SPOV

It's Thursday morning, and I'm currently on the mats in RangeMan's gym. It's been a busy couple of days but productive ones. Yesterday started with Bobby knocking on my door at promptly 10:00. I was up and dressed in my workout gear, ready for whatever he had planned for me. Unfortunately (for me), he decided to start off my new exercise plan with my least favorite activity, running. We went over to the high school and used their track. I really shouldn't complain because Bobby took it pretty easy on me. He let me set the pace and challenged me to see how far I could run. A mile in, I was gasping for air and slowed to a walk. He walked with me while he talked to me about how to build up my endurance and set goals to increase my distance and speed. After a bit, he had me running again and we alternated between running and walking, with him encouraging me to increase my pace a little. I can't see myself ever loving running, but with his help, I do think I'll be able to transition to running longer distances.

This morning was a workout of a different kind. Bobby assured me Ranger would be out of the building until at least 9:30, so I set my alarm and managed to make it to Haywood by 7:30, almost a record for me. He let me choose between an elliptical machine or a stationary bike. I tried the elliptical out and enjoyed the smooth motion. Once I'd finished 30 minutes of that, he took me over to the weight machines and helped me with a few. He's promised he will have a full plan written up for me with all the various machines he wants me to use and the weights I should start at. Today was just getting an idea of what I could currently do. Since I'm not planning to be at Haywood every day, he also promised he would write up some exercises I could do at my apartment.

After we finished up the weights, I noticed Hector had joined us in the gym and he was over on the mats. I thought I was done for the day, but Bobby and Hector had other plans. Bobby took me over to the mats and told me we'd be working on self-defense skills with Hector, so that's where I am now. We've been working on self-defense for almost an hour. Certainly, we must be close to finishing up. Hal and I have our date today, and we arranged we would leave from here after my workout. Well, more like after I cleaned up after my workout. Bobby told me I could use his apartment to shower and get ready, so I didn't have to go back to my apartment.

The lesson has been going like this. Hector will put me in a hold, then he and Bobby talk me through how to get out of it. They have me practice the moves in slow motion, coaching me through each step. Then, I speed up the moves, while Hector holds onto me lightly, without real force behind it. Finally, after they both feel I have the moves down, Hector will grab me like a real attacker would. The first few times, he completely overwhelmed me, but he and Bobby continued to encourage and coach me until I'm finally starting to be able to effectively counter Hector's 'attacks'. I already had a good sweat going from the elliptical and weights. Working with Hector has built up a good sheen of sweat. I'm sure my hair must look a mess. I put it up in a ponytail today, but I can feel some of it has come loose.

I'm getting tired and frustrated. While I'm making progress, I still haven't been able to completely break free from Hector. I hold up a finger to signal to Bobby and Hector that I need a minute and lean over, resting my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath. As I rest, I see an opening present itself and smile. Hector turned his back to me while he talked with Bobby. I looked up at Bobby, and he maintained his blank face, not signaling Hector that I was recovered. I raise myself up and slink towards Hector as quietly as I can. Within striking distance, I sweep his legs out from under him and use my upper body to knock him down to the mats. Bobby bursts into laughter, and Hector is sitting on the mats with a look of surprise on his face as I do a victory dance at finally taking Hector down. My elation is cut short when Hector pops to his feet and rushes towards me. Oh shit. I just took down the most feared man in RangeMan. But my moment of terror at that thought passes as Hector picks me up in a bear hug and spins me, joining in my celebration at taking him down.

"Good move, chica!" he tells me after he sets me down. "Always be on the lookout for your opponent's weakness. You caught me underestimating you." His smile is radiant and he kisses me on the forehead.

Bobby then envelopes me in a hug and kisses the top of my curls. "Good job today. You're making progress."

Bobby declares the session over, and we head up to his apartment together. I dropped my duffle up here before my workout so I have everything I need for my date with Hal.

A quick shower later, I towel dry my curls and run Mr. Alexander's serum through them before gathering my hair up in a ponytail. It's a warm summer day, and my hair can air dry. I head down to the garage where Hal is waiting for me.

