Oh, Hi! **waves sheepishly** Long time no see. Hope everyone is well and surviving the insanity we all seem in be living in at the moment.

Thank you LilyGhost


"You should have Bobby look at that," Zip suggested, noticing the injury on my forearm I was currently inspecting.

"It's just a scratch," I replied, brushing off his concern, though it did hurt like a son-of-bitch and was starting to turn an alarming shade of red.

"Yeah, but I think it's been a bit of a stretch since that asshole has seen the business end of a shower so who knows what the fuck could be under his fingernails. You're lucky he didn't bite you too or you'd probably need a rabies shot."

The truth of that observation sent a small shiver down my spine. "If Cal hadn't extended his vacation, I wouldn't be having to back up your sorry ass with these fucking crack heads who whine and scratch and bite when they get caught jumping bail."

Zip barked out a laugh. "C'mon, Cal's on his honeymoon, can't blame him for wanting to drag that out a while. And that was only the second crack head this week. You know besides Cal you're the only one big enough to keep them restrained. Those fuckers are deceptively strong when they're whacked out on crack."

I grunted out an agreement as my arm started to throb and the elevator doors dinged open on five. "Don't worry, Cal promised to be back on Monday," Zip reminded as he stepped into the hallway and immediately had to dodge a huge and sprinting German Shepard and its idiotic trainer, hopelessly trailing behind.

"Chaos! Heel!" Lester called after the disappearing dog. Fucking Santos. Why anyone thought he could handle that animal was a complete mystery. He was starting to take on Lester's personality and unfortunately living up to the name bestowed upon him. If there was any hope of it not turning into a colossal waste of money, Hector needed to take over the training immediately.

I had to hold back an eyeroll as we watched the two of them round the corner and heard Lester expel a string of curses not fit for anyone's ears.

"Seems Cal already broke that promise once," I reminded Zip. "I'm going to the infirmary, see if you can get Lester and his charge under control."

Zip gave me a salute and headed off and I rode the elevator back down to the medical level. Thinking about Cal on the ride, I was positive he wouldn't be back on Monday. After meeting his new bride, I thought we'd be lucky if he ever came back at all. The realization that I was also going to break a promise tonight wiggled its way into my brain. That was a conversation I did not want to have but couldn't put it off any longer.

Bobby glanced up from what looked like a dozen stiches he was sewing into Junior's cheek and blew out a sigh at the sight of my arm. "When is Cal going to be back?" he asked.

"Probably never," I responded.

He chuckled and stuck a bandage over the sutures on Junior's face.

"True. That is one fine woman he managed to snag. Lucky bastard. Is it infected?" He gestured to my injury as Junior left and grabbed some supplies off the counter.

"If the throbbing is any indication, yeah."

Bobby got to work cleaning out the wound and as he doled out a round of antibiotics and made sure to remind me to take them until they were gone, he said something that made me let out a sigh.

"You've heard, right?"

I could pretend I didn't know what he was talking about, but it was late, and I wasn't in the mood to play games.

"Yes, I've heard."

Bobby covered the long scratch with some gauze and started taping it on. "What are we gonna do about it?"

I couldn't stop the eyebrow raise. "We? We aren't going to do anything. It's none of our fucking business and we are going to stay out of it." I took comfort in the fact it was only a partial lie. I was going to attempt to do something but anyone else trying to get involved could potentially have the opposite affect as what we all wanted.

"Alright," he agreed with a sad little head shake. "Hopefully they aren't stupid enough to let this happen."

I grabbed the bottle of pills of the counter. "We can only hope," I replied.

"Take them all," Bobby called as I headed out. "And come back if it gets worse."

It was nearly 11:30 when I got on the elevator and keyed in my access code for the Penthouse. Normal people wouldn't appreciate a visit at this hour; however, Ranger was far from normal.

I tried to talk myself out of it twice before I knocked sharply on his door. I'm the only one besides him who has the code to get up here, so he wasn't surprised to see me when the door swung open.

"May I come in?"

That gave him pause. Our conversations, especially at this hour, are generally short and business related and don't require my leaving the entryway.

He stepped aside to let me enter and I caught a glimpse of alarm flicker across his face when I asked for some Scotch.

I don't drink, haven't touched a drop since my parents were killed by a drunk driver the day after my 20th birthday. Ranger knows this but to his credit, didn't say anything except, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I replied, lowering myself into the overstuffed armchair beside the couch, being sure to hold his gaze. He obviously thought I was lying, and it made him lose a little bit of that legendary control. Just like he knew I didn't drink, he also knew I almost never lied.

"Bullshit. What is it, Tank? Did something..." He stopped himself short of asking about her and I would bet he almost had to bite his tongue to do it.

"You better get that booze," I shot back, and didn't miss the anger flash behind his eyes. I was starting to piss him off.

He disappeared for a minute and came back with a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black and a tumbler with what looked like two shots already poured in it.

