Babes, are you ready for some happy ? ? ?

Special thanks to WizardsWoman for sticking to me, guiding me through my writer's block and taking care of the errors and mispellings I make! And of course to everyone who took the time to leave a review for the last chapter.

You all rock ! ! !

Disclaimer: I wish I could make, but I don't. The characters known from the books belong to JE.

The second chance

Chapter 25

San Antonio International Airport, nine PM

Steph stepped out of the Gulfstream into the cool night air and took in the lights and noise of the airport. The whole week she had waited for this moment that she would finally touch ground in San Antonio. Ranger was here and her body was filled with excitement. Six weeks had passed since he was brought back stateside and his attitude towards his new life had changed as his healing process took effect and goals were met.

"Are you ready to go, Little Girl?"

Turning around she looked at the huge black man filling the doorframe behind her and nodded to him.

"Yes, Tank, I'm so ready I could jump in the air and do cartwheels."

"You will see him tomorrow morning," Tank smiled one of his rare smiles. "I'm sure he's as anxious to see you as you are to finally reunite with him."

Steph stepped onto the tarmac and took a deep breath. A thrill of anticipation coursed through her veins and made her body prickle as she stood there and waited for Tank to join her with their luggage.

"The SUV is waiting for us, Little Girl. How about we drive to the hotel, have a little bite to eat and some drinks before we say goodnight? Tomorrow morning you will drive me to my relatives and then you have the car all to yourself to explore the city with Ranger.

The drive to the hotel was uneventful and soon enough Tank and Steph sat in the hotel's restaurant with a little snack and wine and talked about their plans for the weekend. Steph had been so anxious to see Ranger, she doubted she would get a wink of sleep, but soon enough Tank's deep soothing voice and the two glasses of wine took effect and she realized she was tired and it was time to go to her room. Tomorrow she would finally see Ranger again; she couldn't wait to hug him and feel his warmth spread through her body.

I'm showered and lying in a comfy bed and thought to send you a quick text to let you know I'm safe in my room. Tank is next door; nothing can happen to me. Have a good night Batman. I'll see you tomorrow.

Steph put her cell phone on the nightstand next to the bed, took a deep breath and relaxed into the mattress. Sleep claimed her quickly and within a few minutes she was so fast asleep that she never heard the ding of the incoming text.

Sleep well my Wonder Woman; feel loved and protected. I can't wait to see you tomorrow. Xoxo

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The next morning, Steph drove Tank to his aunt and uncle and then let the navigation device guide her to the San Antonio Military Medical Center. The complex was huge and of course she didn't find a parking space near the building Ranger was staying in; stupid parking karma. Twenty minutes later, she finally entered the building across the street from the Center for the Intrepid and curiously looked around. There was quite a bit of traffic at the reception area, seemed as though a lot of relatives and friends wanted to visit loved ones. Not caring for the crowd, Steph walked over to the elevator when a well-known voice made her stop mid-step.

"Babe."

Steph wheeled around and clapped her hands over her mouth when she saw Ranger rolling toward her.

"Carlos!" With a few strides she closed the distance between them and leaned down to hug him which admittedly felt a little awkward because she wished for so much more.

"That's not what I want, Babe. Straddle my lap."

"I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't… promise."

Biting her lower lip, Steph did as she was told and straddled Ranger's lap so that her legs hung over the armrests on each side of him.

"Better?" She asked him with a smile playing around her lips.

"Better, but we are still not there, Babe."

Ever so softly he cupped her cheeks and moved his mouth closer to hers until their lips touched in the sweetest of kisses.

"Better now?" Steph smiled broadly.

"Better, but still not there, Babe." Ranger's lips tilted up a little. Wrapping his arms around her body and pulling her so tight against his chest that they touched groin to neck, he finally sighed and Steph could feel his tense muscles relax. "Now, that's perfect," he mumbled into her hair followed by a soft kiss.

"I agree, this feels wonderful," Steph sighed and let all her anticipation flow from her body. "Finally, it's been way too long."

They sat like that for about ten minutes, Ranger rubbing slowly up and down her back, when the noises around them finally brought them back to the present.

"So what have you come up with for today, Batman? We have a roomy SUV at our disposal."

