We all met in the dining room. As Ranger looked around the table, he gave an overview of what had happened, the people involved, and the reason for it. He then turned to Nick, and Nick played the recording of the telephone call. Ranger looked equally as angry the second time through. I looked around the table. Everyone else looked angry as well.

"Okay", said Ranger. "What this means to me personally is that Steph will always need a guard on her. Kai has offered to do that during the day, and I have offered to do that during the night. Knowing how much Steph snores, that is the ultimate sacrifice."

"Hey!" I said. But I was laughing too hard to sound offended.

"Grant, if you can spell Kai off for a couple of hours every afternoon while Steph is sleeping, that would be good. Kai can stretch his legs, go for a run, and work out all the squirrellies from sitting still for the rest of the day. If you are there, you can provide both bodyguarding and medical assistance."

"Absolutely", said Grant. "It can be more than a couple of hours as well. If Kai wants more of a break, I'm here and not doing anything. I'd be happy to assist."

"Thank you", said Kai.

"Hal and I will work with the research team to pull together the case. Tomorrow, the head of MI6 will be coming for a visit to collaborate with us. He will be here between two and three in the afternoon. Steph and the Gurus and Kai and Hal and I will be in that meeting."

"Steph is going to sleep in, "said Kai, "so that she is awake for the meeting in the afternoon."

"The Gurus and I know what needs to be done on this case and who needs to be investigated", said Miguel. "Tomorrow morning, we are prepared to continue researching."

"There are ten people plus Hal on the ERT team that are here", said Ranger. "I want you broken out into two teams of five to patrol the grounds on six hours on, six hours off, around the clock. Grant, you take one six-hour shift and Hal, you take the other. That will allow you time to attend to your other duties. Everyone, if they figure out where Steph is living, we are all at risk."

"Approval for lethal force?" said Eduardo.

"No", said Ranger. "Take zip ties with you. We are strangers in a new location, a location that we have no jurisdiction under. Eliminating them, if we get caught, would likely result in jail time. It just isn't worth it."

Eduardo smiled. "Steph was threatened. It's worth it."

Ranger smiled. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, but until we have approval from someone in government here, lethal force is not allowed."

Eduardo sighed loudly, and Ranger smiled again.

"It's eight o'clock now. I'd like patrols to start at eight-thirty. Hal, can you divide the team up? I'm thinking patrols around the grounds close to the castle, near the cottage, and along the driveway. Don't worry about the forest. We don't have enough people to spread ourselves out that thinly. So eight-thirty to two-thirty and so on. I'll make a pot of vegetarian chili before I go to bed that I will leave on a simmer on the stove for you to have and warm yourselves with as needed. There are also leftovers from our previous meals in the fridge to heat in the microwave.

"At this point, protecting Steph is our first priority. I hope to get approval to use deadly force tomorrow. I'll keep you informed as I know more. Any questions?"

"Not a question, but a comment", said Miguel. "In a few minutes, I will send you the overviews and the photos of the three terrorists that we are particularly concerned about, as well as the overview and photo of Felix. It might help you when you are on patrol."

"Thanks, Miguel", said Ranger. "Anything else?"

The men looked around the table. There were no more questions or comments, and Ranger smiled. "Great. Good luck, everybody, and I will see you tomorrow. Stay safe." As the men all looked at Hal and Hal broke them out into patrol groups, Kai came to me and Ranger kissed me. "Have a good sleep, okay, babe? I'll be up in a while for bed, and Kai will stay with you until I'm there."

"Are you okay?"

Ranger sighed. "Not really. I am going to do a call with Gabriel this evening. I know the Gurus are doing calls this evening to their therapists as well. I am also going to spend some time cooking that chili, and I think that will help me self-soothe. But I'll be okay. I am looking forward to getting into bed with you tonight. And although I would like to cuddle in, I suspect that I will be holding your hand instead."

Kai smiled. "I overheard that last little bit, and so that Steph gets off her back, I am starting to roll her to her side and prop her up with blankets. This means that Steph will be on her side, and that her legs are going to be protected well from your legs if you want to cuddle in. Personally, I'm not sure if a cuddle would be better for you or Steph. I think it would do good things for both of you."

Ranger looked at him with hope in his eyes. "Maybe even if I cuddled in when I was awake, and rolled away for sleeping?" he said.

