AN: yay! I can post again! I've had two chapters ready since friday! Provided FF lets me I'll post another chapter tomorrow! Thanks to my Beta Di and to my Husband for making sure this makes sense! Thanks to everyone for the reviews! As always don't own anything, this is just for fun!

When we pulled into the garage Ranger and Hector were waiting. "Bolivia," Ranger said to Meagan by way of greeting.

"Are you sure?"

"He was our pilot."

"Fuck!" She and Tank said in stereo.

"Given what happened that day no wonder he's developed a fixation," she said.

"Yeah, I was pissed at you two then and I'm still pissed now," Tank said. "He nearly got you and his flight crew killed."

"Uh what happened in Bolivia?" I asked Lester under my breath.

"Dunno. We didn't join the unit until just after Bolivia. I do know they made Colonel off of whatever happened there."

"We should take this out of the parking lot." Tank said, "Tink, can you call Frakes? Get the file."

"Everyone originally working this case meet in the Santos's apartment in twenty minutes," Ranger ordered then added, "Babe, we should talk."

We piled into the elevator and for the first time since I'd first followed the GPS back here, the elevator stopped on every floor on the way up. Those not coming with us upstairs either went to their apartments or the gym, Lester and Meagan left on five and headed for her office presumably to make her call. Bobby and Julio went straight to the apartment on six with Burrows and Lula. Everyone was tense and nobody said anything in the elevator. Call it a guilty conscience but I felt like I was in 8th grade and being called to the principal's office.

"Okay, what did I do?" I asked Ranger as soon as we stepped out of the elevator and into our apartment. "Is this because Julio told me I could go out? Because I figured since he ran half of the offices and this was work and not personal you would be fine with me taking an order from him or is it because Hector told you that Julio's been impersonating you all day? It was funny but I swear I didn't laugh. It was kind of creepy."

"Do you know how to shut up?" I stared at him slack jawed; his Julio was dead on.

"Okay that's just really, really creepy. Don't do that."

"Babe."

"What did you want to talk about?"

"I know about Julio and Meagan. I've known for a long time," he said, mouth twitching. "Meagan told me that Julio told you and Hector. It's going to have to come oout, but I just didn't want you to think I'd been blindsided."

"Does Lester know?"

"Yes. He's known since they first hooked up. She didn't want to get in too deep if it was going to freak him out. The one who might be hurt about this is Ella. As far as we know, she doesn't know. She would have adopted Meagan in a heartbeat if she'd asked."

"But why didn't she ask?"

"Because, to put it mildly, Meagan was monumentally fucked up after her parents died. She didn't think anyone would want her. She honestly believed that Ella and Luis were only still there because she was paying them to be. Julio offered to adopt her after the four of us spent the summer together. It was exactly what she needed, someone she knew wanted to look out for her because they wanted to not because they felt they had to."

"The summer the picture of you and her on the step was taken?"

"Yes?"

"Were you ever in love with her?" I asked then assured him, "I trust you and I know nothing is going on now, but.."

"I thought once that maybe I was in love with her. I was 17, just about 18. Everyone in the family introduced us as boyfriend and girlfriend and we just never bothered to correct them. I decided that it was time that they didn't need correcting and Meagan agreed, but we made it as far as her bedroom and then decided it was too weird and it would be a mistake. It wasn't the first time we'd made out, far from it; but it was the last time I ever kissed her beyond a kiss on the cheek or on the top of her head. There is only one person in the world I trust more than I trust her; that's you."

"Okay. Thank you for telling me." I said, "I trust you. The picture Julio and Hector have… It's special and I just wanted to know, if you, you know, wished you had it."

"I do have it. It's in the house."

"You do?"

"It's in the den with about 50 other pictures Julio, Tank and Hector put there because they think I need them. That one, according to Julio, was to remind me that I'd always have family even if mine had washed their hands of me."

"Bolivia?" I asked.

"Patience." His lips tipped up in a half smile; he checked his watch and we took the stairs to six.

Everyone was congregated in the dining room which had morphed into a board room with really good food in it. Lester was walking around the table handing out files stamped 'TOP SECRET' in red which, let's face it, was really cool.

Meanwhile Bobby was reconnecting Meagan to her IV.