"If you agree, we'll first drive to the rose gardens on the other side of town. They are beautiful and we can sit there, smell the roses and just talk for a while. There's also a very nice handicapped accessible restaurant where we can have lunch later."

"That sounds wonderful, but I didn't take you as a rose kinda guy plus you aren't exactly talkative. What brings this on?"

"My abuela always had a wonderful rose garden and I feel like refreshing some of those old memories. Aside from that, a day with you roaming between fragrant roses sounds about perfect. You will see I have changed some since I've left Germany; reorganizing priorities and all that."

Steph smiled big, moved off his lap and waited for Ranger to loosen the breaks on the wheelchair. "Then let's get started. We have to walk for a while because of course I didn't have any good parking karma and had to park next to a row of stinky dumpsters on the other side of the complex."

Ranger chuckled and followed her out of the building. "Babe, only you."

A couple hours later they had strolled through some of the gardens and found themselves a beautiful place to sit surrounded by some of the most gorgeous rose bushes Steph had ever seen. It was a place of solitude and they sat next to each other, Ranger in his wheelchair, Steph on a wooden bench, eyes closed, as they listened to the birds and took in the wonderful fragrance of the roses.

"Tell me about your visit with Mark." Ranger finally interrupted the comfortable silence between them.

"It was heartbreaking." Steph sighed and turned her head to look at him. "Before Bobby and I could go and see him, we met with his head doctor to discuss the situation."

Flashback

"Stephanie, it's a pleasure to see you again though I wished it was under different circumstances."

"Thank you doctor. May I introduce you to a friend, Bobby Brown. He is Rangeman's medic and I asked him to accompany me for counseling and to translate any medical terms to me."

"Mr. Brown," the doctor nodded friendly. "Let's take a seat so I can tell you where we stand."

After Steph and Bobby had sat down in front of the doctor's huge cherry desk, he started without delay.

"I will get right to the point. We've made a huge step backwards in Mark's treatment and I'm no longer sure this is the right rehab facility for him. A week after you left, Stephanie, he started to pull back. At first the therapists were able to tickle some cooperation out of him, but it got harder with every passing day. He soon started to refuse any collaboration, turned away whenever someone approached him, and for the last few days he declined to eat so that we had to put him back on a feeding tube. As I told you and Leroy time is of essence in Mark's treatment. The first two months are crucial for his recovery and every day that he continues to be so withdrawn means he is losing valuable time. Apparently, he's very dependent on your or Leroy's presence and after consultation with my colleagues I suggest moving him to a rehab facility closer to either one of you so that you could regularly visit him and by that keep him going."

"But what about this being the best address there is for soldiers with this kind of injury?" Bobby asked. "I did some research myself and you are leading in the treatment of traumatic brain injuries."

"I agree, we have outstanding possibilities here because of our expansive knowledge with this kind of injuries and the National Intrepid Center of Excellence that we house, but all this expertise doesn't do any good if the patient isn't ready to accept the challenge and work with us. I rather have Mark in another facility where he does his best and improves every day than having him vegetate here. In addition we are not out of the world. I would personally be on call for his new doctors whenever they need my expertise. If you agree to move Mark to somewhere else, we won't close the doors behind him and forget about him."

"That sounds like your mind is set?" Stephanie regarded the doctor closely.

"In the end it's your or more precisely Leroy's decision, but with the best in mind for Mark this seems to be the only logical conclusion."

End of flashback

"When Bobby and I entered Mark's room you should have seen him," Steph continued to tell Ranger. "I saw him automatically turning away when he must have recognized me from the corner of his eye. His head flew around and he simultaneously started to cry and to rock himself as he sobbed and croaked and made other guttural sounds. I hurried to his bed and wrapped him up in my arms and he held me so close that he nearly crushed me while being all in tears. I don't know how long he clung to me, but when his grip finally loosened we were alone in his room."

"How did you feel with his response to you?" Ranger asked when Steph became silent for a moment.

"Overwhelmed. I never had someone so depending on me, but once the first shock wore off I felt like a protective mother bear with her cub. I could have ripped the nurses a new one for not continuing to mark off the days on the calendar on Mark's bedside table."

