Chapter 10

"Keep your hands to yourself! You try that again and you'll pull back a stub!" I said very loudly and very vehemently as I slapped Woody's hands away.

"I was just trying to help you out, Bombshell," Woody said. I snorted.

"You wouldn't want Tank or Ranger to find out about this, would you?" Woody asked in a silky tone.

"You want to explain to them why I'm here at," I paused as I glanced pointedly at the clock, "ten on a Saturday night? You want to explain how you caused the payroll system to crash because you were snooping into my personal email? You want to tell Tank that he has to go back and approve everything? Again? Let me know when you're going to tell on me 'cause I want to have my popcorn ready!" I said.

"I was just trying to help you keep your figure," Woody tried again. There was another slap. This time it wasn't me.

"What the hell, Cal?" Woody asked as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Shut up, man," Cal said. "Don't you know that you never even imply that a lady's figure needs any help? Stupid," he muttered.

"Thank you, Cal. See, that's why he's my favorite," I told Woody.

"Aw, come on, Bombshell," Woody wheedled. "You wouldn't tell us anything about this guy! I was just trying to look out for you."

"Maybe because it's none of your business! You're like the nosy little brother I never wanted!" I said in an angry tone. "I was out on a date, in the middle of dessert and you sent me an emergency text! We hadn't even made it to dancing yet, and I was really looking forward to dancing!" I seethed for a moment before continuing. "I was expecting the building to be on fire, to see commandos scaling the walls or at least someone bleeding in Bobby's office. But no! It was just that you crashed the automated payroll system. Not. An. Emergency!" I told him emphatically, poking a finger into his chest to make sure he got the message.

"I'll take you dancing anytime you want, Angel," Cal said.

"Thank you, Cal. You can have some of my cake for being sweet."

"Can I?" Woody asked.

"No!"

"Then why does he get some?"

"Because he's nice to me and he didn't ruin my date! Now get out of here so I can try to fix your goof up before I have to tell Tank," I said. "Cal, grab some forks."

Cal shot out of the cubicle as if the hounds of hell were on his heels while I herded a sheepish Woody out of my cubicle. Woody froze when he saw Ranger leaning nonchalantly against the wall. I ran into Woody's back.

"Sir!" Woody said as he practically snapped to attention.

I peeked around him. "Hey, Ranger," I said as I stepped out from behind Woody.

Ranger's eyes widened as he took in my outfit. I was wearing a racy red dress that did look good, even I have to admit that. It was a halter neck that left my neck and shoulders bare. The skirt was a light and floaty material that swayed against my legs seductively as I walked. It was a great dancing dress. It was a great dress, period.

"Babe."

"Glad you made it back okay," I said as Cal skidded to a stop next to me, holding two forks triumphantly. He nodded at Ranger. I grabbed Cal's hand and dragged him back into my cubicle. Moments later, I was moaning loudly when Ranger stomped in.

"Holy shit, this is good!" Cal exclaimed.

"Told you!" I crowed.

Ranger walked in my cubicle. Cal and I were sharing a big piece of chocolate cake and I closed my eyes in bliss at the taste.

"I thought I told you no contraband if you worked here, Babe," Ranger said in a somewhat amused tone.

"I'm not supposed to be working right now. Therefore, it is not contraband," I replied with a slight grin on my otherwise rapturous expression. "I'm only here because someone was nosy and ruined my date!" I said in a loud tone, intending for Woody to hear it.

"Babe."

"No, seriously, you have to try this cake. It's oh my God amazing, right Cal?" I said. Cal just nodded and took another bite.

I scooped up a bit on the fork and walked over to Ranger. I offered him the fork and he accepted it to my surprise. His eyes widened at the explosion of flavors on his tongue.

"It's called chocolate orgasm cake," I told him with a smirk as I turned back to the plate. I took another bite for myself and moaned again.

"No fair!" Woody complained from behind Ranger.

"Kiss my ass!" I retorted.

"Bend over, darlin'," Woody replied.

"You wish," I replied with a grin as I flipped him the bird. "You're just jealous cause you ain't getting any."

"You think I couldn't get a date?" he said in an outraged tone.

"I never said you couldn't. But the fact is that you didn't tonight. You spent your free time snooping about my love life instead, which is just sad and pathetic!" I grinned.

