Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter, Guys, but RL has been rather hectic as we get ready to start the Easter holidays (I never want to work with Bunny rabbit ears again, that's all I'm saying!) plus for some reason, this story has been the hardest to write to date and so I have been agonising over the wording and the best way to make each paragraph flow properly.

Enjoy and please, don't forget to review (it helps with the angst I'm having in constructing this!)

Bobby was sitting at his desk finishing up a medical paper he'd been working on for his evening classes when Ranger wandered past. He thought he looked tired, but thinking about it later in his apartment over a beer with Tank and Les, he realised that that wasn't the case.

Not the case at all.

A light bulb had gone off and it dawned on him that Ranger looked resigned and defeated.

"Guys we need to do something." He said as he toyed with this epiphany and swirled his beer round in its bottle "About Ranger and Bomber I mean."

"Go on" Les encouraged calmly, leaning past his friend and grabbing a handful of cashews from a bowl in the middle of the coffee table.

"This nasty business between Ranger and Bomber. It's tearing the both of them apart. I was talking with Falcon the other day and he told me what happened on their date. In confidence, obviously." He raised an eyebrow as he looked at Les pointedly.

Les raised his hands up in submission, looking all indignant "Hey, don't look at me like that, I can keep a secret you know!"

"Just make sure you do, Santos!" Tank growled before waving his bottle at Bobby and motioning for him to continue.

"Well, it looks like Rees tried to make a pass at Steph but quickly realised he was wasting his time. That her heart wasn't really into dating. He then added that it didn't take a rocket scientist to work out the why but the who? Well that came out when she spilled her heart out later over a skin full of cocktails…. Turns out she's in love with our esteemed leader. And we all know his feelings for her... Anyway, apparently a few weeks before she started working here full time he'd turned up at her apartment and suggested they become fuck buddies. Funnily enough…" someone growled at that point and Bobby was sure he heard the word "moron" but he glared at his audience and continued. "Yeah, my sentiments exactly but as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, not surprisingly she told him to go swivel on it and the rest is as we know it. Both nursing their wounds and pretending that they aren't hurting."

Bobby looked at his friends, both of whom were looking very thoughtful. He grabbed a handful of nuts and carried on. "Rees then went on to explain that the next morning when Steph had sobered up, he threw in a few observations of his own. As he pointed out to her, she was not totally innocent in all the mess. After all, how many times had she gone back to the cop? Didn't Ranger always give her everything she needed, cars, us, himself and how many times had she run back into the arms of another man? Any normal guy would have asked her on a date and try to get her to understand their feelings for her so that she was less likely to jump ship again the moment Morelli came running. But as Rees pointed out, Ranger is not just any guy. He reckoned Ranger's fuck buddy suggestion meant that once he was in her bed he could start working on getting into her heart too." he paused to allow the comments he'd been making to sink in, finishing his beer while he sat silently.

"Looks like he might had given her something to think about because not long after she phoned Morelli up, apologised, begged for forgiveness and his friendship, and told him to have a nice life with his new girlfriend."

"Wow!" said Les.

"Has she spoken to Ranger?" Tank asked, hopefully.

"Apparently, she doesn't even know where to start. She realises she might have over reacted and thinks she's made a complete mess of everything. Now she's frightened to call him in case he backs even further away. Oh, and if that weren't enough to stop her in her tracks, somehow she found out about the other women and thinks he's moved on anyway."

Les put his beer down on the table carefully then dropped his head into his hands in a melodramatic way, sighing theatrically as he did so "What a fucking mess! I have a great mind to lock them up in a cell together for a week – or as long as it takes for them to head their heads out of their asses!"

"Not such a bad idea." Tank said, thoughtfully as he looked at his two friends. "Not such a bad idea."

o0o0o0o0o

Steph sat back on her couch, looking over at Rees and Vera who were holding hands on the one opposite her.

Ace had planned a surprise leaving do, but Steph found out and vetoed it, pointing out she worked for the same company as them and would probably still speak on the phone or catch up in person from time to time anyway. Of course the merry men had been disappointed but they knew better than to continue with their plans just because they wanted to show her how much she'd changed their lives for the better.

