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Standard FF disclaimers apply.

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I Need You. Possibility

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The building was relatively quiet at three o'clock in the morning. The night crew would be sitting in the near dark, watching the monitors, the glow of the computers giving off most of the light in the room. Ranger imagined that Gene might be there again too, still working on last minute calculations before the team had to take the trip into DC for their debriefing. Gene would be as relieved as everyone else that the information they uncovered would remain here. Tom was right, this was something that needed to be treated with the utmost care. Ranger paused at the stairwell door leading to the fifth floor, but he did not open it. His restless thoughts kept him from wanting to do anything other than get back home.

The conversation he'd had with Tom played over in his mind. With this enormous weight lifted from his chest, Ranger made his way home. He couldn't wait to hold Stephanie in his arms. It was the only thing that he wanted to think about now, as he walked up the stairs. His heart went out to Tom. Losing someone you love is the worst kind of tragedy. He could not even imagine what it would do to him if he lost Stephanie. Far from feeling the immense relief, like he had after talking to Tom, all of the anxieties that he'd had before seemed to come back to him ten fold.

In his mind he had come so very close to losing Mat to Tom, the possibility of it happening had felt very real. As grateful as he was that it did not happen, he had felt the fear, and he had kept his feelings about it from Stephanie. It had been his way of protecting her from the pain of that scenario. She would have felt terrible about losing Mat, it felt like the right thing to do, to protect her from the anguish that it would have caused her.

He should feel great right now. Everything was working out the way it should. His new family was together, safe. He wanted to share his relief, this happiness with Stephanie. But how could he tell her what had happened, without admitting that he had kept this all to himself. How was it possible to feel such joy and such agony at the same time.

None of his worries had been resolved by the time he reached the seventh floor. With a slight hesitation, he pushed open the door. There were no lights on, but he could see Stephanie in the living room as soon as he walked in. The glow of the moon outlined her hair in a silver halo, taking his breath away. His Stephanie, his wife, was there waiting up for him.

"Carlos," she whispered anxiously when she saw him walking toward her. As if she needed his touch as much as he needed hers, she jumped up and ran into his outstretched arms. There were no words spoken for a long time. It was enough just to hold one another.

Finally, Stephanie desperately whispered the worry that she had been holding onto all night. "Carlos, you are scaring me. What's wrong?"

His arms tightened around her and he held her even closer. She could feel his chest rise and fall with a deep breath before he said anything. He tucked his head into her neck. She could feel his warm breath on her skin, and it made her tremble slightly. The movement seemed to draw his attention back from his thoughts. "I never want to lose you," he said in a raspy voice. "And I never want Mat to be taken from us."

His words were not what she expected to hear. He would never lose her. How could he think that would ever happen? And why would someone take Mat? How could they? He had been legally adopted by them. Questions and fears now bombarded her thoughts. "How?' she asked, her voice revealing the anxiety now rising in her chest, asking about the only question that she was unsure about. "How would anyone take Mat?"

He did not respond immediately, but Stephanie could feel the tension increase in his muscles. After a few deep breaths, he started to explain the situation with Tom Dutton. Stephanie had her arms wrapped around his waist and her head leaning against his chest as she listened to him. She did not say anything. She knew she needed to hear everything that he had to say if she was going to understand what had made him so upset. His voice was low and pained as he explained the fears that he'd had.

She realized that he had been worrying about this all the time that he had been back. But he had not said one word. The enormity of the situation made her heart stop and she took in a deep breath to rein in her feelings. Her Italian temper was only controlled by holding onto that breath. She wanted to explode. Stephanie started to pull away from him. Heat was building up in her chest, in her brain. She knew that she was approaching the boiling point. This was exactly the kind of thing that had always made her so angry.

Even if Ranger thought that he was protecting her from pain or sorrow, he had to know that keeping these kinds of things from her would only hurt her more in the end. She was about to tell him that he couldn't do that to her, to them. It was too important. He couldn't just go ahead and make decisions on his own that affected her too. He had to learn to share these things, to talk to her.

As much as she had been willing to start this relationship with him, to be married to him, have a family with him, it was not going to work if he didn't understand how important it was to her that he communicate with her. About everything.

The pressure mounted, until she could feel the steam ready to blow the top right off. His grip on her loosened as she pulled back, and she looked up into the dark eyes that were staring at her, imploring her to understand. The breath she had been holding in left in a small rush, compassion suddenly replacing irritation.

The pain, the worry, the agony that he had gone through was written all over his face. It broke her heart. And in that moment, the fury was completely gone, somehow she knew that he had acted to protect her. But she knew that it had cost him dearly. He had done it out of love, and she found that she loved him all the more for it.

Their relationship as husband and wife was new, to both of them. She would help him understand that she needed him to share, to trust her. But right now, he needed her comfort. Her unconditional love. Stephanie placed her hand along the side of his face. He leaned into her caress. His eyes still locked with hers. She did love him. More that anything in the world. Enough to understand.

She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close once again. With her lips close to his ear, she whispered words of comfort, words of love. Her hands smoothed over back, feeling his tight muscles slowly release the tension that had built up with his anxiety. "I love you," she said again.