"Babe, leave my men alone," Ranger told me with a slight smile.

"He started it!"

"Babe."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Whatever. But he's going to be screwed when Tank finds out what happened!" Woody paled visibly.

"What happened?" Ranger asked.

"Nosy tried to hack into my email but he accidently crashed my payroll system instead. So now Tank's going to have to go back in and approve the payroll again and he's not going to be happy," I said the last in a slightly sing-song voice as I glared at Woody. "And he likes me better than you."

I looked back at Ranger and took in his appearance. He looked beyond tired, looking rather worse for the wear. "Hey, are you okay?" I asked.

"Long few weeks," was his reply as he pushed his hair back off of his forehead with a tired grimace.

"Go up to your apartment and get some rest. Everything here can wait until Monday," I told him.

He nodded tiredly.

"You need help getting to your apartment?" I asked in concern. He looked super tired.

He shot me a glance that I was interpreting as a negative. "Come on, Ranger, I'll at least help you get to your apartment," I told him as I handed Woody the box with one last big bite of cake in it. Woody just grinned at me.

Cal stood up when I did. "I'll stop by to say goodnight when I leave," I told him.

"I can get changed if you want, and we can go dancing if you're still in the mood," Cal said with a wide grin on his face.

"Sounds great!" I told him happily. "See you in ten."

Ranger was watching us but his blank mask was on his face so I didn't really know what he was thinking.

I walked with him to his office, where he opened his safe and took out a key fob to his apartment. He was silent and so was I. We walked to the elevator and he silently hit the key fob to go to his apartment on the seventh floor.

He entered his apartment and I paused at the door. "You want me to go get you anything? Sandwich, something like that?" I asked hesitantly, unsure whether or not to follow him into his apartment or not. We hadn't exactly parted on the best note before and I was mentally cursing myself for volunteering to escort him to his apartment.

"Babe," was his only response. Yep, he was just as frustrating as before.

"Ranger," I said as I rolled my eyes. "I'm just trying to be nice here. You look like you're about to collapse and I was only going to bring you a sandwich or two. I'm not sure if Ella's left you stuff in the fridge or not, but I know there's food down on five."

"I can go get something if I need it," he said in a cranky tone that I'd never heard from him before.

"Yeesh, fine, I'll leave you alone then," I told him as I turned to leave. "Hope you feel better."

His arm shot out and grabbed my wrist. "Stop," he said and I glared at his hand wrapped around my arm. He dropped it. "Please."

"What's going on with you?" I asked him in genuine concern as he turned away with a very pained look on his face. "You need me to call Bobby or Tank or something?"

"No."

"You're acting a little strange and it's a little bit scary."

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to scare you, Babe," he said as he walked away. I trailed after him.

"What's wrong?" I asked again. He gazed at me steadily for a long minute but didn't answer. "Okay, fine, I can take a hint. I'm sorry I bothered you. I guess I'll see you on Monday," I said as I patted his arm before stepping back. "I hope you feel better soon. I'll let everyone know you're back and to leave you alone for the time being."

"Who are you dating?" he asked abruptly as I was about to walk out the door.

I rolled my eyes. "As I've told Woody a dozen times, it's nobody's business but my own. And he's going to be in for it the next time he has a date, if that ever happens again. God, why does everyone here want to know about my love life? It's just not normal," I complained.

"Babe."

"Ranger, I'm glad you're back and I'm glad you're okay. But my love life is not up for discussion, not now and not ever," I said steadily.

He stared at me in silence. It was pretty damn disconcerting. "So get some rest and feel better. I'll see you on Monday," I told him as I slipped out his door.

I stopped on four and knocked on Cal's door. He opened with a grin that faded as he saw my face.

"What's wrong?" he asked me.

"I don't know. Something's off with Ranger but I don't know what it is," I replied. Cal swept me into a comforting hug before he stepped back so I could enter his apartment.

"He's probably just still coming off the stress of his most recent mission. It's tough sometimes to move back into the normal world once you'd been out doing black ops for a while," he told me. "Sometimes you need some time alone before you can really talk to anyone outside of what you've been doing. It's why I got this," he said as he gestured towards his forehead.

