Sorry for the delay in posting this. I finished it a few days ago but wasn't happy with how it flowed and then yesterday as I was proofing it, I decided to re-write most of it - typical! This revised version is far easier on the eye, I hope!

Thank you for all the wonderful things you wrote after the last chapter, hope this one lives up to expectations...

Please R&R I would say it makes me type faster, but somehow I still end up taking longer between posts that I would like!

Enjoy:

Connor was just getting his guns out of his safe when he heard a knock on his door. Swearing slightly at the idea that someone might see the state of his apartment he carefully put his guns on the unmade bed and quickly padded out of his bedroom shutting the door, and the worst of the chaos, behind him.

"Hello" Steph said to his surprised face.

"Er…" came his eloquent reply.

"Thought you might need some moral support" she added by way of explanation, leaving out that she too would be facing her worst fears if she went with him to pick up Ranger. What if her hero didn't want her in his life?

"Why? Why would you want to back me up like that?" he asked, clearly shocked, as he stepped aside to allow her entry.

'Guess you do want it then' Steph thought as she followed him into his untidy space. "Let's just say I know what it's like to be on the wrong side of Ranger." She added looking round the messy room and letting her eyes settle on a picture, clearly taken some time before, of Connor wrapped round a young woman. "May I?" she asked as she went over to pick it up.

"I'd rather you didn't" he growled softly. No-one touched that picture.

No-one.

"Who is she?" Steph said gently as she gazed at the love that radiated from the small frame.

"Megan. My life, my love, my…"

"Light?" Steph asked as Connor struggled to complete the sentence.

Connor coughed. "Yeah. Something like that."

"Where is she now?" Steph pressed, knowing that something about the story behind the picture was fundamental to Connor's present predicament.

"Dead. 9/11"

Steph nodded, turning to look into his eyes. She moved forward slowly and gently smoothed the skin on both of his hands which hung limply at his side. He flinched.

"Don't feel sorry for me! Don't you dare!" he hissed out, pulling away and running his hands through his hair in frustration. "It was my fault! All my fucking fault! They should never have been on that flight…"

"Shh" Steph whispered as she pulled the now distraught man into her arms. He tensed but allowed the contact.

"The only person at fault in this is the bastard who flew the plane." She said softly as Connor fell apart in her arms.

o0o0o0o0o

Ranger picked up his carry on luggage and began to march towards the exit. The plane had flown in a holding position for the last ten minutes of the flight, subjecting him to ten. more. minutes of plastic boobs and fake peroxide blonde hair. He sighed, grimly.

Whichever fuckwit Connor had sent to collect had better not be late, he thought. He was in no mood for anyone's drama today.

He looked at the mass of people around him and sighed. He knew he should have taken the private jet but it was already booked out so he'd had to slum in with the rest of humanity. For some reason he was tense, outwardly he looked calm but inside he was a gibbering wreck. He laughed at his own pretense, he knew exactly why. What if the light of his life didn't want anything more to do with him?

He mentally gave himself a shake down, knowing today would be tough. And if he didn't stay focused he would probably end up shooting Connor and losing Stephanie for good. He needed to get a grip and calm down. Dios! How had everything come to this?

"Because you are a coward!" a little voice inside him sneered out "you should have sorted this out long before it all spiralled out of control. Idiot!" it added smugly.

Suddenly he was through the gates and exiting the walkway. How had that happened he wondered. He mentally snorted at the realisation that he was not aware of his surroundings - his Babe would be whooping with undisguised glee at the revelation.

"Good job she's not here then" the nasty little voice said happily. His mood darkened at the thoughts that swirled round his head.

He scanned the area looking for a familiar face, or at least one with a blank look and black clothing and his eyes opened wide as he focused in on the two figures walking his way. He dropped his bag in surprise.

"Ranger!" Steph yelled. Seeing his stance as an invitation she picked up the pace and ran into his now empty arms.

"WTF?" Connor thought as he stared at the sight before him. He could not remember the last time he'd smiled, really smiled, but all of a sudden he found himself laughing.

Laughing at the shocked face of the killing machine before him.

"Babe." Ranger said as he pulled her further into his embrace. "Dios! I've been such a fool! I. Have. Missed. You. So. Much." He added between kissing every part of her face which now rested between the palms of his hands.

Suddenly, for all three of them, things were starting to look up.

o0o0o0o0o

"Just fucking do it, Santos. You know you want to!" Tank growled out as the pair of them sat looking at the keypad that would enable them to listen in via Bomber's earring.

Ranger should have landed by now and they knew Connor was picking him up. Allowing for him disembarking and then hooking up with his lift, they calculated that he should be at the Atlanta offices anytime. They just wanted to make sure they didn't have a body to hide.

"On your head be it." Les replied as he completed punching in the codes and giving him a knowing look.

"…so. Much."

