Second story in my AU of sweetdreams-sunnymornings' Mercenary Ranger series, taking off mid-point or so in Shelter From The Storm. Yes, the basic plot and characters for this storm are sunny's, I'm just playing in her sandbox, with her permission. Remember this is an AU of her story. Happens after The Roof Incident. Characters: Anthony, Jilly, Alex, Ranger, Stephanie Plum.

A year or so after The Roof Incident.

Anthony POV

Fortunately, Jilly had been able to give him a helo ride out of NYC and up to his beach house. Ranger and all of his family were already there and they'd planned on a nice long relaxing four day holiday weekend – family dinner with everyone there, surfing, a BBQ, sitting out by the pool, a swim in the ocean, maybe even a round of golf. With Ranger and his entire traveling circus... err, entourage – the wife, kids, bodyguards, staff – the beach house would certainly be more crowded and noisier than normal, but it would be a good family weekend.

Jilly had to return the military chopper they were currently riding in, but then Nick would pick her up and she and Nick and her kids would stop by as well on their way to their own house. Olivia would probably come over at some point and then Anthony would have his entire family in one place. Well, minus Ranger's mother, but not even Ranger ever counted on her being anywhere.

He was sort of looking forward to the weekend. It made him feel like maybe he was a normal grown-up. Not that he really had a good definition of normal. Or grown-up, for that matter.

Jilly swung the chopper out along the shoreline so he could watch the wave sets. He nodded in approval. Nice SW set. The waves would break in a perfect place, right where the water shallowed and it would be a long cruise in to the shore.

His house came into view and Jilly circled it once and then touched down on the rolled gravel area that served as a helipad. The stealth helicopter had been wonderfully quiet for the entire ride, none of the ear-buffeting noise that was standard on a helo. They'd actually been able to converse in normal tones on the way up. He knew this was a prototype military model, but he'd have to find a way to buy one. Too bad it only carried a pilot and a gunner … or, well, sniper in this case, even if he wasn't on the job.

"See you tomorrow, little brother," Jilly said. She kept the helo on stand-by, waiting for him to grab his duffle from the storage compartment.

He nodded to her and swung the door of the helicopter open and was surprised to see young Alex, Ranger's 4-year-old, directly below him. He hadn't been there when Jilly had circled to make sure the landing area was clear. He must have heard the helicopter and come running.

"Uncle Tonio, up," Alex said, holding on to the helicopter skid and straining to pull himself up and into the cockpit. "Up, up, up."

Anthony smiled down at him. "You want to see the pretty bird, my little dude?" he asked, leaning over to pull Alex up into his lap.

Alex settled in, grabbed Anthony's flight harness with both small fists and then turned. "Aunt Jilly," he said. "UP." He paused and then added, "please."

Jilly laughed. "Do you want to go up, little man?" Alex nodded. "Your father might not approve."

"Up. Please." Alex repeated and then smiled the Manoso family smile and batted his eyelashes at Jilly. "Up in your pretty bird, please."

"It's a Bell Invictus, you little flirt. Stealth helicopter. One of only two prototypes in operation. It's more than a pretty bird. And I am immune to that smile by now."

"Bell Invictus stealth helicopter," he repeated. "Prototype. Pretty bird."

"Hmm," Jilly said. "My kids don't care about helicopters or planes. Jake only talks about sports and finance and Izzy, well, Izzy has her own thing going." She laughed again. "Up it is. Close your door and hold him TIGHT, Anthony."

Anthony closed his door and settled Alex on his lap, gripping him tightly. "You sure?"

"Pooh," she said, laughing at him, and pulled back on the stick. "He's with us. We're family."

The helicopter slowly rose into the air and Alex's eyes widened. He turned to watch Jilly's hands at the controls, noting every movement. When they reached 300 feet in the air, Jilly stopped the ascent and they hovered.

Alex pointed to a gauge. "This is for?" he asked.

"Pitch," she said, making the helicopter move forward as the nose dropped. Alex watched her hands on the stick, her feet on the floor and the results on the gauges.

"Pitch," Alex repeated and pointed to another gauge. "This?"

"Yaw," she said, making the nose of the helicopter slew sideways in a half-circle. Alex clapped his hands and laughed.

Alex nodded again. "This?"

"Artificial horizon," she said.

One by one they worked through the gauges and controls, Alex nodding after every explanation, his serious, intent little face memorizing everything Jilly told him and showed him.

Anthony thought that it was like the first time he'd walked out to the ocean as a child and had seen a perfect set of waves and had known that he had seen his destiny. Alex was born to fly, apparently.

Get the fuck down here. NOW. Ranger's voice sliced through his head.

Ow, man. We're cool here, just showing Alex the sights. He's digging it.

Anthony leaned over to look out the window. Ranger stood on the back deck of the house, his arms folded over his chest, face very tight. "Alex has had his fun, Jilly. Ranger wants us on the ground."

Jilly adjusted the helicopter's position so that she could see Ranger on the deck. "Is it just me or do you think we should head over to Martha's Vineyard now and look around, maybe come back later, when Ranger's cooled off?"

"You know he's kinda over-protective of the kids..."

Jilly snorted at the understatement. "What is he not over-protective of? Well, except himself, of course." She sighed at the noise Anthony made. "I know, I know, you don't have to go all Ranger on me, too. Down it is."

The next day, the ubiquitous brown truck with the gold logo pulled up at the gate on the drive and delivered a special package. The package had to go through the usual inspection before it was opened and permitted into the residence, but the package was very welcome, at least by Alex.

Inside was a metal-and-carbon-fiber scale Bell Invictus helicopter in an unmarked box. Nearly two feet long, it was not a child's toy but a perfect scale model with all the correct moving parts. The prototype helicopter design had never been released to the public, but someone had obtained or built a perfect model.

And now Alex stood on the back deck with the model helicopter in his hands. He moved it through all the motions Aunt Jilly had demonstrated for him the day before.

Then he took his hands away and the helicopter, instead of crashing to the ground, slowly lifted into the air, two feet above his head, and began to perform the same movements while circling him. He spun in a circle, tracking the helicopter as it zoomed around the deck. His blue eyes seemed much bluer than normal, shining as he watched the model fly at his command.

Unnoticed by Alex, the patio furniture began to rotate in the same direction that the helicopter circled in.

Stephanie yanked open the french door to the patio. "What in the hell... Al!"

All of the rotating objects stopped rotating and the helicopter fell into Alex's hands.

"I was..." Alex stopped talking to search for the right words. He shrugged. "Flying the helicopter." He smiled up at her hopefully. "Isn't it a pretty bird?"

Stephanie looked at the now-jumbled patio furniture, the helicopter and then Alex. "I... um … yeah, it is a pretty bird," she said faintly. "Um... can you put Uncle Anthony's furniture back now?"

Alex scuffed his feet on the deck. "M-o-o-om."

Stephanie tugged on the large teak table, which was half off the deck. It didn't move at all. She looked at her 4-year-old. "Right. … I'll ask Ram and Hal."