Disclaimer: Anything familiar belongs to JE and the creators of Criminal Minds.

Warning: Adult language, adult situations

Chapter 73: Thursday, September 1st, 1300-2300

Miami Rangeman/Miami

Stephanie's POV

After the tense morning meeting, my day got much better. Lester started my training, and I already feel better about myself. He managed to teach me how to throw a punch the right way, without being condescending or too pushy. Then, he helped me in the gun range. I still hate my gun, but I feel a little better, knowing that I can shoot it properly. I never realized that I have a decent aim. I guess when my life isn't on the line, and I'm shooting at paper people, it is more doable.

Lunch was relaxing, but by the end of our meal, I was a bundle of nerves. I felt horrible that Ranger had to take someone to the mats because of me. I can't believe that I am causing so much turmoil in his company. My Carlos assured me that he isn't mad at me nor blames me, that Miami's attitude is poor, and that they treat Maggie like a maid. He also said that Carter won't know what hit him and that I believe.

At five to one, I accompanied Ranger, Lester, and Bobby down to the gym. When we walked through the doors, I was a little shocked to see so many of the men there. Marco didn't look pleased, but I can tell that his anger was directed at Ranger, Lester and myself, not at Carter like I thought it would be. I guess my first opinion on Marco was wrong. When we went to his house, he seemed like a nice guy, one who was genuinely concerned about Julie and me, but now I see that was a façade. I hope that Ranger sees through his facade as well. Pretty soon, Hector starts with Carter after Bobby gives them the rules of the fight. He toys with him a bit but eventually takes down Carter. Hector takes a moment to make sure that Carter understands that I'm off limits, and he is never to hurt me again. I can't help but love my Hector a little more. I am so grateful for my Rangemen brothers, especially Hector, who is one of my closest brothers.

Lester is next on the mats and addresses Carter before starting his match. I watch as Lester allows Carter to make contact, and he breaks the skin above his eyebrow. Even though I know that it's a minor hit, I'm still concerned for Lester. Once Lester finishes taking down Carter, he nods to Ranger before walking towards me. I wipe away the blood from his cut, put some antiseptic on it, then place a butterfly bandage. I kiss Lester on the check as a thank you for having my back.

Finally, my Carlos enters the ring, only it's not Carlos, but Ranger. I watch Ranger glare at Carter like a panther glares at its prey. Ranger allows Carter to get several hits in, and I know that they don't hurt. Then, Ranger takes him down. The words that come out of his mouth, though, after he finally rises, sending chills down my body, causing me to tremble with flashbacks and fear. I know I'm surrounded by my Trenton brothers, but I can't help the fear from rising in my throat, threatening to suffocate me.

It takes both Woody and Manny to hold Hector back who wants to do nothing more than beat the shit out of Carter, while Ranger goes animalistic. I feel my knees get weak. Just before I'm about to collapse, I feel Lester's strong arms wrap around my waist, as he works to hold me upright. He whispers in my ear, "It will be okay, Beautiful. Ranger and I won't allow anyone to hurt you ever again. Calm down, Steph."

I watch, somewhat disjointed, as Ranger has Carter on his stomach, arm bending behind him until we all hear the crack of the bone. I shutter, and Bobby runs over the Ranger, trying to get him to leave Carter alone, preventing further injury to Carter. I'm not sure what Bobby said to Ranger, but suddenly he releases Carter and is at my side. He lifts me easily and gently in his arms, carrying me to the ninth floor penthouse apartment. Once we arrive up there, he lays me down on the couch, just holding me while whispering words to me in Spanish. At this point, I don't care if he ever says those words to me in English, as I feel my body starting to react.

"Babe, are you okay, Querida? I love you, and I want you to slowly sit up."

I move into an upright position, his hand on my back, helping to sit up. I take a deep breath before the tears start to fall. "I'm scared, Carlos. When Carter said those words, it brought me back to that night. I don't know if I'm strong enough to resist."

"Stephanie, you are strong enough to resist. With Lester's training, you'll get even stronger. You need to relax. We got your back. Lester and I won't let anything happen to you."

"You both can't be with me non-stop. I will have to go out on my own eventually."

"Babe, you will always have a bodyguard. Even if we return to Trenton. He may not be with you, but he will be following you. My six is always covered."

"Always?" I ask, confused.

