Chapter 34

Stephanie started at Rangeman the very next day. Ricky already some files that he want her to go over and he had prepared a cubical next to his office so that she'd be close to him. For questions and stuff. Yeah. That's why. Anyhow. She arrived at nine that morning which was quite early for her. The woman loved her sleep, that's for sure.

She parked in the garage and took the elevator to the fifth floor, Ricky had called it "the control room" yesterday. He was waiting for her by the elevator doors when she stepped off. He was wearing his work clothes; black cargo pants, black painted on T-shirt, and black doc marten shit kickers. He looked hot. Sexy. Like somebody that you didn't want to fuck with. She loved it. "Hey Babe," He said with a small smile.

"Hey Batman. How's it goin?" She replied with a smile of her own. He shook his head and shrugged. "Can't complain. A lot better now that my eyes have something easier to look at than these barbarians," he joked. She laughed and stepped out of the elevator. She turned her head and looked around and low and behold, here comes Lester Santos. "Hey beautiful," he said with a lopsided grin. "Finally sick of Ranger and want some of this?" She rolled her eyes and snorted. "As if, Lopez. I wouldn't want any of that even if I was through with Ricky," She sassed. He gave a bark of laughter and shook his head. "Alright, Alright," he said. "Easy there tiger. Don't hurt my feelings."

Ricky gave him a glare. "Mats, 0400 tomorrow, Santos," he barked. Lester's face and shoulders dropped and he left out a sigh. "Shit," he said. Ricky's lips twitched, fighting a smile. Stephanie giggled. "Smell ya later, Lopez. I've got places to be and files to see," she said as she and Ricky walked away. Ricky led her to her cubical and stopped at the entrance. "This is yours. It's where you'll pick up your files and then when your done," he pointed to a black tray, "that's where you'll leave them. Feel free to write suggestions right on the pages or you can use sticky notes if you'd like. It's which ever you prefer. He pointed to the tray next to it and said, "This is where your new files will be left. Just come in every couple of days and pick them up." Stephanie nodded, looking around her space.

"You said I didn't have to wear pantyhose right? I can just wear whatever?" She said cautiously. Ricky gave a small and quiet laugh. "Ella, out housekeeper will give you some Rangeman uniforms. If you're just coming in to pick up files you don't have to change, but if you're coming in to work here for the day then you'll have to wear the untiform. But no babe, you don't have to wear pantyhose," he said. Stephanie blew out a sigh of relief. Hallelujah.

Ricky gave her a tour of the building and introduced her to some of the guys that were in. Their first stop was themonitors which was right across the room from her cubby. "These are the monitors. I might occasionally ask you to cover a shift, but that will be rare and the only risk is death by boredom so you don't have to worry about getting shot or arrested," he smiled at her and continued. "This is Zero and right there is Cal," he said, pointing to each of them. "Cal looks like tough shit because he has that flaming skull on his forehead, but he's a big teddy bear. And Fred isn't that shocking once you get used to him."

Stephanie smiled and tried to hold back her laugh. "You named him Fred?" She asked Cal. Cal blushed and nodded. "Well," He said. "His full name is Flaming Fred, but we just call him Fred." Stephanie gave a chuckle. "That's fucking awesome. I don't have the balls to get a tattoo anywhere, much less my freakin forehead." She turned to Ricky, "If I ever go out in the field and need back up, I'm bringin this guy. He's a bad motherfucker," she told him. Ricky smile and nodded.

"Good choice babe. Cal is excellent at strategy and good at adapting if something goes sideways. Plus, he pretty much scares the shit out of everybody," he told her. She blanched at him. "Why? It's just a tattoo for crying out loud! People need to stop being judge mental pussies. That's ridiculous. I'm a five foot five and I weigh a hundred and twenty pounds and I have a vagina! I'm not afraid of him," she exclaimed in outrage. Cal stared at her like she had three heads.

Stephanie glanced away and shrugged harshly. "Alright alright! A hundred and thirty. At most," she said grudgingly. Cal gave a grin and a short chuckle. Zero looked shell shocked. He looked like someone had just told him that Obama was a blonde haired white woman with three kids and a mom van. Cal turned to Ricky. "I like her boss. She's funny as hell. And ballsy," he said.

Ricky gave a smile and made a sound of agreement. "Fuckin A she is," he said. Stephanie rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "Hey, remember me? Funny and ballsy? Yeah, I'm right here," she snarked. Cal barked out a laugh and Zero snorted. "How could I forget, Angel. Something so beautiful standing not five feet away and I completely forget that she's there. I think the ink might be bleeding into my brain after all these years," he laughed. Stephanie cracked up. "Omigod! That's a good one. If I had a head tattoo, I'd say that too. Maybe I should get one just so I can use that excuse," she teased.

