All familiar characters belong to Janet. The inevitable mistakes are mine alone.
One way to show superiority over the typical twenty or thirty something-year-old no matter their race, is to throw him or them out of a chopper flying about five hundred feet off the ground. To me, and those with abilities like my own, would say Nat and Gordo Archie got off fucking easy being dropped behind only my enemy lines. I am amused that they'll at least have to endure the specific joy of being immersed in Winter-cold water when they land face, belly, or ass, first in it.
Kane, Tank, and I, were on hand to provide that service. And we stuck around to introduce the fuckers to the place with a literal splash. We kicked off the fun with a five-mile run, tormenting and 'encouraging' the Archie idiots the entire time. I took a small amount of comfort in knowing that if Raphael has to suffer down the line from the attack, whether physically or mentally, these two fuckers will as well.
Kane and I rejoined our wives once we assured ourselves that marriage, babies, and time away from our usual action, hasn't fucked with what we're capable of doing to people trying to harm ours.
Stephanie helped Olive 'walk' over to meet me at the elevator. And with a look of pride and unspoken love on her face as I picked up our baby, she wiped a bit of dirt and blood off my cheek before Olive's mouth could find it. Since I left, our daughter had been given pigtails sticking straight out of either side of her head, blue flowers holding them instead of giraffes this time, so I'd guess Julie had called while I'd been busy and all the women here had converged on Olivia.
"Did you guys have fun running around the woods?" Steph asked us, kissing the temple our baby doesn't have pressed into my jaw while she was hugging me.
I enjoy the time I spend doing my job, whichever it is at the time, but nothing can top the feeling of being so loved by the people I still believe I don't deserve some days.
"Fuck, yeah. Felt just like the old days," Kane answered. "Made me realize how much I miss it."
That wasn't what Harper or Stephanie wanted to hear.
"Kane ... honey ..."
"Don't worry, Harp," he said to his wife, "I'm not leaving my girls unless I have to."
"Are you going to say the same?" Steph asked me.
"Yes. I would only put certain things between my family and myself."
"I hope that's a really short list," she said.
"It's the shortest one I have. I have no intention of tempting fate ..."
"Only saving lives," she finished for me.
She understands what few can. I didn't enlist for the fight or the glory, I did it to make a difference in the world. If I got called in tomorrow, Steph wouldn't like it ... but she'd understand why I have to go. Before Olive, she used to put herself on the line for the sake of the case or to protect others, so she'll never hold my commitments against me no matter how worried she gets thinking about them.
Luckily, she doesn't have to focus on anything except what is right in front of us today. We were shown the latest baby-girl-Cole sonogram photo, encouraged Olivia in her increasing attempts at pulling herself up without help using whoever's pant legs are grabbable, and Gunny and Mo both wanted belly rubs for the amount of time we were away.
Being a more unique wife of an Army Ranger, Stephanie isn't into using my accomplishments as just conversation-starters or for bragging rights ... unless Morelli is annoying her, she surprised me by being genuinely interested in what I do and how well I'm trained. She showed that again by wanting to see my training facility where Raphael's attackers were being run through hell day after day.
She waited until the fourth day to ask to go, mainly because she wouldn't 'let' Raphael go before then ... and she wanted to personally make sure he stayed okay. Telling her that he's survived worse many times didn't matter. He was injured on what she thinks of as her watch since she sees herself as a mother figure to the men despite their ages being similar, and it isn't happening again if she can help it.
"How many men do you see?" I asked Stephanie, as we walked up the path that cut through a section of forest and ended on a steep hill that overlooks a small river.
"Is this a trick question? Because I'd swear on two Bibles that we're alone out here right now."
My men are the best, but I can still spot every one of them. The day I can't is the day I 'officially' retire.
"I'm guessing since you asked," my wife whispered to me after a beat, "we're currently being watched?"
This is what I want everyone not just my wife to know, how much training, patience, skill, and time, goes into being a modern day warrior. It's not all firefights, explosive blasts, or the stripped-down version of missions we tell our loved ones back home. Sometimes it's sitting still for hours on end, not moving and barely breathing in order to take out a single but important target.
"Sampson is dangling headfirst out of that tree," I said, giving away his location to a friendly.
She narrowed her blue eyes and leaned forward so her forehead bumped the finger I had pointing right at him.
"You're kidding?" She said, after a few more seconds of seeing nothing but tree.
"I'm not. And Lincoln is sticking out of that bush to your right. Backer is in the river to your left."
I signaled to all three men and watched Steph gasp as they morphed from just background into real men walking towards her.
"Holy shit!" She said. "I honestly thought you were teasing about us being surrounded."
"I wasn't. Snare and Slipdisk have us covered as well."
Both men slipped from the brush to the left of us. "I thought we were supposed to be scaring racists 1 & 2, not freaking me out."
"You, Babe, are the safest person here. You can do whatever you want and not worry about any consequences. Someone hurts you ... and they will immediately die in a much more painful manner."
"Give us some fucking credit, RangeMan," Snare said. "We'd never fuck with your missus. 'Scuse the language, Mrs. Ma'am."
"We were showing off a bit though," Lincoln added, appearing from the interior of the vegetation ten feet from us, causing her to jump again.
She solved the constant-surprising-her problem by plastering her back to my front so anyone coming up to us will have to go through - or be identified by - me first.
"You guys do have some cool party tricks," she told them.
"You interested in learning a few with us?" Slipdisk asked her.
As added incentive, Backer tacked on ... "You can have your choice of our weapons."
Her eyebrows raised at me. "A variety of non-lethal ones," I explained. "These two deserve to feel more than just a paintball hit, but I need to have something left to hand over to police tomorrow. Aside from this week of fun, they should also get to experience what prison has to offer. Fellow inmates will have less self-control and restrictions than my men."
"Your guy Raphael," Snare said, "is herding the two 'dickless wonders' ... I believe that's what you've called them ... this way. ETA six minutes."
Steph tipped her head back to look up at me. "I really get to play your Rangeman Games?"
The men grinned as I bent my head to kiss the tip of her nose. "Yes, you and Rudolph," I told her. "He's hidden in the vehicle we'll pass after the next hill."
"You have killer reindeers, too?" She asked with a teasing smile.
"Not yet. I've had some success with just creating dangerous men."
