I typed as fast as I could so I wouldn't leave you hanging for too long, I hope you like this chappy.

Thank you so much for your reviews, you have no idea how much I appreciate them. I love to learn what you think of each chapter.

Stayce, ma chere, ce chapitre est pour toi! Merci beaucoup pour tout! Merci pour l'amitie, merci pour les idées, merci pour toi!!

Disclaimer: The story is mine, the characters aren't, and unlike JE, I'm not making any money off of them

Rating: R for adult language and situations. They're all adults and they talk and act like it…read at your own risk.

Living on a Prayer

Chapter 16

My ears were ringing from the gunshots and everything was black. I had squeezed my eyes shut at some point and hadn't even realized it. My heart was still beating so fast, I was sure I was going to pass out. Finally, I dared to open my eyes slowly. It didn't do much good; I could barely see anything but shadows. I was just about to take a deep breath, when a loud crash behind me made me jump.

Instinctively, I turned around, my gun still raised in both hands. My brain knew it was empty, but my heart was praying for the miracle of more bullets. I kept pulling the trigger, but there was only the click-click-click of an empty chamber.

"Stand down! Don't shoot!" A voice yelled. It seemed to be coming from right behind me, but it was so distorted, I didn't know if I it was really Ranger or if I only wished it was.

Hands grabbed my arm and tried to wrestle the gun out of my hands, but I jerked back and kicked out. The hands held on to me, a lot stronger than I was.

A blinding light shone into my eyes, men were shouting. It was all a blur to me, somehow real and yet not.

I was shoved against a wall; the hands was still holding my arm, forcing it upwards.

"Stephanie!" The voice said low but firmly and with authority when its owner slammed his weight against mine so that all air was forced out of my lungs. This time, I was sure I'd heard Ranger, but I couldn't yet connect the voice to the body that was pressing me against the wall.

More lights came on and I finally saw Ranger's face inches from mine. His forehead was beaded with sweat and blood was trickling from a gash right below his eyebrow. More blood had dried on his chin. His eyes were boring into mine while he still held me immobile with his body.

It seemed to take forever for my body to follow my brain's orders to give up. I was fueled by fear and adrenaline, my body wanted to fight.

"Stephanie, look at me!" Ranger ordered and I finally willed my eyes to actually see him. Around us was chaos. More and more lights had come on, I could now make out several RangeMen in black combat mode.

My heart skipped a beat and my breath caught in my throat when I finally processed what I was seeing, that the danger was over, and I went completely limp.

Ranger took a step back and held me when I slumped against him. I closed my eyes again and waited for my heart to slow down and my senses to come back. Slowly, the ringing in my ears subsided and I was able to distinguish sounds again.

Ranger breathing close to my ear. Tank barking orders. Sirens coming closer. Boots shuffling on the floor. Radios squawking.

I opened my eyes and as they adjusted to the now blinding light, I was able to see that all RangeMen were wearing bright flashlights on their combat helmets and construction-type lamp had been set up.

I was leaning against Ranger in the hallway, right outside the smaller bedroom. And, piece by piece, I was able to fit the events of the past few minutes together. I had the feeling of being overwhelmed, like a tidal wave sweeping me away. I dug my fingers into Ranger's shoulders and broke down.

Loud, racking sobs escaped my mouth and tears were streaming down my face. Ranger pushed my head against his chest and bent down to pick me up. He carried me through the hallway into the master bedroom and put me down on the bed. I was about to protest when I felt him lying down next to me. I was holding on to him like a drowning swimmer. And that's how I felt, I was unable to get enough air into my lungs. Ranger pulled me close and whispered to me soothingly. I believe it was Spanish, but I wasn't paying attention to the words, only to his voice.

Little by little, I was able to tune out all other noises and focused only on Ranger's voice. My sobs died down and the tears finally stopped. Ranger continued to whisper, he was now rocking me slowly and stroking my hair. It seemed like hours until I was able to breathe normally again.

I pulled my head back so that I was able to see Ranger's face. It was almost completely dark in the room; the light from the hallway was dim where we were.

I swallowed and took a deep breath. "Are…are you okay?" I finally choked out. Ranger's concerned face split into a smile. "I'm fine Babe. Thanks to you. How are you feeling?"

"Ted…Teddy?" I cleared my throat to get rid of the lump that had formed in it. Ranger was still stroking my hair. "You got him," He said and pulled my head towards him again. He had his arms around me and was holding me tight, and I felt like I was wrapped in a cocoon, shielded from the outside world.

