Disclaimer: I don't own any characters. Just borrowing. Babe story... Cupcakes be warned.

Chapter 2

Early Morning and Epiphanies

Steph POV:

Today was my first day of training. I had already signed a contract to work for Rangeman LLC in the office, but I still had to qualify to work in the field. Tank had woke me up at 0600 and made breakfast. I helped him under his direction.

We got into work at 0730 and Tank told me to head to the gym after handing me my bag. "Use seven to change. Bobby and the other candidates' will meet you there at 0800." He said.

"Other candidates?" I asked him.

"Yeah Bomber. It's a twelve week course. We can't just do one recruit at a time."

I nodded but bit my lip. I didn't figure I would have to fail in front of people I didn't know. I took the elevator up to Seven. I walked into Ranger's apartment. It was exactly as I remembered it. I turned on the light in the foyer and then headed to the bedroom. I went into the closet and changed quickly. I noticed that a few uniforms in my size were in the closet along side Rangers. I couldn't help but smile.

I changed quickly into my gym clothes and pulled my hair into a pony tail. I shut out the lights as I made my way through the apartment and took the elevator down to three. I stood outside the gym doors and took a deep breath before letting it out.

I opened the doors and the talking between the men in the middle of the gym ceased. "Please tell me she's the instructor." One of them said.

"Naw, look at her. She's hear because she's somebodies piece of ass and a fine looking one too." Another said. There were five men. One was native American, he was tall, buff but lean, not bulky. He wore his hair long in a braid down his back. He had piercing brown eyes, high cheek bones, and eyelashes to die for. He wore a painted on Army t-shirt, basketball shorts, and tennis shoes.

One stood at about six foot six with red hair cut in a crew cut. He was bulky, his skin pale alabaster and his eyes a glacier blue. He was one of the asshats.

Two of them appeared to be twins. Pale blond hair, pale blue eyes. They were identical. Anglo features, flawless skin, six foot four, they were muscled but not bulky.

The last man was shorter than the rest. Maybe five ten. His hair was dark brown, his eyes bright emerald green. His body was fit and toned. His skin tan. Bobby choose that moment to walk in.

"Bomber." He nodded to me. "Let me introduce you to the rest of the candidates'. This is Rage." He said pointing to the man with the braid. "Link." He said pointing to the man with the red hair.

"Dallas and Austin." He said pointing to each of the twins. And the last man with the brown hair and green eyes, "Dalton."

"This is Bomber."

"Why is she called Bomber?" Dalton asked.

"Explosives." Bobby said looking at him. Apparently that was all that needed to be said. It wasn't like it was a lie. I had been around lots of explosives. Bobby caught my eye and I saw the corner of his mouth tip up before it disappeared just as quickly.

"Alright let's get started." He said. We all nodded. "Let's stretch."

Bobby led a stretching session. We all stood in two lines. The twins Austin and Dallas, and Link stood in the front. Dalton, Rage and I were in the back. I was at the end and Rage was next to me in the middle.

Once we were done stretching Bobby pair us up to work with weights. "Link and Dalton. Dallas and Austin. Bomber and Rage. Your pair together. Get a weight bench. Pick who's first."

When we got to the bench Rage looked at me. "You first." He said. "How much weight?"

Bobby walked over. "The fifty five pound bar." He said. I shot him a glare. He shrugged and walked away.

"I can do more." I voice to Rage who was putting on a different bar.

"Bomber." He said. His voice was soft but manly. When he spoke people listened. "You have nothing to be ashamed of. We all start somewhere."

My Spidey sense was tingling. I frowned. "I feel like you have more information on me than I do you." I said to him.

He wore an almost smirk. "I am a close friend of Ranger's. He has spoken of you to me before."

"Did the guys put you with me to spy on me?" I asked.

"No." He said shaking his head. He motioned for me to get on the bench. I did and he stood behind me to spot me. "Ranger offered me a job when I got out of the Army. I decided to take it. I wasn't put with you for any specific reason other than I am the smallest beside you."

