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Standard FF disclaimers apply.

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I Need You.

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It was a glorious day, the sun was accompanied by white puffy clouds floating by high in the azure blue sky. No one really noticed, Stephanie had been too excited, she was just happy that there would be no weather problems to worry about. Standing in the parking garage, Ella and Louis Guzman watched the SUV pull out into the street and disappear from sight. They did not pay attention to the beauty of the day either. There were other things on their minds. Louis wrapped an arm around Ella's shoulders. Immediately she let him pull her into his embrace, her head tucked under his chin. He knew what she was feeling, and his heart broke again for her, for them, for the children that they never had.

After a moment, Ella straightened. She hugged her husband one more, kissing him on the cheek before she started gathering up the stuff they had unloaded from Stephanie's car. Louis silently helped her with the task. He knew that she needed to stay busy. It was how she coped in times like this. Together they took everything up to the apartment. And together they made it through another moment of sadness, of heartache.

It had been their plan to have a family. Once they found each other, they wanted to share their love, their life with children. When it didn't happen, they both knew what it felt like to have their hearts torn apart. They may never know what caused the infertility problems. Two years after they were married, they were both tested for everything. But there were never any definitive answers for them. Someone once suggested that MMR vaccines were blamed for any number of unexplained problems, but no one could ever confirm it. They had married later in life and maybe that was a contributing factor. That may have been the hardest part, not knowing. The biggest mystery was that they were both affected. Years were spent trying to find answers, trying to understand. They never did either, but they were finally able to accept it. Most of the time it didn't hurt so much anymore, especially after coming to RangeMan. Their work kept them busy, and they had a new family here, and they still had each other.

They were truly excited for Ranger and Stephanie. Bringing a child into their lives was a precious gift. For the briefest of moments, they both felt their grief. Wordlessly they saw each other through it. And together they looked forward. Mat would be a very welcome addition to the family here. They knew that they would be involved very in his life. And they couldn't wait.

Ella used her master key to let them into the seventh floor apartment. She came in frequently to clean, so it did not bother her at all to walk right in. Louis hesitated for just a split second, he still did not like being in someone else's space when they were not there. Ella headed straight to the bedroom, he followed and stopped at the door. The rocking chair he helped Frank Plum deliver, now took center stage in the new bedroom arrangement. Louis stared at it for a while. It looked a lot like the one that he had found for Ella years ago. He had kept it hidden away, it was going to be the perfect present to celebrate the arrival of their first child. It felt right to want to start a family, his beautiful Ella had so much love to give, and it was only natural to assume that she would have children to shower it on.

He sighed and turned away, Ella's rocking chair had never come out of hiding. At first he did not want any reminders of the fact they could not conceive. Later it was just too painful, especially after they were told that they were too old to adopt. The chair disappeared, becoming just another one of the sad memories that he tried to keep locked away.

Ella had rebounded quickly, she always did. Louis was constantly amazed that she could be such a positive force for all things good. He loved that about her. She would never know how many times her ability to love, to give, was all that kept him going. He vowed that would never let her down, and that promise saw him through one difficult situation after another.

In all of her bustling about, sorting and putting things away, Louis had not realized that Ella had ended up over at the very rocking chair that he was trying not to think about. She gently placed a chenille throw blanket over the back. He stared at her, unable to move. She looked up at him, something in her eyes captured his attention. He could not look away when she started talking.

"I had a chair like this once," she said. Louis couldn't breathe. "It was the perfect gift," she was saying. A hand idly smoothed over the curved wood. She was looking at him, not taking her eyes from his. "I kept it hidden away, and when I needed to grieve a bit, I would sneak out to sit in it." She saw the look in his eyes. She had never admitted this to him before. "As I rocked back and forth I thought about only one person. The one who loved me so much that he would not add to my pain by giving me a rocking chair."

Walking over to him, her arms wrapped around his waist and she laid her head on his chest. "He never knew how much that chair meant to me," she whispered. "I never told him that it saved me, he saved me!" Slowly his arms came around to hug her tight. His head buried in her hair.

"Ella," he uttered her name, unable to say more.

"One day, I realized that there was no more sorrow," she said. "I was in love with the most amazing, wonderful man in the world, and he loved me." "I gave the chair to someone who needed it," she said softly. "That was the right thing to do, wasn't it?" she asked.

Louis finally found his ability to speak, "That was the perfect thing to do," he said. He took her lovely face in both of his hands. "That was the perfect thing," he repeated, the meaning very different this time. She nodded, as he bent his head to kiss her. "Te Amo." Both hearts heard the words that neither mouth had spoken.

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All the guys in the on duty would catch themselves watching Gene as he was working. It was almost as much as staring at the monitors. Gene had set up his operations in the far corner of the Comm room. He needed more room than the cubicles afforded, so Tank moved him here where he could do his work all spread out. Papers were everywhere, tacked up on the walls, in piles on the desk and the tables he had pulled over. They were even sticking out of many of the books that were stacked everywhere. But as chaotic as it may have looked to anyone else, Gene was actually very careful to keep his work separate from the research that Lester had brought back from the lab.