"Is he…is he…d…dead?" I asked, barely able to speak as horror started triggering new tears. I could feel Ranger shake his head. "No." He simply said and kissed my hair. "They're taking him to a hospital."

I sighed. As much as I had wanted Teddy dead ever since I'd learned what he'd done, the thought of having killed him was terrifying to me. I slowly calmed down and was able to think straight again. Ranger swept his thumb over my cheeks, wiping away the remaining tears. I managed a small smile to signal him I was feeling better.

A knock on the door made me flinch and Ranger held me tighter.

"Boss, we're ready to move out." Tank said. Ranger lifted his head. "Secure the perimeter. Meeting at 0800." He said and I heard the door close as Ranger lowered his head back down.

"Are we leaving?" I asked, my mouth at Ranger's neck. "No, Babe," He whispered, "We're gonna stay. You need to rest."

"What time is it?" I asked. I felt Ranger's chest move in silent laughter. "Time to rest." He said. I tried to lift my head to glare at him, he was still laughing quietly. "2:30" He said.

"I need to…" I said and pulled away from him slowly. I had to concentrate on every movement, as if my brain had vacated my body and was remote-controlling it. "…use the bathroom." I finished when I had made it to the edge of the bed.

I padded into the bathroom and stripped my clothes off as if they were contaminated. I sat down on the closed toilet and stared blindly into the room. I knew Ranger was going to give me all the time I needed, but I didn't want to be too far away from him for too long. He was my lifeline at the moment. I sighed when I realized it was over. Teddy wouldn't be hurting anyone else. Ranger was okay.

I was hoping a shower would help me relax, so I turned on the hot water and stood under it for as long as I could.

I could feel my thoughts clear the longer I stood under the hot stream, as if the water was washing me from the inside out. What had Ranger meant by 'We're staying'? And why hadn't he told me what exactly had happened? Okay, I realized, I hadn't asked him yet. Knowing Ranger, he would want to make sure I wanted to hear what he told me.

When I stepped out of the shower and toweled off, my mind seemed almost normal again. Well, as normal as before my Annie Oakley moment anyway. Although I still couldn't believe I had actually done it. I had shot a man before, in self-defense, but he hadn't had the kind of power over me that Teddy held. Every time I had talked to Teddy on the phone, I had broken out in cold sweat, the thought of seeing him again had terrified me. But when the situation had gotten out of hand and Ranger's life had depended on me, I had been able to act. In more than one way, I had freed myself from Teddy; he no longer had any control over me. I hoped.

I left my hair to air dry and just slashed some lotion on my face. Then I realized I'd forgotten to bring any clean clothes with me and I really didn't want to be walking around dressed only in a towel in front of Ranger.

"Um…" I said. "Got some clothes for you." Ranger said from apparently right on the other side of the door and his voice made me jump. I should have known he'd think ahead. I cracked the door open and reached out and pulled it back in when he had put some clothes in it. Just a t-shirt and my sweat pants, but exactly what I would have picked.

Suddenly I was so exhausted I doubted I could make it back to the bed. Probably the adrenaline that had me in overdrive for the past couple hours was wearing off. I leaned heavy on the door when I opened it. Ranger was sitting on the bed. He had taken his shirt off and had pulled the covers back. He got up when he saw me and gathered me in a hug.

"Go to sleep. I'm going to take a shower." He said and lightly kissed my temple before he released me.

"You'll come back, right?" I asked. What I meant was, was he going to sleep in my bed with me, but the words hadn't made it out. Ranger understood anyway. "Of course. Go to sleep." He said and I could hear the smile in his voice.

I slid under the covers and closed my eyes. But as exhausted as my body was, I couldn't fall asleep. I heard the shower running and tried to tell myself that it was safe, Ranger would be right back. But I was awake until Ranger returned and I sucked in some air at the sight of him.

He was wearing only a towel, wrapped around his hips, and by the dim light, I could see his muscles ripple with every one of his movements, the remaining water drops glistening on his skin. I hadn't given Ranger's body much thought at all lately and I had forgotten how handsome he was.

He picked up his suitcase and carried it over to the bed, then he turned on the bedside lamp and opened the suitcase. I had been surprised he had brought a suitcase and not the duffle bag I would have expected, until I learned that Ranger carried mostly equipment, not personal stuff. His laptop, spare batteries for his phone, the first aid kit, it was all in his aluminum Rimova case.

