Disclaimer: Janet still hasn't come to her senses and sold me the rights to the Plum universe. So I'm just borrowing everyone. Except the ones I made up and if you can't tell the difference, why should I?

Note: Thank you to all my great readers and reviewers. I love feedback, Yes I do. Thanks to Alexis, especially for all her help and advice.

Shivy: Thanks. No worries, she'll be up and around soon...
RFRqueenbe: Thank you. I'm only reposting this from the lists, but thank you. I am a speed-writer when time allows. Thank you so much for your comments on the last chapter. It really took several re-dos to get that one anywhere near presentable.
Valin: Gracias! Here you are- more!
k4writer02: Thank you very much! You'llfind out what she remembers soon. :) I like to think Tank isn't just the big muscle dude we see in the books.
i-forgot-my-name: YAY! That means all the rewriting is working. lol. Thank you.

Chapter 12- Awakening

Ranger watched Stephanie sleep, tracking the faint rise and fall of her breathing. It had been hours and his heartbeat still hadn't returned to normal. She was going to give him a heart attack in her sleep, he thought wryly.

He tightened the grip he had on her hand, tracing his thumb back and forth over her knuckles. He couldn't let her go, hadn't been able to since Bobby finally let him back in the room. Hell, he didn't want to let go. If he let go she could disappear again, this could all turn out to be another one of the dreams he'd been having. Lately he'd begun thinking Haley might not be the only one losing the grip on reality.

"You're here, Babe," he whispered to her. "This time it was real... I almost lost you for real all over again. I'm not doing that again." He brushed a stray curl off her forehead, tucking it behind her ear. God, how many times had he done that over the last couple years? How many times had he ached to be able to do that again, even just once more, over the last couple months?

"Come back to me, querida," he whispered. "I need you here. I need your spirit, your laughter. Don't let that bastard win, Babe. You're a fighter. You can beat this." His hand slid down to cup her face, his fingertips brushing her cheek and ignored the tightness in his throat. "Te amo. Le necesito. Tu eres mi corazon, mi alma. Vuélvame, le pido." Please, just let her wake up and be Stephanie...

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Angel's usually bright blue eyes were glassy and dull with exhaustion when he finally stumbled up to the main cabin. "Coffee?" he asked, slumping into an empty seat. Ash handed him a steaming mug without a word and he accepted it gladly. The others waited while he took a few sips to let the caffeine work its way through his system. After a tense minute of silence, he set the cup down.

"She'll make it," he said, looking at all the expectant faces. "Just a hit to the shoulder."

"Then where'd all the blood come from?" Quinn asked, his eyes narrowed. He trusted his guys, but there had been too much blood loss for a superficial wound.

Angel's eyes darted around the room again, looking for Haley before he answered. Satisfied she wasn't present, he continued. "It's a side effect of the drugs. It thins the blood, keeps it from clotting. So once either one of them gets a cut it's going to be a bitch to get the bleeding stopped. Gun shot wounds... that's a bitch times ten"

"Is it permanent?" asked Tank. "Steph is pretty accident prone. That could get ugly."

Angel simply shrugged, and rubbed his neck to ease the tension. "No way to tell until they're off the drugs for a while."

"Ranger staying with her?" Ash glanced down the hallway as he spoke, apparently looking for confirmation.

"Yeah. I'm first on call tonight," Angel smiled faintly, then looked up at Quinn. "Where's Haley?" Quinn shrugged.

"Sleeping I think. Les is on first watch with her. Guess she's still pretty messed up from that deprivation tank."

Angel snorted. "Gee, imagine that."

"We didn't get Masters, you know," Dom's voice was quiet and emotionless. Angel nodded once, being less than happy about that turn of events himself.

"Not tonight, but he can't hide forever," Tank said, clapping a hand on Dom's shoulder.

"No worries, bra," Quinn added, his mouth curving into a feral smile. "He's not smart enough to hide. And we can wait- more time to think up a fitting punishment."

"Lock him a coffin," Lester's voice was grim as he emerged from the hallway. "And leave him there to rot."

Quinn smirked. "That would be fitting," he said thoughtfully.

"Personally, I vote for something with a little more physical pain," Ash had an unpleasantly gleeful look in his eyes as he contemplated his ideas.

"So we beat him up, then throw him in the coffin?" suggested Tank. There was a moment of quiet as they all considered this plan.

"And we throw the damned thing overboard," Angel finished with a dangerous look in his blue eyes.

"Damn. I was hoping to blow it up," Tank sighed.

Dom shook his head, enjoying the mental pictures but he was focused elsewhere. He looked up at Lester. "Who's with Haley?" he asked.

Les looked at him, his eyes examining the younger man closely. "Rico. You volunteering for the next shift?"

"Yeah," Dom nodded. "I'll take it."

"You sure? She nearly kicked your ass out there earlier..." Quinn chuckled.

Dom rolled his eyes. "At least I didn't end up with a black eye," he said looking pointedly at his friend, who narrowed his good eye and raised a fist.

