A/N: It's official. This is the last chapter of Secrets and Shadows. There will be an Epilogue which should be hopefully posted by the end of the weekend. I hope you guys enjoy this and have enjoyed this journey as much as I have!

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and followed me since the last chapter. You guys are absolutely awesome and I wish I had time to respond to all of you individually, but I only have a little bit of internet time and I wanted to get this posted.

Also, be on the lookout in the next half hour or so I will be posting the first chapter of my new story. As is true with my muse, it isn't one of the stories I originally planned on posting, but it is the one which my muse seems the most excited about. I hope you guys enjoy it!

Chapter 21 – A New Adventure

(Ranger's POV)

"Are the men in place?"

Lester glanced up at me and gave a sharp nod. "The two teams you sent in ahead of us have secured the parameter. There were only two guards at each door. The men secured them to transport once we get done here."

We were pushing it on time. I wasn't sure what to expect out of Damien, but I knew he was good. I'd been hunting him for months now and every time I got close he would disappear into thin air. I couldn't risk getting Tank or Steph killed so we had been forced to slowly clear the parameter before moving into the building.

I glanced down at my watch. Tank had gone in about 20 minutes ago and we needed to get a move on. "Were they able to determine a location?"

Lester repeated the question into the mike around his neck before turning around and grabbing an additional mike and ear bud for me. I slipped them on just in time to hear one of Miami men confirm that the hostages had been located and were both being held in a large storage room in the basement of the building.

It appeared that I may have overestimated Damien. The men couldn't locate any additional guards within the building and based on the heat signatures only Tank, Steph, and Damien appeared to be in the closed basement room.

I told the Miami unit to hold their positions and then motioned to Lester to follow me into the building. We silently made our way into the empty lobby and towards the emergency stairs then made our way into the basement hallway.

The men were stationed along both sides of the hall and moved to let the two of us take the lead. The door was thick metal and even as I tried to hear what was going on behind it I knew I wouldn't be able to.

I took a deep breath and sent up a silent prayer that walking in blind wouldn't come back to bite me in the ass. Then I slowly eased the door open trying to keep from alerting Damien to our presence.

After that things seemed to move in slow motion. I watched as Damien threw Stephanie to the floor then pointed his gun in Tank's direction. I felt my years of military training take over and without even consciously thinking about what I was doing, I pulled the trigger and fired my gun as Damien turned the safety off on his own weapon.

I watched as he fell to the ground with my bullet right on target between his eyes then glanced at Steph to be sure she was alright. But when my eyes landed on her I noticed that her eyes were squeezed shut as if she was terrified of what she would find when she opened them.

The Miami RangeMen filled the room and split, half going to remove Damien from the room and the other half went to free Tank. Lester slipped in beside me and nodded towards Stephanie indicating I should take care of her while the guys checked on Tank and then oversaw the removal of Damien. All my men knew this wasn't a case which the cops would be seeing. We took care of our own and if you came after one of our brotherhood then there was no chance you would see the light of day again.

I left him to it and walked across the room to kneel beside Steph, however, when I reached out to try and reassure her that everything was okay she flinched away from me and let out a blood curdling scream.

"Steph!" I tried to pull her to me but she shoved herself away from me and refused to open her eyes or stop screaming. "Babe, it's okay. He's gone."

When the word gone left my mouth she finally stopped screaming and broke down sobbing uncontrollably still refusing to open her eyes. I was at a complete loss as to what to do to comfort her. I had never seen her lose it like this and it broke my heart to see the amount of pain she was in.

Had Damien done something to her? Was she harmed in any way? I tried whispering to her in Spanish to calm her down while glancing over her body for any injury. She had a long gash on her right forearm that would probably require some stitches but wasn't life threatening and a small trail of blood on her forehead but she wouldn't let me close enough to find out what it was from.

A second later I felt a hand shove me to the side and looked up to see Tank pick her up off the ground and cradle her to his chest. He leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead before saying, "It's okay, baby. I'm here. Open your eyes."

The flow of tears slowed, but she still refused to open her eyes.

Tank ran his finger down her cheek. "Come on, baby. Open your beautiful blue eyes for me."

