Chapter 26-

Stephanie sat in Rangers chair looking out over the street below, when she woke this morning she finally felt better. A little stiff still but after2 days of mostly sleeping she was feeling clam and ready to face what was going on. She was very impatiently waiting for Ranger to leave his business meeting and come to find her in his office. She was filled with questions and was attempting to wait for him to answer them, but if he didn't hurry she was going to go looking.

She sighed deeply turning in his chair to look at his desk, she could see that it was new and wondered what happened to the other one. She took in the stuff on his desk and shook her head at the very efficient neat piles on it. How could anyone live like this she thought, reaching over and moving one pile so it merge with another. Then taking all the pens from the cup and setting them here and there on the desk.

Next came the only photo on the desk, it was a photo of Ranger and her during a distraction. She didn't remember who took it but she loved it. She had been pushed around during that particular distraction and when Ranger had finally found her he had pulled her tight against his chest. His arms were wrapped around her tight, hands spread across her back and his chin tucked onto the top of her head, eyes closed.

Stephanie then turned to look at herself in the photo; her eyes were also closed and arms wrapped tightly around his middle. Face tucked into his neck…but more importantly her face was filled with a peace. Despite everything that happened that night, one hug from him and her world was filled with piece and clam. All around them in the photo was chaos and movement but in the center the two of them were clam, peaceful…. .and even love. She missed it that night but she could see it now, the love the two of them held. She heard Ranger talking in the hallway and made the snap decision to open the frame and take out the photo, then she ran over to the side table and pushed the now empty frame into the drawer. She was sliding the photo into her back pocket and sitting back at his chair when he walked in. she could see the surprise on his face when he saw her at his desk. Evidently no one bothered to tell him she was in his office. But as quickly as the surprise came it went and a smile replace it.

"Babe." He said to her with a small nod.

She gave a quick grin back, "Ranger."

He walked over and sat at the chair in front of the desk and looked her, when he glanced at his desk a single eyebrow raised before he looked back at her.

She gave a massive smile, "Chaos is fun, everything was too neat, I had to help you out."

He just shook his head before he asked her, "Are you feeling better now?"

She gave a small nod, "A little sore still but overall 100% better… what happened to your old desk, I liked that one better."

She swore for a minute he looked embarrassed before he said gruffly, "I didn't like it so I got a new one."

"Ohhhh I loved it, can I have it in my cubical? It should fit, the drawers in yours were so much better"

This time she knew she saw him twitch, "Nope I threw it away…. so I am sure you have questions."

Stephanie narrowed her eyes, she knew a distraction when she saw one. She decided to let it pass for now, "Yes, anything new from Timmy?"

Ranger leaned back in his chair, "Yes, he was able to give us some basic descriptions as well as the places that he met them. From there we were able to find who was using him." Ranger shook his head, "You were right Babe, he has no clue how fucked he was. These guys are the worst of the worst, make me look like a Boy Scout." He murmured with a grin.

Stephanie rolled her eyes, "Ranger, do you even know what a Boy Scout is?" She giggled.

"I know that I would like to get you dirty and then clean you up." He said with a 1000% watt grim.

Stephanie busted out laughing, bending over at the waist. After a moment she stood up and walked over to sit on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Will you wear a uniform with cute little shorts when you do it."

He pulled her close and whispered in her ear, "I will wear nothing at all."

She gave him feather kisses along his cheek, "Even better, nowwwwwwww for real. What are you going to do about these guys?"

Ranger sighed and leaned back again, "We are searching for them now but they are laying low and they are good at hiding. We do know that they are looking for Timmy and whoever was helping him. We are pretty sure that they mean you but no confirmation on it. We also got more information from Timmy about what he was building. He, Lester and Hector have been spending hours in with the computers. I have never seen Hector so excited about anything." Ranger said with a chuckle. "Some kind of program that can hack into national data systems. I had to remind all of them not to have the FBI knocking at my door."

Stephanie laughed, "I think between Hector and Timmy you could have national secrets and no one would ever find out. Those two area amazing alone…I can only imagine how good they working together." Stephanie paused a minuet, "Do you think they could fuck with Dickie taxes? Maybe create a fake arrest warrant to mess with him?"

"Babe." Ranger grinned back at her, "You know that both of those are highly illegal right?"

Stephanie shrugged, "Only if people find out."

Rangers eyebrows rose, "Even if no one finds out, it's still illegal Babe."

Stephanie crossed her arms, "But not punishable." She said with a grin.

"Touché." He said with a grin.