He placed both on the coffee table between us and dropped into the chair across from me. "Have at it," he bit out, not even trying hide his irritation.

I raised an eyebrow "That's for you," I said. "You're gonna need it."

He visibly tensed but picked up the glass and tossed back the amber liquid in one shot. After setting the tumbler back on the table harder than necessary, he issued a warning. "Tell me before I start to lose my patience."

I took a beat before speaking, not at all sure how he was going to react and debating if it was too late to back out of this conversation. Though, I knew this would be the one and only chance I had to try this; he wouldn't allow it to happen again.

"How long have we known each other?" I asked.

The wariness was apparent in his voice. "Since we both just celebrated our 37th birthday, 36 years."

My family had moved in across the street from his shortly after our first birthdays and we'd been best friends ever since. Right now, I was betting he wanted to trade up.

"And in all that time have I, even once, interfered in your personal life?" With that one question, the reason for my visit became abundantly apparent to him.

"Yes," he answered reluctantly. "You told me I shouldn't marry Rachel." I had to hold back another eyeroll. God damn Rachel. What a fucking mess that was.

"Everyone told you that."

"But you were the first."

"And also the last, but you married her anyway in a mis-guided attempt to do the right thing. And who was there to help you pick up the pieces when it inevitably turned to shit?"

He hissed out a long breath and eyed the now empty glass on the table, probably wanting to just down the whole bottle. Ranger liked to keep his private life private, and I wasn't letting him.

"You were, Tank."

"That's right, I was." I replied. Everyone else ran for the hills when that hit the fan. "And I made you a promise that night, do you remember?"

It felt like two lifetimes had passed between us since that night, but I'd kept that promise since then. Until now, of course.

"I do. You promised me you'd stay out of my love life. Even if you knew I was making a huge mistake, you said you'd keep your big fat mouth shut and let me make it."

I nodded and picked up the bottle of scotch. "Not quite verbatim but close enough." I poured two more fingers of the amber liquid and handed him the glass. "And you promised me the same thing. Now we're both gonna break that vow."

Ranger eyed me over the rim of the glass before knocking back the drink, no doubt remembering the night he saved me from eloping with the lunatic who was Cassandra almost a year ago. I am lucky he interfered, and knew it was the only reason he was letting this continue.

"Alright, let's hear it," he said leaning back into the chair.

"I assume you've heard the rumor," I began.

"The Burg runs rampant with daily gossip, so you'll have to be more specific."

He knew exactly the rumor to which I was referring, however clearly had no intention of making this easy on me.

I let a sigh of exasperation escape before I got right to the point. "You're making a mistake, Ranger. A big one. A life altering one and I know I can't force you to do what you should but I'm asking you to think hard about what you want and then go get it. But don't wait too long or that ring on her finger will become a permanent one, and you'll both be screwed. And you'll both be miserable."

The weight of those words hung in the air, and he felt every syllable as his eyes dropped to the empty glass, still cradled in his hand. He knew I was right. I'd bet he'd even told himself the same thing on more than one occasion, and long before there was a ring from someone else in the mix. But there were a million reasons and excuses why he didn't pursue it and I understood every single one.

He didn't respond so I tried again.

"I get it," I said, and he lifted those brooding eyes back to mine. "Our lifestyle is not…I get it," I repeated. "But I've known you our whole lives, Ranger. There have been multiple women who have temporarily held your attention over the years but there hasn't been one, not one, who I know belongs with you the way she does. I feel that shit in my bones and I know you do to. And that, my friend, is something from which you should not walk away."

That was all I had, and it was a shock he let me say that much about it. Several beats went by before he slowly set the glass on the table and then crossed his arms over his chest. A classic Ranger deflection tactic.

"I don't think I've ever heard you say so much at one time," he responded making the end of our discussion crystal clear. It almost made me smile.

"Don't worry, it won't happen again," I said, and my phone buzzed, effectively diffusing the tension in the room. I glanced down at the text message from Zip. It was a photo of Santos trying to get Chaos to stop chewing on what looked like a leg of my desk. It had been a day of long sighs and I let another one loose.

"Lester is being a fucking moron again," I let Ranger know as I lifted out of the comfortable chair and headed out.

I was glad to have my back to him when he called my name so he couldn't see what I was sure was a shocked expression on my face.

"Tank?"

I paused but didn't turn around.

"Thank you," he said quietly, and this time I couldn't stop the smile as I pulled the door closed.

My phone buzzed again when I reached my office and though I was plotting how best to dispose of Lester's body for letting Chaos eat one of my desk legs, I checked the display because the tone was an alert that Ranger was leaving the building.

For the second time, a smile broke out across my face. I picked up my desk phone and called the control room. Ram answered after half a ring.

"What's up, boss?" He queried.

"Remove the detail from Ms. Plum tonight…make that for the next few nights. She'll be covered for a while. And call Lucky and tell him to clear Ranger's schedule for the rest of week."

"Copy that," Ram replied, and I could hear the grin in his voice.