Ricky snorted. "You can get a bombshell on your forehead, since you're the bombshell bounty hunter and all," he said with a grin. She rolls her eyes and smiled. "Yeah. Right. Because that's something I totally want to do," she said. Ricky shrugged and said bye to Zero and Cal, moving the tour along. He showed her the break room and led her down the hallway, showing her the conference rooms and Lester and Tank's offices. "Where's Bobby's office? I thought you said he was part of the 'core team' too? Did he just not want one or something?" She asked, her brow wrinkled in confusion.

Ricky shook his head. "Bobby's office is on the fourth floor. He's the company medic so his office is in the infirmary. He stays down there most of the time, other than when we have meetings or he's needed to cover monitors or patrol shifts. He takes care of all the guys. Small injuries can be fixed up here, but when the guys are shot in places that take time to heal, he keeps them in the apartments that are on his floor and aids there recovery, making sure that they follow doctor's orders and don't rip stitches and stuff," he explained. Stephanie nodded, keeping pace with Ricky as they moved down the stairs to the infirmary floor.

"Bobby pretty much has the floor to himself. The only other thing in this floor is the gym. We put it on the same floor so that it's easier for him to keep up with the paper work when we do yearly physicals and physical therapy for the guys that are recovering. There's three apartments too. His own, and then two 'recovery banks' or 'cells' as we call them. The guys call them cells because Bobby keeps a tight leash, like a jailer. If you're staying in a recovery bank, Bobby won't let you do anything other than what the doctor specifically said you could do. And you aren't allowed to leave until either himself or your own doctor deem you able to take care of yourself again," he said.

He and Steph stepped out of the stairway and into the infirmary floor. The floor opened up into the gym and then past that was Bobby's office and apartment and the recovery banks. Stephanie waved at a couple of the guys that were working out as they walked by. One of them was a guy that looked mixed race. Half white and half black. He had his curly hair in a shaved fade and he was quite attractive. What stood out about him though, was his eyes. They were a golden amber color that looked almost inhuman, they glinted and sparkled in the light as he watched her.

She gave him a finger wave and he smiled and waved back. As Ricky and Steph got closer, he walked over to meet them. "Hey boss. Who's this?" He asked in a silky voice. Ricky stopped and glanced to Stephanie. "Ram, this is Stephanie. She's the new hire that's going to be going over all the system files. Stpehanie, this is Ram. He's an ex-military sharpshooter that mostly does patrols and apprehensions," he said, introducing them.

Ram held out his hand and Stephanie shook it and smiled. "So, if I ever need to have anyone assisnated, you're my guy?" She joked. Ram gave a gravelly laugh. "Hell yeah, Baby Doll. I'm the man for the job. I've laid my rifle down for the most part, but if you ever need me to pick it back up, just give me a kiss and tell me who I'm scopin," he said with a grin. Stephanie laughed and nodded.

"Good to know. That kiss will have to be on the cheek though. I'm sure Ranger wouldn't appreciate me swapping your spit with him instead of my own," she teased. Ricky shook his head and scrunched his nose up. He looked utterly disgusted. "If I wanted Ram's spit in my mouth, I'd be kissing him. Not that I've done that before or anything, but I'm sure that your spit probably tastes better anyways," he said. Ram put a hand over his stomach and his booming laughter filled the entire gym, Stephanie's mixing right in.

"Hey," Ram said defensively. "I've been told that I taste very nice. One time, a woman told me I tasted like candy." Stephanie giggled. "Probably because you had just eaten a bag of skittles or something," she teased. Ram looked wounded. "No! It's was sweet tarts," he said, a slow grin replacing the appalled expression on his face. Ricky smiled and shook his head, if he keeps this up much longer he's going to shake something loose.

"Alright, Sweet Tart, you guys can cut up later. Come on Babe, I'll finish showing you around," he said. Stephanie said good bye to Ram and he sent her a wave and a friendly smile, walking back to the machine he had been working at. Ricky and Stephanie continued their journey to Bobby's office, and Ricky knocked when they reached the door. "It's open," Bobby shouted. Ricky opened the door and ushered Steph in.

