A/N: again , loving the love you all are giving this story!! Don't count Ranger out yet… Steph is hurt and rightfully so, but that doesn't mean he won't ever get back in her good graces.

Chapter 4

Stephanie POV

I barely made it back to my apartment before crashing. I knew Les would fill me in later on the tongue(and any other) lashing that he gave Ranger, he was good that way. All the guys were. They didn't keep things from me unless they absolutely had to, which was the biggest problem between me and Ranger. After we had the best night of sex in my entire life, something changed with him. He got distant and even more closed off than he normally is, and then he told me I should go back to Morelli. That hurt.

Joseph Morelli. We hadn't been together since I started working with Rangeman in a more full time manner, yet here I was being shoved at him like a second place trophy. I wanted to quit Rangeman. I actually had walked out with every intention of never going back except the boys tracked me down after a week of being incommunicado and begged me not to. Ranger had actually slunk (slinked?) off to Miami for a week to visit his daughter Julie, and they couldn't stand being there without me. I have to admit it was nice for my self esteem which had taken a massive hit when Ranger kicked me out of bed and towards Joe…so I agreed. When Ranger came back we fell into the typical routine we had previously, minus the sexual activity. All the guys became extremely overprotective. I was never alone with Ranger for more than a few seconds, so we didn't really get to talk things out at all. I guess that's why I'm still so hurt. I should probably eventually do that, just for my own piece of mind.

I shuffled back into my apartment, doing a finger wave at Rex who was wiggling his nose at me , and headed to the bedroom. I didn't even bother showering or changing . I flopped down on the bed, burrowed my way under the covers and promptly fell asleep.

Lester POV

After I took Ranger to the mat and gave him a piece of my mind I wanted to check on Stephanie and make sure she got to bed okay, but also knew she needed to be independent. So instead I ran down to the infirmary to speak to Bobby.

Robert Brown is a fantastic man, but I'll take anyone to the mat that says I said so out loud. He evens our team out, a mix between strength and kindness, he was our team medic when we were overseas doing our best to stay alive. He's patched each of us at least a dozen times over the years, and has taken care of Stephanie ever since she arrived here. She attracts trouble like a moth to a flame, so she has spent more time with Bobby than all of us combined, and right from the start I could tell he liked her. No, like isn't a strong enough word but… you get the picture.

"Hey Bobby." I push open the doors and see him counting medical supplies.

"Hey Les, you get hurt during training?" he stood up and walked over to me, his eyes scanning for injuries.

I had to laugh, always the medic. "No I came to talk to you about beautiful. She was a wreck today in training , I sent her back to the apartment to sleep." His eyes got wide with concern . "She told me you finally asked her out and man, it's about damn time!"

He blushed a bit. "Yeah, we are going on a date this weekend. Wait, that's not why she was a wreck is it?"

I shook my head "No, it's because that pendajo cousin of mine came to see her after you left. He ambushed her while she was in the shower and wouldn't leave her alone til she told him you had come to ask her out. I swear I could kill him if I wouldn't be excommunicated from the family for doing it." I heard a low growl coming from Bobby and when I turned towards him I could see his temper flaring. "Woah man, calm down. She's okay, she just didn't sleep well. So I sent her back upstairs to get some more rest before her firearm training later." I quickly changed subjects "So where are you taking her?"

His face and demeanor softened a bit. "I was thinking NYC. She likes shopping and Broadway shows, I thought maybe we could spend Saturday in the city." He stopped suddenly when he saw my face. "What? Bad idea?"

I wanted to grab him by his shoulders and shake him. "No! That's a fantastic idea!!" I clapped him hard on the back "Treat her right man, or you will have me to answer to." We laughed knowing he would be nothing but sweet to her.

Stephanie POV

I woke up a few hours later actually feeling decent. For once no bad dreams flooded my brain. I got up and quickly got a shower. Then I got redressed in jeans , a white vneck shirt and tennis shoes, no need for gym clothes for the rest of my day. I had firearms training in a little bit with Ram so I made myself a peanut butter and olive sandwich , fed Rex some olives and ran out the door down to the gun range.

As I walked into the range I noticed most of the stalls were full with team members , which struck me as odd considering I usually was alone during training. Ram saw me come in and waved. "Hey Angel! You have an audience today, some of the men needed to brush up on their skills."

I gave a sideways glance at him. "It looks like they don't need any practice to me." As I see target after target come back with perfect center mass shots.

He shrugged and escorted me over to my stall, handing me my favorite Smith Wesson Model 637. It's lightweight , and to be honest, pretty cute for a side arm. I haven't had the need to use a gun a lot, but it's nice knowing I have one and I can actually operate it. He sets the cans on my ears , watching as I load it. He places his hands on my hips and sets me straight, then my arms to show me exactly how to stand. He steps back and I fire 6 shots. As I set the gun down and take the cans off my ears he brings the target up to us and I see it. Two shots in the head, two center mass, one in the heart and one… I hear all the men groan as I laugh to myself. The last bullet hit Mr. Target right in the junk.

"Got something you wanna talk about there Angel?" Ram chuckled and set a new target as I reloaded my gun.

"No, I'm good Ram thanks." I grinned at him and started firing again, this time I split it half and half between my targets nether region and his head. By that time all of my audience has scattered leaving me alone with my instructor.

"I see you've improved since we shot last. You're doing really well Angel. Maybe just hold the temper in check a bit, that could cost you in the field." Ram patted me on the shoulder and motioned for me to sit with him. I cleared my weapon and put the ear cans down before walking over and taking a seat next to him. "Seriously Steph, what's going on?"

I didn't really want to rehash my morning , not that Ram wouldn't listen or be a bad sounding board, I was just done with thinking about it. "It's fine, really. I'm fine."

He grabbed my hand and pulled it into his , running his thumb over my knuckles. "It's not Angel, anyone who just watched you shoot could see that. I won't force you to tell me, just know I'm here for you if you need me." He kissed my knuckles and got up. "You're done for the day, no need for any more practice." He took my side arm and locked it up, then left me sitting there contemplating my life.