Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing.

Epilogue

Hal was gone when Connie woke up. He must have slipped out again some time after she had fallen asleep. She got ready for work on auto-pilot, showering and dressing without any conscious thought.

She was behind her desk in the bonds office by 9 o'clock, and just sat there waiting for the police to show up and arrest her, or worse, for Ranger to come and find her. If the last few months had taught her anything, it was that anyone who pissed Ranger off had better start running. And never stop. She had seen his face last night before he took off with Steph, and she was sure as hell that she was on the list.

By 10 o'clock, anticipation had reduced her to a shaking wreck. She wondered where the kick ass chick that she always thought she was, had gone. If she left town, made a new start somewhere else, maybe she could find her again. Once upon a time she hadn't been afraid of anything. That was before she found out what there was to be afraid of.

When Tank walked in, it was almost a relief to face him and know that it would soon be over.

"Ranger wants to see you. Get your coat."

Connie stood numbly and reached over to the coat pegs.

Lula was having none of it. She rose from the couch and stood in front of the desk, arms folded and a mean expression on her face. "Uh uh, she goes nowhere. This stops right now, Tank, and what you mean to me ain't gonna get in the way. Get back to your nasty-ass boss and tell him he's gonna have to go through me first."

Connie reached out and touched her shoulder. "It's okay, Lula. I have family, remember? I'll be back soon."

"You better be, girlfriend, or I'm coming to find you."

Connie nodded silently, and followed Tank out of the door.

o0o0o0o0o

Tank escorted her to the elevator in the basement of the RangeMan building and left her to continue alone.

"You've been cleared to the seventh floor, the elevator will take you up automatically. Just knock and go on in. He'll be waiting for you."

"You aren't coming in?"

"No ma'am. I'll be on the fifth floor."

Panic rose in her. Just remember, you're connected. He can't hurt you without starting a war, she told herself. But he also told you that wouldn't stop him if he wanted to, piped up a little voice in the back of her mind. She forced herself to step into the elevator and turned to watch the doors close. Too late to run now.

o0o0o0o0o

She knocked twice and walked into Ranger's apartment. The apartment was calm, silent.

"Ranger? I'm here."

Her eyes caught and held a slight movement through the open door to the bedroom. Stephanie was sleeping peacefully in the large king-sized bed, and Ranger was sitting on the edge of the bed next to her. Connie watched him lean over and kiss Stephanie's hair before standing and walking out to meet her, closing the door quietly behind him. His face was expressionless, giving nothing away. He waved her to sit in a chair in the lounge, and took the chair opposite.

They watched each other for a long time before she finally broke the silence.

"I did what I thought I had to do. The family will step in, you know. I've been holding them off because we had a deal, but they won't stand by and let you hurt me."

He looked confused for a moment, then let out a snort before leaning his face into his hands and scrubbing his fingers through his hair. Suddenly he looked tired, human.

"How do they stand on job offers?"

"What?" It was her turn to look confused.

"You say you did what you had to do. You did, and you were the only one that could in time to save her. You've done what you had to do every time I threw something at you, whether it was dangerous or just calculated to humiliate you, and you did most of it thinking that you had no back-up, that you were alone. Never once did you back out on our deal, and never once did you give it less than your best. I don't let people like that go if I can help it."

She was speechless, her mouth hanging open.

"Plus, I'm running out of ways to tip Hal off that I'm looking for him so that he can get back to his duties before I find him. It's getting ridiculous. At least if you work for me I can assign him to be your partner and get some work out of him again. You keep things professional when you're on the clock, though. RangeMan has a reputation to maintain."

She gave a short, barking laugh. "You think you have to tell me how seriously you take your reputation?"

"Point taken."

"Then I accept." She paused, then continued. "You're a vengeful son of a bitch, you know that?"

"Add cold-hearted, savage, hard and manipulative to the list. They've all been said, and more, and they're all correct to some degree." He nodded towards the closed bedroom door. "But for what it's worth, I'm her cold-hearted, vengeful son of a bitch. If she ever realizes it."

"You know, you could just tell her."

He just shook his head, and started to walk back towards the bedroom. "You start on Monday. Go and find Hal; he's on monitor duty, although I doubt if he'd notice a full scale hostage situation going on while he knows you're up here."

Connie watched his back as he walked into the bedroom and sat by the bed to watch Stephanie sleep. It looked like maybe everybody had something they were afraid of.

o0o0o0o0o

Connie went down to the fifth floor and headed over to where a grinning Tank had pointed out Hal sitting in front of the bank of monitors. She perched on the end of the table and sat swinging her leg in front of him.

"He knows, you know," she said in a conversational tone.

Hal went white.

She laughed and carried on, "But that's okay, because you'll be seeing a lot more of me now I'm a permanent RangeMan employee, and you'll even have the boss's permission, provided you can keep your hands off me during work time."

She leaned in and whispered into his ear, "But I don't start properly until next week. I think you should play hooky once more, just for old time's sake, don't you?"

o0o0o0o0o

Stephanie opened her eyes in the darkened bedroom to find herself alone in the cool surroundings of the seventh floor apartment.

"Ranger?" she called, and he was next to her in an instant.

"Is everything okay? What happened after we left? Where's Connie?"

"Everything's fine. Tank and the team cleaned up the mess, Connie's gun is mysteriously disappearing as we speak, and Connie just left. I didn't want to wake you."

"But she's okay, right? And the deal's over?"

