The adults aren't mine. The kids are. Still not making money though…

Takes place a few days after "Maddie's Hero"

Self Defense for Beginners

On any given day, somebody walking into the RangeMan gym might expect to see a handful of muscular, sweaty men in motion, either sparring in joyful violence or lifting enough weights to collapse a roof. There would be grunts of exertion, sprays of blood as fist met jaw, and the constant sound of footfalls on the scaled down track.

If they walked into the RangeMan gym today, though, they would be in for a surprise.

Standing in the front of the room, in full Drill Instructor mode, was Ranger. Beside him, Tank stood just as serious, looking down at their unfortunate victims.

Standing in a row, arms at their sides, eyes forward like perfect little soldiers, were four small children, all dressed in somewhat matching green and black camouflage. They didn't move, even when Ranger looked at them so intensely.

"Soldiers, today you will be learning the basics of self defense. Today, you will learn how to protect yourself when the need arises."

"Sir, yes sir!" Three of the voices shouted in perfect unison. One voice, though, was a split second behind the others.

"Today, you will learn the importance of physical fitness when it comes to protecting yourselves. And there will be no complaining if your little feet hurt or if you get tired too quickly. You will learn to build up your strength today, is that clear?"

"Sir, yes sir!"

"Good." Ranger looked down at his little soldiers, trying hard to keep his twitching lips from turning into a full fledged grin. "First off, what do you do when someone comes up to you and wants you to go with them?"

"Tell them 'no', Sir!" Julian shouted, still looking forward.

"Good." Ranger began to pace in front of his little soldiers. "And what do you do if that person is a police officer?"

"Ask to see their badge and find a trusted adult, Sir!" Maddie's soft voice rang out. She had learned that lesson the hard way only a few days prior.

Ranger nodded, hands clasped firmly behind his back. "Very good, Private Maddie. Now, what do you do if someone grabs you?"

"Kick 'em where it hurts, Sir!" Six-year-old Michelle shouted, her voice an exact duplicate of her mother's. Tank covered his mouth to hide his grin and Ranger cleared his throat, his eyes filled with humor.

"What else?" He managed to say.

"Shout 'fire', Sir!" Five-year-old Sophie shouted, giggling at the sight of her tough Daddy. Ranger winked at his little girl as he passed her by.

"Very good, Private Sophie. And why do you shout 'fire' instead of 'help'?

"Because people are stupid and don't always do something if they hear 'help'!" Sophie squealed, proud to know the answer.

"Very good." Ranger stopped, facing his little soldiers. "Now, I need a volunteer."

All four children raised their hands excitedly.

"Julian." The other three groaned at not being picked. "Step forward please."

Julian did as he was told, walking to his father.

"The maneuver I'm going to teach you now is something that you should try first if someone ever grabs you from behind. While you're doing this, you are to keep yelling 'no' and 'fire' as loud as you can. Is that clear?"

"Sir, yes sir!"

Ranger looked down at his son. "You will be grabbed from behind. After this happens, I want you to start moving like you would when you're running. Make sure you try to kick your own backside when you do this. Are you ready, Private Julian?"

Julian lifted his chin proudly. "Sir, yes sir!"

"Good." Ranger turned to Tank and grinned. "Hope your cup's in place, man."

Tank chuckled. "In place and ready."

Ranger stepped back as Tank moved in behind Julian. The big man picked up the much smaller boy in a bear hug and started moving away from the group. Julian immediately began moving his feet in earnest, pretending to run in the air.

"No! Fire, fire, FIRE!" He shrieked, kicking his feet with everything bit of strength he had in him. His heels made contact with Tank's groin area over and over and he managed to slide out of the large man's grip. Once he was free, he ran behind his father.

"Very good, Private Julian," Ranger praised, rewarding his son with a grin.

"Thank you, Sir," Julian grinned back, stepping back into line with the others.

"Private Maddie! Step forward!" Ranger barked. Maddie jumped slightly, surprised by the sudden volume of his voice, but stepped forward as she was told.

"Yes, sir!" she shouted.

"Your turn."

She nodded and a moment later, Tank had her off the ground in a bear hug from behind. She mimicked Julian's previous actions, kicking backwards and screaming 'no' and 'fire' furiously until she was able to get free. Sophie and Michelle both took their turns, both girls nearly making Ranger and Tank deaf with their shouts and screams. But they all kicked and fought themselves free.

