~9~
The first week for Stephanie went fast. She was a bit overwhelmed with the classes, as they were accelerated and would only be 8 weeks long. She talked to Ranger after the first day of classes when she realized that she would need extra time to make sure she didn't fall behind on the homework and asked that her training not start until she had a better grasp on the classes. Ranger agreed to hold the guys off for the first week, but after that, she would have to figure out how to deal with everything.
Steph came back to the building each afternoon and holed herself up in her apartment working on her school work. After a few days, she started to understand how to deal with the classes. The guys were being good so far and not pestering her about the delay in the training but she knew that wouldn't last for too long. After the third day, she walked into her apartment and found Lester and Bobby sitting on her couch. They were watching television and had their feet resting on the coffee table. They smiled at her when she walked in and she walked over towards them and pushed their feet down.
"Beautiful, you're hiding from us. You can't hide in here forever." said Lester.
"Les, I'm not hiding. I cleared it with Ranger to not start training this week because the classes were a bit overwhelming at first. Now that I've had a couple days of them and figured out a routine for homework, I should be able to start next week with the guys in the afternoon."
"Baby, we know you talked to Ranger. We're just here to make sure you don't try to get out of the training part of your job all together. We know it's not your favorite part of the job, but it's something that can't be ignored." said Bobby.
"Guys, I'm not going to try to get out of my training. I know I need to do it and I will start next week. Honestly, I feel so out of place in my classes. I'm the oldest one there, the slowest one to understand things that are discussed and so far, have the lowest grades on the homework and quizzes. I'm overwhelmed and want to get this under control before adding more to my schedule."
"Beautiful, we know you'll do a great job. Just get the homework under control and we'll help with the training part and make sure you're not going to go nuts. Well, more nuts than you already are!"
"Not funny Les. I'm trying to keep it all together, but it's hard."
The guys ended up staying for about another hour and helped her get her homework started and gave her a brief overview of what her training would look like next week. After classes and then back to the building for a quick lunch, she would spend time on the gun range with Ram, learning how to hack a computer system with Hector, lock picking with Lester, first-aid with Bobby and gym time with Tank and Ranger. They would divide the gym time so at least one of them was available for any security issues that would come up. An hour with each of the guys and then back to her apartment for a quick meal and then homework. She was sure to fall asleep exhausted each night, but she hoped that as her training progressed, she would get quicker at some of it.
The next week came and by the end of the first day, Steph was asking herself what she had gotten herself into. She could barely walk and when she got into her apartment, she slumped down the wall next to the door and just sat. There was a knock at the door about ten minutes later and all she could do was grunt at it. The door opened and Ranger stepped inside. He looked at her, smiled and shook his head. "Babe, you okay?"
No response. He knelt down and tipped her head up to look at her. She stared at him but still didn't say anything. She didn't even grunt again. He picked her up and carried her into her bedroom. He sat her on the bed and took off her shoes and then stood her up and carried her into the bathroom. He started the shower and helped get her undressed and then quickly undressed himself. He carried her into the shower and once the hot water hit her, she groaned, leaning against the wall. He smiled at her and then helped her wash her hair and her body. They got out and he wrapped a towel around her and set her back on the bed. She flopped back and laid on her back while he put his pants back on and pulled a jar of ointment out of her bathroom cabinet.
Walking back into the bedroom, he saw her laying on the bed, sound asleep. Chuckling, he positioned her on her stomach and went to work rubbing the ointment on her back and legs. He had asked Ella to stock up on it for her to help with her sore muscles the first few weeks. It wasn't an easy training program for someone like Steph, who never exercised. Once he finished on her back and legs, he gently rolled her over and worked on the front of her arms and neck, as well as her ribs. He slipped his shirt on her and put her under the covers. Dropping a kiss on her forehead, he set her alarm for an hour later and turned out the lights. He headed out to her kitchen and put a meal together for her that could be reheated when she woke up. Leaving it for her, along with a note about eating and doing her homework, he left the apartment and headed towards the elevator. When it opened, Tank was on it and laughed when he saw Ranger without a shirt on. "Showered and sound asleep. Left her a meal to eat and a note to do her homework so hopefully she gets up when her alarm goes off in an hour."
Tank followed Ranger up to his apartment and they went inside. "Man, go put on a shirt before I can't control myself." Ranger smacked him in the head but headed to get a shirt and then returned. He grabbed them both a beer and they headed into the living room. "Did you expect her to do as well as she did today?" Tank asked.
