A/N: This is a companion piece to my current story, Starting Over. The POVs in that story are limited to Steph and Jeanne Ellen, with the occasional pivotal character POV thrown in for elucidation. But I found myself wondering what other characters (okay, Ranger) were thinking, thus here we are.

Maybe some of this will be OOC, but since it's usually the character's innermost thoughts, let's pretend it's not, okay?

Starting Over – Chapter Interludes

Chapter One - Ranger POV (during Chapters 8-9)

I looked up when I heard a sharp rap on my door jamb. Tank was standing at the entrance to my office, accompanied by a gorgeous brunette, with curly brown hair and electrifying blue eyes. Even from across the room, I was captivated by their depths.

"Rangeman, this is Stephanie Orr. She's Jeanne Ellen's sister who agreed to fill in for Rodriguez while he's in Philly with his sister. Steph, this is Ranger, the big bossman."

"Nice to meet you, Ranger," she said with a smile that made my heart skip a beat.

My throat felt suddenly dry. "Welcome to Rangeman," I said, barely managing to eke the words out. Fuck, what the hell is wrong with me?

"Ranger, you remember we talked about the bathroom situation?" Tank asked. Why the hell did I ever agree to that? It was weird before when it was just his sister-in-law, but now that it's his sister-in-law who is a goddess, I feel even more uncomfortable with it.

I nodded, and Tank indicated the bathroom at the back of my office to Stephanie. She thanked us, but her expression spoke volumes. She'd try to never use it if she could help it. Strangely enough, that made me feel better too.

They left my office and I let out a deep breath I hadn't realized I was holding. I don't know what just happened, but I just might believe in love at first sight.

One of our employees, Marco Rodriguez, has been spending most of his time in Philadelphia lately. His sister, a young woman of only thirty years old, has been diagnosed with cancer, and after two years of fighting, her prognosis is terminal. She has a young son of eight years old, and Rodriguez is going to have custody when she's gone.

Tank and I have been discussing what we're going to do with his job, since Rodriguez has indicated he wants to step back his responsibilities to spend more time with his nephew. He floated the idea of assessing Stephanie to see if she'd be good at the research half of the job, if she decided to move to Trenton due to her impending divorce.

I proposed a test of sorts, leaving her a file for a potential employee who had a giant red flag in his military background. I'd already determined that this guy would never be hired, because I don't hire anyone who has any type of violence against women or children, or even an accusation of said violence. But it wouldn't hurt to see if she was able to pick up on any lack of information, or even just to see how she worked a search.

When her instincts told her there was something missing, and even pointed out the lack of a favourable military record. What did she call it – her spidey sense? Cute. And she had an adorable way of muttering under her breath, revealing her innermost thoughts. Giving intel to the enemy.

I was charmed and impressed by her, and that's not easy to do.

To be betrayed in such a way that Steph was by her husband is something I've never experienced. I've never been that close to anyone before, and I chose long ago to live my life simply, avoiding emotional attachments to focus on that which I excel, namely my business and government work.

Watching her process this new deception is difficult to watch, even having just met her. If I could, I'd take her pain away. Hell, I'd make her husband disappear if she asked me to. She's sleeping in Tank's arms now and it's taking all my self-control to not look at her as she sleeps.

When Tank nodded me over to hold her so he could use the latrine, a part of me wanted to decline. I don't think it would be a good idea to get closer to her. But I did it anyway and holding her in my arms felt right. And Tank, who knows me very well, saw it in my eyes and has informed me in no uncertain terms to stay away from her. He's probably right; I would hurt her, even if I didn't intend to do so.

Still. Holding her was as natural to me as breathing. I'm so screwed.