I couldn't help the smile as it spread across my face the moment that I saw Ranger. He was dirty and mildly disheveled, as much as Ranger ever could be, but he was alive and unhurt. The moment he saw me he rushed to me and pulled me into his arms, causing Lester to tip slightly.

"Babe." He whispered, more to himself then for me, and crushed me against his chest.

"Ranger I was so worried." Snuggling against him I took a deep breath, his scent calming.

"It's all done, Babe." Pulling back he looked into my eyes and smiled. "Everything went just as we had planned. The Butcher is with Diesel on his way to the Freak council."

I smacked his shoulder and he laughed.

"Ranger, are you ready?" Bobby asked. He was standing with Lester leaning up against him.

"Yeah, let's roll out." Ranger took my hand. "Tank, keep me updated."

We walked to the SUV, which was parked right next to the one that Binkie and I had arrived in. Lester and Bobby took the back seat and I took the front passenger. Ranger, of course, drove. The ride back to Haywood was quiet and it wasn't long before we were parked.

"I'm bringing Princess here to the Infirmary." Bobby motioned his head toward Lester, who was inching his way out of the back seat. "I need to keep an eye on his burns. I'll let you know when Cal is out of surgery."

Ranger nodded and helped Lester toward the elevator. When we were all onboard he pressed three, dropping Bobby and Lester off before heading up to the fifth floor. Zero was standing there when the doors slid open.

"Boss…Bomber…everything kosher on our end." Zero smiled. "The rest of the team is heading in now. Do you want me to set up Conference room two?"

"Yes. Thanks." Ranger took my hand as we walked toward his office. "How are you feeling, Babe?"

"I'm okay. Tired and sore, but not too bad."

He led me to the large sofa that sat in the corner of his office and motioned for me to sit. I did, and watched as he went to his safe and began removing his gear. His fingers quickly flipped through the latches and closures on the vest before moving on to the utility web belt that he had around his waist.

"It went well. That's good." My attempt at small talk was pretty obvious as he smiled and nodded.

"They weren't anticipating us at all, which was to our advantage." He hung his vest and belt on their appropriate hook and removed his weapons to clean them. "The fact that they weren't trained to use the equipment was just a bonus."

He pulled out a small wooden box and brought and his guns to the small table in front of me. I curled up the sofa and watched as he expertly disassembled his weapons and cleaned them. The smell of gun oil and spent casings filled the room. It used to make me cough and choke, but after years of watching him and the guys clean their guns I had become accustomed to it.

"I wasn't anticipating any injuries." His voice was soft as he wiped down the parts of his weapon with a soft cloth. "Lester was burned from some Unmentionable with some crazy fireball trick and Cal…" He took a deep breath. "It was just odd."

"What happened to Cal?"

"We were clearing out the last of the floor when seemed to be thrust off his feet and down a flight of stairs." He sighed, reassembling his gun. "It was like someone had picked up him and threw him. I assume it was something Unmentionable as well, but it can really mess with your expectations."

"I'm glad that he wasn't injured more than he was." I ran my hand over his shoulders, noticing how tense he was. I shifted up onto my knees and began to massage the knots. "Do you think that there will be any lasting repercussions from his injuries? I mean his pelvis was fractured and he is getting pins set. He's gonna be pissed when he wakes up from surgery."

"He will be." Ranger stilled and closed his eyes. "God, Babe that feels good."

"Finish what you're doing and we can go upstairs and get you cleaned up." I smiled and kept massaging his shoulders. "Maybe if you're lucky I can work out some more of these knots."

He quickly reassembled his weapons and cleaned the area; putting everything back in the box. He stood and returned the box, slipping his weapons back into the holsters at his hip and back, before reaching a hand out to me.

"Let's go." He winked and I giggled.

Reaching his apartment in record time, I followed him into the bedroom where he placed his weapons on the bedside table.

"You heading out again?" I asked, heading toward his closet to get him clothes.