Soon, they were once again standing in a row, backs straight and eyes forward.

"You all did very well," Ranger praised, returning to his calculated pacing. "Now, we will try something different. Private Michelle, step forward."

Little Michelle took three steps forward, stopping in front of him. She glanced over at her father and grinned and Tank chuckled, giving her a 'thumbs up'.

"You will be grabbed the same way," Ranger continued, looking down at her seriously. "Only this time, I want you to throw your head back and try to hit him in the face. You may be able to break your attackers nose this way, causing him or her to drop you, giving you the chance to get away."

Michelle's eyes filled with worry as she snuck a glance at her father. "I don't want to hurt my Daddy, Sir."

Ranger fought back a grin. "He'll be wearing a padded mask, Private Michelle. This way, neither one of you will get hurt."

She looked at her father again for reassurance. Tank nodded and grinned as he pulled on the padded mask. Michelle turned back to face Ranger.

"Sir, yes sir!"

A moment later, Tank came up behind his daughter and pulled her off the ground in the bear hug. While screaming and kicking, she jerked her head back, smashing it into the protective foam covering Tank from cheekbones to chin. After a few more tries, she got free.

"Very good, Private Michelle."

"Thank you, Sir."

The other three tried out the same maneuver and all succeeded. Once in line, Ranger faced them again.

"You did very well, soldiers! I want you to remember, though, that if this happens in real life, there won't be protective padding. You are to cause the maximum damage to your attacker possible so you can get away. It will probably hurt you to do so, but a headache is better than being kidnapped. Am I clear?"

"Sir, yes sir!"

"Now, we are going to try something a little different, soldiers." Ranger turned to Tank. "Get Lester."

Tank nodded, disappearing in the locker room. He returned a minute later, followed by Lester, who was wearing a foam body suit and protective head gear.

"Each one of you will be put in different holds," Ranger continued, resuming his pacing. "I want you to use your heads when this happens and come up with different ways to get yourself free. Anything goes here, soldiers. Biting, kicking, twisting- anything you can think of, do it. Is this understood?"

"Sir, yes sir!"

"Good. Private Sophie, step forward."

Sophie took three oversized steps forward, ending so she was toe to toe with her father. She looked up at him, smiling excitedly. "Ready, Daddy-sir!"

Ranger's mouth twitched at the sight. Glancing up, he made eye contact with Lester. A second later, Lester had Sophie held off the ground, a bulky arm around her middle and a hand pressed over her mouth. Sophie began to bicycle her legs furiously, but they were too short to cause enough damage. As Lester began moving away from Ranger, Sophie's brown eyes narrowed in thought. Moments later, she began jerking her head back and forth, getting her mouth away from Lester's hand enough to bite down hard on it. His hand fell away from her mouth, but his arm remained firm around her middle. Twisting her body in his grip, she managed to roll slightly sideways, gripping the foam covering Lester's arm in her mouth. With a vicious jerk, she used her teeth to tear a chunk of the foam off. As she bit with her teeth, her little leg came forward, only to slam back, catching Lester's knee with the heel of her shoe. After that, she was able to shimmy free and run to hide behind her father.

All three men stared at the hole that Sophie had bit out of Lester's foam protector. Had it been an actual unprotected attacker, the little five year old would have ripped off a chunk of flesh. They looked from Lester's arm to the proud little girl bouncing behind Ranger.

"Excellent, Private Sophie." Ranger praised, reaching down to tug playfully on his daughter's curly pigtails. The other three children clapped for her and Sophie grinned, bowing low before taking her place beside Michelle.

Ranger cleared his throat. "Private Maddie. Step forward."

Each child was put in various holds, each getting out of most of them. The ones they couldn't get out of, the men gave them ideas on what to do.

Finally, after two hours, the children were exhausted. Ranger and Tank led them upstairs to the seventh floor, where Ella had set up a healthy yet kid friendly lunch. Everybody sat down at the dining room table, Ranger and Tank eating salads while the children ate sandwiches made from organic peanut butter and natural fruit preserves. Sophie and Maddie joyfully munched on the raw vegetables that Ella had set out while Julian and Michelle appeared despondent over the lack of artificial sugar products.

"Daddy, where are the doughnuts?" Michelle demanded, looking around the table in confusion. It was obvious that the child had never seen anything so strange as a meal without sugar.