I frowned but nodded. "Eight reps per set. Two sets to start with." Bobby said.

I wrapped my hands around the bar. Rage looked at them and adjusted where they were positioned. I nodded my thanks wirily. He helped me lift it from the rack and slowly let me take the weight. It wasn't to much.

"Go all the way down, touch your chest and then all the way back up." He said. I nodded and sucked in a breath and lowered it. I blew it out as I raised it. This repeated for the whole set. Rage helped me rack the weight. He grinned down at me as I panted. He had a gorgeous smile. I almost dropped the bar.

"Again." Bobby called. I straightened my arms to support the bar. Once my second set of reps was done I was already sweating. He used the same bar but started wracking on so much weight I couldn't count it. I knew my eyes were wide but he looked at me and I almost smiled.

Once we were done with weights I was pretty sure my arms would never work properly again. "Today was just weights. We'll do legs and core and then your all free to go. Tommorow you have go to the Range and do more conditioning. Start studying for the rulebook exam. We'll also be doing miles tommorow. I want to know how fast you can run one. This week will be about pushing you to figure out what you can do and then the weeks after will be to push you beyond your limits to get you to pass the test." Bobby said.

An hour later I was sitting at my desk with noodle arms. I was still working though. Bobby had brought me Gatorade and a sub to help me. He told me that he wasn't going to be concerned about regulating my food intake and what I ate because he wasn't to concerned about me gaining weight on this regiment. He was more concerned about me losing to much weight.

Lester ran into my cubical. "Ranger's on the phone he wants to speak to you." He said.

I jumped up as quick as possible and ran to Tank's office, shoving Cal out of my way who looked shocked that I had that kind of strength. Tank was handing me the phone before I was at his desk.

"Ranger?" I asked softly into the phone.

"Babe." His voice came through.

"You don't know how good it is to hear the sound of your voice." I said falling into one of the chairs in Tank's office.

He chuckled. "I should be telling you that babe."

"It's been a rough past couple of days batman." I said.

"Tank told me." He said. I nodded and bit my lip even though he couldn't see me. "How do you feel about it babe?"

"Like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders." I said softly.

"If you need anything babe."

"I know I have Tank." I said.

"You have me too babe."

"Just promise me something batman." I said.

"What's that babe?"

"Come back to Gotham." I said. He chuckled.

"I needed that babe. Thank you."

"Do you know when you'll be home?"

"Whenever this wraps up. I'll be doing another check in, in five days. Make sure Tank gets you again babe. I miss hearing your voice."

I smiled. "I miss hearing yours too batman." I said.

"I've got to go babe. I'll talk to you in a few days. Don't go crazy." He said.

"Don't get shot." I said. I heard a chuckle before he hung up.

I handed the phone back to Tank. Tank was looking at me. "How did it go this morning?"

"I'm tired. My limbs are noodles and I need sugar." I said. He opened a drawer and tossed me a Tastykake. I smiled at him.

"Thank you." I said tearing it open and eating half of it. He nodded.

"How are the searches going?"
"Almost done with what Rodriquez has sent me although if I go out there, there will probably be a new stack." I said. He chuckled.

"Although I do have a question for you Mister." I said to him. He raised an eyebrow.

"Who the hell is Rage and Why the hell am I paired with him for training?"

"He's one of Ranger's best friends."

"Is he here to spy on me?"

"Did you ask Rage that?" Tank asked. I nodded and he chuckled. "No he's not. He just got out about a month ago. Ranger gave him a standing offer years ago when we first started this. He finally decided to take it up."
I nodded but bit my lip. "Spit it out bomber."

"He said Ranger talked to him about me."

"It wouldn't surprise me. Rage is very insightful. He has probably helped Ranger work through some of his emotions concerning you."

"Emotions. Tank the whole lot of you keep talking about all these feelings he has for me but all I ever see is a blank face."