"I have to get to the conference room for the debriefing in about forty-five minutes." I heard the shower start. Picking out Ranger's clothes was easy, as everything was neatly organized and black. I pulled out a pair of cargoes, socks and a black t-shirt and set them on the bed. The boots that he had been wearing were filthy, so I grabbed a clean pair and set them on the floor in front of the bed tossing the dirty boots next to the laundry basket.

"Ranger, do you want me to call Ella to bring some food?" Stepping into the bathroom I was greeted with the view of naked Ranger. "Hot damn."

"Babe." He chuckled, slipping a towel around his waist and leaning in to kiss me. "Playing with fire."

I shook my head, stuttering from the awesome sight that is a naked Ranger before speaking.

"You did that on purpose."

"You'll never know." He winked and slipped past me to get dressed. "Babe?" He called out. "You can tell Ella to send up something."

Grumbling I headed back into the living room, grabbing the phone and dialing for Ella. She told me that she would have food up after the meeting. When I hung up, Ranger strode out of his bedroom fully clothed in black cargoes and his normal painted on black T-shirt. He had black socks and his boots dangling from one hand.

"I am assuming that you want to come to the meeting." He stated, sitting down and slipping on his boots.

"Of course." Slumping down onto the sofa and curling up in the afghan that was draped across the back. "If I don't go, I will just sit up here pacing and get more and more pissed off that I didn't go. Plus, you would just have to give me the word for word recap. Figure it would save us both some heartache."

"You are more than welcome to come." He smiled standing and making his way over to me. Sitting down on the coffee table in front of me he took my hand in his. "I have had a lot of time to think."

"Thinking, huh?" My heart sped up involuntarily. Thinking Ranger, which isn't unusual, always makes me anxious. "What have you been thinking about?"

"I want to make sure that you aren't left out of any aspect of my life. I don't want to keep you in the dark anymore. It's not fair to you." His fingers traced a pattern on the palm of my hand. "It's not easy for me to open up, but I want you to know that I am trying."

"Thank you." I turned and faced him, putting my knees between his. "I understand that there are things that you can't share with me, and I accept that."

"Not anymore." He smiled, tucking a stray curl behind my ear. "I'm done with secrets. I can trust you with my life, the lives of my men and my family…it's about time that I trust you with mine."

"I need to do the same." Sighing I bit my bottom lip. "I know that I am not the most forth coming person and that my first instinct is to run away as fast as I can, or at least deny it until it comes back to bite me in the ass." He chuckled. "I'm serious. I need to start owning up to the shit in my life that I have been pushing aside. I have the most amazing people in the world in my life and they love me. It's about time that I start opening up and letting them into my life as well."

"Babe, you're an open book."

"Not exactly." I poked his chest playfully. "There are a lot of things that I keep to myself. A lot of things that I either choose to hide from you or from myself that I need to start taking care of."

"I am here to help you with anything, Babe. Your life is the most important thing in the world to me. Anything that I can do to make your life better or easier I want to do." He pulled me into his lap and wrapped me into his arms. "After this meeting, we can work towards all those things. No more secrets, no more half-truths."

"That's scary." Giggling, I curled into his embrace. "You do realize that I am bat shit crazy, right?"

"Babe, you haven't even seen bat shit yet." His chest rumbled with laughter. "I have told you that I am a sick individual…I wasn't lying."

"Oh lord." I sighed, pulling back and looking into his eyes. "You can't be as bad as half the people I know. Look at my family, for God's sake; I am surprised that they are allowed to roam the streets."

Ranger stilled and paled.

"What's wrong?" Immediately freaking me out.

"I was just thinking about your family and my family meeting. It's going to be horrific." I laughed and smacked his chest. His face slipped and a huge smile spread across it before he laughed. "Seriously, my family is just as nuts as yours…maybe even more so. It's going to be insane when they get together."

"Maybe we should try to hold that off as long as possible."