"So where are we headed today?" I ask him.

"Get in," he said tipping his head towards his SUV, "and I'll tell you on the way."

Hal opens the passenger door and helps me up into his Explorer. After he settles himself into the driver's seat and exits the garage, he shares, "'We're going to the Franklin Institute in Philly. I volunteer there a couple days a month. I thought you might have fun there."

"Really? It's been ages since I've been there. I was probably in middle school the last time I was there, but I remember it being a fun place. I didn't know you had an interest in science."

I look over and see Hal blush.

"I have bachelor degrees in chemistry and criminal justice, and I'm looking into starting a masters degree in forensic science. Science was my favorite subject in school. There was a time when I thought I might want to be a high school science teacher."

"What happened that you didn't pursue that?"

"High school," Hal responded with a chuckle. "I realized I didn't have the patience to deal with high schoolers."

"Yeah. I can understand that. I think back now to how we treated some of our teachers and wonder how it was they stuck it out."

"Volunteering satisfies that part of me that wanted to be a science teacher. I help with some demos to school groups that come to the Institute"

"That's really neat, Hal. This should be extra fun today since you can be my own personal tour guide."

Hal smiled, obviously pleased at the idea of showing me around someplace he enjoys so much.

"So how did you end up at RangeMan?" I asked.

"I didn't want to take on a lot of debt to put myself through college, and my parents really couldn't afford to pay for it. I joined the Army so I'd have the GI Bill to get me through college. I became an explosive-ordnance disposal technician, a bomb tech, with the 28th Ordnance Company, which supports the 75th Ranger Regiment. That's how I met Ranger. I was assigned to support his unit. When I got out, Ranger offered to let me work part-time at RangeMan while I went to school. I worked a few shifts a week and went to school full-time at Rutgers. There's a masters in forensic science offered by John Jay College up in New York I'd really like to do. It would just be harder to swing that and still work down here. Ranger and Tank know I want to do it, and they've encouraged me to get the info and then we can sit down and work out a schedule."

I sat listening to Hal and realized how much I had underestimated the man. "Wow! Hal, I had no idea. Why forensics?"

"It's fits with my love of science, and it's something that can be beneficial to RangeMan. Ranger and Tank don't always trust the police investigators, so there are times they want to run a parallel investigation. Plus, I know I don't want to be taking down skips when I'm in my 50's. The degrees give me another marketable skill set. If I ever leave RangeMan, it gives me a career path to follow."

Hal's comments about the future and what he might be doing when he was older hit me with a jolt. What was I going to be doing when I was 50? Still trying to chase skips? Morelli's vision of me being a mom and homemaker were definitely not what I wanted. Even if I hadn't caught him cheating on me, I could never see myself married to him and living that role. But what did I want? I guess I was quiet for too long because next thing I knew, I heard Hal calling to me.

"Earth to Steph. Are you in there?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry, Hal. My mind sort of wandered there."

"I was just wondering what prompted your sudden interest in training. We got an email from Bobby asking for volunteers to work with you on physical fitness and firearms. Are you planning to come work for RangeMan full-time finally?"

"No, I hadn't really thought about that. I've just had a few conversations lately that have had me examining my life and what I'm doing. I guess it finally hit me how much my refusal to train for my job has put myself and everyone around me in danger, and it's time for me to take responsibility for myself. I asked Bobby for help with the physical fitness and self-defense pieces, and he jumped at the chance to train me."

"I think that's great. I'll be happy to help any way I can. I thought maybe Tank had finally made you an offer you couldn't refuse. I know he would love to have you come back and take over a bunch of the paperwork stuff you did while Ranger was gone, and Rodriguez would be head over heals to have you helping with searches again."

"Maybe someday." I paused as the impact of that word squeezed my heart. Someday. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I didn't want my brain going down that road today.

"You have a business degree, don't you?"

"Yes. Why?"

"It seems to me with your intuition and instincts, plus a business degree already, you'd be great at financial forensics and fraud investigations."

