Soon it was summer and Ram continued working extra jobs for the government. He'd taken on two short jobs after the holidays and each time came home unharmed within a few weeks of leaving. He had just walked into his apartment after his shift ended on a hot July day when his phone rang. He looked at the number and threw on his blank face. He listened to the caller and then said, "When?" More listening and then, "Ok, I'll be ready." He went into his bedroom and pulled the bag out of his closet. Throwing in a couple changes of clothes, he then opened his safe. He added some weapons to his duffel and then grabbed a few things from the bathroom. He headed down the stairs and stopped at Ranger's office. He knocked and when he heard from Ranger to enter, he opened the door. Ranger looked up and when he saw Ram holding his duffel, he knew what was happening. "When do you go?" Looking at his watch, he said, "Ten minutes." Ranger nodded and suggested he stop by Steph's office before he left. "Be safe Ram, we'll be here waiting for your return." Ram nodded, shook his hand and then headed down the hall.

He knocked on Steph's door and grinned when Rosie pulled it open. He saw the blanket on the floor, covered with toys and the plate of snacks. "Wam Wam." She reached her arms up and he pulled her up and hugged her. Steph saw the duffel bag and said, "When?" "A few minutes, getting picked up on the roof." She nodded and came over and gave him a hug. He set Rosie back down and she noticed his bag. She looked up at him and asked, "Wam Wam, you go bye bye?" He crouched down and said, "Yes, Rosie Posie, I have to go bye bye, but I'll be back soon." She hugged him again and gave him a kiss. "Wam Wam bring me toys?" He laughed and Steph wiped tears off her face, she always cried when one of "her" guys left for a job. He said, "If you're a good girl, I'll bring you a present." He looked at Steph and said, "I've got to go." She hugged him again and picked up Rosie. "Let's go watch Ram fly away for his trip." The girls followed him to the roof and he was surprised to see Lester, Bobby, Tank and Ranger waiting for him. The guys came over and said their goodbyes and before he knew it the helicopter was approaching. Before it landed, Steph said quietly, "Please let Julie know you're going to be offline for a while." He nodded and then headed to the helicopter and as soon as the door shut, it took off. He looked down and saw Rosie waving at him so he waved back, which made the other guys smirk and wave at him too. He laughed and flipped them the bird and then the copter turned and they were out of sight.

As the helicopter flew towards DC, Ram pulled out his phone and sent Julie a text. "Got a call, have to leave for a while. Will try to stay in touch. Don't worry if silent." Her response came almost immediately. "Be safe, don't be a hero, come home." He replied with, "I will, I won't, I will." He got a smiley face back from her. He smiled and put his phone away. In Miami, Julie set her phone down and wiped the tears off her face. She walked out into the living room, where Rachel was sitting on the couch. Rachel looked up when she came in and said, "What's the matter Julie?" Julie sat down and snuggled up next to her mother. "Ram got a call and had to go. I'm worried about him and told him to not be a hero." Rachel sighed and pulled Julie into her arms. "Honey, he knows what he's doing. He'll be fine and will come back." Julie was silent and then Rachel said, "You really care for Ram, don't you?" Julie nodded and said, "He's my best friend. I don't want to lose him." Rachel didn't say anything else, but she thought it was more than a best friend. Steph had taken to calling Rachel about once a week and a few times they talked about the friendship between Julie and Ram. Neither of the women had any problems with it, even with the age difference, but they knew the men in their lives wouldn't like it.

Ram was able to text Julie one more time before he headed off to the desert. "Hey, got a free minute before we fly out of DC. Not sure how long I'll be. Keep taking classes and hope all goes well with your mom. Steph said she had some more scans coming up soon." The reply came immediately. "Come back as soon as possible, stop in Miami if you can, only 4 more classes to associates degree. Mom is same, scans next week. I'm scared for results." "Be brave for your mom and yourself." "Miss you already." "Me too. Text all you want while I'm gone. I'll see when I get back." He turned his phone off and put it away in his bag. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, hoping to get some sleep once the plane took off, as he knew that sleep would be hard to come back once the plane landed.

The next six months drug on for Julie. It was now the start of the New Year and she still hadn't heard from Ram. She asked Ranger once about him and all he said was that Ram was making his check-ins and to not worry about him. Steph was more understanding and one night when she called Steph, they had a long talk about her relationship with Ram. Julie stated that he was her best friend, but Steph asked if she had stronger feelings for him than just friendship. It took her a few minutes to answer, and she shocked herself when she said, "Yes, sometimes I do want more with him, but he's older than me and probably thinks of me as a little sister." Steph said, "Julie, I think he feels the same way as you. He's worried about the age difference and your father. I've seen the way he looks at you when he thinks nobody is watching. I think when he gets back, you should talk to him. You're almost 20 years old and he's not quite 30, it's not that big of an issue now that you're not 15 anymore."