I propped myself up on my elbows to watch him. He smiled when he saw I was still awake. "Try to sleep." He said again and started rummaging through the suitcase.

Ranger found what he was looking for and began screwing the cap off a small bottle. He had some bunched-up gauze in the other hand. "Let me help you," I said and before he could argue, I sat up on the bed, crawled over to his side and took the gauze out of his hand.

"Sit down." I said. I was glad for the distraction. If I focused on Ranger's wounds, I could delay thinking about the shootout. Ranger surprised me by actually sitting down.

He leaned against the headboard and stretched his legs out over the bed.

I drenched the gauze in hydrogen peroxide and scooted closer. "This is gonna sting," I warned him and he smiled. "I'm sure," He said.

"What happened?" I asked when I started dabbing at a small cut on his cheek. In the light, I could see that he didn't have any wounds on his lower face. The blood I had seen earlier must have come from his mouth. "Does it hurt?" I tried again when Ranger didn't answer me.

"No," He just said and closed his eyes when I approached the cut above his eye. It had stopped bleeding, but it looked to me like it needed stitches. He flinched slightly when the liquid hit the open wound. Probably I would have howled in pain. I'd gotten that stuff into a tiny cut in my finger once and it had hurt like hell. I leaned in and blew on the wound gently to ease the pain, and Ranger's jaw muscle tightened. "Sorry," I said, "Almost done." But I took my time cleaning the wound, making sure I got all the blood off.

"How did you get hurt?" I asked when I was almost done. Ranger opened his eyes and looked at me, but didn't respond. I understood he was silently asking me if I was sure I wanted to hear it. I wasn't, not yet, so I let it go.

"You need to go to a hospital," I said instead when I had finished cleaning him up. Ranger inclined his head and did the almost-smile. "We'll see." He said and took the gauze and bottle from me, dropping it on the floor. He reached over and turned off the lamp. "Tomorrow, maybe." He kissed my forehead and pushed himself off the bed.

I saw him take something out of the suitcase and he dropped the towel and changed before he closed the suitcase and took it off the bed. I blushed in the dark when I realized what I wasn't seeing because of the open lid.

He lay down next to me, put his arm around me and pulled me close, turning me on my side. "Try to sleep." He whispered and kissed my earlobe. His body heat seeped into me, and with it a sense of safety and security. And finally, I allowed myself to drift off.

The door flew open and crashed against the wall behind it. A lamp on the bedside table was providing the only light in the room. Cold air blew in from the outside through the broken window. Whatever had crashed through it had made the glass shatter into thousands of pieces that were littering the floor. A gun lay on the floor, Ranger's gun. His cell phone on the bedside table next to the lamp.

Ranger was on the bed, his hands tied behind his back, he was slightly bent forward and his expression looked pained. A few feet to his right, Teddy was standing, dressed in a black cat suit, feet apart. A black ski mask was pushed up on his forehead. He was aiming a gun at Ranger and his face was contorted into a gruesome mask. His upper lip was curled into a sneer.

When the door flew open, Teddy whipped his head around, his eyes momentarily widening in shock.

I held the gun in both hands, my arms slightly bent at the elbow, the way Eddie had taught me.

I squeezed the trigger and gasped as the first bullet hit the lamp, knocking it off the nightstand and onto the floor. The only light in the room now was the faint illumination from the streetlights, or even the moon, whatever it was that shone in through the window.

I pulled the trigger again and saw Teddy jerk back. At the same time, Ranger fell to his left and lay completely still when I kept firing. Another bullet hit the bed, the next brought Teddy to his knees and I could see blood spurting from his leg. The fifth bullet hit the bedpost and the last one grazed Teddy's right hand, making him drop his gun and cry out in pain. I squeezed my eyes shut and kept pulling the trigger, not processing that the gun was empty. It all happened in a matter of seconds, but it seemed to stretch out as if in slow motion, every movement, every detail.

My eyes flew open when I heard a groan and I saw Teddy reaching for his gun. "You bitch!" He shrieked and pulled the trigger.

I bolted upright in bed, breathing hard, shaking and drenched in sweat. Immediately, Ranger sat up and put his arm around me.

"Just a dream, Babe, it's over." He said and stroked my hair. He was right. It was a dream, but at the same time, it wasn't. It was exactly what had happened, my eyes had registered it all and my mind had replayed it for me. And now I knew why I had blocked it out. When Ranger had slumped to his side, I had been sure I'd hit him, and yet I had been unable to stop shooting.