"Honestly, I didn't know what to expect. I knew she didn't like to exercise, but she wasn't half bad in the gym. We worked on some basic exercises with the weights and treadmill, but I was mainly impressed with her determination. She had some trouble going the speed I was after on the treadmill, but she did the distance I wanted her to go. Bobby said her first-aid lesson was good. I think with all of the times she's been injured, she's not queasy about any of it. I haven't talked to Ram, Lester or Hector, but none of them came running with problems, so I assume it went well."
"Still going to add some defensive training tomorrow after the weights and running. We'll see how she does with my training, but please remind her that kicking me in the nuts isn't allowed here."
Ranger laughed and said he'd try, but maybe he should remind the guys to wear a cup when working with her in the gym. It was her last resort sometimes when caught in a situation. Ranger's phone dinged with a new text and he smiled when it was from Steph. "Thanks" was all it said. He responded with his usual "Babe" and got back a smiley face from her. Tank watched him and laughed. "Man, you've got it bad for her. Why don't you man up and tell her before one of those bozo's downstairs gets to her first?"
"When her classes and training are done, and she fulfills the contract expectations, and I move her into the client side of the company, then I'll figure it out." Tank shook his head and said, "You're going to wait too long and then blow any chance with her. You know there are about 10 guys downstairs that are just waiting for you to screw up so they can go after her." Tank left after saying that and Ranger sat down and thought about what Tank had said. He knew the guys enjoyed having her in the building and part of the company but he didn't think they wanted to go out with her. Although, who wouldn't want to go to out with her? She was the perfect woman for him. She was in her 2nd week of the 8 week classes and training schedule and he'd talk to her when she was close to being done.
~10~
The next five weeks flew by for Steph. She finally got the hang of her classes and was doing very well in them, earning some of the highest grades in the class. Her afternoons at RangeMan were not kicking her butt anymore. Granted, she wasn't Superwoman material yet, but she wasn't the failure she started as weeks before. She had one week left of classes and then final exams. She headed to Ranger's office and knocked on his door. "Enter."
"Hey Ranger. Got a minute?" "Always for you Babe. What's up?"
"As you know, I'm heading into my last week of the classes and I have final exams coming up. I was hoping that I could reschedule some of the training sessions so I could have a bit more study time."
"Babe, that's fine. Work it out with the guys and just be sure to get the time put in. You've done a great job with everything and once you're all done with classes and the guys sign off on the training part of your contract, I'd like to take you out for a night on the town. Dinner, dancing, whatever you want. Sound okay?"
"Sure, just let me get through everything first, okay?"
"Okay Babe. I need to go to a meeting now so we'll talk later." He dropped a kiss on the top of her head and left his office. Steph headed back to her apartment and sent an email to the guys to ask about revising the training schedule. That done, she pulled out her books and got to studying.
The day of her final exams was finally here. She woke up and found a bag of donuts and a cup of coffee waiting on her kitchen counter. That put a smile on her face, someone knew how a day should start. She walked into the bathroom and found a note from Ranger on the mirror. He told her to kick butt on the finals and he would see her back in the building later that afternoon. She got ready and then headed down to her car. She found a note from the guys in her front seat, pretty much telling her the same as Ranger's note.
Eight long hours later, she returned to the building. The control room must have sent out an alert that she was on her way back because when she pulled into the garage, it was full of men in black. It was quite a sight to see, all the muscles rippling through their skin tight shirts. She had to shake her head to clear her thoughts and parked her car. She got out and was greeted by the group. They all started talking at once, firing off questions about her tests.
Ranger let out a loud whistle to get them to stop talking. "Babe, how'd it go?"
"First, thank you for this welcome home. It's been a long time since I had to take finals, but I feel like I did okay. Most of the questions made sense, but there were a few tricky ones. The instructor said grades would be emailed sometime tomorrow. It was good that there weren't many people in my classes so grades can be done quickly. Now, if you'll excuse me, I hear my pillow calling." She headed to the elevator and went to her apartment.
Tank looked at Ranger. "How long before you call the instructor and find out?" Ranger looked at him and shook his head. "I don't want to spoil it for her. This is important for her so I'll behave." Tank looked at him and laughed. "Sure you will."