"What are you giving me now?" she demanded around a mouthful of cookie.

"Just some shit that will help with the headache you are probably developing again and some other shit that will make it so you are actually able to sleep tonight plus some fluids because you are still dehydrated and even more shit that will help with the anemia."

"Well, thanks for being specific."

"Do you trust me?"

"That's a dumb-assed question and you know it."

"Would it really make a difference if I told you the actual names of the drugs we're pumping into you?"

"No."

"Then shut up and live with it." We all looked at Bobby with surprise. Bobby is the master of laid back, Bobby doesn't know how to do bitchy. Meagan and Lester had identical looks of concern on their faces.

"Who pissed in your cornflakes?" Meagan asked and his shoulders slumped.

"I'm just being a dick because it's been a fucked up day filled with fucked up information and it's just going to get more fucked up when we read whatever the fuck Lester is passing out."

"That was a lot of fucks for one sentence, B. Maybe you need some of whatever the fuck you're pumping into me right now."

"Yeah. It's just that it's all personal. I hate when it's personal." He flopped in to the seat to her left and she kissed his cheek, he responded by giving her a brief one-armed hug. Lester took the seat to her right while Ranger and I took the empty seats across from Meagan and "her boys." Lula was sitting to Bobby's left, Burrows across from her, Julio was sandwiched between Burrows and Hector while Tank occupied the foot of the table. Connie and Terri were sitting next to Lula, Joe came out of the kitchen with a cup of tea for Meagan and a cup of coffee for himself then took a seat at the end of the table opposite Tank and as far away from Terri as he could get.

"So, Bolivia?" Lester asked once Joe was settled.

"Bolivia," Meagan and Ranger answered.

Bolivia 8 years earlier

Lt. Colonel Manoso jumped out of the chopper and lifted down his much smaller partner, Lt. Colonel Harris.

"Aren't you going to help me down Ranger?" Tank asked.

"I didn't know your panties were bunched so tight, Tank, but if you need a hand..." Ranger extended one arm in a deep bow.

"I got it Ranger." Tink said and held up her arms as if ready to catch him, "He is just a dainty thing after all."

They had been working together for about a year as a threesome under the names, The Pixie, Tank and Ranger. In fact they had, in a very short time, developed a reputation that was damn near mythical. They'd reached the point where a lot people believed that they were Urban Legends. All three were deadly, all three specialists in their own right and all three incredibly young for their ranks. Often promoted before they were even used to their previous ranks, they were the best at what they did and were in Bolivia to do what had given them their reputations. The trio went where nobody else was successful. They got in, got out, achieved their objectives and moved on to the next mission before the dust settled.

Tank tossed Tink's duffle into her outstretched arms and she slung it over her shoulder. Ranger's followed suit and Tank jumped out of the chopper. They made it ten feet from the chopper before a couple obliging PFCs relieved them of their bags.

Relieved of the burden, Tink paused to lace up her boots. She'd taken them off because her feet got hot on the flight. Normally her feet felt like blocks of ice but something about her combat boots always made them sweat. Her partners waited for her patiently while she did this, used to the ritual, and then the three of them made their way to the hastily constructed command tent. Tank held the flap opened for the other two and then followed them inside.

"Glad you could make it here so promptly. You're going to have to move quickly," Vadrine said when they stepped into the tent. As far as greetings from General Vadrine went, that was considered effusive. For the others in the tent, it made them sit up and take notice of the attractive trio. It was considered a good day if Vadrine acknowledged you presence beyond barking orders. These three were clearly special.

"What have we got?" Ranger asked.

"10 DEA agents…"

"I'm sorry, 10?" Meagan asked for clarification, certain she hadn't heard right. She shivered slightly and hugged herself for warmth. Ranger and Tank smirked, only Meagan would be cold this close to the equator. Sure they were in the mountains but it was far from cold.

"Yes, 10," Vadrine confirmed and handed her the windbreaker that he had draped over his chair. "They were working undercover in La Paz when they were taken. They failed to check in six days ago; the DEA has been looking ever since."

"Why so many?" Meagan asked as she shrugged on the jacket.

"Five agents and their handlers. Their security was compromised."

"Who or what were they investigating?"

