Title: Work (it) out!
Chapter 4: Full force!
Author: Ann
Rating: (G to NC-17): G
Spoilers/Warnings: After TS
Summary: Ranger does a week of working out Stephanie style

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine. For more information on the workout-programs:

Number 4 in this series. Sorry for the delay, RL interfered with my plan. So really separate from the books and other stories, here's a little fun for all of us! Hope it gives encouragement to go to the gym if you need it J.

PS: the description of the program is the current program of Les Mills, so anybody participating in these programs: you know what I mean! J

Full force!

When I woke up on Thursday morning, I was having the distinct feeling that something was wrong. This bed felt different from my own… It smelt different from my own… And that alarm was not my alarm. So where was I? I was struggling to get my memories back about last night. I remember walking back from the gym to the office with Ranger. There we went into his office and he told me about the favour he wanted to ask. It really wasn't too bad. He asked me if I would be okay with working one night a week until 10 pm. It meant I could start later that day, having a morning off. The reason he asked me was because he would like me to start doing some surveillance. He said I had a good instinct. Also, the occasional distraction job was usually done at night. He asked if it would be okay that the night wasn't fixed. In this line of work, things could come up at the last minute and it would help him a lot if he could ask me at the last moment. I said that it would be fine, as long as he understood that I would on occasion have something to do and couldn't always say yes. He understood that and we made the deal that I would try to change any plans if he needed me, and that he would have to accept that I couldn't always change my plans. After that we had chatted a little bit and then I went to my cubicle to continue my work.

I remember being in his apartment, waiting for him for dinner. He told me I could go up to the 7th floor at 6 and wait there for him. He had a meeting until 7.30 pm, and Ella would serve dinner around 8. I remembered the meal, it was lovely. For some reason I felt very relaxed. Usually I had always been nervous when I was around Ranger, but lately I had become more at ease with him. Maybe working with him 5 days a week had that effect… And maybe it was because I felt good about myself now. I loved my workouts in the gym, I liked my job, I had great friends and family and even my mother had calmed down about my career choice since I had steady employment now. Okay, I was still single, but she said that I was 'moving in the right direction'… Right… My grandmother couldn't stop talking about how I was working for that 'bounty hunter with the great package and the good looking employees', so life was good to me. And if Ranger wanted to take things to the next level, I wasn't about to stop him. Also, I wasn't about to say yes without a good conversation. If he was interested in me in a relationship-type way, than he needed to know that the secrecy had to drop down a level. I knew how important his privacy was, but he also knew after the latest adventure with his look-alike that I hadn't told anybody about his marriage and daughter. So he should have realised by now that I took his privacy seriously.

Thinking about last night I also remembered that Ranger had gotten a call. We had been sitting on the couch, just finished the meal, and were talking. I had the impression that he wanted to say something to me and was looking for the right moment when his cell went off. He had mumbled something under his breath that didn't need translation and answered the call. There was a huge problem somewhere and he needed to leave immediately to manage this situation. He had asked me to stay, said he hoped he would be back and that I was free to use the apartment. I remember watching television and…. that's it, really. But it could only mean one thing: I was in his bed! I quickly checked and saw I had all my clothes on, except for my shoes and socks. Mmm, if I was here, then where was Ranger? He must have been here sometime, to migrate me from the couch to the bed. But apparently he didn't stay. Pity, really. The alarm was still going, and I looked at it. It looked quite normal, contrary to many other high-tech gadgets, so I pressed a button which said: off. The beeping stopped. Excellent. I looked at the time, it was 5.45 am. This must be the time Ranger normally got up for his run. Way too early for me to get up, that's for sure. And since I already was in his bed, it was a little late to start worrying about it, so I snuggled up for another couple of hours of sleep.

I woke up at 7.00 am again, my normal time of getting up. And when I became fully awake I suddenly realised I had a problem. I had no clothes here! And no clean gym stuff. And this building had surveillance everywhere, so no way I would be able to go home without it being noticed. Shit, shit, shit, this would get me a lot of prying from the guys. Oh, hang on: with a bit of luck they all were working on this big incident, so they knew I didn't actually spend the night with Ranger. I simply slept in his apartment. Better, but still not really good. Anyway, I didn't want to work in yesterday's clothes and definitely needed new workout clothes, so home it would have to be. I dressed, grabbed my stuff and hurried out. When I was in my car, my cell rang. It was Ranger.

"Yo."

"Yo. You're leaving?"

"Yeah, I need clean clothes."

"Okay. See you at 8."

I was very curious what would be so important to keep Ranger up all night, and made it back into the office at 7.50. Ranger, Tank and Lester were standing in the hallway of the stairs. Since I had started to workout, I also had started to use the stairs. The elevator could take ages (I had a sneaky suspicion that that was on purpose) so I took the stairs now. I had to use the elevator to go to the 7th floor, and sometimes I took the elevator if I felt really tired and wanted a moment for myself. But not today. As soon as they heard me, they stopped talking and turned to look at me. They looked really tired, and it was clear that it had been a long night for all of them. Ranger was about to say something to me, when his cell rang. He answered it, listened and gave his usual short replies of yes, no, where, who and so on. During the conversation he looked at the Tank and Lester, and clearly ESP was going on. He signalled a few things with his hand to them, which I couldn't completely follow and then hung up. I wasn't sure if he still wanted to talk to me, so I decided to wait there until he would send me away. The fact that I was curious had absolutely nothing to do with it. He updated Tank and Lester on the call, and I got the impression it had something to do with kidnapping. Then he turned to me.