Ranger pulled away just enough to look once more into her eyes. He understood. It was all clear, it was written in her gaze. How easy it had always been to read her emotions. It was a gift that Stephanie gave him, even if she didn't know it. Ranger kissed her gently and pulled her back into his embrace. "Thank you," he whispered. She nodded and held him tight.

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In the corner of the room, he stood with his hands clenched into fists. His mind and gut tangled in an unease that he was not used to, Bobby watched Brian Taylor. He no longer appeared to be sleeping peacefully. Bobby knew that the only thing allowing him to get any sleep at all was the sedative that he'd had to give him.

He started pacing the room, worried about his patient, wondering what was making the man so anxious. His mental state had much more to do with his recovery than anything that Bobby could do for him medically. How was he going to find out what was bothering the doctor?

In another room, Tom Dutton was also experiencing a sleepless night. Despite his talk with Ranger, or perhaps because of it, he could not make his mind shut off. He was still facing the dilemma that had kept him from telling Brian that the research was safe. From the moment that they had seen the empty shelves behind the locker in the lab, Brian had become more and more upset. It was affecting his health to the point that he was not sure he would recover easily.

It was not fair to let him go on this way. But what was he going to do? He had still not come up with a good reason for Tank and RangeMan to have all of their notes. If he was not careful, his cover would be blown and what he had been working toward for years would be in jeopardy. Taking a deep breath, he stared up in the darkness. This was useless, he was not going to get any sleep while this was on his mind. He grabbed the covers and flung them off to the side. Drawing in a deep breath, Tom sat up. Brian had become much more than a colleague, he was a friend, and in many ways, Tom had become the brother that Brian never had.

Hearing some movements in Brian's room, Tom got out of bed and made his way down the hall to the open doorway. He could see Bobby walking around the room. In the dim light, he could not see the expression on his face, but his body language was all about frustration. It was time, Tom had to do something. Taking a deep breath for courage, he boldly took a step into the room, grabbing Bobby's attention immediately.

"Is anything wrong?" Bobby asked quickly. Tom shook his head.

"Do you have a minute?" Tom asked, as he motioned with his head in the direction of the living room. Bobby looked a Brian briefly, then nodded and followed Tom down the short hallway and to the couches in the front room. Again, neither one turned on the lights, they were content to sit in the semi darkness.

"I have a story to tell you," Tom said. "And at the end, you can tell me what we should do."

Bobby gave him a surprised expression and motioned for him to start talking. Bobby knew that Tom was Colonel Drake, a former Ranger. He was also aware of the findings of Gene's study of Tom's and Brian's research that Lester found. He knew that there had been several conspiracy theory's being tossed around, along with some pretty believable scenarios that had been put together. Much of what Tom was saying was expected. Until Tom looked right into his eyes and told him about Brian.

What Tom said made sense. Tom knew what Brian was feeling and it was perfectly understandable given the circumstances. And so was the concern that Tom had about the mission he had been working for so long. Bobby sat back and laced his fingers in front of him. The doctor in him wanted to put his patient out of his misery immediately, if not sooner. The RangeMan part of him wanted to proceed with caution, the purpose of the mission was very valid, and he could not ruin it before they got the results that they needed. It was easy for Bobby to sympathize with Tom's dilemma.

Finally Bobby pulled himself up and leaned forward, laying his forearms on his knees as he spoke quietly. "How much time do you need?" he asked a startled Tom.

"The deal is set to go down in about a week. We can watch Karl get close enough to the broker to follow him back to the source."

"Then, we have no problem," Bobby stated. "We can keep you both here 'under doctor's orders' for at least that long."

Tom nodded, still uncertain what Bobby was thinking. But the look in his eyes was confident and hopeful. Bobby explained that as long as they were within the RangeMan building, no one would ever know what they were working on. Most people did not even know that they were here. The RangeMan security measures would not allow for spying, or the hacking of their systems. "Brian will feel relieved that his research is safe. He could get back to his papers and work with Gene, our resident scientist, and noone would be the wiser," Bobby said, staring seriously into Tom's eyes.

It could work, Tom let himself think. But that old nagging came back. "What about the explanation to why his research ended up here before he did?" he asked.

Bobby smiled. "Does Brian trust you?" Tom nodded affirmatively. "Does he trust Tank?" Again, Tom nodded. "Then we let Tank tell him." Tom was stunned, but before he could ask why, Bobby spoke up. "Tank is good at these kinds of things. A real people person. He will know just what to say."

He had to agree, Tank was good, he had seen him in action. He had extraordinary skills and Tom knew him to be exceptionally intelligent. He trusted Tank too. Suddenly it was settled. They would let Tank help them out. In the meantime, as soon as Brian woke up, he would be relieved to see that nothing had been stolen or lost. And his ability to heal would improve.

Bobby smiled at him again and suggested that he get some sleep. Tom agreed, and now that they had a plan for Brian, he knew that he could finally rest. He rose and went to his room. Leaving Bobby to look in on Brian once again. Entering his room, Bobby noticed the pale features of his weak patient. It still worried him, but now that he knew how to help him, he was sure that everything was going to be just fine. All he had to do was talk to Tank.