"This is everything we have." He handed Meagan the folder, "You're going to retrieve them and we don't think you have a lot of time. We received this video two hours ago." Vadrine had a TV on a trolley with a VCR and DVD player.

"Anyone else reminded of grade school right now?" Tank commented as Vadrine popped a tape into the VCR and they waited for the tube TV to cycle through the channels before settling on the one that would show the video.

"Yes," Ranger replied, "but I get the impression that feeling isn't going to last much longer." The video come on and they went quiet as the image of a battered man appeared on screen in black and white. He was bound to a chair, his hands tied to the arms of the chair, he was missing several fingernails. His hair was matted with a cocktail of dirt and blood, one eye was swollen shut, his lip split. He appeared naked, at the very least he was shirtless and the blood from his lip was splattered onto his chest.

"This was the senior agent," Vadrine reported. "The leader of the task force."

They all remained impassive as they watched the man get tortured and then shot in the head. His captors weren't asking questions. They were just hurting him for the sake of it.

"Animals sent a message with the tape," Vadrine said.

"Which was?" Ranger asked him.

"They will kill one a day. When they are finished, they will return the bodies to us." The general replied.

"What do they want?" Tank asked.

"For us to leave them the fuck alone." Meagan said flatly and Vadrine nodded.

"Looks like we're going hunting." Ranger said.

"I know someone in La Paz," Meagan said. "She'll talk."

"Of course, you know someone in La Paz," Tank muttered, "and it's a place you swear you've never been to before."

"I haven't. I just know someone from here. We can read the files on the way there."

Meagan's contact was a drug mule turned stripper who had been deported from the U.S. after a raid on her place of employment. How Meagan knew her was irrelevant; she didn't say and they didn't ask. What was relevant was that the stripper had a pretty good idea who of who snatched the agents and she knew who to pump for more intel.

Tank and Ranger found the man in question, Meagan fucked with his head until he gave her what she needed and then they were off. They found the compound where the agents were located, called in their position and waited. It had taken them six hours from the time they were given the assignment to locate the compound. After about twenty minutes they were given the coordinates of a pick up location and, because Vadrine knew they always liked to have a backup plan, they were given backup coordinates. Tank pulled out a map and showed them where the two RV points were. "I don't like them," Ranger said.

"Nope," Tank agreed. He looked over the map while Meagan kept watch, she glanced down at them out of the corner of her eye. She was in complete agreement with her partners.

"Their security is compromised. I want a back up site of our choosing. We can call it in to Vadrine if we feel we need to." Tank said and began pouring over the map. "There." he jabbed at a location. It was close enough that should they have wounded, they could get them there quickly but far enough away that the chopper could get in undetected. They memorized the coordinates of all three sites and made their way closer to the compound. During their brief surveillance they had chosen the point of entry. Now they just needed a plan.

Their entry point was going to be what seemed to be an unmanned security post. Of course, there was no way to prove this; but of the seven they had seen, this was the only one that seemed both unoccupied and accessed the compound through a steel door appearing to only open from the inside. The problem lay in the fact that there was a 15-foot concrete wall with barbed wire on the top and no way to open the door from the outside.

"Think I could toss you up there, Tink?" Tank teased. Meagan, who had been checking out the wall with a pocket scope, lowered the scope and stared at him for a few seconds as if considering it, then turned back to the wall. She tilted her head, her mind working rapidly considering the possible options. She was too short to just stand on his shoulders and reach. Ranger might be able to but he was too big and didn't have the balance she had to walk along the edge of the wall to a safe jumping point. Not for the first time she wished she was about a foot taller. She glanced at Tank again and grinned. Yeah, that would work if he could do it. She looked at Ranger. If Tank couldn't do it alone, Ranger and Tank most certainly could together.

"Not toss," she said, "remember that circus in Romania?" Tank bit back a laugh.

"You got that kind of balance, Tink?" The idea was insane. He grinned and went back to looking for possible entry points.

"I do, but are you that strong?" she replied soberly. She was serious!? The look on her face was deadly serious and he gave the idea actual consideration. The woman was maybe 100lbs so, yeah, he could do it…Probably. He nodded and she turned to Ranger. "Be ready to catch me, Hermano."