Bobby had his head bent over his desk, filling out papers. "Hey Bobby," Stephanie said. Bobby's head shot up and he smiled, some tension leaving his shoulders. "Steph. What's up? You aren't hurt or anything right?" He said looking over her with concern. "Nah, I'm fine. Ranger was just giving me a tour of the place. I told him I wanted to come say hi so here we are," she said with a smile and shrug. He grinned.

"Did you miss me?" He asked, standing from the desk and moving around it to give her a loose hug. "Of course!" She declared. "How could I not miss you? The last time we met you were quite well behaved. You didn't throw anyone out of a window and you weren't cracking bad jokes, so obviously you're already one of my favorites," she told him with a big grin. Bobby smiled at her.

"So what brings you to Rangeman? Anything exciting?" He asked. Stephanie shrugged and looked to Ricky. "She's the new hire. She'll be looking over all the system files and fixing any gaps," Ricky said. Bobby looked shocked and excited. "That's you!?" He asked. "That's amazing! Are you excited to work here? I know the guys look a little rough and tough, but they really aren't bad. They aren't used to new people, most of them are pretty shy, but once they warm up to you they make really great friends," he told her.

Stephanie nodded at him. "Yeah, I've talked to a couple. I met Zero and Cal upstairs and then we just talked to Ram on our way across the gym. They've all been really nice so far. None of them look scary though, I don't understand why everyone says their supposed to be menacing. They're just people. And I think Fred is wonderful. He lights up the room," she joked. Bobby looked surprised.

"Most people don't look at us that way. They see black clothes and big muscles and run for the hills. It's true, we are just people, but I've never met an outsider, much less a woman, that has ever thought that. People assume things about us because we don't often talk or socialize with people we don't know very well, and they're scared because we look 'different'. Not very many people care enough to get to know us, and even fewer actually try. Nearly none succeed. Sounds like you're making good progress though. Cal hardly talks to anyone. At all. He's a pretty quiet guy," he said.

Stpehanie was appalled at the way people treated these men. They were heroes for crying out loud! They at least deserved a little respect! It made her happy that Cal had talked to her though. She hadn't thought much about it before Bobby had said that, but knowing that he didn't talk much anyways, and he had decided to use his few words on her, well. It made her heart do a happy little '!' at the thought. She smiled softly. "Cal is sweet. He's funny too. I can't believe that he doesn't talk much. We got along great upstairs. He was a little cautious at first, but once he started talking I couldn't stop laughing. You know he named his tattoo Flaming Fred? Isn't that awesome?" She asked with a laugh.

Bobby looked at her oddly. "What?" She asked. "Is there something on my face?" Bobby shook his head to clear it. "No, no. There's nothing on your face. I just - I've never seen anyone that wasn't intimidated by Cal at least at first anyways. Well, except Ranger, but that's different. And you said that Ram talked to you as well?" He asked. Stephanie nodded. "Yeah. He was working out when we walked in and he came over to say hi after I waved at him. He told me that if I ever needed him to pick his rifle back up, all I had to do was kiss him and tell him who to scope. I told him it'd have to be a kiss on the cheek and he said that was fine. He even waved good bye to me as we walked in here. He has beautiful eyes by the way. Am I the only one that's noticed that?" She asked.

Bobby gave an incredulous laugh. "His eyes are...different. I can't say that they're beautiful because it'd be weird, but they do catch attention. But I've never heard of Ram offereing to assassinate someone. He hasn't used his rifle in a couple years, not for anything other than practice at least. He got back from a deployment and evidently something had gone wrong, he hasn't been the same since. He's been more drawn back, and distant. And he's refused to use his rifle on any jobs since. He won't tell anyone what happened, not even his therapist, but then again, he hasn't really talked to anyone since he got back. He's polite and still pretty friendly, but he normally doesn't offer conversation," Bobby said.

Stpehanie was confused. "Then why did he come talk to me? He didn't seem like anything was wrong. He was smiling and I know it wasn't fake because the muscles in his cheeks were contracting. He was even laughing with me," she said. She was perplexed. Bobby said that these guys were shy and quiet, but none of them had been closed off with her. They had all been friendly and sweet. She didn't think Bobby was lying, she was just guessing that it was because Ricky was with her, or maybe because she was a woman.

She looked to Ricky for an explaination. He shrugged. "I don't know babe. Bobby's telling the truth though. Cal doesn't talk very much to anyone, and when Ram came back from that mission...he was in bad shape. Not so much physically, but mentally, he was having a really rough time. Not even I know what happened, but I haven't seen him smile or heard him laugh like that since. And like Bobby said, that was about two years ago.

