Chapter 9
Ranger stood at the edge of the rooftop, breathing in the cool air of the sea. He watched as the waves crashed, and then receded and the sun rose steadily from the horizon. His mind was clear for a blissful moment; clear of the emotions, memories and thoughts that had plagued his mind incessantly in the past months. He opened another bottle of beer and tilted the glass bottle, letting the cooling liquid run down his throat. The temple was on a break.
His eyes never left the bright sky as the rooftop door swung open and the even thud of footsteps followed. In his peripheral vision, he saw Tank moving to stand beside him. The two men gazed out across the town in silence for a few moments, unspoken words flowing between them. After so many years working together, protecting each other and being in every sense aside from the literal, brothers, words were often superfluous when it came to their friendship.
"You mind?" Tank asked after a moment, breaking the silence between them. Ranger shook his head, taking another swig and Tank grabbed a bottle from the pack next to them. Quiet ensued once more, broken only by the occasional sipping from the two men. Finally, Ranger spoke, "What do you want from me Tank? Some sort of heartfelt outburst?"
Tank remained silent for a moment, simply glancing at him before turning back to the horizon.
"You can't go on like this."
"Tank", Ranger interrupted with a warning tone. He did not want to talk right now. Heck, he didn't want to think, period.
"Michael was our friend too, Ranger. We all miss him."
"Can't this wait?" Ranger's hand clenched the bottle tighter in irritation.
Tank turned to face him, while Ranger continued to stare obstinately at the water below them.
"You can't keep blaming yourself for his death. It wasn't your fault-"
"You're wrong!" Ranger barked as he finally turned to face his friend. "I was assigned to go with him Tank; I should have had his back but I didn't. Now he's dead."
Tank closed his eyes, and when they opened, there was a hint of sadness within them that belayed his own grief for their friend.
"You know as well as I do that it was meant to be a routine mission. All the intel we were given told us that it should have been a simple job; he should have been in and out of there in a week, like we've all done a million times before."
Ranger shook his head angrily.
"It changes nothing. We served for years together, Tank, and the reason why each one of us has made it out alive is because we worked as a team, all for one, one for all. Michael saved all of our lives countless times, and when he needed me, I wasn't there."
"Ranger, listen to me." Tank said, looking straight at Ranger. "You did everything you could for him. We flew in as soon as their group went missing. We killed the bastards that did this and you brought his body home for Aida to bury. You brought him home."
Ranger brought the heels of his palms to his eyes, hating how they burned at his words. The memories he had been suppressing returned in full force; the panic that had filled him when he'd received the call at Steph's, arriving too late to find the bodies of the missing team scattered around their pillaged camp site, the pain and anger of finding his childhood friend's body full of bullet holes. He'd salvaged any personal items he could find for Aida and with his team, hunted down every last rogue that had slaughtered them. And despite all this, the worst moment of all was stepping off the plane and finding Aida waiting there. Her eyes were hopeful as she scanned the faces of the men disembarking, her hands placed over the protruding bump of her abdomen as she searched desperately for her husband. As Ranger approached her, his gaze filled with sorrow as he carried a small bag with the remainders of Michael's belongings, comprehension dawned slowly in Aida's eyes and she crumpled to the tarmac floor, inconsolable with grief.
There was silence between the two men for a few moments; Tank, too, remembering their futile mission to rescue their friend and how his death had sunk his devastated wife into a depression she had just begun to come out of. Finally Ranger spoke softly.
"I need to know that Aida will be okay, that she will recover from this for both her and their child before I can come back." Ranger looked straight at Tank, urging him to understand. "I owe it to him."
Tank shook his head slightly. "No one blames you for his death Ranger. Not me, Bobby, or Lester, and not Aida."
Tank sighed as Ranger remained silent.
"You've done everything you can for her. All Aida needs now is time. She's just lost her husband and now has to raise their child alone. That sort of grief and shock, only time can heal."
"Lester, Bobby or I can visit her," Tank continued. "And Julie would love to spend some time with her; you know Aida adores her. Aida isn't your responsibility Ranger. Right now, your only concern should be Steph."
Ranger was still at the mention of her name. He stared down into his beer bottle and felt a pang of regret as he remembered the words he'd said to her just a few hours ago
"I've screwed it up with her, Tank."
"So? Do something about it." Tank responded.
Ranger let out a harsh bark of laughter.
"It's not that simple."
"Then make it simple. Steph is having your child and that means she needs you right now, more than ever."
Ranger shook his head ruefully.
"I've hurt her, and I'll just hurt her again. What she needs now is space. From me."
"No, what she needs is answers. What she needs is for you to explain why you have neglected her for the past four months. She believes that you don't love her; that you don't want anything to do with this child. That's why she was trying to leave."
"I know that!" Ranger snapped back. "Don't you think I know that? Do you think I want her out of my life, to be no more than a name on a birth certificate? I want to have everything with her."
"Then fight for it!" Tank barked at him, refusing to back down. "I am telling you right now that you only have one chance left to fix this. And I guarantee you if you don't take it, you're going to lose her, and your child, and you won't get them back."
Ranger's head was bowed as he gripped the rim of the wall, his muscles taut with tension. For a moment, Tank's frustration was subdued by a pang of guilt as he watched his friend struggle with his thoughts. Sometimes, however, being a friend meant that you had to do what was best for them, even when they didn't appreciate it. Tank sighed.
"How many more can you afford to lose, Carlos?"
Tank placed his beer bottle on the ridge next to Ranger's and walked across the rooftop towards the door. It was up to Ranger now. Suddenly he stopped. He turned around to face Ranger's back.
"Do it for your child, and do it for Michael. Fix this so that his death will mean only one child has to grow up without his father."
Then he turned back, the door slammed shut behind him and Ranger was alone again.
A/N: Hi everyone! Can you believe it's chapter 9 already? Can you remember when I said this would be around 5 chapters long? How naïve of me *shakes head*
So finally, in chapter 9, we have the long-awaited reveal! I'm sorry for the wait but it wasn't the easiest chapter to write since, as you may have guessed, I'm a girl so I have a tendency to make all characters speak like one (which as you can imagine is quite different from how a thirty year old ex-seal might speak) :P Anyway, back to the reveal, did anyone guess or kinda guess it? If you did, GIANT cookie to you! And since my hints were pretty dismal, I'll give you a special mention next chapter for your awesome psychic skills ;) So what are everyone's thoughts on Ranger now? Do you think his behaviour can be justified? Are you relieved about Aida? Let me know!
Also, just a reminder, this is a babe HEA so for those of you who feel the story has become depressing, and I know that this chapter was very angsty (my apologies), bear with me! Like I said, it's a HEA so we'll be heading out of angstville in no time (but don't worry, Ranger will have to work for it) ;)
Once again, merci to everyone who showed their support in any way, and gave me their thoughts on the last chapter/story. I do read (and appreciate) every review, and it's really quite interesting to see how everyone interpreted Ranger's thoughts and reacted to Aida Didn't mean to frighten anyone with the idea of another Rachel! As many of you guessed, she is (kinda) family to Ranger.
Thanks for reading everyone, and have a great weekend!
P.S Minor spoiler (cover your eyes spoilerphobic people!)
To Mirel, the baby won't have any birth defects. It was incentive for Steph to stay in Trenton for their health and for Ranger to get a kick in the behind and realise he needs to stay by her :)