Once in her apartment, Steph headed to the bedroom and flopped on her bed. She kicked off her shoes, put her phone in the charger next to the bed and promptly fell asleep. When she woke up hours later, she found Ranger sleeping next to her. She slipped out of bed, headed to the living room and found Tank, Bobby and Lester asleep on her couch. She went back to her room to grab her phone and went back and took a picture of the guys. They had fallen asleep on each other and were currently all snuggling together. Now she finally had some blackmail against the three of them.
She went into the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of water. She went and checked her email, but there was nothing yet about grades. She felt the tingle and turned around to see Ranger standing in the doorway looking at the guys. He had a smile on his face and was shaking his head. He pulled out his phone and took a few photos. He saw Steph and crooked an eyebrow at her. She pulled out her phone and shook her head yes. He walked over to her and pulled her in for a hug. They stood like that for a few minutes and then heard the ping of an incoming email. "Whatever it is Babe, I know you worked hard and I couldn't be more proud of you." She nodded her head and headed to the computer. She opened the email and with one last glance at Ranger, she read.
~11~
Steph let out a squeal so loud that the three guys on the couch came running into the kitchen with their guns drawn. Steph looked at them and laughed. "I passed. I passed. I passed." She was pulled into each of the guys arms for a hug and kiss on the cheek. When she finally got to Ranger, he gave her a kiss on the lips and said, "Proud of you Babe."
"I'm proud of me too. I worked hard on these classes. It wasn't easy after having been away from school for so long, but I did it."
Ranger looked at the email and said, "Babe, you just didn't pass, you got the highest grade on the finals and ended up with the highest grade in the class."
"I know, I just didn't want to brag." Ranger laughed and pulled her in for another kiss. "Ok Babe, now that classes are done, you can finish up with the training and if that goes well, you'll have fulfilled the contract requirements and then will become the first RangeWoman. Then, we'll celebrate."
Steph started yawning so Ranger and the guys headed out. She smiled to herself and then headed back to bed. Classes were done and over, but now she had to pass all the areas of her training. That would start in the morning. The only one was she was worried about was the defense lesson. It was going to Ranger or Tank she would have to defend herself against and they were both so big and strong.
The next few days went by quickly. She had passed her training in first aid, lockpicking, computer hacking, which she decided was really fun, and was now headed to the gun range for that testing. Ram had set up an obstacle course for her with targets to hit and by the time she was done, she had hit every one of the paper men in the chest between the eyes and the few that Ram had taped a picture of her ex-husband on the face, had gotten an additional shot to the crotch. "Thought you'd appreciate those last few" Ram said. Steph laughed and held out her hand for her certificate of passing. Ram also handed her one of the crotch shot paper men and told her to frame it. Now the only thing left was waiting for her in the gym.
She stopped at her apartment and changed into her gym clothes and with a big sigh, headed downstairs. She walked into the gym and found a room full of black. Everyone that was not working was there to watch. "Great," she thought to herself, "a room full of men to watch."
Ranger came over and pulled her in for a hug. "Saw what you did to the target men upstairs Babe." She laughed and told him that Ram let keep one. "You ready for this? We'll start with a warm ups and then hit the treadmill." "Oh boy, I can't wait." Ranger laughed and pulled her over to the mats and led her through a series of warm up exercises. Once he was satisfied, they headed to the treadmill. He programed her route and she took off. By the end of the ten mile run, she wasn't as tired as she thought she would be. She had no idea that she could run that far and when she got off and looked over at the guys, she got a room full of thumbs-up from them. Ranger smiled and walked over to her. "That was the distance that all of the guys run on a daily basis. I wasn't prepared for you to actually complete it. I was going to let you stop after 5 miles, but I'm proud that you finished the whole distance. Take a few minutes to recover and then we'll finish up with the last item on the training checklist."
She grabbed a bottle of water and took a few minutes to rest. Once she was ready, Ranger took her over to the mats and she found that she was facing Hector. He gave her a smile and then they were off. He came at her multiple times and she was able to fend off everything he threw at her. She even took him down a few times on her own and that got a roar of approval from the guys. Ranger called a halt to it and then looked at Steph. "One last test Babe." She looked at him and said, "Bring it." The guys laughed and so did she until she saw that Ranger had taken off his shirt and was coming at her. She quickly reacted and was able to fend him off. He wasn't going easy on her and was going full force. She was able to break out of his last hold and was momentarily distracted when Lester and Bobby smiled at her and blew her kisses. Ranger was able to take advantage of her and within seconds, she was flat on her back on the mat and Ranger was on top, holding her down with his body. He had her arms pinned to the mats and was looking down at her.
