Disclaimer: The characters you recognize as J.E. are hers. Any other character is a figment of my imagination and any similarities to real persons is merely a coincidence

This story is definitely AU. The characters have the same physical appearance as in J.E.'s books; however I have changed ages of some characters. This is a Babe HEA and Cupcake fans may not be happy as Joe is dead as are Frank and Helen Plum. The Plums as well as Joe are not portrayed favorably, they were bad characters in the original and references may be made in this story as to what their actions were in the original story. References may be made to any of the books in the series, so if you haven't read them all, you may want to wait to read this. That said…

I would like to thank all those who review as guests and those who have PMing turned off. I greatly appreciate all the reviews.

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me,
A Judas Among Us.
On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me,
Two Skips a Chasing and a Judas Among Us.
On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me,
Three Bullet Wounds, Two Skips a Chasing and a Judas Among Us.
On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me,
Four False Alarms, Three Bullet Wounds, Two Skips a Chasing and a Judas Among Us.
On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me,

Chapter 10: Five New Clues

Rodriguez's POV:

I entered my office from my apartment and looked over the files that had been delivered to me. I felt the smile as I saw the drawing on top. It was from Lillie. God I loved that kid. She was a little Angel. I'll never forget the day she'd accidentally seen me. I was heading up to 5 and she and Rafael were racing down the stairs. I froze when I saw them and looked frantically for a way to avoid them but it wasn't to be. Lillie was in the lead and she screeched to a stop and looked up at me with a sad expression on her little face. Rafael had come to join her and placed his small hand on her shoulder. I felt my heart in my throat as I heard Rafael tell her, "It's alright Lillie. The pain is an old one."

Her lower lip quivered and she shook her head, "The pain is still there Rafe. It's just better hid."

With that she'd stepped up to me and placed her tiny hand on one of my hands. I had to bite my cheek not to react when she said, "I won't let you hurt no more Miguel. I be your friend."

I flicked a glance to Ranger's kid to see if I could find a way out of this and noticed his gaze bore into mine and there was fierceness in his eyes that told me I was in trouble if I hurt Lillie. I turned back to the little girl and with a voice raspy from disuse I told her, "I'm fine. Your friend Rafael is right. It's an old pain."

Lillie shook her head, "I'm not talking the scars. I see the loneliness."

My eyes burned and I fought the tears that wanted to well up in my eyes. I moved to continue on my way and Lillie lifted her other hand that was carrying a picture. "Lookit here Miguel. You can have my Angel drawing. The Angels can stay with you till we meet again and you won't be lonely."

I accepted the drawing and suddenly I felt a burden lift. I smiled…or what passed for a smile now and nodded. "Thanks."

Lillie grinned and the whole stairwell lit up. I took a deep breath and made myself move up the stairwell to the 5th floor. I heard the childish laughter as the two raced up to the floors above. From that moment on I had a special place in my heart for Tank's little girl. She made it her life's work to make sure I had a new picture every couple of days. The first time she'd asked her daddy to put a picture on my stack of searches the big guy himself delivered the stack and glowered at me wanting to know how I come to meet his baby. When I told Tank what had happened there were tears on his cheek and his eye were shinning with love. I picked up today's picture and the beauty of the drawing made my heart lighter. I moved through to my apartment and placed the drawing in the place of honor on the fridge.

Once I had the picture displayed, I gently touched the drawing and smiled before heading back to my office. I went through all the files and set them in the piles for the guys I thought would handle them the best. There were five that I wanted Stephanie to look at even though I knew Ranger would hand me my ass on a silver platter. I left them on my desk and arranged the rest to take up to 5 and pass out to the guys. I narrowed my eyes and checked the wall clock noticing I still had 10 minutes before my window of opportunity. I didn't like the others seeing me. As a matter of fact, I preferred not to deal with people at all. That's why this job suited me so well. It had been eight years since it happened and I remembered it as if it had just been yesterday. Of course, life-altering events were rarely forgotten.