"Hey, you got off light, boys," Tank chuckled. "Ranger's had to start offering hazard pay to get the guys in Trenton to watch Stephanie. A black eye ain't nothing to the damage Bombshell does."

Dom snorted. "You've obviously never dealt with cheerleading try-outs." Quinn, Ash, and Angel all cringed visibly.

"Speak not the words," Dante said from the pilot's seat. "It might make it happen again."

Tank raised an eyebrow. "This I've got to hear."

"Me too," Les chimed in. "Seems like a bunch of cheerleaders would be a good thing..."

"Huh, you're naïve, then," Dom told him. "And we don't get hazard pay for it neither."

"I don't think there'd be enough to pay me to go through that again," Ash said honestly. "I'd take an assignment in Liberia first."

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Ranger was so intent on watching Stephanie he didn't hear anyone in the hallway until they were at the door. Still, years of training had their benefits and the gun was in his hand before he even realized he'd heard anything. One of the men would have made a sound to tell him they were coming. Aiming at the door he waited while it swung out.

A mop of brown curls peeked around the door. Sighing in relief he lowered the weapon. A pair of blue eyes widened in surprise. "Do you people ever not carry a gun?" the girl asked, her head cocked to one side curiously.

"Not really," he answered honestly. Was he dealing withAlia or Haley?

She paused as if to consider his answer for a moment, then smiled at him. "Yeah, I guess pirates need guns a lot. That makes sense."

Ranger blinked. "Pirates?"

"Well, you have a boat, you sail the Caribbean, you kidnap people and you stormed the castle. Isn't that what pirates do?" she asked, stepping further into the room.

"Anybody tell you you're a little crazy?" he asked.. She laughed.

"I've just been abducted by commandos in a yacht from a private island where I was being apparently brainwashed by an evil professor and a mad chemist," she retorted. "That's y'all's version of events," she said pointedly. Without waiting for a response her eyes drifted to the woman in the bed. "How is she?"

Ranger's gaze followed hers and he couldn't help the sigh that escaped him. Stephanie's face was peaceful as she slept, but too pale. "She'll be fine, eventually. Just lost a lot of blood," he said before he glanced back at the girl warily. She didn't pay attention to him, just walked to the bedside and sat down gingerly, placing a hand over Stephanie's.

"Serena's tougher than she lets on. You're probably right," she smiled faintly, turning back to look at him curiously. "So who are you really? Why would a pirate captain be standing guard over my sister?"

"Stephanie," Ranger said sharply. "Her name is Stephanie. And she's your cousin."

"So they've said," she said with a shrug. "But who are you?"

"Ranger," he said simply. His eyes looked at her appraisingly. "And who are you?"

"Haley, I suppose," she sighed, and looked back at Stephanie.

Ranger settled back into his own seat as the silence stretched out. It was finally broken by a small sniffle from Haley.

"She is going to be ok, right?" Her voice was thick, and she wiped away a few tears from her cheek. "How does everything get so messed up?"

When she looked at him, he was struck again by how much the two of them resembled one another. He shook his head and remained silent, he didn't have a good answer for her second question anyway. It took a minute to find his voice again as his eyes returned to Stephanie's still form.

"Like you said, she's tougher than she looks, kid."

Frantic shouts from the hallway broke into the conversation. Large, heavy boots pounded around above as well as outside. Ranger had his gun in hand again when the door opened, revealing a frantic Angel.

"Boss, we lost Haley. She got out of her room and we-"

"What do you mean I'm lost?" Haley stood up from the bed, frowning. "Am I dreaming again?"

Angel's shoulders sagged in relief a millisecond before he stalked toward her. "We thought you jumped overboard," he said, taking her by the elbow. "Come on, I need to check you over anyway." He paused, halfway back to the door. "Any change in Stephanie?"

Ranger shook his head.

"That's good," Angel nodded. "She needs the time to heal. You want me to send someone else in?"

"I'm staying."

Angel looked at him for a beat before starting out the door again, Haley in tow.

"Take care of her, Ranger," Haley said softly before the door closed behind them.

"Your family really is crazy, Babe," he sighed, looking back at Stephanie. "You know that don't you?"

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Haley frowned as the appropriately named Angel finished poking and prodding her. At long last he handed her several pills, ordering her to take them with some food and then get some sleep. She would have sulked if she hadn't felt so drained, but she didn't have the energy so she accepted the medication and the orders without complaint.

"Dom's going to stay with you for a while," Angel told her, packing some of his kit back together. "No more wandering around unsupervised."

"So I'm a prisoner," Haley sniffed.

"No. But we aren't going to risk you flying over another railing," he said with a stern glare. And then he was gone.

Haley stuck her tongue out at the door. Parental pirates. Of course. Why not? She flopped back on the bed to think, and yelped as she fell onto something lumpy. She rolled off the lump and looked at it. A fluffy white teddy bear stared back at her with bright blue eyes. Reluctantly she reached out and touched it. It was impossibly soft. So soft that one touch and she couldn't keep herself from pulling it toward her for a prolonged cuddle.