Ranger signalled for silence and they stilled completely. Two men rounded the corner and stopped directly in front of them, deep in conversation. They were less than three feet away and stopped to have a cigarette. The cigarettes were flicked in their direction. Ranger silently caught one just before it hit Meagan's face. She silently removed the one that landed on Tank's back and ground it out. They waited until the patrol was out of sight before they moved again.

They approached the wall silently after making sure they were clear. Ranger stopped, smirking slightly, as he watched to see if his partners could actually pull off the stunt she and Tank had seen at the circus. Tank bent and held his hands in a basket, Meagan stepped into his hands and held perfectly still on one foot as Tank lifted her, He adjusted briefly so that he was grasping her ankle with one hand as he lifted her smoothly over his head giving her the extra height she needed and then some. She reached up and grabbed onto the edge of the wall and hoisted herself up the rest of the way. Once on the ledge she balanced beside the wire until she got to a point where she could lower herself onto a roof and reduce how far she would have to drop.

She dropped and landed in crouch with a soft thud. After making sure she was clear she brazenly walked up to the door of the security station and knocked. She shot the guard who answered in the head with her silenced weapon and caught him, lowering him silently to the ground.

Someone inside the building asked, "Yo, Salazar, who is it?" Tink stepped over the body and took out the speaker as he came into view. There were two others inside the hut. They didn't even have a chance to draw their weapons before she had them down. She went to the control desk and wheeled the one body, still in his chair, out of the way then found the controls and released the locks on the door to let Ranger and Tank in. Within seconds, they met her. Tank stashed the bodies in the closet while Ranger and Tink worked the computers, trying to use the security cameras to locate the agents.

"Got them," Ranger said. Meagan looked to see what camera he had accessed and pulled up the building schematics on her computer to see where exactly the camera was located.

"Of course, they would be as far away from our location as possible," she hissed. A quick scan of the security cameras showed almost a complete, clear straight shot from where they were to the cells.

The compound was too quiet; Ranger and Meagan exchanged a significant look. "I don't like it." Tank voiced their unspoken opinion. He looked at the schematics and pointed out a less obvious route. "It'll take longer but there's more cover this way." They all nodded in agreement.

Either they were exceptionally lucky or there was something terribly wrong with the situation. They didn't come across another patrol on the entire trip through the compound. They weren't going to let on to the DEA agents (who were probably all seriously mentally fucked up by this point) that they were probably strolling brazenly into a trap. Meagan, the least threatening looking of the three, would make entry first, put them at ease and the others would follow.

The door to what was essentially the brig, had a small window and, of course, Meagan was too short to look through the damn thing; but Ranger and Tank were tall enough and they gave her the all clear. She tried the handle and it worked; the door was unlocked. This was such a set up. She sighed, but they would push on. All they could hope was that they would spot the trap before someone sprang it. Things were definitely getting more interesting the longer they went without resistance.

She opened the door and strolled into the room with an air of confidence that she wasn't actually feeling.

"Hello, boys," Meagan said cheerfully. "I hear you've been requesting an upgrade from your current accommodations. How may we be of service?"

"Who are you?" A man with dark hair and eyes asked. She recognized him from his picture in the file but she didn't know the name. She simply refused to learn the names until she saw they were alive. It was easier to remain objective that way. She waved Ranger and Tank into the room and the men in the cell looked alarmed. Ranger went immediately to the cell door and began examining the lock.

"I'm the Pixie, that's Tank and that's Ranger. We're here to spring you." She said brightly and two of the men sagged with relief. "Anything we should know about your current hosts?"

"Yeah, you've got about five minutes before a patrol comes in to harass us" the dark-haired spokesman said.

"Sweet." She looked at the lock Ranger was examining and saw a key pad they could bypass but it would take time. The lock wouldn't be easy either.

One of the men in the back said, "I'm pretty sure the keypad is a dummy. I've never seen them enter a code. They use a card and an actual key." She looked at him. He was one of their fans and he looked like he'd been worked over once already.

She gave him a reassuring smile. "Wicked. Awesome. Fucking Fantastic. How many can we expect?"

"Four."

Meagan looked up at the ceiling. Ranger had the same thought as she did because she'd barely tipped her head back when he had her by the waist and was hoisting her up. She grabbed onto the beams in the ceiling and said, "Hang tight, campers. We'll have you out of here in a jiffy." She then swung herself up into the ceiling. Tank boosted Ranger up then stood behind the door.

