Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me. With the obvious exception being, you know, my belongings.

A/N: See? I'm being good about posting again! #Smiles largely in self-satisfaction# Thank you to all those who haven't given up on this story; I will most definitely be posting more regularly now; I'll sleep when the story is finished!

Please read and review!

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Ranger POV

Thinking back on my time spent in Rangers training, from the vantage point I have now, I realise how much that training benefitted me. If not for the hours of misery that hardened me into the soldier I am today, I would never have been able to hold off on killing Benito Ramirez for his continuous flirting with my Babe.

I barely held my growl in check as he pointedly watched her walk away. It was all I could do not to punch that little smirk right off his smug face. Tank raised an eyebrow at me, and for all the years the man had been my best friend, the message was clear.

Cool it, Ric.

I gave him a minute nod before turning on my heel and stalking out the front door. I needed to take care of some things, and I trusted my men to make sure that if I wasn't sharing a room with Steph, then at the very least Ramirez or Babe's overactive puppy of a friend…Spike or Leo?...wouldn't be either.

Something had been bugging me in a big way ever since Babe related her story to us. She shouldered a blame that never lied with her to begin with, and the only thing that had stopped me from immediately reacting when she tried to leave, was the proverbial itch in my brain about what hadn't made sense in her story.

In the open fresh air, I recounted Babe's story in my head. She had mentioned that she was one the case and it was going well, since she managed to infiltrate the organisation and upload all the data from the main server on to a drive. De la Fuente's organisation was tightly knit and run with the kind of harshness and severity a mob would. It was the only way De la Fuente had managed to evade the law so spectacularly for so long. I remember reading the case file for a mission planning, fresh out of training, before it was given to The Aquila. I smirked quietly to myself before refocussing on my train of thought. I recalled reading about him and thinking that the only way to get any possible headway with the case was to plant an agent on the inside. I had immediately dismissed the idea after reading that an agent had been planted once, and found dead not three weeks later. Throat slit end-to-end.

It seemed the Aquila had no such reconsideration, death count be damned.

I figured that Steph had gone undercover and somehow managed to bypass all the ladder rungs, making it to the inner circle within two and a half weeks. I was part impressed, part aghast. Impressed, because Babe had done what no one else could do, and had done it in record time to boot. Aghast, because of the sobering thought of how much danger she had placed herself in. The risk she took was phenomenal, and she still got out alive, for which I would always be grateful. I knew enough about the Aquila to know that the risk was a calculated one, but I also knew enough about Steph to know that the reason she had placed herself on the inside and no-one else, was because she was aware of the consequences of the very real possibility that she would be made. Whatever the odds were in her favour, she hadn't liked them enough to risk anyone else's life but her own.

Staggering away from those panic inducing thoughts, I focussed on the part of me that knew said consequences. It wasn't De la Fuente's M.O. to go after the loved ones of someone who double-crossed him. After he found out who Steph was, why did he go after Babe's friend, and not after babe herself?

With a jolt, I realised that this was what was bothering me the entire time. Theoretically, she should never have gotten away alive. The fact of the matter was that De la Fuente had men on the outside; why hadn't anyone targeted Steph, knowing her true identity? In the five years she's been in Trenton, the only big fish that went after her were my enemies, not the Aquila's. Which brought me full circle to my original question: Why did De la Fuente leave a loose string in Steph?

I had some calls to make.

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Steph POV

I tried in vain to calm the nerves jingling in my stomach. Why was I so nervous anyway? These were my best friends I was going to talk to. If I couldn't talk to them, who the hell could I talk to?

I tentatively opened the door to be greeted by four faces holding equal, silent hope and a wordless question.

A smile spread over my face almost unconsciously, and I nodded: I was staying.

"Yay!" Nat squealed, running over to pull me into a huge hug. I laughed at her childish exuberance, so very familiar, as I latched my arms around her.

"I don't think moms are supposed to squeal Nat," I grinned teasingly.

"Put up or shut up, Teez," Rory answered for her, sending me a cheeky smirk before joining the hug. I flicked her ear and laughed as she tried fruitlessly to glare to me.

"Aw, we don't get to join the group hug?" Leo called laughingly. I pulled back and Micah snorted.

