Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, I'm not earning any money. I'll eventually return JE's characters, even though I think Ranger would be much happier in my hands than JE's.

5,044 words without the disclaimer, super happy with how long this chapter is lol. Longest one I've published in a while. Finally got my muse into shape. I wrote about 12,000 words today across three different stories. Stories including Time For Someday, Married Life, and a AU Story I've been working on.

Chapter Four

Fresh Start?

Steph POV:

Tank and I sat in the guest house on Michaels's property. We had three computers sitting in front of us. One was monitoring the alarm system, another the four different Camera feeds. The other was monitoring every motion detector on the property so we could track where they were coming from and how they left. The first motion detector on the fence line went off cueing us they were entering.

I heard Tank chuckle. "You gotta love teenagers." He said.

"They're pretty predictable," I said. He nodded.

We watched as the second motion detector was about halfway to the house. "Alright, let's watch the feeds," I said. We had aimed one camera towards the house, angling so we could see the whole roof, another was on top of the window aiming down on the area in front of the window.

The window opened as the boys emerged from the tree line. One of the boys jumped first and then helped the other. The girls were in the bathroom giggling and waving for them to hurry up. Halfway across the roof before the motion detector went off.

Floodlights switched on and a loud alarm started blaring. Lights in the house are switched on. I grinned and Tank and I jogged around from the back of the house. The two boys tried to bolt past us. I put my leg out tripping both of them. They hit the ground with a thud and turned to look at me and Tank.

"What are you going to do with us?" One of them asked.

I looked at Tank. "What do you think?" I asked him. "We've got a shitload of choices. We can charge them with breaking and entering, trespassing, there's also trespassing on private property, Burglrgy..."

"Burglary?" One of them asked. "We weren't stealing anything!"

"How do we know that? We don't know why you here." Tank said.

"We're here to see our girlfriends." The other said.

"See we can't confirm that."

"Just ask them."

"See they're minors," I said. "So although they can testify in court this isn't their property so they are not allowed to invite you onto the property or into the residence."

"Dude we're in so much trouble."

"Have you ever heard of Rangeman?" I asked them. They looked at each other.

"They do our house's security systems." One of them said. I grinned.

"Let's get them up Tank," I said. He pulled the both of them up.

"We'll give you two choices. We can put you in cuffs and take you down to the station and turn you two in and let the cops and lawyers sort you two out, or we can put you in cuffs call your parents, and take you home. You only get option two if you agree to stop trying to sneak into the Michaels' homes."

"Option two." They both said.

"Let me go talk to Michaels," I said to Tank. I walked to the front door and Michaels stood on the porch.

"We're scaring the shit out of them and taking them home. Their parents have Rangeman security too."

He grinned. "Have fun. I've got to go talk to my girls." He said.

"I pity you," I said. He chuckled.

"Thank you, Miss Plum."

"My pleasure Mr. Michaels," I said. I walked to where Tank was standing.

"Let's shackle them into the truck and pack up the equipment," I said. He nodded and we walked them to the SUV cuffed them and shackled them in. We slammed the doors and started laughing as we walked back to the guest house.

"This has been fun," I said.

"I'm glad we decided to stay and watch."

"You know what we should do?" I said.

"What?"

"Have Cal and Hector drive them to their parents. I bet the two of them can scare this shit out of them. Worse than we have already."

He chuckled and pulled out his phone. He called someone. "Get me, Cal and Hector. Have them bring my hummer. Track the car I checked out earlier and have them meet me here. I need them to scare the shit out of two kids."

He chuckled and hung up. We spent twenty minutes packing up and heard the hummer. We walked out and met the hummer. We put the equipment into the SUV. "Follow us." Tank said. They nodded and Cal got into the driver's seat and Hector into the passenger's seat. We got into the Hummer and pulled out with the SUV behind us.

I called Cal. "What are their parent's names?" I asked.

