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Chapter 35

"What do you mean?"

"Do you want to attack me, or do you want me to attack you? It's up to you."

She looked like she couldn't believe her ears again. How this woman could be my sister was beyond me. We were so different in so may ways.

"Why don't we start with something easy. You'll attack me." She looked like she thought I wouldn't have a chance in hell.

"You sure about this?"

"Yeah. And how come you aren't wearing all this protective stuff?"

Lil spoke up before I could try to strangle her. "She doesn't need it. Now get the party started or I'll go and get me some popcorn."

I had to grin. He always managed to make me laugh.

I started with an easy hold. It was really for starters and I wasn't even holding her tight, but she had no idea how to get out of it. MA however knew how to get out, so she came over and talked her mom through it, step for step, until she was free.

The guys were cheering MA on, and I had to struggle not to laugh. Even Ranger was smiling, and Ma was bouncing around.

"Val, what about you try to hold me down?"

She nodded and advanced me, using all her strength to imprison me, but there wasn't much strength behind it and she had no idea how to make a hold harder to break.

"MA, could you please come over and adjust it?"

She nodded, grinning, eager to show her mom that she was better. Even though Val adjusted the hold she had on me, I was able to get out and get her down on the mat without problems.

That went on for several rounds. Val would either hold me down or I would hold her and MA always had to help her. Finally I took pity on Val. But I hadn't even really worked her yet and she was panting. She would be sore nonetheless, but I didn't care.

Ranger was still jogging, waiting for me to get done with Val. "Ranger, I need some serious competition here to blow off some steam." Val had pissed me off. She constantly tried to bring MA down, and believed that she was the queen.

Lester yelled to Mary Lou, "Now you know why they called her Dragon. That's what she looked like that evening." I had to laugh. I had seen the tape they made that evening, and I knew what he meant. Val had pissed me off to no end and I was sure my nostrils were flaring.

Ranger made his way over from the treadmills to Tank to lose some clothing and his weapons, I went to Lil.

"Hey Bobby, where's the tape? And could you take out the stitches?" I took off the tank top and my boots and socks, as well as all my weapons. I was standing there in cargoes and sports bra, both my tattoos clearly visible, as well as my muscle definition. My Dad was grinning at the fire power I was carrying around, Val just visibly paled and the rest was laughing. I was ready to blow off some steam.

Ranger stood in front of me, only wearing his cargoes, barefoot like me. Bobby brought over his kit to take the stitches out.

My mom didn't like it. "But you can't just take them out. What when something happens?"

"Mom, calm down. We know what we're doing. And trust me, ripping it open without the stitches in it is a lot less painful." The core team grinned at me. They knew that I didn't want to go to the hospital for everything, but had also experienced ripping stitched up wounds themselves. They knew what I was talking about

While Bobby was working on me, Ranger already taped his hands and I followed suit. Someone had brought Val a glass of water and she was sitting down, obviously exhausted.

Ranger gave me a kiss and went through his stretching, waiting for me to get ready. When I had finished my taping I went over to the mats, facing Ranger.

I was smiling. I had missed our sparring sessions while we had been overseas and Lil hadn't seen me in action yet, sparring-wise. The guys had told him some stuff, but he hadn't seen it so far.

After some circling we started sparring in earnest, throwing punches, delivering kicks. We were in tune, moving back and forth, but the other always moved out of the way, without getting really hit. It was a great way to blow off steam. And I was smiling.

I was concentrating only on Ranger, his moves, his actions. I had no idea what was going on around us, and I didn't care. All that mattered was the two of us. For an outsider it must have looked like a well choreographed dance, but we were fighting. I was giving more power behind my blows, throwing them faster.

I knew that it was probably unfair towards Ranger, but I knew that he could take it, that it would take a lot to get him to surrender. And knocking him out was never a possibility.

We continued, getting closer, making more contact, but neither of us would budge. We would move a step back, only to come into the fight again. And I never came even close enough to grab hold of him to deliver a throw that would make me the winner of the match.

So we went on, and I was starting to sweat, my breath coming faster, but Ranger got warmed up as well.

It would have gone on for a long while, hadn't Ranger suddenly grabbed a hold of me. He didn't try to throw me of balance or something. Both his arms shot forwards and he grabbed me around the waist, lifting me up a little and hauling me against his chest. He caught me completely off-guard, but I could restrain myself from delivering the punch I had just started.

Ranger drew me tight and kissed me and I was laughing, much to the amusement of the Merry Men.

"Boss, you're supposed to get her to surrender, not kiss her brains out." Lester had to offer his opinion.

"Ranger, did nobody ever teach you, not to get in close contact with the enemy?" Tank our smart ass was laughing at us, but I didn't care. They were all happy for us, so the occasional teasing wasn't a problem.