I looked up at him. We'd been partners for over six weeks now and I really almost didn't notice the tattoo anymore. It was just a part of him that I didn't pay much attention to; it was there, but I'd long since stopped being startled by it.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, I had my fair share of attention from the ladies," he said sheepishly as he started to blush a little. I grinned at him and waggled my eyebrows. He blushed a little more before continuing. "But sometimes I just wasn't ready to actually talk to people. It's weird, I needed to be around people but I just couldn't deal with talking to them yet when I'd get back from doing God knows what. But if I went out, I tended to attract attention, both from girls who liked big guys and from drunk wannabes who wanted to get the girls' attention by beating up a big guy. So one night I was really drunk with some buddies and I ended up with this tattoo on my head. Never had a problem discouraging attention after that."

I reached up and traced the outline of the flaming skull. "I can see that," I said drily.

He smiled at me and I could definitely see why he didn't have any problems getting attention from the ladies. He has the most adorable grin and I felt honored that I was one of the few people around RangeMan who got to see it on a regular basis.

"Ever thought about growing our your hair or getting it removed?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "Still have to do some crazy shit and sometimes it's still nice to have it as a shield. My real friends, like you, don't pay much attention to it and it keeps the people who only care about appearances away."

"It also makes you look like a total badass," I said with a smirk. He grinned wider.

"That too," he admitted.

"It did startle me a little when I first met you," I told him honestly.

He rolled his eyes at me and I feigned shock as I collapsed against his couch. He laughed and I joined him. "Well, hell, you'd have to be blind for it not to startle you at first!" he admitted. "I was really drunk and my friends were really encouraging me to go for something bold. Guess I succeeded."

I grabbed his hand and pulled him down on the couch, and turned to face him. "Do you think you'll ever try to remove it or hide it?" I asked, my insatiable curiosity winning over the 'Burg manners to not invade his privacy.

"I don't know. Maybe one day. I've thought about it. I'd like to find a nice girl one day and maybe settle down, but I'm not sure I'm to that point in my life just yet, so it doesn't really matter yet," he said as he put his legs across my lap.

I reached up and brushed my fingers across the peach fuzz on the top of his head. "You could just let your hair grow out," I told him. "Grow out a Brutus style like George Clooney or something and the majority of it would be covered," I told him.

"Slight problem with that," he said with a groan as he reached up to rub his head. "I'm starting to lose my hair, I think. My dad was mostly bald by the time he was in his late thirties so I think I'm screwed on that front. And getting it removed would still leave a big scar that would probably look worse than the tat."

"Cal, how would you know?" I asked him with exasperation in my voice. "I've never seen your hair more than half a millimeter long!"

"A man can tell," he told me with a serious glint in his eyes.

"Well, so what? Some women like bald guys," I retorted.

"Bald guys with a flaming skull on their forehead?" he asked in disbelief.

"Sure. It takes all kinds," I told him. "And, for the record, even with the tattoo, you're a total hottie."

He grinned at me. Yep, I stand by my previous statement, he's a total hottie.

"So you still want to go dancing?" he asked after a moment.

"I don't think I'm in the dancing mood anymore," I admitted.

"Want to watch a movie?" he asked then.

"Ghostbusters!" I nearly shouted.

"Haven't you memorized the entire thing by now?" he groaned.

"Yep."

"So we can watch something else?" he asked hopefully.

"Nope."

"Shit."

"Yep."

"Good thing I like you."

"Good thing you love me."

"Ah, hell," he muttered. I grinned. I'd won.

We went up to five to raid the fridge of food stocked by Ella. That was why Cal had been on the control floor when I'd rushed into the building, he'd been looking for food. Woody mock glared at me and I stalked away with my skirt swishing. He'd tossed me a wink as I flounced away and I knew that he was just teasing, just like I was.

We'd settled in to watch Ghostbusters and then the next thing I know, I'm curled up on Cal's bed and he's nowhere to be seen. I was wearing one of Cal's gargantuan t-shirts and it actually covered more of me than my dress the night before had. I rolled out of bed and staggered into the kitchen, following my nose to the coffee. Cal handed me a cup without a word and I grabbed at it with both hands, still not quite awake enough to manage it with the one hand.