"Babe."

"Ranger." And I nodded to the others. They nodded back and then left. I could hear them give orders in the surveillance room. Something was up.

"Sorry about last night. The daughter of a client was kidnapped. We just got a lead and we'll be going out in a minute. I need your help here."

"Sure, what do you need me to do."

"Are you familiar with the communication system?" Rangeman had two-way and one-way communication systems. One-way was used during for instance distraction jobs to give information to the capture team, two-way was used to keep in touch with each other and with the office during all sorts of activities. I knew how it worked, Ram had shown me a few days ago to distract me from a particular unsuccessful search.

"Yeah, I know how it works."

"Good. I need you to pass on messages and information between teams. We'll be heading out with 3 teams. Ask Tank to explain it to you, I need to get ready." He was still wearing the white button-down shirt and dark grey suit from yesterday's meeting. The tie was off and the top buttons were open. He looked delicious, despite the fatigue showing in his face. I was momentarily distracted by his well-shaped ass as he ran up the stairs. After 5 steps he turned around, ran down the stairs again and I suddenly found myself in his embrace, being thoroughly kissed. I almost melted and started kissing back. This was a good way to start the day! But it ended just as fast as it started. He was still holding me in his embrace and he leaned his head against the side of my head.

"I had other plans for last night." He sighed. Hey, me too! He held me even tighter for a moment.

"Wish me luck," he whispered. I had the impression that this rescue mission was quite a dangerous one.

"Good luck." And then he was really gone.

The rest of the morning was just a blur. Tank gave me instructions, which I quickly wrote down so I could check. All the guys were getting ready for some serious action: full utility belts and bullet proof vests. All of them were wired for sound, and they all called in to ask me if I could hear them. The Trenton police was also involved, and I could also communicate with them. Cool! I was wearing a head set so I had my hands free to write down any information. Then a long line of black cars leaving the garage and the silence before the storm. Only 2 people were in the office: me and a new guy who was watching the monitors. I relayed some general information while they were still on their way to the location. I quickly understood the system. I had different buttons in front of me. Two complete rows only had buttons with a number, from 1 through 60. When I pushed button number 1 I could give Ranger a message. He would be the only one to hear it. Button 2 was Tank and so on. When all of the guys called in, I had written down their numbers and names, so I knew who was who. Then I had buttons for teams 1 through 10, so I could give a message to a particular team. And I could give messages to all at once. The police communication was done through different buttons, I wasn't surprised that Ranger wanted to keep the communication separate from the police at all times. His work method could be a little unorthodox. When they arrived at the location, Ranger gave his last instructions and then the action began. I was so focused that I didn't realise that it was finished about an hour later, until I heard Ranger in my ear saying:

"Babe, you did good."

"Message to who?" I asked automatically, my left hand hovering above the buttons.

"Message to you." I could hear him smiling.

"Oh, sorry. Thanks."

"We got the girl and the kidnappers. We're wrapping things up here. Please keep listening for information until we are back."

"Okay."

There was an atmosphere of celebration when they came back. Only Ranger and Tank were still talking to the family and the police, wrapping things up. They arrived about 90 minutes later, when the others were already back at work. I had heard the story by then from Lester and Bobby. Ranger, Tank, Lester and Bobby had gotten the girl, while the other teams had provided backup and caught a few kidnappers as well. The girl had been heavily guarded with 8 people, so all the teams made at least one capture. Ranger, Tank, Lester and Bobby each had taken a few hits, but ice would take care of that. Lester had also gotten a kick in the ribs, so he wouldn't be laughing a lot for a few days. Everybody went silent when Tank and Ranger appeared, still dressed for combat and both drinking a bottle of water they got from the fridge. They looked positively impressive. Ranger and Tank leaned back against the monitors and automatically, everybody gathered around them.

"Latest news: the girl is unharmed and united with her family. All the kidnappers have been captured and are currently being questioned by the police." Tank didn't use a lot of words, but the message was wonderful all the same. A few cheers were heard.

"Good work." Ranger at his best. Tank and Ranger got up and everybody went back to work, me included. It had been very exciting to be part of this operation, I felt proud of myself. I had never missed a message, nor given it to the wrong person. It was very hard to return to the daily routine of computer searches and I was glad when it was time to go to the gym. I didn't think Ranger would be there, but he caught up with me when I left the building.

"Babe."

"Hi! Didn't think you would come today."

"Why?" Mmm, let's see: you didn't sleep, you just took down 8 men and you have a lovely bruise on your cheek. Okay, this is Ranger we're talking about.

"Thought you might like to sleep a few hours." I would have!

"No, it's better not to break the pattern. Besides, I didn't get to run this morning, so I can catch up now." Health guru!