Eight years ago I had been sent on a mission. It was going to be my last mission and I didn't realize that neither I nor any of the men my team was sent in after were supposed to make it back out. The man I was training as my replacement had been given a special set of instructions to make sure we failed in our mission and the team to be rescued as well as myself were casualties. We had extracted the team of four men. It was Ranger and the rest of the core team. Just as we were about to get out free and clear, my replacement triggered an alarm the enemy had set up to warn them of our approach. The moment I looked at him I knew it was deliberate. I lost no time in taking him out and the rest of us hauled ass out of that God forsaken jungle. We were almost clear when a grenade was lobbed in our direction and I knew there was only one way to save the team. I turned to Ranger and said, "Make sure that asshole pays for setting us up."

Ranger had nodded and I threw myself onto the grenade. When I woke up in a hospital my face, and 90% of my body was covered in bandages. The doctor's told me I was lucky to be alive. I never felt I was lucky. My face would forever be scarred as well as the rest of my body. I had all my limbs, I could walk and talk, use my arms and hands…but there was a certain part of me that had been destroyed that day. It was taken from me and there was nothing I could do about it. Never again would I be with a woman. When Ranger came to visit me several days later, I saw in his eyes that he knew what I was thinking. He'd placed a knife under the sheets near me and our eyes locked.

Ranger said, "You have a hard road ahead of you. If you have the guts to fight and live, come see me when you get out of here and you'll have a job with whatever restrictions you want to put in effect."

I nodded and he'd left. Over the next several months I often held that knife and wondered why I was fighting to live. In the end, I left the hospital and headed to see Ranger. I'd been here for the past 7 years and although I had a life of sorts, it wasn't the life I had expected. I turned my focus onto the five folders I wanted Stephanie to see. I clenched my hands and sat at my desk to dig into them. When I got done I had 5 clues that I knew Ranger would need for the fight that was headed our way. I narrowed my eyes and stood. I carried the folders and made my way up to 5. I didn't bother with the ones the guys would run searches on. This information was too precious and I knew Ranger would need it ASAP. It wasn't until I left the stairwell that I realized I was walking onto the floor at one of the busiest times. I stiffened and continued on my way to Ranger's office. When I got there I lifted my hand and knocked firmly on the door.

I heard Ranger's, "Enter."

I opened the door and stepped into the room. "I have five files here I need Stephanie to look at. I've already dug into them and come up with five different clues. I need her to do her magic to see what else is in there."

I handed Ranger the files and he looked over what I had just done before looking up and meeting my gaze. Without a word he lifted the phone and paused before speaking, "Babe. I need you to come down to 5. Rodriguez dug up some information and wants you to work your magic on them."

I watched as he listened and smiled before replacing the receiver. "She'll be down in a minute. Have a seat while we wait."

I nodded and sat down. It was only a couple of moments before Stephanie came hurrying in with Rafael beside her and the new baby in her arms. She glanced my way on entering and the smile that lit her face stunned me.

"So I finally am honored with meeting Rodriguez." She walked over to where I was sitting and held out her hand. I took it awkwardly and she gently squeezed my hand. I was further floored when she gently placed the baby in my arms and walked over behind Ranger. "Let me see what we have."

Ranger moved back so she could sit on his lap as she got busy on the computer. Her hands flew over the keys and I watched in fascination for a moment until I was distracted by a tingling feeling coming over me. I glanced down at the baby in my arms and saw she was staring up at me with a light in her eyes I'd never witnessed before. It was like being healed from the inside out. I smiled at her and noticed she made me feel much as Lillie did when she was near. I'm not sure how long I sat there holding this tiny Angel…but suddenly I was aware that my name was being called. I lifted my head and glanced at my boss.

Ranger was smiling. "I see my daughter has made another conquest. She has a way of grabbing hold of your heart and latching on."

I returned Ranger's smile and said, "Similar to Lillie. They're little Angels."

Ranger chuckled, "They are indeed."