"I think you should know," she said solemnly, "I don't usually cuddle with strangers."

"Good to know." The voice was soft, but undeniably masculine. It also held a hint of amusement. Haley sat up to look at the new intruder. The boy with shaggy black hair and mocha skin was leaning against the doorframe with the ghost of a smile playing across his full lips and his dark eyes glinting in the light. He was wearing black like the rest of them, fatigue pants and a sleeveless shirt that revealed the rippling muscles of his arms. Even in the carefully relaxed stance he was dangerous- a panther relaxing in a tree while it waited for the opportune moment to move in for the kill. She knew she should have been terrified of him but somehow she wasn't. Which probably should have made her even more nervous...

"Who are you?" The words left her before she realized she intended to say them. The smiled disappeared from the boy's face. Well, a man really. Boys didn't look that dangerous.

"Dominic." He paused as if weighing his words. "I'm here to make sure you don't go pull another Princess Buttercup routine." The smile reappeared as he watched her jaw drop. He took the moment of shocked silence to move into the room and sit down on the edge of the bed.

"Since when to commandos watch 'The Princess Bride?'"

"Think of me as the Dread Pirate Roberts," he laughed outright at her shocked look

"I take it I knew you too, then?" she said after a moment of thought.

"Yeah," Dominic sighed. "I knew Haley."

"They said I'm Haley."

"Yeah. Somewhere in there, you are."

Haley bit her lower lip. She had no argument for that. "Tell me about it. Tell me how you know me... or her."

Dominic shook his head, looking at the bear she still held close to her. "It's better if you remember on your own."

'Is he mine?" she lifted the bear for further examination. At Dominic's nod, she smiled. "Tell me how I got him, then."

Dominic grinned. "Nope. You definitely have to remember that one on your own."

"You are about as much help as-"

"A unicorn?" he finished for her.

Haley sat up at that. "There are two other people on planet Earth who know about unicorns, and you aren't Eddie or Erin."

She watched Dominic's eyes widen, and glanced down in surprise as his hand wrapped around her wrist. "You remember them?"

"Of course I remember them. We were friends back home until Mom and Daddy died. Then I had to live with Serena and Charles." She pulled her arm away from him. "You didn't answer my..." her voice trailed away as something like horror registered in her eyes. Her gaze locked on Dominic. "I gave Eddie a black eye," she said weakly.

"Yeah. A real beauty, too," he said in admiring tones.

"You said your name is Dominic?" She was staring at him now, her thoughts beginning to swirl together faster and faster.

"Dominic Vega," he said, his eyes wary. She leaned away from him, her eyes widening in something that looked like fear, jerking her wrist out of his grasp.

"No. No. You aren't real. You aren't real," she whispered. He could see her beginning to shake.

Dom's stomach clenched tighter. He reached out to touch her, reassure her, anything. She flinched, avoiding contact, shaking her head. Denying his existence. Keeping his eyes on her he picked up the radio at his belt.

"Angel, get your ass down here, and bring Quinn with you."

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I tried to take a deep breath, but I got about half way there before a wall of pain smashed into me. I choked on it, whimpering as the coughs brought another wave and then another. At least the pain meant I wasn't dead. I'm not a theologian but I'm pretty sure there isn't chest pain in heaven, and hell is supposed to be more of an all-over burning sensation.

The second clue was the person whispering in some language I didn't recognize. I lay there gasping, taking small shallow breaths as the pain subsided while I debated the wisdom of opening my eyes. I was seriously considering never opening them again, and just hoping someone would take the hint and make me dead when the voice switched to English.

"Babe, open your eyes. I know you can hear me, Stephanie," it said. It was familiar, too: Deep, gorgeous and sexy, with an East Coast accent. A voice like that, I had to open my eyes. I had to know if the view was anything to compare with the soundtrack.

I wasn't disappointed. I was lying in a bed, and the man leaning over me was what women through the ages had dreamed of. Dark, dark eyes, long black hair, skin the color of coffee with two creams. A painted-on black shirt revealed that the perfection went to more than his face- he was buff, toned, and sculpted in all the right ways. I was half-dead, but I knew if I had an ounce more energy I'd be fantasizing.

"Here," he said gently, holding something to my lips. "Just sip it."

I did as I was ordered, and sighed in relief as the water soothed the scratchy feeling in my mouth and throat. "Thanks," I whispered.

He smiled, a broad grin that brought attention to his sinful lips and made those dark gorgeous eyes shine. In a flash of recognition, I knew that grin- I had seen it in my dreams so many times now I couldn't count. I would have recognized him sooner, I think, but the setting was all wrong. Normally I saw him sitting across from me at a small restaurant.

"Professor Higgins?" My voice was faint but he heard it. I knew because his jaw fell open and he leaned back like I had slapped him. I wondered if I had said something wrong.