"What do you mean?"

"I put a calendar on Mark's bedside table, circled the day I would come back and instructed the nurses to cross off every day that passed so that Mark hopefully understood that on the circled day I would be back. They didn't do it. I was so angry with them."

"What about Bobby? Did he meet Mark?"

"Yes, after the all-consuming welcome from Mark, Bobby retreated to give us some space and started his research for rehab facilities both near Fort Bragg and near Trenton. With his results he went back to discuss them with the doctor before joining us in Mark's room in the afternoon. The two got along well. Mark accepted Bobby, even let him feed him some jello."

"That's good. He needs to learn to accept other people in his life. So what place did Leroy decide for?"

"The facility's name is Birch Wood Rehab in Philadelphia. That makes it about 35 miles from Rangeman. If the traffic is in my favor I can reach it in 40 minutes. They are rather new and specialize in patients recuperating from stroke and traumatic brain injuries with doctors and therapists who are full of determination and enthusiasm. Since they opened about two years ago they have gained an excellent reputation and are willing to collaborate with Mark's doctor and therapists at Walter Reed. After Bobby gave me his search results I called Leroy and we decided that Philadelphia was the best choice. The few facilities in the vicinity of Fort Bragg were all mediocre and not as up-to-date as the one in Philly plus the doctors didn't seem to be open to work with the people at Walter Reed. Mark was moved twenty-four hours later and I visited with him the past two days. This weekend Bobby offered to drive to Birch Wood and take care that Mark eats and does his exercises. We talked to the doctors and therapists there and agreed to try to catch up the time and opportunities Mark has missed."

"Babe, I worry that you are spreading yourself too thin. You work fourteen hour days for Rangeman seven days a week and now in addition you want to visit with Mark every day. As much as I love that you are taking care of him, that's too much. You have to take care of yourself or you will crumble under the workload and responsibilities."

Steph reached for Ranger's hand and squeezed it lovingly. "Don't worry, Carlos. Mark's head doctor, therapists and I already made a plan to slowly wean Mark of my presence. I will go there daily for the next two weeks and bring somebody else whenever possible, then I will stretch my visits to every other day with somebody else coming whenever I'm not there. From there on we will stretch it to every third day and so on. I will explain the situation to the guys at the Monday morning meeting and ask for volunteers who are willing to help me in their free-time."

"No, let them do it during their working hours. That's the least we can do to repay them for the trouble."

"I know, but that's not possible at the moment. We are so short of men that we need all hands on deck. I will make sure they know how appreciated their help would be, but that it really is voluntary and nobody will say anything if they decide against it."

Nodding that he understood, Ranger rubbed soft circles on the back of Stephanie's hand and watched her for a while. She was beautiful. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, the knee-long dress she was wearing accentuated her curves and the smile that toyed on her face filled his heart with longing. He couldn't wait any longer. This wouldn't go the way he had planned it but to hell with his plans, it was time to live.

"Come over here, Babe." Ranger tugged at Steph's hand and pulled her off the bench and over to him. When she straddled him once more he took her hands in his, rubbed their back and thought about how to tell her what occupied his mind.

"Babe… Steph… I didn't plan to do this now, but as I'm learning sometimes it's important to forget about all the plans I've made and just jump into the deep end… From the moment I saw you this morning to now I enjoyed every minute with you like I have never enjoyed anything before. I thought I loved you before that last mission changed everything, but those feelings back then can't compare to what I feel now. Things have changed, I have changed. Losing my legs has changed the way I think and feel. There are several therapists working with me here, including a psychotherapist, and I've talked with him about my rigorous rules and fears and we are working on bringing some perspective into my restricted mindset." Ranger kept his eyes locked on Steph's hands and continued to nervously rub their backs before he took another deep breath. "My life will change dramatically in future. I don't know whether I will still want to work at Rangeman once I'm released or do something completely different; I've made the decision to get closer to my family again, to open my mind up to all those things I denied myself before and that includes you, Babe. I want you… with all my heart. I'm in love with you and can't imagine my life without you. I know I told you my life doesn't lend itself to relationships and that my love comes with a condom and not a ring. That's no longer true. I realize now what a bullshit that was and what I missed all those years that I held you at arm's length. Perhaps I've missed my chance and you no longer feel that way, but if you agree I would love to give us a chance at being together, a real relationship with ups and downs and lots of love. I still can't promise you it will end with marriage or children because there's still so much in my mind that I have to sort out and think about, but if my heart is enough for you for now I would love to give a real relationship a try."