"Right." I minimised my eye roll. Today was his favourite day probably anyway. Today we would do BodyPump, which was basically lifting weights while listening to great music. Ranger would have no problem.

Despite the fact that I was very pleased with the way things turned out this morning, I was very disappointed about the dinner with Stephanie. I had hoped to steer the conversation into the direction of relationships, and the fact that we were both single at the moment and that my "no relationship rule" was no longer in use. It was a big step for me and it had taken me months to get to this point and for her to finally leave Morelli for good and then we had gotten interrupted. I did take it as a good sign the she hadn't been very nervous and that she had stayed in the apartment even after I left. Okay, she fell asleep on the couch, but that did indicate a certain level of comfort. Even though I felt tired and the left side of my face was throbbing, I wouldn't want to miss today's workout. It was already Thursday, and I wanted to tell Stephanie about my feelings before the week was over. I sort of had a plan for the weekend, but I could only put that plan into action if she knew how I felt about her. And returned the sentiment. Also, I wasn't the type of person to back out of a dare because I lost one night of sleep. So here we go. BodyPump.

The introduction was easy. Zoë was the trainer again today, and she gave some information about how much weight we could put on per exercise. I decided to take it easy today, I wasn't in top shape after a sleepless night and a take down. The next track was for the legs, which basically consisted only of squads. Stephanie held her own, she put on 6 kg on both sides, beating most of the women present in the lesson. I checked the 3 other guys that participated in the training and put on 2 kg more than they had. Hey, I'm still a man who wants to impress a woman. And I knew that my Babe would notice sooner or later. The same way that I noticed that the 3 guys were located rather close to her. Two were behind her, checking her butt every chance they got, and one was on the other side of her. My Babe amazed me every chance she got. Her spidey sense was almost better then my years of training, but 3 guys trying to impress her she didn't notice. Couldn't help but see that she did watch me on occasion. After legs it was chest. Usually I do sets of weights, repeating sets up to 3 times with a couple of minutes rest in between. This lesson was more aimed at endurance, so the exercise lasted longer than my sets, and I used less weight than I normally would. It was a pretty intense workout all the same. Back muscles next, no problem. It was nice to do things slightly different than usual. There were 3 different moves: row, dead lift and clean&press. Next up were the biceps followed by the triceps. During the biceps exercise I could see Stephanie looking at my arms. Years of hard training got me my body and I was proud of it. But she looked pretty hot herself!

The biceps exercise was one of my favourites. Not because it was so easy to do, but because it combined great music with the opportunity to check out the people around you while you were working out. And Ranger looked very good. You know, this guy is so trained that he seems to be able to think before any response, nothing is emotional anymore. He has so many skills that it almost scary, but he was completely oblivious to all the women checking him out. He did give a rather dark look to someone behind me, but when I turned to look, I only got a smile from the guy. No idea what that was about. I hated the triceps exercise. That muscle just didn't do it for me. But according to Zoë it would prevent us from getting floppy upper arms, so I gave it my best. The final 3 tracks were nice because you knew you were getting towards the end. First up were legs again, this time the front of the legs. Then the shoulders. I always thought that my shoulders would do great, but it turns out I didn't lift as many things above my head as I thought. I had started with a measly 1 kg in my first lesson, and made it to 2,5 kg now. And I was proud of that! There were also push ups involved, and I'll admit that I missed one push up, just to see Ranger perform one to perfection. Finally, the abdominal track. Last one before the cooling down. Ranger had positioned himself in such a way that every time we had to move up, he could see me, and I could see him. This made it fun, and now I didn't miss a move. At then end we all stretched out while laying on the ground, waiting for the last track to begin. It was a song that I liked for the words. And it also made me think of Ranger. He was the one who let me do things that I never thought possible. Whatever happened in the future, I would always be grateful for that. When stretching our legs, I almost fell, and he grabbed me with a hand to steady me. That's what I mean! The guy is perfect.

Afterwards we walked back to the office. We were quiet, but in a nice way. Suddenly he turned to me.

"Want to give dinner a second try tonight?"

"I thought you would want an early night?" He didn't sleep after all.

"One doesn't exclude the other." Husky voice and suggestive look. Mmm, interesting.

"Are you sure?" Burg upbringing.

"Yes."

"Than I'd like to have dinner with you tonight… again."

"Great, I'll let Ella know." So we were staying in tonight.

I couldn't wait.

Sorry about the delay, but something came up. I hope to finish it tomorrow with Friday's workout. Any mistakes in the description of the communication system is of course mine, sadly I'm no expert. Hope you enjoy it! Reviews are welcome!

Music used in the BodyPump lesson:

BODYPUMP® 58 (June 2006)

1

I'll Be Your Light

Kristine W

2

Drop Dead Gorgeous

Republica

3

Love Shack

The B-52's

4

Riding On The Wings (Motiv8 Airplay Extended Mix)

Motiv8

5

Let's Get Down

Supafly vs Fishbowl

6

Stand By Me (Orig Mix)

Mr Timothy feat. Inaya Day

7

Breathe

One More Angel

8

Round And Round

BodyRockers

9

Intuition

Jewel

10

You Raise Me Up

Josh Groban