After a few sips, I felt slightly more human. "Hey," I told Cal and he grinned at me. He was dressed in exercise gear and looked like he was ready to run about a million miles.

"Morning, sleeping beauty," he said.

"What happened?" I asked.

"You fell asleep."

"Thank you, captain obvious," I retorted. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"I tried. You're kinda nasty when you're sleepy and someone's trying to wake you up, did you know that? You got a mouth on you that should be washed out with soap!" he sounded amused. "I heard words come out of your mouth that I've never heard from anyone other than a sailor."

"Sorry," I mumbled as I blushed brightly. "Guess I was tired."

"No worries. Just expanded my vocabulary a little."

"So, um, how did I get out of my dress and into one of your shirts?" I finally asked.

"How do you think?"

"Oh God, you changed me? Please say it was magical elves or something instead," I pleaded.

Cal just chuckled. "I didn't look. Well, no more than I had to look to not poke your eye out or something."

"Oh God," I moaned again. He was flat out laughing at me.

"I'm not shy. I'll let you see me naked if it makes you feel better," he offered as he reached for the hem of his t-shirt. I ran away, choosing retreat as the better part of valor. I locked myself in his bathroom and refused to come out for a while. He kept cajoling, promising that he wouldn't tell anyone.

He finally convinced me to come out when he brought a set of my workout clothes out to me. I'd been leaving some clothes in both Cal and Lester's apartments so I could use their shower in privacy after a workout. Or in case I got smeared in something gross, which was thankfully not a problem now that I was spending most of my time working at RangeMan. In the past, I'd used Ranger's apartment but I didn't feel comfortable with that given our awkward situation.

Cal convinced me to go work out with him. I'd been fulfilling the terms of my contract by working out on average three times per week, and it wasn't as hideous as I'd thought it would be. I usually worked out with Cal, but I also had done some with Lester and Bobby and even a couple with Woody. Woody and I play argued enough to keep me distracted while working out and I attempted to have conversations with the other guys.

Lester and Bobby were down in the gym already busting their lovely humps on the treadmills when Cal and I walked in. They smiled and waved and came over to join us. Cal fiddled with the sound system and got a heavy Latin beat pounding in the background. I grinned. That meant my workout for the day would be dance lessons rather than boring jogging on a treadmill.

Half an hour later, I had definitely worked up a sweat but I was having a blast. I was sitting on the floor holding my sides and howling with laughter. I was actually afraid that I might pee on myself I was laughing so hard. Lester wasn't doing any better than me. We were leaning against each other and trying very hard not to choke to death on our laughter.

We'd gone through many of the dances I'd already learned and they'd been trying to teach me the bachata, a very sensual style of dance, and I'd gotten frustrated because I couldn't understand what they wanted me to do. So I suggested that one of them do the girl part and show me. That then became incredibly hilarious because, of course, none of the guys wanted to be the girl. After a little sparring between the three of them, it was determined that Cal would do the male part of the dance and poor Bobby had to demonstrate the girl part of the dance.

I finally tipped over onto Lester's lap after Bobby fell down for the fifth or sixth time because he kept tying to lead Cal. Given that Cal was supposed to be doing the male's side of the dance, plus the fact that he was half a head taller and at least forty pounds heavier than Bobby, it wasn't working out so well for both of them to try to lead.

Cal had just dipped Bobby and Bobby was trying to explain the move to me when Ranger walked into the room. Ranger froze, staring at the two of them in shock, and then Cal dropped Bobby on his ass. Again.

Lester and I howled louder and even Cal and Bobby started chuckling at the expression of abject shock on Ranger's face.

"What the fuck?" a bewildered Ranger asked Cal and Bobby. Cal was laughing too hard to answer and just pointed at me. Bobby's normally dark complexion was a little redder than normal as he rubbed his ass. He just shook his head.

Ranger turned to look at me. "Babe? What the hell have you done to my men?"

That set me off again and I was giggling uncontrollably, my head still in Lester's lap. Tears were running down my face and I decided that this had to be the best abdominal workout ever created. Screw any Jillian Michaels ab workout, hysterical laughter works the abs better than any crunch ever could.