Lil however addressed the slight differences between Valerie and me and Ranger turned me around in his arms, my back to his front and I was leaning against him, watching Lil read Val the riot act. "Mrs Kloughn, I know that you're convinced that you're the best at whatever you do, but did you watch the both of them? Did you see how finely tuned they were, how precise their motions were? Did you see at which speed they moved, how fast they bounced back and forth, countering and attacking?" The room had gone silent. The Merry Men mostly knew what he was talking about, for the rest of the people present, it was mostly knew.

Lil looked sharply at her and Val shrunk in her chair. "What you learned at your self defense classes is simply this. Self defense for normal people who are afraid someone might grab them on the way home from the supermarket or whatever. But what Moxie learned is on a incredible high level, something that you won't ever be able to understand. You have no idea what it means, to go out there to fight on a mission. You never know what might await you."

He was walking towards where she was sitting with Albert standing behind her. "When you're shipped out, all they tell you is where you go and what they expect you to do, but you never know what might happen, what you might witness, what you might have to endure. You have no idea what trouble you can run into. When we were flown out, none of us could have guessed that the bite of an insect can knock you out, there are so many variables you have to be able to react to. No trip is like any you have made before."

He was silent for a moment, giving Val a chance to let it all sink in, but he wasn't finished with her. What amazed me most was the tone of his voice. It was strong, but even, polite. He wasn't harsh or anything, just told her the facts.

"What I don't understand is, why do you try to stomp on your sister's self-esteem? Why do you try to get her down? Has she ever done anything that might cause such an unfair behavior? Why do you act that way? Are you jealous? Or do you envy her? What is it? Is it because she can live the life she wants, without the pressure everyone is putting on you?"

At this point my Mom grabbed the girls and shoved them out of the room, throwing a glance at Lil. She didn't look disapproving, and that wondered me. Something to think about later.

"Mrs Kloughn, what is it? The freedom you never had, or the money? The respect everyone pays her? That she does something for the society, or do you just don't like that you always had your mother's approval and your little sister was at fault, always being told to be more like you, always being scolded to be more like a lady. But she didn't do it, and now she's happy with her life. What about you? Are you happy? Or do you sometimes wish you had made different decisions?"

At this point Val interrupted him. When I looked up I realized that only the core team, my dad, Val and Albert were in the room. Everyone else had left. At which point? I had no idea, but I was sure someone would be able to tell me.

"Who do you think you are to insult me like this?" I was actually surprise Lil had gotten this far. I had expected her to blow up a lot earlier. She had never had much control over herself when she was angry.

"And what do you do, telling me all this? How do you know all the details?" Her voice had risen. She wasn't yelling yet, but she was getting close.

"Mrs Kloughn, do you know who I am?" Lil asked kindly.

"NO! How should I know you? You're one of Manoso's goons." That had me seeing red. If Ranger hadn't been holding me I would have probably launched myself at her and beaten her to a bloody pulp.

"Val!" It took a moment, but she focused on me. "Don't you dare insulting my friends like this! They have saved my ass more often than you can even imagine. Manoso's goons, as you so politely put it, are the reason you still have a sister." I was snarling at her, my voice icy.

"That's what I'm saying, you can't take care of yourself!"

"Valerie don't you get it? These are my friends, and the guy you so polite insulted is my partner, we watch each others back! And you have no idea what it meant to go through training, what it means to get up at a quarter to five and get into bed dead tired on your feet at a little after 9. Being on your feet the whole day? Running, physical exercise to build muscle mass and more importantly keep it. Gun range for several hours, martial arts. Val I went through hell to get to the point I'm now. You have no idea what you're talking about. Have a full day and they teach you another language and you're expected to expand your vocabulary as fast as possible, so you have to learn after the physical part of the day is over."

She was sitting there, staring at all of us wide eyed, barely able to comprehend what we were telling her.

Bobby cut in. He had never liked her and was happy to give her a piece of his mind. "How many of your friends would go to the wall for you? Lay their lives down for you? Would risk their lives to get you out of trouble? How many of your friends would support you in your decision to get better at what you do, even if you had to move outside your box, out of the secure zone your home provides for you? Would you even consider to do Moxie's job? Or would you be too afraid. Afraid that you could rip your jeans, or get dirty? Have you ever really thought about what the work we do means for you, for your and your family's security?"