Three minutes later the patrol came in. Tank stepped out from behind the door and broke the neck of their lookout as Ranger dropped silently from the ceiling behind two of the three remaining guards. Two quick shots and they were down, the third met his end as Meagan, hanging from the ceiling, used her thighs to mimic the action Tank had used with his hands. Ranger again grabbed her around the waist and lowered her to the floor.

At no point had they signalled each other, they simply worked in a well-practiced rhythm that allowed them to act simultaneously. Meagan went over the bodies until she found the keys and the card and asked, "Do they do it the same way every time or does it matter?"

"Card then key," the injured one said.

"Perfect." She sprung them and did the headcount as they walked out. All nine remaining agents were there and most of them unharmed. The one who noticed the locks had definitely been through the wringer more than once.

"You okay?" She asked him when he leaned up against the cell door to catch his breath.

"Yeah, ma'am. Fine. Glad they sent you guys though."

"What's broken?"

"A couple of ribs, I think," he responded.

"Okay, well, hang in there because we've got a ride coming and it's not far to get to the RV point. There's two choppers so you won't even be crowded."

"Why two?"

"My friends and I are not going back to base. We've got places to be. Come on."

They went back the way they came and twenty minutes after they entered the compound they were out again. They took the DEA agents into the brush and Ranger ordered, "Just hold your position." and waved Meagan to his side.

"How long ago did you decide these guys were bait?" Meagan asked in Ranger Bell.

"When it took us less than a day to find them." Ranger replied in kind.

"It's way too easy. What do you think? Leak?"

"Not one of ours, but yeah. They've got a leak. I think someone knows we're supposed to be in Columbia. Awfully convenient that this happens just after we grabbed Vasquez."

"RV points are compromised then."

"Good thing we always gather our own intel, isn't it?" His lips tipped up and they walked back to the group. "Pixie and I smell an ambush. Go to the site we located and radio the coordinates directly to Vadrine. He'll send the choppers."

"Where are you going?"

"To see if our hunch is correct and see if we can't figure out who the leak at the DEA is. Don't leave without us; we won't be long."

"I don't like it," Tank said.

"Tank, if anything happens to me, all you have to do is clap and say you believe in fairies," Tink quipped before she and Ranger melted into the forest.

They got to the RV point undetected, this time because of skill and not by enemy design. The pickup site was crawling with militia.

Meagan signed, Now I know why the place was so empty.

Fight or Live to Fight? Ranger asked.

Live to fight. We've got our guys; there are too many. I count fifteen.

I agree. Tank will have kittens if we take these assholes on.

They were about to leave when they heard the distinct sounds of a chopper over head. "Son of a bitch," Meagan cursed quietly.

"Oh, Hermana, you can do better than that," Ranger whispered. He loved her creative cursing. They held their position, hoping the chopper pilot hadn't completely disobeyed orders. It would seem their luck was over. The chopper barely touched down when it began taking heavy fire. Ranger and Meagan sprang into action. Moving like ghosts in the forest around the cartel, they took out the men one by one as quickly as they could. By the time each man realized they were in trouble it was already too late. They took them out with single shots to the head, their guns drowned out by the heavy fire coming from the chopper and the militia firing upon it.

The gunfire from the chopper stopped and The Pixie and Ranger picked up the pace until all fifteen of the enemy were down then they sprinted to the chopper. The crew's medic was dead, the co-pilot was shot in the neck but miraculously still alive. Their gunny had taken a round to his femoral artery and he was bleeding out fast. Meagan swung herself up into the chopper and went straight to the Gunnery Sargaent, Ranger went for the co-pilot.

Ranger clamped down on the co-pilot's neck with his hands trying to stop the bleed. He barked at the pilot, "Get us the fuck out of here before their backup gets here! Then radio Tank and let him know they'd better get the fuck out of Dodge."

Meagan peeled off her shirt and tossed it to Ranger who slapped it over the soaked-through bandage on the neck of the co-pilot then she snapped on the remaining glove in the first aid kit.

