It's my first day back at uni and already I'm procrastinating…. Go me. Thank to my wonderful, amazing Stayce for editing this and putting up with my crazy ideas. Also my email, which doesn't seem to be working.

Janet Evanovich owns all her original characters and makes loads of money. I, unfortunately, do not. Any new characters you see are mine and the plot line is mine (partly Stayce's too).

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He didn't move. He just stared at me while I watched him nervously. I had to break away from his gaze and looked down at my fingers, picking at the chipping nail polish. After a few minutes of this and continued silence, I started playing with the ends of my hair, examining it carefully for split ends. I needed to make an appointment with Mr Alexander in the next few weeks.

When the silence became unbearable, I looked up at him. "What?" I demanded, probably a little louder than intended.

Ranger was still staring. I opened my mouth to break the silence when he held up a finger to silence me. I snapped my mouth shut immediately, hoping for some sort of explanation for this odd behaviour. "Why was Santos here?" But it was Ranger. Of course I wouldn't get an explanation.

"I have a question," I said, watching as he raised an eyebrow at me. I took it as a sign to continue. "Why does it matter to you?"

He didn't reply, just went back to that calculating look. It was like he was studying me for some reason.

"Ranger, I'm not a threat," I told him, hoping to snap him out of… whatever this was. But the look on his face was the look he wore when he was staring at an armed skip, which made me extremely nervous.

"How long have you been working full time for RangeMan?" He didn't sound all that pleased about it.

I blinked at the change of subject. Not that there was a subject, but this isn't where I was planning on taking the conversation at all. Maybe I should have taken Lester up on his offer to let Ranger cool down for a few days. "I'm not. I still pick up some skips for Vinnie. I work at RangeMan I like being able to pay my rent on a regular basis without embarrassing myself." I rolled my eyes. "The betting on my life was getting annoying," I muttered to myself.

But of course, he heard me. He looked surprised at my answer. Good. This was the new Stephanie Plum he was speaking to, and the new Stephanie Plum was trying to build up a nice new collection of nice clothes and spectacular shoes. Not only was the money insufficient, the lifestyle that came with being a bounty hunter just didn't lend itself to the chance of going out and getting dressed up without ruining my clothes. "Have you been taking advantage of the back up?"

I squared my shoulders, prepared to face the wrath of the tiger. "I don't need it anymore." His mouth opened to most likely chew me out before I cut him off. "Tank and Lester have been training me almost every day to make sure if I don't have back up, I can handle myself," I said firmly. On the inside though, I was cowering. I knew that Tank didn't approve of my insistence of going skip chasing alone, and we'd had more than a few arguments about it. In the end, I'd won. But only because I'd told him I was more than capable of picking up a phone and calling for help. And there might have been some threats made about removing any and all trackers and not checking in with RangeMan until I was home for the night.

Tank hadn't appreciated that.

Ranger took a deep breath, as if to regain control, before answering me. "Even my men always go with a partner, and most of them are military trained."

"Which is a waste of time!" I exclaimed, resisting the urge to wave my arms around. "They're all military trained, Ranger! Most of the time they're being sent out to save my ass."

He glared at me. "They go with a partner because it's what's ingrained into us. We watch each other's backs, something you don't seem to understand in the slightest." After he spat this at me, he leaned back into the cushions of my couch, scrubbing his hands over his face.

I flinched back. He couldn't have done more damage if he'd punched me. My mouth dropped open in shock and I had to work hard to shut it before he looked at me again. I clenched my fists and grinded my teeth, refusing to allow the stupid tears gathering to fall. When I was positive I had myself under control, I assumed my own version of the infamous blank face and straightened my spine. "I'm sorry you feel that way. Whenever I've worked with a partner, I've always done my best to make sure they're safe." I blinked furiously, willing the hot tears to disperse. Luckily for me, he still had his face in his hands.

"Just because you make sure they're safe doesn't mean you're watching their back," he said, although his voice was muffled.

"How so?" I asked through clenched teeth. I wanted nothing more than to stand up and start defending myself, waving my arms around and yelling, but I stayed calm. Well, as calm as I could.

