. .oOo.

Chapter 18

Stephanie had seen enough. She jumped up from her chair and started for the elevator. Cal was right behind her, as was Hector. They had all been watching the action on the roof, in varying degrees of horror. Her movement served to put them all in motion. Aban got up too, but someone put their hand on his shoulder to stop him. Of course, they were right. Leaving the building could possibly bring even more problems, and that was the last thing he wanted for these men. They had all been through enough tonight.

Deciding that the elevator would take too long, Stephanie pushed open the door to the stairwell and ran down, taking the stairs two and three at a time.

"Steph, wait!" Cal yelled, his voice echoing in the confined space.

"Show me how to get up there," she yelled back. Her speed increased as she raced through the smoldering garage.

"Come, this way, I show you," Hector called to her as he sprinted across the street. She was right behind him as he reached a service door. And behind her was Cal and about six other guys who all felt the same urgency to get up there and assess the situation.

Stephanie was out of breath, but it was not only from racing up four flights of stairs. Her heart was pounding too, she needed to get to Ranger. Bursting through the door to the roof, she was still moving, her eyes frantically searching for him.

And there he was. She had never seen anything more beautiful, more wonderful than he looked right now. "Ranger!" she cried out, her voice not much more than a breathy whisper, as relief swept over her.

Ranger turned to see the most stunning sight that he had ever seen. Stephanie was running toward him. It only took a few more steps before she was in his arms. He held on to her, burying his face in her neck, fighting the tears that threatened to start a deluge. His heart was pounding, he was sure she could feel it, because he could feel hers too.

The world and all its chaos faded around them, there was only this. Only this embrace, this moment.

"Oh, Babe," Ranger murmured, as all other words failed him. He kissed her neck, her cheek, her chin, taking his time getting to her lips. Savoring every sensation of holding her close, safely in his arm. She too, wanted this moment to last forever. It was no longer a dream or a wish or a hope. He was here, in her arms. In her life. Nothing else mattered.

Cal and the others moved past them. Ellis was on the ground, and the four rangemen, that had come up with Ranger, were standing in a semicircle around him. They all still had their weapons in their hands, one of them held a knife as well. And then there was the blood.

He would have asked the question, but Cal already knew what could have gone on in the fight that they watched. Ellis had fought them like a rabid dog. He had been all over Ranger, and lashing out at everyone else. Threatening Ranger had been his fatal mistake.

Up until that moment, they had been lenient, allowing for the mentally unbalanced condition that they knew he suffered from. They had taken the crazed attack, the gunfight, and the insults, but they had to draw the line somewhere, and pulling a knife on their boss was it.

Kneeling down next to Nick's body, Cal did a cursory exam, noting where he had been shot. Without looking up he did ask one question, "Who got the shot?"

In unison all four of them said, "I did." Cal just nodded. Details of the last few minutes of the fighting would be sorted out later, for now, he ordered the men to meet with Bobby to get checked out. Cal looked them over carefully. They had been standing, but he had not checked to see if any of them had injuries that would prevent them from getting there under their own steam.

Though there was plenty of blood to be seen, not one of them admitted to being hurt. Each man simply nodded and stepped away. Cal watched them go toward the stairs. He could tell that they were disguising a limp or two, but he would give them that, he knew that they were going to be okay. Ellis may have given them some cuts and bruises and maybe even grazed them with a bullet or two, but they had protected one of their own, and as far as he was concerned, that made them all heroes.

. .oOo.

Mahir knew that everything was wrong. The anger in these men, that he had been working with for years, had started to scare him more than ever. Though none of it had been directed at him, specifically, he was still worried.

Aban had tried to warn him, he had told him so many times that these men no longer represented the changes he had hoped to make in this evil world. They were more like the terrorists that his father had accused him of being when he joined.

It was clear to him now that Aban had been right, he had seen it months ago. How could they continue to live like this, Aban had asked one day. Mahir had not answered. What had happened to the hope, the vow to make it a better world, he had wanted to know. Again Mahir had had no answers. Now those very questions were haunting him and all he wanted to do was leave this all far behind him.

The sparse house, that they had been headquartered in, was full of boxes now. Some were filled with equipment and stacked against the wall by the garage door, and many more were empty waiting to be packed up and loaded into the moving van that was scheduled to show up soon.

He understood the urgency, Mahir knew that they were all at risk of being discovered now that some of their men were in custody. Not that he believed that they would ever betray them, but because it was the way things were. Rules were in place for these situations, and they must be followed.

He did his job, everything that was asked of him, and still he felt that their attitude toward him was becoming increasingly hostile. The sideways glances, the tone of their voice, accidentally being bumped around. They had not acted this way before Aban left. It was too much for him to ignore. Only serving to confirm his decision to get out of there as soon as he could.

Another box was packed and placed on the growing stack against the wall. Mahir was organized and quick, getting the job done in record time. His movements belied the worry and fear that he felt, however, and all he could think of was his plan to escape.