Cal got them quickly and I put them into the tablet. "Let's drop off Joshua first. His house is closer. Then we can drop off Caleb." I said. I hung up with Cal.

"This is going to be fun," I told Tank. He laughed.

XXXXXX

A few weeks later

Today was test day. I rolled out of bed and put my workout clothes on under my uniform. I pulled my hair into a ponytail and fed Rex. I closed the door behind me and walked down the stairs. Tank was already in the kitchen. He had cooked a huge breakfast.

"You need the energy." He said. I grinned.

"Tank I just want to thank you for everything. Helping me with all of this. I wouldn't have been able to do this without you."

He smiled at me. "Bomber you've always been able to do it. You just needed a push." He chuckled.

The first thing was the gun range. The six of us lined up in different lanes. Tank stood behind each of us with a clipboard as we tested. I was the last to go and all of the other recruits lined up behind Tank to watch me.

"You've got this beautiful," Les said as he handed me my weapon.

I smiled at him and aimed down the lane. I was being timed. "Go." Tank said. I grabbed the mag and slid it into the gun chambering a round and taking aim. The Sig Sauer P226 Legion 9mm held 15 rounds in the magazine but could hold up to 16 if one is chambered along with a full Mag.

I had to send five into the center of the head, five into center mass, and five into non-lethal targets. With as much precision as I could muster I aimed to take the headshots first, five straight down the lane before moving onto the center mass shots. The first five went into the center of the head, the next five directly center mass, and the last five, one into each hip, two into the right shoulder, and one into the left.

I released the mag and laid it on the counter along with my Sig. Tank wrote down the time. "Next weapon."

Once we were done in the Range we were doing our Physical assessment. We were required to lift a certain amount depending on our body weight. I had to bench press 115 pounds, squat 150, and curl 10. I had to do 40 push-ups in two minutes, 75 sit-ups in two and a half minutes, and four pull-ups in two minutes. We got three-minute breaks in between.

I had to go first. I'm pretty sure I got everything in my required times but there was no way to know. Next, we had to run a mile on the treadmill in six minutes. This is where I knew I would struggle. Tomorrow though, tomorrow was the big day.

Tomorrow we had to run two miles, wearing a pack full of equipment, and do an obstacle course in record time. We had tested for defensive driving about a week ago so that test was already out of the way. It wasn't going to be easy but I was semi-confident I could make it through. Once I was done on the treadmill Les clapped me on the back and let me away.

"We have a masseuse here. He's going to work out all the kinks. He's in Bobby's medical suite."

"Les you can't just get me a masseuse."

"Yes I can, besides we got the other men a woman masseuse. She's setting up in the gym. We figured you didn't want to have to be in open view of all the men."

"Thank you, Les." I said. He grinned.

"Thank me afterward." He kissed the top of my head and pushed me into Bobby's office.

XXXXXX

I woke up the next morning nervous. I dressed quickly. We would be running the course in a standard uniform. I laced up my boots and walked over to Rex's cage.

"Today we figure out if I'm actually fit to work for Ranger's company," I said as he came out of his can to look at me. I gave him a few hamster nuggets and he shoved two into his cheeks and scurried back to his can. I smiled and shook my head.

I shut my door behind me and walked down to the kitchen where I smelt the most heavenly smells. "Tank you're spoiling me," I told him as I walked into the kitchen. He slid me a plate and grinned.

"Trust me you're going to need the protein today." He said.

Once we were done with breakfast I grabbed my messenger bag and petted Applepuff as we walked out. The ride to Rangeman was quiet. We were all meeting there before going to the obstacle course.

We had a quick meeting going over the requirements to pass the obstacle course and the rules. Tank and I got into the Hummer while Bobby and Les were going to drive the other recruits.

"You've got this Bomber." He said. I nodded.

"I hope so," I said.

A lot of the guys were here. Turns out this is the most popular day for the men to come out and watch our recruits.