"Well, hell," she said. "So close. Can I try again tomorrow? I know that I will do better. Just don't let those bozos blow kisses at me."
"Babe, no more tries." Steph looked at him and had tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry Ranger. I tried so hard and I thought I was going to pass everything."
Ranger leaned over closer and whispered, "You did pass Babe. Once you got Hector down, you passed." "What? What's this all about?" "Babe, I'll take any opportunity to get you under me." He gave her one of his blinding smiles and leaned down to kiss her. She took advantage and rolled him over and pinned him to the mat. The guys let out a roar and she smiled at him. "Babe."
She stood up and held out a hand to Ranger. He grabbed her and pulled her back down on top of him. He looked over at the guys and said, "Dismissed. Pino's in two hours, I'm buying." Another roar from the crowd and they were gone. It left Ranger and Steph alone in the gym. "Babe, we're going to Pino's tonight to celebrate with the guys, but then tomorrow night I'd like to celebrate with you alone. Is that okay with you?" She leaned down and kissed him. "Yep, that sounds like a plan. I'm going to go shower and change."
~12~
Two hours later, Ranger was knocking on Steph's apartment door. She opened it up and he gave her a look. "Babe, are you sure you don't want to just stay home with me tonight?" "Nope, the guys earned tonight as much as I did, besides, you're paying." She gave him a brief kiss and headed out the door. He sighed and followed her. They got the garage and he told her to pick a car. She got into the Turbo and they were off.
Pino's was overrun with men in black by the time they got there. A few of them had brought their wives or girlfriends. She grabbed Ranger's hand and drug him to the back where she sat down at a table with Tank, Lula, Lester and Bobby. The waitress brought over a pitcher of beer and glasses. Ranger pulled her aside and spoke quietly to her. The poor girl stood there with her mouth hanging open and could only nod her head in agreement to whatever Ranger has said to her. He sat down and Steph laughed. "Ranger, you shouldn't smile so much at the poor girl. She doesn't know how to handle your brightness." "Babe."
A couple hours later, the pizzas were gone but the beer was still flowing. Lester stood up on a chair and whistled to get everyone's attention. "Today is the start of a new era at RangeMan – our first RangeWoman. Steph, stand up please. Bobby and I got you something so you can always remember the wonderful time you had with your training. Bobby, if you would please." Bobby came up to Steph putting a crown on her head and then he draped a sash across her that said, "Queen of Everything". She laughed and Ranger smirked.
"We are excited that you are finally properly trained and hopefully won't hurt anymore of us when we have to be your partner." Steph glared at him but the guys all laughed. "Ranger, don't you have something to say?"
Ranger stood up and pulled Lester off the chair. Les wobbled a bit but Bobby caught him and put a glass of beer in his hand. "Babe, welcome to RangeMan as an official member. We can talk more later on about what comes next, but know that I have plans for your future." There was some heckling from the guys, but he ignored it. "I would like you to eventually head up the client side of the business. You have a way with people that we don't and they trust you and your opinion. We'll start slow, but that is the ultimate goal."
He reached down and grabbed her hand, pulling up into his arms. Leaning in so only she could hear him and said, "We can discuss a lot of different plans later alone if that's okay with you." She smiled and nodded. "Now, say something to guys so they leave and I can stop buying their beer." She laughed and started talking. "Guys, thank you for this party tonight. I wouldn't be here tonight celebrating if it hadn't been for all of you. You truly are my family and I love you all. I can't wait to start work and I'll be the best RangeWoman there ever was!" They all cheered and the party continued.
Ranger grabbed her hand and pulled her over to a table near the bar. "Just wait here Babe." He walked over to the waitress from earlier and together they walked into the back. A minute later they came out carrying a large cake. It was covered in frosting flowers and said, "Welcome RangeWoman" and had a picture of Wonder Woman with a black RangeMan logo on her costume. Steph squealed with excited and grabbed the knife to cut a piece of it. "Wait Babe, I want a picture." Once the picture was over, she snagged a piece of it before yelling at the guys to come get cake, with real sugar, before Ranger too it away.