"Agreed."

We sat together in silence for another ten minutes before going to the meeting. As we walked into the conference room, we were met with the majority of the core team, minus Cal and Bobby, and Diesel with two of his friends.

"Report." Ranger barked as we took our seats.

"Cal is out of surgery." Tank replied, taking up his seat on the left side of Ranger. "Bobby is there monitoring and we have two guards at his door."

"I'm out of commission." Lester lifted his hands and waved them. "I can't do shit until the burns are healed."

"I think we could all use some time off." Ranger sighed and took my hand under the table. "I am calling in contractors for the next two weeks and we are all getting two weeks paid leave."

"No shit?" Hal asked, leaning forward with his hands on the table.

"No shit." Ranger chuckled. "I have a cabin at Flathead Lake and you are all more than welcome to stay there."

"Isn't that in Montana?" I asked, looking around at the smiles on the guys' faces.

"Yep." Lester grinned. "The 'cabin' is huge. Count me in."

"Diesel, you and your team are invited to join us if you would like. I'll cover all the costs. It's the least that I can do." Ranger stood and walked over to Diesel holding out his hand. "I owe you more than I can ever repay you."

Diesel looked at Ranger's outstretched hand. The entire room froze, silently watching. After a few tense moments, Diesel shook his head and stood pulling Ranger into a hug.

"Cousin, you are family. We don't always get along. Shit, there have been many occasions that we have tried to kill each other." They broke their hug and laughed. "But I love you, man." He turned and looked at the men with him and they nodded. "Count us in."

"Wait…" I stood hands on hips. "Cousins?! You two are really related?"

"Babe." Ranger laughed and pulled me into his arms. "You're not the only one that comes from a long line of crazies."

"Yeah." Diesel winked. "Those Manosos are fucking nuts."

After arranging flights and a travel schedule the meeting was dismissed. The guys were excited to be heading out and getting a long deserved vacation. Ranger kissed my forehead and sent me up to the seventh floor with Diesel and Ella to eat and start figuring out what was needed, while he set up contractors and travel arrangements.

"Diesel." I whispered as we strolled into the apartment. He stopped and raised an eyebrow. "I have to ask you something."

"Anything." He pulled me up under his arm and led me towards the sofa. Ella was setting out food and busying herself with packing for Ranger.

"Well, it's going to sound stupid." I could feel the blush rising up on my cheeks. He chuckled low and tipped my chin up with his finger.

"Ask me." His eyes were soft and a smile spread across his face.

"Since I have a piece of you…well…in me." I swallowed trying to come up with the right way to ask. "Does that mean that I would have some sort of weird ability?"

"Stephanie." He shook his head and pulled me into my lap. "Honestly, I can't say that I know the answer to that question."

"How will I know? I mean, am I just going to suddenly disapperate or something?"

"I'm not a wizard." Pushing a stray curl behind my ear he sighed. "There's a possibility that you may have some side effects, but I don't think that you will be able to teleport anywhere. You might have a heightened sense of your surroundings, or even a keener intuition but unfortunately it wasn't enough of me to make that much of an impact."

"Ok." I fidgeted and chewed the inside of my cheek.

"What else?"

"Well, since you and Ranger are related does that mean that he is an Unmentionable too?"

"Does that matter?" I thought for a moment, going over the implications of him being one and shook my head. "I can't tell you whether or not he is an Unmentionable, but I can tell you that the part of me in you won't affect his abilities. Is that what you are worried about?"

I nodded, feeling the blush rise on my cheeks again. I never really thought about it until I realized that they were related. Who knows if being Unmentionable was passed down or if it was something one was born with?

"I'm glad that you are okay." His arms wrapped around me and I was engulfed in his Christmassy scent. "You scared the shit out of me. I can't imagine what I would do if I would have lost you."

"Can I ask you another question?" My voice was muffled as I was still snuggled against his chest.