Ranger lowered his hands slowly, resting them on his thighs before meeting my eyes again. "My men are partnered with someone who is compatible with them. We all have similar training, but as hard as it is to believe, we're not carbon copies of each other. Tank is my partner because we understand each other and can communicate efficiently. Lester and Bobby are able to let go of the more serious side of the issue, while still being aware of everything around them. Hal and Zero are as close as you and Mary Lou. By you refusing to have a consistent routine and just one person to be your backup, you disrupt them. They all have set patterns and traditions. Your lack of those messes with their heads."

My eyes dropped. I'd always known I was not a person who does things in the most orthodox way, but I'd never realized the Rangemen were partnered together for a reason. I'd always assumed they were sent out with different men depending on the roster. "I… I didn't realise," I mumbled to myself. I felt awful for Hal and Zero. When Mary Lou and I were out, I hated it when our time was interrupted.

"Of course you didn't," he muttered. "You don't seem to realize how often they put you first. And I know you've been training with them, but by refusing to have back up, you're being selfish."

"Hey!" I exclaimed. "How is this my fault? If this is what you wanted me to do, have a permanent partner to work with, then why didn't anybody, you included, tell me that? How was I supposed to know? Huh? Crystal ball? Osmosis? Vulcan Mind Meld?"

I didn't know if I liked this new Ranger. It was all true, of course, but no one likes to hear about their flaws. Then again, he's done stupid shit and I haven't given him too hard a time for it. So this was completely unfair. "Did you watch Bobby's back?" I clapped a hand over my mouth immediately, eyes wide. I couldn't believe I'd just said that.

A pained look settled on Ranger's face instantly. "I tried," he whispered. He shuddered. "Everything went wrong about four months in. The last two I spent trying to get us out."

"Do… do you want to talk about it?" I tried, mentally preparing myself for a verbal lashing. I'd always known he couldn't talk about his missions, but something told me that this would be an exception. Lester's warning floated through my mind again, making me wonder if I'd opened a can of worms.

He met my eyes slowly, searching for something. Whatever it was, he found it. "I'm really not supposed to…" he said slowly, trying to maintain a neutral expression. I bit my lip, praying that he would break the rules just this once. He was still hesitating, something I'd never seen Ranger do before. "You realise you could get hauled in to meet my handler if they find out I've said anything about the mission, don't you?"

I nodded, even though I'd had no idea. I knew I would get my ass kicked if I went around telling everyone in the Burg about Ranger's missions, but Ranger and I both knew I would never do that.

He let out a small breath, which was the equivalent of a huge groan. "I won't tell you any names but it was a large cartel in Mexico that specialised in…" he paused, searching for the right word. "Manipulating people into transporting their products across the border. And by manipulation, I mean torturing, kidnapping, murder – you know it, they did it. They didn't seem to have any reservations about anything. The reason I was asked to actually go in was because someone's child was kidnapped." He took a deep breath.

I didn't like where this was going.

"She's chairing the Senate Sub-Committee on drugs. It's a very powerful position. The Committee is voting to form a joint task force with both Mexican and American forces. She's helping to eradicate the cartels, by making a deal with both the US and Mexico governments to help crush them. The committee is divided 50-50 and as Chair, she holds the deciding vote. Obviously, both sides have a lot invested in the outcome."

"I get the feeling that that's not all that happened," I said tentatively.

Ranger jumped up from my couch and started pacing while I watched warily. He made a frustrated sound before turning to face me. "They kidnapped her son two months before the cut off for her vote and told her to vote no on the proposal or they'd send her his head."

My mouth dropped open as my stomach rolled. "Oh God. Did…did they actually send her his head?"

"Steph, it's what we were sent in to prevent. He was a little roughed up, but his injuries weren't so bad that we couldn't get him home. What happened made the mother all the more determined to put a stop to the problem."

My stomach settled down. "Was he okay?"