"Bomber that's because you don't pay attention to his actions. He gives you cars, pulls jobs out of his ass so that you can get extra money when you need it. Think about it Bomber. Have you ever seen anyone else in the penthouse? We all knew you were here. When we called him he told us to let you stay. He gave you a key to his private domain. He gives you his cars, his precious turbo his Boxster. He gave you a security system that is the most expensive one we have and you shot it. Think about it Steph. He does everything to protect you, no matter what. What does that tell you?" He asked.

I sat back in my chair taking everything into prospective. "I'm really a bitch." I said to him. He frowned.

"What? No Steph."

"Hold on Tank." I said. I sat forward. "I am. I've been a total bitch to Ranger. I've completely ignored everything he's tried to show me. Ranger has always been closed off. Tank I've got to make it up to him. I've got to make sure he knows I love him, even if he doesn't love me. I know you've told me he does but I've never heard it out of his mouth without a qualification. Even if I don't know if he loves me. He needs to know I love him. We need to talk when he gets back. But until then, I'm going to focus on myself. I need to do this for myself. I need to become the woman I want to be. I wanted to be Wonder Woman when I was a kid Tank. I wanted to fly but I've let my mother, Morelli and the burg expectations keep me from doing that and I hate my life because of it. Ranger is the only one who has believed in me and I've treated him like shit."

"He loves you Bomber. He just needs time." He said.

"Thank you for helping me see everything Tank. This has been an eye opener." I said. He smiled.

"Let me know when you're ready for lunch. I want to take you out. We'll work on helping you identify tails. We'll have two of the guys follow us." he said.

"So your going to let me drive?"

He chuckled. "I'll think about it." He said. I rolled my eyes.

"I'll be ready in about an hour. Shorty's?"

He nodded. I stood and walked to the door before pausing. "Thank you Tank." I said.

"I'm always here for you Bomber." He said. I nodded and walked out closing the door behind me. I walked back to my cubical and two more files were on my desk. I rolled my eyes and sat down. I put them into the databases and finished as Tank walked over. I stood and put my computer on sleep. We took the elevator down and he handed me the keys to his hummer.

"This is a special moment. I will always cherish this."

He shook his head. This is equivalent to an eyeroll. I laughed and hopped into the drivers seat. Quite literally. I spent almost five minutes adjusting the seat. "Where's the tail?"

"We'll pick them up on route." He said. I nodded. I pulled out of the garage and checked the mirrors. Noting the cars. At the intersection I glanced back noting which one's were still there. Ten minutes later when I pulled into Shorty's he turned to look at me.

"Why didn't you try and lose the tail?" He asked.
"I didn't know that was apart of it."

"What car was the tail?"

"The green Camry?" I asked. He raised an eyebrow but nodded.

"We might just be able to whip you into shape Plum." He said.

XXXXXX

I sat on Tank's sectional petting Applepuff. She stretched across my lap. Tank sat down next to me and handed me a beer. I nodded my thanks. I stared at the TV as I absentmindedly petted Applepuff. She purred and stretched again.

"What're you thinking about Steph?" He asked.

"How I can make it up to Ranger, and you guys." I said.

"What makes you think you need to make it up to us?"

"I mean come on Tank. You know I've broken so many MerryMen. I'm surprised you guys don't hate me."

"Bomber." He said putting his hand on mine. "We all love you. We would do anything to protect you. Your like our sister. Now that your learning to protect yourself We're all proud of you."

I smiled at him. "Thank you Tank. I'm going to try and make sure I deserve that."

He smiled. "You already are."

Here's the next chapter! Hope ya'll enjoy it. Hopefully the next chapter will be longer, but my muse and I are working on it.

What do you think of Steph so far? I think she's on the right track. If you've read Married life you'll recognize Rage's character. This is how they originally met. Ranger will be making another appearance soon!

Let me know what you think.