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Set at the edge of a large forest, the headquarters of Humelik Corp. was an impressive sight. The building with a facade of mirrored glass reflected the trees around it and the lush landscaping blended in with the natural wooded beauty. Otto Walters and his good friend Paul Markus had found this site shortly after they had started their new business. They bought as much of the property and surrounding forest acreage as they could. It took years but the company was finally able to build this facility, fulfilling so many of their dreams. It was still a reminder to Paul and the original founders that they had come a long way, and it gave hope that they still had a long way to go.

Karl glanced out of the window, his mind was far away, he paid no attention at all to the scenery. In the waning light of evening, long shadows of the tall Pine and Birch trees crept over the now empty employee parking lot. At least they would be alone now, that was all that Karl could think of. Secrecy.

Pushing away from his desk, he leaned back in his chair, swiveling toward the window again, still lost in his thoughts. This was Ed's deal. 'Okay,' he thought, he had been his right hand man, and it was his encouragement that had given Ed the nerve to go out and contact the mysterious middleman. The man who was now waiting for him to give him an answer. Karl sighed and turned away from the fading glow of the sunset that he had not seen.

Chimes from the antique clock down the hall told him that it was time to find the team. As if on autopilot, he shut down his computer and grabbed his coat as he walked to the door. His hand reached out and turned off the light. He closed and locked the door, patting his coat pocket to feel that he had his keys with him. Karl took no notice of any of these actions. It was habit, he had done them so many times before.

Without looking back, he held his chin up as he headed down to the labs to meet with the men on his secret team. Passing several of the other executive offices, he did not notice the faintly glowing light from under the door of Richard's office. He just continued on his way to the meeting that he hoped would hold some answers for his problem.

Waiting was always so hard for Ari. From the minute that he had been approached by Leo last year, life had been unpredictable and, quite frankly, more than a little bit nerve wracking for Ari Rasmus. With a self deprecating sneer, he whispered, "Doctor Ari Rasmus to you sir,if you please'"

As he entered the lab, he could see that he was the first one to arrive at the designated location. White walls and stainless steel counters and tables defined the room found in the very center of the basement level. Ari paced the room. He was alone, it was past regular working hours and the building was nearly empty. He looked around the room again. No windows. It freaked him out, and he took in a deep breath, holding it until he couldn't anymore and the air came whooshing out of his lungs.

No one here knew that he was claustrophobic. As one of the youngest scientists that had been hired at Humelik, he did not want to give anyone a reason to doubt that he was old enough, mature enough, to do his job. In truth, he was a genius, a child prodigy who had attracted attention when he tested out of High School at age fourteen and graduated from college with his doctorate by the time he was twenty. But somehow he considered his phobia a weakness and he refused to let anyone know about it. Most of the time he had it under control. During the day, he could concentrate on the work, he had the distraction of other people moving around. But these late meetings with Karl's team pushed him to his limit.

Harsh fluorescent lights glared at him as they reflected off of the shiny surfaces. Ari closed his eyes and walked along the long tables, skimming the smooth edges of the cold steel with his fingertips. 'Somebody had better get here soon' he thought, 'or I'm was going to go crazy'. He walked up and down all three long work tables, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. Just as he approached the end of that last corner, the door finally opened and in walked Karl and Max.

Quickly Ari looked up and forced a smile. "Where's Terri?" he asked them. But there was no need to answer his question when the door opened again and his assistant, Terri Aaronsen entered dramatically. Ari had never understood the man's theatrics, he always seemed to be louder than he needed to be. But they were all here now, and Karl wasted no time getting started.

Before long, papers were scattered all over the table thatthey had chosen to gather around. Many of these pages were covered with the neat, compact handwriting of Dr Brian Taylor. Ari stared at the pages. He had them all memorized. Every notation, every word.

Everything had all started with Taylor and his little article about the poisonous birds. Ari slowly looked around at the faces staring back at him. 'And this is where it will be ended,' he thought. With just enough information to support his hypothesis, but not everything that they needed to formulate the serum that Taylor had described, it was just like ending up back where they started a year ago.

Ari and Terri exchanged frustrated looks. How many hours had they spent trying to duplicate the theory that Taylor had laid out. What piece were they missing? They had come so close, but the formula they had come up with was unstable and did not perform consistently. They assumed that Dr Taylor and his partner Tom Dutton had used an added chemical compound to control the rate of reactions and keep it from degradation. They were wrong. They just didn't know how far off they had been, right from the start.

"Do we have anything that we can give this guy?" Karl asked. The question was open to anyone who could give him an answer. At this point he did not care what it was, he just wanted to be able to have something to offer. Because of Ed's insistence, he was convinced that the future of the company depended on fulfilling a contract with the arms dealer. If they could come up with something to give him now, it might buy them time to perfect the serum. They could still salvage their original deal.

"I don't care what they are, just throw out some ideas here," Karl said. "Anything!" he yelled, slamming his hand down on the counter.

It was quiet for a moment, eyes looking around at one another. "What if he could use something that was deadly, instead of just dangerous?" Terri asked, his voice sounding too loud after the silence. Now all eyes were on him.

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