I picked up my pack and shouldered it on, I clipped the front before tightening the straps. "Ready?" Tank asked us.

"Yes sir." We all said.

"Ready...Set...Start!" He said. Austin and Dallas the twins took off running. Link and Dalton weren't far behind them. Rage and I ran neck and neck at the rear, conserving energy.

The last half-mile stretch the four of them had started to slow down. Link in the lead. I grinned, the last quarter of a mile, I picked up my speed. Rage noticed what I was doing and sped up also. It seemed like we had the same idea. When we crossed the finish line, I didn't know which one of us had come out ahead.

When we got to the obstacle course we all took off our issued uniforms, since we were all wearing our workout clothes under. I wore a pair of black biker shorts and a black tank top. Above the right breast, Rangeman was embroidered in hot pink. I made sure my ponytail was tight. I got to go last this time.

When it was my time Bobby looked at me. "Ready?" He asked. I nodded.

"Go." He said.

The first obstacle was a four-foot-deep mud pit. Once I made it through that, next was tires you had to make it through without tripping. Next, I ran and grabbed the rope swinging over to hook my legs into the bar. I hung upside down by my knees before grabbing the second rope and swinging myself onto the platform. From there you had to swim one hundred yards. There was a sandpit next, that ran for fifty yards.

I ended up with sand in places sand should never be. I conquered the rock climbing wall, the monkey bars, the rolling pins, jumps, and nets. The last thing I needed to conquer was the climb up a vertical wall. It was thirty-five foot tall and you had to walk up vertically only using a rope and your feet braced against the wall.

I let out a breath and jumped getting both feet onto the wall. I worked my arms and legs in tandem pulling myself up. For the last two feet I was struggling. "Come on babe," Ranger said. I felt my heart flutter. It gave me the last motivation to get my ass the rest of the way over the wall.

I looked up to see him standing above me. I pulled myself up onto the platform. Ranger stood in front of me.

"Ranger," I said softly.

"Proud of you babe." He said brushing a loose curl away from my face.

"What are you doing home? You weren't supposed to be back yet."

"I couldn't miss my babe taking her qualifying test." He said. I wanted to kiss him so badly, but I wouldn't not in front of his men. Not while we were still undefined.

He pulled me into a hug and kissed the top of my head. "Proud of you babe." He said.

Les pulled me from Ranger's arms and hugged me spinning me around. "You did so good beautiful." He said.

"Congrats little girl." Tank said hugging me. "You've come so far."

"I couldn't have done it without your help," I said. He smiled at me.

"Come on babe," Ranger said. "Let's get you cleaned up so we can review your scores."

XXXXXX

Ranger POV:

It took over a week to debrief. I had been in Washington since we got back in the country. The rest of my team had been set free after three days but not me. They were trying to get me to sign a new contract. All I wanted to do was go home and see my Babe. I didn't know if she was still with the cop or not but she wouldn't be for long. I was tired of the back and forth. I loved her, I might have problems expressing it but I did love her and I wanted to be with her. I also knew she wasn't happy with the cop. She was with him because that's what, was expected of her.

"Major Mañoso your free to go." General Franklin.

"Thank God." I said. He chuckled.

"Tired of DC?" He asked.

"You could say that." I said.

"Or are you trying to get home to your girl?"

I narrowed my eyes at him and he straightened but smiled. "Sargent Major Sherman Called to get a lead on how long you would be stuck in DC. He said your girl is waiting for you to get home."

"Tank likes to run his mouth." I said. He chuckled again.

"Get home to your girl." He said. "The higher up's shouldn't have kept you this long anyway."

"Thank you General." I said.

"Oh and tell my niece I said I'll be coming to visit her soon."

"Niece?" I asked

"Stephanie Plum. Her father Frank is a good friend." He said.

I nodded. "I will sir."

"Take care of her." He said seriously.

"I will sir."

