As we begin a new story, I have to remind us all that none of these characters are mine. JE created them and even if I disagree with how they've been behaving lately, they still technically belong to her.

Fredda (Rangergirl1234) here we go again. Thanks so much for signing on to beta another story for me.

Chapter 1 – Rock On

It was hot, too dammed hot!

The skips weren't skipping, I was nearly broke after dropping off my rent check, and Connie didn't have anyone else for me to go after to have grocery money. Not that I'd had the energy to go after anybody in this heat, but still, it would be nice to know I could afford a pint of Ben and Jerry's to help cool off with.

I was debating going to my parent's house to mooch lunch and was struggling to come up with the proper motivation to get up off the couch when I heard the unmistakable sound of my front door locks being picked.

If I hadn't been so sticky that getting of the couch was difficult I might have gotten up just to surprise the person on the other side of lock picking tool, but that sounded like more effort than it was worth. If it was someone here to kidnap me, I might just go along with them willingly if they'd promise me air conditioning in whatever basement they were planning on locking me in.

Heck, my kidnappers in the past had fed me a little so this would kill two birds with one stone. I wonder where that saying came from. At what point in history were stones in such short demand that a colloquialism was invented to encourage people to try and be good stewards of the few precious bird killing rocks they had. I shook my head to try and clear out such ridiculous thoughts and forced my eyes open only to be face to face with a smiling Ranger. Be still my heart. There is nothing on this earth as good looking as Ranger with a smile on his face and brown grocery bag in his hand.

"What were you thinking about?" Ranger asked with his amused face only growing.

"The national debt," I lied, refusing to admit to my long internal dialogue about birds and stones.

He laughed at my feeble attempt at a distraction and instead held out his hand to pull me up.

When I stood he pulled me into the kitchen and began to unpack some food from the bag he had been carrying. I rolled my eyes at the bag of carrots he was putting the refrigerator but when I glanced over to Rex I figured he would at least have a steady stream of nutrition for a few days this way.

There were some other fruits and vegetables, making me wonder if Ranger understood this wasn't a part of my food pyramid at all. He opened the freezer and pulled out two pints of ice cream and a couple of Stouffer's frozen macaroni and cheese meals, reminding me he knew me after all. Then he ended with a jar of peanut butter and a container of olives which he laid across his arm like an expensive bottle of wine in a fancy restaurant. I gave it a cursory glance trying to hide my excitement over the fact that I wouldn't be forced into dinner at my parent's house for a few days at least.

When he finished he folded up the bag and sat it on my recycling bin which had only empty beer bottles and crushed Coke cans in it before turning back to me with all traces of humor gone.

I had a sinking suspicion I wasn't going to like whatever he was about to say. "Do you have a minute to talk?" He asked.

I went back to the den and sat on the couch, waiting as he positioned himself beside me. "I have a job that I need some help with, and you are the only person that can do it."

I relaxed right away. Of course I would help him, he had to know that. Plus, it would give me a little income as Ranger always paid me well no matter how miniscule my contribution to a project so I had hope of being able to keep Rex and I both in food for the foreseeable future. Before I could get too excited Ranger spoke again.

"It is a dangerous job and it might take a few weeks or a few months; there is no way to tell. So I would understand completely if you don't want to do it," he warned me giving me an out if I wanted one.

I could see something on his face that I couldn't pinpoint and it made me nervous. It was almost like he wanted me to turn this down, but he had no other way to do it if I declined to help him. I guess that put him between a rock and a hard place. There I go with the damn rock analogies. When the English idioms were being invented, was there really nothing more interesting than rocks for people to talk about? I shook my head to clear it once more before saying, "You know I'd help you in anyway I can. Why don't you tell me what would be involved."

He leaned forward and picked up a folder from my coffee table that hadn't been there when I laid down earlier. I guess it came in with the food. He opened it and pulled out a stack of pictures of girls whose faces were bruised as though they'd taken a few punches. But the worst part of their appearance was the unfocused look in their eyes. "What's wrong with them?" I asked, feeling the pain of the young girls and instantly wanting to do something to help them.