I covered my face with my hands and tried to take deep breaths as panic and terror curled up inside me. It was as if part of my brain was conspiring against my resolve to go with denial.

"Hey, shhhhh…" Ranger soothed beside me, rubbing his hand over my shoulder. "It's over. You're safe."

I took a couple shallow breaths and was able to fight the tears back. I stopped shaking as my heart rate slowed down. He was right; it was over. Probably I would have to live with the nightmares for some time, but at least they weren't as heartbreaking as the ones I'd had of Joe. This one was just plain terrifying.

Ranger threaded his fingers through my hair and gently pushed me back into the pillow. "It'll get easier." He said softly and pulled the covers back up over my chest. "Trust me, I know."

There was a lot about Ranger that I didn't know. I knew he had been in the Army, but I didn't know where or what he had done. I suspected he'd seen a lot worse than I had hours before and if he said it would get easier, I believed him.

"I thought I'd killed you." I said, my voice strained from the effort to hold back the tears. Ranger pushed himself up on his elbow so that we were face to face. "But you didn't," he said and ran his hand over my cheek, "I'm okay."

I nodded weakly. How could I explain to him that it had been so real to me? I just knew he was dead and that I'd killed him. In that split-second, it had felt as if my heart was ripped out of my body and I had died with him. Even now my eyes stung with tears at the memory.

Ranger pulled me close and I rested my head on his shoulder. "It'll get easier." He said again and ran his hand up and down my back. I wanted to believe him. I wanted to find my way back to denial land again.

He kept whispering soothing words to me and running his hand up and down my back, and that eventually lulled me back to sleep when I could already see the sunrise brightening the room.

I woke up lying on my side with Ranger's arm draped around me. I was still tired and my whole body ached, but I was unable to sleep any longer. I could hear Ranger breathe deep and regular, he was still asleep. Sunlight filtered in through a crack in the curtains and the house was so quiet; it made the events of the night before seem even more surreal.

The alarm on Ranger's watch beeped and he stirred behind me. He tightened the grip of his arm around me and blew out a breath. It tickled my skin and I realized we must have looked like the picture of peace.

"How're you feeling?" Ranger asked softly when he had stopped the alarm. "I'm okay," I lied. "You will be." Ranger said and pulled away from me. He stretched and got up. "We're gonna have a powwow in fifteen minutes, do you want to be part of it?" He asked.

I rolled onto my back to face him and yawned, thinking about my answer. Did I want to relive the night again? I knew they were going to go over all the events in detail, it was standard procedure. And I did want to know what had happened, how Teddy had managed to break in, how he was able to tie Ranger up, how Ranger had lived it. But knowing would make it harder to deny it.

"It's okay if you want to sit this one out, you know." Ranger said and sat back down on the bed. "No, I'm in," I said and nodded for emphasis. Dammit, I was going to see this through! For Joe. For Ranger. For me.

"Proud of you Babe." Ranger said and tugged a stray curl of my hair before he got up and disappeared into the bathroom. The funny thing was, I was beginning to be proud of myself. I'd done something I never thought I was capable of and I had made it out alive. The last time I had been proud of myself was when I'd told my ex-husband to go to hell after our divorce.

I didn't have time to take a shower before the meeting, so I just got some underwear and redressed. Ranger was in the kitchen making coffee when I came into the living room. I had dreaded leaving the bedroom, not knowing what the rest of the house would look like. The door to the small bedroom was closed and the front door was different. The Merry Men must have replaced it before they left. The living room didn't look any different than the night before.

Ranger poured the coffee and brought the cups over to the living room, placing mine on the coffee table.

"You ready?" He asked, taking his cell phone off his utility belt. He was once again dressed all in black and his hair was still wet from the shower.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I said and sat up straight, taking my coffee cup, Ranger nodded and dialed, then he put the phone on speaker and put it on the coffee table. He sat down next to me and took my hand.

"Target checking in," He said when the control room answered. Woody had been released from the hospital and had joined Tank and Bobby for the meeting in the control room. The only other teams left in Point Pleasant were Cal and Junior next door to Ashton and two Merry Men across the street from the guesthouse.

Since Ashton hadn't done anything against the law, there was nothing we could do but watch him. Hal had dialed in from the hospital where he was keeping watch over Teddy. When everybody's attendance was confirmed, Ranger started the meeting. I let out a breath I wasn't aware of holding when every Rangeman assigned to the job was present. That had to mean nobody had gotten hurt the night before, right?