She still sent Ram texts every so often, basically stating she missed him and hoped he was well. Her mom's scans that were done right after he left came back with a couple questionable spots and the doctors changed her treatment and for now, things were okay. Ron and Rachel had sat her down the other night and had a long talk with her about the future outcome of the disease and it didn't look good. The doctors were helping for now, but had said that if the next set of scans came back with issues, then they would most likely be running out of options. She didn't want to hear this, but she knew she had to be grown up and accept what they said, but the little girl in her just wanted to cry.

Three months later, the next set of scans for Rachel came back with bad news. There was nothing more the doctors could do for her and it was just a matter of time. The clinical trial Ranger helped her get into added time to her life, but wasn't a forever cure. They would help keep her comfortable but didn't expect her to live much longer. Julie broke down with the news and spent the night alone, sitting in her room, refusing to let anyone else in with her. Ranger tried to call her and Steph was texting her, but she didn't reply. She couldn't talk right now. She sent Ram a text and said she needed him.

Another three months have passed and Rachel was now under the care of hospice. Ranger spent more time in Miami the past month, leaving Steph and Rosie behind in Trenton. Ranger called Steph the night that Rachel passed away and told her the news. Julie was taking it hard and he had to have the medic at RangeMan give her a shot to calm her down. Ron was a mess and Ranger was trying to get everything organized for him. Rachel had expressed her wishes about the funeral and burial but Ranger needed to get the wheels going on it. Steph and Rosie flew down the next day and Julie clung to Steph the entire time she was there. The day of the funeral was hard for all of them, but they somehow got through it. The Manoso family stayed for another week after the funeral and helped where they could. A lot of it, Ron was going to have to deal with on his own.

Ram was still gone and it was almost a year now that he had left. Julie struggled through her days in Miami with just Ron and asked Ranger if she could come up to Trenton and stay for a while. He talked to Ron, who agreed. She flew up a week later and moved into the penthouse with them. She worked part-time for Ranger and spent time each day taking care of Rosie. Rosie was three now and was a pretty easy going kid. Julie would take her to the park or swimming at the public pool and Rosie loved having Julie around the apartment. Rosie would talk about Ram every so often, which made her miss him even more.

She'd been living with them for almost three months when it finally happened. She had gotten caught by Ranger playing a prank on Lester and was stuck on monitor duty. Ranger admitted privately that the prank was good, but because she was an employee of RangeMan, he had to punish her, just as he would if it had been one of the guys. She didn't care, but thought the monitors were boring. Ranger stopped by and told her he had to go pick something up and would be back soon and then she could end her punishment. When she saw Ranger's car pull into the garage, she smiled, glad that her shift was over. When she glanced again and saw Ram getting out of the passenger side of the car, she screamed.

Hector ran over and had his gun pulled out, thinking something was happening to her. "Hector, look." She pointed to the monitor and Hector patted her on the shoulder. "He's back." She could hardly contain herself, knowing that her best friend was home. He ended up being gone for almost 16 months and he was finally home. When the elevator opened and only Ranger stepped out, she stopped in her tracks. "Dad?" He motioned her into his office and shut the door. She sat down and he knelt down in front of her. "Ram is back, but he's not okay. He's had a hard time and needs some time alone to get everything sorted out. I don't want you alone with him right now. Do you understand?" She looked up at him, with tears in her eyes, and said, "Daddy? Is he hurt?" Ranger shook his head, "Not physically, but he saw a lot of shit that he needs to work through. He's battling some inner demons and it's not safe for you to be alone with him. I know you are friends with him, but please take me or one of the guys with you when you go see him. Give him tonight before you stop by, he'll be in his apartment until he works it out." She nodded and he pulled her into his arms for a hug. "He's going to need his friends Julie, so just do what you can for him, okay?" She nodded and headed upstairs to the apartment.

She managed to wait until the next afternoon before stopping in Lester's office and asked him to go with her to see Ram. Lester agreed and they walked down to Ram's apartment. She knocked on the door and Ram opened the door. He looked from Lester to Julie and then back to Lester, shaking his head. "Julie, you need to leave." She started to say something, but he just shook his head and said, "You're not safe with me, go back upstairs." He pushed the door shut and she heard the lock click. She stood there with tears in her eyes and Lester pulled her in for a hug. "Julie, it's going to take some time. I don't know what he saw, but I can tell you from experience honey, give him about a week and we'll try again." She nodded and headed back to the apartment, running into her bedroom with tears still flowing. She picked up her phone and saw that Ram sent her a text. "I'm sorry kiddo, but I need to be alone."