A/N: This is the chapter that a lot of you were expecting when I posted chapter 19. THE MEETING. Tank came across as a real asshole in my first go around. I Gibbs-slapped him and told him to soften up on Ranger. He sent a glare my way that made me afraid I was going to end up in a dessert somewhere, but ultimately softened a little. He still comes across a little asshole-y, but what do you expect from a guy named Tank?

RPOV

My conversation with Tank left me unsettled. Why was he being so evasive? What could this employee meeting be about? Unwritten RangeMan procedures and policies? Which ones and why did he not spell out exactly what he was referring to? I sat in my desk chair, turned towards the window, staring out at the view. My office window overlooked the Burg, and my thoughts returned to this morning.

Just being able to unload the details of my mission to Tom had helped. He only asked a couple questions, but the mere act of retelling the story of what happened allowed me to start processing some of the more difficult aspects, things that I had shoved into the dark corners of my consciousness. I'd been dwelling on how close I'd come to death, and how if my stubbornness had prevailed and we left Columbia without the antibody treatment, I would likely have died. But Tom helped me refocus some of my thoughts. According to everyone else involved in the mission, it had been a success. "John" had made it back to the States with the necessary notes and samples needed to quickly replicate the treatment and vaccine. I was alive due to that treatment, and many more millions of people would live due to either the treatment or vaccine. For weeks, every media outlet in the world was marveling at the speed with which a small pharmaceutical company, StarPharma, was able to devise a vaccine for this complicated virus. The official explanation offered was that they had been studying a similar virus that emerged from China 15 years ago. They had a vaccine in the works for that virus already, and it had reached the point of being ready for human trials. They just had to swap out a small portion of vaccine, and it was ready to fight the new virus. Or so the public was told. Only a small group of people read in on my mission would know the truth, and that was that StarPharma was a front for the U.S. military's biological weapons research. They took everything John had brought them, and with his help, recreated it all in their labs. This way, the public would see an enterprising, small firm supported with venture capital come forward as the savior of the world, and the government would keep the involvement of the terror cell and the CIA secret.

Tom had mentioned trying to identify my triggers. Knowing Tom, I bet he picked up on something during the retelling of my story. We didn't get a chance to talk about those before we ran out of time, so triggers will be a main topic of discussion for our next session. I need to get those triggers identified so I can start to get beyond this and be able to fix the mess I've created with Babe. I know my time limit with Tank is up, and I'm hoping his threat was just an empty one.

Seeing it is just a couple minutes until Tank's meeting in the conference room, I get up and head that way. All the guys are filing into the room. It appears every Trenton employee is here for the meeting, even the ones not scheduled to work today. The only guys not here are the ones manning the monitors.

Entering the room, I opt to stand against the wall next to the door rather than take a seat. This way I can exit quickly if I decide I don't need to be here. Tank is the last one to enter. He looks over at me before closing the door and walking to the head of the table.

"Gentlemen," he begins and the room quiets. "I know you are anxious to get on with your weekend, so I'll try to make this brief." Tank paused and looked back at me once again before returning his attention to the men in front of him. "I wanted to announce a clarification in an unwritten Trenton RangeMan policy. As you all know, the number one unwritten policy here is that Stephanie Plum's well-being is everyone's top priority."

My heart plummeted into my stomach. This meeting was about Stephanie?

"Most, if not all, of you know that Stephanie permanently broke it off with the cop several months ago." Heads were nodding all around the room. "But for whatever reason, Ranger has not stepped up to make Stephanie a full-time part of his life." Tank turned and leveled a hard stare at me as he said this. My stomach was churning and I felt the now familiar anxiety rise in my chest. Shit! My week was up, and apparently, Tank wasn't backing down from his threat.

Turning back to the room, Tank continued, "You may have heard the stories of Stephanie's disastrous attempt at online dating." My men were all nodding and murmuring in agreement. "Referring back to the top unwritten rule here at RangeMan, it is our duty to protect Stephanie's physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Therefore, effective immediately, within RangeMan, Stephanie Plum is no longer to be considered Ranger's woman."

A gasp arose from the men in the room, and I heard a "yeehaw" that sounded like it came from Santos. My heart now felt like it was in my throat, choking me. Tank was continuing to talk, but to me, it sounded like he was under water.

"Santos, put your phone away. I'm not done yet. For Stephanie's safety, it is best to continue to allow the streets to believe she is under Ranger's protection. This policy clarification applies only in how each of you individually treats Steph. I know many of you will be interested in pursuing Steph now that you know Ranger has chosen not to. To minimize conflict among you, Bobby, Les, and I have devised the following plan. We are calling it Operation Bombshell Bachelorette, and it will be patterned after the TV show. Each of you will have an opportunity to take Steph out once, if you so desire. After everyone has had a date in the first round. Steph will pick who she would like to have second dates with, and so on."