"Yes, Babe. I'm tracked just like you are. When I disengage my trackers, Lester can still track me. He has information on a tracker I have that no one else knows about, as does he. We only pull up the information when we take ourselves off-line."

"Beautiful, you already have a strong punch, and we just started our training. I know that, by the end of this month, you will be able to take down most of the men here."

"Lester, I'm not that good."

"No, Stephanie, you're better. You're a natural." Les replies.

We hear a rap on the door. Lester gets up to answer it. Instead of seeing Bobby, who we expected, we see Hector.

"Jefe, I stay. I protect Estephanía." Hector states when he enters the room.

Ranger replies in Spanish, "It is not necessary. Lester and I will be here with her. Thank you, though, for the offering.

Hector's eyes narrow, and I see anger radiating off his body before he responds in angry Spanish, "it is not an offer. I'm telling you that I am staying. I will have my sister's back. You and Les can't always be there. I will be there when you can't. I'm like smoke, they'll never know I'm watching if I don't want them to know."

I see Ranger waging war with himself. I need to know what was said. I hate that they can all understand Spanish, but I don't know any Spanish except the menu of Taco Bell. I decided to stick my two cents in.

"Carlos, what did Hector say?"

"He said that he wants to stay to have your back. He'll be your protector."

"That's perfect. What are you waiting for?" I reply.

"Babe, you want Hector following you around everywhere you go?" he asks me.

"Carlos, you just said that I will always have a bodyguard. I don't trust the men here. I feel icky around them. Their whole attitude towards me isn't friendly. I trust Les, I trust you, and I trust Hector. I know that the three of you will do everything and anything in your power to keep me safe. I'd feel more comfortable with Hector. Aside from his tattoos, he's not as intimidating as the rest of you are. Now, tell Hector I agree for him to stay, but he needs to cover up the teardrops. I don't want people to think badly of him or me when we are seen together around town. He's just a deadly without showing the teardrops as he is with them in plain sight."

"Fine, Querida, it that's what you want," Ranger replies. He relays my request to Hector who nods, but then adds another condition.

"Babe, Hector wants you to learn Spanish, and he's willing to teach you."

"Gracias, Hector. Me gusto." I reply, using my only non-Taco Bell vocabulary in Spanish.

Ranger sighs as there is another knock on the door. Hector goes to the door, opening it for Bobby.

"Ranger, Marco is trying to get in to see Carter. I have Manny and Woody standing guard, but I know he'll try to dismiss them. I doubt they will leave until dismissed by one of us."

"Bobby, what's the damage to Carter?" Carlos asks.

"Broken rib, broken arm, black eye, and lots of bruises. Did he get any good hits in on you?"

"No, I'm good." Says Carlos.

"How are you feeling, Bomber?" Bobby asks gently.

"Better. I had a flashback to that night. I'm afraid. I'm afraid that the men here will try and hurt me. But otherwise, I'm fine."

Bobby gives me a quick examination before saying to Carlos, "she seems to be fine. Try not to stress her too much, and the flashbacks should stay away."

Carlos glances at his watch, "Babe, we need to pick up Julie and Tommy at 1520. We need to leave here at 1500. Lester, can you push your meeting up to 1430? That will give us a half hour to get ready."

"No problem, Ranger. Where are we going tonight?"

"We're going to dinner at Casa Rodolfo, then on to Club Fuego. We will be treating the BAU to a Cuban-inspired evening."

"Sounds like fun. Will you and Beautiful be joining us for dinner as well?"

"Yes, it is a celebratory dinner. We will be with you for dinner."

As much as I like the BAU team and my Trenton guys, I can't help to feel disappointed. I was hoping that Carlos and I could have some alone time when we went out to eat instead of joining everyone else right away. I can see him notice the change in my emotions.

"Okay, Beautiful, I'm going to head downstairs to get ready for our meeting. Be there five minutes before, Conference room C."

"Thanks, Lester,"

"Stephanie, I need to get back down to our guest, to make sure he's okay and Marco doesn't try anything. He won't do anything while I'm there. See you later." Bobby states before following Lester out the door. Finally, only Hector is left.

"Where I go?" Hector asks Carlos.

"Ears to the ground," Carlos replies. Hector nods his head, then leaves.

"Carlos, does Hector actually understand English?"