Kai smiled. "Sounds like the perfect solution."

Ranger grinned with relief. "I'll be up as soon as I can." He kissed me lightly. "Sleep well. I love you."

"I love you too. So much."

Ranger smiled and kissed me again, and he got up and turned to Kai. Kai looked at him. "Go", he said. "I'll help Steph get ready for bed. I'm going to give her morphine tonight, so hopefully she will sleep through the night. If she wakes up and needs more medication, come and get me."

Ranger looked at him gratefully. "Thanks, Kai."

"No problem."

Ranger gave me another hug and a kiss, and he left the room. Kai looked at me and said, "are you ready to do this thing?"

I smiled. "Well I'm ready for morphine anyway."

Kai laughed.

After getting ready for bed and taking my medication, it wasn't long until I was asleep. I slept straight through until eleven o'clock the next morning and, as I woke up, I realized that it was the first day that I truly could notice a difference in my pain level. "Kai?" I said. He had placed his chair so that I could see him without needing to roll around.

He looked up from his book with a smile. "How are you doing?" he said.

"Good. Did I need more morphine during the night?"

"Ranger asked for some more around two. He said you were waking up, and he was afraid that he had kicked you in your sleep."

"That amount of morphine would be gone from my system now though, wouldn't it?"

"Absolutely. Why? Do you want something else?"

I grinned. "No. This is the first day that my pain is lessened. Before, I was always telling myself that it had, but I wasn't quite sure if I was lying to myself. But today? It is definitely better."

Kai grinned. "What is it?"

"My throat and nose don't hurt at all. My lungs still don't hurt although my muscles are still tired from coughing. My abdomen is a seven maybe? And when I went to bed last night, my burns were a twenty. Now they are a fifteen. I think they are healing. Can you check them?"

"I already did that when the morphine was working. They are healing well."

"Good."

"Want to hit the washroom?"

"And brush my teeth?"

"Yes."

I saddened. "I guess I can't have a shower."

"No. However, I can give you a sponge bath. In fact, Ranger said that he would help me, and Lindsay came by today and brought some dry shampoo for you. Lindsay and your parents are looking after the kids. They all look like they are having a lot of fun. Ranger talked to your parents this morning and asked them to stick around the castle for a few days and told them why. He said that you wouldn't be able to take worrying about them."

"Oh boy. How did that go over?"

"I think well. From what I understand, Ranger had a serious conversation about what you do, your role in Rangeman, who you work for – primarily the big nine – and how important you are to the security of the United States. He talked a bit about some of the work that you have done in the past, as well as the roles of the various people who are here at the castle with us. From what I understand, they were shocked and incredibly proud. Ranger also told them that it was a big secret and it had to be kept a secret and explained the danger to you if it got out."

"What was their reaction?"

"Apparently Helen told Ranger that they could count on their silence, and Frank smiled with pride and said that he now fully understood how frustrated Ranger would be to hear Val's venom. He said that he was frustrated with it just because he loved you and thought you were wonderful, and he saw what a good person you are. But for Ranger to know that Val was belittling someone who literally helped keep the country safe? Ranger said that it made him angry and the reason it made him so angry was because you believed it. He said that people all over the world can say stupid shit, and you just need to let it roll off your back. But when Val said something it hurt, because you honestly thought that Val was smarter and prettier and more popular than you. Every time you got a bit of confidence Val would work to pull it down. She would show up at Rangeman and verbally assault you. She screamed and swore at you in front of your friends. She did whatever she could to belittle you and everything you did. Ranger said he had put up with it as long as he could, but when you were on death's door and Val told you that you should die? Ranger told them that he couldn't fucking handle it any longer, and that he was stepping in and protecting you until you were well enough to make decisions on your own. Your parents thought about that for a moment, and then your dad thanked Ranger. He said that he was so proud of you. And then Ranger said that he was so proud of you as well. You have literally saved the lives of thousands of people in the last five years. Your mother cried. So apparently it was a good conversation."

"I'm glad it was a good conversation. I don't want them to think of me differently though."

Kai smiled. "Shine your light on the world, Steph. I know that you can't announce what you do – but it's okay to let loved ones know. Your parents are so fucking proud of you, and that's the way that it should be."