01The Layers Of Ranger

I do not own these characters. They are the soul property of JE. Ranger just came to my yard to talk today.

Reading the comments on Babe-squad, I have come to believe Ranger is a much more complicated man than he is given credit for. When I picture him he is the persona that he has created in his military carrier. I also feel there is a man beneath the persona; multiple layers and textures. Just as Stephanie found a Carlos beneath the Ranger, a business man beneath the street hood she first met and a caring man beneath the mercenary.

Not just a mercenary, a man that has lived and learned more, than most of us in his 30 or so years.

The man has a colorful and varied past. He has his childhood and early teenage years, he has his mixed up late teenage years and his time with his grandmother, He has his college years, his early army career, his time in the Rangers, now he has his covert government and business tycoon years. That's a lot for one man to pass through.

Looking at all that, I can't help but feel he is much more than a Bad ASS, Blank Faced, Mercenary and opportunist.

I think there is a mind and heart beneath that is able to control all of these facets. He is a total product of his life not just a small part. To use an old phrase THEGOOD THE BAD THE UGLY.

Rangers POV

Today we will not start at the beginning or the end; we will begin in the middle.

"This is the part of my life that most people see and believe is me. Very few know the truth.

I have few friends and even fewer close friends. My close friends I can count on one hand. They are the men I have served the longest with, they have saved my Ass more than a few times and I theirs. They are my brothers, my comrades, the men who follow me into battle. They are the men who have pulled me out of jungles and suburban ghettos. They are the men I would give my life for. We have been together since our first days in Ranger training and I hope we are together until the end of our days. They are Tank, Lester and Bobby. Steph calls us the A-Team, I laugh when she call them the Merry Men. More on that later.

I call them my core team which is what they are. They are the core of this company we own. Yes we are partners; they have placed me at the head of the table, they tell me they value my ability to strategize and make long term plans.

Aw, Stephanie, Steph, Babe; how do I describe my Babe. She is the most special woman on this earth. She is beautiful with her curly brown hair, azure blue eyes that deepen to midnight blue when she is aroused, creamy pale skin. She is a vision that cannot be forgotten.

From the first day I met her I have been drawn to her; to her vitality, innocents and love of life. Her life usually is a mess; mostly due to her family and friends, but the inner Steph is still there. Sometimes it is a little mussed but it always surfaces.

She never fails to look and find some good in everyone, no matter how bad or evil, she almost always finds the good.

She has walked where most people would fear to even glance. She has entered the homes of mobsters and murders to only come out with a new friend.

She entered Rangeman; surrounded by very large, muscular, stern faced mercenaries only to find friends. Steph never judges the men in this office; she only sees men doing a job with what she feels is moral character. Need I say she wrapped all my men around her little finger. She looks at us as men and not thugs or criminals. Because we work together so closely, she calls them the Merry Men. The men all feel this is just part of her gentle way and that it is a compliment from a friend; a little sister as they would say.

That is how my men see her, I see her a bit differently. I see her as the light of my dark world. I see her as a ray of sunshine, a 'guide to my soul'.

Since the day I met her in that diner she has worked her way into my heart. I had thought that during my years of Rangers and Black Ops, I had sealed my heart behind a wall of steel. In my job it doesn't pay to have a heart or a conscience. The job must be done no questions asked and without looking back or someone will die. Good men will die if there is hesitation.

I know Freedom of speech freedom of action are meaningless without freedom to think. And there is no freedom of thought without doubt. That is why every mission is thought out in advance, plans are made and the ultimate goal is set. The mission is the goal. All of my men know this and they are ready to follow the plan without question.

Then my Babe comes along and makes me revisit my goals in life at least. Before her I had felt I would die in action, just a casualty of war that no one looked back on. The guys would have a few drinks to celebrate our lives then it would be over.

Now I find I want to stay around make some plans and spend a few years with her.

Don't get me wrong, I would still give my life for my men and I would give it ten times over for Steph; but now I hope that doesn't happen. I want a future with my beautiful Steph.

I want to hold her at night I want to wake with her in the morning. I want a life I haven't thought about in ten years.

My team knows how I feel; they say they can read it on my face when I see her. Even though I tell them it is none of their business and they are wrong; they are my brothers and find ways to make it their business. They won't risk my wrath by being open about it but they spend a lot of time pushing us together. When I go to my apartment at night, I shake my head at how hard they work at this.

I have come to believe they are right; even though I wouldn't tell them.

So I have a custom made ring and I have purchased a house and decorated it, this is what Steph calls the Bat cave.

Did I forget to tell you, the Bat Cave is what Steph calls my home? I have never had an actual home just my apartments. Steph has always referred to it as the Bat Cave since she calls me Batman. She thinks of me as a superhero but I am just a man, just a soldier who falls in love more every day. She honors me every day and I give thanks for her.

So I have purchased the Bat Cave. I once told her in a light moment that the Bat Cave was forever when she asked about it. Now I can't take her there until I am ready to make us a permanent couple. I still have a few things to work out before then.

I want to complete my contract with the government so my missions are finished. I want to get Rangeman set up so I have more time to myself.

I am working on getting the romance and joy back in my heart that I have locked away. I know I can't give Steph happiness without love and joy and romance. Yes, the sex is unbelievable, I could have sex multiple times a day with her and never get tired. But she is special, she deserves romance.

I want to give her; walks in the park complete with picnics, days on the beach, candlelight dinners, days laughing and singing and dancing, trips around the world. I want to give not just everything money can buy but all of the joys two people can share. I want to spoil her till the day I die. Stephanie deserves it all. She deserves the gift of my love.

To do this I have to find my heart again. I have to reconnect to the twenty year old Carlos, who still could see love in the world. The Carlos before I looked at the dark, dirty underbelly of the world.

I will be a better man for her and for our life together, if she will have me."

Word count 1453

Babe-Squad prompts 1

Perfectly Plum prompts seven words