Ranger's grin dropped and face got serious, "Look I know we are talking now… not telling. SO until we figure this out can you stay inside the building as much as you can and if you go out take a few men with you? I don't know if they know who you are but I am not willing to take that chance with your life."

Stephanie knew it was killing him to ask instead of just tell her…or better yet, lock her in. "You know what, since I have been sick I have gotten super behind on my searches. I think it might take me a few days at least to get caught up. And since I am so sore I think maybe you could ask a few guys to grab my skips for a few days too?" She said with a small grin. She could literally see the relief in his features.

"Sure Babe I can have a few guys get your skips… Thank you." He whispered to her.

"A few conditions though." Stephanie said firmly and watched his eyes narrow slightly, "First the guys that catch the skips must keep the money…. and they have to be nice to my regulars…. Like Mooner, I am sure he is on the list again."

He gave a quick grin, "Good luck with that Babe."

Stephanie raised an eyebrow, "You tell them to keep the money or I go get my skips."

"Done." Ranger said quickly.

"Second, I will need to go out in a few days. I need to go see my Grandma and Dad….and my mom. They have been leaving me messages like crazy and want to see me with their own eyes, to see I am ok. I will take Hector with me that day and I will give you a time table so you know when I am leaving and when I am coming home." She said firmly. She waited a second the continued, "Does that work for you?"

Ranger thought a moment then looked at her again, "Yes, except I want you to take two men to your house."

Stephanie shook her head, "No deal. I don't want to have a parade, plus none of the guys deserve the punishment of dealing with grandma right now and they will scare the crap out of my mom." She saw him start to interrupt so quickly went on, "I can compromise with having two men follow but they can't leave the truck unless something is wrong. Is that agreeable?"

Ranger gave a nod, "Agreed."

Stephanie leaned forward and gave him a sweet and long kiss, "OK, I got to go and see some people about some stuff. See ya later alligator." She said hopping off his lap to walk over to the door. As she was pulling it closed she snuck her head back in to see him going around the desk, "And pick up that mess…. that desk is ridiculous." She laughed as his eyes narrowed at her and slammed the door shut.

In the hall she saw Tank walking into his office and trailed in after him.

"Sup, Buddy." she slowly drawled out as she watched him walk around his desk and sit down.

He said nothing but raised a single eyebrow at her.

"Just wondering how you were feeling." She continued as she sat at the chair in front of him.

Still no reply just watching.

Stephanie smiled even bigger, "Wellll you know how much I LOVE our one sided conversations but I have a super important question that I need to ask you."

Tank continued to stare at her, "For real Tank, can you even talk? Maybe you can't even help me." She said standing up to leave.

"What?" he asked gruffly.

"Thank you." She said with a grin as she plopped back down into her seat.

"Soooooooooo." She drew out, "What happened to Ranger's desk?" she said wiggling her eyebrows.

Tank looked at her before his laughter boomed around the office, "Only you, Stephanie, Only you." He said with a grin, "Did you ask him."

She nodded at him, "Yep, at first I was only asking cause I loved that desk and wanted to know if I could have it. BUT then he got all close eyed and quiet and I knew something happened to it. But he won't tell me, just said he threw it away…. which I believe but the question is WHYyyyyy did he throw it away?" she said with a grin, "and that my friend is where you come in."

Tank raised his eyebrow again, "What does this have to do with me?"

"Simple." Stephanie said, "You are the best friend, the guy who helps him shoot and bury dead bodies. The only man in this office he would trust with a secret he wants to keep from me…. SO what happened to the desk that I loved so much?"

Tank looked at her for a moment before clearing his throat and leaning forward, "I am gonna tell you this because I think you still need to know what it did to all of us having you gone. I am going to tell you this but if you tell Ranger that I said anything I will call you a liar then kill you in your sleep. Got it."

Stephanie nodded to him slowly and waited, knowing that this was serious.

"When you were gone…" he paused trying to find the words. "We were lost, frustrated, angry…helpless because we could not figure out who would take you. We couldn't figure out which one of the men in our past…in your past, did it. But then Morelli came here and told us that it was a man that he arrested. Ranger lost his mind, tore his office apart…..." Tank gave a sigh/chuckle, "He broke the desk in half. He said, how am I supposed to protect her from things…people that I don't even know are coming." Tank sat back, "You are right, no one else knows, you are his weakness Stephanie, the fact that he can lose his mind …." He shook his head again. "Be kind to us, you are a weakness to all of us, Ranger he may have torn his office up physically, but we were all lost with you gone."

Stephanie wiped a tear off of her cheek, she took a moment because she knew that Tank was already uncomfortable but wanted to tell him…. Without telling him she understood and would try. She cleared her throat, "Hay can I ask a favor?"