"They were all given a new drug on the market referred to X-23. It is a temporary neurotransmitter than blocks the messages from the optic nerve to the brain making the victim blind for a period of time. These girls made the mistake of trying to fight back, despite their inability to see, and the person that drugged them decided to teach them a lesson," he explained with the tone of his voice indicating how angry the idea of the girls being beaten for trying to defend themselves made him.

"Are they alright now?" I asked, continuing to flip through the stack.

"Most of them are," he informed me quickly. "But the last two put up such a fight that they were given multiple doses and their vision has not returned. Doctors are unsure if they will ever recover their sight.

I swallowed hard thinking about how I would panic if I were ever to be without my vision. "How can I help?"

Ranger seemed sad at my question, which didn't make sense considering I was agreeing to work with him and it seemed like he needed my assistance. "All of these cases occurred in Miami. The RangeMan office there had been working with the DEA to round up the people responsible for the drug's creation and distribution. We were able to locate a couple of distributors who were from nice neighborhoods with otherwise clean records. The only thing they shared was an association with a dance studio."

I nodded so he would keep going. "It seems the studio was owned by a woman whose brother is suspected of selling this drug and he was using her students to distribute the substance. The people he prayed on were young, newly established in relationships, and in need of some fast cash to get on their feet."

"So do you need me to go to Miami?" I wondered, trying to figure out how I was going to fit into this.

He shook his head no. "A few months ago, the woman who owed the studio in Miami opened another location in Trenton. It is such a strange city for her to have selected since our initial intel doesn't show any family connections or other reasons to have picked this area, so we have to assume she is doing it as a front for her brother's drug operation."

That was a relief. If I thought I was hot here, Miami would take my sweating to a whole new level. "Alright, so I can stay in Trenton to help. Now what do I need to do?"

"I need for you to take some dance lessons at her studio and see if you can get any information about the operation from here," he began.

"What kind of dance are we talking about?" I asked, blanching at the idea of putting on a tutu for any amount of money.

"Ballroom," he said pulling out a brochure for a new dance studio not that far away from the Burg.

I looked at the couples gliding across the floor and envied them their grace. Sure, I could dance at a club and even knew a few steps that the guys had taught me for some Latin dances, but I couldn't imagine me in an elegant dress waltzing in someone's arms. Then the obvious issue hit me, "But wouldn't I need a partner to take ballroom dance lessons?"

Ranger's face contorted into a scowl at the mention of a partner. "All the people used to distribute the drugs were in new relationships where the couple needed some money under the table to make ends meet. So not only do you need someone to go to the studio with you, but it's going to have to look like you and this guy are in a relationship."

"Who do you have in mind for that role?" I asked, secretly hoping it would be him. We had played a couple before and even though it was hell on my hormones and my heart, it was still an easy thing to do.

Once more he reached into that mystery folder and pulled out a list of RangeMan employees that he gave me. "You will need to pick your partner from this list."

I glanced at it quickly and couldn't help but notice the absence of certain names. "You aren't on here," I stated the obvious.

Ranger smiled. "No, I'm not on there. I can't pose as a person in need of money to make ends meet because I'm too well known in certain circles as the owner of a successful security company."

I looked back down and grasped at another straw, "Tank, Lester and Bobby are all missing too."

Ranger's smile grew, almost saying he liked the way my mind went to the people he trusted the most.

"There is a good chance I'll have to leave the country while you're working on this assignment, which means Tank will be in charge of running RangeMan. I don't think he can balance that responsibility and maintaining a cover," he explained.

"That explains Tank, but what about Lester and Bobby?" I pushed, figuring Les and I could pull off a happy couple pretty easily.

"I talked to them about it, and either of them would do it if you really wanted them to, but they both thought you should pick someone else. For one, you will need them to back you up if you are able to dig up any information and for another, the relationship is going to have to be believable…" he stopped talking then, leaving me to draw my own conclusion.