He looked at me with an emotion I didn't recognise on his haggard face. "I don't know anything beyond what they told me. We got him home safely and took out as many of the cartel members as we could. They can't risk the drugs coming into the States. Our task was to stop the drugs at the source and get the kid home, which is what we did."

I had a feeling there was a lot more to it than that, but I wasn't willing to push my luck. He'd already told me much more than I was supposed to know anyway and asking for me would get me into trouble for sure. "Is Bobby okay?" I asked.

Ranger threw himself back onto my couch. "I think, with the proper support, he will be. I never saw what happened, but I know he wasn't in control when he was high."

Why was everything always about control with these guys? I've never been in control in my life, and I always got along just fine. Well… most of the time anyway. "Ranger…" I started, not really sure where to go with this. All I knew was that I had to comfort him in some way. There was no way he was leaving my apartment the way he came in. "I know I don't have much experience with this, and I'm certainly no psychiatrist, but… you can't always control everything that happens." I paused. "Wait, what? Bobby was high?" I demanded.

Ranger nodded. "We were offered the drugs and there was no other option. We had to take them. We've been trained in how to expel drugs from our system if the situation calls for it. I managed to get them out of my system in time, but Bobby couldn't. He had to sit through a meeting while I was sent back to where we were staying. I shouldn't have left him alone."

"It wasn't your fault," I told him.

He looked up at me sharply, but remained silent. He seemed to be waiting for what I had to say next.

I scrambled, trying to think of something profound to say that would make him see reason. Nothing came to mind, so I decided to just keep babbling. It seemed to work in distracting him. "I mean, there wasn't really anything you could have done to change what happened, was there? You had to keep yourselves alive." I took a deep breath at the thought of Bobby and Ranger not coming home. "And here you are!" I attempted a big smile.

"Stephanie… Babe, as much as I appreciate you saying that, I was supposed to be in complete control. There are things I had to do that I haven't done in years. Bobby did as much as he could. As much as he could, given the circumstances. He kept his cover, which is the main thing."

I shook my head in confusion. "But you said you had to do stuff you hadn't planned for."

He met my eyes unflinchingly. "We did. But it's not like we had a choice. We had to come up with something get around the problems."

I gulped, knowing full well that I didn't want to know the answer my next question. "So you did have to take drugs?" I clarified. Did you have to sleep with anyone?

"Yes."

We were obviously back to one worded answers. "What else did you have to do?"

"You don't want to know the answer to that question, Steph." Ranger looked down into his hands, sighing again. He rubbed absentmindedly at his wrist.

My eyes were drawn to the sliver of darkened skin again. "Can I see?"

He stopped rubbing the scar immediately. "I don't think that's a good idea."

I got up from my chair and plonked myself down next to him, crossing my arms over my chest defiantly. "You were supposed to leave earlier," I pointed out. "I didn't think you staying was a good idea."

Ranger responded by shoving the sleeve of his shirt up to his elbow. I gasped. What used to be smooth, dark skin was now horribly scarred. It looked like a knife had been dragged from his elbow to his wrist, where the artery I know you're not supposed to damage was. "How…" I breathed, reaching out a trembling hand to stroke his skin gently. It was rough.

He shivered. "They found out we were Black Ops."

Only Ranger Manoso could say something that was very obviously a big deal so flippantly. "Are there more scars?" I asked softly, praying that there weren't.

"Yes."

"Show me," I demanded, removing my hand from his forearm. He gave me a hard look before reaching over his head and gripping the back of his shirt, pulling it off. I gulped. "Oh!" Was there a way to change my mind without offending him? I wasn't sure my heart could take seeing his beautiful skin messed up.

"Steph," he said quietly. "Don't pity me. It's my job. You roll in garbage and I get shot."

What a romantic way to put it. "I don't roll in garbage anymore," I said haughtily. "I work behind a desk in your building." This was said with a scowl on my face. I was always bored. I fixed him with a sharp look. "I would appreciate if you could tell Tank that I'm actually allowed to leave the building. I have to pick up skips as well as working for you."