"You can ask me anything….anytime."

"Why did you come to me all those years ago? I mean, I know that you were looking for Sandy Claws but was there a reason you came to me?" I had always wondered why Diesel popped into my life, not that I wasn't grateful but I was always curious.

"Well…" He sighed and kissed the top of my head. "It's complicated, but I will try to shorten it up."

I turned so that I could see his face.

"I was after Sandy Claws the first time that you met me, but it wasn't the first time I had seen you." He smiled when my eyebrows shot up to my hairline. "I have been watching over you for years. Before you met Ranger, before you lost your job at E.E. Martin, and even before you married the Dick."

"You've been watching me? Why?"

"Steph, you are special." His hand brushed the side of my face softly, cupping my cheek. "Your life is filled with a trail of unfortunate events that mostly have nothing to do with you. Somehow you manage to get stuck in the middle."

"What do you mean?"

"When you were in college, you're first roommate left after only four months."

"Yeah, she had to drop out of school for a family emergency." I sat up and slid onto the cushion next to him.

"That's partially true." He laughed, picking up my hand and cradling it between his. "She was an Unmentionable. Do you remember the string of fires on campus?" I nodded. "She had just come into her powers, which is a little later than most, and was having a hard time controlling them. I was sent to remove her from campus and bring her back to be trained."

"Is she okay? Did she ever get to go back to school?"

"Yes." He smiled. "She went to Rutgers the following fall."

"That's where Ranger went." My mind was on overdrive, flashing images and memories, wondering who I had come across and how they might have been involved. "Who else?"

"Well…" He ran his hand through his hair. "I can't tell you all of them, privacy and all that, but I can tell you that I was sent to you after Morelli left."

"Why then?" I dropped his hand. "What happened then that made such a big deal?"

"Do you remember me telling you about what happens when two Unmentionables have sex?" His voice was low and steady. I nodded my face paling. "Morelli was born with ability. It's low-scale on the Unmentionable side, but none the less. You on the other hand were born with something more….delicate."

"Are you saying that he and I are Unmentionables?" I stood up and began pacing. "That makes no sense, Diesel. If he and I were both…then….and then you ….Ranger…"

He stood placing a hand on either shoulder; stopping my pacing and making me focus on him.

"Steph, listen to me. You aren't an Unmentionable. You have a natural ability that isn't within the Unmentionable scales. Morelli's power was minimal and honestly he probably would have gone his whole life without ever knowing he had it." My brain kept reeling as he continued. "When an Unmentionable mates it's ultimately to pass on their powers to their offspring." I nodded dumbly. "When two Unmentionables mate, they run the risk of one of them losing their powers to the other one. They think that it's to increase the offspring's abilities, but with you it's different."

"What am I?" I could feel my hands shaking.

"I'm not explaining this well at all." He sighed and blew out a large breath. "Okay…let me try another angle. You're Hungarian." I nodded. "Your family history is filled with empaths, clairvoyants, psychometry and even telekinesis."

"Okay?"

"These are all naturally occurring abilities that any human can have and NOT be Unmentionable." He raised his eyebrows as if asking if I was following; I nodded again. "You were born with ALL of these traits…well minus telekinesis unless you have been hiding it."

"I can't move things with my mind, Diesel." I rolled my eyes. "What does this have to do with Morelli?"

"I'm getting to that." He tapped my nose and led me back to the sofa. We sat down again. "Morelli's powers, like I said, were pretty low key. Something that we don't even bother watching. BUT after you and he….well…after that night he fell off the radar."

"So I took his power?"

"It's more like you released it." This just made me more confused. "During the act, you somehow managed to remove whatever it was that was holding his power in place. Like some sort of supernatural solvent. My theory is that after the act, you became emotionally distraught and your subconscious attacked him pulling what it could from him in spite."

"So, you were called into see whether or not I was going to….what….randomly strip people's powers when they pissed me off?" My head was beginning to hurt and I just seemed more and more confused.