Bobby gave her a moment to think before he went on as he saw her shaking her head, indicating she had never thought about the affect we had on her life. "We go out there on a daily basis, to collect rapist, murderers and abusers. Men or women who have abused children, people who are a danger to their environment. We raid the streets off the criminals so that you can feel safe when you go out, so that you don't have to worry when you send your children off to school. Do you have any idea what this means for us? What we have to expect? We go out there, always with the thought in mind that that skip could be the last one we might ever be able to pick up, because we don't know how they will react. We never know if they're totally doped up or relaxed and come with us without trouble. We don't walk up to the door and knock. We don't say 'Hi, I'm sorry to tell you, but you forget to appear for your court date. May I give you a ride?'. They don't come willingly with you, and they sure as hell never open you their door."

He waited a moment. "All you have to fear is that you might be the victim of a car accident, but how likely is this to happen?"

Bobby stared at her, willing her to answer his questions. "I... I don't know. What is so special about it? It's a job like every other." She was stammering, her voice unsure and insecure. What they told her was way out of her league, but she had asked for it, and now she would have to endure it. Like it or not.

Tank went on. "But do you know, how many lives she saved? She saved Lula's life and gave her the chance to have a better life, to make something out of herself. She went to safe Mooner and Dougie. Would you have ever considered that? She was willing to risk her life to safe Julie and she didn't even know the girl. She helped Ric, although they weren't in a romantic relationship at that time. Would you even consider doing this? Jumping to help a kid you don't know, maybe die in the process?"

We were silent for a few moments, giving Val the chance to work through the turmoil in her head, but I was sure she wouldn't come to a conclusion anytime soon.

That was the first time I spoke up again. "Valerie, why don't you come over Monday morning and you'll spent the day with me and Lil?" I checked with Lil that he was okay with this. Our Esp had gotten quite good since we met, but Val never even noticed the exchange.

"Why should I do this? And what about the girls?"

"You should do this to get a glimpse at the life I live, to get an idea what you're talking about. As for the girls, we can start later than usual. When do they leave the house normally?"

"Around 7.30. Why are you asking?"

"Oh, that's perfect. I can actually sleep in a little. Just come over after you sent them off."

"Sleep in? What are you talking about?" She had a slightly dazed look on her face. She looked pathetic.

"You know, my day normally starts no later than 5.30. Any questions?"

"What about Lisa?" She was desperately looking for a way out of it. But I wouldn't give her one.

"I'm sure Mom won't mind to watch her for a few days."

"A few days?"

"Yes. I'm sure you'll be a little sore, but nothing too bad."

"Why would I be sore?" She looked a little panicked.

"Val, are you so dumb? You'll spend the entire day with me. And that means you'll participate in my normal physical exercise. And don't try to find excuses, you won't get out of it."

That decided it for her. She got up and stormed toward the door. I could barely call "I'll meet you Monday morning at 8 sharp," after her, before she left the room, Albert right behind her.

I looked at my team. "Thanks guys. I would have tried to strangle her without you."

Tank came over to us and pulled me into a hug. "No need to thank us Moxie. We stand up for you, you stand up for us. We're a team and support each other."

I went into a row of hugs, everyone saying something similar to what Tank had said. At last I stood in front of my dad.

"Thanks for pointing Val to her place." He didn't have to say more, they all knew that he was grateful for what they had done.

We stood in silence for a few moments, before I turned around in Ranger's arms. "I'm going up to the apartment to take my shower. I suggest you take your shower somewhere else." I was grinning up at him through my eyelashes.

"Why would I do that, Babe?" He threw his wolf grin at me.

"It's time to rejoin the party, and you know just as well as I do that we won't do that if we take the shower together. And I'm hungry."

This got me some chuckles, but Ranger surrendered. He took his shower in Tank's apartment.

Half an hour later Ranger came to the apartment to pick me up. We rejoined the party and had a great evening. The Kloughns and Mare's family left when it was time for the kids to go to bed. Apparently Val hadn't gone home like I had assumed, but I didn't care. But I for sure knew that I would never invite her on a occasion like this again.

The rest of our families and the majority of the Merry Men soon followed, until it was only the six of us and Lula. I hadn't noticed her much with everything going on, but now she was sitting in Tank's lap, snuggled up to him. I was sitting on Ranger's lap, engulfed in his strong arms and utterly comfortable.

We had a great night. Lula left around 10pm, she had to get an early start on Sunday, so it was only the six of us. It was great. We were sitting around and talking, mostly about missions they had been on, experiences they had made together, drinking beer and nibbling on snacks Ella had provided. It felt great to be a member of this group, this inner circle that shared so much trust and friendship.

I didn't know when we finally fell into bed, but I was exhausted. I took quickly care of business and then was out like a light.

Sunday was calm. We slept until noon and then went down into the office for two hours to catch up on paperwork. We skipped dinner at my parents in favor of a movie night.

I was grateful for this slow day, because Monday promised to be hell.

Please let me know what you think. What would you like to see for Val's day at RangeMan?