He stared right back. "Until you decide to have a permanent partner, you're not leaving that building. Now you're aware of the routine, you can stick to it. Understood?"

I didn't like being ordered around, but he had a point. It was fair enough. I shrugged and waved my hand to tell to get on with it. He raised his eyebrow at me. "Yeah, sure, whatever. Understood, sir."

His eyes darkened as he leaned forward. "I think I like it when you call me sir," he breathed, his hand gliding up and down my side, his thumb grazing the side of my breast. I stopped breathing. The hand halted at the underside of my breast, his fingers tracing the underwire of my bra.

I took a shuddering breath before digging deep down into myself for some resolve to push him away. My heart was pounding when our eyes met. "You're just trying to distract me! Show me your scars," I said, my voice cracking.

The blank face I'd become so used to slammed down into place. He turned around obediently.

I was positive I felt my heart breaking into pieces at the sight of his back. What used to be smooth, sinuous muscle was now marred by horrible blisters and scars. "Oh Ranger," I breathed, reaching out a trembling hand to touch his skin. It felt rough and dry, somewhat like a callous, but it spread from his shoulders down into his cargoes. My fingers followed it down as my mind tried to work out how far it extended.

He shivered. "I told you not to pity me."

Holding in the snort that threatened to break free was not the easiest thing to do. "I'm not," I told him. "I'm in shock. How did this happen?"

He turned to face me and I dropped my hand into my lap. "There was an explosion." I felt a grin creeping onto my face. Ranger looked like he was thinking about smiling as he read my mind. "I took a page out of your book, babe, and blew the fuckers up. Bobby was still high and he fell. I had to cover him."

"You could have died," I whispered. "I can't believe you would…" Well, I could. I knew exactly what type of man Ranger was. He'd put himself at risk for me and his men countless times in the two and a half years I'd known him. Most of the time, he did it without blinking an eye. I knew that he'd been in the army when Julie was born, but he'd always gone above and beyond the call of duty. He'd been serving for over twelve years, both in the forces and in contract work.

"It's my job, Steph. Bobby most certainly didn't have to come with me, but he has some experience with drug cartels. I can't give you details, but he was undercover for years in a cartel before I started RangeMan. He offered."

I shuddered at the idea of being undercover with people like that for years. Trenton had more than enough crazies and danger for me. Thinking about the strength and bravery these men showed every day made my heart pound in my chest. Bobby was looking out for Ranger so he could come home. Not necessarily to me, but home nonetheless. And Ranger repaid him by risking his life. Lula was a great friend and all, but I couldn't trust her to do the same thing. "You have amazing people around you," I said quietly.

He nodded. "I know. I'm careful not to take advantage of them."

"Do you think Lester will be able to talk to Bobby tonight?"

Ranger scratched his chin before grabbing his black shirt and pulling it back on. "I'm not sure. He's not proud about what he had to do to stay hidden." He gritted his teeth as the fabric of the shirt covered his back once again. "He'll probably need some time."

Is there anything I can do? "How long?" What I really wanted to ask was if Ranger would be okay. I seriously doubted he would go speak to a professional about his experiences. Probably, he considered being debriefed as his therapy.

He cut his eyes to me. "I know you're a curious person, so this is not what I was expecting."

"What were you expecting?"

There was that almost smile again. What I wouldn't give to see the real thing. "I expected you to be jumping all over me to find out what happened. You've been way too calm about this whole thing."

I was taken aback, if not a tiny bit offended. "I'm not an overexcited puppy!" I exclaimed, narrowing my eyes at him. "When have I ever jumped all over you to find out what happened?" I sat back against the couch with a huff, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Maybe jumping was the wrong word."

"You think so?"

"But you are curious, babe, you can't deny that. I thought there would be a list of questions." He chuckled at the idea. "I have to say, I'm glad there isn't. Your inquisition hasn't been nearly as bad as I thought it would be."

"Yeah, well, I've decided to be a grown up lately." My eyes fell to his wrist again. "Does it still hurt?" A thought occurred to me. "Wait, when you say you blew them up…" I wasn't sure how to finish.