I walked out of the briefing room completely confused but happy that I would be able to get home to my Babe. I packed my shit quickly not bothering to make sure it was on order. I didn't care. I just knew I needed to see my Babe as quickly as possible.

I took a taxi to the airport and booked a flight to Newark. I pulled my phone out and called Tank.

"Yo'." He answered.

"Sitrep."

"Everything is running smooth no problems with any accounts."

"How much paperwork do I have to do when I get home?"

"Actually none." He said. I could hear him grinning.

"What do you mean none? Just because you had the paperwork doesn't mean it doesn't have to be done." I said half agitated.

"There's no paperwork because it's all done."

"Stop bullshitting me Tank."

"I'm not. I hired an office manager."

"What the fuck Tank? You know I was saving that job for Steph." I growled angrily.

"Did you know Steph had a master's in business?" He asked.

"Yes she's perfect for the job. You need to fire whoever you hired."

"You would be real pissed if I did that." He said.

"Why?" I growled.

"Because Steph is who I hired dumbass." He said chuckling.

"You hired Steph?" I asked. He chuckled.

"Your so far behind."

"I thought you hired her to do research. You didn't tell me you hired her as the office manager." I said, calming down. As soon as I had created the position in the other offices I decided Steph would be the best person for the role in Trenton.

"Well actually the terms of her contract say that if she can pass the field Eval she can also go out in he field. She's also part of the Bond Enforcement Team." He said.

"What about the cop?"

I'm pretty sure I heard Tank growled. I knew Tank hated the cop as much as me. "Bomber got kidnapped a few weeks ago while chasing a skip. She called me and took out the perps on her own. When I went to pick her up we had a long talk. I took her to Morelli's and she found him getting fucked in the ass by Joyce. She broke up with him, he hit her, and she kicked him in the nuts."
"He hit her?" I asked stopping him.

"Yes, I found out he's been physically abusive since you left this time. She won't talk about it much but she's better. She's doing the final phase of the Eval today."

"When?" I asked. I wanted to be there to see her, but if she knew I was there I would distract her.

"She starts the run at nine o'clock. Then she's moving straight to obstacle course."

"I should be there before she finishes running." I said. I heard his smile over the phone.

"She's gonna be really happy to see you." He said. "Even though she's been acting strong she has been struggling."

"I'll be there soon. Don't let her know I'm coming." I said. He chuckled and hung up.

They called for my flight, we were boarding. I jogged to my gate so I could get on, and get the hell out of DC and back home to my babe.

XXXXXX

Ranger POV:

I waited until I knew my Babe was the last one to go. I climbed up the ladder on the top of the platform and stood in the back. Most of the men noticed me but didn't say anything. I could watch her run the whole course. Bobby started her and I watched as she blew through it now stumbling or having to stop. That was my Babe. She made the jumps, swinging across the ropes, everything, she ran every one of them perfect.

She came to the wall and grabbed the rope and began to pull herself up. She started to struggle the last couple feet. "Come on Babe." I said standing at the front so she could see me. She moved as fast as she could over the last of the wall. She stood in front of me.

"Ranger." She whispered.

"Proud of you Babe." I said and brushed a curl away from her face.

I wanted to kiss her so bad and I knew she wanted me too but we both held ourselves back. I wouldn't let the men think she just got her job because she was sleeping with the boss, I didn't want them to lose the respect she had gained.

I walked her to Tank's hummer and we both slid into the back seat. Tank could drive I wanted to hold my Babe. I pulled her close and nuzzled her neck. "I missed you so much babe."

"I missed you too Ranger." She sighed as she turned and kissed me. Her mouth fused to mine. I think I was more shocked than anything. This was the first time my babe had ever initiated a kiss between us. I didn't start kissing her back soon enough, I hesitated and she pulled back. Her face flaming red.

"I'm sorry Ranger. That was inappropriate. Your my boss..."

