Ranger POV

I managed to stay in the apartment for three days before the itch to get downstairs to my office took over. Steph had been running interference for me whenever one of the guys would drop by the apartment to see Alex. I usually had time to get into the bedroom, but one time, I had to stand behind the open apartment door in order to not let Cal see me. I wasn't hiding from my men, I just needed some more time to regroup and be alone with Steph and Alex.

By evening of the third day, Steph knew what I needed and we decided to go as a family down to my office. We managed to get down the elevator, across the control room floor and into my office without anyone seeing us. The guys in the control room were glued to the monitors and never even looked back when the elevator opened. I sat down at my desk and Steph sat holding Alex across from me. There were piles and piles of paperwork all over my desk. I looked from the papers over to Steph. She laughed and said, "Tank doesn't like paperwork and I did what I could, but towards the end, I couldn't sit for very long because my back hurt too much. We can have one of the guys sort through it and pull out the important things you need to see and then I can work on the rest while Alex is sleeping."

We sat quietly for about an hour before Alex started to fuss. She settled back into the chair and nursed him while I continued to work. When she stopped to switch breasts, Alex started to cry again. Before either one of us could react, the door opened and Cal and Hal came through. Cal said, "We heard the baby cry and wanted to see if we could help." Steph laughed and said, "Not on this one. I'm the only one that has what he needs." She settled Alex back in her arms and opened her bra on the other side to start nursing him. Both men turned bright red and turned to leave. "We'll just go now. See you later Steph, you too boss", said Hal.

They got about halfway out the door before they turned around. "Boss?" "Yes," I asked. "You're back" said Cal. "Yes, I know I'm back. Do you need anything else?" I asked. "No, no, glad to see you're back." They turned and almost ran out of the office. Steph was laughing at me and said, "Well, that was fun. Who do you think will come in next?"

We didn't' have to wait long before the rest of the guys that were on duty came streaming into my office. I was welcomed back by all of them and they each took a minute to stop by where Steph was sitting with Alex. Who knew one little baby would turn my men into mush? The only men missing were Tank, Lester and Hector. Where were those stooges at and why hadn't they called?

Finally Steph said enough and shooed everyone out of the office. She looked at me and said, "Time for you to go back upstairs. You look exhausted and I know your leg must be throbbing." She stood up and walked over and held out her hand, pulling me up. I grabbed my crutches and together we headed upstairs. She put Alex in his crib and then came back to help me shower and get into bed. Bobby had provided a cast cover for my leg so showering went quicker than trying to wrap plastic around it.

Once we were in bed, Steph wrapped herself around me and we both soon fell asleep. Tomorrow I had an appointment with an orthopedic doctor and hopefully I'd get a walking cast so I'd be more mobile.

Lester POV

Two days at the hospital trying to get information about Ranger was enough to drive me crazy. We found out that someone matching his description had been a patient, but the nurse who mainly tended him was out of town on vacation. We tried to pull the military personnel card, but were soon shot down. Then, I called Ranger's hander's office, again. His secretary finally put me through to him and he verified that the mission was a success and everyone made it back stateside in good health. His handler told me that Ranger brought the target in alive and was part of the transport team back to the states. Ranger went through the debriefing and then headed out of town. His contract was now over so the handler had no reason to contact him. What the hell happened to him after the debriefing?

Tank finally was able to talk that nurse, Becca. She looked at us suspiciously before we pulled out our ID's and pulled up a picture of Ranger from the company web site. She wouldn't give us any medical information but did say that he was her patient for almost six months, but had been discharged. She also said that she tried to help him get in touch with his company, but his email wouldn't work and when he could finally call, no one answered and a machine came on. She said he was discharged soon after and she assumed he headed for home.

Hector had turned up yesterday and was helping us track down Ranger's activities once he was discharged from the hospital. The driver he hired to get him back to Trenton was the most informational. Hector was able to get the information from the company's computer and discovered that Ranger headed back to Trenton only three days ago and the trip was uneventful. The driver dropped him off about 3:00 am at the RangeMan building.

"We need to get back to Trenton, and like now," I said to the guys. They loaded the car and headed out. Damn, Ranger was going to have their heads once they got back into the office.

As they raced back to Trenton, Lester thought about the last few months. Steph never stopped believing that Ranger was alive and trying to find his way home. She'd had the baby about a week ago and it was a boy that much he knew. Tank was driving as fast as he could and before too long, they pulled up to the garage at RangeMan. Tank fobbed his way into the garage and they all took off on the stairs at a full out run. Tank and Hector stopped at the control room floor, but Lester ran the extra few floors up to Ranger's apartment. He came to stop outside the door and stopped to catch his breath before knocking on the door.