My vision had clouded and my breathing was erratic. I had to get out of here.

"Other policies will remain intact with slight modifications. If Stephanie is hurt on your watch, and that can be physical or emotional, you will face me on the mats, not Ranger. If the offense is grievous, your fellow RangeMen may join me in your punishment." Tank turned and looked directly at me, "There will be no retribution of any kind by Ranger against anyone who participates."

I could feel all the eyes of my men on me, watching for my reaction. I was trying to maintain my blank face but knew I was failing. I turned to find the door.

"To avoid overwhelming Steph with multiple phone calls, we will set the first round of dates from here using the conference room phone. She doesn't need calls coming in from a couple dozen phones. If you want to participate, line up and you'll get a turn to ask her out. We will begin with a group date tomorrow afternoon. We will meet at 1300 hours at Laser Command Center for a few rounds of laser tag, followed by pizza at Shorty's."

I yanked the door open and slammed it shut behind me. Trying to catch my breath, I didn't even think about where I was headed. Next thing I knew, I was in the gym in front of one of the heavy bags.

'Goddamn him! Why couldn't he give me more time?' I drew my fist back and let it fly, hitting the bag with a satisfying thud.

'Where does he get off thinking he can meddle like this?' I threw another punch.

'I should be the one taking Babe out!' I started to build up a rhythm with my hands to punctuate the thoughts streaming through my head. 'Why did I wait so long to call Tom? If I'd called him a couple months ago, it wouldn't have come to this.'

My lungs were screaming for air as I let loose on the bag. Then I realized a loud roar was coming from the very depths of my chest. 'My men. The guys I trusted with my life. The ones I'd surrounded myself with for their character and loyalty. They would be taking my Babe out. Tank said he find someone to treat her right, and he did exactly as he said. He found an entire building of men that would treat her right.'

Nothing existed except me and the bag in front of me, until I was suddenly knocked off my feet, landing on my side with Tank on top of me.

"Get off me, you fucker!" I yelled as I struggled to dislodge him.

"Not until you calm down, Ranger."

"GET. OFF. OF. ME. NOW." I was at a disadvantage. I hadn't seen him coming, and he got me down to the mats before I could react. His weight gave him an advantage in this situation. Plus, I hadn't been totally honest with Tom this morning. I was mostly recovered from my time in the hospital, but my physical strength still wasn't near its prior levels.

"No can do, man. You're going to hurt yourself if you keep up like you were. Do I need to get Bobby in here?"

"No. Just get off of me." His weight against me was making me claustrophobic. I could feel myself start gasping for air again.

I felt Tank's weight shift slightly so I had more room to breathe. He was watching me carefully to see if I was going to counterattack. But I wasn't, so he slowly lifted himself off me and rolled to a seated position next to me. I stayed down, rolling onto my back and working on taking deep breaths to calm myself.

"You okay?"

"No."

"You want to talk about it?"

"Hell no."

"When do you see Tom next?"

I shot a glare over at Tank. "What? Elena call and tattle on me?"

"I talked with her, but she didn't tell me you were in to see Tom. I suspected it but didn't know for sure until you just confirmed it for me."

I raised an eyebrow, and Tank let out a deep breath.

"You turned off your trackers. That happening a couple days after Elena makes a very unusual visit to your apartment? It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out where you went this morning, or maybe it was just wishful thinking on my part. You're struggling with something. Your behavior towards Steph is completely out of character."

"You should have given me more time," I spat out.

"Damnit, Ranger," Tank roared in response. "You've been home from that mission for almost four months. During that time, you haven't even called the girl. I ask you why, and you shut me out, tell me she's better off with someone else. I'm glad you are finally talking to Tom, but you should have started that months ago. Would you be talking to him now if I hadn't told you I'd find someone else for Steph?"

Tank paused and glared at me until I looked away. I'm honestly not sure what the answer was to that question. Would I have followed through without Tank's threat? Maybe, but maybe not. One thing I knew for sure was I needed to end this conversation. The mere mention of Steph had my anxiety ramping back up. I rolled over, stood up, and stalked off towards the gym doors.

"You're still an asshole. You could have given me more time." I called back to him before reaching the gym doors.

"Yeah? Well, it takes one to know one. We've got enough guys asking her out that it will take a month to get through the first round. You can call and ask her out anytime you want," he called to me just before I slammed the doors open and stepped through. I stood for a second after the doors closed behind me and let my head drop to my chest. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself and headed for the elevator to go up to 7.