"Dude, I'm supposed to be the touchy-feely-shit kind of guy, I'm married."

I rolled my eyes at Leo's predictable response. You'd think after 5 years, these guys would have come up with something more eloquent than flipping someone else the bird.

"In any case, I didn't really get my reunion," Micah grinned at me, coming forward to wrap me in a massive bear hug. Crushed in his arms, I felt an odd sense of relief and pain. Relief, because God, even after all this time, I could still belong with them. Pain, because in my five year absence, this was the warmth that I never really recovered.

"Hey Micah," I mumbled into his shoulder, hiding my voice thickening my snuggling my face into his jacket.

"Been so long, Teez," he murmured gently back. "I'm so glad to see you again. I won't even ask where you've been; I'm just glad you're back, and I hope you know we don't plan on letting you go a second time."

Awe choked me up as I looked around at the four loving faces pointed at me. How could I, after all this time, still be welcomed with open arms? I didn't deserve them.

I cleared my throat and forced a grin over my features. "Micah, I wish I knew what was in store for me, I do. For now, let's just catch up, huh?"

There were general nods of agreement. Micah looked troubled for a second before brushing it off and turning an excited smile to me.

"We named our son after you and Megz," he told me, garnering a broad smile from me. "Nicoh Stefan."

"I heard," my voice bubbled with happiness. "I can't wait to meet him."

"He's Micah through and through," Nat chimed in, adoration and love filling her voice. A smile lifted the corners of my mouth; it did me good to see them happy.

"He has me wrapped around his finger though," Micah admitted with a good-natured grin. "Just like his mom."

"Oh, God please kill me now," Rory groaned before Nat could fawn. I chuckled as Rory gripped her chest and flopped on to the bed with a mock huff. "You have no idea how grateful I am you're back, Teez," she shot me a look and rolled her eyes. "These two are nauseatingly cute, it's high time we had someone fun in the house."

"Hey!" Leo protested with a pout. "I'm fun."

Rory looked pointedly at Leo, sizing him up with a disbelieving look on her face. "Sure you are," she nodded sarcastically.

"You know, you're the lawyer in the room, so why the hell am I the one always keeping everyone out of the slammer?"

"Coz you're no fun," Rory and I replied in perfect unison before bursting into laughter. Leo grumbled unintelligibly at our giggles.

"Seriously Leo, the slammer? Did that word just jump straight from the 40s into your mouth?" I teased.

"Laugh it up," he sniffed, fighting a smile. "We'll see who's laughing at the end of that night."

"Top ten things Leo said the night he lost his virginity," Nat, Rory and I pounced immediately, our timing as good as it was five years ago. I laughed with them, trying to ignore the pain that struck me when Megan's voice sounded in my head, but not in the room with me.

By the time the laughter died down, and Leo finished his dramatic outburst at our immaturity, Nat, Rory and I were lounging on the double bed in various pretzel-imitating positions, Micah was reclined in the office chair with his feet propped up against what I assumed was Rory's desk, judging from the law textbook, and Leo was sprawled across the floor, against some throw cushions. It was so reminiscent of the old days that I almost forgot the situation we were in. I almost forgot that our lives were in danger. I almost forgot, and almost pulled out my phone to ask Megan where the hell she was and to bring her ass here with some doughnuts ASAP.

Almost.

Taking in a measured breath, I took advantage of the slight, comfortable silence that proceeded the lull in conversation.

"Guys, we need to talk," I announced with a resigned sigh.

"You can't leave," Nat said in a small voice, gripping my arm in a vice grip. Her brown eyes filled with tears. "You said you were staying."

"I am," I hastened to reassure her and she quickly dropped her bruising grip. Jesus, I didn't get this bruised going up against drug cartels and human trafficking rings.

"Then what's going on, Teez?" Leo asked, leaning forward. "Why did you come back? Why did you leave in the first place?"

There was no accusation in his tone; just painful, honest curiosity that hurt my heart.

"That's kind of what we need to talk about," I admitted. "See, it's like this…"

AQUILA#AQUILA#AQUILA

"No."

"Freaking."

"Way."

Rory, Nat and Leo reiterated respectively, looking at me slack-jawed.

