Sonny's mother had agreed to reserve judgment on her relationship with this woman she saw on television kissing her daughter. She trusted her little girl and hoped she wasn't losing her mind getting entangled with this woman. So, they set aside a few days this coming week to all sit down and talk about what was going on. Tonight however, Alex had other plans for the couple. It was Saturday night and the Rangers decided to get together in remembrance of those they lost. They traditionally got together for barbeques, and that was the plan tonight. Alex brought Sonny along with her, as well as Tim and Tawni.

The only rule at these nights together was that you couldn't bring anyone who was sensitive. It was a Ranger barbeque, which meant drinking and war stories. The time of grieving was over and now they were here to celebrate the lives lost, and move forward in their remembrance. Alex had hit the store and bought alcohol for her and she even picked something fruity up for the Starbucks waitress'.

The group rolled up in Alex's F-150, the smell of burning wood in the air. Other vehicles were parked all along the street. All of the Ranger's were already here. Russo was the last one to show up. "Damn it.." The Staff Sergeant mumbled.

"What?" Her girlfriend asked as they all hoped out of the truck.

"Last one to show gets punched in the arm." Tim spoke, grabbing a twelve pack of Miller Light. "By everyone." He added in as the group of four walked towards the two story house.

They didn't walk up to the front door, instead they walked to the side of the house where the gate to the backyard was wide open and people could be seen mingling. "Russo!" A group of soldiers shouted upon seeing her enter the yard. "Line em up boys!" Staff Sergeant Chad Cooper shouted, following suit with tradition. He was at the grill flipping burgers, but he put a hold on that when the last Ranger entered his backyard.

All of the soldiers stopped what they were doing and formed two lines. "..What's going on?" Tawni asked, barely above a whisper.

Sonny didn't have the answer, so she looked over to her girlfriend for one. But, all she got was handed a case of alcohol. "Hold these for me." Alex said as she handed two cases of Mike's Hard to the twenty year old.

The newly ranked Staff Sergeant jumped up and down a few times to get her blood pumping. Then took off in a steady jog towards the lines of troops. As she ran through, each Ranger popped her in the arm with a jab. "Why would you do something like that?" Sonny questioned Tim, the outrage clear in her voice.

The Admin worker sighed. "They're Rangers. They're kind of wonked in the head."

"Hot damn!" One of the younger Rescue Rangers shouted. "Who is that?!" Specialist Dean Moriarty, already known for being one of the biggest drinkers, asked his co-workers.

Alex turned around to see what the younger Ranger was referring to. "Who?" She quizzed as she rubbed her now aching arms.

"Hey, baby!" The Specialist called out, and when he did Alex saw that he was trying to get Sonny's attention.

The Staff Sergeant patted Dean on the back. "She's with me, Moriarty."

….

Soon everyone had settled in. Their stomachs had been filled with burgers, and a steady flow of alcohol was present. With everyone seated out on the porch at the large table, the Ranger's reminisced on old times. "Man, you guys remember when Russo threw that grenade and the guy shooting at us caught it in his hand?" PFC Nico Harris recollected.

"That dumb mother fucker! Hahaha" Staff Sergeant Cooper laughed. "It blew him to shit." He said smiling, and taking another sip of his beer.

"I'll never forget how wide eyed he went when he realized he caught a live grenade." Another one of the Rangers spoke up. "Man went like a deer in headlights." Specialist Mason Grey commented, his English accent coming through loud and clear.

While the other Rangers continued to think back to the laughable times, Sonny leaned over into her girlfriend's side. "There's English Army Rangers?" The barista asked after hearing Specialist Grey speak.

Alex turned her attention to her girlfriend. "Its not too common, but every now and then they switch over from British Special Forces to ours." She explained. Then went to take a sip of her beer and noticed it was empty. "Shit." Russo said shaking the empty can. "I'm out. I'm gonna get another one from inside. Do you want anything?"