"Wait, just how believable are we talking about?" I asked him beginning to see why he might have been so worried about asking me to do this job.

"If they believe your cover and believe you might make a good distributor, then they are going to check your story completely. You will need to be seen spending nights together, going out on dates, and he's going to have to be perceived by the Burg as your boyfriend. To everyone except the core team at RangeMan, whoever you pick would have to be your boyfriend. You can't tell Lula, or Mary Lou, or even your mother the truth because all the usual gossip sources would need to be on the same page." He rubbed his eyes when he said this part, as though it was hurting him to put this kind of pressure on me.

"If I'm able to do this, and we somehow manage to prove they are using this studio as a front to run this drug, then will the people responsible for hurting these girls be arrested?" I needed to be sure someone was going to pay for what those women had suffered.

Ranger looked at me with his damn blank face in place, that stone cold expression that I couldn't read at all. Damn, there I go with the rock analogies again. Apparently the heat was beginning to get to me. I didn't usually get stuck on words like this.

His expression eventually softened and he said, "I'm proud of you, Babe."

Well that settled it. I was definitely going to do this. Despite the whispers that would be circulating about me in the Burg and the fact that most everybody at work was going to assume I was sleeping with one of the Merry Men, the fact that Ranger was proud of me was all it took to insure I was signing up for duty until the job was done. It didn't matter how many walls I built to hide behind he had a way of scaling them that beat anything I'd ever seen.

"What do I need to do?" I asked, trying to clear my head in order to absorb all the information.

"First you need to select a partner," he pointed to the list of RangeMan staff once more.

"But I don't know much about these guys," I pointed out, hoping he would give me some hints. Instead he stood up and went to the front door to pick up a satchel that he'd dropped there on his way in.

He unclasped the front and pulled out a thick stack of manila folders, sitting them on the coffee table. "Here is some information on each of them for you to review and study. I need you to look them over today and pick your guy by tonight so I can brief them and verify that they are willing to take this on."

I glanced at the list again trying to come up with who I knew the best. "Cal's not on this list."

Ranger chuckled and the sound was so sweet I didn't even mind that he was obviously laughing at me. "No, I think you'd have a hard time pulling off the flaming skull as a fan of ballroom dancing."

"How are any of these guys going to pull off ballroom dancing?" I pointed out, trying to picture shy Hal holding me in his arms and leading me across the floor.

"You'd be surprised," he quickly prevented my preconceived notions from running lose and nixing any of the guys as viable candidates.

Then, sensing how I was looking at the list as more of an exclusion tool instead of a list of possibilities he pointed out, "I took Hector off too because of the gang tattoos, and Zero's gone because he's too short to make a believable looking dance partner."

I smiled at his reasons for excluding the guys. "Erik's not on here." I pointed that one out more to see what the reason was than because I wanted him.

"Erik hasn't been in Trenton long enough to have the core team's complete trust for an assignment like this," Ranger surprised me with his answer.

"You mean a long term cover?" I couldn't help but try to figure out what he meant by an assignment like this.

"No," he corrected me. "I mean an assignment where he will be the person responsible for insuring your safety over a period of time, and doing that without taking advantage of the situation or you."

He moved the folders from the coffee table to my lap and took the list from my hands. "Look through these and see if your instincts tell you who would work. I think in this stack you'll find someone that is capable of working with you to get to the bottom of this mystery and preventing a very dangerous drug from reaching the streets of Trenton."

I nodded, realizing how serious this was and trying to take that responsibility to heart. "I'll call you tonight with my top choice."

Ranger ran his finger down the side of my face leaving a wake of tingling flesh. "I'm sorry it can't be you," I admitted.

Ranger stood up and didn't look at me when he replied, "I am too." Then he picked up the empty satchel and added, "More than you know, I'm sorry I can't be the one."