Tank narrowed his eyes at her, "What?"

She smiled, "I was thinking that maybe you could help me train a little bit more. I know I added time at the gym but I was thinking maybe you could show me some self-dense moves. Maybe an extra hour a week at the gun ranger?"

Tanks lips ghosted into a smile, barely there, "I think I can do that, but maybe two hours at the range. Monday and Thursday afternoon?" He saw her eyes narrow a bit and added, "It would get me out of paper work." He said with a full grin.

She smiled at him, "Sure, and Wednesday we can do some self-defense?"

"Actually I know that Lester, Bobby and Hector were creating you a program for that if you are up to it." He said.

Stephanie narrowed her at him, "Why do I feel like I just fell into a trap?" she said as she stood up to leave. She watched him walk around the desk to stand next to her.

"I don't know what you mean." He said back.

She rolled her eyes, "Thanks for telling me, I will try, I swear…. In my defense I never mean to get taken!"

He, for the first time ever wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug and whispered in her ear, "I know and I know that you try, but every time you are taken or hurt it's like a part of us is take or hurt. We love you little girl."

She felt the tears coming and wrapped her arms around him too and whispered, "Now you know how I feel when you guys leave or are in danger, cause I love you guys too."

He tightened his grip a little more, "Yea, but we can defend ourselves."

"Hay!" She said with a laugh right as the door to the office opened.

Both turned to see Ranger standing there arms folded eyes narrowed.

Stephanie decided to mess with both of them. "Hay Ranger, Tank wanted to know if I could hang with him today."

Tank practically pushed her away scowling down at her. "See we have a nice moment and then you have to act like an ass."

She grinned up at him and jumped to give him a kiss on the cheek, "Love ya Babe, see you for our date on Thursday." She sang as she walked towards the door.

Ranger looked down at her, "Date, Babe?" expression blank.

"Yep, Tank said he could help me with some stuff…. So we area gonna hang." She said as she stood and kissed Ranger on the cheek leaning into his side. She looked over to Tank who was now full on scowling at her, "Right, Tankie-poo?"

"Bite me." He growled at her crossing his arms over his massive chest.

"Maybe Thursday if you are lucky." She said grinning.

Ranger looked back and forth, "Do I need to watch you two?"

Stephanie looked over at Tank and shrugged, "Do you like people to watch Tank or would you like privacy?" She said wiggling her eyebrows.

"Get out!" Tank said gritting his teeth, "You are not funny."

"Ohh well, see you later sweet-pea." She said to Tank grinning. She turned to Ranger, "Dinner? Tonight? You and me?"

"Sure Babe, want Tank to come watch?" Ranger said with a small smirk.

"Sure." She said back looking over at Tank with a grin, "Tank, want to watch?"

"OK" Tank bellowed, "Get out both of you! I got shit to do and listening to these stupid jokes is not it."

Ranger raised his eyebrows, "We have a meeting to go over the new clients." He said holding out a file.

Tank looked at him with irritation, "Fine, sit down." He said pointing to the chair Stephanie was just sitting at. Then he pointed to Stephanie, "You get out."

Stephanie leaned back up and kissed Ranger again, "6 o'clock sound good to you?" He nodded at her and gave her a quick brush on the lips. She turned back to Tank and smiled a real smile this time, "Thank you Tank…for the talk and the help. Love you." Then turned to walk out.

She paused at the door when she heard Tank give a gruff, "Love you too, pain in the ass."

AS she was pulling the door closed she heard Ranger tell Tank, "I am not a fucking dog, don't tell me to sit." And Tank reply, "Its Stephanie's fault, she is always messing with us." She pulled the door closed giggled.

"Two down, two to go." She said with a grin and walked over to the elevator, time to find Hector and Timmy to see what was going on.

-/-

As she walked into Hector's office/lab she felt an immediate chill, the server and computer room was always 10 degrees lower than the rest of the building. She could hear yelling in both English and Spanish from the room. As she rounded the corner she caught Hector yelling at Lester in Spanish and Timmy yelling at Lester in English and poor Lester looked like he was going to kill them both or run away.

She could not even make out what any of them were saying so she walked up and yelled at the top of her lungs, "STOP!"

All three immediately silenced and turned to look at her. "What is going on?" She demanded.

Hector and Timmy both look beyond irritated but Lester looked ready to scream/run away.

Both Hector and Timmy both immediately started yelling in Spanish and English while Lester just dropped his head in his hands.

Stephanie held her hands up again, "Stop." She yelled even louder this time. She pointed at Lester, "You, what the heck is going on."