They also figured that she'd have gotten her own back on those that went against her word. In fact, those unlucky enough to have been on the receiving end of Steph's retaliation stunts agreed whole heartedly that payback 'a la Bombshell' was an absolute bitch.

Sensibly enough, those that weren't working had taken her out for a pizza at lunch time and plied her with donuts and pastries all afternoon instead.

Vera then suggested a smaller goodbye with just the two girls and Falcon going out which Steph had agreed to but then one of the guys had taken a fall while chasing a skip and had dislocated his shoulder so all the rosters had been changed. Rees was now on standby in case of emergency and couldn't really leave the building.

Implementing Plan z meant that Steph ordered Chinese and Rees brought loads of beer then they settled in to play silly card games and enjoy each other's company for the last time.

Half way through the evening Falcon's phone went off so he headed out to the kitchen to take the call. Vera leant over the dining table, navigating several empty bottles and a stack of Jenga blocks to do so, and squeezed Steph's hand.

"Thank you for not coming between Rees and me." She said softly.

Steph crossed her brows and looked confused. "Vera, I really like Rees, but only as a friend. He was never mine - I'm not right for him but you are. You two make a great couple and I'm happy for you both, really I am. I would only have intervened if you'd been hurting each other, but I don't see that happening anytime soon."

Steph noticed Vera's shoulders relax slightly as if she was releasing tension.

"You didn't think ... Rees and I...?" Steph continued, giggling. "You know we never did the horizontal mambo. We may have slept together that's all we did, sleep."

"But you told me he was good in bed!" Vera exclaimed.

"Actually, what I said was that he knew how to do the right thing, which isn't the same at all. Though I must admit I hoped you'd take it the wrong way." she giggled again.

"It was pretty much obvious from the beginning of the date that we would only ever be friends and once I spilled my guts to him it all became clear to both of us. We talked about why I wasn't good girlfriend material and he made me realise why I was so unhappy. I'd been awful to two men who I loved, one of who I'm still very much in love with by the way, and that until I sorted my heart out there'd be no room for me to take on any more complications. Right now I need backup, support and understanding, not lovers."

Just as she finished explaining, Rees popped his head round the door frame. "Ladies, I need to pop down to 5 for a few minutes. You two gonna behave while I'm gone?" he asked with a grin on his face which quickly changed to concern when he saw Vera's jaw sitting on the floor. "Everything ok?" he asked tentatively. The last thing he needed was for his two favourite people in the world to be fighting.

"Yeah! We're good." Vera said as she got over her shock. "Be good and come back soon." She added, raising her bottle in salute. "The quicker you go, the quicker you'll be back."

Rees walked back towards the hall so Vera stage whispered loudly "Didn't you say you had a Herbert horsecock? I'd love to see what it does."

"I heard that" said a voice by the front door and the two women immediately shrieked with laughter as they heard the front door close.

"Priceless!" Steph gasped out as soon as she could breathe again. "I'm so gonna miss you guys when I go to Atlanta. Truth is I'm a little bit scared. OK, so I'm a lot scared about my reception there. The guys here have all intimated that they'll not be quite so welcoming at Team Boston."

"You'll be fine, Steph. I know you will." glad that her concerns over Rees and Steph were unfounded "You've got most of the men here wrapped round your little finger. In a nice way, of course." She added with a chuckle. "Just be yourself and they're bound to fall in love with you. Which sane red-blooded male wouldn't?"

"You have no idea." Steph replied sobering as she thought of the one person in her universe that held her heart but kept using it as a play thing. She paused slightly and Vera looked at her with a quizzical look on her face.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just you looked a little bit sad and lost there for a moment. Does your mystery man know you are in love with him?"

"Doubt it" Steph replied, shaking her head. Both to emphasise her answer and chase away the deep brown eyes that seemed to gaze back at her.

o0o0o0o0o

Later once the apartment was all hers again for the last time, Steph wandered round, touching things, caressing the furniture and wondering about the man that had commissioned the rooms she'd stayed in for the last three months. Her heart ached for him, but her head told her to soldier on and one day everything would start to heal.