Ranger raised an eyebrow at me in question.

I made a face, trying to work out how to say what I wanted to say. "Well… Did you get all of them? Were they all in the same building?"

His eyes went hard immediately. There was a fury on his face that was barely contained that made me a bit nervous. "No," he said shortly, obviously not very happy about it. He stood up from the couch again, running his fingers through his hair. He tugged forcefully.

I wasn't sure how I could help, so I remained on the couch, biting my lip anxiously. I'd never really seen Ranger lose it completely and I couldn't say I wanted to experience it. There was evidently more to the problem than he'd told me, but there was no way in hell I was going to ask what was going on now.

Ranger whirled around to face me, releasing his hair from the prison of his fingers. "Work and live at RangeMan for a couple months. I need you to stay off the streets," he ordered, staring into my eyes.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Now, I know that wasn't a command," I said in what I hoped was a warning tone. "And I'm not going to just quit my job whenever you snap your fingers." I could feel the anger bubbling to the surface, but getting angry at Ranger right now was definitely not a good idea. I inhaled through my nose slowly in an attempt to calm myself down.

He ground his teeth together, clenching his fists. "What part of I need you off the streets don't you understand?" he asked slowly, obviously trying to remain calm.

"The part where you're telling me what to do and not asking," I hissed back, refusing to break eye contact first. There was no way he was forcing me to quit my job. I was finally getting good at it!

He broke away from our stare off to begin pacing. I crossed my arms over my chest, tapping my foot in impatience. After a few minutes of tense silence, he turned to face me again, an expression on his face I couldn't identify. "It's not safe."

Well, I knew that from firsthand experience. He didn't have to tell me bounty hunting wasn't safe. I waited, but he didn't elaborate. "And?"

His barely contained control snapped. "It's not safe!" he yelled. I jumped. "Is that not enough for you? Can you listen to me for once in the time I've known you and trust me?" He gulped in air like he was a drowning man taking his last few breaths.

I'd be the first to admit he'd scared the shit out of me. I've seen Tank toss people out of windows. I've been stalked, shoved into small cupboards and almost blown up a number of times. But Ranger had never yelled at me like that. "I…I do trust you," I muttered, taking a small step back. Lester was right. I should have made him leave when I had to chance. There was no way I was capable of handling Ranger when he was like this.

"You sure?" he snarled. "Doesn't seem like it."

I squared my shoulders, still close to soiling myself, but met his eyes. "I do. If you ask nicely, I'll stay at RangeMan. If you say it's not safe… well, it's not safe." As much as I hated to admit it, he was right about these things. He had eyes and ears all over the place and I had to trust that.

"That's the thing, Steph. I'm not asking."

I felt my hackles rising immediately. "You know, Ranger, you're still a real asshole. I was about to agree with you."

"I'm not giving you a choice."

I was looking around the living room for something to throw at him when his phone rang. The way he froze made me stop. The look on his face made me glance around uneasily, wondering where the attack would come from. My front door was still locked. "Are you going to answer that?"

He looked ill as he reached the phone in his pocket. I did a double take when I saw it. It wasn't the slim, black, state of the art phone I was expecting. It was a battered Nokia. It was still ringing in the palm of his hand. He gritted his teeth and pressed a button, holding it to his ear. He answered in Spanish.

I watched as his eyes closed, as if in pain, and had to force myself not to reach out. His body went rigid before he hung up, shoving the phone back into his pocket. Then his fist flew into my wall, easily punching a hole through it. I let out a shriek of surprise. "What the hell?" I shoved him out of the way to examine my now broken wall.

"Sorry," he growled, not sounding at all sorry.

"You put a hole through my dry wall!" I exclaimed, turning to glare at him. "You're fixing that," I told him.

Ranger refused to look at me. Instead, he stalked to the door and unlocked it, throwing it against that wall too and storming out. "Tank will be here to take you to RangeMan in twenty minutes," he threw over his shoulder, disappearing from view.

I raced to the window to see him get into his Porsche. He revved the engine and flew out of the parking lot.