It isn't because I'm with you though, I'll tell you that. Usually the guys are even more tight lipped around me. I think it's because of your light babe. I've told you before that you're the light in my life, but I don't think you realize just how much of an effect you really have on people. People are drawn to you, and they trust you easily. You emit this aura of safety and warmth.

Part of it probably has to do with the fact that you were nice to them, but I think the rest is just...they knew that you were someone that they could trust. Someone who doesn't judge and loves unconditionally. Not many people are like that," he said with a small shrug of his shoulders.

Stephanie blushed and shook her head, she had never taken compliments well, but maybe Ricky was right. Hopefully they trusted her. She wanted to be friends with them. These guys were such sweethearts and they were so misunderstood. It made her heart ache to think about the way that they've probably been treated, just because they look different.

They said good bye to Bobby and went back into the stairwell. "There's someone I want you to meet babe," Ricky said. Stephanie agreed and down they went. They trekked all the way down to the basement before they exited the stairwell. Stpehanie was a little out of breath but she wasn't dying so that was a good sign. "What's down here?" She asked.

"The shooting range is over that way," he answered, pointing down a hallway. "But this way, is the lab," he said with a nod to the hallway in front of them. Stephanie caught her breath and they moved down the hallway. They came to a door that was shut and locked, but instead of just using a key, Ricky knocked at the door and waited. After a few seconds, a small man opened the door. He was the same height as Stephanie and compared to the other Rangemen, he was tiny. He had muscles but they weren't super big, he was more slender and graceful.

He looked to be Mexican and his black hair was short, the longest part being his bangs that slightly covered the top of his forehead. He was wearing a black tank top and black cargo shorts rather than the normal T-shirt and pants, and instead of boots, his feet were covered by black on black Vans sneakers. "Jefe," He said ("Boss,"). He slid his eyes in Stephanie's direction and looked her up and down, sizing her up. After a moment, he met her eyes and searched for something. Only when he found what he was looking for did he speak. "Hola," He said.

"Hola," Stephanie replied with a smile. The man had two tear drop tattoos on his left cheek and gang tattoos on his neck, but his eyes were warm and soft. He didn't look to be as mean and criminal as the tattoos suggested. She could tell that he was a good man at heart. The man looked at her with a black face for a moment, almost like he didn't know how to react. Then he stepped back and opened the door to let them in. As they stepped into the room, Stephanie's eyes widened.

They're were electronics everywhere. Computers and moniters and shit that she didn't even know how to begin to describe. There were small digital lights everywhere and a table that had chips and wires strung across it with tools that looked kind of dangerous. It was like, a cave. But not in a bad way. It was a cool, 'I want this to be my superhero hideout' kind of cave. "Babe, this is Hector. He's our tech guy. Anything electronic wise, he handles it. He's the best of the best, and though he doesn't speak English fluently, he understands it quite well. Hector, this is Stephanie. She'll be looking over the system files to find any gaps in the security," he introduced.

Stephanie gave a soft smile and held out her hand. "It's nice to meet you," She said quietly. "It must be cool to know how to work a computer. I can't say that I'd know though." It was uncharacteristic for Stephanie to be quiet, but something about the man told her that he didn't like loud noises. Hector looked her over once again before grasping her hand softly. "Sí. Nice to meet you," he said.

Stephanie could have sworn that she'd since a small tilt at the corners of his mouth, but she wasn't positive. She looked to the table and pointed at it. "What are you working on? Anything that you might be able to get me to understand?" She asked lightly. Hector glanced at the table and then back to her. He seemed to think about it for a minute before decided to take pity and show her. He grabbed a plastic cover from the table and held it up.

Stephanie looked at it and tried to figure out what it was. She couldn't. "I have no fucking clue what that is. You're gonna have to tell me," she said. She was positive this time. His lips had twitched. He held the cover with one hand and with the other, he made a walking gesture with his hand. He walked his fingers through the air in front of the cover and then said "Beeeeep!" While making a flashing motion with the empty hand.

"Ohhhh!!" Stpeh said. "It's a motion detector!" Hector nodded. "Sí. Motion," he said in his smooth voice. His voice was naturally quiet and extremely smooth. It wasn't very deep, but you could still tell that it belonged to a man. "Why are you working on it?" Steph asked. "Are you fixing it or improving it?" Hector seemed to be mentally translating her words. She gave him a moment to do so, and then he answered. "Improve," He said.