Tapping furiously on his keyboard, Gene stared at the screen, something was not right. He grabbed his pencil and scribbled some notes. Then caught the pencil in his teeth, he turned back to the screen and pounded in the information. Finally he sat back in his chair and almost smiled at the results. The only thing that stopped his lips from curving was the pock-marked pencil. With a sheepish look, he grabbed it and tossed it onto the desk. He didn't look around to see it anyone had seen him do that. He was so involved in his work, it had never occurred to him that anyone would be watching.

Every morning since they had come back, Tank came over stood at the perimeter of the space, waiting for Gene to realize that he was there. Sometimes he waited as long as ten minutes, but he did not mind. He had learned long ago never to interrupt a scientist at work. In college, he had had some roommates that majored in Biochemistry. That opened up a new group of friends for him. And he found that every guy he had met, who had any scientific tendencies, became so absorbed in their projects that sudden disruptions threw them completely off. Potentially destroying trains of thought that could have led somewhere important. He had been yelled at enough times that he had finally come to understand and respect the process.

Bending over the table that held the doctors research, Gene was preoccupied in his search. Eventually he looked up and noticed him standing there. "Tank," he said, immediately standing at attention. Tank smiled and walked over to him placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Relax," he said with a smile. "What have you got?"

The next forty-five minutes were filled with detailed information about the research. Tank let most of the technical stuff just go over his head. But he listened intently, he knew that this part of the process was important. Verbally explaining seemed to have the effect of clarifying things that mental thought and even notes could not.

His patience paid off. Gene looked up at him suddenly. "I think that they are on the verge of discovering the most amazing substance," he said slowly, almost reverently. "From what the research indicates, it is almost ready to produce." Gene's voice reflected the astonishment he felt. This substance could be used in so many ways, they had to know that it could be potentially dangerous. Especially in the wrong hands. He was well aware that many scientists did their work for the sake of discovery and expanding human knowledge. Few of them ever took the responsibility of what was done with their findings. This is where he differed from most of the scientists that he knew. He was a firm believer that there are some things that should just not be shared with some people. And this discovery would be one that he would put at the top of that list.

After a lengthy discussion of the implications, both positive and negative, Tank had a better understanding of the conflict that Dr Dutton was feeling. When he had visited him in DC, the doctor had been very reluctant to talk to him about the research that they were doing. Had he come to some of these same conclusions? That this discovery could be dangerous in the wrong hands? There had been something about Tom Dutton that made Tank think that he would be like Gene. A scientist with a conscience.

His opinion of Brian Taylor was similar. Although he had not spent nearly as much time talking to Taylor, he had the feeling that he too, would be upset if he knew that his life work was used to harm instead of help. So what were these two men doing with Humelik? There had to be some answers that they had not found yet. In light of these recent developments, Tank wanted to talk to the doctors again. If his feeling about Dutton were correct, he should be receiving a phone call from him any time now.

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The countdown was on. The fifth floor at RangeMan Inc was filling up fast. Everyone wanted to welcome Ranger home. By now they had all heard about the mission, the baby and the unique wedding ceremony. It was time to introduce the new family to the extensive RangeMan family. On the way home from the airport, Tank had filled them in on the plans. Ella had already mentioned that everyone was going to be here when they got back, so Stephanie was prepared for the explanation. Ranger nodded and smiled down at Mat, who was blissfully unaware of anything as he slept soundly in the state of the art car seat that Stephanie had bought for him.

After the farewell that Ranger had been given in Ecuador, he understood better how important it would be to his men to be introduced to the new addition to the family. They already knew him, and they already loved Stephanie, there was no doubt that they would all feel like uncles to Mat. He was actually looking forward this, Mat was about to join an elite group of men, and Ranger couldn't be prouder!

Stephanie felt the same pride as her husband. She understood that smile on his face. 'So, this is what it's like' she mused. It is such a powerful emotion to be tied to the well-being and acceptance of your child. She knew that her friends were going to be so great for Mat. Who could not use a bunch of uncles to set you straight? Before she saw Ranger holding Mat, Stephanie thought that it would be funny to see these big men with a tiny baby. Now she knew that there would never be anything quite as sweet, or wonderful. She couldn't wait for this!

The moment they pulled into the garage, Stephanie could feel the anticipation. Her eyes were glowing with happiness and just a little nervousness. Ranger had never seen her look more beautiful! Woody and Hal were waiting for them by the door . They greeted the little family and then helped Tank unload the trunk. The men followed Stephanie and Ranger into the elevator, and once they were moving, Hal bent over Stephanie's shoulder and whispered to Mat.

"Nice to see you again little man." "Looking good!"

Laughing softly, Stephanie stepped out onto the fifth floor, Ranger walked close beside her with his arm draped loosely around her shoulders. It did not take long before they were immediately surrounded by the guys eager to see the instant family.