Just then Stephanie spoke up, "Damn!"

Ranger turned to his wife and asked, "What is it Babe?"

Stephanie handed him a printout she took from the printer, "See for yourself."

Ranger read over the paper and frowned. Rafael went over and placed a hand on Ranger's arm. "Don't worry Dad. It will all turn out right." Rafael turned to me, "Thank you Miguel. Your warning of the clues will help us to protect Lillie and Katie."

My eyes narrowed and I stood. "Someone's threatening Lillie and Katie?"

Stephanie bit her lip and nodded. "That's what the clues are indicating. They plan to attack them to divert our attention so they can get to Rafael and Mathew easier."

I glared. "Like hell they will." I held Katie to me and looked down, "I have no powers, but I will fight with all that's left of me to protect Lillie and your new baby."

Rafael smiled and I felt something inside I had never felt before. Rafael told me, "You are stronger than you know. Your pledge has been heard and I honor your pledge. Lillie and Katie will be safe in your charge."

Stephanie stepped over and as she took her daughter she smiled at me and kissed my cheek. I winced at the contact not understanding how she could stand to touch someone as monstrous looking as myself. She raised a hand to my cheek and said, "You are a beautiful man." She placed her hand on my heart, "In here."

I watched as she and the children left. Ranger grinned at me and said, "Welcome back to the land of the living."

I rolled my eyes and he burst out laughing. I just shook my head and headed back to my office. As I stopped at the door I asked, "Can you have one of the guys stop down for the files."

Ranger nodded, "Sure."

I had just made it down to my office when there was a knock.

Binkie's POV:

I was surprised when Ranger asked me if I'd go down to 4 and pick up the files from Rodriguez. I knew I'd seen him up here just a few minutes ago and wondered why he didn't bring the files up with him. Of course, it wasn't my job to question orders, just to follow them. I knocked on Rodriguez's door and was surprised when he opened it quickly. He stepped back and I walked into the office. "Ranger sent me down for the files."

He nodded and handed them to me. I saw there were sticky notes sticking up saying who got the files. I turned and waved my hand at him saying, "Have a good day man." And then I headed back up to 5. I delivered the files to the guys and headed for my own desk. I had just sat down when my phone rang. I answered with a, "It's your nickel."

Laughter was my answer. I smiled and lowered my voice, "Is that you Baby?"

A raspy voice on the other end said, "You know it is."

"What you doing?"

"Well, I'm sitting here in the middle of the bathroom with that little thing I had you get from the pharmacy yesterday."

I stilled. "And?"

"Positive."

I dropped the phone and scrambled to pick it back up. "You sure Baby?"

"As sure as I can be. Of course you did get five different types and I took all of them. All of the results are the same so I think it's safe to say we are going to have a baby."

"Damn! That's great Baby. Can I tell the guys?"

I heard laughter and then, "Yeah, I suppose you can. Now hurry home so we can celebrate."

I jumped up and ran to the control room and grabbed the mike. I flipped the switch and announced, "Hey dudes listen up! I'm gonna be a daddy!"

There were whoops and hollers and the guys were slapping me on the back. My life had undergone a lot of changes in the past four years. I had met a beautiful woman and we had made a life together. She was everything I had been searching for. Within three months of meeting we were married and had just celebrated our 4th anniversary. Now we were going to have a baby as well. I felt a slap on the back and turned to see Woody smiling from ear to ear. I grinned back.

Woody's eyes twinkled and said, "It's about time you made me an uncle."

