Anything you recognize belongs to JE

I don't think I've ever seen Ranger so visibly surprised. He actually seemed to do a double take. "Dios, Babe." I did a little twirl. "You like?" He chuckled and said, "Of course Babe. You're always beautiful."

Now I did my own double take. Aww… How sweet…So anti-Ranger. "Babe." Darn ESP.

"We need to try this out. The guys already know about it, so that won't work…."

"We could try the girls at the bonds office. If two of my best friends don't recognize me, I doubt anyone else will."

"You sure Babe?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. This'll give us a laugh once this is all over."

"Let's go."

I turned to Maria. "Thank you. I would have driven everyone crazing if I was cooped up here for weeks."

"It's no problem. As I said, it was fun. I really like you."

I hugged her. "Maybe, once this is over, we can have some girl-on-girl time." I looked at Ranger's slightly worried face. "Don't worry, brother, we'll only talk about you a lot!" Maria left giggling.

Five minutes later, Ranger and I stepped into the elevator. Within seconds, it was filled with cat calls and cries of "Go Bomber!" Guess the guys approved. Maybe too much, considering the glare Ranger was giving the camera. I smirked.

The doors opened and we stepped into the garage. To my delight, he headed towards the Turbo. I love this car. I love it even more when I'm in it with Ranger.

Once we reached the bonds office, Ranger looked at me and smiled in encouragement. We stepped out of the car and headed towards the office. Lula and Connie stared at us, wide-eyed. After all we were quite a pair. Ranger did this to them on a normal day. Today there was also me. Usually, I would have no effect upon them. But they didn't see Stephanie. They saw Ricky. Ricky Martinez was the name I had chosen. I had picked Ricky because I knew I would respond to it, considering I look whenever I hear Ric, due to Ranger's presence in my life. Kind of pathetic, right? When I told Ranger, he just shook his head and smiled.

I could only imagine what was going through their heads. Who is that girl? What's she doing with Ranger? What about Steph? She died only yesterday….

We reached the door, Ranger having me go first, protecting me, shielding me with his body. I wished to tell him that I would rather die myself than have him die for my sake. But by doing so, it would reveal how much I truly love him. I was not ashamed of my love, rather, I embraced it. But I would rather keep my love for him to myself than to risk losing our friendship.

If I were to tell him my true feelings, he may distance himself from me, claiming that I would be hurt by one of his enemies, be in danger. That's bull. Danger is in my life, no matter what I do or who I'm with. I've learned to deal with it, expect it even.

He seems to believe that he is a bad person, that no one can accept him and the things he's done. I will and I have. I don't care that he's killed, so have I for that matter. He does it for the good of others, not out of malice. I believe that he has even killed for me. So despite my love for him, I can't tell him. I can't live without him in my life.

I was brought out of my thoughts by Ranger's voice. "Any new FTA's?"

"Just Cezar. Seems like no one wants to mess with you. Probably shouldn't even bother with the file, but you need to bring him back dead or alive. Preferably dead." I could see the fire in Connie's eyes. She was dead serious.

Then Lula, not wanting to be left out, said, "Now, Who's this? I've never seen you before."

Now was the moment of truth. "I'm Ricky Martinez. A friend of the family. I was in need of a job, and Ranger here thought I was qualified to be a Rangeman….er, woman. You are?"

"I'm Lula, this is Connie. Nice to meet you."

"You too." I thought I was doing well sticking with Rangeman's patented short answers.

We left the office and got into the car. A few minutes into the ride, I exclaimed, "Yes! It worked! They didn't catch on!"

"Proud of you Babe."

-Thanks to all of you who are reading! I really appreciate it!