Author Note: Italics indicate a scene lifted nearly verbatim from canon (Dirty Thirty). They were lightly edited for clarity and to better flow in the story but it is Janet's work.

Virginia, the prior night

Melvin and Charlotte

"No, a server farm refers specifically to the group of servers. A data center is the physical facility that the servers live in, and all the systems that run in it. Think of it as the farm and all that houses it. The server farm is secure. It was the data center that was breeched. Specifically, the power grid and the cooling systems were targeted after hacker failed to get past the security measures we have in place." Melvin explained to the group investigating the breech.

"So, the data we store remains secure?" Ranger asked.

Melvin nodded.

"If they weren't after the data, why were they…" Shots rang out before Ranger finished his thought and he pushed Melvin and Charlotte to safety behind the barrier wall. Unfortunately, that selfless act of protection cost him. He was struck several times at center mass and was knocked to the ground by the force of the projectiles. Yet he still managed to get some shots off before losing consciousness. Melvin pulled him to safety behind the wall while Charlotte pressed her panic button and the two men with Ranger, Alamo and Halo, prepared to lay on covering fire as the group made their way to the exit.

"Ranger got the shooter, I saw him…." Melvin told them, his voice shaking

"We can't be sure." Alamo was in the lead.

"It was a head shot." Melvin stated. "No way he survived."

"He may not have been alone."

They made it to the lobby which was full of staff. Alamo and Halo updated the team leader and Rangemen in riot gear moved to enter and clear the room as Bones prepped Ranger for transport.

"Chopper is two minutes out." A young Rangeman spoke to Bones. Then he spoke to Melvin, who had his wife in his arms as she wept.

"We will need to put you both in a safe house until the Core Team decides next steps."

Melvin nodded over Charlotte's head. "We know the protocol."

"Ranger saved us." Charlotte whispered to her husband as they were escorted to a waiting SUV. "He could die because he saved us." She wiped at her nose and eyes.

Melvin squeezed her hand, agreeing. Ranger Manoso had saved them and he had serious injuries. But worrying had to wait. Right now, they needed to lock everything down.

Back in Trenton- Current day

Valarie

"I don't know about you, Mom, but I consider it a blessing that the wedding was called off." Valarie sat at the kitchen table enjoying a cup of coffee and danish that was delivered for her Aunt Bitsy and Uncle Fred, who had already left for the airport, complaining about all the incurred expenses and Loretta's loser ex-fiancé. "I mean, the quiet is priceless."

"Loretta is lucky she wasn't arrested for assaulting her idiot ex." Helen said with an atypical caustic tone. Loretta was a favorite niece. "This will be gossip in the Burg for ages."

Valarie reassured her mother. "I doubt it will be more than a blip on the radar after the Plover arrests. I mean, Martin Plover shooting somebody? I just don't see him being that kind of person."

Helen, perhaps recalling an episode with a human sized rabbit, said only, "You never can tell what people will do when they are pushed to the edge."

"I wonder what Steph will be working on for Ranger." Valarie said as she read the text that had come in on the Plum group text.

"I don't even want to know." Helen sniffed. "At least if she is with Ranger, she will be safer than her being on her own."

Valarie thought about the man who jumped off a bridge to save her sister and nodded. "Ranger would never let anything happen to her."

Valarie texted her sister to enjoy her time away and helped herself to another danish.

Virginia, current day

Steph:

I glance at my hand where an engagement ring belongs and it comes back to me, the moment I confirmed with Ranger that he really meant marriage but we couldn't marry till the Plover case was concluded.

"Understood. We have an engagement. Would you like a ring?"

Brain freeze. Was it possible that I actually just got engaged to Ranger? Was I happy? Confused? Terrified? Aroused? All of the above?

"A ring isn't immediately necessary." I said

"I'm glad to hear that, because I have a better way to celebrate the occasion. It's bedtime."

Oh boy.

I was going to marry Ranger. I was going to be Mrs. Rangeman.

Now I wish I had Ranger's ring. Now I wish I had a symbol of our commitment to each other. I have been sitting holding Ranger's hand and reminding him of how strong he is and how he can totally recover from his injuries. Yes, it will be a long recovery. Yes, there will be pain and struggle. But I will be at his side, supporting him, loving him…

I just need him to hear me. He is in a medically induced coma, Bobby explained to me. But he can hear me. I love him. I will always love him. A tear trickles down my cheek and my chest aches. My brave fiancé… his brave act of protecting the innocent couple with him, of killing the shooter before he could strike again.

Bobby tells me Ranger will need a trach if he requires the ventilator for more than five days. He also said Ranger needs more surgery when he is stronger. I will myself to take a deep breath. Bobby didn't say, "If he lives" but I know he is still critical.

When he wakes up, we are getting married and I don't care what anyone has to say about it. Which brought Joe to mind. What had he said to me…

"I missed you. All the time, every moment…When I was in Miami, I realized I hated being away from you.

I don't want to live like this anymore…I want to get married…I want to marry you."

Funny, Joe didn't actually ask me to marry him. And he left without a conversation on the topic or a kiss goodbye. Was it because it would have made it harder for him… Or was it he didn't want a "scene".

Honestly, I don't even care. I hope he finds a good life on this path he has chosen. I have my own path to follow. With Ricardo Carlos "Ranger" Manoso. Someday is starting right now.