The medic managed to start a tourniquet before he died and it had slowed but not stopped the bleeding which was why the gunny was still alive. Meagan doused her gloved hand in alcohol and shoved her fingers into the leg to pinch off the artery. The gunny screamed in agony and violently thrashed about trying to escape the pain. He was stronger than Meagan and she needed him to hold still. She nodded toward a headset and Ranger grabbed it quickly tossing it to her before continuing to apply pressure to the neck wound. She put on the headset and adjusted her mike.

"Hey, Gunny what's your name?" She asked him, her voice was laced with a deceptive calm. She was desperate and hoped this worked because she'd only read about this approach, but apparently it worked for childbirth…

"Davidson, Sir."

"It's Tink okay Davidson," she said evenly. "I need you to look at me Davidson, You're going to live but I need you to work with me. You have to hold still."

"It hurts, Sir; I'm trying."

"I know Davidson. What I need you to do is look at my eyes. Focus on them, okay? Can you do that?"

"Yeah, ma'am, they're fucking cool."

"I know they are. What I want you to do is try and find my pupils. They are a lighter black."

"Yes, Sir."

"Anybody waiting at home for you, Davidson?"

"Yeah, my girlfriend. She's going to be pissed I got shot."

"You going to marry her?" Meagan's voice was evenly modulated, she never took her eyes off of his and he began to calm.

"I think so, ma'am. She's a good woman. She's a resident at Princeton Plainsborough and she's really smart. No idea what she sees in me but I'm not going to fight it if she wants to be with me."

"Good man." Tink smiled, "Any brothers and sisters?"

"Yeah. Little brother. He's four. He was a bit of a surprise."

"I'll say." She felt their descent and shifted positions, "We're almost there, Davidson; but I'm not going to be able to let go of you, all right? Not until they tell me I can. I'm going to have to ride with you on the gurney, is that all right?"

"Yeah. You're hot. I hope Cindy doesn't mind."

"She won't and I am going to pretend I didn't hear that."

"Shit, ma'am, did I say that out loud?"

"You did but I'll forgive you since you're hypnotized and all," she replied as the doors opened.

"When did you hypnotize me ma'am?"

"not important but I promise not to make you cluck like a chicken." She straddled his legs but kept her weight off of him as they got them onto the stretcher then onto the gurney to rush them to the field hospital.

Later, while washing the blood off she felt Ranger behind her, "What the fuck happened?" she demanded.

"Pilot didn't like the landing site we chose so he decided to stick with the one he'd recommended. He said we weren't pilots and didn't know what we were talking about."

"Idiot! Your guy going to make it?"

"Yeah. He's gonna make it. Said next time he wants you working on him 'cause he liked the cool hypnosis shit. Said I hurt him. How's Davidson?"

"Gonna lose the leg. He'll make it if he doesn't die of the infection I probably gave him by shoving my hand in his leg. No idea if it was the right thing to do, but the direct approach was the only one I could think of." She was quiet for a few minutes, brooding, angry. "Let me ask you this? They were told that this was a rescue mission and the DEA agents were possibly injured, so you want to tell me why there was one, barely stocked first aid kit on board? Didn't like the site we'd located? Really? What the fuck is wrong with him?"

"Arrogant." Ranger said with a shrug, "he's going to be court-martialed."

Meagan looked down at the face cloth she'd been using to scrub the blood off of her arms and very calmly wrapped it around her hand and then in a sudden explosion of movement punched the mirror.

"Feel better?"

"No," she groused.

"Because of the fuck up we have to stay and debrief. We can't testify at the court martial since we aren't even supposed to be here right now. We'll just do a written statement and catch our ride out of here tomorrow at 0530."

"Fine."

"Come on, we both need to work this off. The wall I put my fist through wasn't any more satisfying than your mirror."

A crowd had formed by the time Tank finished getting the remaining DEA agents settled. He elbowed his way to the front to see what they were all looking at. The temperature had dropped considerably after the sun had set; despite this, Ranger was shirtless and Meagan was down to her sports bra and they were both barefoot. Coated in sweat, their breath coming out in puffs of steam under the spotlights, he watched as they sparred against each other.

"Yo, you're Tank, right? Their partner?" He looked down acknowledging the young lieutenant. "They've been going at it for over an hour now and they aren't slowing down. Figured you might be able to step in and break it up."