She shook her head and with a voice that sounded rough from the screaming and sobbing she responded, "No, you're not here. Ranger said you were gone."

I felt one of my eyebrows raise and tried to think of how she would have thought I told her Tank was gone, but the only thing I could think of was that she had misinterpreted what I had told her earlier. I stepped up next to her and grabbed her hand giving it a slight squeeze. "No, Babe. I didn't mean Tank was gone, I meant Damien. Damien is gone, open your eyes. Tank is right beside you and he's fine."

It took a second, but her eyes slowly fluttered open and locked with Tank's. A fresh wave of tears fell from her eyes and she wrapped her arms around him. "I thought you were gone. I love you."

He gave her a soft smile and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. I could see he was silently whispering things in her ear, but from where I was I couldn't understand the words.

Ever since I met her at the small diner in Trenton, Stephanie Plum had been the most important person in my life. I made mistake after mistake and lost any chance I had at having her in my life in any lasting way, but standing here watching her with my best friend I couldn't help but wonder if it would have mattered.

Watching them made it was easy to see that they were meant to be together. I had never seen my best friend as relaxed and open as he was when he was with her, and with her I could see how much she needed his strength and support behind her. She had grown into an amazing woman since I last saw her and she had learned to fly without me and I couldn't help but blame myself for missing the chance to see it.

I knew without a shadow of a doubt that she no longer needed me. I hadn't been making her life easy for the past few months and as I watched as she calmed under Tank's gentle reassurances, I knew it was time for me to walk out of her life again. This time it wouldn't be permanent, but they both deserved a chance to build and grow their relationship without me interfering.

I took one last look at her and gave myself a second to wish things had been different, but even as I wished it I knew this was where she belonged. Without another glance I turned and made my way over to Lester and the rest of the Miami crew.

TS*TS*TS*TS*TS*TS*TS*TS*TS*TS

(Stephanie's POV)

A few hours later, I found myself sitting in the emergency room tightly holding on to Lester's hand. There was a doctor working on stitching up my arm where the pipe had cut into my forearm, and so far he was up to ten stitches and still had more room to cover.

Tank and Ranger were standing a few feet down the long hallway far enough away so that I couldn't hear what they were saying, but close enough that I could still easily see Tank. The exhaustion and stress from the day had taken a toll on me emotionally and I had broken down when he mentioned he was going to the cafeteria to discuss something with Ranger. The end result had been Lester holding my hand as the two men walked down the hall to have a least a sense of privacy.

A part of me was embarrassed by the way I had basically lost it when I thought he was dead, but another part of me was still terrified that if he left my line of sight then I might wake up to find that I was dreaming and Damien had truly killed him.

"It's okay, Beautiful. It's over." Les said as he ran his unoccupied hand through my tangled mass of curls.

"He's my whole world, Les. It took forever for me to realize it, but I think it was because I was terrified of what would happen when I admitted the truth to myself."

"What about Ranger and Joe?"

"I don't think I ever loved Joe in a relationship kind of way. My mother forced me to him and I wanted to please her. It was also what the 'Burg expected me to do so I just kept going back and trying." I paused and let out a yawn. I was beginning to feel exhausted but I refused to sleep until Tank was back with me.

"I did love Ranger. I still do in a way, but it's not the same way I love Tank."

"I always felt like Ranger was there and supported me the way no one else ever had. He let me burn through his cars, get his men shot, and saved me repeatedly without complaint. He was the first person to give me unconditional support. But at the same time there was always a reason for him to put a wall between us or a reason why it wasn't worth his time to try and have a real relationship with me."

Les frowned, "He does love you, as much as he can love anyone, but you do deserve better than only half of somebody."

I smiled. "I know, and that's why it never would have been enough."

"For what it's worth, I'm glad it wasn't. Both you and Tank deserve this. I used to hear Tia talking to Abuela Rosa about how open and loving he was as a kid and how she wished she could see him like that again. I think she had almost lost hope of ever seeing that side of him again, but you've brought that part of him back."

I smiled at his words then leaned back against his shoulder as the doctor continued to stitch up my arm. "He saved me too. I had closed myself off from everyone except Devin and I didn't realize what I was missing until he walked back into my life."