We'd already had the relationship discussion a few months ago and he had basically told me that despite the chemistry between us, he would never allow it to be more than it was now. He said it was because his life was not his own to give to me and despite how he felt, he couldn't allow us to try for something normal knowing it would never happen. At the time it hurt and it forced me to look at my track record with men. I was hit with the truth that I'd not been able to have an honest relationship with one in my life.

After a couple of awkward weeks I realized if anything that honest discussion had strengthened the bond between us. He was more protective than ever and even helped me admit that what was between Joe and I was never going to work and was even detrimental to us both. Unfortunately, Joe hadn't agreed when I tried to explain that to him and I still had occasional run-ins with him around town that got the Burg gossip lines ringing off the hook.

Ranger left with me feeling like his admission was about more than just this case, but I knew what we had together was precious and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Perhaps I should be thankful that we weren't mixing the carefully drawn lines of what we were to each other. We shared the occasional kiss, but it didn't develop into the wild hot ones that we used to sneak in alley at the bond's office. And anytime we were together he managed to touch me in ways that made me feel treasured and appreciated, but never crossing the line of confusing me. We had an indefinable friendship and strangely, that was enough.

After a few more instructions he let himself out and I laughed when I heard the door locking behind him. I looked at the stack of folders and knew I had no choice but to go through them and pick out my pretend boyfriend for at the least the next few weeks. It was a shame this had to be top secret because I could really use the help of the girls right now in looking over the candidates. Realizing I was on my own for this one, I went with my B- Team of friends and dashed to the freezer for a pint of Ben and Jerry's to help me look through the files. If I couldn't have the girls, then my guys would have to pinch hit.

Half way through a pint of Half Baked, I was feeling slightly cooler and had already cut the pile in half. Hoping that Ranger wouldn't ask for my scientific process for picking my partner, I pushed Zip aside within the first page of his background. I just couldn't see Grandma leaving him alone with that nickname.

Hal I had to cut from the deck because he was so painfully quiet. He rarely spoke to me, and when he did it was with a blush on his face. If he had to touch me enough to prove we were a couple, I think he'd have a stroke.

Junior I pulled out too because I'd seen him dancing in a club, and as good as he might look, the man had no rhythm. So despite him being fun to hang out with, I couldn't picture him participating in a dance class.

Caesar I discounted because he always seemed to be angry about something. Never had I seen him let his guard down enough to laugh and joke. I knew he had served in several missions where he was the only man left alive and that kind of tragedy had changed him in ways that I thought would make him too closed off to play the role of doting boyfriend.

That left me with Ram, Bones, and Vince. I probably knew all three of them at equal levels, which wasn't saying much. They could all be funny so I figured getting them to talk to me wouldn't be too hard. I had seen them all dance and knew rhythm wouldn't be an issue. And they had all been around my Grandmother at some point and still lived to talk about it, so that was another point in their favor. And finally, they were all great to look at, so claiming them as my boyfriend certainly wouldn't be a hardship on my part.

I started reading and found tears in my eyes after finishing each of their brief bios. Ranger had included as much personal information as he could about each of the guys. Ram and Vince both came from two parent households and each had a single brother. Ram's brother was in the Navy versus his Army background, but they seemed equally balanced in how they excelled in their careers.

Vince's brother was a computer science guru and wrote logistics programs for all the major shipping vendors in this country, making himself a wealthy man at only thirty five and in essence guaranteeing himself 'perfect son' status in the eyes of his parents.

Bones was raised by his grandmother who was still living but not in good health. It looked like over the last three months he'd taken off five times to visit her because of a different heath crisis each time. I thought about it and decided to pull him from the stack of contenders. I couldn't bear the thought of her getting sick and him feeling like he was shackled to this case and couldn't leave to see her. Until she either recuperated or passed away Bones needed to have the freedom to travel and I couldn't take that away from him despite wanting to get to know him better from reading his file.

That left me with Vince and Ram. I considered flipping a coin but decided that probably wasn't the best way to go about it. Finally I found two small things to tip the scales in Vince's favor. First he had a perfect sibling, so that gave us something in common. Secondly he was Italian, or at least I thought he was. Vincent Corlezzi sounded Italian enough that my dad would accept it.