Meagan's bare foot connected soundly with Ranger's stomach, having braced for the impact he hadn't even stumbled. Unfazed, he grabbed her foot to flip her off balance and onto her back but she simply used the momentum he gave her, to execute a back flip.

"I'm not getting in there. They'd both kill me." Tank said, "You just gotta let them work it off."

They went for another half hour when due to a combination of altitude, being awake for 20 hours and nearly two hours of a cardio death match they both just stopped. Ranger staggered slightly from pure exhaustion and sat down hard. Meagan stumbled over to him and sat down heavily beside him. He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. The crowd quickly dispersed, those that had been betting were disappointed because nobody had actually won the fight.

"Well, that was stupid,",Tank said when it was just the three of them, "You're both going to be hurting tomorrow. You think our new medic is going to let either of you out into the field? No. He's gonna make you get some rest and we don't have time for your bullshit."

"New medic?" Meagan yawned, ignoring the scolding.

"Yeah. Lester's partner, Major Robert Brown. While you guys were busy trying to kill each other for sport, I got word that Brown and Santos are joining the unit. Brown will be waiting for us in Columbia. Santos will be joining us after he finishes up some additional training."

"Cool," Meagan said.

"Yeah, fucking cool," Tank growled. "You're useless the both of you." He was talking to himself. Both Meagan and Ranger were asleep, leaning up against each other.

RSRSRSRSRS

"We made Colonel because of that mission," Ranger said after everybody in the dining room read the file and they filled in the blanks.

"Yeah, we worked our asses off in Columbia immediately after. The whole thing went tits up because of a different asshole who didn't feel like listening to orders. Tink whooped his ass soundly for it. Don't think she had to worry about people disobeying her orders after that," Tank said.

"Yeah, but she met me so the mission wasn't a total waste," Lester said.

"Yeah, and after his ribs healed we had Manny, too," Meagan said. "Essentially because of our actions, we saved Beals' life and got him kicked out of the military."

"I thought you said he was retired by the time you enlisted?" I asked.

"Where we were working required pilots who knew the area well." Meagan explained, "According to Frakes, Beals had retired and was asked to come back for the job in Columbia and according to Vadrine we were supposed to meet him when we met Bobby. Then we got called in to help out the DEA and his orders changed. He was supposed to pick us up from the RV point and take us back to Columbia. Obviously that didn't happen,"

"They landed in Columbia, hopped out of the chopper and literally hit the ground running. The first time I saw Tink she yelled, 'Brown, get that fine ass in gear. We've got a lead that's going to get cold!' I learned that though she be tiny Tink be fast. I had to haul ass to keep up with her."

"As cool as that story was, Bobby, I got a question," Lula said.

"Why, if we got him kicked out of the military, would he hold us up as an ideal?" Ranger asked for her. "No fucking clue. Meagan, Les?"

"He's a total whack job?" Lester offered.

"Thanks for that assessment," Ranger said, "Hermana?"

"I'm sure when I get his Psych Eval from Vadrine we're going to find out that he's got all kinds of different psychoses. Until then, I think Lester's assessment is completely accurate. He's a complete whack job."

"I'm a little worried about Linda," I said. "She's got a major hate on for Meagan; she has huge jealousy issues when it comes to her."

"Doesn't everybody?" Meagan quipped. "It does seem a little excessive, I agree. I can't really blame her though. If my dad were constantly comparing me to someone else, I would have serious resentment issues, too."

"I think it's more than that. I'm worried about her. Her father is clearly dangerous so what's he going to do when she confronts him?"

"In my opinion, nothing. He won't hurt her," Joe said. "She's daddy's girl all the way. He might be disappointed in her career choices but he dotes on her and he'd never hurt her physically though he might do a number emotionally."

"I agree. He'd never hurt Linda," Lester said. "Family is too important to him."

The rest of the table agreed with Lester and Joe but my Spidey sense was still off the couch and pacing by the door. Something was very, very wrong with her reaction at the bar. I looked at Ranger trying to ESP him.

"We'll put someone on the house. It's the best we can do," he said to me. I tried to relax but it wasn't happening. I was right as it turned out. Seven hours later Meagan and Joe left the building, Joe's Jeep peeled out of the lot like it was trying to be one of Meagan's Lambos. There was another victim, only she was alive and they were going to question her. That's about when shit started to hit the fan.