"I don't believe it," Rory shook her head adamantly. "I love you, Steph, and that's why I'm mandating a court-sanctioned Psych Eval."

I rolled my eyes. "No need to lawyer up on my ass, Counsellor Aurora," I smirked. "I can prove it to you."

I reached into my back pocket and pulled out my worn Special Agent ID tag. It was another five minutes of silence before conversation broke out around me all at once.

"What was it like?"

"Jesus were you a spy all the time we knew you?"

"Have you ever killed someone?"

"How did we not KNOW this?!"

"Have you ever killed someone?"

"Are you still a spy now?"

"Are you on a case right now?"

"Have you ever killed someone?"

"Did you leave to work on a case, or did you come back to work on one?"

"Have you ever killed someone?"

"Christ's sake, Leo," I growled, latching on to the one discernible, repeated yakking. "I never killed anyone!"

He grinned sheepishly. "Had to ask."

I huffed out a laugh despite my annoyance. "Ok, let's see…" I sorted out my thoughts in my head. "It was equal parts good and bad, Rory, and you didn't know because I never told. I was a spy since our second year, give or take, Nat, and as of now, I'm reinstated. And Micah, you always knew the toughest questions," I shook my head, sending my friend a tired smile. "I came back to work on a case, yes, and I left because of one that went terribly wrong." I scrubbed an exhausted hand over my face. I could feel my friends' sympathetic gazes boring into me.

"What happened, Tee?" Micah asked gently, while Nat rested her head on my shoulder in a gesture of comfort and Rory placed her palm over mine for the same reason.

"I can't talk about it," I answered thickly. Half-truths worked wonders in my line of work. "But I'm back on the horse for the sole reason that you guys are in danger."

"What's going on?" Nat asked, voice trembling in fear. Instinctively, Micah moved off the recliner and sat next to her, pulling her hand into his lap. My heart warmed at the gesture between them.

"You don't need to worry," I said firmly. "None of you do. I swear to God I will keep you all safe. I will not let anyone or anything touch you," I vowed vehemently. "I swear to protect you guys but you have to listen to me and call in sick for a few days. No one leaves this house until I have the guy in cuffs. Please."

My desperate pleas spoke volumes to my friends. They nodded sombrely, Rory gripping my hand suddenly.

"Teez, what about you?" she asked worriedly. "Please keep yourself safe too."

"This is what I do, Rory," I smiled reassuringly at her. "It's what I'm good at. You don't need to worry about me."

Looking around at the faces full of concern and love staring back at me, wave after wave of overwhelming emotion hit me.

"Thanks you guys," I choked out in a thick voice. "Thanks for accepting me back after five years without so much as a five-finger hello, and thanks for loving me in the same way you did back then, mistakes and all."

"That's what we do, Teez," Micah grinned softly at me. "It's what we're good at."

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Ranger POV

"I see…you're sure?...that's terrific to hear, Dante, you have no idea…thanks, hermano…sure, I will…pass them all my best."

I flipped my phone shut, relief and excitement and dread filling me. My heart felt light with the news I was about to deliver to Babe, but at the same time, I knew part of it would kill her.

It seemed The Aquila had given Jean-Baptiste de la Fuente too much credit, and Megan Sanders too little.

And so the tables turned…

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Manoso?" The angry voice of Ramirez sounded from behind me. I reigned in my spiralling anger and turned to face him.

"Question is, Ramirez, what in the hell are you doing?" I challenged, getting right up in his face. "Why did you keep this from Stephanie, why haven't you set her straight? What the hell game are you playing at?"

"How did you find out?" he growled, eyes flashing.

"That's isn't the case," I answered smoothly, narrowing my eyes. "But how about you tell me just the reason you never bothered to tell Stephanie exactly why the death of Megan Sanders wasn't her fault? And while you're doing that, how about you tell me why you approached the agency and moved to have Project Aquila terminated and "wiped clean" of any pre-existing evidence?"

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A/N: Dum, dum, duuuummmm! The plot thickens! What is Benny hiding from Steph? Is Ranger right in thinking he's the mole, or is his jealousy impairing his judgement? What's Steph going to think? Review please!