Many thanks to all of you who have so faithfully followed this story. I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing and that the ending meets with your approval. If not, I'm sorry, but this is the way I see it. Here we go. Final Round – Steph and Ranger!

Chapter 21

Ranger watched from the parking lot. She was home. Her piece of shit was parked beside the dumpster and there were lights in her apartment. Once or twice he saw her silhouette pass by the bedroom window. Then the lights went out.

He'd give her a few minutes. He wouldn't mind finding her in bed half asleep with her wild curls spread across the pillow. Hell, he might have a better chance in bed; he could be very persuasive in bed. Did she still sleep in one of his T-shirts?

*****

Steph had spent the evening packing. And unpacking. She'd gone from thinking she had to get away from Trenton to refusing to be chased out. Decision still unmade, she tried going to bed. Nope, not working. So, instead she sat on her sofa in the dark listening to Rex do his daily dozen. A comforting squeak accompanied every turn of his wheel.

The squeaking stopped. A shiver went down her spine starting with a tingle at the back of her neck. Oh shit! She stilled and listened as the locks tumbled and Ranger broke into her apartment. Again.

He was nothing more than a shadow in the room when her voice, angry and bitter, caught him -- caught him -- off guard.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

There was a startled, "Babe!"

"Don't you 'Babe' me." She scrambled off the sofa. "Get out! Get out right now! Go!"

Ranger backed away from her onslaught. "Babe." This time his voice a husky whisper. "Babe, I..........I need to.."

She cut him off. "After the things you said to me! You have no business here. I know how you feel about me. I worked long and hard getting over it. Just go! Get out! You have some dents in your conscience, you take them to another body shop." She finished quietly shaking her head. "Cause this one's closed."

Her words knocked the breath out of him more surely than a solid kick in the gut. "I'm sorry," he finally managed, his voice flat. "It's true. I have no right."

She couldn't see him in the dark, but Steph was sure that Ranger's face was blank. He turned and walked out the door carefully closing it behind him.

She shook all over. Oh! Shit! What had she done? Ranger was the man she loved more than life itself and she'd sent him away without even listening. Didn't she want to know what he had to say? She ran to the door. Stopped.

No! She wasn't going after him. He would hurt her again -- with his secrets and his silence and his words. It would be like always. She wasn't going to let that happen. Not this time. With her hand on the knob she laid her cheek against the cold panel of the door and cried.

In the hallway Ranger leaned against the wall beside Steph's door and shook all over. You're a soldier, he told himself, fall back, regroup. Try another tactic. He hadn't failed a mission yet. He wasn't about to let this one be the first. He took a couple slow deep breaths. Time for heavy artillery.

Silently he began to count. One one thousand. Two one thousand. Three one thousand. Four one thousand.

When he'd ticked off a full two minutes he turned to the door. And knocked.

Once. Twice. Before he got to three the door whipped open.

"What!" Steph's eyes were red, her hair in disarray. She was dressed in his T-shirt. And she'd been right on the other side of the door.

"I love you." Three simple words.

"What??" She couldn't have heard him right. Ranger would never say, 'I love you.'

"I love you. Always have. Always will. No conditions."

There he went again. She stared up at him. He was staring back his eyes black and tender. His face, not blank, instead an open book. He loved her! Something else was different. She touched his cheek. The beard, in place since Tank's shooting, was gone.

"You shaved."

The smile he gave her had more wattage than she'd ever seen. "I'm a new man," he responded.

"Oh," was all that she could manage as she backed away from the door.

Ranger interpreted retreat as invitation. He followed her into the apartment and gently pulled her into his embrace.

He felt so good. His hard body fit perfectly into to her soft curves meshing like the pieces of a puzzle. She held him tight absorbing his strength. He buried his face in her hair and she heard him whisper.

"Babe, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

He had reason to be sorry she remembered. Suddenly his warm body was not enough. She needed more. She stiffened in his arms and he felt her change. He pulled back to judge her mood.

Her face was still and serious, her eyes were luminous with tears but she didn't look away or down. She looked him in the eye.

"That day," she said, "I came to tell you that I loved you."

"I know."

"You said terrible things to me." She pulled out of his arms.

Bereft, he reached for her, but she stayed away just out of reach. His voice hardened, "I had to do what I did. There were reasons."

"No," she cried, "don't you see? That's not good enough. It's the same old story."

"I'll admit I handled things badly. Believe me, all your friends, and you have a boatload of them, have told me so. They want to kick my ass to hell and back."

She still wasn't satisfied. "You can't tell me your secrets. I get that. Believe me, I don't want to hear all the details. But you just said you are a new man. Prove it. If you love me, you have to trust me."

She sat down on the sofa and pulled her feet up under her. She crossed her arms fingers griping her elbows. She was a rock.

God, he loved her. She was so beautiful. She was so brave. He couldn't fuck this up. Losing her would kill him.

Only a wave could break down the rock. He had to be the wave. He wiped his hand across his face and swallowed hard.

"I have........I have," he closed his eyes and tried one more time his face twisted with emotion. "I have a nightmare. In it I've been taken prisoner. I'm in a tiny cell but it's not made of bars; it's glass and it's completely soundproof. What my jailers want from me changes. Sometimes it's information. Sometimes it's a crime they want me to commit. Sometimes it's a pound of flesh. Payback. The constant is that they have you and..........they hurt you. You scream and I scream." He opened his eyes. He looked lost. Empty. "But we can't hear each other. This mission, had every potential to make my dream come true. I wanted you to hate me so they'd never figure out how much you mean to me."

"I still don't understand," she said quietly, "why did you have to be so cruel."

"I made a mistake when I took the job. The final execution of the plan was out of my control. I couldn't be sure of the completion. It's still going on."

He held her gaze, willing her to understand, but she was more confused than ever. Her brow furrowed as she asked, "So what's different?"

"Now," he said with satisfaction, "now I'm in charge."

She inhaled sharply with the sudden realization, "You're leaving."

"Yes."

"Oh, God," she ran into his arms holding him tight. "You can't leave, you can't leave. I love you."

"I love you too, Babe, and I'll be back, I promise." With one finger he raised her chin and gave her a long lingering kiss. "And when I get back I won't be leaving any more."

"Really?"

"Really."

She hugged him tight again. "Oh, Ranger, I'm afraid. Be careful."

He laughed. I'd like to be, but there isn't time. I want to hurry back to you."

"Ranger! You have to come back to me! Take all the time you need to be safe." With love in her eyes she promised, "Because, Ranger...................I'll be waiting."

The End.

Thanks so much! Hope you liked it! SueB