Let me know if you like it!

Just a note: I really know nothing about the military or military operations, so please forgive anything thats wrong. :)

I slept for about four hours before the plane landed at the new base. I wasn't sure what I was going to be allowed to do now that I was here. Probably they'd want me to stay on base and sit and twiddle my fingers. I had no intention of doing that however. I was going to rescue Ranger.

I disembarked the plane behind the Major General and followed him to a low building. The Major was given some papers and read through them quickly.

The rest of us stood waiting for, well orders I guess. I took the same stance as the other soldiers; I had no idea what it was called. The Major General finished reading and turned to us.

"It seems that we now have a location for our team. You will be going in to retrieve our men and terminate the original target. This will not be easy. They were able to neutralize our first team rapidly, however we believe that are men were able to inflict some serious casualties before being taken prisoner. You'll find new fatigues in the barracks. Change and return, we're getting you armed and shipping you out."

I turned to follow and I was snagged by the back of my shirt. "Where are you going?"

"Oh come on. You didn't allow me to come all the way down here so that I could sit on my ass and wait."

"You're right. I know a lot about you Miss. Plum. I know that you're tenacious and you have an uncanny ability to get yourself in and out of trouble. I also know that you are the person most likely to be able to get my best man out of trouble. Despite that, I need you to know that this mission is dangerous in the best of times and in your condition…"

"I can handle this. I'm sure I've been through worse. I've been kidnapped more times that I can count. I've been beaten and tortured. I've watched while people I love have tortured. I can handle one sleazy South American drug lord."

"Go suit up." I nodded and marched after the last group. The fatigues were slightly different than the ones was wearing. Darker greens, less brown. I pulled on the pants quickly and then the dark green t-shirt. A camo Kevlar vest went over the t-shirt; there was no long sleeved shirt this time. I caught my hair in a messy bun at the bottom of my skull.

I left with the others and the Major General pulled me aside. "Do you know how to shoot a machine gun?"

"No…"

He showed me quickly and it seemed pretty simple. He handed me a stun gun, "I hear you're good with these. This is a just in case measure, It's powerful. I want you to be careful. You're to stay behind the others. Do not get yourself hurt or killed; if Ranger gets out and you're dead he'll kill us all."

I nodded, "Yes sir." Everything was happening so fast and suddenly I was walking with the others to convoy vehicle. We loaded up and spent the ride to the jungle discussing strategy. Well they discussed, I listened and learned. I'd be kept towards the back. I was the last ditch effort basically. If all else failed they were counting on my tenacity to get Ranger out alive. Apparently Ranger was the number one guy; they couldn't afford to lose the best of the best.

It didn't take long for us to get where we were going, but we had another hour or two walk through the jungle. It was hot and my skin was instantly sticky. We walked silently through the forest, drinking water as we went. It was only an hour later when we found the hidden bungalow. There were guards posted around the perimeter. A scout came back telling us there were at least ten guards. Several of the group broke off to get them out of the way silently. I didn't hear anything but all of our people came back and nodded.

The bungalow was large considering it was in the middle of the Columbian jungle. We stalked silently towards the house. I went in the back with a group of five men. Another guard saw us and there was shooting, from where we were and from another area. The guard that had seen us was down. Everyone would know something was up now. It was go time.

I peeled myself away from the group, against orders, and went down an unexplored hallway. I opened doors, ducking low and staying out of if the line of fire. I went through three empty rooms before I found an occupied one.

There was a soldier tied to a chair, his head hanging down limply. My breath caught in my throat. I knew it was Ranger. I couldn't tell if he was breathing. I looked around the room carefully and walked in, shutting the door behind me. I could hear shots ringing out in some other part of the building. I quickly walked over to Ranger and felt for a pulse. It was there, not very strong, but there. I started untying him and he moaned lightly.

"Ranger? Wake up, come on we need to get out of here." His head lifted slightly and he opened his eyes.

"Oh shit. I died. The real you is going to be so pissed." His voice was quiet and slurred.

"You're not dead. I'm the real me. Anything broken?"