Its just that Mahir was not prepared for this kind of thing, it had always been Aban who had been the smart one, the one who could figure out the best way. But despite that, Mahir was forming a plan in his mind. Some of the elements seemed to be coming together, and it gave him a bit of hope.

And then the most amazing thing happened. Mahir watched as the van moved slowly down the street. Everything from the house had been packed up and was now being moved to their new location. He was a little bit disappointed that his initial plan to ride up front with the driver had not panned out. There was no way now to slip away secretly.

All of the men were piling into the two cars that were parked in front of the house they had known for so long. He sighed as he picked up the small duffel bag from the porch and headed to one of the cars. But he did not get far when he saw another car pull up, a taxi cab was here. Mahir felt a hand on his arm. He looked over at the man who had recruited him years before.

"The cab will take you to the airport," he said. Then he handed Mahir an envelope. "Your flight information is here with the money you will need to get home."

Mahir was speechless, he was being handed the one thing he wanted more than anything else in the world. Holding the envelope, he tried to say thank you, say something, but no words came.

"Go." It was said with a slight push to his shoulder. Nodding, Mahir moved quickly to the cab, before anyone could change their minds. He did not care why they were doing this, had no idea that they had chosen to send him back to their country as a way to safeguard their secrets here. As far as they were concerned, he was no longer to be trusted, not after what his friend Aban had done.

There would be someone waiting when he got off the plane. It had been decided to let him die in the homeland. Much easier to cover his demise in a country that saw death every day, and that had no means with which to investigate most of them. Their plan was in place, Mahir would no longer be their problem.

. .oOo.

Tank was glad that it was over, but his heart was not into the celebrations he knew were going on in various locations in the building. . His mind was on something else.

He was desperately trying to come up with a plan that would take him back to the Grand Canyon. Over and over, he played back the images in his head of the first moment that he had laid eyes on Nia. The flood of feelings he got from that memory nearly overwhelmed him.

Strange to think of it now, but he had known, in that instant, that his life would never be the same again. 'Love at first sight' the words popped into his head. That is exactly what it had been. If he had never believed in it before, he definitely did now. And just to press the point he remembered that the next time he had seen her had confirmed it. Her smile, that sweet way that she had of looking at him, with her head tilted at an angle like she knew his secrets, her firm grip when she took his hand in hers, the sparks from that single kiss. All of these things told him that he was right, he had somehow found the only woman who had ever touched his heart.

How could he let her go now? No, that was not an option. Somewhere along the line, he had decided that as soon as all of this Ellis craziness was done, he would leave and get back to her. Tank nearly chuckled, with the way things had worked out tonight, he might be back there before she came in for her next shift. Calling her tomorrow may not be necessary. It was an idea that pleased him. He would love to see the look on her face when Nia saw him there.

That fantasy, however ended the moment that General Kinkaid walked into the room. In his way, with his big voice booming, he announced that they were to stay within the confines of the RangeMan building, as planned, until further notice.

While the trouble that Ellis had caused was over, that little incident with a terrorist group had not been resolved to his satisfaction. There was no room for argument and they all knew it, so the men remained silent as he spelled out the orders for at least the next forty-eight hours. In a much more subdued voice, he dismissed the men whule he, himself, remained seated.

Silently the general watched as the men filed out of the room, most of them to go find the sleeping quarters that Ella had set up for them. It was actually a relief to finally be able to get some badly needed rest. Kinkaid hoped that that was exactly what they would do. Ella had a place for him too, but he was not ready to try for sleep yet. He knew that it was not going to come easily.

What he did not share with his men, what they could not ever know, weighed heavily on his heart right now. He had to deal with grief and deep pain that he felt over this situation with Nick Ellis. For so many years he had seen him as the son he had never had. He had done everything that he could for Nick, hadn't he? Questions that he could never answer plagued his mind.

Though the general didn't often allow himself to play the 'if' game, he was playing it now in his mind. After the diagnosis, Nick's father had been assured that the chemical imbalance could be controlled with medication. Kinkaid had watched as his good friend and his son went through one trial period after another, trying to find the right dosage that would fix the problem.

That was the first 'if'. If they had been able to work that one element out, things could have been so different for Nick. As it was, after years of failing to find the right levels of those drugs, he had given up on taking any meds at all because he did not like the way they made him feel. Of course, it had been easy to predict that it only served to compound the problem.

Then there was the day that he had added his recommendation on the application to the aganecy that was considering Ellis as a member of their covert ops. What if he had not done that? Could he have saved Nick from the injury that took part of his hearing, that left the scars so deep?

Was the job he found him in the HR office the wrong thing too? Was it slowly killing his will to live as Nick had put it so dramatically?

The game continued until Kinkaid came to the point that he could no longer follow the paths that each different decision could have taken them. Nick was dead. The duty he had, to inform his friend of the death of his son, weighed so very heavily on his heart and mind. But he could no longer pretend that there had been anything that he or Nick's family could have done to change it. Nick Ellis had chosen the path that his life had taken. Personality disorder or not, the person who had to take responsibility for his own decisions was Nick himself.