I shut her rambling by claiming her mouth in a kiss and pulled her into my lap. She straddled me with her legs on either side of me. I pulled back slightly, leaving her panting. "Don't ever think I don't want you Babe." I said my lips brushing her. "You just surprised me, you've never initiated anything between us." I said as I skimmed my lips across her jaw line and to her ear. I pulled on her ear lobe gently with my teeth. "Your my Babe."

She shivered and nuzzled my neck before claiming my lips again. Her tongue traced my lips begging for entrance. I allowed it and someone moaned as she explored my mouth. I'm pretty sure it was me but I would never admit it. I pulled her closer and palmed her heart shaped ass in my hands. I rotated her hips bringing her core down against my erection. She moaned into my mouth. The drivers door on the hummer opened and Steph pulled back with a gasp and her face turned red.

I grinned and kissed her neck. "Calm it down you two." Tank said. "Your not jumpin' each others bones in my truck."

Steph slid off my lap and glared at Tank defiantly. "Your just upset because your not getting any." She said. He glared at her.

"Neither are you. Is that why you've been so pissy lately?" He asked. I was about to step in but Steph giggled and Tank chuckled. He turned the key and pulled out of the lot. Steph sat next to me. She sat pressed into my side. I traced shapes on her thigh.

"I'm sorry." She said softly.

"Babe?" I asked.

"For everything I've done. I haven't been the greatest friend to you, and you've always been there for me." She said softly. I put my finger under her chin and picked it up, making her look at me.

"We'll talk about this later, when we're alone but this all doesn't fall on your Babe. Some of the blame for our relationship being this way. Tonight let's have dinner and talk alright?" She nodded and I gave her a chaste kiss. I smiled at her causing her to grin.

XXXXXX

We sat in the gym. It was the only place that could hold all of the employees that worked the day and night shift. "Let's go over scores." Tank said. All of the recruits including my Babe sat in chairs facing the rest of the men. The core team sat in the first row and the crowd while Tank and Bobby presented the scores.

They worked their way through the men. My Babe and I had talked and it upset me to say I hoped half these recruits didn't make it. I normally cheered for all of my recruits to pass the test but after hearing what she over heard them saying about her, I wasn't happy. I smiled at her and she blushed, before dropping her blank face. Damn, she was good at that. Maybe my men had taught her too well, I didn't like not being able to read her.

Austin, Dallas, and Rage had passed. Link and Dalton didn't. They had the option to retest in six months but I didn't think they would. Apparently it had gotten out among the men that they had disrespected Bomber. Babe was the last one to have her results read.

"Again reminding each score is scored out of 100, depending on how well you completed the test, how your form was, how you handled the test under pressure, and how you handed the time limit." Bobby reminded. Tank nodded and picked up Babe's folder.

"For the fitness test Bomber scored a 97." Tank read. "For the two mile run 96, she came in first tied with Rage. This was reviewed multiple times, along with the footage. A 94 for the obstacle course, 99 for defensive driving plus she was the best at finding and losing a tail. She got a 93 on the gun range. Her overall score average was 95.8. She is the second highest scoring in the company, also tied with Rage. The highest scoring in the company across all offices is the boss man. Rage and Bomber managed to bump Lester off his second pedestal by .1%."

The guys chuckled. "So let's welcome Rage, Bomber, Austin, and Dallas to Rangeman." Tank said.

After the men passed my Babe around to congratulate her she walked over to me, she had a slight sway to her hips making my eyes follow them. She gave me a sex kitten smile as she came to a stop in front of me. "The guys want to take me out for a celebration dinner tonight." She said.

"Nope, your all mine tonight babe." I said. I placed my hands on her hips and pulled her closer. She looked so sexy wearing the Rangeman uniform. My name in a plum color across her breast. I wanted to release her hair from the pony tail but I knew if I did that all bets were off.