Stephanie was glowing as the new mommy, her arms carefully wrapped around the little bundle of joy. Ranger hung back a little and watched as her face lit up with one smile after another as she helped their friends meet the little boy. One by one Mat met his new uncles. Stephanie was impressed with the gentle way the guys held him in their big muscular arms. She knew he was safe, and so did he. He seemed to be perfectly comfortable in their arms. That may have had something to do with the fact that he had been held by Ranger so much of the time during the last week or so.

Passing him along, no one held him for more than a minute or so, but it made no difference to the men, their eagerness to see him was not diminished in the least. Most of them whispered their promises to him, to teach him all kinds of skills and to take him playing when he was older. Over and over, Stephanie started picturing what it was going to be like for this small child to grow up here with all his uncles. She could not keep the smile from her face at those thoughts. If Mat wanted to fly, they would help him do it. After he received the proper training, of course. He was going to one lucky little boy!

When it was time to take the baby and the new mommy home, they waved goodbye as they made their way to the elevator. As the doors slowly closed, Stephanie did a finger wave once more, and the men were finally blocked from view.

Ranger stood behind Stephanie, his arms wrapped around her and Mat. She leaned her head back and kissed his neck. "I am so glad you are back!" she whispered. "I missed you."

He recognized the tremor in her voice. It had sounded that way every time they had spoken to each other over the phone, during the past few days. He turned her to face him, he wanted to look in to her eyes. He had missed that most of all. He could always get lost in those big blue eyes. A million thoughts raced through his mind. But only one was important, only one that he needed to share with her, now.

"Stephanie, I need you to know," he said, his voice was just above a whisper, but it was firm and sure when he said, "I love you!"

Her eyes glistened and a single tear slid down her cheek. Her smile was radiant. He had told her that many, many times in their recent conversations over the phone. But there was absolutely nothing like hearing it in person with his dark eyes staring into her own. Ranger wiped that tear away and kissed her softly, before leaning his forehead against hers. The elevator doors opened, but neither one moved for a moment. Finally Mat protested being trapped between them, again. They laughed and moved toward the apartment door.

Ranger suddenly stopped. "There aren't any surprises in there, are there?" he asked.

Stephanie looked at him, baffled. Does the new baby furniture count as a surprise she wondered. Ranger laughed as he read the look on her face.
"Our families were not downstairs, they are not waiting for us in there, are they?"

Now Stephanie smiled. "No, it's only us," she said.

"How did you manage that?" he asked, he knew that there was nothing in this world that could keep his mother away from her new grandchild. Stephanie shrugged innocently.

"I may have told them that your flight arrived at two o'clock," she said. Ranger nodded, it had arrived, on time, at two pm.

"Tomorrow afternoon," she said, hiding a smile.

He pulled her into another hug. "Have I told you how much I love you!" he said.

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Golden sunlight bathed Paul Markus as he stood by the window in his bedroom. He had been standing here since dawn, and had watched the sun rising over the small mountain range on the horizon. The sun warmed him, it felt good, but he hardly noticed. It had been a long sleepless night. Most of it spent sitting in the chair next to the window. His wife was still in bed, sleeping peacefully for the first time since they had received news that their son had been taken hostage in the jungles of Ecuador.

Paul was just as relieved as his wife was to know that Leo was alive and doing fine. It would be a few weeks before they would be able to see him, but the knowledge that he had been found was all they needed for now. The past two months had been hard on them. Not only was their son missing. But strange rumors started circulating around the company, around town. Things that just did not make sense. Humelik was a pharmaceutical company, they developed medicine, cures. They were an altruistic organization, set up to aid humanity. That anyone would suggest otherwise really bothered him. He never thought that he would have to defend the company that he helped create.

Maybe things would change in the coming days, weeks. Maybe by the time Leo was back home, they would all find that it had been a mistake. Paul rubbed his hand over his eyes, the sun now glaring at him, hot and harsh. He may be retired, but he still heard things about the company. What he was hearing now did not make any sense to him. Soon Leo would be home, and he could get the truth from him.

It seemed that Paul was not the only one waiting for Leo. Or Ed. As head of the sales division, Richard Alvari should know about every transaction involving the sale of the company's products. He even thought that he should know about every product that they produced here. But apparently, Ed had some secret project with Leo Markus. And whatever they were working on was being sold to the highest bidder in a sales negotiation that he had not been part of.

No one was more surprised to hear the rumors than Richard. He liked Ed, they got along perfectly well and the company had thrived under his management for over ten years now. Everyone knew that the past couple of years had been challenging in the changing economy, but Ed had shown great leadership in keeping the company going strong.

Opening the labs in Ecuador had been a stroke of genius. That is what everyone had been saying. Right up until Ed and Leo had got themselves kidnapped by an angry drug cartel. That had been a blow to the whole company. At first because of the violence of the act. Being taken by gunpoint, and then disappearing for so long had shocked everyone. An outpouring of support went to the families. Everything that they could do had been done to try to find them and bring them back. After two months it was easy to wonder if they would ever be heard of again. In their absence, Richard and the other department heads kept things up and running. They all thought that it was working out fine. That's when they started to see that things were not as they seemed.

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