I'm sure you're all anxious for things to pick up, but I can't help that the muse keeps coming up with this stuff. Some of it's important now, some will be important later. I hope you all enjoy!

Not mine, I swear!

"I think we need another night out." Lester said, leaning over the wall of my cubicle. After sharing an oddly normal breakfast with Ranger and Julie, I'd quickly showered and scuttled into my cubicle, glad for the distraction of work.

Ranger and I still hadn't talked.

Which, for right now, I was okay with. There were still things we needed to talk about, but I don't think airing our dirty laundry before a big operation is the best idea. Who knows what will carry over? I mentally pushed it to the back of my mind.

"We just went out three days ago. You make it sound like you've got cabin fever."

He shrugged and sat down in the other chair. Lester looked a lot like Ranger. They had the same coloring, same hair (except for Lester's highlights) and some of the same Anglican features. The biggest difference was Lester's piercing green eyes. "I feel…" He shifted in his chair like a five year old.

"Lester," I sighed. "You do that every day. Give me more."

"I don't know. Antsy?"

I cocked my head and smiled. "Why would that be?"

He peeked his head over the cubicle and sat back down. "I think Natalie wants me as her human sacrifice."

Okay, not exactly what I had in mind, but it's Lester. So I'll roll with it. "What do you mean?"

"She's acting all weird."

"Weird?"

"One minute she hates my guts, the next she wants to jump my bones. She's giving me whiplash!"

"Really?"

He looked at me. "You know something."

I tried to look innocent. "I know what you know."

His eyes narrowed. "Why don't I believe you?"

"Because you work for Ranger. And with that comes the lesson of distrust. It's right after learning not to have phone manners."

He continued to glare at me. Hey, I thought I was amusing.

"So," I coughed. "About this night out."

Thankfully, he followed on the topic change. "Me, Natalie, Bobby and some of the other guys are hitting the town tonight. You want to join us."

"Sure. I could use a night off to blow off some steam."

"You need help with the blowing, just call me." He said, winking at me.

Of course, this is the precise moment when Ranger decides to show up. I groaned and placed my head on the desk. I listened to Lester leave and Ranger took his place.

"Do I even want to know?" I could feel his eyebrow was raised at me.

"Oh, just Lester being Lester."

"That's comforting."

I looked up at him. "Is there some specific reason why you're hear bothering me. I've got work to do."

"Hector and Woody are drawing up the papers you'll need to sign. Before they finish, I want you to have a look at them. Make any changes you want."

"Will these papers be fake?"

"Yes. But the guys are very good. They'll look real enough to pass any kind of security test."

I bit my lip. My stomach flip flopped at the fact that we'd be faking documents, but there was really nothing I could do to stop them. "Sounds good. Can I be from Paris?"

"Can you fake a French accent?"

"No."

He grinned and rubbed my cheek. "Stick to being American, then."

"We're not going to go for prison for this, right?"

Ranger looked serious. "Is that what you're worried about?"

I nodded.

"Babe," he cupped my cheek now. "The government needs our help. If we break some laws and we can justify it, then we're going to be okay. I promise you that you won't go to prison."

"Good." I thought about it. "Does that mean I can download free movies?"

"No. That has nothing to do with the case."

"What if it's a movie about the case?"

He grinned. "I'd try to break as few laws as possible."

"Spoil sport." I looked at the computer. "I'll finish this one up and head over to see the guys."

Ranger nodded once. "Good. I'm taking Julie out to see her grandparents for lunch, but we should be back by two if there's anything you need to run past me."

I pulled out a notebook and made a note to see the guys. "I'm meeting Natalie today for lunch and we've got some things to discuss. I'll let you know if there's anything that needs your approval."

"Good deal. Later, babe."

I grunted out a reply and went back to the search.

Thirty minutes and a numb butt later, I was on my way to see Woody and Hector. Hector was the only man on the team who didn't speak English. We usually could pantomime our way through a conversation, but I was glad that Woody was going to be there. Hector, true to his Latino name with dark skin and eyes kept his hair skull short. When he saw me come over, his eyes gleamed and he waved.

"Hola, chica."

"Hey Hector. Que pasa?" I asked him. I was glad to see that he still had three teardrop tattoos. He hadn't fallen off the wagon again.

He brightened even more. He seemed generally pleased I could ask him 'what's up' in Spanish.

I didn't have the heart to tell him I googled it on the way over.

Woody joined us a few seconds later. He was all southern heat with golden hair and blue eyes. I just loved his Texas drawl. He and Hector became partners a few months ago, and it seemed to be working out. It was easier to have Hector travel with a human translator than us all walking around with Spanish to English dictionaries. He was usually a loner and I was glad to see that Woody was still alive.

He smiled and pointed to his chair. "Please sit."

"If I sit anymore, I won't have an ass."

"Well we can't have that, darlin'." He drawled. Ooh, it made me shiver.

"What have you guys got so far?"

Hector started typing, pulling all kinds of screens up. Birth certificates, social security cars, marriage license, drivers licenses; the guys had the works.

"Whoa, wait." I looked at my license over Woody's shoulder. "You guys made me twenty eight?"

He faked confusion. "You aren't?"

Be still my heart. I hugged his shoulders. "You're going to get into heaven for that comment alone."

"Glad I have your vote. Now all I need is God's."