"Boss man let us take Bomber out tonight." Les whined.
"No, everyone can celebrate tommorow. I want to go upstairs. I haven't seen my babe for almost six months. I want to get caught up." I said.

"Caught up, Sure." Les said. Steph turned around to glare at him and he took a step back. I grinned.
"Let's go out to dinner with the guys Ranger and then have a nice quiet evening after." She said. I wanted to groan but I nodded.

"Anything for you Babe." I said.

"Do you want to change first?" Tank asked. She shook her head.

"No I want to show off my new Rangeman status." She said. I chuckled.

"Alright let's go to Shorty's." I said. She grinned at me and led the way. Rage walked next to her. He said something and she smiled at him. I walked up behind her and wrapped my arm around her.

"Welcome home Ranger." Rage said.

"Thanks man." I said. He nodded. "Looks like your coming in second to my woman now instead of me."
"Unless you didn't notice. We got the same exact scores just across different things. We were technically tied." Steph said before he could say anything. "Besides Rage helped me. He was my training partner. He helped me allot."

"And she listened to him." Les said walking up behind us. I shook my head. We came down to the garage and I led Steph to the turbo. She slid into the passenger's seat and I slid into the drivers. I put the turbo on manual and put my babe's hand on the shifter before covering it with mine, linking our fingers. She smiled at me.
"How have you been the last couple months?" I asked.

"I've been allot better after I got rid of about one hundred eighty pounds of dead weight." She said. I smiled at her. "I've made allot of changes."

"I'm glad babe, that your doing better. Where did you end up staying?"

"I'm living with Tank. There wasn't an apartment available on four and I couldn't go back to mine."

"You could have stayed on seven." I said. I didn't quite understand why she stayed with Tank.

"Not without you there. Tank offered me one of his spare bedrooms. He's been a huge help. He's kept me motivated, hasn't let me give up, kept me going on hard days. He even had the patience to teach me how to cook." She laughed. "He's been my rock since my rock went in the wind."

I went quiet. I was glad that Tank had been there for my Babe. Especially after all the shit with the cop. I owed my best friend for keeping my woman safe. I never doubted he would but he did more than most people would have. I squeezed her hand.

"I'm glad Babe. I'm glad Tank could be there for you." I said. I raised her hand to mine and kissed her palm.

"Babe would you go out to dinner with me tommorow?" I asked. She raised an eyebrow. Since when had she been able to do that?

"Are we still going to talk tonight?" She asked. I nodded.

"I'll be a gentleman. If you want after I can take you home to Tank's or you can crash with me."

She smiled at me. "We'll figure that out when the time comes."

I smiled at her as we pulled into the lot at Shorty's with a shitload of black SUV's behind us. Anyone who wasn't on duty was here to celebrate our new hires. I slid out of the turbo and walked around to open my Babe's door. She took my hand and I linked my fingers through hers. I brought her hand up to kiss the back of it. "You did really good babe." I said. "Better than most recruits straight out of the military."

She blushed. "Thank you." She said in a soft voice. I just grinned. One of the first orders of business is my Babe did decide she wanted Someday was to get her to be less embarrassed.

A/N: Here it is, As promised later than I intended. I really need to find a Beta, let me know if anyone is interested. I've got allot of story ideas running around in my head but I'm determined to finish the ones I have up before publishing any more multi chapters. I won't promise that there won't be a few One-Shots in between chapters, like Rock Bottom. I finally got that muse whipped into shape =).

I'm currently working on Time For Someday Chapters five and six, Married life Chapters 9-11 and a AU story that I will publish later on and I have about two and a half chapters of that. I think after I publish this next chapter of Married Life, It'll take a slight backburner to Time For Someday so I can get more of this story out because allot of the next Chapters in Married Life will link back to Time For Someday with the plot. Half of this story was written while I was driving in Michigan using Text to Speech, pretty sure I caught all the errors but let me know if I didn't.

Ranger and I will be awaiting your reviews!