We were both silent for a few minutes before I glanced down the hall at Ranger and Tank. "Do you know what they're talking about?"

"Yep."

I sat up and glared at him. Surely he knew that wasn't enough information.

He laughed. "Ranger's been called away, but he had an offer for you and Tank which I think you'll be happy with."

I rolled my eyes. "You're not going to tell me are you?"

He shook his head and pulled me back down to lean against his shoulder. "Nope."

We were silent for a few minutes as the doctor rubbed some type of medication over the top of my completed stitches before wrapping them in gauze and reminding me to keep them clean and dry.

At some point I must have lost my fight against sleep, because I was gently awakened to find Tank standing over me and Ranger gone. "Hey baby, can you tell me what today is?"

I groaned and wondered why he was asking me such a ridiculous question before I remembered I had a mild concussion and would be facing a full night of ridiculous questions. "Saturday or Sunday depending on how long I've been asleep and what time it is."

He grinned. "You ready to get out of here?"

I nodded. "I was ready hours ago!"

Lester laughed as he entered the room behind him and I assumed they must have already taken care of any paperwork. He pushed a wheel chair up to my bed and helped me into it before pushing me gently through the hallways and out of the hospital.

When we got out of the doors there was already a black SUV waiting for us. The Miami RangeMan behind the wheel jumped out when he saw us then nodded to Tank before walking to another SUV which was idling behind the first and taking off.

Tank helped me into the backseat before climbing in beside me and Lester jumped into the driver's seat. Once we were on the road I asked, "Are we still going back to Trenton?"

Les grinned and shot Tank a look. "That depends on you."

I looked at Tank, "What's going on?"

"While you were getting stitched up, Ranger offered us a job." He paused for a second and laughed when I gave him a glare urging him to continue. "He's been looking to expand into other parts of the country for a few years now, but had put it off because he knew none of the core team was willing to leave Trenton."

I sighed and knew the reason they wouldn't have left Trenton was because they weren't sure if I would come back or not, but they didn't want to be gone if I did. "So, what does this have to do with us?"

"He offered to let us start up the new office. Bobby's pretty settled in Trenton with the new baby and wife so he's willing to stay behind and head up the Trenton office while the 3 of us can start up the new one. I told Ranger I had to talk to you before agreeing, but I was pretty sure you wouldn't have a problem with it." Tank said.

I grinned. It sounded like a lot of fun to me. I wasn't really settled anywhere and I had enjoyed moving around with I was still with the Agency. "How long would it take to get it up and running?"

"It took us about 2 years to get Atlanta fully functioning and have a good core management team put in place." Lester replied.

"So, where are we going?"

Tank laughed. "I knew you wouldn't turn down a new adventure. He gave us the option of Houston, Las Angeles, or Seattle. I thought you might enjoy spending some time at home, so I told him Seattle."

I felt the excitement build, I loved Seattle, and the fact that it had been the place where Tank and I truly got together only made it that much more special to me. I was going to love having a chance to actually spend some time in the house I bought.

Lester gave me a sly smile through the rear view mirror, "Tank said you might have a place for me to crash until we find a building."

I couldn't resist the urge to tease him, "We have a spare room, but I'm not very quiet."

I watched as confusion filled his face. A few seconds later I saw the realization hit him and a blush cover his face. Tank let out a roar of laughter and I couldn't help giggling. Lester just glared at us, "That is so not something I needed to know about you guys."

I rolled my eyes, "You're such a man whore, Les, and I know way more about your sex life than I have ever wanted to know."

He wiggled his eyebrows at me suggestively through the mirror as we pulled to a stop a few hundred feet from Ranger's private jet. "It's part of my charm."

I just sighed in exasperation and climbed out of the car. I was glad that he would be coming with us on this new adventure. He was more like a sibling to me than my own sister. "Someday you're going to meet your match and I can't wait to see it."

He just shrugged and Tank took my hand leading the three of us onto the plane. I would have never imagined my life would end up like this. I was married to my best friend and couldn't imagine my life without him, and I was surrounded with a huge adopted family that accepted me just as I was without trying to change me. I may have had a few bumps and bruises along the way, but they had all brought me here.

And I wouldn't change a thing.