Tank started his report at 10 PM the night before, when the third shift had taken over. Ranger had signed off for the night around 11 and had gone to bed. As it turned out, Teddy had beaten RangeMan at their own game: he'd hacked into the cell tower and rerouted his cell phone call so that it appeared on the caller ID to originate from the control room. He had then called Bobby in the guesthouse and sent him to check on something on the first floor. When Bobby left his post, Teddy had disabled the motion sensors at the back of the carriage house and had tricked the cameras with a photograph. A third guy no one had known about had zapped Bobby with a stun gun. The surveillance team on Arnold was sure no one had approached the guesthouse from the outside, at least not from the front. Since Bobby was unable to describe his attacker, we had no lead on him or her. The only thing they were sure of was that it hadn't been Ashton, since he had been in his motel room all night.

Ranger took over at this point. While Bobby was out and he was hidden from the team on Arnold, Teddy had smashed the bedroom window with a rock, and had tazed Ranger before the shards had hit the floor. When he had come to, Ranger's hands had been tied and Teddy was waving the gun in front of him, making the speech I had partially heard. When I had barged in, Ranger had taken cover until the shooting was over, then he had been able to reach his knife and free himself. He was able to get me out of the way just before the troops started world war three, at least that's what it sounded like to me.

I could imagine every RangeMan on the call hanging their head. They had let Ranger down and they knew it. We had all underestimated Teddy's technical abilities, since nothing in his profile had pointed at it. At this point, it wasn't even clear if Teddy had more than two men on his team.

When Bobby had come around, he had immediately alerted all teams and when they approached the carriage house, they'd heard the gunshots and stormed in.

"Suspect was on the floor, unarmed and unconscious." Tank finished the report. I shook my head in disbelief. I had been so sure that with all of RangeMan's resources, all bases were covered. When Teddy had overwhelmed Lester and Woody, he was just playing with them. He had known the extent of the surveillance the whole time, I was sure of it now.

The team at the motel was still on Ashton duty, and the team on Arnold would stay in place, since it was possible Teddy's other helpers were still out there, although no one had seen or heard anyone.

I was pretty sure we only had to worry about Teddy, Ashton didn't seem to be doing anything without orders. But after the night I'd just made it through, I didn't want to take any chances.

Teddy had been taken to a nearby hospital and RangeMan had alerted the local cops, he would be arraigned as soon as he was able to move again.

"Stay on location at the hospital," Ranger ordered, "We will be offline until we take off from location. Check in intervals remain, and report all suspicious activity." With that, everyone was dismissed.

Ranger flipped the phone shut and clipped it back onto his belt. I cut my eyes to him but his face was expressionless. I was pretty sure he was pissed. He had gone to bed, relying on the team, and they had let him down. And there was a chance he would have been killed before they arrived, if it hadn't been for me. I assumed the mission was as fucked up as any RangeMan mission could get. As far as I was concerned though, it wasn't all bad. We had Teddy. Everyone was alive.

"Everyone is okay." I tried to point out. Ranger looked up and his eyes met mine. "No," He said in a flat voice, "Not everyone is okay. I have a man in the hospital, another SAH, and some punk-ass orderly just found every possible weakness in my organization and waved it in my face."

This was the angriest I'd ever seen Ranger. I didn't know how to argue his point either, he was right. Here I was trying to show him the glass was half full and he made it clear that the glass was indeed completely empty. So I tried the opposite direction. "Don't forget you got your ass saved by a girl…" I said that last word with as much 5th grade as I could. Ranger looked like he was thinking about gasping, but I thought I'd gotten through to him. There was the hint of a smile on his face.

"All right then, we're okay," I said, "Apart from a few cuts and bruises, we're fine, right? Right?" I elbowed his side to get a reaction from him. He finally looked at me, his lips curled in an almost-smile. "Are you pep-talking me?" He asked and raised an eyebrow.

"I guess I am," I said, "How about that?" Ranger chuckled. We both knew it was usually the other way around. "I guess it's not that bad if you still have your sense on humor." He said and pulled me closer to him.

"Truth is, you saved the mission, Babe." He said with his chin on my head. I was speechless. Ranger was giving me credit for saving his mission.

"You would have done the same for me." I said softly.

"You bet," He said. Then he tilted my head back and kissed me.

TBC

A/N: I hope all your questions were answered. Teddy is out of the picture, right? What do you think?