"I don't even know what financial forensics is, but maybe I'll look it up later. Thanks for looking out for me, Hal."

"You're welcome, Steph," Hal said, blushing. Changing the subject, he added, "How was your date with Caesar last night? I've heard about your dates with Bobby, Manny, and Vince, but Caesar isn't on until second shift today so he wasn't there to fill us in this morning."

"It was great. He took me to this little Greek restaurant. He insisted we order a bunch of different foods and share so I could try lots of new dishes. The only Greek food I've had before is gyros, so it was all new to me. It was all so good, especially the desserts."

Hal laughed. "I know the restaurant. I've gone there with him before. My favorite are the dolmades, the stuffed grape leaves."

"Oh my, those were incredible, but the spanakopita was my favorite."

We spent the rest of the drive talking about food. Hal pulled into a little diner before we got to the Institute so we could have an early lunch. It was either that or eat at the café in the Institute, and Hal assured me the diner would have better food. Lunch went quick, and we were soon at the Institute, touring the various exhibits.

We'd just come out of the electricity exhibit when we heard a young woman's voice calling Hal's name. We turned, and a woman who appeared to be in her late 20's was hurrying towards us.

"I thought that was you, Hal. What are you doing here today? You weren't on the volunteer schedule."

"Hi, Alyssa! I brought my friend Stephanie to show her around. Stephanie, this is Alyssa. She's one of the educators that works here."

Alyssa's face fell. I'd bet anything she was interested in Hal and was disappointed to see Hal with me.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Stephanie. I'll see you around sometime, Hal." Alyssa's voice had lost some of the enthusiasm it had when she was first calling out to Hal. She turned and quickly walked into an exhibit. It bothered me that Alyssa was thinking I was something more to Hal than I really was. She seemed like a nice young woman and might be perfect for Hal.

"Hal, have you ever gone out on a date with Alyssa?" I asked him.

"No, why?"

"She seems to really like you. You should ask her out the next time you see her."

"Oh, she's just really friendly. She acts like that with everyone. I don't think she's really interested in me."

"I think she is interested. I'll bet you a lunch that if you ask her out, she'll say yes."

"You really think so?" Hal didn't seem convinced.

"I really do. Now, come on. Our planetarium show is in 15 minutes."

The planetarium show was excellent, and before we knew it, it was almost closing time. We headed back to the SUV to drive back to Trenton. Tank had texted me around noon that my car was back at my apartment, so Hal could drop me off there rather than having to pick it up at RangeMan. Of course, when we arrived at my apartment, I saw my car in a prime spot right next to the door to my apartment building. Apparently, RangeMan parking karma works on my car when a Merry Man is driving it.

Hal walked me up to my apartment to clear it for me. Once he gave me the all clear, I step into my apartment but come to an abrupt halt, seeing a vase of sunflowers on my dining table. Those weren't there when I left this morning.

"Um, Hal?" I whisper, feeling the blood drain from my face. I don't know how it's possible I've picked up another stalker, but I can't think of another explanation for the appearance of a vase of flowers while I was out of my apartment.

"What's wrong, Steph?" Hal asked, visibly worried at my reaction.

"Those flowers weren't here this morning."

Hal ducked his head in embarrassment. "Sorry to worry you, Steph. Those are from me. I didn't think they'd hold up well sitting in the hot SUV all day so I asked Tank to bring them when he dropped off your car."

"Oh. Thank you, Hal. They're beautiful." I gave him a big hug. "Thanks for an amazing day. I had a lot of fun."

"You're welcome, Steph. I'm going to get going. Lock up after me."

"Sure thing, Hal. Have a good night." Closing the door and locking it behind him, I was suddenly very hungry. I heated up the rest of mom's leftovers from Monday and checked my email. An email from Bobby reminded me that he would be at my apartment at 9:00am for our morning workout. Groan.

A/N: To all those of you still with me, thank you for reading. There will be some Steph/Ranger interaction (sort of) two chapters from now. So hang on.