This crowd was a lot for Sonny to take in. Her best friend seemed to be doing fine. She had the attention of almost every Ranger that was single. But, for Sonny, sitting there and listening to war stories wasn't comforting to her at all like it seemed to be for the soldiers. "I'll come with you." The barista stated, standing up with Alex.

Alex nodded and the two excused themselves. "Uh oh! You gonna go get it on?" Specialist Moriarty questioned the two women. His intoxication still evident. Only now some of the others were catching up to his level.

"Do not screw on any cloth surfaces, Russo!" Staff Sergeant Cooper yelled. "That's an order! There's no way I'll be able to explain that shit to my wife." He mumbled. His wife was currently out on a beer run for them since no one else was in driving condition.

Russo couldn't stop from smiling. It was the best she could do from laughing. "Guys, no one is getting it on tonight." She assured.

"What?" The Starbucks waitress asked quietly. Her face said it all. She was somewhat disappointed. She was in that stage of drinking where she wasn't quite drunk, but she knew that she wanted to have drunk sex later.

"Ooooh!" The group of Rangers bellowed. "Get you some Sonny!" PFC Harris shouted.

Alex knew this group of people way too well, and she knew if she was in their position she would be antagonizing this situation too. "We're gonna go get some drinks. We'll be right back." Staff Sergeant Russo informed the soldiers before leading her girlfriend into the house before any more words were spoken.

"Do you dance?" The barista quizzed as they entered the pristine white kitchen.

The Army Ranger opened the fridge. " I can two step." She replied as she reached in for a beer and a fruity drink for Sonny.

"No, like to something other than country music." She giggled as she took the pink colored bottle from Alex.

The Ranger popped the top of her silver beer can. "Not really." She said taking a sip. "You're talking about like being able to pop my ass?" She questioned the short woman in front of her.

The twenty year old nodded. "Yeah like club dancing." She confirmed.

"No, I can't do that." Alex chuckled. "Can you?" She asked, to which the barista nodded her head yes. "Oh, that's kind of hot."

"If you're lucky you'll get to see it." The waitress said stepping closer to her.

The Rescue Ranger peaked around the corner. No one was coming their way. "Come here." She said, grabbing Sonny's free hand and pulling her towards her. She connected their lips and the two shared a brief kiss before Alex pulled away. "I just want to let you know.. I'm on my way to drunk. And, when I get drunk I'm probably not going to be able to keep my hands off you."

The barista smiled. "I thought no one was getting any tonight?"

"If I said we we're going to have sex later those guys would be at the door of whatever room we were in barking." The Ranger explained. "I know this because I've done it to Cooper and his wife with the guys. We've done it to Grey too. It's a really fucked up tradition."

The twenty year old stared at her girlfriend for a second, blank faced. "You can't be serious.." She said before she started laughing. "What the hell is wrong with you people?" She laughed out. It was the weirdest thing meeting the people Alex worked with. They had a family type bond, and were absolutely crazy.

The soldier shrugged. "Well, apparently I have anger management issues."

"Shut up." Sonny giggled, slapping Alex's shoulder. "Just kiss me." She said, leaning in to connect their lips.

…..

After a small make out session in the kitchen, and a few drinks later they were effectively drunk. Not belligerent, but still drunk. " I don't think Tawni likes me." Tim said as he sat down next to his Ranger best friend.

Alex sighed. She sat there holding Sonny's hand, but never the less turned her attention to Tim. "What makes you say that?" Russo questioned. "And, when did you start liking Tawni?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "But, since she's making out with another man I'm going to go ahead and accept defeat." Tim stated, causing Alex to scan the backyard to find the blonde.

When she did she saw Tawni sucking face with Specialist Grey. "Damn." She chuckled at the sight. The two were really going at it. "Tim, I'm sorry. But, did you even tell her you liked her?" She said returning her gaze to the admin worker.