"Something like that." He laughed. "When I realized that you weren't Unmentionable, I was tasked with keeping an eye on you. Because of your abilities, people are drawn to you; Unmentionable or not."

"I'm still confused."

"Steph, you have the ability to sense things. I know you have told me about your Spidey Sense. You also have a way with people. You always have been able to make friends and have people trust you even if you just met them."

"Yeah, and I have also had more people hate me and try to kill me." I laughed, shaking my head. "Is that why I always felt like I was different? I mean my whole life I felt like I just didn't belong. It was like I could see the world in a way that people around me couldn't. It made me feel like I was crazy."

"You're not crazy…well, not like you think. You're still nuts." He winked and I smacked him playfully.

"Look who's talking."

"I came to you with Sandy Claws because I couldn't find him. I have some pretty bad ass powers and I was stumped. He had me running circles." He took my hand again in his. "I made the decision to ask you to help me. I watched you root out people who were FTA. You solved crimes that seasoned professionals couldn't solve. I knew that you could help me, and I was right."

"I don't know what to say."

"Steph, you are amazing at what you do. Your natural abilities aren't something that makes you a freak or crazy. They are completely natural human traits that most people have at least a little of. You have them in spades. You are connected to something more powerful then I can even explain to you. Your powers won't disrupt an Unmentionable's powers unless you will it to. I think that once you realize what you can do, and began to harness it and explore it you will find that you are unstoppable."

"You act like I am a superhero or something."

"Well, you are Wonder Woman."

"What does that make you?" I asked, not able to stop the smirk on my face.

"Well, you already have Batman. I would like to think that I am Superman. I mean I have powers of sorts and to be honest…if this with Batman doesn't pan out I want to make sure that I am next in line." He winked and hugged me tightly to his chest. "Steph, I know that I haven't been as accessible as I would have liked to be but that is going to change. I am going to be staying here. I need to make sure that you are safe."

"Diesel, you have a job that pulls you all over the world. I can't expect you to stay put here just to keep a closer eye on me."

"It's my job." He kissed the top of my head. "Plus, I think that Batman needs to remember that even though he's a badass in black…Superman can still kick his ass if he steps out of line."

We were laughing when Ranger came into the apartment. We both stopped and stared at him for a moment as he just stood there dumbfounded. After a moment, he just shook his head and walked toward the dining room where Ella had set up dinner.

"You two gonna eat?" He called out, thanking Ella as she passed him to leave the apartment.

We ate in silence, enjoying Ella's meal and the calm that had followed such a hectic day. We were sitting drinking coffee afterward when Ranger finally interrupted the silence.

"I have arranged for the jet to head out the day after tomorrow. I figure that would give us all enough time to gather what we need and make any personal arrangements." He sipped his black coffee, holding the cup in front of him; the steam curling up in front of his face.

"You know I am ready when ever." Diesel stretched his cup empty. "I already debriefed the head haunchos. I am not on any assignment and am really grateful for the down time. Shit has been crazy the past year."

"I can imagine." Ranger nodded. "I heard about Venezuela. That was some pretty messed up shit. I'm surprised that there was anything left by the time you got down there."

I watched their conversation amusingly; tipping my head from one direction to another to follow.

"It was a clusterfluck." Diesel laughed, leaning back on his chair and crossing his leg; ankle to knee. "I had to pull out some pretty heavy guns, but as you know I always get my man."

"That you do, D. That you do." Ranger set his cup back onto the table and stood, stretching his arms over his head and cracking his neck. "Man, we are getting too old for his shit. I have been seriously considering retiring."

"No…you can't be serious?" Diesel chuckled and leaned forward his hands on the table. "The great Ranger Manoso retiring? Who would save the world? Santos?"

They both laughed and I just shook my head.

"You would go crazy." I smiled pulling my coffee cup to my lips and sipping. It was overly sugared and heavily creamed just the way I like it.

