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Standard FF disclaimers apply.
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I Need You. Acceptance
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Late morning sunlight attempted to permeate the blinds, its glow seeping in around the edges of the windows. Bobby was glad that his patients were able to sleep uninterrupted for this long. He knew that they both needed the rest. Sitting in the filtered light, he carefully watched as another bag of saline solution dripped its last few drops into the IV. Carefully Bobby removed the IV and bandaged his arm. Brian no longer needed the sedatives to keep him asleep. He had been handed a big dose of the best kind of medicine early this morning.
Bobby stood and stretched his muscles. With one last glance at Brian's vital signs, he left the room to check on Tom. After a quick glance, he knew that, he too, was getting the rest he needed and he headed into the kitchen for some tea. Bobby was still grateful for the talk that they had had with Tom last night. He smiled as he remembered how Tank had taken it all in stride and accepted his role of confidant for Brian. Since he had to leave with the team this morning, they had arranged for him to talk to Brian as soon as he woke up, which had been around six o'clock this morning.
While he had not been close enough to hear what was said, Bobby could see how Brian had responded to knowing that his work had not been lost, or worse, stolen from the lab. Tank had immediately made arrangements for him to meet Gene. It meant that they would need to go up to the comm room, but Bobby did not have the heart to say no. So the IV had been attached to a wheelchair, so that he and Tank could get him upstairs. They had visited with Gene for nearly an hour before Tank convinced Brian to return to his room and get some badly needed sleep.
It had worked out better than either Tom or Bobby could have predicted. And he knew that Brian would be anxious to get back up there to work with Gene, just as soon as he was rested enough. Sure enough as soon as the kettle whistled, Bobby heard movement in Brian's room.
Without the IV to hamper him now, Brian moved down the hallway ready to go back to spend time with Gene. He was intercepted long enough for Bobby to make sure that he was okay, and that he had some food and lots of fluids before he would let him make his way to the comm room.
Whether is was the noise from the other two, or if he was now ready to start his day too, Tom walked into the kitchen and calmly poured some tea for himself as Bobby and Brian continued their discussion about the care that they still needed. Tom nodded as Brian looked at him. No doubt Brian had been waiting for him to defend his need to get upstairs and check on the additional research that Gene had been doing. Of course he would know how important it was that they make sure that nothing had destroyed the years of research that they had recorded. But Tom just smiled at him and indicated that he finish his breakfast as Bobby was insisting he do.
Brian was steamed, and was about to say something about Tom's attitude, when he realized just how stupid he would sound. Arguing with a doctor over his medical needs or with his partner over a bunch of papers might make them feel that he needed more rest, that he was not ready to leave. Brian, ever the pragmatic scientist that he was, was back. Bobby's treatments had begun the healing process and Brian was feeling much more like himself now. He was able to control his thoughts and he immediately worked this all out in his head and sat back down. He took a deep breath and smiled politely.
Bobby was pleased with his patient's compliance, but Tom was watching him closely, as if he could read exactly what was going on in his mind. Brian was a scientist. He was logical. The past few months had pushed himself to limits he would have never otherwise have known. Tom had seen him be more emotional than he had ever been before. And a part of him had been glad that Brian had been forced out of his highly focused research environment for a while. He had been alone for so much of his life. Tom had hoped that someday he would be able to expand beyond his little world of birds. Part of this may have come from the fact that poor Dr Brian Taylor had been used for the purposes of the agency. Tom would like nothing more than to give him a life to compensate for the intrusion.
Finally they were ready and Bobby led them upstairs. Gene was not in his makeshift office when they got there. Seems that even he needed to grab a few hours of sleep now and then. So Tom and Brian spent some time going through the materials, making sure that everything that should be here, was. Brian was meticulous, his photographic mind had catalogued everything he had done, and he was now pleased to find it all here. When they got to the piles of papers that were sitting on one of the tables, it was Tom that was discovered the beautiful scrawling handwriting on the backs of the pages.
He sat down and stared at the even lines of script. He seemed almost mesmerized by it. Just looking at it, not even reading the words. Brian was busy with his search and did not notice, but when Gene walked in, he could see that something was upsetting Tom.
When he saw the pages that he was holding in his hands, he understood. Ranger had told him about the stories written on those papers. He had not read them, his focus had been on the research, but he knew how Ranger had felt about them. He could only assume that Dr Dutton was feeling the same way.
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Harsh white lights lit the hallways and conference rooms in the nondescript building on the outskirts of Washington DC. From inside it was impossible to tell whether it was night or day, the light never changed, it was always bright. It was a disorienting feeling, one that Ranger would always associate with the agency.