He looked away, staring at the wall beside her head as he answered. "Connie's deal is over, so yours is too. You can leave RangeMan tomorrow if you want. You could probably explain everything to Joe and it would work out okay. He's had time to calm down."

Stephanie didn't answer him.

He got up and went to leave the room, but stopped in the doorway facing away from her. "Of course, Connie could probably do with another girl around here to keep her company when she starts work here next week. You could stay. If you wanted to."

Stephanie watched him as he stood motionless, still not looking round at her. "Are you proposing another deal?"

"Maybe. If that's what it takes."

"I'd want a lot more out of this deal. I mean last time you got me as an employee. That was a hell of a payment just for toning down your revenge on someone."

He turned to face back into the room but remained standing in the doorway. "So what would it take to keep you at RangeMan?"

"Well to start with, if there's two of us we'll need a proper girl's locker room."

"Done," he replied promptly.

"Great. We'll need at least three lockers in case Lula wants to join too."

Ranger winced. "Anything else?"

"You."

He looked at her. "You already have me, you must know that by now."

"Oh, I know I've got most of you. This time I want to deal for the rest. I want what you're afraid to give me. Anyway, I understand that there are a few perks that come with being the boss's woman."

He walked back to the bed slowly and crawled up over her where she lay until he was looking straight into her eyes. "We'll need to talk terms."

"Of course, but I think I'll need a preview of the perks on offer before I can negotiate properly."

"I can do that." He leaned down and brushed his lips against hers in a gentle kiss, once, twice, moving to outline her mouth with his tongue before deepening the kiss and seeking entrance.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and yielded to the kiss, pulling him down towards her and dueling his tongue with her own, sliding one leg up to brush along his side.

He gradually relaxed his body weight down on top of her, until he hissed with pain at the same time as she yelped. He pulled his weight back quickly and dropped down at her side instead.

"War wounds never interfere in the romance novels," she murmured ruefully.

"Shows what they know." He lifted up the large tee-shirt that he had changed her into last night and pulled it over her head, throwing it into a corner. "Anyway, some things need to wait. No good negotiator puts his best offer straight onto the table."

She tried to keep her voice level as he swept her hair out of the way and trailed a line of kisses down the column of her neck. "The table is an option? I think I'm impressed."

"Oh no. You don't get the table until you've signed on the dotted line. I've got to hold something in reserve." He nibbled along her collarbone and out to the point of her shoulder.

She caught her breath sharply. "Ella would probably kill us anyway."

He started circling her nipples with a finger tip, spiraling in and out and flicking the tips until they rose to stiff peaks. "I try not to piss off a woman that could kill me easily. Which gives me a problem if you accept the deal, because then that would be you." He drew the flesh of her neck into his mouth, sucking hard.

"It could–oh God!–be a problem."

"Since I can piss you off just by breathing." He moved down to pull one of her nipples into his mouth.

"Jesus! We may need a sub-clause in the contract."

"No killing." He transferred his attentions to the other nipple and idly stroked a finger down into her nest of curls.

"No killing," she agreed between gasps, "unless I have PMS or you deserve it."

"Define 'deserve'," he murmured as he pressed a series of kisses to her belly and French kissed her navel.

"A willful act or–ohhhh–omission that…" her voice trailed off as she concentrated on the sensations that he was creating.

"Keep talking," he ordered as he continued downwards to place his mouth to her center, licking along her folds.

"–that any–God!–reasonable woman would consider–don't stop!–unacceptable."

"I don't think I can agree to that term." His voice shot vibrations through her center, bringing her right to the edge.

"Okay, I," she whimpered as he inserted a finger inside her, "concede the point. No killing under any circumstances."

"Agreed." He sucked her clitoris hard at the same time as he crooked his finger inside her. She shattered instantly, throwing her head back and closing her eyes as wave after wave of sensation rolled through her.

He laid his head on her belly and watched her face as she recovered slowly, taking care to avoid the dressing covering the spot where the knife had scratched her."Fit to continue negotiations?"

"You're a hard negotiator," she complained.

"Right now, very," he agreed.

"That's not what I meant."

He rose and stripped his own clothes off before rejoining her on the bed.

"Boy, you weren't kidding, were you," she noted.

"You wanted to see the perks."

"That definitely counts."

"It gets better." He kneeled on the bed and pulled her toward him by the hips until her bottom was resting on his knees and her legs were draped to either side of him.

He leaned forward and gently pressed into her, bringing a soft groan from her. When he was fully seated he sat back again and started to move his hips against her, keeping a hand pressed down on her pelvis and a finger continually stroking against her clitoris. He watched her mouth form a round O and her eyes roll back as she closed her eyes and gave herself over to sensation, leaving him in complete control.

He picked up the pace a little and was rewarded with a series of tiny whimpers and moans that built until she was gasping and begging him not to stop. He obliged, pushing her closer and closer to the edge until she fell over it again, this time with a scream. A few more strokes and he followed her, finally collapsing next to her on the bed.

o0o0o0o0o

They lay comfortably spooned together in the big king sized bed as the daylight faded and evening closed in. Stephanie snuggled her back into him a little more closely.

"Anything else I should know about being the woman of the nastiest, most vengeful bastard in town before I make a decision?"

Ranger kissed her shoulder. "Safest job in the world."

"Better to be at the right hand of the devil than in his path1, is that it?"

"Underneath him is even better, or on top of him…"

She smiled. "I think we have a deal," she murmured softly.

THE END

1 The Mummy (1999)