Flopping down on the bed in her thinking position her thoughts kept returning to her mystery love and she fell asleep to the images of the bat signal broadcasting over a cloudless night sky, hoping somehow he could sense her concerns and swoop in and save her.

o0o0o0o0o

Steph hugged the guys that had made her so welcome in Boston and turned to leave the building.

"I'll follow you out" Tom said with a smile on his face as he picked up one of her bags. Able picked up the other and the three of them headed out of the building where Falcon was idling at the curb in a shiny new black explorer.

"Thanks for everything, Guys." Steph said as the men loaded up the trunk. "It's been a blast. Look after Vera and Falcon for me, ok?"

"Sure thing, Steph" Able said as he drew her into his embrace and hugged her.

"Hey!" Tom said, grinning "My turn!" he scooped her up and whirled her round "Things are gonna be much too quiet with you gone, Sweetie, come back soon, ok?" He patted her ass then handed her up to the cab to ride shotgun.

"Will do Spence!" she replied cheekily as she leaned out and ruffled his hair.

She shut the door to the sounds of his laughter and Falcon pulled away from the building and into the traffic.

"You're gonna be fine, Steph." Falcon said, turning his head slightly to look at her. "Just remember we'll always be here for you. Me especially." He added giving her a knowing look. "Go kick the crew in Atlanta's butts then go home and get your man."

He winked then added "And if you need any help making him jealous, I'm sure I could be of service..."

Steph's only reply was to laugh at loud and to thank her lucky stars for Falcon, Vera and the rest of Rangeman Boston.

o0o0o0o0o

Ace stared at the empty office that up until last night had been filled with Steph's colourful clutter. Seeing the empty space he felt like something was missing. She'd been an inspiration to his men and she'd quickly become part of their close knit 'family'. They'd all known it was only a temporary thing, but something had been irrevocably altered the day she'd walked in the door.

Christ alone knows how Trenton must miss her but how Ranger had ever let her go he couldn't begin to fathom. If she'd been his woman he'd have cuffed her to his bed or his shower rail or... anything... and never let her go. He grinned as the image woke up his mini me and he mentally stroked himself through his pants. Dios! How the unsuspecting vixen had changed their lives!

He just hoped Connor and his team would see beyond the package and to the valuable asset she was. He snorted softly. God help her in Atlanta he thought then chuckled, God help Atlanta he added as he turned back to his office and sighed as he looked at the paperwork that flooded his desk then invoked his webcam so that he could put in a conference call to Trenton.

o0o0o0o0o

"She's just left."

"Good."

"Does she have any idea what's waiting for her?"

"No, I didn't want to wipe that beautiful smile off her face. Though I think a couple of the guys may have given her a slight heads up."

"Connor won't be that bad..."

"Bullshit and you know it!" Ace exclaimed as he glared at the man who stared blankly back at him. "He's a testosterone-filled Alpha-male bastard who thinks women should be pretty little ornaments - fit only for servicing his needs - and the rest of his team aren't much better!" he added angrily.

"I've had a word and I expect him and his men to behave."

Ace snorted and looked contemptuously at Ranger "Seriously? If you believe they're going to change their ways then you're even more of a fool than I thought! And how did you ever let her go in the first place, weren't you worried she'd turn her eye to someone else? You may be my brother but you're such an asshole!" he added furiously.

"Finished?" Ranger replied calmly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yeah. For now. Tank and bobby were right though, she needs a man in black shiny armour if she's going to go into the lion's den. Are you gonna man up and be there for her... or should I ask Falcon to do the honours?" He smiled to himself as he watched his younger brother's face falter for the first time since they'd started their little 'conversation'. Rees had given him a potted version of Steph's relationship with Ranger and they'd decided that no-one outside of the Boston office needed to know who was dating whom. Partly because it was no-one else's business and partly because Connor and his men didn't need to think Steph was the local bicycle, with a shed in each building so to speak. Even the gossips on the team had promised to keep schtum –it was Boston's little secret and right now he was glad they'd kept it that way.