I watch him hold in laughter, then reply, "he speaks English fluently. He was born and raised here in Miami. I helped him get out of a gang. When I opened Rangeman here, he was one of my first hires. He set up the computer systems and the initial security systems. When I went to Trenton, he came to help me set up. We were both coming back to Miami to stay based here. Then, you walked into my life, and I couldn't leave. Hector wanted a chance to meet the woman who started to tame me, so when you needed an alarm, I called him. He's a little antisocial, very guarded personally. He uses Spanish as his way of finding things out without anyone knowing. When people think someone can't understand them, they are often careless and say uncomplimentary things. That's how Hector gets me intel. He knows almost all the gossip because everyone speaks freely in front of him.

"Once he met you, he instantly liked you. When you shot his key fob, he told me that he would be your protector, that you were feisty like his sister, Ximena. She died when she was sixteen from leukemia. He decided to stay in Trenton with you. Every time I was called away, whether for Rangeman business or the government, he'd make it his mission to follow your every move, keeping you safe for me. I'm not surprised he's staying."

It took me a moment to comprehend what Ranger said. I felt the tears building up again at the love I feel from my Trenton Merry Men, especially Lester and Hector.

"Are you okay with going out to eat with everyone? I originally planned on us having some one-on-one time, but I thought you would want to spend some time with the BAU crew. You seemed to get along well with them, especially Emily, JJ, Tara, and Garcia."

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm a little disappointed, but we have plenty of time to have a one-on-one date. Just don't make me wait too long, Mister." I reply.

"Babe, there's something else I need to tell you. I'm not sure now is the best time, but I don't know if there will ever be a 'best' time. You know that I have done a lot of work for our government, and much of it has dealt with dangerous people. Then, there's the skip tracing I do. I have made a lot of enemies. They can come out of the woodwork at any time and potentially hurt you or me. However, right after Abruzzi, I started to set up some insurance for us. I asked my contacts to set up an alternate identity for you, Stephanie. In the last two years, I have set you up with six different identities. Each one has a healthy bank account and a place to live. Three are with me, and three are on your own. If anything were to ever happen to me, Lester knew about my contingency for you. He would make sure that if you were ever in danger that he would give you what you needed. If necessary, he'd take my place. No matter what happens between us, you will always have access to those safeguards. Too many people know of our association. Even if it were to end tomorrow, they still wouldn't hesitate to use you to get to me. Please tell me you're not mad at me, Babe."

I couldn't think I couldn't breathe. I was feeling overwhelmed, loved, scared, and pissed all at the same time. I needed a few moments to wrap my head around what Carlos told me. "You have fake IDs sent up for me aside from what you gave to JJ and Matt?"

"Those I just made up last week. The others have been around for long. Babe, I love you, and I need to make sure you are always safe and protected."

I thought about what he did for a few minutes. Surprisingly, I was okay with what he did, okay with having alternate IDs floating around for me. It gave me a feeling of independence. "Thank you, Carlos. I appreciate everything you have always done. It's just one more piece of the puzzle that shows me that you love me. I understand, Carlos, and I'm fine with it."

I watched as a smile appeared on Carlos' face, the tension leaving his body. "I'm glad. I was afraid you were going to run."

"No, I'm here for the long haul, Carlos, I'm not giving up on us that easily," I reply. We share a gentle but passionate kiss. I glance at my watch. "I better get downstairs for our meeting."

Carlos picked up his phone and sent a text. A moment later, his phone pinged. "Hector's waiting outside. Don't let him know that you know his secret."

"My lips are sealed," I reply.

I exit the apartment as Carlos goes to shower. I meet Hector in the hallway, and we walk down to the sixth floor. I head into Conference Room C with Hector at my heels.

"Hey, Beautiful, feeling better?"

"Yes, Lester, much better. What are the changes we're making if any?"

"The only major change is that you will research all the skips while you and I develop the takedown plan of action."

"Okay. I think I can handle that?"

"I know you can." The FA team started to enter, and I can tell that they weren't interested in what we had to say. I know Lester picked up on the vibe. I guess this is going to be an uphill battle to win over the Miami Merry Men. The meeting ended almost a quickly as it stated, with the guys saying goodbye to Lester, but ignoring me.

"I'm sorry, Beautiful. It will take the men here a few days to realize their mistakes, but don't worry, they will be going down.