He sat, alone in the darkened room. Leaning on the table, his head in his hands, he looked as dejected as he felt. Oh, how he wished that things could have been different. The what if game was over. Kinkaid knew that he would carry this pain with him forever.

. .oOo.

Bobby glanced up at the clock, realizing with a sigh that it was well after midnight and the small waiting room of his infirmary was still packed. He had personally looked at everyone who had come in and he knew that most of the injuries that needed to be treated were minor. As relieved as he was that everyone was alive and in good spirits, he knew that it would be a while yet before they could all get some rest.

Like so many of them, he was coming off of several days with no sleep to speak of, and fatigue had tried to overtake him a time or two. It was the stories that kept him alert and interested as he worked. While Bobby attended to them one by one, he listened, and marveled at the tales that were now being told.

Each of the men had a unique perspective to what had been going on tonight. It had started with Woody. The burns he had suffered blistered his skin in several spots on his torso, and singed his hair in a few more places. It could have been so much worse, especially when Woody described the explosions he'd been so close to.

Shaking his head, Bobby remained quiet as Woody recounted what had happened. He knew that if those flames had not shot straight up in the air, if they had burst outward, Woody would not be here having this discussion with him.

Vince had been right behind Woody, in line for treatment for smoke inhalation and a few burns on his hands. Even with the sporadic coughing, Vince told Bobby about the ricochet gun fire set up. If it hadn't been so dangerous for the men, it was clear that he had almost been impressed with the simplicity and the effectiveness of the set up.

So it went, Gene and Hal and Junior all came in with accounts of the many devices, that they had found, that had been responsible for the small bursts of flames and the huge amount of smoke that had filled the parking garage. With a grudging reluctance, they too had all been impressed with the simple but effective little gadgets.

And then came Brett, and Zip and Ram and Roger. The men who had been with Ranger up on the roof. Their story was as disturbing as it was incredible. Nick Ellis had been a crazy man, a genius, but completely out of his mind crazy.

Bobby listened in silence, the injuries that these guys had were by far the worst he had seen tonight. While a couple of the guys had only had bullets graze their skin, Roger and Zip had been hit with shots that had passed through muscle tissue on their arms or legs. They were sent on to the emergency room for complete treatment, but not before they had shared their views of what had happened.

From all accounts, Bobby knew that Nick had done as much damage as he had because he had been so crazy. He had passed insane a couple of turns ago, and the man they had been up against had been more like a wounded animal. Vicious and erratic. Quite frankly, he would have expected there to be much more serious injuries. It proved that these men were just that good. They knew how to fight, and they knew how to take care of themselves.

As the last man left, Bobby washed his hands and smiled at himself in the small mirror above the sink. He couldn't help but feel so damn proud of the guys. They had taken a bad situation and, for the most part, contained it quickly and professionally with minimal damage.

Now he had just one more thing to do. There was someone who had not come down to see him. From all the stories, Bobby knew that there were a few wounds that had not been taken care of yet. Ranger had not been one of the men who had reported in for some first aid. From what he had heard tonight, he knew that Ranger had been right on the front line from the start. Ellis could have killed him, but at the very least, he had sustained some damage. And if he wasn't going to come down here, he was going to have to go find him and make sure that he was okay.

Turning off the light and shutting the door, Bobby took his medical bag and headed upstairs. He was going to go and take care of them right now, whether Ranger wanted him to or not.

His plan was simple. Bobbie was pretty sure that Stephanie was still with Ranger, and he could enlist her help if he got any resistance from his boss. He was so tired that he took the elevator, leaning his head against the wall and closing his eyes for a few moments. As soon as the doors opened, he saw them standing across the hall, presumably waiting for the elevator themselves.

"Ranger," he started to say, but Stephanie interrupted him.

"I'm getting him upstairs, can you come up and take care of him there?"

Bobby nodded. They joined him and rode up in silence. Less than half an hour later Bobbie was making him way down to his apartment and some well deserved sleep.

. .oOo.

Finally alone, Stephanie climbed up on the bed where Ranger lay, propped up with pillows. Bobbie had prescribed sleep, and she couldn't agree more. Ranger opened his arm, inviting her to come snuggle close. She tucked herself up against him and laid her head on his shoulder.

His arm curled around her pulling her just a little bit closer still. "I love you, you know," he said, his voice soft, but hoarse . She looked up into his face. His eyes met hers. They had so much to talk about, and they would, but not tonight. Tonight they got to just be here together.

"I know," she said, very seriously. "I've always loved you." A statement of fact. A declaration of truth. "And I always will."

Stephanie kissed him gently. Then in wonder, in awe, she traced a single finger over his lips and smiled. He was here, after all this time, he was really here. His mouth curved in a smile under her touch.

"Sleep," she said softly. She kissed him once more, then she snuggled back in place, where she fell asleep in his arms. He let himself bask in the feeling of her in his arms before he followed, drifting into the world he had dreamt of for so long.

. .oOo.