Lester lifted his head half up out of his hands until she could make out his eyes and muttered, "They won't stop fighting. Both think they are right about this stupid computer stuff and I dont understand half the shit they are talking about." At this both men jumped up and start yelling agine, Laster just shook his head and gestured to the two men. "Seeeee what I mean."

"Enough!" She yelled over them again, "SIT." She demanded. She watched as both men dropped to their seat arms crossed. Angry faces painted on. She looked at Lester and took pity on him. "You go get lunch, come back in about an hour." She watched as face broke into a grin and he practically ran from the room. He paused at the door and sprinted back to kiss her on the cheek and whisper, "Thanks." Then ran out the door.

She turned back to the two still sitting refusing to look at each other, "Now you two, what's going on." When they both opened to their mouths to talk she held up her hand, "Stop…. Timmy first." She said pointing at him.

Timmy turned to Hector smirking, "Well, he." He said pointing to Hector, "Wants to be a jerk and not actually give any helpful information. I am trying to explain to him the algorithms and i want to know how he almost got into my system, but all he wants to know is how I kept him out."

Stephanie crossed her arms, "Well first of all don't be an ass." She said pointing to his smirk and watched it quickly fall of his face. "Second, it sounds like you want him to give you all of his information and don't want to share any of yours." She looked over to Hector who gave her a small quick nod. She turned to Hector and said, "Are you doing the same thing?"

She watched his smirk fall off his face, "That's what I thought. Ok this is what is going to happen. Timmy you are going to go up to the breakroom on 5 and wait for me for lunch. Hector you and I are going to have a little conversation. And in one hour you will both meet with Lester and HELP each other figure out how to make all of us safer and our systems better, got it?" She saw Timmy give a quick nod, then looked over at Hector, "You and me right now ok?"

She waited for Hector to nod back at her then she turned to Timmy, "Go wait for me. I will be there in a few minutes." She watched as Timmy stood and left the room, when the door closed behind him she walked over and sat in the chair next to Hector and waited for him to speak to her. After a moment her patients paid off when Hector let out a deep sigh and said, "What?"

She raised her eye brows at him and waited another moment, "Really, what do you want me to say?" he asked. "That guy is a total little asshole, he's refusing to give us any of the information on how his system works. He doesn't want to tell me about the system he was building for the men who are trying to kill him. I am done trying to help him." Hector said in huff crossing his arms over his chest.

Stephanie took a moment to think about what he said, "So what you are saying is he is being completely closed off about his personal system." When Hector nodded she went on, "He doesn't want to give you the information on the weapons system he is creating?" After another nod she continued, "Like you don't want to give him any information about our system here?" At this Hector narrowed his eyes at her. So she smiled and went on, "Like you don't want to give him any information on the investigation for these people?"

"It is not the same thing." Hector said gruffly, "We are trying to help him."

Stephanie shook her head, "Yes we are, but I also know that you are dying to know how he kept you out. How He got into our system…or your system." Stephanie reached out and grabbed his hand. "He is scared; he is holding onto the only things he has. The only control he has. Maybe talking to him about your system will engage him to talk about his. Maybe if you offer something he doesn't know he will be more open about what he knows."

She stood up and quickly leaned down to give him a hug, "You catch more flies with honey then with vinegar."

Hector gave her a quick squeeze back, "I never understood that…. why the fuck would you want flies?"

Stephanie burst out laughing, "NO clue!" She said back walking to the door. "No clue."

She took the elevator to 5 thinking about how she was gonna talk to Timmy, she knew that the guys still didn't trust him. In fact, most of the guys will probably never ever trust him. She had to find a way to bridge the gap from what he had done to what he could do, he just needed guidance.

Hector, she thought, Hector was the key. If she could get Timmy and Hector to work together then maybe the guys would give him a chance. So she had to get Timmy to agree to give Hector everything he knew, that was the only way Hector would help.

When the elevator door opened back on 5 she saw the men looking at the break room with a mixture of anger and suspicion. She immediately knew that Timmy was waiting for her and when she started to walk over to the breakroom she was quickly cut off by not one but 3 different men. First Cal and Hal stepped in front of her with smiles.

"Stephanie, how are you feeling?" They asked in unison.

She smiled and stepped around them and kept walking, "Wonderful." She murmured.

Bobby sneaked up next to her attempting to curb her over to her cubical, "Beautiful, can I give you a quick check up? I am happy to see you down here." She gave him a quick hug and twirl so she could walk out of the hug towards the breakroom. "Maybe later, around 5 upstairs?" She said as she walked away.