Ranger took a deep breath and chanced a look up into Steph's eyes. The love he saw shining in them made his heart erupt with joy and cheers and immediately produced a thousand watt smile on his face.

Wiping the tears from her face, Stephanie cupped his cheeks and pressed a soft kiss onto his waiting lips. "Yes, Carlos, yes. I want to give us a try and if your heart is all I will ever get it will be enough. I've waited so long and I thought I would have to wait even longer until you were ready, so yes, yes, yes."

Instead of falling into a passionate kiss, they hugged each other so close that not even a whiff of air would have managed to come between them as they let the love they felt pour into the other's body. An eternity later, Ranger pulled back and caressed Stephanie's face, wiping at the tear streaks in the process.

"I would love to kiss you now and I don't mean a peck. I mean a real kiss. May I?"

Steph couldn't think of anything else than bobbing her head yes. She didn't thought she would ever be able to talk again. When Carlos' warm, soft lips made contact with hers she couldn't help but moan. This felt different than in the morning; there was so much more meaning in this kiss. She opened her mouth and felt the caress of his tongue as he swept into her mouth and she slowly lost any coherent thought as Ranger took over and deepened the kiss while his hands caressed her body in unison with his tongue.

~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~

It was early in the evening when Steph brought Ranger back to his temporary home and they decided to split rather than her coming up to his room. A lot had happened throughout the day that had to be processed. First they had lost themselves in kisses and caresses and then they shared a romantic lunch before driving to a park to take a walk in the forest holding hands whenever possible.

"Thanks for a wonderful day, Carlos," Steph cupped Ranger's cheeks and kissed him softly. "I hope you enjoyed yourself as much as I."

"I did Babe. I will admit that my arms are a little bit sore from all that pushing of the wheelchair, but today was one of the best days in my life because I finally got my girl."

Ranger's thousand watt smile was so enticing that Steph wanted to crawl over on his lap and lose herself in his kisses. He had called her his girl; they were in a relationship… she needed time to comprehend all that.

"You better get out of this car before I seduce you right here in front of the main entrance."

"Your wish is my command," Ranger laughed at the hungry look in Steph's eyes and opened the passenger door. "My carriage please, ma'am."

Steph hurried to get the wheelchair out of the back and pushed it next to the passenger door where Ranger maneuvered himself over in the chair without much effort.

"A last kiss, Babe? So that I have something to hold me over till we see us again tomorrow."

Smiling, Steph leaned over and seductively let the tip of her tongue follow the seam of his lips. When Ranger opened his mouth, she swept her tongue along the backside of his teeth and then over his tongue and chuckled when she could hear his groan as he pulled her down on his lap and started to ravish her mouth.

"I hope that helps, Batman," she said after she finally straightened up again with her cheeks flushed and a huge grin playing on her face. He had let go of his precious control, something he had never done before.

"See you tomorrow, Babe," Ranger hollered over his shoulder as he pushed his wheelchair towards the sliding doors of the main entrance. "Don't go crazy."

"Don't crack a smile," she called after him causing Ranger to do exactly that as he turned around to her. "Now, now, where's your blank face, Batman?" Steph called out laughing.

With the help of one of his hands Ranger tried to straighten his face, just to have it lit up with a smile once he removed his hand. "Guess I lost it when I kissed my woman good-bye."

With that he turned back around and with a last wave vanished through the sliding doors.

Sighing happily, Steph climbed back into the SUV and programmed the address of the hotel into the navigation device. She couldn't wait to call Mare and tell her the news. Steph was sure her best friend would keep it to herself for the time being; she needed to tell someone to make it real or she would self-combust.

There you go... Ranger and Steph are finally a couple. I didn't plan to reveal this until the last chapter, but I felt the need to make you Babes happy because you are such a wonderful audience. Now on to the next chapter. If you like please leave a review so I can keep up the motivation I have going.