The men of Rangeman have been a lot of things to a lot of different people. They've been fighters, peace keepers, referees and of course, mercenaries. Murderers for hire.

This one they hated most.

It made me sad to hear them say dark things like what Woody said. They may feel black in the soul, but all I could see was their light. They protected people now, not killed them. And I believed that they had made a good dent to put their souls in good standing once again. I hugged him once more and then Hector. I was sure he had a pretty good idea what was going on by the looks on our faces.

"It's about what you do now, not what you did then. That's what counts."
Woody smiled a small smile at me and turned back to the computer. Hector said something in Spanish.

"He wants to know if you want to stay Stephanie or have another name."

Now I always wanted to pick my own name. I had dreamed that one day my real parents would come in and swoop me away and tell me my name was something more exotic than Stephanie.

Those were the bad days with my parents.

"Keep Stephanie. I don't want to screw this up because I can't remember my name."

Woody relayed that and Hector nodded. "Safe choice." He said in his broken English.

This time, I beamed. I went back to looking at the papers.

"Wait, why did you pick June Twenty-third as our anniversary?"

Woody shrugged. "Ranger picked that one. I just think that was the first date he could think of."

No, not Ranger. There was a reason behind it and I was going to find out what it was.

"So," I said, munching on my turkey sandwich. "I hear you're really putting the screws on Lester."

Natalie nodded and smiled. "I haven't had this much fun in years."

We had opted to stay in since our information was sensitive. No need for the Burg to find out what we're doing.

I smiled with her. "It's nice to see him squirm. What are you doing to him?"

"I flirt one minute, and the next, I'm an ice queen."

Huh. I nodded. That was a pretty good B-game. "What are you going to do to up the ante?"

"I haven't decided yet. I was thinking about letting him ravish me one night and then moving onto the next Rangeman I see."

Oh, that was cold. "I'd hold off for a few more days. Really screw with his head, then show up naked at his door."

She grinned wickedly. "I like it." She took a bite of her sandwich. "What's going on with you and Ranger?"

"Nothing, why?"

"You've spent the night to days in a row."

"No I haven't. The first was pure necessity. I needed a shower. And I came from home to run. The second, Julie's here and she wore me out."

"Julie?"

"His daughter? Didn't you know?"

I could see the light bulb go on. "Okay, gotcha. I just never knew her name. I'm all caught up now. So nothing's…?"

"Not a single thing."

"Huh."

I looked up from the paper I was looking at. "What?"

"I just thought…"

"That we were hitting the sheets?"

She shrugged.

"Everyone thinks that, but we're just friends."

"He wants to be more."

I looked at her. She was willing me with her eyes to see it. And trust me, I had. But I wasn't going into that right now. Not with this hanging over our heads. She nodded once, gleaming from my eyes that we would talk later and she picked up a paper.

"What do you think about this for the living room?"

"So we've got most of the safe house stocked. I'm waiting to hear back from the shipping company. I got your measurements from Ella, so I picked out all your clothes." I smiled sweetly at him. "Sorry, they were all out of black."

He grinned. "Smart ass."

"I hope you like white…"

He ignored me. "Did you pick your clothes?"

"Of course."

"I hope you got lots of lingerie."

I blushed. "Maybe… Too bad you won't see any of it."

"What else." He was amused, but we had some more things to discuss. Ranger was sitting behind his big mahogany desk and I was in one of the cute little club chairs I insisted he buy when Tank broke the last one. The only way Ranger said he'd buy it was if I tested it out with him.

We damn near broke the thing ourselves.

"I checked in with the guys. They said they'll have everything ready to go by Sunday so that's all done. Natalie has secured a safe house down the street so they can monitor us and provide backup."

"Who does she want to bring?"

"Lester, Hal, Hector, Bobby and Tank and a few guys from her office are going to take some shifts."

"Lester." He smirked. "That should be interesting."

"I made her promise to keep things professional when they worked."

"Good idea. He's walking around like he's got his head up his ass."

"Isn't it great?"

"You're enjoying this too much, Babe."

"I know. Let me have my fun. What about Julie?"

"She's staying till Saturday and I'm taking her back to Miami. I'll catch a return flight and be back by Saturday night."

"Good." I wrote that down. "I wanted to have a special dinner with her. Is it okay if I take her out on Friday?"

"Sure, babe." He looked down at his sheet. "Anything else?"

"Natalie and I will have all the figures for you by tomorrow afternoon. Thursday the latest."

"No rush."

We went over a few more things, enjoyed a few more minutes of playful banter and then we were done. I was getting up to leave when I remembered I had wanted to ask him about the anniversary. I knew Ranger too well to let it slip. Every detail had a purpose and usually coincided with whatever he was doing. Since this was about us, I had to think this was a very important date.

"Oh, I almost forgot." I said, whipping around. Ranger turned away from his computer and focused back on me.

"What's up?"

"Why did you pick June twenty third as our wedding anniversary?"

He grinned and got up. "You didn't figure that one out? You're usually good with puzzles, Steph."

I shook my head. "I'm drawing a blank."

He continued to get closer until I was pressed against the door. "Babe." He said, running his finger down my cheek. "It's a very special day."

I shrugged.

He smiled softly at me. "I picked it because it was the day we met. Best day of my life."

Once again, be still my heart.