"Probably." Ranger stepped behind me and set his hands on my shoulders. "But I am sure that I could find some new hobbies to keep me busy."

"Tank knits." I looked up at him and watched as the grin spread across his face. "It would keep your hands busy and you would feel productive."

"I can't believe he told you that, Babe."

"People like to tell me things, Ranger." I looked over at Diesel, who was shaking in silent laughter. "Does he know?"

"Do I know what?" Ranger's eyebrow quirked and he pulled his chair up close to mine and sat back down.

"For the most part." Diesel shook his head. "I mean, he knows at least the important parts."

Ranger looked from Diesel to me and back again. "What the hell are you two talking about?"

"Ranger, do you know why Diesel met me?"

"Yes." His tone was weary. "He told you about that, huh?"

"I think in a way I kind of already knew." Sighing I pushed away my cup and folded my hands in my lap. "I mean honestly. I get this feeling when something bad is going to happen and it's never wrong. I have a way with people and I have been incredibly lucky even when I shouldn't have been. I can't say that I completely believe EVERYTHING that he told me and I don't think that I really want to. I don't want to rely on a maybe just in case. Like you said, Ranger, we are getting older. I am tired of being kicked around and bullied. I want to find something that makes me happy. Something that I will enjoy and be proud of."

"You should be proud of what you have done." He took my hand in his and kissed my fingers. "You have done amazing things since I met you. Sure, some of them were half-cocked and you probably should have died more times than I am willing to even think about…but…you always managed to accomplish what you set out to do, even if it wasn't the way that you had intended to do it."

"It was more than just good luck." Diesel tapped my nose. "Your instincts are spot on. Your abilities aren't something that comes around very often and I think that you have done a pretty good job using them, considering you didn't even know that you had them." He chuckled and shook his head. "I can't imagine what you were thinking when you did some of the shit that you have done. I mean, even knowing about your abilities, it would have taken a lot of guts to do what you did."

A yawn escaped before I could stop it.

"It's been a long day." Ranger stood and held out his hand. "Would you like to stay here, or go back to your apartment?"

"I want to go back to my apartment." The moment the words came out of my mouth I saw Ranger's shoulders slump a little before he caught himself and slapped on his blank face. "But I don't want to be alone."

He smiled and pulled me close to him and pressed a kiss to the top of my head.

"Are y'all gonna get freaky tonight? Cause I need a place to crash." Diesel smiled as he looked at us. "Although…I mean…If you are, I would be okay with that too."

"I don't think that sex is going to be on the table." I laughed, stepping away from Ranger and grabbing a couple of cookies that Ella had left for us. "I am still pretty sore and exhausted. If you want you can both come and stay at my place. The guys have done an awesome job and the couch is a lot bigger now."

Ranger slipped into his bedroom and came out with a small black duffel bag.

"Let's head out." He grabbed his keys, holding the door for Diesel and me to go through before locking the door.

I looked at them as we descended in the elevator. The man who gave me part of himself to save my life and the man who finally let the part of himself go that was keeping us apart. These two men have played such strange and wonderful parts in my life, but have also lead me into more confusion and heartache then I ever want to feel again.

I had this feeling that everything was going to finally start falling into place. Not just for me, but for everyone. For the first time in a long time I felt like I was finally heading in a direction that I was supposed to be heading, and the fact that I had these two men by my side just made it even more real.

"Something's burning, Babe." Ranger broke my thoughts, pulling gently on one of my curls.

"Yeah." I smiled up at him taking his hand and turning to Diesel and doing the same. "But it's a good burn."

The end.

This story started out being just an image that I couldn't get out of my head and warped into something else. I know that the ending is somewhat abrupt, but the relationships between the three of them is something that would be too big to just add to this story. Thanks for everyone that kept reading, even during my little vacation from it. Your support and encouragement means the world to me and I want you to know that every "Favorite" and positive review adds light to my day.