Stephanie smiled at him. "Cool. Do you work alone down here?" She asked. He nodded again. "Sí. Alone," he confirmed. Stephanie nodded. "Do you work alone because you don't like people? Or just because no one else knows shit about computers?" She joked. And finally, after fifteen minutes of a slightly awkward conversation with a non fluent English speaker, he gave her a smile. It was the smallest smile she had ever seen anyone give, even Ricky didn't smile that small, but it was so beautiful that it nearly took her breath away.

Her heart felt warm and she was so happy she wanted to cry. She had made him smile. "Both," He said. She grinned at him. "I understand that. People are assholes, but I can't relate much in the other one. I suck at computers," she said. Hector's smile grew, just the tiniest bit. "Sí. Pendejoes. I teach you, computers?" He offered. She smiled and nodded. "I'd like that a lot. One can never know too much about computers," she said softly.

Hector's smile now showed his brilliantly white teeth. "Sí. Is true," he said. Ricky had been standing silently, watching the encounter with masked shock. He had never seen Hector smile. Ever. Stephanie walked toward Hector and made sure to moved slowly and deliberately so she didn't spook him. "Gracias," She said with a smile. "I'll let you get back to work now. I'll stop by and see you tomorrow, if that's okay?" She said. Hector nodded again. "Sí, es bueno," He said ("Thats good,").

Stephanie nodded and reached to hug him. As she wrapped her arms around him, she felt him tense slightly, but she made sure that both hands were pressed solidly against his back so that he knew she wasn't reaching behind him, and stood, waiting for him to relax. After a moment, he did. He loosely wrapped his arms around her waist and she smiled against his ear. She pulled back slightly and pressed a kiss to the tear drop tattoos on his cheek and then moved closer again, putting her mouth next to his ear where it had been.

"You don't have to cry alone anymore, sweetheart. If you ever need me, I'm sure you can get to my file and find my number. Don't be afraid to call," she whispered. "Any hour, for anything." When she released him from the hug, Hector looked shocked. No one had ever been so kind to him before, he wasn't quite sure how to react. He knew without a doubt that she was being sincere though, her face was very expressive. He gave her a slight nod. "Hasta mañana, Estephanía," He said quietly (See you tomorrow, Stephanie").

Ricky and Stephanie walked out of the lab and back upstairs, going to the garage. It was already noon and she needed to get to the bonds office to pick up some new skips. Once they got to the garage and walked to her car, Ricky turned to her. He looked like he was in shock. "How...? I've never seen Hector smile before. Ever. I've know the man for years and I've never seen him smile at anything. And he let you hug him. I - I don't even know what to say other than run for cover because I think hell has frozen over," He stammered.

Stephanie looked at him softly and tilted her head. "Probably because he doesn't have a lot to smile about. I like Hector. And hell hasn't frozen over, his heart is just thawing. One thing I've learned in my life, is that treating people how you would want to be treated, isn't just some stupid saying. It really works. These guys are heroes. Even Hector. You guys keep people safe and make their homes feel like home. I'm just treating them how they deserve to be treated, how I would want to be treated if I were in their shoes. It shouldn't be as big a deal as its being made, but I understand that after being treated like shit for so long, to them, it is a big deal. I'm just glad that at least you and I and the other guys treat them well. Even if everybody else doesn't," she said.

Ricky stood there and thought about her words. She was right in a sense. He was glad that the men had her now. She would help them just as much as she had helped him, and he was grateful. His men were his family, they meant the world to him. He would live, die, fight, and/or kill for every man in that building. Having Stephanie treat them the way that she did...it gave him peace and happiness.

«XX»

A/N: So this isn't two chapters, I know, but I think this is the longest chapter I've written so far. It has a whopping five thousand words (a little more actually; also, that number is without the authors note), and probably a shit ton of mistakes, but this chapter...it warms my heart. I saw my brother today and it made me happy and I realized that, the way I feel when I see my brother, is the way that these men feel about each other. They would live, die, fight, and kill for each other. Love isn't giving someone a rose on Valentine's, or a kiss goodnight. Love is dirty and painful and messy, but it's the feeling that you get when you look at someone and think, "As long as your the last person I see, I wouldn't care to die". Love is being able to completely put someone else before yourself. Real, true, and honest love, is unconditional.

On a lighter note, I did get my shots today and I'm proud to say, that I didn't even cry or have to be held down (when I say that I hate shots, I mean it). I put my head phones in and jammed out to some Metallica (Enter Samdman;) )and took 'em like a beast. I thought that I would only be getting one, but it turns out that I ended up gettin one in each arm. So both my arms hurt, and I feel like shit, but over all it's been a pretty good day. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and have a great day/night where ever you are. Until tomorrow :)