Ranger gave me a disbelieving look, "Babe? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Saving your ass. I'll ask one more time, anything broken?" I got his ankles free finally.

Ranger shook his head slightly as if to clear it, "ribs again." I helped him stand up and we walked towards the door, I was taking a good amount of his weight, his legs were asleep. I opened the door, my gun in my hand.

There was a man poised to open the door. I looked quickly to make sure he wasn't one of us and I opened fire. He went down and we stepped over him. Ranger wasn't walking very well and I was half dragging him. Two more goons and a man dressed in a black suit stepped around the corner. I opened fire. All three of them went down. They hadn't even had guns drawn; apparently they hadn't thought there was anyone in this wing of the house. I realized I'd probably just killed a South American drug lord. Go me. I went back the way I came and ran into two soldiers from my unit. They had another injured soldier with them. One of the guys grabbed Rangers other side and we got the hell out of the house. We went through the forest quicker this time, trying to get the men back so we could figure out how hurt they were.

We made it back to the convoy vehicles and set the men down. I dropped to my knees next to Ranger and started checking him out. A medical officer came over and started to help. We cut off his shirt and I cringed. His chest and stomach were badly bruised. He'd been shot in the shoulder. He had some burns on his arms, cuts and burns on his legs. Two black eyes and broken nose. The medical officer said he probably had a broken jaw. He was amazed there was no internal bleeding. If he'd been normal he'd be dead.

The medical officer went to look at the next guy and left me to clean Ranger up. He'd been staring at me and cringed a little when I start rubbing him down with alcohol. I bandaged the cuts that started bleeding and slathered aloe on the burns. I was giving him small sips of water like the medical officer had told me too. I knew the others were communicating with the base and with the others in this unit. More soldiers started arriving. They'd found two more injured soldiers. I was relieved to see Cal among them.

"Babe?" I turned back to Ranger and smiled.

"Hey Ranger. How are you feeling?" I grabbed his hand and squeezed gently.

He smiled lightly at me, "I'm having hallucinations. That's never good."

I laughed, "Ranger, I'm here. I promise it's me. You're going to be okay. Remember you promised you'd come home. I just came to help you keep that promise."

I heard the others talking. "Salvador's dead, we don't know who shot him." There was murmuring. They were loading everyone into the vehicles. I stood.

"I did." Everyone turned to look at me. They'd been impressed I'd gotten Ranger and got us both out alive. They were more impressed now. We got Ranger in the vehicle and took off. I felt like it had been an hour or two since I was in Jersey. In reality it had been over 24 hours.

We got to the base and I followed Ranger to the medical ward. They cleaned him up better and wrapped his ribs. The doctor set his nose and sent him to x-rays and determined that his jaw wasn't broken. They'd given him pain medicine right away and he was out of it. They got him into a room and I sat next to his bed. I fell asleep sitting there, holding his hand. The Major General woke me up and motioned for me to follow him. When we got outside he turned to face me.

"You need to eat and drink some water. Come on." I didn't want to argue so I followed him to the mess hall. I grabbed a tray and loaded it with an apple, some salad, grilled chicken, green beans and potatoes. There were brownies for desert. I ate everything and drank two bottles of water. I was stuffed and very tired.

The Major General sat with me while I ate, not saying a word. When I was done he looked amused.

"You managed to not only rescue Ranger but kill the target. You kept your cool, didn't get shot or even shot at. I have to say I'm impressed."

"Thank you. When can I take him home?"

"The doctor wants to keep him here for another day, but we'll send you out tomorrow morning. You'll be home in 24 hours." I nodded again and walked back to Ranger's room. He was still sleeping and I assumed my former position, arms crossed on the bed, head resting on top, one of my hands holding his.

I'm not sure how long I slept but when I woke up it was light again. Ranger was stroking my hair and I looked up with a grin.

"Hey Ranger. How are you feeling?"

"Babe." He smiled and then shook his head, "I can't believe you managed to talk the Rangers into letting you bust in on a black ops mission."

"I can be persuasive."

"You can be damn scary."

"That too."

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