After a few hours of resting in one of the employee lounges, Ranger and his men were again brought together in another large conference room. As before, they sat pouring cups of coffee and joking with one another for about an hour before the door was suddenly pushed open, slamming hard against the paneled wall.
"What is the meaning of this?" roared the General as he burst in waving a handful of papers in the air above his head.
Tank trailed in behind him and gave Ranger a look, shrugging his shoulders. Ranger was not ready to react quite yet, he kept his blank face firmly in place as he tried to work through his feelings. He had been afraid of this. He had been working with this agency for a long time now. They knew that he was the best they had, but they also knew that he always had a perfect and highly capable team of men who he chose to accompany him on every mission that he had been assigned. That was his rule, and they knew the caliber of men that he worked with. They even knew that he had trained many of them. But most of all, they knew that he had wanted to retire for over a year now. They did not want him to, so he had placated them, accepting new missions.
But everything had changed before he left this last time. He wanted Stephanie, and that meant no more leaving her. And now with Mat in their lives, he knew that there would never be any going back to work for the general. All of these thoughts and many more zipped through his mind as the General stalked over to the table and slapped the papers down in front of him with a heavy thud.
"Retirement?" he bellowed. The rest of the guys at the table were in shock, they had never seen the General this worked up. He was usually so cool that they'd thought he had a frozen heart and ice water flowing through his veins. All eyes were on him as he continued his rampage.
"You don't see me retiring!" he continued, his voice almost bouncing off the walls and pounding back at them. Behind him Tank still stood, at ease with his arms clasped behind his back. Ranger got just a glimpse of the look on his face before the General finished his speech. By now the man was bending forward and yelling right in his face.
"Retiring," he repeated. "It's about damn time, if you ask me!" A smile broke over his rough features. A smile that most people who knew him would have been afraid would crack and break his stone face. It reached from ear to ear, and then he laughed. The general had a loud, hearty laugh. It was something that Ranger had never heard before, it stunned him for a moment. He stood and the older man pulled him in for a brisk hug, patting his shoulder a couple of times before stepping back. He laughed again. "You should see the look on your face!" he said.
Tank now let his smile break through. He had had a nice long talk with the General. All arrangements had been made for the agency to continue working with RangeMan Inc, with Tank now acting as the commanding officer. Contrary to popular belief, the man was quite capable of understanding how important it was to Carlos Manoso to step down and grab hold of the family that had come his way. What they did not know, what he would never let anyone know, is that he had had his chance at a wife and family. Years ago he had turned away from the beautiful brunette with big brown eyes, thinking that he could only have one focus in his life. By the time he had realized just what a mistake it had been, he had lost her. That was a loss that he felt every single minute of every day. He was actually relieved to see that Ranger was smart enough, strong enough to know when to let go of this world, and he envied the happiness he knew he was finding with his new wife and baby.
All of the guys now sat back in their chairs. It took a moment before they too got the joke and joined in with the laughter and the teasing atmosphere. They all felt like they had just missed a bullet. The relief was powerful. But no one was more relieved than Ranger himself. His goal to say goodbye had been met, and he had not been required to burn all of his bridges. It was a nice way to be able to walk away with his associations and friendships still in tact.
But as nice at it had turned out, he knew that he had been willing and ready to do whatever was necessary to leave this part of his life behind him. That level of commitment was what he was going to bring back to Stephanie and to Mat. They had 100%+ of him. All of his heart and his soul. He could not wait to be with them again!
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Hector pushed back from his desk, his chair wheeled him around so that he could turn and continue working on another keyboard at another screen on the table behind him. Tom looked around, the set up was impressive. Hector had commandeered a room in the corner of the building, so that he could have some direct link ups to the several satellite dishes and antennae located on the side of the building as well as on the roof.
Lining the walls, in this good sized room, he had several long tables and a couple of desks set up. Each surface was loaded with electronics of every kind. There must have been five computers all working independent of each other. There was hardware for the internet and cable and satellite set ups and monitors that showed him any part of the building that he wanted to see, both inside and outside. (With the possible exception of the apartment on the seventh floor.) The amount of equipment in here was remarkable, but it had been set up so effectively that nothing appeared cluttered. It was incredibly efficient. Tom was impressed.
Pulling out a stool from under one of the tables, Hector pushed it over to Tom to sit on while they entered the encrypted information that Tom had given him. A smile curled his lips as Tom thought of Karl and the covert computer set up he'd put in the lab. While he had been trying to spy on Tom and Brian, the link had been turned on him and Tom had been accessing information on Karl's computer. It was amazing how much information people stored on their computers when they think that no one can look. And for Tom, it was exactly what he had needed to track their activities and communications with their buyer.