"No doughnuts and no sugar, baby," Tank said, rolling his eyes at what he knew would be coming. "While you're training, you can't have those things."

Michelle's dark eyes widened and the other children braced themselves, knowing that Michelle in full rhino mode would be making a fast appearance.

"Waddya mean, no doughnuts? Or cookies or cake? Mama says if you don't eat those things, your blood sugar will get too low and you can faint dead away!"

Tank cleared his throat and Ranger turned his head, trying desperately not to laugh out loud. "Your Mama never said that to you, 'Chelle."

Michelle pouted, her full lower lip protruding. "But she says that about herself. And since she says I'm my mama's daughter, then it's the same for me, too."

Ranger grabbed a small plate of strawberries and set them in front of the angry girl. "Try these, querida. I promise, there will only be another hour or so of training before you go home. And I'm sure your Mama will have plenty of doughnuts waiting for you."

"Humph," Michelle continued to pout, but with her mouth full of berries, she couldn't complain.

Tank sighed, relieved that his friend had nipped Michelle's rage in the bud. Ranger had that effect on women, child or full grown.

"What kind of training are we doing next, Dad?" Julian asked, torn between wanting more 'boot camp' time with his father or going home to raid his mother's Tastykake stash.

"Strength training, son."

Julian's eyebrows knitted. "Lifting weights."

Ranger shook his head as he wiped his mouth with a napkin. "More like pilates."

"But pilates is for girls!"

Ranger chuckled. "Pilates is excellent for stretching and strengthening your body. It's not just for girls."

Maddie wrinkled her nose. "My mommy does that. It looks uncomfortable."

"It may be at first, but afterwards, you'll feel better," Ranger promised, tossing his napkin on the table and standing up. "Shall we head back to the gym?"

00000000

"Again!" Ranger shouted, arms crossed over his chest and feet spaced slightly apart. "Lift!"

Simultaneous groans sounded as the four little soldiers did his bidding. The children were lying flat on their backs on one of the mats and each time Ranger told them to "lift", they would lift their arms, legs and shoulders as far as they could, leaving their lower backs and bottoms on the mats. Ranger would count out loud to ten, at which time they could relax before starting again.

They had been going at it for forty-five minutes and their first self defense class was almost over. Ranger was leading them through two more sets when the doors opened and Stephanie walked in, followed by Clare and Lula.

"Mama!" Michelle groaned, wearily lifting her shoulders and legs off the mat. "Did you bring doughnuts? Uncle Carlos won't let us eat no doughnuts here!"

"'Course I got doughnuts, girl. You know me better than that." Lula declared, watching wide-eyed as her daughter collapsed back on the mat in an exhausted heap.

"Good job, Soldiers." Ranger announced, still in drill instructor mode despite the interruption. "I expect to see you here next week, same time. Is that clear?"

"Sir, yes sir!" Four tired children chanted, the usual fire and determination lost from their voices.

"Dismissed!"

Five adults watched, almost expecting the children to jump to their feet to make their escape. Instead, they remained on the mat, breathing heavily.

Stephanie walked over to her husband, leaning up to kiss him hello. "Looks like you wore them out, Batman."

Ranger studied his students appraisingly. "They worked hard."

"They do good?"

"Better than I was expecting for the first class."

Stephanie appraised him, unconsciously licking her lips as she took in his ramrod straight posture and tough as nails expression. Clearing her throat, she leaned closer so nobody would overhear her.

"I wouldn't mind if Drill Instructor Carlos made an appearance in the bedroom tonight."

Ranger looked down at her, his eyes darkening at the lust and excitement clearly flashing across his wife's face. His wolf grin appeared.

"I'm sure Ella wouldn't mind watching the kids until tomorrow. We wouldn't want any interruptions during Boot Camp, would we?"

Stephanie swallowed hard, reaching up to wipe the drool away from her mouth. "Absolutely not."

Ranger's arm wrapped tightly around her waist, pulling her against his hard body. Leaning down, he bit down gently on her ear lobe. "Do you think you can handle Drill Instructor Carlos, Babe?"

She choked on a moan, not wanting the children to hear her. "Sir, yes sir!"

Sorry this took so long. I had most of it finished a week ago, but the ending was giving me trouble. Hope it was okay for you. Let me know what you think!