Ranger walked over, and the expression on his face just made me laugh harder. I was pretty sure I was going to pee on myself, but I had the consolation that Lester would probably pee on himself too. Ranger plucked me up to my feet and glared at me. I was still bent at the waist, trying to contain my glee.

"Babe?" he said in his dangerous, 'answer me now or I'm your worst nightmare' voice. But the sight of a sheepish Cal and Bobby over his shoulder was just too funny.

Lester had gotten to his feet and pulled me beside him. "Part of her training," he managed to rasp out through his own chuckles.

Ranger looked at Lester like he'd lost his ever-loving mind. "How is Cal and Bobby holding hands part of her training?" he asked.

I giggled again and Lester chuckled. Then the song ended and a new one began. Lester pulled me towards him and started to dance. I was still giggling and hiccupping occasionally, but I tried to follow his lead. We danced for several measures of music and then Lester dipped me. I arched my back like I'd been taught and allowed myself to sway backwards, trusting that Lester wouldn't drop me on my ass like Cal had dropped Bobby.

I looked back at Bobby and Cal from my upside down position. "I think we do this better than you two do."

Cal winked at me and Bobby looked slightly offended. "I'm a man! I don't know how to do the girl part of the dances," he complained and I grinned at him. Lester pulled me back up with a snap and I was pulled tightly against his chest. We stayed in that position for a heartbeat before one heavily muscled thigh, yum, slid between mine and I rocked back as Lester's hips pushed against mine in the dance steps that closely mimicked sex. We danced for a moment before he spun me out into a twirl.

I danced my way out of Lester's spin and Cal snagged my arm and pulled me to his chest instead. Then he started the tango steps and I followed along, swinging my hips to the music. We danced for a minute and then Bobby tapped on Cal's shoulder and they seamlessly traded places. Bobby went for a double time jive that had me breathless in moments as he spun me around and flung me around like a rag doll.

Then Bobby flipped me out and Lester caught my hand, pulling me into a sexy salsa. He pulled me into a series of sexy salsa body rolls and I concentrated on keep my body fluid and following Lester's lead. The song was coming to an end and he dipped me in a dramatic flourish as the song ended. He'd maneuvered us back to be right in front of Ranger and Lester was showing off a little, dipping me with just one arm to show off his strength.

Ranger just stared at us, his blank face on but I could see the tension around his eyes. "It's called cardio dance, Ranger, and it's a perfectly valid form of cardiovascular exercise. Plus they're all teaching me new dances in case I ever need them while doing distractions," I tried to explain. He didn't look convinced.

"So what were those two doing then?" he asked me as he gestured at Cal and Bobby.

"I'm not quite getting the steps to the bachata and they were trying to show me what to do," I explained.

Ranger shot a slightly incredulous look at me. I started to giggle. The thought of Cal and Bobby dancing the bachata was a little surreal to me too. It was not the most attractive dancing partnership I'd ever seen.

Ranger just shook his head slightly.

"So, who you want to try the bachata with first?" Cal asked me.

"You, if you promise not to drop me on my ass like you did Bobby!" I told him.

"Hey!" Lester exclaimed. "Why not me?"

"You try to feel me up during the dance and he doesn't," I said with a smile.

"You can't blame a guy for trying," Lester said with a charming grin. I rolled my eyes at him.

Ranger stood by and watched as Cal and I went through the steps. We went at half speed at first, with Lester, Bobby and Cal calling out instructions. Bobby stood behind me and helped to guide me when I was unsure about the steps. This involved him having his hands all over my hips and ass, but Bobby had claimed this role early during our little dance club since he's the medic and thus the most familiar with the human body.

Yeah, I didn't buy that either.

I was pretty sure that I heard Ranger growl a time or two during the dance but he didn't interrupt us again.

Once I had the steps mostly down slowly, Cal gradually speeded up the dance. And woo boy, but it was a sexy dance. Lots of hip action and bumping and grinding. I was blushing doing the dance with Cal and I knew I'd be beet red by the time I finished it with Bobby and Lester. That was our usual routine, I had to be able to complete the dance with all three of them before we could check it off the list of dances they'd compiled for me.

After I finished the dance with Cal, I danced with Bobby.