Now Tom needed to have Hector link to Karl's computer from here at RangeMan. He was hoping that he could find out what deals Karl had made while Ed and Leo had been gone. Since being rescued, this was the first place he'd been that he was sure was secure enough to try to access Karl's connection again. He knew that a lot could happen in two months. But now it was time to see just what the next step was going to be in his operation to shut down the arms dealers who were supplying such a devastating and deadly assortment of weapons to anyone who could pay their price.
With his fingers tapping out encrypted messages on several keyboards, Hector finally sat back and pointed at one of his monitors. Tom pulled closer to see what Hector had found. Bingo! he was back into Karls computer! Tom smiled and shared an elaborate handshake with Hector. "Esto es!" he said with excitement in his voice. "Gracias Hector!"
For the next few hours, Tom searched for all the information that he could from Karl's computer. The picture that was forming was not good. Karl had gone ahead and contacted the buyer that Ed had been working with. The details were sketchy, but it looked like Karl was offering a more deadly version of the formula that they had tried to get from Brian. Tom knew exactly what was happening, they had not been able to figure out the way to stabilize it. But rather than admit defeat, they were passing it off as a new weapon.
Rubbing his eyes with his hand, Tom continued to stare at the screen. They would have had a dangerous weapon with the formula finished properly. But what they were about to unleash could get out of control before anyone knew what was happening. Someone was inevitably going to try to duplicate the serum, make a knockoff version. Starting with an already unstable formulation, there was no way to know just how much damage they could cause. They would have to get someone to the headquarters immediately to stop Karl from delivering his faulty product.
Going himself would take too long. It was a matter of logistics, it would take him nearly ten hours to get there himself, and by then it could be too late. Who could he trust to get there now? Tom stared at the screen in front of him, deep in thought, not actually seeing it. Hector looked on, he was not sure what problem he was trying to work out, but from the level of concentration that he was seeing from Tom right now, he had no doubt that he would figure it out soon.
It didn't take long to know just how right he was! Tom suddenly lunged for the keyboard. He accessed Karl's e-mails and started reading through them. Finally he found what he had been looking for. He discovered the e-mails from the sales manager. This man clearly was not involved in the upcoming sales transaction, and he was angry about it,using phrases like 'unauthorized transactions' and 'unethical methods'. Richard Alvari had been upset by something that he had found out a week ago. Tom wondered what he knew now.
With utmost care, Tom scripted a message to Mr Alvari. He could use his position as their research scientist to open this conversation. But he needed to get through to him quickly. He did not know exactly how long he had until Karl was going to make his move.
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Sofia swept into the apartment like a small whirlwind. She couldn't wait to hold her little nephew, so she dropped her packages on the kitchen table and snatched him away from Olivia in one motion. Stephanie looked on in wonder. Of all of Ranger's sisters, Sofia seemed to be the most outgoing. The family all said that she took after Grandma Rosa. From what she had seen, she could believe that it was true. It was obvious that she loved her family though, so it was a good thing, and right now she was showering that love on Mat. He did not seem to mind one bit. In fact, he seemed to love all the attention that he was getting today. He had spent his whole day smiling and sleeping, and he was never alone the entire time.
"Oh, mi hijito," Sofia said, snuggling his neck. "You are the most beautiful thing in this entire world!"
Olivia, not at all upset that her sister had taken over so dramatically, headed to the table to see what Sofia had brought with her. Ella joined her and they set up a small buffet with the array of chinese food that had been ordered for their little party! Once again, Stephanie had to wonder what they were up to, they had not mentioned the whole purpose of this visit, but it looked like they were here to stay.
But when they were still here when it was time for Julie to Skype with Mat for his bedtime story, she was more than a little curious. The girls all oohed and aahed over the faces that Mat was making at his big sister. Julie's idea had worked beautifully and this was one of Mat's favorite times of the day. Sitting in Camila's arms in front of the laptop, Mat actually seemed to be listening to Julie as she read another cute little story. Stephanie looked on, her heart full of wonder as she saw how her two kids were reacting to one another. She still couldn't get over the fact that they were hers, her family that she shared with Carlos. She suddenly felt like the luckiest woman in the entire world. The only thing that could make this moment better was if Carlos was here with his arms wrapped around her. She couldn't help the deep sigh that escaped her lips.
Celia and Sofia watched her and shared a secret smile with one another. Then they crept to the door to let Ella come in with her surprises. Stephanie was so distracted in her own thoughts that she did not notice the three ladies sneaking into the living room. Her focus was on the baby, and when story time was over, she said goodnight to Julie and took Mat to get him ready for bed.
