would want proof she was gone. I pulled her shirt closed and buttoned it. I stroked her cheek and whispered, "Ranger is coming, honey" as if she were alive. I stroked my hand over a lock of her hair and went to get Ranger.

He walked slowly into the room and winced at seeing Steph so deathly still on the table. His eyes tracked from her still form to straight green line on the EKG screen. I took in the look of despair on his face and shut the door to give him a few moments of privacy with her.

Junior's POV

We all just sat in stunned silence. None of the battle around us even seemed to matter. We were all so focused on our disbelief that Steph was gone forever. I couldn't bear to even think the word "dead" next to Steph's name. Bobby was looking like shit. I could tell he blamed himself for losing Steph. But it wasn't his fault, any more than it was any of ours.we'd all done everything we could and it still hadn't fucking been enough. We were supposed to protect her, but we couldn't save her from this. Bobby was just sitting on the steps staring into space. Tank and Ram were making sure all the bad guys had been dispatched. Ranger had been in the hospital OR with Steph for almost half an hour now.

Finally, the door opened and he came out- a look of total blankness on his face and in his eyes. He went up to Tank and spoke silently to him for a minute or so, then grabbed all the rest of the ammo and took off. We tried to follow him, but Ranger wouldn't let us. He grabbed the gun and said, " You take her back to the States and take care of her arrangements, spare no expense. I have business to take care of." Ram went to him and said, " Don't you want to be there for the services, man." Ranger looked at him with dead eyes and said, " She is dead because of me. Now all those cartel fuckers are going to die by my hand. I promised her." he turned around and walked off into the jungle.

Ranger's POV

From the minute I saw the look in Bobby's eyes, I knew she was gone, before he'd even said a word. I felt an intense range shoot uncontrollably through my body. In my rage, I lunged at Bobby, and beat the crap out of him. My rational mind knew that it wasn't his fault- that he'd tried desperately to save her. But my rational mind was gone, replaced with the part of my mind that had trusted him to save her. And he had failed.

The next thing I remember, Tank, Woody, and Ram were pulling me off of Bobby. My mind refused to believe that she was gone forever. Bobby must have been wrong. I had to see her for myself. My feelings were numb, by my mind knew that this wasn't Bobby's fault. It was mine. My babe was dead because of me- my enemies made her suffer horribly and killed her. My mind refused to believe she was dead.

Part of me didn't want to see her as she would be now. I wanted to remember her laughing and her blue eyes. But I had to see for myself. I couldn't trust anyone else with something that important. I owed it to her and to myself to make sure. I waited in a daze until Bobby let me go into the OR.

My mind rebelled at the thought that the still form on the table was Stephanie. My eyes went from her still form to the flat green line tracing endlessly across the EKG screen. I heard the soft click of the OR door closing and knew that they had left me alone. I went to her still form and took her still warm hand. I felt like I was in a daze- this wasn't me and Steph, this was someone else. Any minute now she would wake up, right? The monitor was just hooked up wrong. I studied her still form- her chest didn't move with breathing and when I laid my head to her, there was no heartbeat. Reality hit me like a tidal wave- Bobby wasn't wrong. She was gone.

I kissed her still lips and put my fingers in her hair. " God, Steph, I am sorry. This is all my fault. I am so sorry. This is why I was afraid to have a life with you. I am so sorry. " I felt myself break down into sobbing as I stroked her cheek. I am so sorry and I swear they will pay. " I kissed her one last time and said, " I love you. I will always love you." I hoped that wherever she was now, she knew that I loved her. I squeezed her hand again and left the room.

I had accepted that she was dead but I didn't want to be without her. I wanted to die without her. I didn't care if I did die. Buf first, they were all going to die. I went out and put on all the ammo that was left. I whispered to Tank to take care of her and give her a beautiful service- spare no expense. I wouldn't be there. I had business to attend to. The guys wanted to come help me, but this was something I had to do alone. She was dead because of me- my life didn't matter anymore. Avenging hers did.

Tank's POV

My eyes were red rimmed from unshed tears. Steph's service was beautiful, attended by all the rangemen, half the Trenton PD, and most of the Burg. They all came to pay tribute to the Bombshell Bounty Hunter. I hadn't seen or heard from Ranger in almost a week. But I kept seeing the headlines:

COLUMBIAN DRUG CARTELS MASSACRED BY LONE EXECUTIONER

Ranger was ridding the world of the scumbags who did this to Steph. She would be glad to know that the world would be a safer place now because of her.

It has been three weeks since Steph's funeral. I come every week to visit, as I promised Ranger I would. But no one had heard from Ranger. But every morning there is a fresh red rose on Steph's tombstone.