We made love and talked through the remainder of the night. I told her about the longest five days of my life and the subsequent panic attacks, and she told me what she remembered of her cabin stay. It pained me to see her talk about it with such emotional detachment. It was as if she had to process everything like it had happened to someone else.

I kissed every healing scar on her body from the burns and the handcuffs. And she cried. A lot. But at least the tears came from eyes that were no longer hollow and vacant. There was still a faint glimmer of that beautiful light shining behind them.

When my alarm finally went off the next morning, I was physically and emotionally spent. But it was more than worth it. Unfortunately, there was still one more thing we needed to discuss.

I ran my fingers through the curls that were spread in a haphazard mess across my chest. "Babe?"

Stephanie didn't respond.

I leaned down and kissed the top of her head. Still no response. I carefully slid her onto one of the adjacent pillows and realized she'd left a small trail of drool on me. My shoulders shook in silent laughter. She was so damn adorable sometimes.

I went and hopped in the shower and was just lacing up my boots when I noticed Stephanie start to stir on the bed next to me.

"Where are you going?" she mumbled.

"Work."

She groaned. "No rest for the wicked?"

I leaned over and kissed her. "Something like that." I felt her smile against my lips. "When you feel up to it, come swing by my office. There's something I need to discuss with you."

"Didn't you do enough of that last night?"

"Different kind of discussion, babe."

"So no coming downstairs in an oversized t-shirt and nothing else. Got it."

The fact that she was flirting with me made me feel so good that I thought I might actually self-combust. I playfully nipped at her ear. "You can come down in anything you want. Just know that for every action there's an equal and opposite reaction."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Newton's third law, babe."

"Sounds more like a nerdy pickup line to me."

"Would it have worked on you?" I asked sliding an exploratory hand under the covers.

"Mmmm…not a chance," she moaned.

"Liar."

By the time Stephanie made it downstairs, it was nearing lunch time. I moved some files off my desk and glanced up at her.

"Want to do lunch up on seven?"

Stephanie bit her lower lip. "Actually…I'd kill for a junky fast food cheeseburger right about now."

I did a mental grimace. "Can we at least bring it back here?"

"Wait, are you actually agreeing to a cheeseburger?"

"I'll probably stick with Ella's cooking, but I'll get you whatever you want."

She took a few steps closer. "This isn't some clever ploy to get lucky later, is it?"

I feigned a shocked expression. She smiled.

Twenty minutes later we were back upstairs with a giant bag of toxic, greasy food for Steph and a turkey sandwich on wheat for me. Stephanie took an enormous bite out of a bacon double cheeseburger and groaned in satisfaction.

"Oh my gosh! You have no idea what you're missing."

With the way she was carrying on, I knew exactly what I was missing. And it had nothing to do with a cheeseburger.

"Want a bite?" she offered.

I shook my head. "Thanks, but no."

She grabbed a few fries and shoved them in her mouth. "So what do we need to talk about?"

"A plan for the future."

"Future planning," she mused. "Sounds very unRanger."

"It is."

I put two folders on the table in front of her.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm about to be debriefed on a top secret military op?"

"There may be some similarities."

She opened the first folder and nearly choked on a bite of food. "Holy crap! Is this for real?" she asked, eyes wide.

"I'm done playing games."

"Wow. No kidding."

She eyed the other folder. "What's in here?"

"A possibility."

She opened it and read through the contents. I was a little worried she wouldn't understand all the implications.

She leaned back in her chair and thought for a moment. "But what would happen to…"

"All of this?" I interrupted.

"Yeah."

"Would it matter?"

"I guess not really, no."

"Is it something you'd consider?" I could tell she recognized the touch of uncertainty in my voice.

"Yes." The response came faster than I'd expected. "But I have time to think about it, right? I mean, this is like a really big deal here."

"It is. And yes, you have time to consider it."

She looked back through the folder. "How long?"

"I wish I could give you all the time you need, but we're kind of on a tight schedule. You've got a couple days to decide."

She looked up at me again, her eyes boring holes straight into my soul. "Is this what you want?" she asked.

I didn't even have to think. "Yes."