Julie stayed on and talked with Camila. Her plans to come stay for the long weekend were still two weeks away. She could hardly wait. Her grandmother whispered about all the things that they would do when she got here. This is what Julie really missed. She loved her dad's family, she did not get to be with them as much as she would like, Miami was just far enough away to make it hard to come very often. Her mom did not seem to understand just how important this large loving family was to her. She planned on helping her understand very soon.
Camila continued to make plans with Julie while the girls set up in the living room. A movie was popped into the DVD player and soon their excited whispers were covered by the opening credits of the movie. They all rushed around, Ella directing them as they set up gift bags around the room. Several items remained hidden behind the couch, but the big ticket items were sitting on top of the coffee table.
Her sleepy little boy settled right down, curled up in her arms draining the bottle and falling asleep immediately. He had had a big day, playing with grandma and his adoring aunts, Ella included. He gave up a burp quickly as Stephanie placed him on her shoulder, so she rocked him for just a little while longer before putting him in the cradle. She backed out of the room, closing the door quietly, and turning around to see the room filled with colorful bags and their profusion of crisp tissue paper.
"Surprise!" they all whispered, as they pulled her into the living room. They led her to the couch where she ended up standing by the coffee table looking at the brand new set of luggage. She did not know what to say. What were they doing? What was this all for? Her confused looks made them all laugh.
Camila put an arm around Stephanie's shoulder. "This is a wedding gift," she explained. "We didn't get a chance to do all the traditional stuff, like a shower or reception. So the least we could do is get you ready for the honeymoon." She laughed at the stunned face and sat Stephanie down.
She motioned to the suitcases piled on the table, "My husband chose this luggage for you. It is sturdy and should last a lifetime."
Stephanie nodded and started coming out of her shock. "It's beautiful, tell him he has very good taste," she told Camila.
Olivia took that moment to place one of the bags on Stephanie's lap. "Open it," she said. "It's from Julie."
The tissue papers drifted to the floor as Stephanie looked inside, and pulled the frame from the bag. A note attached said that she was going to schedule a family portrait to be taken while she was there. It would be the first official family picture with all of them together. It left Stephanie a little speechless. Then another bag was handed to her, and then another.
If the contents of these bags was any indication, her honeymoon would be to a warm place with lots of sunshine. Everything ranging from the frivolous like hats and swimsuit coverups was here, as well as the practical in the form of a 'survival kit' that included motion sickness pills and sunscreen.
Now the picture on Ranger's desk made perfect sense. A secret smile appeared in the curve of her lips and in the sparkle in her eyes. Camila noticed, but said nothing, she enjoyed a secret smile of her own. Her son was a lucky man. And she was here to see that he and his bride had the private time together that they deserved as newlyweds.
The gifts kept coming, and Stephanie was getting a little overwhelmed. Such an outpouring of love and support. She knew, like Julie did, that she wanted to always be a part of this large wonderful family. She must have gotten lost in her thoughts again, because suddenly she noticed that the suitcases were opened and everyone was filling them up. All of their gifts were being packed, and bags she hadn't even seen before were being pulled out from their hiding places and handed to her. But the moment she reached into the bags to pull out the contents, the items were taken from her and placed into one of the suitcases. She hardly got to see what was being packed away.
They all seemed to be in an awfully big hurry all of a sudden. And then there was a knock at the door. Celia pulled her arm and headed toward the bathroom. "If there are any things that you want to take with you, you better grab them now," she whispered. A toiletry bag appeared in her hands and she gave it to Stephanie with a wink. "Hurry!" she said and pushed her into motion.
Moments later, Stephanie and her suitcases were being loaded into a black SUV and she was getting hugs from all of the girls. "We will take good care of Mat," they told her. "Have a great time!" "Julie will be here when you get home," "The tickets are in your purse, in the leather pouch with your passports and other travel information." "The connector flight will get you to DC in about three hours." "Carlos will meet you at the airport." "Hurry you don't want to be late." "There is a kindle with lots of books loaded in it, look in your carryon case."
All of their words swirled around in Stephanie's head. It was slowly sinking in that this had been planned for some time. She was on her way to meet up with Ranger for their honeymoon. But before she could thank them, or tell them how to take care of Mat, or a hundred other things, they pushed her into the truck and waved goodbye.
Junior smiled at her when she looked up at him. He raced out of the garage and headed for Newark. "I'll get you there on time, don't you worry Steph," he said and chuckled at her startled look.
"It's late, you can sit back and rest if you need to," he said softly.
Stephanie reached over and grabbed his hand, she squeezed it and said "Thank you," Then she laughed and cranked up the radio. "Let's get to the airport!" she said and she couldn't help but smile. This was as unexpected as it could be, but she was finding that she was getting more and more excited to see Carlos, to spend time with him. That was the best gift of all!
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