Woody's POV:

I was thrilled when I heard Binkie and my little sister were going to have a baby. After the tragedy of her past, I was glad to see my sister move on with her life when she met Binkie. Like Cherry said, she couldn't help but fall in love with him. Knowing how precious time could be, once she realized her feelings she didn't wait around to tempt fate. Cherry had been engaged to her high school sweetheart and they had been planning to marry when he returned home from the Marines. The only thing is when he returned it was just his shell of a body that came home. At least she had closure though. She had come to visit about a year after his death. She had tried to throw herself into another relationship too quickly and had nearly lost her life to an abusive control freak. She came here to heal and so I could watch over her till the bastard went to trial. The coward took his own life when he had been convicted of attempted murder. Shortly after she arrived I had introduced her to Binkie and she fell hard for him. When she told me she was in love with my friend I questioned that it was still very soon. She smiled and said Binkie knew about her past and said he loved her. She believed him and knew her feelings for him were the real deal.

I gave her away and over the last few years I had watched her blossom. There was no doubt in my mind they truly loved each other. Of course when Binkie's older sister had come to the wedding, I took one look and fell myself. I smiled as I recalled the fire between Debbie and me. We argued and toed off at one another for several months before that fateful day when I took her in my arms and kissed her. We were married a year after meeting and within another year we had a son followed by a daughter a year after that. I was very happy with my young family. As my thoughts returned to what was going on around me I noticed Junior was slapping Binkie on the back and congratulating him. I looked to my brother in law and friend and we smiled at each other and went back to work.

Junior's POV:

I congratulated my friend and co-worker on his good news and wished him well. I was hoping to have some good news of my own one of these days. Rachel and I were going out this evening and I had the ring in my pocket to pop the question tonight. When I heard Lester had bought the farm and asked Robyn to marry him I decided I too no longer had any desire to remain single. I headed to my apartment on 4 and got ready for the evening. In no time I was on my way to pick up the woman I loved and planned to take her to the new French restaurant in town. When I knocked on her door and she opened the door I was floored once again at her beauty.

Rachel smiled and I took her in my arms and we kissed. She handed me her key and I locked up for her and led her to my car. We made our way to the restaurant and had a lovely meal. I timed my proposal just right and once we had drank our coffee I kneeled and took her hand in mine. "Rachel Marie Tillman, will you do me the honor of marrying me?"

Tears fell from her eyes and she nodded, "Yes!"

I took her in my arms and we kissed once again. Only the sound of our waiter coughing interrupted our celebration. We left shortly after and as we were walking to the door I noticed Tom and Connie were seated in a cozy little alcove. I smiled and hugged Rachel closer as we left.

Tom's POV:

I sat looking at my beautiful wife and noticed she literally glowed. I had a feeling it was because of the child that grew in her belly and I was thrilled we would have a child of our own next Christmas. Connie told me she had let Lester know the other day about the baby and I was thrilled. I wanted everyone to know the great news. We ate our dinner and celebrated in our quite way the new life that was going to be joining our family. Once I had finally convinced Connie her families connections meant nothing to me and I loved her and that was all that was important, she finally agreed to be my wife. Her family ended up being my staunchest allies. They only wanted for Connie to be happy.

Once we finished our meal, I helped my wife out to the car and we made our way home. As we were turning into our neighborhood, I thought I recognized Erik heading in the opposite direction and wondered if he was going out on a call. In no time we were home and Connie and I made our way inside the house and had an early night so we could continue our celebrating in the bedroom.

Erik's POV:

I was on my way to a call when I thought I saw Tom and Connie returning home. I smiled thinking about all the babies there were going to be around Rangeman this next year. I couldn't wait to tell everyone my own news. Beth and I were expecting a child as well. She wanted to get through the first trimester before telling anyone because of the miscarriage she had last year. When we got married 18 months ago we had planned to start our family right away. So when she found out she was pregnant we couldn't wait to tell everyone. Then when she miscarried at 7 weeks we were devastated. We had both grieved for a long time but we gained strength from each other's support. Four months ago Beth told me she was ready to start trying again. If we made it till January 1st, we would be past the first trimester. We were both anxiously looking forward to that day.

Sorry I'm a little late with this one. I had a Dr.'s appointment today and so lost a lot of the day to travel time and the waiting in the Dr.'s office. I'll get another chapter up later today. By the way, the Dr. said my arm is doing very well. Only problems I have are bending it up.