The pair looked at each other quizzically then heard the gentle rubbing sound of skin brushing skin, a soft wet kiss, a sigh then the whisper of a moaned 'Babe'.

"O-Kaaaay! Think we've heard enough!" Tank barked out, going red as he stood up.

Les's laughter was the only sound that could be heard as the big man fled the room.

o0o0o0o0o

The trip back to Rangeman Atlanta was quiet. Steph and Ranger were snuggled in the back, no verbal words were being spoken but plenty was being said as they held hands and melted into each other.

Connor drove, ignoring what was going on behind him, focusing instead on his own loss so very many years earlier. Although he was finding the electricity in the back of the vehicle a little overpowering, somehow, at the same time, it warmed his heart. Ranger Manoso was a man very much in love.

RANGER MANOSO was in... love!

Mr emotionally devoid, killing machine, ass kicking mercenary was. In. lurve!

He sighed as he remembered back to the conversation he'd had with Stephanie earlier in his apartment.

Flashback

"Shh, it'll all be ok." Steph said, trying to placate him as she held him and let his tears fall.

"Fuck off…"

"Seriously?" she said, pulling back so she could see into his face. "You think you're the only person whose world stopped turning on that day? Have you even been to Ground Zero and wept for all the others who had loved ones ripped from them in such a calculated way?"

"I said fuck off…! I'm having a melt down and all you can do is remind me about other people's grief?" he grumbled out, sneaking back into her arms.

"I lost someone close too that day." She whispered sadly against his ear.

Connor pulled away completely "Yeah right, you're just saying that so that you can get on the bandwagon – you're as bad as all the rest!"

"You really think I would make up something like that? You really are more selfish and stupid than I thought! I think about my Uncle Harry every time I see a fire engine go past with its lights and sirens on." She huffed out indignantly.

Connor suddenly stopped his pity party and looked at her.

"Yeah, Harry Plum was a firefighter who died trying to save others in the South Tower. Everyone said he was a hero as he'd chosen to go in and try to help but that didn't stop my aunt from falling apart." Steph said as a large tear fell down her cheek.

Connor slid closer "What happened afterwards?" He asked earnestly, keen to know if there was a happy ending to this tale.

"Once the tears had stopped, Auntie Anne pulled up her big girls panties and set up a support group for other widows with young children. She kept telling everyone that life goes on and that Harry would have wanted her to get back up into the saddle. She remarried three years ago. She'll never forget my Uncle, but knew that she deserved some happy too and that she owed it to both of them to go find it."

Connor smiled a wobbly, lopsided grin "sounds like an amazing woman." He said as he brushed the tears from her cheek.

"No, just someone dealt a shitty hand who has tried to put her life back together."

Connor took a deep breath of air. Now he knew he'd let the memory of his guilt overwhelm Megan's last text. Shit! He'd allowed himself to wallow in his own self pity and never given himself a chance to move on. Walking over to the dresser, he picked up the picture and handed it to her.

"This picture was taken a couple of months before she left on a trip round Europe. While she was away she found out she was pregnant…"

"I'm so sorry for your loss…" Steph said as she studied the image in her hand, tracing the two people with her fingers.

"Yeah, me too. Do you know what she asked me to do when she knew she wasn't going to make it?"

Steph shook her head.

"She told me to live my life and that her and our baby would be looking out for me. Guess I haven't fulfilled my part of the bargain." And that's why she sent you to guide me back he added to himself.

End flashback

o0o0o0o0o

Ranger kissed Steph's head as they drove down the ramp to the underground parking lot that she'd seen on her first day here, just under a week ago.

"Babe, we need to talk." He whispered into her hair as he pressed one lingering kiss into her soft curls. If she hadn't have known better she have guessed he was savouring her smell, then he breathed in slowly, confirming her theory and she was sure she heard him whisper "Dios! What you do to me, Babe."

She grinned as he pulled away, obviously as reluctant as she was to break their hold on each other. Frightened that reality would set in and the other person would try to run away.

"Your place or mine for that conversation?" she replied, cheekily and she could swear he groaned.

"Pulling the tiger's tail, Babe." He replied as he ran a finger along her jaw line.

At that moment Connor pulled into his parking space and the three of them quickly exited the Explorer.

"I mean it Babe. We need to determine the rules of engagement for all future battles and any subsequent retreats…" Ranger said as he grabbed her hand and pulled her back to his side.

Steph put a finger against his lips, stopping him mid sentence "no more retreats, Batman. Agreed?"

"No more retreats." He replied huskily.

Behind them both Connor coughed, purposefully breaking the moment.

Ranger looked deeply into her soul then nodded as he slammed his blank face on and turned to face the man that had just allowed him to get his woman back. Shit! He thought. Connor had just saved his hide… again.

"Shall we?" Ranger asked forcefully as he led his woman and a condemned man back into the building.