She almost laughed out loud at their stuttering and looks as she walked away. When she got to the break room she saw Timmy sitting at a table alone while Ella was putting lunch out, Tank stood at the refrigerator making no effort to hide the fact that he was watching Timmy.

Stephanie walk over to give Ella a hug. "What's for lunch?" Stephanie asked.

Ella smiled at her, "I am glad you came down my dear, I made you something special." And she pulled a covered dish from the rolling cart. "How are you feeling."

"Great." Stephanie said with a smile. "Your food can cure anything."

She gave Ella a quick hug, "Do you think we can have dinner upstairs tonight, something super unhealthy and yummy? Ohh, with dessert?"" Stephanie finished her sentence with a small bounce of excitement.

Ella let out a laugh, "Of course dear, do you know what time?"

Stephanie looked over to see the break room door being flooded with men who suddenly had a new hunger or thirst. She rolled her eyes at Ella, "Yepm, 6 please. Thanks Ella." She gave her another quick squeeze then walked over to Timmy who was still sitting alone in the corner.

She went to sit but instead turned around to all of the guys who were clearly just in there because she was in there with Timmy. "OK." She announced in a loud voice to all the men. "You have two options. One you get what you need and get out. It is not even close to lunch and I know that you are all just hovering. Or two I can take Timmy to a private conference room and then you can't even look through the door like Nosy Betty's." She watched the men contemplate for a moment before they each filled out the door one by one. Until all that was left was her, Timmy and Tank. She gave Tank a pointed look, "Out."

Tank narrowed his eyes, "I am getting coffee."

She narrowed her eyes back, "Liar, now move." She watched as he gave Timmy a death glare that promised pain and then slowly walked out.

She sighed when he finally cleared the room and went to sit at the table with Timmy, she gave him smile while opening the dish Ella gave her and gave a squeal when she saw lasagna and a piece of chocolate cake. At once the room filled with men pouring in at the door, pushing and shoving to get in. When they saw her just sitting there looking at food they all rolled their eyes at her.

She rolled her eyes right back, "Really what do you think he is going to do…. in the middle of Rangeman? With all of you here? Not to mention the fact that he doesn't even want to hurt me…. go away, all of you."

She waited until they all left again before looking at Timmy and asking, "So how's it going being in a building where everyone hates you but one person…. I even saw Ella give you a dirty look, and she loves everyone."

Timmy gave a small frown, "Ya, she gave me a sandwich with wet bread and no mayo." He looked at her plate, "Not even close to what you have."

Stephanie swallowed a big bite, "Never compare what I eat to what you guys get… I am special. But normally even her sandwiches are delicious. So yep, you pissed her off." She took another bite and waited to see if he would break the silence first.

Her patience paid off again when he looked down and mumbled, "DO you think they will ever like me?"

Stephanie sat back, "Maybe…. let's get them to tolerate you first." She tilted her head to the side, "So I talked to Hector about you helping with the computers."

Timmy looked up at her, "I bet he said I wasn't helpful at all…. But he just wants me to give him all my information and then give me nothing in return."

Stephanie nodded at him, "He said the same thing about you…. Did you ever think that you guys should meet in the middle?"

Timmy shrugged his shoulders in a teenager move and she had to hide a smile, "You look as receptive as Hector with that suggestion. But I am gonna be honest, if you don't give you, are not gonna get. You are not gonna get help, you are not gonna get accepted and you will never be liked. Put the first step forward, give the olive branch."

Timmy looked at her, "You really think that will help?"

She smiled at him as she polished off her lasagna and shrugged, "You never know until you try."

Timmy started to smile before his eyes got round and he attempted to shrink in his chair. She smiled and turned to see Ranger walking in, eyes narrowing at them at the table. "I was wondering how long before you made it in." She glanced down at her watch, "8 minutes, longer then I thought."

He gave he an evil grin that was more meant to scare Timmy, "I was in a meeting, can I join you?" He said walking over to the table.

Timmy gave a squeak, "I have to Help Hector, bye Stephanie…. Rang…. Bossss…. Person." Then he practically ran from the room.

"Well that wasn't nice." Stephanie said starting on her cake.

Ranger just smirked at her, "I am not a nice person."

Stephanie gave him a smirk back, "No you like to be baddddd." She whispered as she licked the last of the frosting off her fork. She watched as Rangers eyes darkened, "Fire, Babe." He whispered.

She stood and walked to the door, "To bad I have a slave driving boss and have a ton of searches I have to do… we could have gone upstairs." She squealed and ran when she watched him start to get up.

"See you for dinner." She yelled on her way to her desk.

Ranger just shook his head, God he loved that woman.