Then with Lester. And yep, I was right, he was making all sorts of soft comments in my ear that only I could hear. His job was usually to try to grope me like a skip might in a bar, so I had to manage to keep myself safe from roving hands while also pretending like I liked the roving hands. And holy cow but Lester's hands did rove! I had to keep repositioning his hands from my ass to my waist. Once we were done and Cal and Bobby had nodded approvingly, both chuckling, I kicked Lester in the ankle.

Bobby and Cal laughed, used to it by now, but Ranger was steaming. I could almost see the rage simmering.

"Santos, mats," he barked at Lester and I rolled my eyes.

"Stop being the overprotective dad, Ranger. He might enjoy it a tad too much, but the plan is to try to discombobulate me by groping me like a skip might. So I spend half the dance trying to keep his hands in the PG zones like I might if I were trying to attract a skip. They take turns being gropy, the little known eighth dwarf. I think Lester enjoys it most, though," I said with a wry grin. Lester grinned back, not bothering to deny it.

Lester turned back to me and gave me a look that I knew all too well. I braced myself and he pounced on me. I started flinging my elbows and knees around, trying to buck Lester off of me. Ranger picked him up with a snarl and flung him away, standing protectively between Lester and me, his gaze locked completely on Lester's prone body and his left arm curled behind him with his hand on my hip, keeping me behind him.

"Um, Ranger, that was self-defense practice. These guys make me do it after just about every workout. Really, it was just practice, no one is trying to hurt me or you," I said softly, trying to get Ranger's attention to shift to me and not Lester. It didn't work. Bobby and Cal were both looking anxious and they were silently moving closer to be able to grab Ranger if he tried to fling around Lester again.

I lifted my hands to show that I was no threat and stepped cautiously between Lester and Ranger. "It was just practice. See? I'm okay. Lester's okay. You're okay. Just practice. Like when you guys spar," I said in the most soothing voice I could manage. I'd seen Ranger in full on protection mode before but I'd never seen him so rattled.

Ranger stared at me unblinkingly for a moment before he relaxed his stance and dropped his arms from their defensive position. He shot a look at the three guys that I didn't understand and then he was gone. I turned to my Merry Men.

"What gives?" I asked.

"Not entirely sure, but he's still pretty keyed up from whatever it is that he did while he was gone. Might take a few days or weeks for him to come back down from being hypersensitive," Bobby said quietly. All joking and fun was gone.

I turned to Cal. "So he needs to be around people but he's not ready to act normally just yet?" I asked. Cal nodded.

"So why did he attack Lester? He knows Les would never hurt me!" I said.

"Beautiful, it wasn't about me, it was about you. He was protecting you. He felt like you were in danger. He'd probably have thrown his own father against the wall if he thought he was attacking you," Lester explained as he got to his feet with Bobby's help.

"But why? Because I'm a girl?" I asked, trying to understand.

"Because you're you," Cal said softly.

Lester nodded. "I know you said that you and Ranger were only friends but I think if nothing else, this shows that you're more than just a friend to him."

I rolled my eyes. "Doesn't matter, Les. Friendship is all it can be," I said quietly.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Lester replied equally quietly as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "Seems like his feelings are a little close to the surface right now. I've known Ranger literally my whole life but when it came down to it, he'd do anything to protect you, not me."

"What am I supposed to do?" I asked in frustration. "I don't know how to act with him!"

"Act as normally as you can," Bobby said, "but try not to be completely alone with him for a little while. He's still decompressing and it seems like he'd got a way to go yet. He wouldn't hurt you but he's ramped up and could be a little unpredictable until he's back in his routine."

After eating lunch with the guys on five, I went back to my apartment to mull over Ranger's recent reactions. I had found no answers by the time I was preparing for bed. Rex hadn't come up with anything either.

Author's note: Thanks for the reviews! I'm terribly sorry I haven't replied to any in forever, but I've been so busy with work, school and my heart stuff that I've barely had time to do anything. But please know that I do a little happy dance (usually mentally but occasionally physically) when I see the review email. They make my day!

Still the same ol', same ol' with the heart stuff. Nothing new from the cardiologist and I'm getting pretty tired of waiting. I'm not a patient person. But once I know something, I'll update it on here!

Thanks for the kind wishes, warm thoughts and reviews. Keep it coming!