"No." He replied, looking away from the blonde as well.

Alex turned to Sonny. "Are you cool with that?" she asked simply because she didn't know how Tawni and Sonny behaved when they drank. This was the first time they all ever drank together.

The waitress looked over to see her friend getting her neck kissed. "Oh my gosh! Tawni!" She shouted. "Get a room!"

The Ranger leaned over to her girlfriend. "Tim likes her." She whispered to her.

Sonny's jaw nearly dropped. "What?" She whispered back. To which Alex just nodded. "Excuse me." The barista said, putting her bottle down on the table and standing up. She walked over to her blonde friend. "Tawni I need to talk to you." She stated, grabbing the blonde's arm.

"Right now?" The other Starbucks worker complained.

Sonny rolled her eyes then leaned down to her ear. "Tim likes you." She whispered.

The blonde wasn't too pleased with her little makeout session being interrupted. "Sonny.." She whined, while pushing Specialist Grey away from her. "Why didn't he just come tell me that himself?"

The black haired waitress shrugged. "I don't know."

Tawni sighed. "I'll deal with him later." She brushed it off. "I could use another drink though."

Specialist Grey had been vaguely listening to their conversation since the blonde pushed him off of her. "I'll go get you one." He offered as he stood up.

"Thank you." Tawni replied. As he walked away she looked up at her best friend. "I love his accent." She gushed.

The barista smiled and shook her head. "I'm going to go back over to my girlfriend now."

"Hey!" Tawni called out before Sonny was able to walk away. "Why don't you guys dance?" Sonny turned around. "I want to dance with Grey anyway, but I don't want to be the only one dancing."

"Alex doesn't dance." The starbucks waitress informed her friend.

Tawni squinted her eyes at Sonny. "..Then make her." She said as she too stood up. "Sonny, you can make that woman do anything you want. You just have to assert yourself." She said taking the waitress' hand in hers. "Hey, Cooper?" The blonde called out sweetly.

"Yes, ma'am?" The highest ranking individual there replied.

"Can I plug in my phone to your speaker system?" She asked just as sweetly as when she called for him.

"Of course." Staff Sergeant Copper responded, unplugging his ipod from the auxiliary cable. "Here you go." He said extending the cable to her.

As the blonde was scrolling through her music selection, Specialist Grey reappeared with two shot glasses in his hand. "I figured shots would be a good choice. You don't look like you drink beer." He said offering a shot to her.

"I don't, and thank you." The blonde said with a smile as her song choice played. Nicki Minaj – Anaconda. Tawni took both of the shots out of Grey's hand and turned to Sonny and motioned for her to take the second one.

"I was gonna drink that one, but ok.." The English Ranger mumbled.

"Oh, Tawni I can't." Sonny stated, not taking the shot glass. Still the blonde held the small glass out for her to take. Without words the two Starbucks workers were having a conversation with their eyes. Sonny knew Tawni wouldn't let this go, so she eventually took the glass and threw back the clear liquid inside.

The blonde too threw back the alcohol, and they put the empty shot glasses down on the table. "Get up, Alex." Tawni said to the Ranger.

The new Staff Sergeant glanced up at the blonde. "What's going on?" She quizzed.

"Now is not the time for talking." Tawni said while grabbing Alex's hand and pulling her up from the chair she resided in.

Alex looked over and saw her drunk girlfriend slowly getting into the song. "Are you gonna dance with me?" Sonny questioned the Ranger.

"Oooohh!" The backyard full of Rangers cooed.

As the song played Sonny got closer to her girlfriend, singing with the song. "By the way, what he say? He can tell I ain't missing no meals." Alex had to admit, her woman knew how to move. "You might as well just get against the wall." She ordered, which took Alex by surprise.

The Staff Sergeant was never much of a dancer so she did what Sonny suggested and stood up on the wall of the house. And, to her surprise and delight Sonny showed her just how well she knew how to work what she had.