My stomach was growling loudly as I picked up my phone to call Ranger. It was nearing five o'clock, so I guess my substitution of ice cream for lunch hadn't held me over as well as I'd hoped.

When Ranger picked up I asked if it was a good time to let him know about my pick for a partner and he seemed pleased to know I'd made a decision.

"Who do you want to work with?" He asked.

"I think Vince would make the most sense, but if he can't do it, or if he isn't comfortable, then Ram would be alright as a second choice." I told him.

"Babe, this isn't a beauty pageant. You don't need to have a runner-up," he laughed at my response.

"Maybe not, but I don't like the thought of someone working with me to pull off a relationship only because you forced them to. If he isn't comfortable doing it then don't order him anyway, just talk to Ram instead." I instructed, hoping he would understand what I meant.

"Alright, I'll talk to him and let you know how he takes it. Regardless of who accepts the case, then you'll need to be briefed together in the morning and we'll need to talk about how we can establish your cover quickly. It's going to be important for your role to be established early on when the class starts." I understood what he was staying but had a feeling exactly what that would entail was going to be more complicated than I could comprehend.

"I'll see you around ten tomorrow then," I said quoting the time I usually arrived when I dropped by RangeMan.

"Babe," Ranger replied as though he were in pain. "This needs to be a morning briefing."

"Ten is in the morning," I countered with a hint of whine at the thought of getting up before the sun rose.

"How about eight instead?" He pushed his luck.

"Alright, but I'll expect doughnuts at this meeting if you want me to be not only be there, but be alert enough to listen too," I informed him hoping he'd get the point that I wasn't happy about the early start to my day.

Of course it was air conditioned in the RangeMan offices so at least I'd be cool. Maybe getting up so early wouldn't be a hardship after all.

I heated up a mac and cheese meal from my freezer and happily watched the Yankee's game while eating my less than gourmet dinner. During the commercial break my mind began to run over what Ranger had said would be involved in maintaining the cover of us being a couple. Did he say that we'd have to spend the night together? Did that mean Vince or Ram would be staying here? Would I have to clean? Should I offer to let them have the bed and I'd sleep on the couch? I hated sleeping on the couch because I couldn't stretch out completely. But I knew if I didn't fit there was no way one of the guys would.

Ranger and I hadn't discussed compensation. I never asked how much he'd pay me for any of the jobs I'd done for RangeMan in the past. He'd always just mailed me a very generous check when it was over and I'd happily deposited my money. But this was going to be more than the usual several hours of time that I'd done for him in the past. This could be all day, several days a week, with nights and evenings involved. I'd have to change my routine and lie to my friends and family. When Ranger was here it seemed so easy but now that my mind was wrapping around it fully, this was huge. Could I do this? I was a terrible liar. Everybody could see right through me. What on earth made me think I could pull this off? Ranger had to be desperate to ask me to help, knowing how many different ways I could screw this up.

It was with this type of panicked thoughts that I fell into a fitful sleep where I dreamed that I was rushed to the emergency room because of a head trauma when it was discovered I wasn't who I said I was during a distraction. When the doctor came to my bedside to explain the horrible pain I was feeling in my head, he lit up the x-ray board in the room and put a black and white film of my head pointing to several round objects that he said appeared to be rocks in my head. Great! Now I was dreaming about rocks too. Although I guess having rocks for brains was a better alternative than the way that expression usually went.

When I woke up the next morning I got in a lukewarm shower, hoping to wash off the strange dream and the sweat covering me. I had to pull myself together and get to Haywood on time. Maybe while I was there I should explain to Ranger how he had the wrong person for this job. I couldn't think straight without seeing all the ways this job could go wrong. Hell, between the steam of the shower and the moisture in the air, fixing my hair was out of the question so I just pulled it up into a messy bun to keep it off my neck and hide the frizzy look that would be there by the end of the day.

It was hot, too damned hot!